WCW Great American Bash 1995

After a two year hiatus, WCW brought the Great American Bash back as part of its beefed up pay per view lineup for 1995, the main event set up at the previous months Slamboree, where Ric Flair attacked Randy Savage’s father Angelo (at ringside as part of the ‘Legends Reunion’), reigniting their feud for a WCW audience – the blowoff appropriately scheduled to take place on Fathers Day.

From Dayton, Ohio; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan.


Opening Match: Brian Pillman v Alex Wright: They fight over a wristlock to start - with tons of flippy-floppy counters and handshakes to hammer home that they're both faces. Into the corner, Pillman catches him with a headscissors takedown, and a dropkick, so Wright responds in kind - ending with Pillman in a headscissors on the mat. Enzuigiri, but Pillman ducks it, and hooks the ankle into a surfboard - but Wright won't quit. Another headscissors takedown, but Wright swats him away on the dropkick follow-up this time, and hooks a surfboard of his own. Sunset flip gets two, and a cradle for two, so Pillman smacks him with a chop to slow him down. Wright tries to offer his hand again, but Pillman tugs him to the floor instead, and starts firing off more chops. Backdrop, but Wright counters with a faceslam - only to have a splash hit the knees, and Brian starts punting field goals into his ribcage. Bodyscissors, and a gutwrench gutbuster gets two. Pillman keeps after the ribs, but a suplex gets reversed - sending Pillman crashing over the top to the floor, and Wright baseball slides into him. Plancha puts an exclamation point on it, and a missile dropkick gets two on the way back in. Pillman dumps him back to the floor for a tope, but misses a bodypress of the 2^nd rope - crashing into the guardrail in the process. Wright tries to capitalize with a flying clothesline coming back in, but that misses, too, and we have a double knockout - leading to a dropkick stalemate as both stagger to their feet. Pillman tries a superplex to finish things, but Wright shoves him off, and a flying bodypress gets a dramatic two count. 2^nd rope version, but Pillman blasts him with a dropkick on the way down - only to get crotched on the top rope as he tries a follow-up, and German suplexed for two. Samoan drop, but Pillman counters into a sunset flip, only for Wright to hook the legs into a cradle for the pin at 15:25. Match was designed to put Wright over, but the crowd was firmly behind Pillman from the get-go. Brian segued from subtle heel into outright heel to try and get the crowd to react appropriately, until they both started busting out highspots, and Wright managed to win them over. Good opener. ***

Rabbit v Kimberly Arm-Wrestling Match: Dave Sullivan v Diamond Dallas Page: If Sullivan wins, he gets a date with Page's valet (and Playmate) Kimberly. If DDP wins, he gets Sullivan's pet rabbit. Somehow, that doesn't seem like a fair trade. Not much to say here - Page acts like a dick-heel, and they arm wrestle, only for Kimberly to 'accidentally' knock into Page to cost him the match. This was TV stuff.

Jim Duggan v Sgt. Craig Pittman: I remember being terrified of the super-intense Pittman as a kid. Today, it's really Jim Duggan that scares me more, though. Pittman tries a quick go-behind, but Duggan counters into a hiptoss, and starts a 'USA' chant - which is kind of a ridiculous taunt to use against a guy whose entire gimmick is pride in the USMC. They spill to the floor for Duggan to stomp him, but Pittman fires off a closed fist, and posts Duggan's knee. Inside, Pittman with a leglock, until Duggan shoves him off - sold in the goofiest way possible, as Sarge goes flying to the outside off of it. Duggan starts unloading right hands, and the 3-Point Stance hits - but Pittman hooks him into his Code Red Armbreaker as Jim goes for the cover. Duggan grabs the ropes quickly, but Pittman refuses to break the hold, and gets himself disqualified at 8:11. Not a good match, but well paced, and served its purpose in making Pittman look like a badass psycho. ¼*

Harlem Heat v Bunkhouse Buck and Dick Slater: This was sort of an impromptu match, as Buck/Slater manager Robert Parker had insulted the honor of Heat manager Sherri during the pre-game show to set it up. Heat clear the ring right away, before Stevie Ray (wearing a shirt tonight, in an effort to help racists tell him and Booker T apart) starts with Bunkhouse Buck. Quick eye rake allows the tag to Booker, and he blasts Buck with a variety of kicks until he passes to Dick Slater. He doesn't have much better luck, however, and the Heat work him over until he passes back to Buck. I'm not glossing over anything here: there's literally nothing to comment on. It's all punch-kick stuff so far - I'm not sure a single wrestling hold (let alone a sequence of spots) has been used yet. A cheap shot from Slater eventually puts Stevie Ray down, and they cut the ring in half until Stevie dodges a double-team, and tags Booker back. He's a house of heat, and (with the help of Sherri) cradles Buck for the pin at 8:39. Really dull punch-kick stuff - the crowd sleeping through it all. DUD

WCW Television Title Match: Arn Anderson v The Renegade: Renegade (WCW's Ultimate Warrior clone) had only debuted (not just for WCW - like, in general) only a few months before this - and was not at all ready for a title run of any sort. Not that details like that stopped them from booking it, or anything. Just FYI. Anderson tries to jump him during the staredown, but Renegade no-sells, and starts throwing clotheslines until the champ bails to regroup. Inside, Renegade with a side-headlock, but Anderson counters into an abdominal stretch. Renegade reverses, and Anderson ends up on the floor again, as the crowd starts heading to the snack bar. Inside, Arn with a sleeper, but Renegade reverses that, too, so the champ side suplexes him. Anderson tries a chinlock, but Renegade powers up, so Anderson gives him a spinebuster - only getting two 'cause he's CLONING UP!! Samoan Drop! Flying Splash! And the Ultimate Imposter win the title at 9:06 - complete with pyro display, likely to try and wake the crowd up. This was like watching a dark tryout match - not at all engaging, or pay per view caliber. This probably marks the low point for the title, to that point - though it would get worse: Jim Duggan infamously 'winning it' by finding it in a trash can (a literal trash can, not late-90s WCW) a few years later. DUD

WCW World Tag Team Title Match: The Nasty Boys v The Blue Bloods: Big brawl to start, spilling out of the ring, and up the aisle. The Nasties dominate by taking Steven Regal on a trip to pitty-city (their armpits), which might actually be WORSE than the time Regal literally kissed Vince McMahon's bare ass. In the ring, Jerry Sags gives Regal a pump handle slam for two, but Brian Knobs take a thumb to the eye, and Regal tags Earl Robert Eaton (Bobby Eaton). He dodges a blind charge from Knobs to allow Regal to bash him with a flying elbowdrop, as the Blue Bloods cut the ring in half - though their strategy of repeatedly trying to beat him by countout doesn't make much sense in a title match. Ironically, it's Eaton missing a blind charge that allows the tag to Sags, but he doesn't even heat up enough for a house of fire - doing more like a 'house with the heat turned up kinda high' - until Regal fires off a cheap shot to turn down the thermostat. Eaton with a flying kneedrop, and they cut the ring in half again - but Regal misses a somersault senton, and Knobs gets the tag. It immediately turns into a four-way brawl, and in the chaos Harlem Heat (engaged in a long feud with the Nasties) run in, but their attempt to take the Nasties out backfires, and Knobs pins Eaton at 15:03 to retain - setting up their Triangle Match for Bash at the Beach. Really long, dull stuff - even the announcers bored with it. But, hey, it set up another really bad match for the next month, so, there's that. DUD

WCW United States Title Match: Sting v Meng: This is the finals of a tournament for the vacant title, which Vader was stripped of for attacking Dave Sullivan on TV - though, really, they should have gotten him a trophy to go along with his title for that. Meng with a series of kicks to keep Sting at bay, which Sting counters by shouting. Meng somehow recovers from the decibel abuse, and puts Sting on the mat in a chokehold. Meng works the body with kicks and chops, so Sting tries a dropkick - only to miss a bodypress, and end up on the floor. Inside, more choking from Meng, and a well executed sit-out powerbomb gets two. Shoulderbreaker for two, but Meng's had enough of this 'working' thing, and grabs a nervehold. Sting finally tries a backslide to escape, but Meng overpowers, and hits a 2^nd rope headbutt for two. Side suplex, but Sting counters in midair, and topples him in a bodypress for two. Jumping clothesline keeps the momentum going, and a bulldog actually WORKS! Inverted atomic drop sends them tumbling to the floor, where Meng misses a blind charge into the post, and Sting hooks the Scorpion Deathlock - only for Meng to power out. Sting keeps after the knee anyway, and hits a flying clothesline to keep Meng horizontal. Flying splash for two, and a leaping DDT finishes at 13:35. Heated up during the last few minutes, but this one could cure insomnia - slow, restholdy, and overlong. They would have a better rematch the next month at Bash at the Beach. ½* 

Main Event: Ric Flair v Randy Savage: Flair's brilliant pre-match interview line: 'I took your wife in '92, and your dad in '95!' Not surprisingly, Savage goes right at him - taking him to the mat, and mounting him with punches. Backdrop and a series of clotheslines send Flair to the floor, and Randy quickly follows up with a flying axehandle. Flair rakes the eyes to try and slow him down, but even half blind, Savage manages to backdrop him on the floor. Into the post, but Ric reverses, and that takes the pep out of Randy's step. Flair with an axehandle off of the apron, and back inside, he works Savage over in the corner. Shindrop has Savage crawling to papa in the corner, but Flair's all over him. Savage starts unloading closed fists to put Flair on his back, and tries to choke the life out of him - a spot that's completely in context here, and not dull. Flair Flips to the floor, but Savage isn't right on him this time - allowing him to go after Angelo. The distraction allows Flair to clip the knee, and he drops him knee-first onto the rail for good measure. Savage beats the count, so Flair clips the knee again, and works the leg - but Savage is good and pissed, and even from flat on his back, keeps slugging at him. Figure Four, but Savage overcomes Flair's blatant rope use by reversing the hold to a break. Leg gone, Randy still dives after him, but Flair fires off a swift shot at the knee. Slugfest goes Randy's way, and the Flying Elbowdrop - but Savage pulls him up at two. He goes out to grab the ring bell (interestingly from underneath the ring, which obviously isn't generally where it's kept - leading us to believe he planted it to make sure no one gets in his way of Steamboat'ing Flair), but Flair bails to the floor, and Savage misses a flying axehandle out there - crashing hard into the rail. Flair immediately dives on him, fists flying, and with Randy down, he goes after dad - knocking him over, and grabbing his walking cane to wallop Macho with for the pin at 14:41. Intense, well paced, and psychologically sound match (with Savage selling the knee well throughout) - probably the best of their WCW series. ** ½

BUExperience: A couple nice slices of bread on either side, but some really nasty meat in the middle. WCW put out a real bunch of stinkers during this period – and while this was better than a lot of their other efforts – it certainly wasn’t good, especially when you consider that the bulk of the card (Sting/Meng, Page/Sullivan, Harlem Heat/Nasties/Blue Bloods, Flair/Savage) was mainly set up for rematches at Bash at the Beach. DUD