WCW Bash at the Beach 95'

RATING LEVELS:

Curt Hennig – A “GOAT” show, as Perfect as possible

Watch It – A consistently good show worth watching in its entirety

Watch It…With Remote in Hand – 3 or more above-average ratings

High Risk Maneuver – Mostly filler, inessential, but 1-2 good matches

DUDleyville – Zero redeeming qualities, chore to watch

Bash at the Beach 95' - July 1995

Huntington Beach, CA

COMMENTATORS: Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Hulk Hogan is the reigning WCW World Champion, Sting holds the United States Championship, The Renegade is the TV Champion, and the Harlem Heat are the recognized WCW World Tag Team Champions.

The second ever Bash At The Beach kicks off with a video package hyping up the man challenging for the United States Championship – Meng. This is followed by some energetic words from the champ, Sting. Unfortunately, there’s more energy and enjoyment to be found in watching these pre-match vignettes than anything that actually occurs in the match, which starts pretty slow and stays there for a little too long. There are a handful of good moments, specifically Meng dishing out a brainbuster from the apron and following it with a triple backbreaker, and Sting’s selling is good, but the last 3 minutes don’t take this match anywhere new and the finish just comes off as anticlimactic. Road Warrior Hawk shows up at the end, but adds more nothing. I could see some people really hating this match, but I found it to at least hit peaks of “average” thanks to Sting’s selling. (2/5)

The WCW Television Champion, The Renegade, is up next, defending his gold against “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff. Like Arn Anderson, its obvious that the plan was to put The Renegade in with veterans to make him look good, but that plan is not a good one – Renegade is sloppy throughout, managing to deliver one of the worst looking dropkicks since the heyday of Erik Watts. To make matters worse, the finish is poorly executed and unnecessarily cluttered by Orndorff getting his arm up (but this not being seen by the ref, Nick Patrick). This only infuriates the crowd, who pop big for Orndorff piledriving the champion after the bell. (0.5/5)

After two pretty lackluster matches, we cut to a Dungeon of Doom video featuring the WCW debut of the Ugandan Giant, Kamala. I love these Network nuggets of awesomeness. (3.5/5)

Kamala vs. Jim Duggan is next. Nothing too special to see here, though, I am a bit confused as to why this match was booked so evenly – was the point to instantly make Kamala not seem like a legit threat to Hogan? The arrival of the ridiculous-looking Zodiac leads to the end of a forgettable bout. (1/5)

The next match is yet another one that the audience essentially groans through – Diamond Dallas Page (with Kimberly and Max Muscle) taking on Dave “Evad” Sullivan. I know I described Zodiac as “ridiculous-looking,” but DDP’s outfit is equally garish. Compared to the previous match, DDP at least brings energy, working hard to try to capture the crowd’s attention and leave an impression. Unfortunately, he’s just not that great a worker at this point and his opponent is one of the worst I know of. Half-point for being kept mercifully short. (0.5/5)

In what I believe is the first-of-its-kind in WCW, the next match is a Triangle Tag Team match for the WCW World Tag Team Championships held by Harlem Heat. Their opponents on this occasion are The Blue Bloods and the former champs, The Nasty Boys. While both the Heat and the Nasties get some cheers from the crowd, the Blue Bloods are the clear heels (and workhorses) – anytime they are in the ring, it is a better match than when they are on the outside. Overall, by-the-numbers and kind of boring. I did really like the finish, which featured the Nasties hitting back body drops on Booker T and Regal only for their sure-fire victory to be snatched from them. After the match, Harlem Heat and their manager, Sister Sherri, cut a decent promo. (2/5)

The Lifeguard Match (a Lumberjack match) is next, pitting Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair in a rematch from the previous month’s Great American Bash. I’m not usually a fan of lumberjack matches, but at least this one makes sense – these two spent an inordinate amount of time brawling outside the ring at The Bash. In this match, the lumberjacks do a nice job of sticking to their job. Savage and Flair go flying outside multiple times, but instead of this turning into a heel/face battle on the outside, everyone just joins in to toss the two competitors back in the ring. I like how much energy both guys show, though they might have even overdone it – at one point, there seems to be a miscommunication as Flair crashes down from the corner onto Savage and it looks like Flair should have a cracked jaw. As the match continues, neither guy slows down, but they also don’t bust out anything new or fresh, which prevents the match from reaching "epic" levels. When Arn Anderson sneaks in to cause interference, it is less dramatic than it should be - he’s been a non-factor for the rest of the match, making his interference seem like an idea they threw in just to get to the finish, which is good but almost too “easy.” Still, easily the best match of the night so far and further proof that these two, in the ring, against eachother, could really do no wrong. (4/5)

The cage goes up for tonight’s main event – WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan vs. Vader. For those keeping score at home, this show would mark Hogan’s 1-year anniversary as WCW Champion as he had defeated Flair for the strap at the previous year’s Bash At The Beach spectacular. Prior to the match, we get words from Vader and Hulk Hogan, who is joined by Dennis “Rod the Bod” Rodman, who (as a San Antonio Spur) had lost in the Western Conference Finals against the future champs, the Houston Rockets. Vader’s offense in this match is noticeably lighter than his work with others, but that doesn’t mean it’s a poor performance – his domination of the Hulkster is much more credible than anything Hogan does in retaliation. At one point Hogan adorns Vader’s helmet and it is almost awkward to watch such an out-of-touch performer try to get over with such a corny idea. When Vader hits a pair of Vaderbombs on Hogan, they look crippling, as does an awesome (but poorly shot) vertical suplex. Hogan, unfortunately, pulls out nothing new or exciting in this match, failing to live up to the intensity that Vader brings and, instead, sticking to his tried-and-true playbook. This leads to one of the worst finishing sequences in recent memory, starting with a botched big boot spot and leading to yet another appearance from the cartoonish Zodiac and Kevin Sullivan. The actual ending is an almost inexplicable burial job by Hogan where he hits Vader with multiple leg drops but, instead of pinning him, poses for the crowd until he finally decides to climb out. Post-match, Ric Flair shows up and gets in Vader’s face, blaming him for not ending Hulkamania, at least ending the show on an interesting note. Vader’s work here is great, but Hogan doesn’t go the extra mile and instead of giving the fans one for the ages, this one is just above-average. (3.5/5)

With an average match/segment rating of 2.12-out-of-5, Bash At The Beach 95’ is one of the worst shows I’ve had to slog through recently. While it doesn’t quite suck as much as SuperBrawl V, Starrcade 94’, or even the WWE InVasion PPV (stay tuned for my WWE 2001 PPV reviews!), it is very bad, saved only by one of the best lumberjack matches I’ve ever seen and a main event that shows just how good Vader was, even when his dance partner wasn’t willing or able to match his intensity. The rest of the card is a waste of time.

FINAL RATING - DUDleyville