Tonight’s episode of WWE NXT was the final show before the special two-week event known as Great American Bash, and as such it focused on filling out the event’s week one card. While that was the focus, that doesn’t mean NXT didn’t tease a bit about what week two will have to offer, as they teased week two’s main event towards the end of tonight’s show. Ethan Page has had a rather difficult time since becoming NXT Champion, and that showed all throughout tonight’s show. He finally lost it and went to NXT General Manager Ava Raine to get Oro Mensah in a match, and she obliged, saying the match would take place on week two of the Bash.
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A Building Rivalry
The feud between Mensah and Page started building pretty much from Page’s NXT debut, though Oro’s main issue is something that happened before Page actually debuted on TV. Noam Dar and Mensah had both been attacked, and the thought was that it was Williams who had attacked them. That led to Legend confronting Williams about it, but then the lights went out and Page ambushed Williams and made his presence in NXT official.
When Mensah returned, he was set on taking Page down a peg, and he attempted to cause chaos at every turn for Page. Oro would interfere and run Page off from a Battle Royal that he was never technically eliminated from. That led to Je’Von Evans winning the match, and though Page would eventually get himself a shot at the Title and win it, Mensah didn’t give up his pursuit.
That led to two different instances over the past two weeks where Mensah surprised Page out of nowhere and pinned him. The first time Mensah pinned Page he would get the locker room talking about it, which clearly got under Page’s skin. Page was asked about being pinned in the ring backstage and said it wasn’t real, didn’t count, and didn’t bother him, though it clearly did.
That led to tonight, when Page was confronted with the moment throughout the entire night backstage. Some of it was from other stars, while other times it came from Ava’s consultants Stevie Turner and Robert Stone. Page was frustrated by all the talk about the pin, but things got worse later tonight, as Page was attacked again by Mensah and then pinned one more time, enraging the Champion. That led to Page going to Ava and asking for a match against Mensah, and Ava granted the request while scheduling the contract signing for next week. The Title match will then take place on Great American Bash week two.
Great American Bash Week One Card
- NXT Women’s Championship Match: Roxanne Perez (C) vs Thea Hail
- WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships Match: Unholy Union (Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre) vs Meta-Four’s Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson
- NXT Heritage Cup Match: Tony D’Angelo (C) vs Tavion Heights
- Joe Hendry Concert
Are you excited for Page vs Mensah at the Great American Bash? You can talk all things wrestling with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb!
