Saquon Shugars Beats Dion Lennox at NXT Great American Bash, But DarkState Has the Last Word

Saquon Shugars got his revenge on Saturday night — at least for a few minutes. At the NXT Great American Bash Premium Live Event, Shugars picked up the victory over Dion Lennox in what marked the first time the two had shared a ring since DarkState unceremoniously cut Shugars loose from the faction.

The bad blood between Shugars and Lennox runs deep. DarkState — the trio of Lennox, Osiris Griffin, and Cutler James — ousted Shugars from their ranks, setting the stage for a collision that had been building ever since. When the two finally met at Great American Bash, Griffin and James made their presence felt during the match itself, ensuring the night wouldn’t be clean for the former stablemate.

Shugars did manage to secure the win, but any sense of closure was short-lived. DarkState swarmed him after the bell, leaving Shugars on the receiving end of a post-match assault from the group that turned its back on him. It’s a familiar story in professional wrestling — winning the battle doesn’t necessarily mean winning the war — and DarkState made sure to drive that point home in emphatic fashion.

The angle signals that this rivalry is far from finished. With the numbers game still working against Shugars, the question now is whether he can find an equalizer or whether DarkState will continue to have the upper hand every time he gets close to putting the feud behind him.