WCW Great American Bash ‘96
June 16, 1996
Baltimore, MD
Reviewed on May 11, 2014

WCW was coming on strong now. WCW had more than held its own since launching Nitro opposite of RAW every Monday Night. Eric Bischoff used every tactic he could to get the upper hand on the WWF…and it worked. Reveal RAW taping results? Did it. He even put the show on at five minutes before the hour…just to get the lead-in advantage. But the biggest change happened when Scott Hall showed up on Nitro in late May. Hall was one of the WWF’s top guys from 1993 through 1995. Kevin Nash showed up a few weeks later…and in 1995 he was THE top WWF guy. Let history show that the Nitro right before this show, the June 10th edition, would be the last victory in the Monday Night ratings war for the WWF until April 13th, 1998.

WCW had more than Hall and Nash though. It had the best matches. It had some of the biggest stars in wrestling (Hogan, Savage, Flair etc.). It had fresh main eventers (The Giant). Overall it was just a more compelling company at that point. Vince had several lawsuits going on against WCW, even some involving Hall and Nash, but it didn’t matter (although it would matter for a segment on this show).

The 1996 edition of the Great American Bash was the first PPV that was a part of 83 weeks of dominance from WCW.

The Card

There’s a lot going on with this show. Bobby Heenan has a team going up against a Randy Savage team tonight. I actually forgot about this.

The Steiner Bros.(c) vs. Fire and Ice

Fire and Ice is Scott Norton and Ice Train. Norton would gain some fame for his run in the nWo and Japan. Ice Train…actually I have no idea what he did after feuding with Norton.

An okay power match so far. It seems like Ice Train is WAY out of his league here though.

Yikes Scott Steiner drops Scott Norton on his head with a suplex. That was almost a broken neck.

Admittedly a great spot where Norton locks in an armbar. When Rick Steiner tries to break it, Norton no sells a bunch of kicks to the face. It was pretty bad ass.

The Steiners win when Scott pins Norton in 10:29. Flying Bulldog…then a horrible Frankensteiner for the win. Not a good start when the first finish is botched. Match…was okay. A good point was that it was non stop action, not one rest hold. The bad point is several botched moves.

Some hype for the Falls Count Anywhere match between Kevin Sullivan and Chris Benoit. Not really digging the promo though. Somehow Sullivan is making it NOT about Benoit, but more about Ric Flair and Arn Anderson.

WCW United States Championship
Konnan© vs. El Gato

Seriously? This is the best we can do in WCW 1996 for WCW’s 2nd biggest singles title?

El Gato is Pat Tatanka.

Konnan is wearing the stupidest mask.

There’s some good Konnan offence to start. I don’t say that often.

Konnan retains in 6:03 by pin. Ugly sunset flip to the outside to El Gato. Konnan then got a jackknife pin in the ring for the win. It had a good start…then sucked the rest of the way. Not really a good start to this show.

Sting mocks Steven Regal…and it’s pretty funny to be fair.

Lord of the Ring Match
Diamond Dallas Page vs. Marcus Bagwell

This is for Page’s Battlebowl ring…I think?

It’s jarring to see Page as the chicken-shit heel and Bagwell as the good guy.

Page hilariously misses? a kick and sells it like a mullion dollars…even if it wasn’t a million dollar move.

DDP pins Bagwell in 9:39. Diamond Cutter for the win. Okay back and forth match…but three okay matches isn’t the way to start a PPV.

Jimmy Hart is questioned about his allegiance to The Giant or Lex Luger. He’s with the Giant here. Giant’s early promos were pretty funny. He does look badass as World Champion here though.

WCW Cruiserweight Championship
Dean Malenko© vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.

Rey Jr’s debut here.

I like that Rey began with the technical wrestling…and not Malenko.

Really good sequence to start with a double nip up.

Nice over the head sunset flip from Rey.

Malenko expertly works on the arm. He does a hold I never seen that I can’t explain, pulling the arm then kicking it away.

Malenko traps Rey’s arm in the guardrail then kicks the guardrail. Ouch!

Malenko counters the hurricarana by flipping Rey back to his feet then leveling him with a clothesline! Nice!

Malenko with my favorite hold, the surfboard! Then he turns it into a pin! Only two though.

Malenko is dominating this match…but it’s a great way to put over Rey’s resilience.

Perfect springboard somersault to the outside from Rey!

Dean Malenko retains by pin 17:50. Mysterio is on a roll hitting a lot of high flying spots…but a hurricanrana turns into a stiff powerbomb! Malenko uses the ropes as well for the pin. Great match that has kicked this PPV into high gear. Malenko looked great and Rey looked great. This match is also the match that kicked the Cruiserweight division into high gear. There were talks of ending the division before this.

Lex Luger interview. He’s already a tag and TV champ. Will he add the World Title tonight?!

Big Bubba vs. John Tenta

Enzugiri from Big Bubba!

Awkward fall from Tenta that had Bubba land on him.

John Tenta pins Bubba in 5:24. Big slam to win. Basically the opposite speed wise of the match before. Match was slow…and not good. Tenta can barely move here.

We get an interview with Steve McMichael and Kevin Greene. I always thought it was weird Greene became this part time wrestler, but he wasn’t horrible.

Falls Count Everywhere
Kevin Sullivan vs. Chris Benoit

A blood feud spawning from the Dungeon of Doom vs. the Horsemen.

They don’t even get into the ring, as Benoit attacks in the aisleway and they end up going through the crowd.

In the men’s bathroom now! HE PUT HIS HEAD IN THE COMMODE!

Now out of the bathroom, Sullivan knocks Benoit down the steps in the crowd. Really entertaining brawl.

Benoit and Sullivan both try spots on the table…but it doesn’t break either time. Clearly a non-gimmicked table.

Chris Benoit pins Kevin Sullivan in 9:58. Benoit hits a superplex off the top using the table to stand. Pin gets three. Arn Anderson comes down to stop Benoit from beating down Sullivan…but then attacks Sullivan, showing allegiance to the Four Horsemen. That gets a huge reaction. Really good brawl here, even if some of the bathroom stuff was kinda funny. Even though this match wasn’t the first WCW Falls Count Anywhere match, it has a lot of influence on the later WWF Hardcore division. Still, at the time some people called this one of the greatest matches they’d ever seen…but I wouldn’t go that far. Just a really good brawl with some originality.

Reunited Horsemen interview. But there are only three of them!

Bobby Heenan managing the Horsemen kinda owns.

Sting vs. Lord Steven Regal

Story here: Regal thought the WCW Championship committee overlooked him and he wanted to make a statement.

Here’s someone who got lost in the shuffle when the nWo showed up: Steven Regal.

Regal was such a good unique heel even then. He just had a style no one else used.

Regal had some awesome heel taunts as well.

Match has had a great story, with Regal working on the arm and using cheap tactics anytime Sting makes a comeback.

Sting makes Steven Regal submit in 16:30. Sting superman comeback…but it had a nice small varation. Regal actually counters the Stinger Splash by getting his knees up…but falls to the Scorpion anyway. Pretty good match here, it definitely made Regal look like he was at a comparable level to Sting. Too bad Regal wasn’t pushed much later in the year.

Legends of the Gridiron vs. Legends of the World of Wrestling
Ric Flair and Arn Anderson vs. Steve McMichael and Kevin Greene

This was an extension of the Flair vs. Randy Savage feud. Savage was suspended for something and couldn’t wrestle…but was in Greene and McMichael’s corner here.

This might be Debra McMichael’s debut.

Sorry to spoil the ending, but there is some great commentary here. Tony talks about a story that Mongo signed with the Packers of the Bears for money. I like forshadowing.

There’s some funny stuff with Flair and Greene in here. Flair tricks Greene into the three point stance before stepping on his hand. Greene later tosses Flair out and does the Flair strut.

It’s kinda jarring to see Steve McMichael put a Figure Four on Ric Flair.

All the women at ringside chase each other to the back. This also will be significant soon.

Watching this re-enforces the idea to me that Kevin Greene would have been a decent full time wrestler.

Some expert heeling from Anderson and Flair…but Savage attacks Anderson. Benoit comes out to attack Savage.

Debra is back out here with a briefcase!

Ric Flair and Arn Anderson win when Flair pins Greene in 20:51. Debra shows Mongo that the briefcase is full of money and a Horsemen shirt! Of course Mongo accepts, and smashes the briefcase over Greene’s head and Flair gets the pin. Very well done, and there’s your 4th Horseman! Match wasn’t good, but it had entertaining moments and Greene isn’t even a wrestler, so it’s all good. But the finish was what mattered, and it was good.

Ok this next segment is one of the most revolutionary segments in professional wrestling history. Eric Bischoff comes out and talks about the interruptions that’s taken place on Nitro, that being Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. Nash and Hall come out. Nash and Hall made a challenge for a three on three. Bischoff says it will be at Bash at the Beach. Bischoff asks them both if they work for the WWF, which they both say no. That ended some lawsuits right there. Bischoff refuses to tell Hall and Nash who team WCW is, that it will be revealed on Nitro. Hall gets pissed and nails Bischoff. Nash then powerbombs Bischoff through a portion of the stage. This was HUGE at the time. Nothing had been seen on national wrestling TV like it. WCW as we knew it would never be the same, as the nWo era had been in full gear now.

WCW World Championship
The Giant© vs. Lex Luger

Seeing the Giant with the WCW World title makes me think about what a waste it was when the nWo just buried him.

Match starts with Luger running into a big boot of the Giant. I don’t know why, but I thought that owned.

Sting chases Jimmy Hart away…so it’s a real 1 on 1 now!

The Giant retains by pin in 9:58. Luger goes for the Rack, and has him up…but collapses (and Giant lands on his head…that could have been a lot worse). Chokeslam for the win. Um…I mean it’s obvious this match was boring and sucked right? I mean that’s the ceiling for Giant vs. Luger (I liked their Starrcade match better to be fair). Right man went over though, Giant was the man at the time.

This show constantly gets brought up as one of the greatest PPVs ever and in that first hour I wasn’t sure why. Then Malenko vs. Mysterio practically created the Cruiserweight division. Then Benoit and Sullivan had their great match. Then Sting and Regal had a good match. Flair and Arn did entertaining stuff. Nash and Hall changed the business. A lot of damn good stuff happened here.

The positives definitely outweigh the negatives…but this still isn’t nearly the greatest PPV ever. It’s very good, but there was too much crap to really get there (Big Bubba vs. John Tenta? Page vs. Bagwell?). I don’t think Sullivan vs. Benoit is the five star classic people said it was (still, it was very good). Maybe if the main event was better, it would be close to the elite, but Giant vs. Luger was pretty bad.

I would normally say this is in the B, B+ range…but the historical value of this show is quite high. The Hall and Nash stuff alone just blew everyone away at the time. And that Rey Mysterio guy kinda became a big deal.

Final Grade: A-