great american bash

Six of the Best – NWA/WCW Great American Bash

Hello You!

Back again with another list, this time for The Great American Bash. Just to quickly explain, I’m only covering full Pay-Per-View events that happened under the NWA or WCW umbrella, so basically the previous Bash tours prior to 1988 aren’t included, which means the great War Games matches don’t make the list. Rest assured that I like them a lot however.

Also I’m ignoring the WWE Great American Bash shows for this list and decided just to focus on the NWA/WCW ones. Apologies if you’re a big fan of JBL winning the WWE Title or Muhammad Hassan getting killed off with a powerbomb, but those events aren’t going to be considered for this list because I wanted to give WCW it’s time in the sun. Maybe I can do the WWE ones on their own one day, but to be honest outside of Umaga Vs Jeff Hardy, John Cena Vs Bobby Lashley and Chris Jericho Vs Shawn Michaels I’d be drawing a blank over what matches would actually qualify to make the cut. It certainly wouldn’t be Undertaker and Big Show in a Panjabi Prison that’s for sure. Maybe I could do Six of the Worst for the WWE Bash events? Something to ponder…

This was actually quite difficult to get this down to six matches as I whittled it down to eight and then had to make some tough choices. If you look at the matches in bold in the honourable mentions, they were the two matches that only just missed out. All eight were perfectly valid choices in my mind, so I just went with the six I personally enjoyed the most. The exclusion of the two matches that didn’t make it is no comment on their quality, but I had to have six so I cut them.

As always, these are just my own personal picks. This isn’t supposed to be some sort of objective list or anything. If I leave out a match that you think warrants inclusion, then please feel free to put it down in the comments section below. As with previous lists, I’ll be listing the matches in chronological order.

So without further to do, let’s take a look at Six of the Best for The Great American Bash!

Read moreSix of the Best – NWA/WCW Great American Bash

Great American Bash 2004

Great American Bash 2004
Date: June 27, 2004
Location: Norfolk Scope, Norfolk, Virginia
Attendance: 6,500
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

We had to get here at some point and that’s not the most appealing thing in the world. The double main event will see JBL challenging Eddie Guerrero for the WWE Title in a Texas Bullrope match (totally different than the Montana bullrope match) and the Undertaker vs. the Dudley Boyz in a Concrete Crypt match (totally different than the good idea match). Let’s get to it.

Read moreGreat American Bash 2004

Rock Star Gary reflects on NWA Great American Bash ’90: New Revolution

Live from Baltimore, MD

Airdate: July 7, 1990

Attendance:  10,000 (8.900 paid)

Hosted by Jim Ross & Bob Caudle

Will this be Sting’s crowning moment? Or will the “Nature Boy” continue to reign as World champion? Read on!

Read moreRock Star Gary reflects on NWA Great American Bash ’90: New Revolution

NWA World Championship Wrestling, June 21, 1986

The Road Warriors are beaten down like never before, Ric Flair in action, Baby Doll suplexes MulkeyMania, and a textbook example of how to get a monster heel over.

Read moreNWA World Championship Wrestling, June 21, 1986

Rock Star Gary reflects on…NWA Great American Bash ’88: The Price for Freedom

Live from Baltimore, MD

Airdate: July 10, 1988

Attendance:  13,000

Hosted by Tony Schiavone & Jim Ross

Read moreRock Star Gary reflects on…NWA Great American Bash ’88: The Price for Freedom

Rock Star Gary reflects on the Great American Bash ’87

Taped from several cities

Airdates:  several dates

Attendance:  varied by location

Hosted by Tony Schiavone and Jim Ross with token appearances by Bob Caudle and David Crockett

As you can see, this was not so much a one-night extravaganza as much as a “best of” tour with blockbuster matches. Of course, the most historical portion of the tour was featured prominently to provide everyone with arguably Dusty Rhodes’ greatest idea.

Read moreRock Star Gary reflects on the Great American Bash ’87

WCW Wednesdays!

No, it’s not Women Crush Wednesdays, it’s World Championship Wrestling here weekly on the BoD!

Which would you rather watch: A great PPV such as Great American Bash ’96 or an awful one like Great American Bash ’91?

You make the call!

Bash ’96 included:

  1. “Nature Boy” Ric Flair & the “Enforcer” Arn Anderson versus Steve “Mongo” McMichael & Kevin Greene. While Heenan “coached” the Horsemen, “Macho Man” Randy Savage coached the football duo.
  2. WCW World Champion the Giant defended his title against WCW World TV and World Tag Team Champion the “Total Package” Lex Luger.
  3. Sting sought payback against Lord Steven Regal.
  4. John Tenta (w/ half a head of hair) sought retribution against Bubba Rogers.
  5. Rey Mysterio, Jr. made his WCW debut against WCW Cruiserweight Champion Dean Malenko.
  6. DDP defended his Lord of the Ring ring against Marcus Bagwell.
  7. Konnan squared off against some cat named El Gato for the US title.
  8. The Steiners fought Scott Norton & Ice Train.
  9. “Ramon” and “Diesel” confronted Eric Bischoff.
  10. Oh, and there was a falls-count-anywhere match between the Taskmaster and Chris Benoit that wasn’t too shabby.

Bash ’91 included:

  1. Lex Luger and Barry Windham squared off in a cage for the vacant WCW World title.
  2. Sting fought Nikita Koloff in a Russian chain match.
  3. The Rock’n’Roll Express exploded as Ricky took on Robert.
  4. Ron Simmons faced Kevin Nash Oz.
  5. “Stunning” Steve Austin & Terry Taylor took danger to another level in a scaffold match against Bobby Eaton and PN News.
  6. The Diamond Studd Scott Hall wrestled Tom Zenk
  7. The Freebirds and Badstreet took on “The Natural” Dustin Rhodes & the Young Pistols
  8. Johnny B. Badd fought the Yellow Dog in a bounty match.
  9. Big Josh and Black Blood tangled in a lumberjack match.
  10. And, El Gigante and the One Man Gang stunk up the ring.

So what’s your pick and what are your thoughts about your pick?

Great American Bash 2000

Great American Bash 2000
Date: June 11, 2000
Location: Baltimore Arena, Baltimore, Maryland
Attendance: 7,031
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden, Scott Hudson

The company is in a very bad place right now and it seems like it can only get worse. At this point the company is all about Russo and Bischoff plus a few older wrestlers who can beat up huge groups of young talent in a matter of seconds. The main event here is Nash vs. Jarrett for the title, even though Nash has given away the World Title twice in the last year and a half. Let’s get to it.

Read moreGreat American Bash 2000