The Great American Bash was an annual summer professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the National Wrestling Alliance's Jim Crockett Promotions and then by World Championship Wrestling. It is now produced by World Wrestling Entertainment. According to Ric Flair in his autobiography, To Be the Man, Dusty Rhodes invented the concept of The Great American Bash.
After the final Great American Bash was held by World Championship Wrestling on June 11 2000, the event would not be held again due to the acquisition of the WCW by World Wrestling Entertainment. However, after a four year hiatus, the event was revived by WWE in June 2004. The Great American Bash is the only former WCW pay-per-view event now held by WWE.
The Great American Bash dates and venues
| Event
| Date
| City
| Venue |
| National Wrestling Alliance
|
| The Great American Bash (1985)
| July 6 1985
| Charlotte, North Carolina
| American Legion Memorial Stadium |
| The Great American Bash (1986)
| July 1986
| A tour of several shows around the south and eastern parts of the country
|
| The Great American Bash (1987)
| July 1987
| A tour of several shows around the south and eastern parts of the country
|
| The Great American Bash (1988)
| July 10 1988
| Baltimore, Maryland
| Baltimore Arena |
| The Great American Bash (1989)
| July 23 1989
| Baltimore, Maryland
| Baltimore Arena |
| The Great American Bash (1990)
| July 7 1990
| Baltimore, Maryland
| Baltimore Arena |
| World Championship Wrestling
|
| The Great American Bash (1991)
| July 14 1991
| Baltimore, Maryland
| Baltimore Arena |
| The Great American Bash (1992)
| July 12 1992
| Albany, Georgia
| Gray Civic Center |
| The Great American Bash (1995)
| June 18 1995
| Dayton, Ohio
| Hara Arena |
| The Great American Bash (1996)
| June 16 1996
| Baltimore, Maryland
| Baltimore Arena |
| The Great American Bash (1997)
| June 15 1997
| Moline, Illinois
| The MARK of the Quad Cities |
| The Great American Bash (1998)
| June 14 1998
| Baltimore, Maryland
| Baltimore Arena |
| The Great American Bash (1999)
| June 13 1999
| Baltimore, Maryland
| Baltimore Arena |
| The Great American Bash (2000)
| June 11 2000
| Baltimore, Maryland
| Baltimore Arena |
Results
1985
The Great American Bash (1985) took place on
July 6 1985 at the
American Legion Memorial Stadium in
Charlotte, North Carolina.
1986
Jim Crockett Promotions used "The Great American Bash" as the name for a tour that had several PPV caliber shows around the country. In 1986, there were 13 Great American Bashes and
NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair defended his title at each one against
Ricky Morton,
Road Warrior Hawk,
Ron Garvin,
Nikita Koloff,
Robert Gibson,
Road Warrior Animal,
Magnum T.A.,
Wahoo McDaniel and
Dusty Rhodes. Rhodes defeated him for the title at the
July 26 Bash. Flair challenged for it on the last Bash on
August 2. The cities toured in 1986 were in order as follows:
July 1 in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 3 in
Washington, D.C.,
July 4 in
Memphis, Tennessee,
July 5 in
Charlotte, North Carolina,
July 9 in
Cincinnati, Ohio,
July 10 in
Charleston, West Virginia,
July 12 in
Jacksonville, Florida,
July 18 in
Richmond, Virginia,
July 21 in
Fayetteville, North Carolina,
July 23 in
Johnson City, Tennessee,
July 25 in
Norfolk, Virginia,
July 26 in
Greensboro, North Carolina and
August 2 in
Atlanta, Georgia.
July 5, 1986 in Charlotte, NC (Memorial Stadium)
July 26, 1986 in Greensboro, NC (Greensboro Coliseum)
1987
This was the first use of the WarGames: The Match Beyond match conceived by Dusty Rhodes. Rhodes was on the winning side in both events along with the Road Warriors, Nikita Koloff and Paul Ellering.
July 4, 1987 in Atlanta, GA (The Omni)
July 18, 1987 in Charlotte, NC (Memorial Stadium)
July 31, 1987 in Miami, Florida (Orange Bowl)
1988
The Great American Bash (1988): The Price of Freedom took place on July 10 1988 at the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.
1989
The Great American Bash (1989): The Glory Days took place on July 23 1989 at the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.
- Sid Vicious and Dan Spivey (w/Teddy Long) won a Two-Ring King of the Hill Battle Royal, also involving: Eddie Gilbert, Terry Gordy, Scott Hall, Bill Irwin, Brian Pillman, Ranger Ross, Mike Rotunda, Ron Simmons, Rick Steiner, Scott Steiner and Kevin Sullivan
- Brian Pillman defeated Bill Irwin (10:18)
- The Skyscrapers (Sid Vicious and Dan Spivey) (w/Teddy Long) defeated The Dynamic Dudes (Johnny Ace and Shane Douglas) (9:14)
- Jim Cornette defeated Paul E. Dangerously in a Tuxedo match (6:22)
- The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) defeated Mike Rotunda and Kevin Sullivan in a Texas Tornado match (4:22)
- Both Steiners pinned Sullivan.
- Sting defeated The Great Muta (w/Gary Hart) to retain the NWA World Television Championship (8:40)
- Sting pinned Muta.
- However, due to controversy in the match, the NWA World Television title was held up.
- Lex Luger defeated Ricky Steamboat by disqualification to retain the NWA United States Championship (10:26)
- The Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal), The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane) and Steve Williams (w/Jim Cornette) defeated The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin, Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy) and The Samoan Swat Team (Samu and Fatu) (w/Paul E. Dangerously) in a WarGames match (22:18)
- Hawk forced Garvin to submit.
- Ric Flair defeated Terry Funk (w/Gary Hart) to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (17:23)
1990
The Great American Bash (1990): New Revolution took place on July 7 1990 at the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.
1991
The Great American Bash (1991) took place on July 14 1991 at the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.
The card was originally to be highlighted by a Steel cage match between Ric Flair and Lex Luger for the WCW World Championship, and this match was heavily promoted on WCW TV. However, just a few days before the show, then-WCW Executive Vice President Jim Herd fired Flair over a contract dispute, stripping him of the title in the process. Flair took the the physical title belt with him to the (then) World Wrestling Federation, so WCW had to make a new WCW World Heavyweight Championship belt; however, the new belt could not be readied in time for the event, so an old belt (Dusty Rhodes' Florida Heavyweight Championship belt) was used as a temporary replacement, with a makeshift "WCW World Heavyweight Championship" plate affixed to the front.
1992
The Great American Bash (1992) took place on July 12 1992 at the Gray Civic Center in Albany, Georgia.
1995
The Great American Bash (1995) took place on June 18 1995 at the Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio.
1996
The Great American Bash (1996) took place on June 16 1996 at the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.
1997
The Great American Bash (1997): Savage/Page II took place on June 15 1997 at The MARK of the Quad Cities in Moline, Illinois.
1998
The Great American Bash (1998) took place on June 14 1998 at the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.
1999
The Great American Bash (1999) took place on June 13 1999 at the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.
2000
The Great American Bash (2000) took place on June 11 2000 at the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. It was the final Great American Bash produced by World Championship Wrestling due to the acquisition of the WCW by the World Wrestling Federation the following March.
External Links
References
See also