WCW Bash at the Beach 94'

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 94' – July 1994

Orlando, Florida

CHAMPIONSHIP BACKGROUNDS: Ric Flair is the reigning WCW World Heavyweight Champion heading into tonight’s show, having unified his goal with Sting’s International Championship at Clash #27. The team of Sullivan and Jack are the WCW Tag Team Titles, Steve Austin holds the US Championship, and Lord Steven Regal is the recognized TV Champion.

COMMENTATORS: Tony Schiavone & Bobby Heenan

Country singer Daron Norwood of Giant Records kicks things off and, my god, it has to be one of the most ridiculous openings to a wrestling show ever. The hair.  The shirt. The odd choices the camera man makes in showing the live crowd. Just an unbelievably "so bad-it's good" segment. (4/5)

He died 6 days before I posted this review.

In the opening contest, we have Johnny B. Badd challenging Lord Steven Regal for his Television Championship. In 94', Badd has shown serious improvement from where he was in 92'-93', to the point that he is able to keep up quite well with the technical wizard Regal. Speaking of Regal, his selling here might be my favorite element of the match as he does a fantastic job making Badd's offense look devastating (clutching a damaged arm throughout the bout) while drawing heat every time he takes a "breather" or tries to disengage from his opponent. When Regal connects with a dropkick, you can hear the crowd gasp and then break into a strong USA chant, the crowd in the palm of their hand. The finish isn't the most fluid thing I've ever seen, but it is 100% believable and is a great example as to why having defined finishers as the only means to end a match is such an awful trope. Fantastic bout and probably Badd's career peak up to this point. (4/5)

In the ring, "Mean" Gene Okerlund welcomes Antonio Inoki and presents him with a plaque recognizing his achievements in wrestling. I wasn't sure where this was going until Regal came back out, complaining that he too deserves an award, noting that he ended the career of one legend (Zybysko) and wouldn't mind teaching a lesson to Inoki either. The crowd goes wild when Inoki takes off his jacket, but Regal is pulled away by his manager. This segment was wisely kept nice and short, but it was still effective, getting more heat on Regal and giving Inoki something to do aside from just showing up and smiling. (3/5)

Vader is here! His opponent is The Big Boss - err, I mean, The Boss, no…it's The Guardian Angel now. At Spring Stampede, these two put on a helluva match, which was reason enough for me to be excited by this one. When the bell rings, Vader comes out swinging, hitting a particularly nasty looking heel kick. The Guardian connects with a pickup slam, followed by a stalled body slam that is mighty impressive. Hard-hitting and fast-paced, neither guy lets up at any point, connecting with devastating move after devastating move, including a rare submission hold from the Baby Bull. When Vader connects with the moonsault,  the match reaches another level and the crowd becomes completely unglued - which leads to even more inspired work from the two hosses who are hellbent on destroying eachother. The finish is disappointing, but makes me want to see Round 3, so at least its effective. A better, more thrilling ending would put this one right up there with their match at Spring Stampede, but regardless, this is still a really fun 10 minutes of action. (3.5/5)

The next bout is a tag team grudge match pitting Bunkhouse Buck and Terry Funk vs. Dustin Rhodes and "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson. The Rhodes/Bunk feud is considered by many to be the best rivalry of 94', no small feat when you consider that this very show is headlined by the first Flair/Hogan PPV match and that 94' is also the year of the Bret/Owen feud and the HBK/Razor Ramon rivalry, all of which delivered some historic matches. On commentary for this one is Jesse Ventura, a sub-in for Heenan. Personally, I think changing up announcers keep things interesting and fresh at the desk even on a single show - but what do I know? I'm only a fan. Early on we get a view of Colonel Parker's latest talent acquisition, Meng, in what I believe to be his first appearance on WCW PPV. The action starts out fairly clean for such a heated program, but the crowd is engaged. I like how Dustin breaks the rules a bit by tossing his opponents over the top rope when the ref is turned - a clever spot that seems tame today, but, at the time, would've resulted in a DQ (though, to be clear, there was always some gray area regarding when and how this particular rule was applied). Elsewhere in the match we get Dusty taking a nasty spill out of the ring, Funk hitting a textbook reverse neckbreaker, and one of the greatest 1-on-2 comebacks I've ever seen...followed by a shocking finish that is so excellently executed, it just makes this match even greater. Really, really great performance from everyone involved. (4/5)

Steve Austin vs. Ricky Steamboat for the US Championship is next. Austin's trunks read "Dragon Slayer" on them, a cool detail. For the first few minutes, these two cut a really swift pace before slowing it down to tell the story of a crafty heel willing to try anything to outsmart his fired-up babyface opponent. What works for me is that, at every turn, Steamboat is in control - the way a veteran of his stature should be - but Austin continues to pull out one exasperating rally after another, showing off his conditioning and really looking like a great villain. In one stretch, Austin hits a knee to the back of the head that looks great, but Steamboat is able to muster enough energy to mount a brief comeback till Austin cuts him off with a whiplash clothesline. The give-and-take action and big spots flow nicely throughout the match, a low boil that with short stomps on the gas pedal. When Austin starts trying to toss Steamboat over the top, there is almost an audible gasp as fans wonder if this match could end with Austin "copping out" and taking the DQ loss. Soon after, you get one of the coolest piledriver spots I've ever seen (and I've seen a fair amount). After 20 minutes of great action, you get a satisfying ending that makes both men look like they should be in the main event. Excellent, excellent match worth scoping out. (4.5/5)

Cactus Jack and Kevin Sullivan defend the Tag Team Championships against "Pretty" Paul Roma and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff next. Orndorff starts things off with lots of preening and prancing, but surprisingly, we don't get the huge "Paula!" chants that Mr. Wonderful got a year earlier. Similarly, Roma draws crickets for his schtick, which to me is a bit harsh considering the actual in-ring work is no worse than average. In fact, this match might suffer most from being too "middle-of-the-road" compared to what Jack had become known for in his months-long war with the Nasty Boys. Would things have been better if the majority of the match told a simpler "face-in-peril" story? Maybe...but the crowd seems generally disinterested no matter who is in control (at one point, a "wave" even breaks out). Though, all participants worked hard, none grabbed the audience's attention, which caused this match to fall flat and drag towards the end despite obvious attempts to win over the crowd. (2.5/5)

Main event time - Hulk Hogan challenging Ric Flair for the WCW World Championship Match. This match starts with lots and lots of "extras," including Michael Buffer introductions, preceded by the arrival of celebrity guest Shaquille O'Neal. Mike Tyson is also on hand. When the match does begin, its back and forth for the most part, with the crowd very much engaged. While hardly as epic as Hogan's battles with Savage or Warrior, let's remember this was 1994 and the Hulkster hadn't been a premier worker in a long time (some would argue he never was). Flair does marvelous work, though, cutting off Hogan at just the right moments and even connecting with a side suplex that betrays the notion that the Nature Boy couldn't match muscle with the 24-inch pythons of his opponent. When Flair locks in the figure four, the crowd is electric, in no small way because of the fact that, at various times, this match looked like it was going to delve into the all-too-familiar territory of a typical Hogan squash match. Sherri's involvement is also well done, adding to the drama and suspense that leads to one of the biggest pops WCW had ever heard. Overall, an entertaining affair that delivered what it needed to, even if the Hogan Haters out there would no doubt call this match the "beginning of the end." (4/5)

With an average score of 3.68-out-of-5, Bash at the Beach 94’ is the third WCW pay-per-view in a row to earn a higher average than a 3 for its matches. This is no small feat considering only two WCW pay-per-views earned this score in all of 1993. Aside from the historic main event, Austin/Steamboat is near-perfect (though, not universally lauded), the Bunkhouse Buck/Funk vs. Rhodes/Anderson match tells a fantastic story, and Badd/Regal is another match in a string of very good matches from both men. The low point is the Tag Team Title match, though, it suffers from its place on the card and the unattainable benchmarks that Foley had set in prior months. While this was a fantastic show that should’ve set the course for WCW to thrive well into 1995, unfortunately, some of this show’s best performers wouldn’t even be on the roster 12 months later.

FINAL RATING – Curt Hennig Level