Carmelo Hayes Beats Ilja Dragunov at NXT Great American Bash 2023
Carmelo Hayes successfully retained his NXT Championship by defeating Ilja Dragunov in the main event of NXT Great American Bash PPV 2023 event.
The match was set for the main event, where Hayes and Dragunov showed an equal level of competition. The match was full of high-flying moves and hard-hitting moves throughout. The pair kicked off the bout with a fiery exchange of chops and punches.
One of the main moments of the match came when Hayes countered Dragunov coast-to-coast with Code Breaker. In response, Dragunov countered a leg drop by hitting a powerbomb. Trick Williams, who was present at ringside, provided support and enthusiastically hyped up Hayes throughout the match.
"Get a dream, hold on to it, and shoot for the sky!"@Carmelo_WWE, is ready to put on another show.#NXTGAB pic.twitter.com/iXU6NhYYOG
— WWE (@WWE) July 31, 2023
At the end of the match, Williams was showing off Hayes the NXT title belt at the ringside to show him what he was fighting for. Dragunov attempted to Hayes with a torpedo, but Hayes ducked, and Dragunov caught Williams with the move. However, Dragunov also his head on the title belt in the process. Hayes then delivered a diving leg drop from the rope to get the pinfall victory.
During the July 11 episode of NXT, Ilja Dragunov defeated Bron Breakker to become the #1 contender for NXT Championship.
Dragunov and Hayes were also seen as tag team partners in the July 25 episode of NXT. Carmelo Hayes, Trick Williams, and Ilja Dragunov defeated The Schism (Joe Gacy, Rip Fowler, and Jagger Reid) in a three-man tag team match.