WWE's Wes Lee Retains NXT North American Title in Thrilling Match at Battleground

By Matthew Aguilar

WWE kicked off NXT Battleground with the sure-to-be thriller match for the North American Championship, and it absolutely lived up to that bar. Wes Lee looked to defend his Championship from two challengers in The Dyad's Joe Gacy and Tyler Bate, and after a cautious start between all three competitors, things hit a second gear and never slowed down from there. All three came close to capturing the gold and there were a host of near falls in a matter of minutes. Lee would go out of his way to knock Bate out of the fight and then was able to bring Gacy down and get the pin and the win in what will easily be one of the best matches of the night.

After exchanging moves and avoiding the numbers game, all three competitors shifted into a different gear, with the action hitting the outside. Gacy captured some momentum here, but Lee would go on a big run, stomping on Gacy and then slamming Bate to the mat. Bate avoided Lee's kick and got in some offense of his own, throwing Gacy into the corner and slamming Lee down into a cover, but Gacy intervened and ended up bringing the elbow down on Lee.

Bate had Gacy up on his shoulders and spun him around, and then somehow caught Lee''s leg, picking him up and spinning them both around before throwing Gacy onto Lee. Bate went for the cover on Gacy but Lee broke it up, and all three were down on the mat.

Lee and Bate threw some punches while Ava Raine checked on Gacy, and then Lee hit a big combination that ended with a punch to the face. Bate flipped Lee into Gacy, who caught him and then threw Lee into Bate. Gacy caught Bate again and then caught Lee, bringing them both down with a double slam. Gacy locked Lee into. Submission while Bate ws out of it, but Bate got to his feet and kicked Gacy in the head. Gacy wasn't fazed though, so Bate hit a flurry of punches to the head, finally breaking the hold.

Gacy locked Bate in a submission next, but this time Lee broke it up. Lee took shots from both Gaudy and Bate, but when they bounced off the ropes they hit each other, and Lee then bounced off the ropes himself and collided with Gacy and Bate. He knocked both down and went for a cover on Gacy but he kicked out, and then he followed it with a cover on Bate but he kicked out as well.

Lee would lock in a sleeper hold on Gacy, causing him to go down to a knee, but Gacy was able to fight his way back to both feet, and he slammed Lee into the corner turnbuckle and went for the cover. Bate flipped off the turnbuckle and broke it up, and then covered Gacy, only for Lee to then come out of nowhere for a cover of his own. Gacy then brought things full circle, slamming into Lee and going for a cover, but Bate broke it up.

Gacy ended up on the top rope but Lee didn't hit him, instead sailing over him and colliding with Bate on the floor. Gacy slammed Lee down with a uranage but Lee hit a Pele kick out of nowhere, and he went for the cover and the pin, winning the match and retaining his Title.

What did you think of the match? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!

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