NWA (JCP) Great American Bash (July 1985)

 

Original Airdate: July 6, 1985

From Charlotte, North Carolina

Opening Match: Ron Bass v Buddy Landel: The video quality for this is insanely good, actually. Bass chases him out of the ring right away, and Landel stalls. Bass eventually chases after him, and grabs him into the ring for a test-of-strength - with Bass stomping his foot to play mindgames. Bass throws him around, and Buddy hangs with it long enough to nail him, and turn the tide. Landel dumps Bass to the outside for JJ Dillon to abuse, and inside, Buddy works a chinlock. Landel continues working him over in dull fashion, until Bass goes on the comeback trail. A vertical suplex gets him two, and he grounds Landel for some mounted punches, then starts bashing his head into the mat to really beat him up. Buddy bails, so Bass chases, and time expires at 15:49. This was really slow, and dull. Especially for an opener. ¼*

NWA National Tag Team Title Match: Arn Anderson and Ole Anderson v Dick Slater and Buzz Sawyer: The challengers run in to kickstart the match, and they clean house. The dust settles on Arn and Dick, and Slater unloads in the corner, ahead of a bootrake. That draws Ole in, so Sawyer takes him out, and the referee works to restore order again. Arn forces Slater into a heel corner for a double team, but Dick comes in swinging, and manages to shake it off. Sawyer comes back in to assist, and the challengers whip the heels into one another to clean house again. The dust settles on Ole and Dick, and Ole tries to sucker him into a trap, but Slater is on to him. Slater gets a wristlock on, and he passes to Buzz to bite Ole some. Tag back to Arn, but Sawyer throws him around as well. The champs keep trading off, each trying to make progress against Sawyer, and each failing. Back to Dick for a flying elbowsmash, and he bodyslams Ole to set up an elbowdrop for two. Slater gets nailed, and worked over for a bit, until Sawyer gets the hot tag, and Roseanne Barr the door! Sawyer hits Arn with a clothesline, but Ole nails him to prevent the pin, and covers himself at 9:43. This was solid. Oddly, the ring announcer calls it a ‘DQ’ win for the champs, despite the referee clearly counting the pinfall. I guess it wasn’t just the wrestlers who were doing all the drugs back in the 80s. *

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Superstar Billy Graham, Barbarian, and Abdullah the Butcher v Buzz Tyler, Manny Fernandez, and Sam Houston: Two Buzz’s?! No wonder the promotion went under. Barbarian and Manny start, and Barbarian powers him around, but Manny is fiery. Manny manages a 2nd rope bodypress for two, and we have tags to Graham and Sam. Houston tries working an armbar, but Billy overpowers him, and shoves him into a shot from Abdullah. Butcher tags in with a shoulderblock, and a second one crumples poor Sam up like an accordion. The heels work over Houston, until things break down, and Roseanne Barr the door! In the chaos, Sam manages to cradle Graham for the pin at 7:22. Not much of note here. ½*

Dog Collar Chain Match: Jimmy Valiant v Paul Jones: Gosh, just how long did this feud last? It seems like any JCP supercard from this era features some sort of gimmick match between these two. Abdullah stabs Valiant with his spike as the official is trying to get the collar on Jones, which allows Paul to go to work as the match gets underway. Jones beats on him with the chain, and Valiant is bleeding right away, of course. Things go badly when Jones tries climbing the ropes, however, resulting in Valiant crotching him with the chain. Valiant makes the comeback, so Butcher comes back in, but it backfires, and Jones eats the pin at 3:45. I have yet to enjoy a match between these two. They’re, like, 0 for 2,000. DUD

NWA World Tag Team Title Match: Ivan Koloff and Krusher Khruschev v The Road Warriors: The Warriors are the AWA Tag Team champions here, and are announced as such, though those aren’t on the line. The idiot ring announcer continues his brilliant run by announcing Krusher as ‘Nikita Koloff.’ Ivan and Hawk start, and Hawk powers him around. Hawk with a backdrop, and a powerslam gets him two. Tags all around, and it’s Animal’s turn to do a power display. Krusher wants a test-of-strength, so Animal gives it to him, and it goes to a stalemate, surprisingly. Krusher works an overhead wristlock, and a bodyslam follows. Animal fires back with a press-drop across the top rope, and both guys make a tag. Ivan goes to the top, so Hawk slams him off, and lands a knife-edge chop to set up a fistdrop for two. Hawk holds a standing front-facelock, and then passes to Animal to do the same. The Warriors switch off on Ivan again and again without tagging to rile up Krusher, and Hawk delivers a press-slam. Ivan does not go up easy for those. The Warriors continue cutting the ring in half on Koloff, until Krusher catches a tag in, and manages to get control of Animal. Hawk gets the hot tag and runs wild, and he clotheslines Ivan for two. That draws Krusher over, so Animal comes in, and Roseanne Barr the door! Animal tries a powerslam off the middle rope, but Krusher nails him with a chair to block it. Hawk grabs the chair and nails everyone with it - including the referee - and you’d better believe that’s a DQ at 14:40. Well, you knew we weren’t getting a clean finish here. ½*

NWA United States Title Match: Magnum TA v Kamala: The guys getting driven to the ring in golf carts is fun. Kamala attacks during the pat down, and goes to work. A criss cross allows Magnum to leap with a bodypress, however, and he hammers on Kamala until the challenger bails. Kamala comes back in calling for a test-of-strength, so Magnum goes to lock up, but Kamala throws a cheap shot - only for Magnum to see it coming, and nail him first. You’ve got to get up pretty early in the… no wait, Kamala nails him on the second try, and beats his ass down. Kamala goes to work again, and Magnum does a bladejob, since it’s JCP, and that’s just what you did in JCP. Kamala hits the splash, but covers the wrong side of the champion, so it goes nowhere. Kamala opts for a clawhold instead, and that gets some traction, but an avalanche misses. That sends Magnum on the comeback trail, and a trio of dropkicks take Kamala down, so Skandor Akbar comes in for the DQ at 6:41. DUD

NWA World Title Match: Ric Flair v Nikita Koloff: David Crockett is the special guest referee for this one, and Flair makes an entrance via helicopter, in one of the most incredible bits of spectacle from the period. I’m honestly surprised the WWF didn’t try to replicate it with Hulk Hogan. Lex Luger flying in on the Intrepid was pretty cool, and Charlotte Flair doing it at WrestleMania was too, though that one was kind of a miss since she had to land outside of the stadium, and then make her way in. Koloff powers him around to start, and he grabs a side-headlock. Flair manages chops into the corner, and a hiptoss, and he’s got Koloff’s attention now. Koloff goes back to power with a backbreaker for two, and he grabs a bearhug to wear the champion down from there. Flair fights free, so Koloff chokes him down, and then goes back to the bearhug after Crockett breaks the choke up. Flair uses an inverted atomic drop to escape again, but he’s still battered, and Koloff pounds him into the corner. Flair throws chops to buy breathing room, but Koloff largely ignores them, and smacks the champion down. Koloff with a snapmare for two, and he goes back to the bearhug. He gets Flair to the mat in the hold this time for a few two counts, but can’t put it away, and Ric wrestles back to a vertical base. Koloff gives him a dirty break in the corner, and another backbreaker gets the challenger two. Flair keeps coming with shots to the gut, and manages a snapmare of his own to set up a kneedrop for two. Flair sweeps the leg and hammers the part, then delivers a side suplex to lead into the figure four! Koloff rakes the eyes to furnish an escape, and he holds Flair in a front-facelock, but Ric whips into the ropes to escape. Koloff drills him with a shoulderblock on the rebound, so Flair throws chops, and grabs a sleeper on a staggered challenger. Koloff escapes in the corner, and delivers a bodyslam, then whips Flair into the corner, flipping him over the buckles. I do like how there aren’t mats outside of the ring, and it’s just literally grass. Almost a backyard wrestling feel to it. Koloff follows to the outside to post the champion, and you’d better believe Ric is bleeding off of it. I mean, would you expect less? Inside, Koloff stays on the bloody champion, and he lands the lariat! He wastes time covering, however, and Flair is able to kick out at two. Koloff responds by trying another bearhug, but Flair claps his ears to shake it off. Koloff thumps him, but Flair is feeling the adrenaline, and responds in kind. Ric with a schoolboy for two, and he unloads with chops to drop the big man. Ric uses a vertical suplex to set up an elbowdrop for two, and he muscles Koloff into the corner to hammer. Ivan Koloff trips him up, allowing Nikita to hammer the champ down. He goes in for the choke, but gets overzealous, and shoves the referee down. He doesn’t call a DQ, so some fan runs in and grabs Koloff, but gets taken out by security (and nearly starts a riot in the process). Flair with a flying bodypress for two, and a series of chops follow. Koloff tries a slam, but Flair topples him to retain at 23:12. This wasn’t as good as their Starrcade match the next year, which makes sense, since Koloff as the heel (controlling all the offense) isn’t the best fit from a workrate perspective. It was okay though, albeit limited. Afterwards, the Russians continue the attack, and you can see more fans trying to rush the ring, but getting cut off on the outside. The heat for this was pretty nuts, and they’re lucky it didn’t turn into a riot. * ½ 

Main Event: NWA Television Title Cage Match: Tully Blanchard v Dusty Rhodes: If Rhodes wins, he gets 'possession' of Baby Doll for thirty days. Posturing to start, with Dusty dominating. Tully manages to get control long enough to send Dusty into the cage, and of course, there’s blood. Blanchard with a 2nd rope elbowdrop, and he tosses Rhodes into the steel a second time. Dusty comes back, and sends Blanchard into the cage to draw blood, and he slaps on a figure four, but Blanchard reverses. They end up in the ropes, and Tully throws an elbowsmash after the break, but Rhodes responds in kind. Blanchard tries a piledriver, but gets backdropped into the cage, and Dusty hits a piledriver of his own at 11:19. This was really dull. DUD

BUExperience: It’s really cool to see this show in complete form… even if it isn’t a good show. 

At least check out Flair/Koloff, if only for the unreal heat, if nothing else. 

DUD