Volume IV: Great American Bash Top Ten
Posted by Jay Shears
on 06/20/2004
On my last column (Volume III) I said that I would do a Bret Hart tribute column or a Cena/Orton column, but since The Great American Bash is coming back after a four year absence and because its MY DAMN COLUMN I decided to do a little Top Ten of my favorite events of the pay-per-view event. Hopefully WWE can add some more events to this list!
Great American Bash Top Ten: #10- 98' Chris Jericho vs. Dean Malenko
The cruiserweight match at the 98’ Great American Bash was a good square off between two outstanding athletes, Jericho and Malenko. But it wasn’t the actual match that made this one memorable; it was the shocking aftermath that created controversy and made us wonder “Who won the belt?” Malenko is DQ’ed after brutalizing Jericho for talking about his dead father during the event, but Malenko didn’t stop there as he continued to beat the living hell out of Jericho by throwing him into steel railing, bashing him with a steel chair, and even smashing Jericho’s head into a mailbox outside of the stadium. Though Malenko was disqualified for using a steel chair during the match it was unknown as to who won the Cruiserweight Championship.
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Great American Bash Top Ten: #9- 99’ Kanyon/DDP vs. Saturn/Benoit 
Both teams put on a fantastic tag team match, but it was The Jersey Boy’s (DDP, Kanyon, and Bigilow) who came out victorious at the Bash. While the ref was busy getting Dean Malenko out of the ring Dean’s friend Benoit had the Crippler Crossface on Kanyon that would have won the match for Saturn/Benoit. The famous submission by Benoit didn’t last too long though as while the ref was busy with Malenko, DDP and Bigilow dismantled the Crippler and setup a Double Diamond Cutter on Chris to win the match and the Tag Team titles. The irony was that at The Great American Bash a year later in an Ambulance Match with DDP vs. Mike Awesome, Kanyon betrayed his long-time partner DDP by interfering in the match and giving Awesome the win! Still, the great tag team match between those two teams will live in Bash history as likely the best tag match of the Pay-Per-View!
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Great American Bash Top Ten: #8- 95’ The Renegade vs. Arn Anderson After a two-year absence The Bash roared back to life in 1995. It featured that now-classic match between The Renegade and Arn Anderson. In an age where Anderson was supposed to be “past his prime” he came alive during this Bash matchup. Though he did lose to The Renegade he showed many that he could still be a quality wrestler for years to come.
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Great American Bash Top Ten: #7- 98’ Sting vs. The Giant
A great buildup between two legends gets numbero seite on the Bash List (Number seven for all you guy’s not fluent in Spanish!) Sure the match was only seven minutes long and not very good at that, but a Tag Team Championship match with both teams only sporting one member deserves to be high on the list. Sting also body slammed The Giant (Big Show) during the match, which few have ever joined that club! Also, like the Malenko/Jericho match earlier in the night, suspense was a big part in making this main event legendary because after the cameras went off people still did not know whom Sting’s partner was (Later it was said to be Kevin Nash!)
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Great American Bash Top Ten: #6- 99’ Kevin Nash vs. Randy Savage (Sid Viscous Return)
A sigh of relief came in the 99’ Bash main event between Big Lazy and the Slim Jim guy. Instead of seeing technically astounding punches, knee lifts and elbow smashes by both men for the whole bout Sid Viscous came into the ring to make a Pearl Harbor comeback and interfere with the Championship match. Sid’s comeback was out of the blue and was the high spot of the whole event. The Macho Man would end up winning the title a month later at Bash At The Beach, but the Viscous wCw return was still in major wrestling discussions for months after!
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Great American Bash Top Ten: #5- 00’ Sting vs. Vampiro (Human Torch Match)
Not much action but one great image that sticks to Bash history like a virus. Yes, it’s Sting getting barbecued by Vampiro at the 00Â’ Bash. Sting starts the match by swinging off the top of the PPV Titan-Tron like a member of a S.W.A.T team. Both men soon climb up the Tron together only for Sting to fall into the stage below. The Dark Warrior gets up once more to climb the structure again only for him to get lit up by Vampiro and flown from the top of the Tron (and still on fire) into the air bag below. A stunt man did take Stings place in the outstanding fall, but thanks to nice camera work it wasn’t easy to tell. That event alone takes number five on the list!
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Great American Bash Top Ten: #4- 88’ Great American BashIn 1988, the first-ever pay-per-view Bash was held. It was also the last Bash held under the ownership of Jim Crockett. He would sell his part of the NWA to Ted Turner in November '88. That led to the formation of WCW. The '88 Bash featured Flair defending the NWA title against Luger. Other participants of the PPV included Sting, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Ivan Koloff, Steve Williams, Dusty Rhodes, and many other legends to the wrestling ring. In an age where major pay-per-view cards were hard to find the 88’ Bash was something to remember! In the main event Luger had a nasty cut on his face and “officials” canceled the match. This would be a memorable screwjob to the face Lex Luger!
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Great American Bash Top Ten: #3- 98’ Booker T vs. Chris Benoit
The 98’ Bash couldn’t have opened any better than to have two of the top wrestlers of the decade battle it out to become the #1 contender for the Television Title later on in the pay-per-view. The two wrestlers battled for an enthralling 16 minutes and was a top contender for Match of the Year! Booker T won with his Harlem Sidekick followed by a missile dropkick (Later lost to Fit Finley for the T.V Title), but you have to applaud for both men in that match! Their battles continued throughout the wCw days and both had one of the greatest feuds of all time!
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Great American Bash Top Ten: #2- 00’ Kevin Nash vs. Jeff Jarrett (Goldberg Heel Turn)
Big Sexy is back on the Bash list again, and again he’s not there because of his wrestling talent, but because someone makes a return during his match (I.E Viscous return at #6!) Yes, after a short leave from the wCw Goldberg made his comeback by driving a monster truck in the arena and spearing Nash. Not only that, but he joined forces with heel icons Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff to make one of the biggest heel turns of all-time. Jarrett ended up taking advantage of the spear from Goldberg and winning The World Title for the third time. Like him or hate him GoldbergÂ’s turn to being a baddie is one of the biggest events in wCw history.
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Great American Bash Top Ten: #1- 96’ New World Order I guess many are wondering why I said that the nWo was the top moment of the Bash…mostly because the faction officially formed at Bash at The Beach a month later, but like I said at the top of this post “it’s MY DAMN COLUMN!” In 96’, WCW was on a roll. Scott Hall and Kevin Nash had just burst upon the scene. They came to the Bash to tease the formation of the nWo at the next pay-per-view. They challenged WCW to put three guys in the ring for Bash at the Beach. And Nash jackknifed Eric Bischoff through the stage to get the point across. The nWo will stand as the greatest stable of all-time wrestling history with some of the greatest all-time that joined the faction (Hogan, Sting, Bret Hart, Randy Savage, Dusty Rhodes, etc.) Even though the nWo didn’t actually form until a month later Nash and Hall’s appearance at the Bash was something eventful enough to be #1 on my list!
So there you go, the Top Ten Great American Bash Moments. I know that pretty much nobody is going to fully agree with me, but IÂ’ll say this for the third time here “it’s MY DAMN COLUMN!” (You think I should switch the column name to that?) Any wayÂ’s, tell me what you think should be the Top Ten Bash Moments at jayd7@sc.rr.com! Next I should be likely doing that Hart tribute I mentioned…or I might change my mind once again! Thanks for viewing and once again…And That’s What I Think!
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