Kevin’s Random Reviews: NWA Great American Bash 1989

NWA The Great American Bash 1989
July 23rd, 1989 | Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland | Attendance: 12,500

Here’s a show I’ve never seen before, but I’ve certainly heard about. It’s been considered by many as one of the best Pay-Per-Views ever. Not just in NWA/WCW terms either. I’m talking PPVs across all companies. The tagline for the show was “Glory Days” and it’s rather fitting. This would be the fifth Great American Bash event.

Jim Ross and Bob Caudle handled commentary duties.

$50,000 Triple Crown Two-Ring King of the Hill Battle Royal
That’s a mouthful. Basically, there were a series of battle royals and each winner qualified for this one. They start in one ring and if you’re eliminated, you go to ring two for a loser’s battle royal. The winners of those two battle royals meet for the prize money. The Steiners, the Skyscrapers, Eddie Gilbert, Terry Gordy, Brian Pillman and others were in this. Hey, a blond porn star looking Scott Hall was there, too. Future World Champion Ron Simmons was the first man eliminated from both rings. Speaking of the future, two guys from WWF’s great 1997, Sid and Pillman, were the final two in ring one, with Sid winning. In ring two, Mike Rotunda missed a clothesline and sent himself over the top. Dan Spivey dumped out Steve Williams to win that one at 8:25. Teddy Long, the Skyscrapers’ manager, said he didn’t want to risk a breakup, so they decided to split the money and not wrestle. That was a standard battle royal with a shit finish. They shouldn’t technically be allowed to just split it. The fans were pissed at it. [*]

Backstage, Long put over how his guys were undefeated, have the money and the crown. He called out Sting, the Road Warriors, Ric Flair and others to bring it on.

Flyin’ Brian Pillman vs. “Wild” Bill Irwin
Pillman showed his athleticism early, doing things that weren’t too common in this era. JR hyped this, saying he expected it to be one of the hottest video cassettes ever. Talk about a dated reference. Pillman worked an ARMBAR after some ARMDRAGS for a while. Irwin hit a sidewalk slam and slowed the pace, wearing down his quicker opponent. Pillman rallied, but climbed to the opposite turnbuckle, leading to him missing a missile dropkick. Looks like he was a loose cannon back then too. However, he made good use of the two rings, leaping off the top of one and into the second with a cross body for the win at 10:10. Cool finish. The match went too long and the early portions did nothing for me. [*¾]

Paul E. Dangerously was interviewed about the Tuxedo Match. He didn’t care about being stripped, he just wanted to end Jim Cornette, even bringing up his infamous scaffold match injury.

The Dynamic Dudes vs. The Skyscrapers w/ Teddy Long
For those unaware, the Dynamic Dudes were Shane Douglas and a horribly miscast Johnny Ace. Newer fans may remember them from the sarcastic video CM Punk ran at the 2011 Slammys. They pulled out a kid from the crowd to play Frisbee with them and he looked like he didn’t want to be there at all. JR got in his useless football references before noting that Ace is a big buy, but looks small next to Spivey. That’s much better. The Dudes hit a few high flying moves. The crowd loved Sid and when he wasn’t in, they chanted for him. Sid was over as hell for most of his career. As they neared ten minutes, Spivey planted Ace with a powerbomb to win in 9:14. Another match that went too long. [*¼]

Apparently, the tape version of this show had the first three matches clipped. Pillman/Irwin and the Skyscraper tag were condensed to five total minutes, which would’ve been much better.

Jim Cornette got interviewed about Paul E.’s comments earlier, but he said he didn’t care. If his legs get broken, he’ll crawl to get to Paul E.

Tuxedo Match: Jim Cornette vs. Paul E. Dangerously
Cornette jumped Paul out of fury. Paul E., the genius he is, went after Cornette’s knee with his cellphone. Imagine psychology in a Tuxedo Match. Cornette could barely stand, but fought hard as he promised. The crowd came alive as Cornette started to rally. Paul tried using powder, but it backfired and was sent into his face. Cornette stripped him to win at 6:22. It could’ve been a short comedy match, but instead, they worked it so smartly. There was more psychology and crowd investment than half the stuff we see today. Better than it had any right to be. [**]

Gary Hart got promo time to hype The Great Muta’s TV Title shot tonight.

Texas Tornado Match: The Steiner Brothers w/ Missy Hyatt vs. The Varsity Club
Is Kerry Von Erich somehow involved in this? This is the end of the Varsity Club angle and the official debut of the Steiners. The tornado rules allowed for a brawl. Rick and Kevin Sullivan fought outside with a chair, leading to Rick getting crotched on the guardrail. The fans went nuts as Rick hit Sullivan with a table. Scott and Mike Rotunda went at it inside. Scott got double teamed a bit, shortly before Rick did. After Mike was sent outside, Sullivan went to slam Rick only for Scott to come off with a cross body. He cradled it for the win at 4:42. Non-stop action thanks to this being a short brawl. Some of the stuff came off awkwardly though. [**¾]

A hyped up Sting was interviewed about the upcoming match.

NWA World Television Championship: Sting (c) w/ Eddie Gilbert vs. The Great Muta w/ Gary Hart
Muta entered undefeated. He took to stalling in the second ring, so Sting leapt from ring to the other with a huge cross body. That took a high level of athleticism. Muta retaliated with a handspring back elbow, setting the tone for the match. Sting no sold a spin kick like it was a Flair chop. Muta had control, with Sting getting in hope spots like a press slam. Muta took to wearing Sting down, knowing he was outmatched in the power game. He missed a corner elbow and Sting fired up. The red mist missed Sting and caught Nick Patrick. The Stinger Splash missed, causing Muta to gain confidence. He hit the moonsault but only got two. Sting hit a back suplex and the double pin led to a strange finish at 8:08. The power vs. speed battle was well done and this is one of the better eight minute matches you’ll ever see. Some great exchanges throughout, but a lame finish. [***¾]

Amid the confusion, Muta was given the title and left with it. It would end up vacant until Muta won a rematch.

United States Champion Lex Luger was interviewed about the upcoming match. He didn’t want it to be No DQ and threatened to walk out.

NWA United States Championship: Lex Luger (c) vs. Ricky Steamboat
Steamboat’s entrance included him carrying a big Komodo Dragon. At least, I think that’s what it was. Steamboat agreed to waive the No DQ rule. He brought it right to Luger, kicking his ass despite a size disadvantage. He absolutely WRECKED Luger’s chest with chops. It looked like Luger was in a match with Naomichi Marufuji or something. He turned it around with his power inside, and took time to jaw with the fans. Steamboat’s fighting spirit was magnificent. He got taken down with clothesline and would pop up, swinging wildly, before falling down. The fans were basically begging for Ricky to turn the tide. The champ’s cockiness cost him, opening the door for a Steamboat neckbreaker. Steamboat slammed him from the top and got in a fiery comeback sequence. After back dropping Steamboat into the second ring, Luger got a steel chair. Steamboat tripped him up and slingshot him into the corner, causing Luger to go face first into the chair. A pissed off Steamboat then whacked him in the back with it, resulting in a DQ at 10:26. Awesome match. One of the best of Luger’s career. They both sold great for the other, with Luger being willing to get lit up with chops. Tons of action with a rabid crowd. The DQ finish honestly made sense here too. [****¼]

War Games: The Fabulous Freebirds and The Samoan Swat Team w/ Paul E. Dangerously vs. The Midnight Express, The Road Warriors and Steve Williams w/ Jim Cornette and Paul Ellering
The Samoan Swat Team spent the pre-match time beating each other up. Eaton and Garvin started this thing off. I liked how you could feel the hatred here. When Eaton was knocked down by the cage, his opponents tried reaching in to hit him, even though they could barely fir their hands in. That’s how much they wanted to fight. Gordy joined the fray next, giving the heels that good old War Games advantage. They held serve until Steve Williams entered and Jim Ross damn near had an orgasm. To be fair, Williams had an impressive spot where he did a press slam into the ceiling eight times. Samu came in next to swing the momentum and the brawl continued. Animal entered next to a huge pop. The babyfaces kicked ass to the crowd’s liking. The next guy in was Fatu, but the heels got in control just before he came in. Lane was next and then Hayes was the last entrant for his team, even asking if he really had to go in. He did and, with his team in control, stopped to talk shit to Hawk outside. Hawk finally entered, with as little time to no sell as possible. He ran through everyone. Eaton finally got a second wind and went on a DDT spree. Paul E. tried using his phone to cheat, but it wouldn’t fit through the cage. In the end, Garvin saved Gordy from a Doomsday Device, only to eat a clothesline himself. He tapped to the Hangman submission for the loss at 22:20. It didn’t feel as “big” as other War Games matches, but it was a heated fight that followed the typically great formula of this kind of match. [****]

After the babyfaces left to celebrate, the heels pulled Hawk back in and jumped him, while locking his team out.

Ric Flair was interviewed about not being fully healed heading into the main event.

NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Ric Flair (c) vs. Terry Funk w/ Gary Hart
Flair looked magnificent in his robe. Before the bell could even ring, Flair took Funk outside and beat him up. He got back in the ring and strutted, angering Funk. They traded chops, before Funk started targeting the injured neck. JR made sure to point out Funk wrenching it for basic moves, such as a suplex. Flair avoided the piledriver and went after Funk’s neck. In a wildly satisfying moment, Flair hit a piledriver of his own, following with another. Funk tried getting to his feet, only to fall outside. He tried crawling to the back, possibly realizing Flair is too much for him now. Flair brought him back and tried the Figure Four, but Funk blocked it with the branding iron! Flair bled in typical Flair fashion. He avoided a piledriver on the exposed concrete (after surviving one inside), but ate three neckbreakers inside. The crowd was almost silent with concern for the bloody champion with the bad neck. Flair got the branding iron and both men ended up bloody. Their brawl led to counters of both the spinning toe hold and the Figure Four. Terry pulled Flair into an inside cradle, which Flair countered to retain at 17:23. Great main event, filled with violence and hatred. A wild brawl with great psychology surrounding Flair’s injured neck, and a straight up finish that still allowed things to continue. [****¼]

The Great Muta arrived and spit the mist at Flair, leading to a two on one beating. The crowd chanted for Sting, who obliged and made the save. They sent Muta and Funk packing, setting up a tag team match for Halloween Havoc.

8.5

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

I can see why this was considered one of the best Pay-Per-Views of all time. If I saw the clipped version, I’d have ranked it a Tye Dillinger, probably. The first few matches are a bit dull and last too long, which are the only negatives. The Tuxedo match over delivers, while the Tornado tag is a lot of fun. Sting/Muta was great until the finish and the final three matches rule. You get an awesome Steamboat/Luger outing, a wild War Games match and a violent main event that fit the heated rivalry perfectly.