NWA (WCW) Great American Bash 1990

The start of the 1990s was met with a great atmosphere of change in the wrestling world. After a few stutter steps in the spring, the Great American Bash was supposed to be the ushering in of a new era for WCW – where perennial World Champion Ric Flair (who had essentially held the title since 1983) would put over younger superstar Sting once and for all, setting him on a path to carry the promotion into the 1990s, before riding into the sunset (the midcard).

Much like the WWF’s similarly themed WrestleMania VI a few months prior – which featured their perennial champion Hulk Hogan putting over their face painted superhero the Ultimate Warrior in grand fashion – WCW hoped a bold change in direction away from the ways of old would improve business (particularly among kids – the area WCW most lagged behind the WWF), as well as reduce the influence of Ric Flair, who some in management perceived to be aging and out of touch. But, as Vince McMahon was already learning with his new world champion, sometimes things don’t quite go as planned.

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Opening Match: Brian Pillman v Buddy Landel: Landel tries to slap Pillman around to start, but gets caught with a 2^nd rope bodypress coming out of the corner, and backs off - allowing Pillman to dropkick him to the floor. Back in, Buddy hooks a lazy wristlock (they look like they're holding hands), so Brian responds by showing him how to do it properly. Buddy decks him for being a smartass, and blocks another bodypress attempt with a backbreaker. Chopfest goes Pillman's way, but a dropkick doesn't - giving Landel a series of two counts. Short-clothesline gets two, and he works a chinlock, but Pillman just won't stay down, so Landel motivates him with a suplex. Slugfest ends with Pillman cornering him for a ten-punch, and a bodypress, but Landel rolls through for two. He gets cocky, however, and Pillman finishes him with a flying bodypress at 9:45. Pretty dull opener - Landel not really a great opponent for Pillman, and Pillman himself getting enough grief from booker Ole Anderson that he wasn't particularly motivated to carry this too far. ½*

Mike Rotunda v Iron Sheik: Sheik jumps him with his flagpole before the bell (to humble him - he often humbles people with his flagpole), and hits a clothesline, but gets caught with a sunset flip for two. Bodyslam and a dropkick send Sheik scurrying to the floor to regroup/work the crowd, and he rakes Rotunda's eyes on the way back in to takeover. Gutwrench suplex gets two, and he hooks an abdominal stretch, but that's like blatant theft, and Rotunda hiptosses free - only to miss an elbowdrop, and get side suplexed for two. Slugfest goes Mike's way, so Sheik rakes the eyes again, but Rotunda reverses a suplex for two. Second try gets Sheik two, but Rotunda counters a butterfly suplex into a backslide for the pin at 6:48. They both gave it a respectable effort, but Sheik was already WELL past his prime, and this was a bad period for Rotunda - in limbo between the Varsity Club and York Foundation days, before finally jumping to the WWF the next year. ½*

Doug Furnas v Dutch Mantel: Furnas keeps him at bay with the threat of lightning kicks, but gets caught in a side-headlock (maybe actual lightning would have been more effective), so he starts throwing shoulderblocks to put Dutch on the floor. Criss cross ends with Furnas press slamming him, and he unloads a ten-punch count before blasting Mantel with a dropkick, and hooking a wristlock. Flying splash misses, however, allowing Mantel a short-clothesline for two, before going to a wristlock of his own. Snap suplex gets two, but Furnas catches him with a powerslam coming off the ropes, and a well executed belly-to-belly suplex finishes at 11:19. You know, I would have happily suffered thorough Mantel/Landel if it meant the trade off was Pillman/Furnas. It's almost like they had a computer program for pairing guys with their least compatible opponents - which is actually possible, considering they were essentially lighting farts with Ted Turner's hundred dollar bills for most of the year. Not that this was horrible (though, the transitions were), they just didn't mesh well. ½*

Harley Race v Tommy Rich: Race (still sporting his purple WWF tights, with the crown on them) gets a great reaction from the crowd. Big criss cross ends with a Race clothesline, but he misses an elbowdrop, and gets slammed. Rich with a side-headlock, but Harley wrestles out, and hits a well executed piledriver, then takes him out to the elevated ramp way for a suplex. Slugfest coming in ends with Race getting clotheslined to the floor, and slammed out there for good measure - but he manages to beat the count, so Rich suplexes him, and hits a 2^nd rope fistdrop for two. Gut-punch slows him down, however, and a belly-to-belly suplex gets Race a two count. Swinging neckbreaker, but a bodypress sends them both tumbling over the top, and Rich with a flying bodypress coming back in - only for Harley to roll through and pin him at 6:33. While he'd mill around a bit longer, this was essentially Race's last hurrah before segueing into the role of manager the next year - though he still looked good here. ¾*

NWA United States Tag Team Title Match: The Midnight Express v The Southern Boys: The Midnight's jump them before the bell, and just destroy them - but can't keep it going on the floor, and the challengers unload double-teams to clean house. Bobby Eaton and Steve Armstrong get down to official business, and Steve catches him with a swift armdrag, so Eaton retaliates with a slam - only to get caught with one when he goes to the top rope. Armstrong with fists of fury, and a dropkick sets up a well executed (hang time!) flying clothesline to send Eaton scurrying to the floor to regroup. Tag to Tracy Smothers for a savate kick, and Eaton cowers in the corner, stalling him. He walks right into a backdrop when he heads back over, and another savate kick is enough for him to pass to Stan Lane - hopefully for a savate kick showdown. And, indeed, Stan starts stretching his legs for all the savate action to come, and he reels one off after winning a duel of a slugfest. Tag back to Eaton, but Smothers catches him with an armdrag, and blasts him with a baseball slide. That draws Lane in for a cheap shot, but they can't build momentum, as Armstrong comes flying off the top with a bodypress, and they dog pile the Midnight's until they bail for manager Jim Cornette to yell at on the floor. The dust settles on Lane and Smothers - Eaton immediately distracting the referee for Stan to dump Tracy over the top, and Cornette to get off a shot with his tennis racket. The Express cut the ring in half - Eaton hitting the Alabama Jam, but a double-team backdrop gets countered with a sunset flip, and Smothers gets the tag. He's a house of arson, and a four-way brawl quickly breaks out - the challengers getting Lane with a bearhug/missile dropkick combo for the pin - only to have Eaton distract the referee, and hit the Rocket Launcher... for two. The Midnight's argue the count, and Smothers cradles Eaton in the chaos for two - only to have Lane fire off another cheap shot, and Eaton to cradle him for the pin at 18:14. Solid match that really heated up towards the end, making good use of the tag formula, flawless synchronized double-teams from the Midnight's, and well paced throughout. ** ½

Tom Zenk v Vader: This is Vader's WCW debut. And he wastes no time unloading on Zenk in the corner with those stiff body shots. Avalanche and a short-clothesline send Zenk running, but Vader literally drags him back in just to have the pleasure of press slamming him. Elbowdrop and a suplex leave Zenk for dead, and a splash puts the cherry on top at 2:15. It's kinda poetic that on the same show that Sting finally rose to the top, and won the World Title, Vader debuted. DUD

The Fabulous Freebirds v The Steiner Brothers: There are words for the way the Freebirds are dressed, but their might be kids reading, so I won't fucking say them here. They manage to jump the Steiner's on the way in (their bedazzled outfits likely distracting them), and quickly get rid of Rick Steiner to have their way with Scott Steiner - only to run into a bunch of suplexes. Proper start with Jimmy Garvin and Rick - as the crowd chants 'faggot' at the Freebirds - and Rick pleases them by laying him out with a lariat. Tag to Michael Hayes to begin his usual stall session, finally getting backed into the corner, and having has ass literally bitten by Steiner. Oooh, flirty! Both guys tag, and Scott starts passing out dropkicks to put Garvin on the floor for more stalling. Hayes finally mans up and heads in, but gets butterfly suplexed, and heads right back out. Inside for a sloppy Rick powerslam, so Garvin fires off a cheap shot from the apron, and the Freebirds double-suplex him on the floor. Bodyslam gets Hayes two, and a bulldog for two, as the Freebirds cut the ring in half. Garvin ends up getting bulldogged himself, however, and Rick gets the tag off to Scott to trigger a four-way brawl. Naturally, the Freebirds try a double-team, but Hayes ends up getting overhead suplexed for the pin at 13:43. All the stalling kept it from really going anywhere - which is a shame, 'cause this could have been a fun power exhibition from the Steiner's. ½*

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Sid, Arn Anderson, and Barry Windham v Paul Orndorff, Junkyard Dog, and El Gigante: Orndorff and JYD were brought in by Sting to help in his battle with Ric Flair and the Horsemen - since presumably the best way to beat his longtime rivals was turning to old WWF midcarders. Anderson starts with Orndorff, but then thinks better of it, and passes to Sid (in his weird singlet period) to kill Paul properly. Legdrop misses, however, so the other Horsemen run interference while Sid recovers - only to have JYD headbutt him into an Orndorff backslide. Not surprisingly, a six-way brawl quickly breaks out - though by 'brawl' I mean more 'the Horsemen run to the floor before anyone makes contact.' Orndorff finally drags Arn in for JYD to headbutt, and they pinball him in the corner, the highlight of which is Arn flying half way across the ring - eyes bugging out - in awe/fear of Gigante. The Horsemen continue to get slaughtered by the midcard brigade, until a cheap shot leaves Orndorff down for Sid to powerslam. Windham suplexes him for two, but another brawl breaks out, and the Horsemen throw JYD over the top to get themselves disqualified at 8:48. Really dull stuff; no flow, and feeling like an eternity - even at under nine minutes. The match style is usually good for hiding weaknesses within quick tags, but the face team only had one decent worker to begin with (Orndorff), and the debuting Gigante didn't even tag in - spending the match making faces at the Horsemen. DUD

NWA United States Title Match: Lex Luger v Mark Callous: They trade wristlocks to start, Luger dominating, with Callous complaining of hair pulling all along the way - only to break the hold with a hairpull. Luger throws a bodypress out of a criss cross for two, and armdrags him into an armbar - only to walk into a big boot from Mark. Callous with an armbar of his own, and he busts out a ropewalk forearm - which highlights his genius, as it's completely different than the slow, methodical way we later became used to seeing it - instead basically running the ropes. Backdrop, but Luger counters with a sunset flip for two, but a backdrop attempt of his own gets him suplexed. Doesn't matter, though, 'cause he's CHOKING UP!! Series of Clotheslines! Torture Rack! - but Callous manager Paul E. Dangerously breaks it up, so Luger switches gears, and finishes this dull, plodding match with a clothesline at 12:08. WCW (in their endless brilliance) allowed Callous' contract to expire shortly after this, and he ended up in the WWF a few months later, where he remains today as The Undertaker. DUD

NWA World Tag Team Title Match: Doom v The Rock 'n' Roll Express: Ron Simmons starts with Robert Gibson, and, shockingly, Simmons overpowers the smaller Gibson - but misses a blind charge, and gets rolled up for two. Tag to Butch Reed, but he gets slammed, so Simmons comes in to blast Gibson with a backelbow, and Doom cut the ring in half until Reed gets a boot to the face off of a backdrop attempt, and Gibson tags Ricky Morton. He tries to light the house on fire, but a Doom double-team nips that in the bud, and the champs quickly switch gears to cutting the ring in half on Morton instead. Reed eventually misses a splash to allow the tag back to Robert Gibson, and he's a proper house of arson - but Doom must be the fire brigade, 'cause Simmons kills him with a flying shoulderblock to retain at 15:38. Just going through the motions here - this was essentially an extended squash for the tag champions. ½*

Main Event: NWA World Title No Disqualification Match: Ric Flair v Sting: Big staredown to start, and Sting no-sells a series of chops before press slamming the champion. Hiptoss and a dropkick put Flair on the outside, so Sting just hiptosses him again out there, then clotheslines him in. Flair cowers in the corner - which of course is just bait to lure Sting into an eye rake. Shindrop and a hanging vertical suplex, but Sting no-sells, and fires off a pair of clotheslines. Flying bodypress gets two, so Flair goes to the floor to strategize - coming back in targeting the challenger's knee. Figure Four, but Sting tosses him off, so Flair levels him with chops instead. Back to the knee, but Sting dodges a shindrop, and turns it right into his own Figure Four. Doesn't work, of course, but it gets Flair's attention, and Sting slams him off of the top rope. Backslide gets two, so Ric sweeps the leg to take away the vertical base, and pounds the knee. Figure Four, but once more Sting blocks - but he can't sway the momentum, and Flair keeps working him over until he SURFS UP!! Press Slam! Ten-punch! Flair Flip! Clothesline! Suplex! Stinger Splash! (Poorly Executed) Scorpion Deathlock! - but Flair makes the ropes. Pinfall reversal sequence ends with Sting bridging into a backslide for two, so Flair clips the knee and goes for the Figure Four again - this time getting cradled at 16:05. Afterwards, all the babyfaces rush the ring - pyro going off everywhere - to usher in the Sting-era. They tried their best to make this into an epic, torch-passing moment (the buildup, the clean victory booking, the celebration, the pyro, etc), but the whole thing failed to live up to the hype - coming off less as a torch-passing blowoff, than a mediocre Sting/Flair match. It was well paced, and psychologically sound enough, but neither guy put in a particularly notable effort for such a big match situation - some ugly transitions, Flair not even properly getting his cheat on, and lack of drama in building  attacks on Sting’s previously injured knee. * ¼

BUExperience: As noted, this was supposed to be the grand beginning of a new era (the event was even subtitled ‘New Revolution’ in promotional materials), but ended up as such a lifeless show (not helped with the relative failure of the main event) that the revolution was stillborn.

It’s certainly historically significant for Sting’s first World Title win – essentially ending a six and a half year reign for Flair, who had only done brief trades with the title since winning it at Starrcade in 1983 – a show that featured an actual epic, torch passing moment. Even still, Sting finally capturing the title was a huge feel good moment, and had his title reign not been so poorly booked, it probably would have been the start of a new era for the promotion. Instead, the title was back on Ric Flair by 1991. DUD