MR. TITO: Happy 4th of July! Celebrating the History of the Great American Bash Wrestling Events
NXT’s rendition of the “Great American Bash” premium live event (PLE) is just around the corner for July 12th, 2025. While it is WWE’s secondary developmental brand, I at least appreciate Triple H and HBK’s desire to keep that famous NWA Mid-Atlantic, Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) event name alive. To many who grew up through the 1980s and were wrestling fans, that event has major importance and it has several important moments in the 1990s.
Here we are with Independence Day for the United States happening on July 4th, so I figured that I’d bring back memories of this great NWA/JCP/WCW event that was once, arguably, either the top event of those promotions or at least second.
The first Great American Bash happened on July 6th, 1985… Yeah, 40 years ago… Do some of you feel old yet? But after the success of Starrcade and other NWA/JCP events, Jim Crockett Jr. and booker Dusty Rhodes came up with a new event and a great name… What’s more all-American than an event named the “Great American Bash”? Even more, the event had a side concert performance by David Allen Coe. For me personally, “F****** in the ****” is a fantastic song, especially when you can sing “I’d like to f*** the s*** out of you” loudly or even sing “please put my gland in your hand”. He probably didn’t sing that exact song, but it’s a classic, none-the-less.
For the first event during 1985, the champions heading into the event was Ric Flair as the World Champ, Magnum TA as United States Champion, and Tully Blanchard as TV Champ (which Dusty would defeat). The Road Warriors were challenging for the Tag Titles at this event… One would think that would be an amazing infrastructure to a wrestling promotion. However, Dusty Rhodes got older and the schtick got repetitive soon, Tully was designated for Tag Team wrestling when Ole left, and Magnum TA’s career was going to end in the near future due to an accident. Thus, if the late 1980s felt like “Ric Flair carrying everything”, it was the truth. He was their biggest star, by far, and even his schtick got old and repetitive, too.
The next year of Great American Bash for 1986 began more of a touring theme, with a couple of larger shows within that July to early August timeframes considered as major shows. In particular, the July 26th, 1986 show headlined by Dusty Rhodes vs. Ric Flair in a cage for the NWA Heavyweight Title. This match was the true blow-off and peak to their feud, as Dusty dropped the title back to Flair just 1 month later. They continued their feud, but it just wasn’t the same… Once Dusty finally slayed the dragon at Bash 1986, he should have had a healthy NWA Title run. However, it became the “Ric Flair Show” just a month later once again and it became very apparent that this was Dusty’s peak.
Yet, at Great American Bash 1987, its touring schedule saw the War Games format first introduced with a team of Dusty Rhodes and other babyfaces against the Four Horsemen… Then for Great American Bash’s 1988 touring schedule, it was War Games once again with Dusty Rhodes and a team of babyfaces against the Four Horsemen. Sure, the matches were incredible as there were so much talent on both sides of the cage, but Dusty vs. Flair had played out and fans were thirsty for a new babyface. Dusty tried to push a younger Lex Luger in that role, which we saw play out for the MAIN Great American Bash 1988 show on July 10th, 1988 and that continued through Starrcade 1988… But fans and even Ric Flair were loving what they saw out of Sting instead as a potential top babyface and die hard fans loved having Ricky Steamboat back for 1989 (even if 1989 drawing numbers didn’t show it).
Personally, I always laugh at the main event of the 7/10/88 show between Ric Flair and Lex Luger. The finish was Lex applying the Human Torture Rack to Ric Flair and the referee called for the bell. No, it wasn’t for Ric Flair submitting, but for health reasons because Lex Luger was BARELY bleeding. Meanwhile, we’ve watched NWA wrestling for YEARS where Ric Flair’s entire forehead was cut open and his bright white hair turned red, yet we never saw any referee stoppages. THIS showed how much Dusty’s booking was going off the rails, as it was a garbage false finish and not a credible looking one with the way Flair was allowed to bleed so much and the matches continued.
One thing is for sure on these Great American Bash or any late 1980s NWA shows… Tag team wrestling was HOT during this period of time with the Horsemen, Rock N Roll Express, Midnight Express, Road Warriors, and other teams that would form or join from other promotions. Jim Cornette takes a ton of heat for bragging up his era, but he was right… When Ric Flair became out of solid opponents during the late 1980s, these tag teams picked up the slack and headlined many shows.
Now, that said… Great American Bash 1989 is arguably the BEST show of all time. It’s at least in the Top 5 argument. LOOK AT THIS DAMN CARD!!!!!
– Jim Cornette vs. Paul E Dangerously (Heyman) in a Tuxedo Match that had no right to be good, but those two nailed it
– Sting vs. Great Muta
– Lex Luger vs. Ricky Steamboat (this is Ricky’s masterpiece!)
– Wargames with Road Warriors/Midnight Express vs. Freebirds/Samoan Swat Team
– Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk
The other midcard matches are reasonable… Always love watching the Skyscrapers, as Sid remains to be the master and ruler of the world. I get affectionate when talking about the Steiner Brothers and the Varsity Club.
And then you have Great American Bash 1990, the event that gave Sting his first NWA/WCW World Title reign. Ric Flair finally put him over and Sting’s outfit/paint job are remembered to this day. Fantastic match-up and put-over by Flair, though 1990 was difficult for the rest of the year for Sting with Ole Anderson as the booker. Ugh at that Black Scorpion complete crap! Rest of the 1990 GAB card is interesting, as you’ll see Lex Luger defeating the wrestler who became the Undertaker just a few months later in the WWE… You could see WCW changing, as other wrestlers moved on and newer ones, like Vader, begin to move in.
But then, 1991 just threw it all away…
Ric Flair and Ted Turner’s installed management, notably Jim Herd, just couldn’t get along. They saw his age and wanted to change up his character with shorter hair, an earring, and calling him “Spartacus”. Seriously, that was Herd’s idea to revitalize Flair. Yet, it was the surrounding promotion around Flair that was crumbling because many other wrestlers did not want to work for Jim Herd or his installed bookers, either.
Ric Flair eventually gained the NWA/WCW Title back from Sting, as Flair was revealed to be the Black Scorpion at Starrcade 1990, and was champion heading into Great American Bash 1991. The leading contender to challenge Flair as a babyface, as pushed by Herd and the returning Dusty Rhodes (same guy pushing Luger hard during 1988), was Lex Luger. Flair knew that once he put over Luger, WCW and Herd could dispose of him. Hence the resistance to the booking of GAB 1991 and that caused Jim Herd to outright terminate Ric Flair. Then when Ric demanded $20,000 to pay the NWA for the deposit on the big gold belt, but Herd refused… Hence why Ric Flair was able to take that exact title belt to WWE television and humiliate WCW in the process upon Flair’s 1991 debut with WWE.
Meanwhile, the show must go on for 1991 Great American bash which saw Lex Luger defeat Barry Windham for the vacant WCW Title. This began the crumbling of the WCW and NWA relationship, too, and the eventual split of the title lineage away from WCW. 1991 Bash was just BAD, as the energy wasn’t there amongst the remaining talented roster and the booking wasn’t that strong. But hey, if you need a good laugh, Kevin Nash is on this show as the great and almighty Oz!
1992’s show is forgettable, too, as WCW was in turmoil and 1992 was Bill Watts’s era, too, which took a lot of flash out of the product and got back down to the extreme basics. Too much dedication to the Tag Title tournament, too… But Sting vs. Vader for the WCW Title was top notch and recommended to check out.
Then, the Great American Bash disappeared and wouldn’t be seen again until 1995.
So what happened to it? Well, WCW had another management shake-up… Gone was Bill Watts and Eric Bischoff was hired to become Executive Producer. Eric went on a cost-cutting mission to help reduce losses for WCW and maybe he felt redundancy between “Beach Bash” and “Great American Bash”? Beach Bash continued through 1993 and was then renamed to “Bash at the Beach” for 1994. Not only that, it took Great American Bash’s July month.
When WCW acquired Hulk Hogan and many other past WWE stars, they looked to expand their Pay Per View schedule again and by 1995, the Great American Bash had returned but was now a June Pay Per View. GAB 1995 is a perfect blend of old WCW (Flair, Sting) versus old WWE (Macho, Meng, Duggan, with Hogan taking the event off). Oh, and I forgot the Ultimate Warrior clone named Renegade (may he rest in peace). The show, overall, is a struggle to watch, though I enjoy anytime when Ric Flair and Randy Savage wrestle.
But Great American Bash 1996 is when things began to REALLY sizzle for WCW for their ascension to the top. The show is amazing and that’s attributed to the talent collecting efforts of Eric Bischoff to add significant depth to the roster. This show features Dean Malenko vs. Rey Mysterio and Chris Benoit vs. Kevin Sullivan, as both of these matches blew peoples’ minds during 1996. Then, I’m weak to the goofy Flair and Arn Anderson vs. Mongo and Kevin Greene match. Yeah, the wrestling product of that match wasn’t great, but the ending of Mongo taking the money and joining the Horsemen was shocking.
Great American Bash 1996 matters mostly for 1 reason… It was the first Pay Per View appearance of the New World Order storyline.
Kevin Nash and Scott Hall appeared with Eric Bischoff at the entrance way for an interview segment. This was monumentally important for a few reasons. For one, it was the very first time that WCW and Hall/Nash acknowledged that they were NOT working for the WWE. While that seems obvious today, they way they were presented and not named made it seem like they were actually “invading” WCW. This was an answer to a lawsuit filed by the WWE for WCW presenting them as WWE contracted wrestlers appearing on WCW shows with their WWE characters. Ironically, WWE actually won that lawsuit years later and WWE earned the right to match any offer to purchase WCW from that lawsuit. Hence their ability to quickly buy WCW during March 2001.
The other big reason for this segment’s relevance is for Hall and Nash to attack Eric Bischoff. Hall punches Eric in the stomach while Kevin Nash powerbombed Bischoff off the stage into a covered table. Back during June 1996, this wasn’t done much at all compared to what you see today, let alone towards a non-wrestler. This sent SHOCKWAVES throughout the wrestling scene and really hyped the 3 on 3 match that was going to happen at the next Pay Per View, Great American Bash 1996, where Hall and Nash’s third man was revealed to be Hulk Hogan. This show is worth checking out merely on the historical nature, but damn those Malenko/Mysterio and Benoit/Sullivan matches are amazing. I know, I’m not allowed to praise Benoit for anything, but this was 11 years prior to the sad ending of the relationship that blossomed from this feud. My teenage self enjoyed that match…
For Great American Bash 1997, we’re in the THICK of the New World Order storyline and it’s a good slice of what WCW felt like back then. LOVE that this show was headlined by Diamond Dallas vs. Macho Man, as that was one of the best midcard feuds from 1997. Hall/Nash vs. Flair/Piper is a fun watch. Kevin Greene vs. Steve McMichael, which is following up on 1996’s match, wasn’t that good… Just not that much momentum to care by wrestling fans, though I hope Kevin Greene rests in peace as does Mongo. RIP. Sorry, but I love me some Glacier, Mortis, and Wrath stuff. Don’t care about how bad the matches may have been, but the look and presentation worked for me as a Mortal Kombat loving gamer back then.
Notice a pattern for 1995, 1996, and 1997? NO HULK HOGAN. Granted, he was taking time off for the 1996 version and I appreciate that he didn’t appear on that show.
But the main issue with Great American Bash is that it lost its luster since 1991. It became just another PPV at that point, insomuch that it was repackaged to “Beach Blast” for 1993 and then became the regular June Pay Per View by 1995. WCW was running Pay Per Views monthly and shows like SuperBrawl, Halloween Havoc, and Starrcade were more important to WCW’s scheme of things.
1998’s Great American Bash was on the backburner of WCW’s peak years… We’re on June 14th, 1998 and less than a month away from Hulk Hogan dropping the WCW Title to Bill Goldberg at the Georgia Dome Nitro. Goldberg, at this point, is United States champion, and is climbing through each member of the New World Order for that eventual match with Hogan. Here, he defeats Konnan in less than 2 minutes. Funny how 27 years later, Goldberg is still challenging for a World Title!
Hogan actually did this Great American Bash show, as he actually teamed with Bret Hart to wrestle Roddy Piper and Randy Savage (and then Piper and Savage hilariously have a one-on-one match). Sting is in the main event here, though wrestling over the tag titles with the Giant (later became Big Show in WWE less than a year later).
Not a good show… Neither was Great American Bash 1999, nor Great American Bash 2000. WCW was in complete decline at this point and the 2000 show is throwing everything against the wall to hope that something would stick. GAB 2000 was Hogan’s last real Pay Per View match for WCW, as he’d wrestle that non-match against Jeff Jarrett at Bash at the Beach 2000. Ugh… Bad memories.
That was it for the NWA, JCP, and WCW lineage for Great American Bash.
The show’s name would return during 2004 as a Smackdown brand Pay Per View, as WWE expanded their Pay Per View offerings following the 2002 brand split. Honestly, all I can remember about WWE’s version of the show was a really hot poster of Torrie Wilson wearing red, white, and blue gear. Other than that, I don’t remember much about those shows and the Great American Bash would continue to happen through 2008 before being renamed to “The Bash” during 2009 as a combined roster Pay Per View. Aside from the NXT revival, it would be the last PPV WWE brand offering… A Great American Bash themed WWE Smackdown television show happened during 2012.
Which brings us to NXT’s revival of the Great American Bash name. I appreciate bringing back the name, as many of us older WCW fans still appreciate it and the memories that those shows provided. BUT, it’s just another show for NXT and doesn’t have much separation from the other NXT shows (including some other shows that have former WCW names).
To me, Great American Bash may have peaked for its second show with Dusty Rhodes finally overcoming Ric Flair. Nothing would ever outlive that, as the next 2 years (1987 & 1988) tried to push the War Games match hard along with Lex Luger as the next successor to the Ric Flair throne. 1989 and 1990 were great shows with great moments, but damn, the air was fully let out of the NWA/WCW ball for Great American Bash 1991, a total TURD of a show that was ruined because of Jim Herd’s awful relationship with his top star, Ric Flair. After that, Great American Bash was just another Pay Per View that could have a good moment here or there and was basically LUCKY to be the first Pay Per View following the debut of the Outsiders, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash.
But you know what? If I’m any NXT wrestler reading this column, why not give us some new Great American Bash moments to remember. Make this event become a must-watch again. Here I am, placing a ton of pressure on a bunch of kids under the age of 35 to pull off something that their experience levels might not be ready for just yet.
The “Great American Bash” brand means a lot to many of us 40+ year-old wrestling fans. If any of today’s wrestlers can make this event successful, we’d appreciate it.
Or just bring out Torrie Wilson… I’m good with that. She still looks great at the age of 49, soon to be 50. As much as y’all today overly praise women’s wrestling, Torrie just needed to walk out there and she was over. Simple as that.