WCW Great American Bash 89'

WCW Great American Bash 89'
Baltimore, Maryland - July 1989

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, Ric Flair is the WCW (still NWA at this time) World Heavyweight Champion, Lex Luger holds the United States Championship, and the TV Title is around the waist of Sting. The World Tag Team Champions are The Fabulous Freebirds, while the US Tag Team Titles are held by Rick Steiner and Eddie Gilbert. 

COMMENTATORS: Jim Ross and Bob Caudle

The show begins with a $50,000 14-man Double Ring Double Elimination Battle Royal. The rules are simple but still fairly illogical - the object of the game is to throw your opponent over the top rope or into the second ring, where you then need to eliminate them again, until there are only two guys left (who will wrestle a standard match to crown a winner). The last three combatants are The Skyscrapers, Sid Vicious and Dan Spivey, and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams. When Williams gets eliminated, it is Skyscraper vs. Skyscraper, but Teddy Long shows up to rain on the fans' parade, announcing that his men will split the money. No winner. Not good. (0.5/5)

The first singles match of the evening - Brian Pillman vs. Bill Irwin follows. I remember seeing Irwin in the GWF and during his run as The Goon in the WWE in 96', but never thought him a good worker. Surprisingly, he's pretty impressive here, actually, a natural, roughhousing heel who wants to squash the plucky underdog, Pillman. Flyin' Brian's dropkicks and chest chops are on-point and he lands an awesome crossbody from ring 1 to ring 2 to wrap up a so-so match with a great spot. (2/5)

Great Paul E. Dangerously promo to hype his match with Cornette. (+1)

Back in the ring, The Dynamic Dudes make their way down the aisle tossing frisbees into the crowd because everyone knows that when the waves don't allow for surfing, tossing frisbees is the next most thrilling thing to do. Their opponents are The Skyscrapers, hailing from "Metropolis" (?) and $50,000 richer than they were an hour earlier. Despite what Jim Ross tries to put over on commentary, its obvious that the most popular figure in this match is actually Sid Vicious - when he's not in the ring, "We Want Sid" chants break out repeatedly. Unfortunately for the crowd, he's so noticeably green that Dan Spivey and the Dudes have to wrestle the match around him. Shane Douglas would get even better at his selling over the years and with a better gimmick and partner in Ricky Steamboat, he found success in tags a short time later. Spivey hits an impressive falling powerbomb at one point, but then botches his finisher during an already "gone off the rails" sloppy finishing sequence, nearly crippling the future Franchise of ECW in the process. Ugly gimmicks, ugly match, but at least interesting to watch if you're a fan of Sid or have a nostalgic appreciation for the Dynamic Dudes. (1.5/5)

The Tuxedo Match is next - Jim Cornette vs. Paul E. Dangerously. Cornette is over huge here and gets an unbelievable introduction for a manager. Dangerously goes after Cornette's knee and proceeds to rip off Corny's jacket. While this is far from a good "wrestling match," the crowd is definitely engaged and the managers don't skimp on the weapon shots and overselling, especially Cornette (who wobbles around the ring to get over the knee injuries he suffered from the legendary scaffold match at Starrcade 86'). Cornette eats a series of stiff shots to the face, but comes back with great fire, the crowd counting along as he lays into Paul E. The finish comes sooner than later and the crowd explodes. Fun stuff that adds to the variety of the show and doesn't overstay its welcome. A hotter-than-usual crowd helps this come off as a "moment." (3/5)

Next up, what some would call a "sprint" match - The Steiner Brothers vs. The Varsity Club in a Tornado Tag Match that is all "middle" (meaning there is no real beginning or end, just brawling from bell to bell and a winner declared). At under 5 minutes, there's not much of a story to this match, but there's plenty of physicality on display and you could never call this boring. As I'm not a huge Rotunda fan and, in the mid-to-late 90s, the Steiners became somewhat insufferable when they weren't just suplexing the heck out of guys (and, some would argue, taking liberties with their opponents' health). I'm not sure I would've like this one more if they tacked on an extra 5 minutes, but I also wouldn't call this a "good" match either. (2/5)

The Television Championship is on the line next with Sting defending the title against The Great Muta. Sting has brought along "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert to help against Muta's manager, Gary Hart. At under ten minutes, this match seemed to be designed to protect both guys and point to future confrontations more than actually give the audience a classic clash. That being said, the action we do get is pretty compelling. Sting is full of energy and Muta appears vulnerable for the first time I've seen during his WCW run. This should be Exhibit A in the case for having squash matches - basically, Sting has been stampeding through lesser challengers as Television Champion while Muta has been on an equal tear up the ladder. This match, their first, matters. Simple booking that the WWE gets wrong these days. The finish is a bit overbooked and not necessarily original (even in 1989), but this is just one of the funnest sub-10 minutes matches I've ever seen. A near-classic.  (3.5/5)

After a pretty solid promo, Lex Luger makes his way down the aisle for a title defense against Ricky Steamboat (whose entrance involves not only his wife and child, but a komodo dragon). The build-up to this one is all about Luger refusing to defend the United States Championship in a match with a "No DQ" stipulation - a wrinkle in the storyline that I just don't get. I think the idea is that Luger wants the "easy out" of being able to grab a chair and get himself disqualified at any time to keep his belt (this is kinda what happens in the finish, in fact), but as an angle, I dislike it as it too clearly highlights that a heel can be champion forever as long as they just accept a count-out or DQ loss in the first 10 seconds of every match. The audience knows the shortcut, but wrestling as a genre demands the combatants to be ignorant of that shortcut, especially chickenshit heels (for example, why would Miz ever defend his IC Title in a fair fight when he could just kick the ref in the balls the second the bell rings in every match?). ANYWAY...Luger is surprisingly over with the crowd, though Steamboat certainly isn't getting booed for anything. Its funny, with so many guys, the more ring experience they enjoyed, the better workers they became. With Luger, it almost seems like the opposite is true. He's not an ace worker here or anything, but his timing, selling, and agility are impressive here in a way that I just don't see in the 97'-98' version. I wouldn't call this a carry job, but Steamboat in 89' is just an effortlessly great veteran face, so Luger doesn't have to do too much for this match to get the crowd heated. I particularly like how Steamboat tries to score a quick pinfall in the early moments, really showing his ring wisdom as compared to the 86' Rookie of the Year. As good as Steamboat is, though, its almost ironic that the one thing he'd be bad at would be acting "heelish." The tail end and post-match ask the Steamer to use a weapon and turn the violence up to 11 and the man just can't get it past a 5. The crowd is still super into things, but the Dragon's half-speed chair swings are just ugly. Another near-classic that just falls slightly below greatness for me due to the finish. (3.5/5)

And it's time for The Match Beyond...War Games - The Road Warriors, "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, and The Midnight Express taking on The Samoan SWAT Team and The Fabulous Freebirds. Jimmy "Jam" Garvin starts things out for the heels against the babyface side's most well-rounded grappler, "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton. Basic back-and-forth action for the next five minutes before Gordy comes in and the Freebirds enjoy their two-on-one advantage, beating the tar out of Eaton. "Dr. Death" comes in to a huge ovation and proceeds to deliver an insane press slam to Terry Gordy, raising him into the roof of the cage repeatedly before putting him to the mat in an incredible feat of strength. Samu comes in next and immediately goes for Williams while Garvin continues his onslaught on Eaton. Road Warrior Animal evens the sides and the crowd pops huge as he decimates everyone he crosses path with. Animal hits a huge tackle from one ring to the other and the arena just goes bonkers. Fatu joins the fray as JR notes Hayes' cowardice in not volunteering to go in next. "Sweet" Stan Lane comes in next and starts tossing guys into the cage walls while Hayes paces around the outside in apparent fear of what he's about to get himself into. The future Dok Hendrix comes in with a lot of energy, strutting and dancing after helping his side take over the match. A brief "We Want Hawk" chant starts in response to Hayes' boastful rooster act and the crowd explodes for his entry into the match. With all men in the ring, the match devolves into a bit of a nonsensical, directionless brawl not unlike the filler minutes of a Royal Rumble. Hawk hits a huge clothesline off the top onto Garvin and follows with a neckbreaker, strapping in a hangman submission to put the match to an end. Quality, logical finish with the most tired man calling it quits to a vicious finisher from the freshest guy. Good post-match too, with Animal getting beaten down by the heels in the ring before the babyfaces triumphantly chase off their opponents. Yet another match that I wouldn't quite call "must watch" for modern viewers, but pretty close to it and definitely above average. (3/5)

Backstage, the World Champion Ric Flair stands with Gordon Solie and delivers an understated, solemn, and sober interview. Not the promo style that made him a legend. 

Main event time - Terry Funk challenging Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Funk is accompanied by Gary Hart, but the Funker gets all the attention here, his mannerisms during his entrance just incredible to watch. Flair comes out to a huge pop and with an excellently-produced entrance, looking like a million bucks walking. From the first punch swung the heat in this match is just incredible. Flair is in rare form here, working as an angry, fiery babyface that couldn't care less about "wrestling" or even his title - he wants to tear Funk apart and it shows with every chop. Funk is equally great, bumping all over the ring and making it clear that while Flair is the better man, Funk is the one who deserves the "dirtiest player in the game" moniker. Not every move is executed perfectly, but this only adds to the realism of the match. Eventually both guys get color and the intensity goes from 10 to 12. The finish is fantastic - clean without being definitive or feud-ending - but the post-match work is what pushes this entire main event into classic territory. The Great Muta shows up and all hell breaks loose for the next ten minutes, JR and Caudle literally unable to wrap up the show because there's a violent fight going on 5 feet away from them. Rarely do I finish watching a show and get excited about watching the next one - this is one of those times and it has everything to do with Funk and Flair's performance. (4.5/5)


I've seen some call Great American Bash 89' one of the best pay-per-views in NWA/WCW history and I must admit to not getting the hype. As good as the main event is (and it is spectacular), nothing else on the card even comes close to matching its intensity, brutality, or heat. Luger/Steamboat is a near-great match but suffers a slight bit from its convoluted beginning and end - these two could've tore the roof off the place with a straight-up match, so the stipulation nonsense is unnecessary. Muta/Sting is a really fun 8 minutes...but at just 8 minutes, its no epic. The War Games match is short on highlights, easily one of the lesser versions of the storied stipulation match that I've seen. With a score of 2.72-out-of-5, this show falls right into the category of...

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver