PWTORCH #340: COVER STORY
Flair pins Savage in main event at the Bash
Published June 1995
By Wade Keller, Torch editor

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Sunday night in Dayton, Ohio, WCW began and ended strong but came up short in between. The main event of the evening between Ric Flair and Randy Savage exceeded expectations. The 15-minute main event was all action from beginning to end with some innovative spots and non-stop aggressiveness from Savage.

The opening match was just as strong in a different way. Brian Pillman, who could be classified as being bitter about the last couple years of his career, finally had a chance to again show why he is professionally frustrated with his positioning in the company. He carried the up and coming Alex Wright to a great 15 minute match. They filled the match with sequences that are so rare in WCW these days that it was truly a stand-out match for a WCW event.

No matter how hard Pillman tried, though, he was unable to get the fans to boo him or at least not boo Wright. In that sense, it was a bitter sweet night for Wright, who, not being entirely familiar with this country and its culture, is emotionally affected by the booing.

The middle five matches were an illustration of what is wrong with WCW today. Not a lot of in-ring activity was all that memorable in the filler between the opener and finale.

The Great American Bash's history has about as rich a tradition as one gets in wrestling. It actually dates back to before the pay-per-view era, back to the mid-'80s when WCW was NWA Jim Crockett Promotions. In the summer months they would schedule a tour of major events across the country, many in outdoor stadiums, and run loaded line-ups. The Great American Bash name was chosen because the tour usually centered around July 4 and included fireworks at many of the outdoor stadium shows. Some memorable feuds from the early Bash years were Ric Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes, the Four Horsemen vs. The Road Warriors, Magnum T.A. vs. Nikita Koloff, and The Rock & Roll Express vs. The Midnight Express.

As the years went on and as Crockett Promotions began its downward slide, the Bash tours were diluted, eventually becoming just another house show tour at indoor arenas with average attendance figures.

Come 1988 the era of pay-per-view began for Crockett Promotions. After Starrcade '87 flopped (thanks to Thanksgiving Day competition from the inaugural Survivor Series) and after a mess of an effort in January 1988 with the "Bunkhouse Stampede," the Bash was TBS's first aesthetic success on pay-per-view, although not without the usual TBS glitches. In one of Luger's better matches to date, he lost a decision to Ric Flair in 1988's main event. In 1989's Bash, Ric Flair beat Terry Funk in the main event. And 1990 may be the most memorable of all as Sting pinned Ric Flair to capture his first world title in what was seen then as the beginning of Sting's era as the perennial world champion babyface.

From there the Bash fell apart, including the infamous Bash where Flair was fired days before his scheduled title loss to Lex Luger. Barry Windham took Flair's place and headlined perhaps the worst pay-per-view from top to bottom of all time. Last year there was no Great American Bash as it was replaced with a Beach themed pay-per-view.

Thanks to the effort by Flair and Savage in the main event, this Bash may be remembered as following in the footsteps of the tradition of the '80s rather than the sad story that the Bashes have symbolized about WCW in the '90s.

Beyond symbolism, though, the July pay-per-view "Bash at the Beach" is going to bring everyone back to 1995's reality. Hulk Hogan will face Vader in a cage match in the main event and Renegade will defend his newly won TV Title against Paul Orndorff. However, a Flair vs. Savage rematch and a Pillman vs. Wright rematch gives the Bash at the Beach a chance to also be a standout card by today's WCW standards.

It's not history and symbolism that really matters behind the scenes. It's buyrates. There was little optimism within WCW that the Great American Bash without Hogan on the card was going to do anything more than a 0.5ish buyrate. If it does remarkably better than that, it will have to be taken as a sign that Hogan - at least as he is currently being promoted - means very little to pay-per-view buyrates.

The Bash forwarded storylines and, thanks to the first and last match, had enough of quality to at least moderately satisfy their loyal core fan base - likely the only ones to order this event...

GREAT AMERICAN BASH '95 REPORT
June 18, 1995
Dayton, Ohio at O'hara Arena

(1) Alex Wright pinned Brian Pillman at 15:23. They shook hands at the start. They exchanged the advantage with some credible mat wrestling in the opening minutes. Wright showed some good agility. At 1:17 after an exchange they shook hands again. Pillman took Wright to the mat with a headscissors and dropkick and went to a hammerlock on the mat at 2:05. At 2:30 Wright took Pillman to the mat with a flying body scissors. At 4:34 Pillman turned a backbreaker attempt by Wright into a spinning legscissors takedown. Wright swatted away a Pillman dropkick (which was going to come up a bit short of him) and applied a Boston crab. At 5:10 Wright attempted an inverted crossbow but slipped out of it. At 5:40 Wright rolled up Pillman several times for three near falls. Pillman looked frustrated as a result and slapped Wright.

When Wright reversed a hammerlock by Pillman, Pillman elbowed him and took him to the mat with an armbar. Wright escaped by throwing Pillman through the ropes to the floor. Pillman wasn't anticipating the ring steps below him and when he hit them on his way out, he took a worse spill than expected. Wright held the ropes open for him, but Pillman instead grabbed Wright and yanked him from the ring. Pillman then chopped his chest several times and returned to the ring. Wright responded with uppercuts. When Pillman ducked for a back bodydrop, Wright grabbed him and slammed his head to the mat. At 8:03 Wright went for a splash, but Pillman lifted his knees, although the move came off as sloppy. At 8:50 Pillman applied a bodyscissors. Pillman dropped Wright over his knee and then stomach first over the top rope. When Pillman attempted to suplex Wright into the ring, Wright reversed it and Pillman took a nasty bump to the floor.

Wright dove over the top rope with a bodyblock onto Pillman at ringside. Pillman rammed backward into the security railing. Wright threw Pillman into the ring and came off the top rope with a dropkick for a two count. Pillman tossed Wright through the ropes. Pillman then dove through the second and top ropes onto Wright at ringside. Pillman showed some emotion as the fans popped for his move. Pillman draped Wright against the security railing, but when he came off the apron toward Wright, Wright moved and he hit the railing hard. Wright threw Pillman into the ring but missed with a top rope flying shoulder tackle. At 13:08 both men threw simultaneous dropkicks. Pillman put Wright on the top rope for a superplex attempt. Wright reversed it and dropped Pillman face-first to the mat. Pillman took a top rope bodyblock and kicked out at two. Pillman collapsed as Wright attempted to whip him into the ropes. He collapsed a second time. Wright didn't know what to do for a moment, but then climbed to the top rope. Pillman then revealed that he was feigning the injury as he met Wright with a dropkick as Wright came off the top rope. Pillman then went to the top rope, but Wright dropped Pillman crotch-first over the top rope. Pillman reversed Wright's attempt at a back suplex. Wright re-reversed it and bridged for a near fall. Pillman then dove onto Wright with a crucifix converted into a victory roll. Wright sat down on Pillman and scored the three count. After the match Pillman hugged Wright and raised his arm in victory.

The first must-see match in WCW all year. Pillman deserves a ton of credit for carrying Wright to this good of a match this early in Wright's career. Wright deserves a ton of credit for his rapid improvement. The timing was off a few times, but that didn't take away from the overall internal logic and athleticism of the bout. (****1/4)

Dave Sullivan defeated Diamond Dallas Page in an arm wrestling contest when Diamond Doll interrupted Max Muscle's interference. Muscle shifted blame to Doll after the loss. As a result Dave gets a date with Doll.

(2) Hacksaw Duggan beat Craig Pittman via DQ at 8:09. Pittman had Duggan in a UFC style armbar submission, but when Duggan reached the ropes he refused to break the hold. The rest of the match was methodical and unathletic. (*)

(3) Harlem Heat (mgd. by Sister Sherri) defeated Bunkhouse Buck & Dick Slater (mgd. by Col. Robert Parker) when Booker T pinned Buck at 8:15. After Parker reversed a Booker roll-up on Buck, Sherri re-reversed it for the pin. No crowd heat throughout the match. Booker T was good as usual. The rest were just there. (*1/4)

(4) Renegade pinned Arn Anderson at 9:05 to capture the TV Title. Renegade opened with four clotheslines. Anderson did a good job leading Renegade through a surprisingly long match, although Renegade is still lost in there. Arn sidewalk-slammed Renegade for a near fall. When Arn went to the top rope, Renegade slammed him to the mat and splashed him for the pin. (*)

(5) The Nasty Boys beat The Blue Bloods at 15:00 to retain the WCW Tag Team Titles. The Nastys charged the ring and a four-way brawl opened the match. Nobbs brawled with Eaton down the aisle as Sags whipped Regal with his leather jacket. Once the action returned to the ring, Sags rubbed his armpit in Regal's face. In one of the comic highlights of the event, Regal sold the "pit stop" for well over a minute with a horrified expression on his face. At 3:07 Regal returned to the ring and had a brief offensive flurry, but soon was sent to the floor by Sags. Sags fought with Regal and Eaton at ringside. The Nastys' offense looked clumsy, although not out of laziness. Heenan speculated that a fan threw an octopus at Sags which he used to hit Regal. It was clearly a solid case of some type. Nobbs atomic dropped Eaton on a chair at ringside. At 5:45 Regal finally tagged to Eaton who raked Nobbs's face, but Nobbs quickly went back on offense. Nobbs dove at Eaton, but Eaton ducked and Nobbs flew to the floor. Regal then did a Cactus Jack style elbow drop from the apron onto Nobbs. At 8:50 Eaton charged into the corner but Nobbs moved and Eaton crotched himself in the corner. At 10:05 Regal and Eaton doubled on Sags at ringside. Regal swung Sags into the ring barrier. At 11:58 Eaton hit Sags with a top rope kneedrop.

At 13:50 Sags hot-tagged Nobbs and a four-way brawl broke out. Harlem Heat and Sherri then ran to the ring. Behind the ref's back, Booker T did a flip legdrop on Nobbs. As Booker left the ring, he shook the ropes and caused Eaton to crotch himself. With Eaton on the mat, Sags dropped a top rope elbow on him. Nobbs covered Eaton and scored the three count. Heat were upset afterwards that their attempt to help the Blue Bloods win backfired.

The match itself wasn't boring, but with the Nastys only taking a total of three bumps (one by Sags, two by Nobbs) it was mainly a stand-up brawl which got repetitive. Regal and Eaton did 95 percent of the work and made it good. (**1/2)

Schiavone announced that Bockwinkel has signed a Hogan vs. Vader cage match at the July pay-per-view. When Bockwinkel talked about it, he forgot the name of Bash at the Beach and looked to Schiavone for help.

(6) Sting pinned Meng at 13:21 to capture the U.S. Hvt. Title in the tournament finals. The opening four minutes saw Meng throw kicks, headbutts, and stomps. At 5:18 Meng powerbombed Sting for a two count. Meng then went to a nervehold. At 9:04 they both went for backslides. Sting leaped off the second rope into Meng and Meng took his first bump of the match. Meng hit Sting with a headbutt for a two count at 9:37. At 10:00 they raised the energy level with some mid-ring collisions. Sting took Meng down with a clothesline. At 11:03 Sting clotheslined Meng over the top rope and went over with him. At 12:11 Sting locked on the scorpion. At 12:30 Meng powered out. Sting hit Meng with a top rope clothesline and a top rope splash for a near fall. Sting then leaped in the air and DDT'd Meng for the pinfall. The first ten minutes were nearly void of excitement and athleticism. The final three minutes were okay. (*3/4)

(7) Ric Flair pinned Randy Savage (w/Angelo Poffo) at 14:42. The match began intensely. Savage chased Flair out of and back into the ring. Flair chopped Savage upon returning to the ring, but Savage responded with two hard elbows and a high backdrop. Savage clotheslined Flair over the top rope to the floor. Savage came off the top rope onto Flair with a double hammerfist. Flair poked Savage in the eye, but when he charged Savage, Savage backdropped him to the floor. Flair reversed Savage into the ringpost. Flair then chopped and punched Savage at ringside and dove off the apron on Savage with a forearm to the back. They returned to the ring and exchanged a few blows. Poffo looked concerned at ringside. Flair gave Savage a running kneedrop. Savage began a comeback at 3:40 with a series of punches and a choke with his boot. Flair begged off at 4:40, but Savage quickly pounced on him and took the action outside the ring again. Savage stomped on Flair and shoved the ref away from him. That gave Flair a chance to mount a brief offense, but Savage caught him on the top rope and slammed him to the mat.

Savage whipped Flair into the corner and Flair flipped over the top rope to the floor. Flair went after Poffo at ringside. When Savage made the save and checked on his father, Flair clipped him from behind. Flair continued to work over Savage's leg. At 8:38 Savage reversed Flair into the ring barrier outside the ring. Savage continued to sell his leg injury. Flair returned to the ring and at 8:55 applied the figure-four leglock. Flair used the ropes for leverage and kept the hold on for about two minutes. Finally at 10:20 Savage reversed the hold. Savage favored his leg as he punched at Flair. Flair kneelifted Savage and went to the top rope. Flair came off with a kneedrop but Savage moved. Savage whipped Flair into the corner. When Flair flipped over the corner he ran down the ring apron and came off the top rope. Savage caught Flair with a clothesline and scored a two count. Savage slammed Flair and came off the top rope with an elbowdrop. Savage picked up Flair at the count of two. Savage grabbed the ring bell, but the ref took it from him. Savage jumped off the top rope toward Flair on the floor, but Flair moved and Savage rammed chest-first into the metal barrier.

Savage began bleeding below the eye (not from blading - and no, he won't be fired as a result). Schiavone called the match at this point "the most emotionally charged of my career." Flair choked Savage on the floor. Poffo attempted to intervene on behalf of his son, but when he choked Flair from behind with his cane, Flair elbowed him hard in the face. Savage checked on his dad's condition. Meanwhile Flair returned to the ring with the cane. When Savage returned to the ring, Flair nailed him with the cane and scored the three count.

The intensity and high energy level brought this match a notch higher than it otherwise would have been. The action was good from start to finish and it told a consistent story. (****1/4)

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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