Aaron Rourke retains the Evolve Championship against Tristan Angels. During the match, the lights in the arena glow red, and Shiloh Hill's laughter can be heard, which unnerves Angels.
Backstage, Tony D'Angelo meets with Naraku with General Manager Robert Stone alongside him. Naraku hands D'Angelo a signed contract, and as Robert Stone gets between them as things get worse, D'Angelo opens the contract only to get blinded with a fireball.
After the commercial break, an ambulance takes Tony D'Angelo to the hospital.
Saquon Shugars and Dion Lennox meet face-to-face in the ring. Saquon talks about how DarkState (Lennox, Cutler James, Osiris Griffin) betrayed him and how he got the one-on-one match with Lennox that he wanted, and that he had to take out Osiris Griffin and Cutler James to ensure he had only Lennox to deal with at The Great American Bash. He also says that Saquon was taken out when Lennox acted like the leader when DarkState did not have one, then says he is a wrestler while Lennox is another pretender trying to take his spot. Lennox says he was put in high-profile positions because he got lucky and that Saquon was never supposed to be part of DarkState, but Saquon says there is no DarkState without him. He says that he loved DarkState and was the glue holding it together, and they knew that. He says that Lennox cannot wear his jockstrap and is not on his level, but Lennox laughs it off and says that everything about Saquon is a facade and that DarkState knows the real Saquon and only showed what they wanted to show about him. Lennox says that Saquon had to be babysat and had to be reassured when he second-guessed himself, and now that he is out, he hopes to set the world on fire. He says nothing will change and that Saquon is still his own worst enemy, and when he hesitates in their match, he will expose him. Lennox says that Saquon has signed his death warrant, and on Sunday, he stamps it.
Backstage, comedian Mat Mathews meets with Hank Walker and Tank Ledger before their match. In the background, General Manager Robert Stone is talking with The Vanity Project (Brad Baylor, Ricky Smokes, Jackson Drake, Myka Lockwood).
In this week's NXT Spotlight, we see the events leading up to the feud between Myles Borne and Tavion Heights.
Backstage, Tavion Heights is frustrated with all of his former friends having championships. He leaves, then Kendal Grey meets with Wren Sinclair over Izzi Dame and Arianna Grace.
Hank Walker and Tank Ledger beat Birthright (Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo and Uriah Connors) after comedian Matt Matthews ducks a punch from Charlie Dempsey, causing Dempsey to punch Lexis King out as Lexis King is holding Matthews down. Matthews then trips Dempsey, causing Dempsey to fall head-first into Lexis King's crotch.
Backstage, Sarah Schreiber interviews Shiloh Hill. Shiloh says that he found the Mr. NXT Pageant harder than any match he has ever had due to the amount of opening up about himself that he had to do, and now that he is cleared, things are about to get a lot worse for Tristan Angels when he makes him pay for what he did at The Great American Bash.
We see some brief footage of Tony D'Angelo at the hospital.
Backstage, General Manager Robert Stone oversees the contract signing for the NXT Women's Championship match at The Great American Bash. Lola Vice and Kendal Grey agree that they are the two biggest crossover athletes in NXT today, then Lola says she has Kendal figured out and she will prove why she is number one while Kendal is number two. Kendal says she needs to lead the women's division and elevate the Women's Championship to new heights, then signs the contract. Lola says that she has done the changing of the guard and that she paved the way for her, and while Kendal will have her moment, it will not be on Sunday and not at her expense. Lola then signs the contract.
EK Prosper beats Keanu Carver with a Sunset Flip and gets an upset win. After the match, Carver attacks Prosper from behind and continues to beat him up. Carver then powerbombs Prosper straight through the announce table.
We hear from Zaria, who says that she and Tatum Paxley stood under others' shadows and watched them fight over the North American Women's Championship a year ago, and now, they have become the champion themselves. She then says that Tatum cannot let things go and embarrassed her in her first match as champion and that Tatum is addicted to pain, then gives Tatum her championship rematch at The Great American Bash so she can beat Tatum again and Tatum can revel in her pain forever.
Backstage, General Manager Robert Stone tells Naraku that he should suspend him, but Naraku says he cannot do that due to not having a championship match. Keanu Carver shows up as Naraku leaves, and Carver says he will go through everyone until he gets his championship match.
Arianna Grace beats Izzi Dame in a WWE Women's Speed Championship #1 contender's match after Shawn Spears insists on Izzi high-fiving him, allowing Arianna to win with an inside cradle.
Backstage, Sarah Schreiber interviews General Manager Robert Stone. Stone says that there will be some AAA luchadors at The Great American Bash following a phone conversation with AAA General Manager Rey Mysterio, then says that he will have to find a new opponent for Naraku on Sunday. The Vanity Project (Brad Baylor, Ricky Smokes, Jackson Drake, Myka Lockwood) show up, and Jackson Drake wants in on the NXT Championship match. Stone immediately wants The Vanity Project out of his office.
Alexa Bliss talks about her time in NXT in this week's NXT Origins.
Backstage, Karmen Petrovic and Nikkita Lyons are watching Nattie being awarded a Guiness World Record when Jaida Parker shows up and hears the two of them talking about her before they leave. OTM (Bronco Nima and Lucien Price) shows up, but Jaida is not in the mood to talk. Lucien Price mentions Bronco Nima being on AAA, and Nima says he is just doing what he has to do.
Dorian Van Dux and "Super" Sean Legacy beat The Culling (Shawn Spears and Niko Vance). After the match, Niko Vance turns on Shawn Spears, throwing him out of the ring and choke slamming him through the announce table.
General Manager Robert Stone is in the ring. He says that the NXT Championship match will happen, then calls out Naraku, who heads to the ring. Naraku says he will take the title if he has nobody to challenge him, but all of a sudden, Mason Rook shows up and says that this is NXT, then says that if Tony D'Angelo cannot fight him, he will. As Mason says he wants to run this back with gold on the line, The Vanity Project shows up, and Jackson Drake accuses Robert Stone of ducking them as he says that Mason is undeserving of a title shot and that he is main event caliber. Mason Rook lays out The Vanity Project in seconds and goes after Jackson Drake, then Naraku demands Robert Stone give him the NXT Championship. All of a sudden, Tony D'Angelo shows up with bandages on his face and fights Naraku. Naraku gets his fingers on D'Angelo's right eye and gets away, but Tony D'Angelo is already ticked off as the show ends.
Here are the highlights from tonight's show!
Here are the top ten moments from tonight's show!