WCW Great American Bash 97'

The Great American Bash 97' - June 1997

Moline, Illinois

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Hulk Hogan is the WCW World Champion at this time, but does not defend the title (or even appear on the show). The United States Champion is Jeff Jarrett, but he also does not defend his title on the card. Nor does WCW TV Champion Steven Regal. Or Cruiserweight Champion Syxx. The WCW World Tag Team Champions, the Outsiders do, though. As does WCW Women's World Champion Akiro Hokuto. 

COMMENTATORS: Dusty Rhodes, Bobby Heenan, and Tony Schiavone

The show kicks off with an awesomely cheesy video juxtaposing great American things with great WCW wrestlers. What I really like about these stage-setting videos is that they're corny, but unknowingly so - this is not "tongue-in-cheek" meta-humor, this is WCW's cruddy graphic department and copy writers legitimately trying to tie patriotism into a DDP/Savage feud. Unlike WWE, who go all out to make this connection, WCW does it so half-handedly that it is a sight to behold every time (for another example, check out any time Maxx Payne kicked off a 94' pay-per-view by ripping the Star-Spangled Banner on a Flying V). (+1)

Ultimo Dragon vs. Psicosis in a Respect Match is our opening contest. Psychosis is excellent here and the crowd is, surprisingly, very hot for this match, but this one could be Exhibit A as to why Ultimo Dragon is considered by some to be one of the most overrated talents of the 90s. At seemingly every turn Dragon does something to expose the match, positioning himself for spots that, while tremendous (Psicosis hits a plancha over the ring post that might be one of the coolest moves I've ever seen), come off as glaringly choreographed due to Dragon's annoying tendency to pause, brace himself, and take the move like a boxer's punching bag. On the plus side, Psicosis' heeling is a breath of fresh air and shows that there was real potential for him as a character beyond just being an opening match, spot fest worker. With some awesome moments, but too many spots blown by Dragon blatantly positioning himself for the next one, it's hard to recommend what would otherwise be an excellent contest. Towards the end, even Schiavone has to try to cover Dragon's ass for anticipating the finish. Disappointing. (2/5)

The Steiner Brothers challenge The Harlem Heat next in what is a battle to be named the Number One Contenders to the Outsiders' World Tag Team Championships. Stevie Ray and Scott Steiner start things off and it's interesting to see how much more willing the Steiners were here to sell and bump for the Heat than they seemed to do a few years prior. Again, the crowd is surprisingly hot for this, even once Rick Steiner starts getting beaten down and the Brothers Huffman take over on offense (usually cause for the audience to get pretty bored pretty quickly). While far from a great match, all four men work hard and bring a level of intensity to the match that makes things matter more than they would on paper. A screwy non-finish deflates the crowd, but at least points to a future series of matches for both teams (even if I'm not super excited about what those matches would be). As good a match as one could've wanted or expected out of these two teams. (2.5/5)

A grudge match follows, Konnan taking on his former stablemate and tag team partner, Hugh Morrus. The match starts off solid, but the longer it goes, the slower it gets, with Konnan and Morrus spending more and more time on the mat. Konnan's submission skills are respectable - the way he transitions from a headscissors to an arm bar and the extra twist he adds to it by pulling Morrus' hair and stomping him in the face are nice touches. Unfortunately, they're not enough to hide the fact that Konnan and Morrus are completely gassed by the end of the match and have lost the crowd's interest. Not a total dud, but not far from it. (1.5/5)

"Mean" Gene Okerlund is joined at the stage by Public Enemy, who are (thankfully) not booked on tonight's show. Public Enemy take umbrage with the fact that Harlem Heat have been named the number one contenders to the WCW Tag Team Championships. 

Mike Tenay is back at the desk for our next contest - Wrath (accompanied by James Vandenburg and Mortis, who will be handcuffed at ringside) taking on Glacier. I was a big fan of the Glacier/Mortis match from a few months back, Mortis showing off an impressive array of offense, but I was less hopeful about what we'd get in this one. Wrath loses control of things early on, Glacier using his martial arts strikes to get him onto the arena floor where the brawl continues. Glacier is able to whip Wrath into the stairs, but it's an ugly, awkward spot (and not in the good sense) due to Wrath's size as he essentially has to drop to his knees to shoulder block it. Back in the ring, Glacier continues on offense, but ends up in the corner where Mortis is chained and gets distracted, allowing Wrath to hit him with a powerbomb-into-a-throat-first drop on the top rope (that Tenay bizarrely refers to as a "steel cable"). Wrath dominates for the next stretch and connects with an impressive somersault off the apron as well as a respectable lariat off the top rope. When Wrath misses on an elbow drop, Glacier is able to get some offense in, but is ultimately cut off by a big side suplex. After a big superplex spot, Glacier gets distracted by Mortis again, allowing Wrath to hit a back suplex, the match stretching well beyond the time frame I thought it would. Mortis tosses a chain in, but it ends up landing closer to the babyface, who uses it to knock out Wrath. Vandenburg grabs the keys out of Nick Patrick's pants and Mortis is freed from his cuffs. The post-match scene is well-executed and comes across as more vicious than one would think, especially considering the lack of blood. It also garners a fair amount of heat from the crowd, proving that as much as the Glacier gimmick is laughed at 20 years later, it is not as if it was a black hole of indifference - as a midcard act, it worked for at least a little while. (2.5/5)

Akira Hokuto defends the WCW Womens' Championship next against Madusa, who is putting her career on the line here. Hokuto hits her with a stiff slap to the face to kick things off, then begins with the hair tosses. Hokuto's viciousness is excellent and, again, the crowd is noticeably more alive for this than most of the audiences had been at previous shows. Hokuto lands a devastating piledriver, thoroughly dominating the 1988 PWI Rookie of the Year. Madusa bounces back, though, connecting with a pair of missile dropkicks and hitting Hokuto with jabs in the corner. Moments later, Hokuto is back on offense, landing a textbook snap suplex. Madusa won't stay down, even after Hokuto starts targeting the American's damaged knee, applying a perfect surfboard after an even more purposeful kneebreaker. Remarkably, Madusa is able to withstand the pain and even hit Hokuto with a powerbomb, all the while selling the knee damage. Hokuto takes control again with a superplex and an ankle submission, Madusa desperately working to get to the ropes. After Hokuto misses a dropkick from the top, Madusa nails a german suplex, but Sonny Onoo's interference on the outside keeps her from scoring a pinfall. Hokuto continues attacking Madusa's knee, going as far as to stand on the thing using the ropes for leverage. Minutes later, Hokuto lands a devastating brainbuster and, in a genuine shocker, Madusa's career comes to an end. If this is not the best Madusa match ever, it's really close, her valiant effort and selling lifting this match beyond any of the prior bouts I'd seen out of her. The emotional post-match ending is marred a bit by an unnecessary afterword where "Mean" Gene shows up to get a word out of Madusa as she tries to walk to the back. (4/5)

The night's Return Death Match is next - Chris Benoit taking on Meng in a rematch from Slamboree.  As Meng is getting some final words of advice from Jimmy Hart, Benoit comes flying out of the ring with a plancha through the middle rope. Benoit stomps on him on the outside, rolls him back into the ring, and hits a headbutt from the top, attempting to end the match quickly with the crossface. Meng, in a considerable show of strength, lifts Benoit up and places him on the top rope, tossing him across the ring. Benoit ain't out of gas yet, though, putting Meng back on the mat and reapplying the crossface the first chance he gets. Meng is too tough, though, fighting his way to the ropes and knocking out the Crippler with a big kick to the side of the head. Benoit uses his speed and agility to stay in the fight, but Meng, the powerful veteran, is eventually able to take control via a nasty back kick to the face in the corner. After a brilliant flurry of attacks from Benoit in the early going, Meng slows things down, hitting the Crippler with a bodyslam and then crushing him with a huge splash from the top rope. Benoit gets up at the count of 8 and is immediately dropped back to the mat with a superkick. Benoit rolls to the outside and, in a show of desperation, has to rely on the guardrail to help him gain the upperhand against Meng. Back in the ring, Benoit hits a german suplex, but Meng is only out for 7. Benoit follows it up with yet another vicious german suplex, again knocking Meng out for 7. After trading some blows in the middle of the ring, Meng locks in the Tongan Death Grip, but Benoit gets out of it by slipping outside the ring. Miraculously, Benoit shows some life, coming at Meng with chops and strikes, but can't sustain the energy for very long, falling prey to a headlock and yet another mule kick to the skull. The fight continues with both guys trying their best to put their opponent out of commission via their finishing maneuvers, the commentators doing a nice job of showing their amazement at how much punishment Benoit has taken, noting that this is how desperate he is to get his hands on Kevin Sullivan again. Benoit locks in the Crossface for the fourth of fifth time in the match and Meng, after what seems like an eternity, is finally downed for good. A great story that gets over the toughness and ability of both men and, maybe most importantly, puts over a younger talent that was deserving of a push. The biggest knock against it might be that it didn't really live up to the brutality one would expect out of a "death match." Extra half-point for the post-match scene, futher putting over Benoit and establishing that there is a new Toughest Guy Around in WCW. This is how you pass a torch. (4/5)

If you were to tell me that Mongo McMichaels vs. Kevin Greene was a better match than just about any featuring Psicosis, I wouldn't believe you - but Great American Bash 97' offers proof of it. From the very start, Greene is completely pumped up about this one and, because the commentary team hasn't spent all night hyping it, the match comes across as an undersold attraction match that deserved more of a spotlight than it got. Mongo is one of my least favorite workers, but whoever helped him and Greene put together this match did a phenomenal job of presenting a match that accentuated the positives (keeping things high-energy by focusing on big impact offense and fun diversions like involvement from Greene's mom) and limited anything that would've bogged things down or bored the crowd (restholds, an overly complicated finishing sequence). With help from the commentators, who do a nice job of highlighting the fact that this match actually has history dating back to even before the previous month's Slamboree (remember, it was the turn on Kevin Greene at the last year's Bash At The Beach that led Mongo to becoming a Horseman), Jeff Jarrett, and a producer who wisely keeps things under 10 minutes, the audience is treated to a perfectly acceptable match-up between two relatively inexperienced but undeniably gifted and amped-up athletes. (3.5/5)

Backstage, Madusa is getting her knee worked on by a WCW physician. Schiavone notes, "I know her career is over, but that'll put you out for months." Not sure what the purpose of the segment was.

The nWo is here - The Outsiders, with Syxx in tow, arriving to defend their WCW World Tag Team Championships against Roddy Piper and Ric Flair. Flair gets the stuffing beaten out of him early on as the Outsiders gloat, eventually costing themselves a sure victory by allowing Flair to hit a low blow and make the hot tag to Piper. Piper is able to lock in a sleeper on Hall, but on the outside, Flair and Syxx start brawling and end up backstage, turning this match into an unfortunate 2-on-1 situation. Piper fights valiantly, but the numbers game can not be denied, Hall and Nash not even bothering to tag eachother in as they dismantle the Rowdy Scot. Barely a match, you at least get to see an Outsider's Edge. Still, considering the war that these two teams might've been able to put together (especially if Piper and Flair were in their prime), this is not worth the short amount of time it takes to watch. (1/5)

Main event time - Diamond Dallas Page vs. Randy Savage in a Falls Count Anywhere match. I adored their match at Spring Stampede, but with Savage, you never quite know what you'll get - he's always entertaining, but he's not always perfect, a guy that, like Hulk Hogan, has been involved in just as many all-time terrible matches as all-time great ones. Savage comes out first, but it's Page who gets the first shots in, sneaking into the ring from the crowd and jumping Savage from behind. Page goes for the Diamond Cutter early, but Savage sneaks out, only to get hit with a huge crossbody over the top that ends up costing Page (and his injured ribs) just as much as it knocks Savage out. From here, we get all sorts of cool (but admittedly cartoonish) weapon spots, Savage going ape on some poor members of WCW's staff, and a variety of cool visuals and sequences that make this match, while not as good wrestling-wise or even story-wise as their Spring Stampede match, still one of the funnest 15 minutes of action I've seen in a long time. Earlier this week I reviewed Undertaker and Lesnar's first Hell in a Cell match from No Mercy 2002, and while I enjoyed that bloodbath in all its gory glory, I almost enjoyed this one more for keeping things PG but still coming across as a highly personal, highly dangerous encounter. I won't give this one the same accolades as the Lesnar/UT (a bona fide MOTYC in its day), but this is definitely a must-see watch for anyone who likes Randy Savage. The Madness runs wild in this match and it's a pleasure to watch. (4/5)

Plenty of shows have earned scores in the 2.8-2.9 range: Fall Brawl 94', Hog Wild 96', Hell in a Cell 2015, WrestleMania XVIII, so Great American Bash 97' earning a "watchability" score of 2.89 is not going to help anyone decide whether or not this show is worth checking out. As mentioned in the Championship Rundown, this is not a card to watch for any significant title matches. It's not a card to watch for any particularly legendary match or segment (if you're looking for those, the previous year's Great American Bash has a few of them). No, what this card offers is a showcase of some of the more underappreciated elements of WCW that revisionists tend to overlook when they lazily claim that the company's only shining stars were Hogan, Sting, and underutilized talent like Rey Mysterio and Chris Jericho (none of whom are on the card). In this show we get one of the best and most emotional women's matches I've ever seen in Madusa/Hokuto, an intense slugfest between two of the toughest workers ever in Benoit vs. Meng, some surprisingly strong work out of Mongo McMichaels and Kevin Greene, and an incredibly fun main event in Page vs. DDP. While this show ain't perfect (Morrus/Konnan and Steiners/Harlem Heat are average at best), it's not a slog to get through either thanks to one of the more watchable second-halfs I've watched on my quest through WCW in the 90s.

FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand