Random Network Reviews: The Great American Bash 1990

The Great American Bash 1990
July 7th, 1990 | Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland | Attendance: 10,000

I’ve always been a fan of the Great American Bash Pay-Per-View name, even when WWE took it over. There are plenty of WCW Pay-Per-Views that I’ve seen but none from 1990. Actually, this would be the last Great American Bash under the NWA name. This is also a pretty significant show from a historical perspective due to the main event.

The opening is what you’d expect production wise in 1990. Jim Ross is on commentary to tell us that we have eleven matches and five of them are for titles. Bob Caudle is his broadcast partner.

Brian Pillman vs. Buddy Landell
Talk about a styles clash here. It’s odd to me that Buddy Landell is here as the “Nature Boy” considering the champion is Ric Flair. Pillman dropkicks Landell outside as JR comments on his physique, which could best be described here as pudgy. Landell uses a slap before hiding behind a slim Nick Patrick. Pillman is bumping for him but Landell looks sloppy. Every time Pillman looks to get an advantage, Landell has his number and keeps the pace slow. It’s not exciting at all, but it makes sense considering their styles. Landell rolls through a cross body for two before blocking a rollup by holding the ropes. Pillman climbs up and hits a high cross body for the win.

Winner: Brian Pillman in 9:29
Jim Ross calls this a fast paced opening contest but that wasn’t the case. Buddy Landell made this slow, and even though it made sense, was pretty dull. Brian Pillman looked rather good though. *¾

Captain Mike Rotunda vs. Iron Sheik
I had no clue Sheiky Baby was in the NWA at this time. He attacks before the bell and gets a ton of heat. Nothing of note really happens here, except Sheik doing some generic heel offense. Ross talks about Rotunda’s history as an amateur wrestler, but his gimmick is that of a Navy captain now. I’ve never liked any gimmick that guy has had. Sheik stalls a bit and it allows Rotunda to backslide him and end this.

Winner: Captain Mike Rotunda in 6:46
A nothing match. Iron Sheik and Mike Rotunda are two of the most boring wrestlers I can ever recall watching so I knew this would be pretty wretched. I was right. ¼*

Doug Furnas vs. Dutch Mantel
So, not only did I not know Doug Furnas was around at this time, I also never recall him being billed as the “World’s Strongest Man”. It’s also a treat to see Mantel work since I’m used to him as a manager. Mantel is one hairy son of a bitch. Furnas shows off his athleticism with a dropsault that was pretty ahead of its time. Mantel slows the pace because the power and quickness combination by Furnas is too much for him. He does hit a decent looking snap suplex but Furnas kicks out with power and sends him onto the referee. Mantel gets caught cheating, which turns things around for Furnas. He wins with a sweet snap overhead belly to belly suplex.

Winner: Doug Furnas in 11:18
This match went on far too long. Dutch Mantel seemed like he didn’t care and Doug Furnas was incredibly green here. ¾*

Jim Cornette is interviewed and, in his usual machine gun like delivery, says that the Midnight Express and Ric Flair will retain their titles tonight.

Harley Race vs. Tommy Rich
This gets billed as a battle between two great former world champions. Tommy Rich even beat Harley Race for the World Title nine years ago. Race won it back quickly but somehow revenge is what this match is about. Doesn’t seem to make sense does it? We get an early piledriver that doesn’t seem to have much effect. They fight outside but it’s uninspired. Race gets two on a belly to belly suplex inside. They go right back outside for a brief few and then back inside where Race rolls through a cross body to steal this one.

Winner: Harley Race in 6:32
I don’t understand what the point of this was. It was a nothing match with a nothing crowd and a nothing result. DUD

Paul E Dangerously and Mean Mark are interviewed. They also put over Flair before saying that Mark will win the United States Title. Well, it’s mostly Paul talking and the future Undertaker looking menacing.

NWA United States Tag Team Championship
The Midnight Express (c) w/ Jim Cornette vs. The Southern Boys
The Southern Boys are racy Smothers and Steve Armstrong, who don’t get much of a pop here in Baltimore. The Midnight Express attack before the bell but it ends up with Bobby Eaton eating a double shoulder block. As it calms down into a normal tag match, Armstrong hits a monkey flip that they nearly botch. He hits a top rope clothesline, causing Eaton to regroup outside. It fails because when he comes in, he is laid out with a savant kick. He’s yet to tag out so far. Cornette shouts that karate is illegal after the kick. Eaton tags Stan Lane, who gets into an IMPROMPTU KARATE STANDOFF with Tracy Smothers! The crowd cheers as Lane gets the advantage with some strikes to the face but then crowd pops for the Southern Boys when Smothers takes both champions out with savant kicks. It looks like Smothers will leap onto Eaton from the apron, but he instead flips back into the ring and baseball slides him. The Express try to work a double team but Smothers rolls away and under Armstrong, who hits a cross body off the top. The crowd goes nuts as they both try to pin the champions to no avail. The heels finally turn the tables by throwing Smothers into the guardrail a few times. Cornette is perfect with the distraction. Inside, they work an atomic drop into a backbreaker. That makes sense since Smothers was thrown spine first into the rail. Beautiful Bobby nails the ALABAMA JAM but surprisingly tags out. They continue to work over Smothers until the hot tag is made. Armstrong hits everything that moves before they nail an assisted missile dropkick. They cover but the official is trying to get things in order and misses the cover. The Express turn it around and hit the Rocket Launcher but that’s not enough! Behind the referee’s backs, the Southern Boys switch places and an inside cradle nearly wins it but Lane breaks up the count. He is knocked to the apron, but he kicks Smothers in the head. That allows Eaton to roll him up and retain.

Winners and Still NWA United States Tag Team Champions: The Midnight Express in 18:16
Excellent match here as this show finally picked up. The action was fast paced, the Midnight Express pulled out another win and the Southern Boys become established as a legit threat to the belts. I loved that the Southern Boys got a chance to show off before going into the heat segment, which was brilliant. It helped worked the crowd more into this, making the climax all the more fun. This is the kind of tag team wrestling that I like to see. ****½

Big Van Vader vs. The Z-Man
Here we have the WCW debut of Big Van Vader. He comes out with his badass headgear and his old mask. Vader is one of my all-time favorite acts, but I’ve never seen this before. As you’d expect, this is a Vader showcase. He shrugs off whatever Z-Man does and slams him around the ring. He finishes with a splash.

Winner: Big Van Vader in 2:16
Exactly what this should have been. It showcased a new big deal but also allowed the fans to relax after the previous match. *½

Gordon Solie interviews the Four Horsemen. It’s so weird to see Sid with them. It’s absolutely standard interview stuff. Nothing of note.

The Freebirds vs. The Steiner Brothers
The Freebirds are sporting some 2002 Rico like attire and makeup. They dump Rick Steiner early and try to work on Scott but he’s too good for that. He holds them off until Rick comes in with STEINERLINES! When it calms down, the Freebirds stall, but it’s funny to see and hear the crowd shout at them and their reactions. Rick bits Hayes’ ass because he’s a dog faced gremlin. That’s Rosa Mendes’ job now. Being a dog faced gremlin and biting Hayes’ ass. The Freebirds threaten to leave but decide against it. They probably should have as Scott hits a tiger driver and tilt-a-whirl slam because he was a beast. There are “Michael is a bitch” chants, which is not something I expected to hear in a 1990 show. Rick catches his leap frog into a powerslam. However the Freebirds end up cutting the ring in half on Rick for a short while. Scott gets the tag and hits the Frankensteiner but Garvin lays him out with a DDT once he gets up. The referee kicks him out, allowing Rick to enter and take out Hayes with a belly to belly. He places Scott on top to score the 1-2-3.

Winners: The Steiner Brothers in 13:46
Nowhere near as fun as the previous tag team match but that would be asking for a lot. Instead, this was a good way to get the Steiners some momentum back after dropping the belts. The Freebirds were great at drawing heat. **¾

Arn Anderson, Barry Windham and Sid Vicious vs. El Gigante, Junkyard Dog and Paul Orndorff
Double A was the Television Champion at this time. According to Jim Ross, this is El Gigante’s debut, but he would go onto have awful matches as Giant Gonzalez. Sid is majorly over and he beats up Paul Orndorff to start. Once Orndorff knocks Sid out of the ring, the other Horsemen come in and get hip tossed. When Gigante gets tagged, he Horsemen scram and the crowd pops. JYD comes in and decides to sell NOTHING. He tags Orndorff who goes back to doing the only actual work for his guys. The heels now start to work him, since he’s the only guy selling. As they triple team him, they toss him over the top resulting in the dumb DQ.

Winners via disqualification: El Gigante, Junkyard Dog and Paul Orndorff in 8:54
I’ve always hated that old over the top DQ rule. Pretty boring match despite the efforts from the Horsemen. Disappointing for sure. *¼

United States Heavyweight Championship
Lex Luger (c) vs. Mean Mark Callous w/ Paul E. Dangerously
Admittedly, I haven’t seen much of Mean Mark’s work but I usually remember him doing tag stuff. This is easily the most high profile match I’ve seen him in and it comes just a few months before debuting as the Undertaker. Lex Luger goes for the arm early, while JR just HAS to mention everyone’s football background. Callous does a very impressive leap frog before a big boot. Callous uses a nice Fujiwara armbar and does OLD SCHOOL! That really is an old school move huh? Luger gets into his rally which, as always, involves SCREAMING CLOTHESLINES! Luger gets him in the Torture Rack, but Callous’ foot takes out the ref. This allows Dangerously to hit Luger in the ribs with the phone. Would that really hurt? Of course that’s not’s enough to win. Luger blocks the heart punch and wins with another SCREAMING CLOTHESLINE.

Winner and Still United States Heavyweight Champion: Lex Luger in 12:09
That was better than I expected. I enjoyed the arm work but Lex Luger forgetting to sell it hurt. Mark Callous looked very good throughout. The finish was rather abrupt though. **¼

NWA World Tag Team Championship
Doom (c) w/ Teddy Long vs. The Rock n’ Roll Express
Interesting styles clash as we have a fast paced team against a powerhouse team. The Rock n’ Roll Express show off some double team moves that allow them to overcome their size disadvantage. A shoulder block changes thing and Gibson plays the face in peril. The tag comes but it’s not really a hot one as the fans barely respond. His string of offense quickly ends as he becomes the face in trouble now. We get some good old fashioned heel tactics as Teddy Long and Ron Simmons pull Reed’s legs for added leverage and Morton is thrown over the top behind the referee’s back. Hot tag comes to Gibson this time and all four men brawl in the ring. A distraction from Long leads to Gibson laying him out, but that opens the door for Reed to nail a top rope shoulder block to retain.

Winners and Still NWA World Tag Team Champions: Doom in 15:41
Relatively slow match. After the US Tag Title match, every other tag match feels kind of dull. The crowd wasn’t as into it as I usually see with the RnR Express either. **½

NWA World Heavyweight Championship
Ric Flair (c) vs. Sting
There is a lot of history here considering their time limit draw at Clash of the Champions I and his past with the Horsemen. Sting has the Dudes with Attitude at ringside. Ole Anderson is forced to sit handcuffed to El Gigante on the aisle. Ric Flair starts with chops but Sting powers up and press slams him. He also hits a very pretty dropkick that causes Flair to roll onto the aisle but Sting clotheslines back inside. Commentary does a good job in building this as the top guy of the 80’s against what should be the top guy of the 90’s. Sting no sells a suplex and nails a flying cross body for two. Flair goes to the knee, which is wise since he had an operation on it. Sting sells the leg for a while, but then quickly changes the momentum by putting Flair in the Figure Four, but Flair quickly makes the ropes. Outside, Flair sends Sting into the guardrail only for him to again power up and no sell it. Flair clips Sting in the knee. He tries another Figure Four but Sting kicks him away. Sting again rallies and we get the Flair corner bump. Despite his no selling of chops, Sting’s chest looks like it has taking a beating. Stinger Splash hits and Flair flops out. Scorpion Death Lock gets applied and the Horsemen run out. The Dudes with Attitude stop them in their tracks but Flair reaches the ropes. Flair tries a rollup with his feet on the ropes but Scott Steiner knocks them off. Flair goes for the Figure Four, but Sting pulls him into a small package to win his first world title.

Winner and New NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Sting in 16:06
I enjoyed that more than their time limit draw at Clash of the Champions. Sting was made to look like a star as he overcame everything Flair tried to do. The crowd was molten hot for it and they exploded when Sting won. They got what they want as Sting won a great match. ****

Sting gets interviewed after and puts over Ric Flair as the greatest champion but celebrates his win.

5.0

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

There are two things on this show that you really should see. The main event for Sting’s first World Title and the US Tag Team Title match because it’s outstanding. Vader’s debut is short and sweet, while most other matches are at least decent. If you cut out everything before the Midnight Express/Southern Boys match, this would be a far better show.