WCW Great American Bash 1992 (Version II)

Original Airdate: July 12, 1992

From Albany, Georgia; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura

Opening NWA World Tag Team Title Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Ricky Steamboat and Nikita Koloff v Brian Pillman and Jushin Thunder Liger: The set design for this one is like the polar opposite of the cool Beach Blast set, with simply a blue curtain, and nothing more. I guess they blew all of their summer budget on the sand. Koloff starts with Pillman, and they feel each other out, with Brian trying to stick and move on the bigger Koloff. Pillman and Liger take turns sticking and moving through a series of quick tags, but Brian runs into a backelbow, and Steamboat comes in with a dropkick. He actually pulls Liger into the ring without a tag for some abuse (a decidedly out of character move for Steamboat), before settling on holding Brian in an armbar. Liger tags in for a tandem dropkick for two, but runs into a well executed shoulderblock for two, and Nikita tags back in to bodyslam him. He fails to cut the ring in half, however, and a backelbow knocks Jushin right into a tag. Ricky holds Brian in a headlock, but Brian manages a backdrop during a criss cross, and a dropkick is added for two. Tag to Liger for a backbreaker and a flying moonsault for two (the crowd popping big for the high spot), and a tombstone piledriver is worth two. Somersault senton splash gets two, but Ricky counters a headlock with a side suplex, and passes to Koloff to thump this fool. And thump he does. Dragon comes back in with a three-alarm no-release backbreaker into a running powerslam for two, then back to Koloff for a tandem backelbow for two. They cut the ring in half on Liger, but Ricky telegraphs a backdrop, and Brian gets the tag. He comes in with a dropkick and a bodyslam on Steamboat for two, then randomly slows things down with a headlock. Oh, fuck you. Liger tags in for a handspring elbow for two, but Koloff gets the tag in anyway, and he hits Jushin with a jumping shoulderblock. Bodyslam follows, so Pillman comes in with a dropkick, then officially tags in - unleashing another pair of dropkicks. Bodypress and the Air Pillman hit, and a missile dropkick follows for two. 2^nd rope reverse thesz-press sets up a sleeper, but Koloff uses a stunner to escape, and both men get tags. Steamboat and Liger trade off, and Brian gets a blind tag for a slingshot shoulderblock for two. A surprisingly sloppy pinfall reversal sequence ends in both partners coming in illegally, and Steamboat ends up rolling through a flying bodypress at 19:25. This had some very nice moments, but overall it was too long for what it was. It would have been really great had they trimmed the fat off and done an eleven minute match instead. Steamboat and Koloff as a team feels like a clash, too. ** ½ (Original rating: *** ½)

NWA World Tag Team Title Tournament Quarterfinal Match: The Fabulous Freebirds v Hiroshi Hase and Shinya Hashimoto: Hashimoto is a substitute for an injured Akira Nogami. Michael Hayes starts with Hase, and they feel each other out on the mat. Over to Jimmy Garvin and Hashimoto for more of the same, with Hashimoto able to dominate to take control. He and Hase work Garvin over with chops and kicks, and Hashimoto bodyslams him for two. Tag to Hayes, and he quickly takes Hashimoto down in an armbar, but gets his eyes raked to end that effort. Hase with a bodyslam to setup a somersault senton splash for two, and a nice stomachbreaker follows. They cut the ring in half on Hayes, but he manages the tag to Garvin, who comes in playing the worst house of fire ever. He's so unbelievable in the role. As is, 'not believable.' And Hase doesn't believe him either, apparently - quickly shrugging him off and pinning him with a bridging northern lights suplex at 9:16. This felt very unfocused. ¼* (Original rating: *)

NWA World Tag Team Title Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Rick Rude and Steve Austin v Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham: Austin and Windham start, and they feel each other out, with Barry dominating until Austin bails, then tags Rude. I doubt he was, but Rick looks stoned out of his mind here. He wails on Dustin in the corner, but misses a charge, and eats a lariat followed by a side suplex. Rhodes takes him to the canvas in a hammerlock, but Rude escapes in the corner, and grabs a chinlock. I see we're wasting no time kicking it into high gear tonight. Rick tries a tombstone piledriver, but Dustin reverse for two - only to hit knees as he tries a splash. Tag to Steve with a lariat for two, but Dustin reverse a whip to allow himself a knee, and he takes a few punts until Austin falls out of the ring. Back in, Dustin grabs an abdominal stretch before tagging Barry - Windham coming in with a flying clothesline for two. Steve returns fire with a backdrop before passing to Rick, and Rude drops him with a side suplex to setup a pointed elbowdrop for two. Back to Steve for a superplex, but Windham blocks, and throws a bodypress for two. That triggers a distraction from Madusa on the apron, and Rude takes a cheap shot with a missile dropkick for two. Piledriver gets two, and Austin hits a flying axehandle followed by a hanging vertical suplex for two. The more you watch early Austin, the more impressive it truly is how much he was able to reinvent his entire style in the late 90s. I mean, there are tons of great wrestlers who only work one style well, and managing to master two very different styles is no small feat. The heels continue to cut the ring in half on Windham, but he escapes an incoming Austin, and gets the hot tag to Dustin. Rhodes with a 2^nd rope backelbow on Austin, but Rude breaks up the count, and Roseanne Barr the door! Austin tries a piledriver on Windham, but Rhodes comes off the top with a flying clothesline for the pin at 19:16. *** (Original rating: ** ¾)

NWA World Tag Team Title Tournament Semifinal Match: Ricky Steamboat and Nikita Koloff v Steve Williams and Terry Gordy: Williams and Gordy picked up the WCW World Tag Team Title in between their Quarterfinal match and now. Steamboat starts with Gordy, and it's feeling out process time, baby! The heels try to trap Steamboat in the corner, but he slips free, and tags to Koloff. Nikita takes Williams down with a drop-toehold into an armbar, and they feel each other out for a while. Steve hits an ugly overhead suplex for two (looks like they got their wires crossed there, and Koloff as expecting a different move), then grounds Nikita in a chinlock/bodyscissors combo. Koloff counters to a front-facelock, so Gordy comes in, but Nikita avoids a double team, and tags. This slow, methodical mat stuff isn't poorly worked, but it's like watching paint dry. Steamboat and Williams trade off on the mat, but Ricky gets overwhelmed, and they cut the ring in half on the Dragon. He manages to get away from Gordy long enough to tag Koloff, but Nikita misses a jumping shoulderblock, and Williams tags in to drop him throat-first across the top rope. Gordy grounds him in an STF as they cut the ring in half on their new victim, as the crowd gets restless sitting through mat hold after mat hold. Williams goes for the kill with the Stampede, but Nikita manages to block, and he gets the hot tag to Steamboat! The Dragon breathes fire on the way in, but the heat segments managed to kill the crowd so thoroughly that they can't even be bothered to uncross their arms for it. Steamboat tries a flying bodypress on Williams, but Gordy shoves him off the top rope, and Steve finishes with the Stampede at 21:39. This was really long, and really boring, with a heavy focus on slow, methodical mat wrestling. It wasn't poorly worked, just extremely dull, and extremely old fashioned. ½* (Original rating: *)

NWA World Tag Team Title Tournament Semifinal Match: Hiroshi Hase and Shinya Hashimoto v Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham: Feeling out process to start between both teams, with Rhodes and Windham generally controlling. Tons of painfully dull mat exchanges here, which are again not poorly worked, but a chore to sit through. It's almost unbelievable how out of touch Bill Watts' booking style was. It was certainly different than what the WWF was presenting though, give them that. I don't mean to pile on Bill, because he is a good booker in general, and I think he was really well intentioned during this run, but man was he living in the wrong decade. The Japanese team settle into cutting the ring in half on Rhodes, and if Windham is as bored as I am watching this, he might fall asleep out there on the apron. At least that would be interesting. Dustin dodges a flying kneedrop from Hase to get the hot tag to Barry, and Windham comes in with a floatover suplex for two. Powerslam gets two, but Hashimoto looks to break up an abdominal stretch, and Roseanne Barr the door - Barry finishing Hiroshi with a lariat at 14:55. This was practically over in the blink of an eye compared to almost everything else tonight. ¾* (Original rating: *)

WCW World Title Match: Sting v Big Van Vader: Hey, singles wrestling! How novel! At least this is finally something I can sink my teeth into with this boring ass show tonight. Vader doesn't waste any time with headlocks, going right to hammering the champion in the corner to start. Short-clothesline sends poor Sting bailing for the outside for a breather, and he manages to duck a clothesline on the way back in, but Vader no-sells everything thrown at him. Avalanche, but Sting sidesteps, and manages a side suplex and a pair of clotheslines to knock his challenger over the top! Back in, Sting fights off a test-of-strength with a series of jabs, and a pair of dropkicks knocks Vader onto the apron. The champion brings him back in with a vertical suplex for two, but the Stinger Splash is countered with a violent bodycheck. Clothesline, but Sting avoids it, and kicks the big man in the head to setup a small package for two. Vader bails to the outside to regroup with manager Harley Race, and he counters a sunset flip on the way back in with a seated senton splash. Vader adds a regular splash for two, and he taunts the world champion by putting him in his own scorpion deathlock finisher! A really poorly executed version of it, but whatever. I mean, he made the Rock's version look like the definitive one there. Vader goes back to what he does best by punching Sting in the head a few times, with the champ doing a great job of selling. Of course, with Vader, only so much of that is 'selling.' Vader with a clothesline and a scoop powerslam for two, but Sting sticks and moves his way into a koppou kick, and he adds a DDT! Poor Sting is probably out there wishing he got stuck in the tag tournament right about now, so he could spend fifteen minutes in a front-facelock instead of this punishment. He bounces off of Vader with a shoulderblock, but a trip to the top rope ends badly for the challenger. Given that this is under WCW rules, and that a trip to the top rope would result in a disqualification, the Stinger probably should have just let him finish his thought. Sting with a Samoan drop for two, and a German suplex is worth two. A weak dropkick sets up the Stinger Splash, but the move batters the champion as well. Another, but the dazed Stinger overshoots his mark, and knocks himself silly on the post - getting busted open in the process! Vader gets a dramatic two count out of the deal, but Sting has nothing left beyond that kickout - Vader creaming him with a powerbomb at 17:17. Kinda too little too late, but man this match was the kick in the ass this show needed. And now, back to more boring tag team mat wrestling! *** ¼ (Original rating: *** ¼)

Main Event: NWA World Tag Team Title Match: Steve Williams and Terry Gordy v Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham: Rhodes and Windham already beat one Steve Williams earlier on, so what's another? It's been a long night, so hopefully this is relatively quick, right? The Steiner Brothers show up before the match to threaten Gordy and Williams, but get sent to the back in short order. Williams starts with Windham, but it goes nowhere. Over to Gordy and Rhodes as the two teams continue to feel each other out in dull fashion. I'm so over this show, and can't wait for it to limp across the inevitable finish line already. I'm honestly surprised more people haven't walked out by now. I guess the world is filled with Elaine's, not Jerry's. Though, the arena does keep getting darker and darker, so they may have indeed done so. The heels settle into cutting the ring in half on Rhodes, as I start to count the number of ridges in my knuckles. If there are levels of boredom, then counting knuckle ridges has to be close to the top. Dustin escapes Steve long enough to tag, and Windham comes in hot! Floatover suplex gets two on Williams, and a gutwrench suplex is worth two. Sleeper, but Williams sends him flying into the corner to escape, and Gordy gets the tag. This show already feels longer than WrestleMania 33, just get on with it already. They cut the ring in half on their new victim, until a double knockout spot with Terry results in the tag to Dustin. He comes in hot, but almost immediately gets clobbered in a double team, and taken down in a front-facelock. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! This booking is so bad, it's almost like they're trying to actively troll their audience. What's sad is, I don't think they were. More mat wrestling bullshit commences, and I think the crowd is just so bored that they can't even be bothered to properly shit on this. Williams goes for the Stampede, but Barry comes in with a dropkick to save, and Roseanne Barr the door! Dustin goes for the kill with the Bulldog, but Williams blocks and clotheslines him at 21:01. Way, way too long. This match had little to say, and took forever saying it. It would have been over huge in 1980, though. DUD (Original rating: ¼*)

BUExperience: The more I watch of 1992 WCW, the more I realize that my biggest problem with Bill Watts’ booking style isn’t so much the silly rules, but the insistence on booking these overlong matches up and down the card. Shows like this are loaded with overlong matches that are needlessly stretched out when they’d have been far better served at half the length, or three-quarters the length. Don’t get me wrong, a match that warrants twenty minutes should get twenty minutes. It’s like anything else. Apocalypse Now is three hours long, and it doesn’t feel like it wastes a minute. Can you imagine if American Pie ran three hours? If you can, your name might be Bill Watts, and you might be booking 1992 WCW. No one else wants to see Stifler work a headlock for fifteen minutes, though.

DUD