Nickrj’s Rant for WCW Great American Bash 1995
I picked this video up today at Hollywood Video as well as Bash At The Beach 1995 so I will do those two shows now. First GAB 1995.
This event aired on June 18 1995 at the Air Arena in Dayton Ohio
Your hosts are Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan
Opening Match: Brian Pillman VS Alex Wright
Match starts with a hand shake. Wright grabs the right arm of Pillman and Pillman reverses it with a nice maneuver. Alex hits a suplex with the wrist. Alex does a cartwheel and Pillman catches Wright with a head scissors. Pillman goes for the right arm of Wright. Pillman catches Wright with a spinning hurricurana. He hits a dropkick and goes to the armbar. Alex gets up and misses a moonsault but hits a dropkick. He takes down Pillman with a flying head scissors. Pillman goes into a headlock but Wright rolls him for 2. Wright hits a head butt in the lower ab followed by a snapmare. He misses an enzurguri and Pillman rolls him to a crossbow. Wright gets taken down again and Pillman goes back to the side headlock. Pillman hits a spinning huricuriana but misses a drop kick and Wright goes to the Boston Crab. He then goes for a surfboard. Wright hits a sunset flip for 2. A roll up gets another 2. A small package gets another 2. Pillman hits a chop. He goes back to the arm bar on Wright. Wright send Pillman out of the ring. Wright allows Pillman get in the ring and Pillman pulls Wright out and hits him with chops and puts him back in the ring. Both men exchange blows. Wright hits a face slam. He goes for a splash but Pillman brings the knees up. Pilllman works on Wright in the corner and goes for a body scissors and reverse chinlock. Pillman hits a gut wrench powerbomb for 2. He puts Wright on the ropes. Pillman tries to suplex Wright in the ring but Wright reverses it and suplexes Pillman out of the ring. Wright gives a baseball slide. Followed by a flying bodypress on the outside. Both men get back in and Wright hits a dropkick on the top rope for 2. Pillman sends Wright outside the ring again. Pillman hits a flying bodypress of his own. He hooks Wright on the railing and misses a bodypress on the top rope. Both men are down outside. Wright sends Pillman back in and goes to the top and misses a flying clothesline. Both men miss dropkicks on each other. Pillman tries for a superplex off the top and Wright blocks it and sends Pillman face first. Pillman hits a flying bodypress for 2. Pillman hurts his knee on the next sequence. Wright goes up top and Pillman hits a dropkick for 2. Pillman goes to the top but Wright sends him into the ropes. Wright with a waistlock and he hits a german suplex for 2 ½. Pillman tries for a spinning body scissors but Wright blocks it and pins Pillman at 15:24. Very good opening match ***1/2. Pillman and Wright hug each other afterwards.
We get a look at Diamond Dallas Page and his style of arm wrestling. He says that if somebody beats him at Arm Wrestling that man would win his girl. Some blond guy (I’m not familiar with WCW wrestlers) almost beats Page but Max Muscle interferes for Page.
Arm Wrestling match for a Date with the Diamond Doll. Dave Sullivan VS Diamond Dallas Page
If Page wins he gets a date with Sullivan’s rabbit. Page doesn’t have the Nirvana ripoff song for his music yet. Page tells Sullivan to leave the building right now but Sullivan doesn’t buy it. They both get ready and Dave is anxious. They both stall out for a minute before locking but DDP breaks it up again. Dave is getting impatient now and so am I. They finally lock up and Dave almost has it and Page almost has it. Max Muscle interferes for Page again. They go back and forth before the Doll pushes Muscle and Sullivan pins down DDP at :40. It wasn’t really a match but I still have to rate it. DUD. DDP and Muscle get at each other before they hug and DDP blames the Diamond Doll
Gene Okerlund interviews DDP and he wants a do over.
Here is my dream match! They get in each other’s face. Pittman gets his face in the ref. They both tie up and break up. They tie up again and Pittman gets a waist lock which Duggan breaks it up. He shouts “U.S.A!” in the camera. Duggan hits a messed up hip toss. Pittman goes to the right arm. Duggan tries to go for the hair but Pittman has very little. Pittman chokes out Duggan in the ropes. Pittman goes flying out of the ring diving for Duggan. Duggan pounds on him outside. Pittman nails Duggan and tears off his knee pad and rams his exposed leg into the ringpost. He grabs his other leg and rams it into the ringpost. This guy is a bigger joke than Duggan. They both roll over inside the ring and Pittman holds the left leg. He hammers Duggan with some right hands and Duggan hits a hard right. Pittman hits a spinebuster and goes after the exposed leg again. Duggan rakes the eyes and Pittman takes him down again. Pittman does a spinning toe hold on the leg but Duggan kicks him out of the ring. Duggan hammers on Pittman and hits a slam but injures is knee. He hits a clothesline and goes for the 3 point stance and hits it but Pittman takes the knee down. He goes to the armbar and does a submisson move with it and Duggan gets to the ropes but Pittman doesn’t let go and is DQ’d at 8:11. How do you think I liked this match? -*1/2. Duggan grabs his 2X4 and chases Pittman and the ref out of the ring.
We look at The Main Event pregame show where Col. Robert Parker kisses Sister Sherri and Sherri knocks him down
All four men brawl to start. Both hillbillies get thrown out of the ring. Slater and Stevie Ray hook it up and Ray hits a slam and he nails Bunk. Bunk and Ray tie up and Ray tags Booker T. T works on Bunk but get raked in the eyes. T hits a kick on Bunk and nails Slater. T hits Slater with another kick. Ray comes in and hits another kick. Ray pins Bunk for 2. Ray with a resthold on Ray. T comes in and hits a drop kick. Slater comes in and drop toe holds T. T gets up and goes to the armbar. Ray comes in and works on Slater. He hits a snap mare and goes to a double chin lock. T comes back in and works on Slater some more. Bunk comes in and works on T. T slams Bunk but misses an elbow. T hits an elbow on the head though. Ray comes in and pounds on Slater but gets kicked in the head. Ray no sells Slater’s offense and Bunk comes in and Slater kicks Ray in the back and Bunk nails him. Slater works on Ray outside now. Bunk hits a big boot for 2. Ray hits a flying double clothesline and tags T. T works on both hillbillies and hits Slater with a drop kick. Slater saves a cover and all four brawl. T small packages Bunk but Col. Parker rolls him over. Sherri comes in and reverses it and T pins Bunk at 8:39. Another bad match ½*.
Commissoner Nick Bockwinkel makes an announcement but Vader comes out and attacks him. But Hogan makes the save with a chair and it turns into a brawl. Bockwinkel then does an interview saying that Vader will face Hogan for the title at Bash At The Beach in a steel cage. Wow I can’t wait to see that one tomorrow!
Renegade looks like Ultimate Warrior to me. Anderson pounds on Renegade to start. Renegade comes back but Anderson nails him with a clothesline in the corner which Renegade no sells. Renegade clotheslines Anderson over the top. He jumps out and Anderson gets back in. They tie up and Renegade gets a side headlock. Renegade blocks a hip toss and nails Anderson. Renegade goes back to the side head lock. Anderson comes out and hits an Ab Stretch which Renegade reverses. Anderson comes out with a hip toss. He starts working on Renegade and hits an enzurgiri and Renegade no sells it. Geez another bad wrestler here. Anderson hammers Renegade in the corner and Renegade runs into a boot. Anderson hits a sleeper hold. Renegade hits one of his own. Anderson his a back suplex. Anderson chokes Renegade on the top rope. Anderson snap mare’s Renegade and goes to the chin lock. Renegade gets up and gets kicked in the head which he no sells. Anderson hits a spinebuster for 2. Arn gets 2 more 2 counts. Arn misses an elbow. Renegade misses an atomic drop and they both run into each other. Anderson goes to the top and Renegaade catches him and gives him a fallaway slam. Renegade goes to the top and hits a flying bodypress for the pin at 9:06 to become the new Television champion. Well at least this match was better than the last 2 matches *1/2 We get a look at The Giant in the audience after the match.
We get a look at the feud between the Blue Bloods and the Nasty Boys. The Nasties were attacked by the Bloods in an interview. Both these teams have a brawl on Main Event. Harlem Heat joins the fray as well.
All four men brawl to start. And they take it outside the ring. Jerry Sags rams Steven Regal into the ring post. Sags works on Regal inside the ring and hits a clothesline in the corner. Both Nasties pound on Regal. They ram Regal’s face into Sag’s armpit. Both Nasties now work on Earl Robert and they ram his face into the armpit as well. Disgusting! Regal gets nailed by Sags. Brian Knobs takes Regal to the floor. Sags works on Robert outside but gets nailed by Regal. Both Nasties pound on Regal again and Sags hits a head butt to the lower abdomen. He hits Regal with a bat as Knobs slams Robert on a chair outside. Sags with a pump handle slam on Regal for 2. Knobs comes in works on Regal but he gets kicked. Regal tags Robert and they both pound on Knobs. Robert takes a hip toss and a backdrop but Knobs gets pulled outside the ring and elbowdropped by Regal. Regal comes in and they both trade right hands. Robert hold Knobs in the corner and Sag comes in. Regal hits an elbow drop for one. Regal goes for a front face lock. We cut to both Bloods pounding on Knobs and Roberts misses a charge in the corner. Sags comes in and pounds away on Robert and hits a Power Slam and a knee drop. He hits Regal on the outside and pulls Robert back in. Sags gets thrown over the top rope. Both Bloods double team on Sags outside. Regal runs Sags into the railing. Robert hits a flying knee drop from the top rope for 2. He goes to the chin lock. Regal comes in and pins Sags for 2. Robert comes in and clips Sags. Regal misses a cannonball. Knobs comes in and works on both Bloods. He hits a power slam but Robert breaks it up. Both Knobs and Regal get knocked down and Harlem Heat come to the ring and try to get in and Booker T hits a cannonball on Knobs and knocks Robert down from the top rope. Sags hits an elbow drop and Knobs pins Regal at 14:58 to retain the title. This match was a mess ¾*
We get a look at the U.S. Title tournament leading up to the big match tonight.
Meng starts by trying to hit some kicks on Sting. They get in face to face and Meng pounds on Sting in the corner. Meng chokes out Sting. He continues to work on Sting and Sting starts to fight back. He hits a drop kick. Meng goes outside to regroup. Meng works over Sting again. He hits a head butt and pounds on him in the corner. Sting fights back again but can’t knock Meng down. He misses and bodypress and looks at Col. Parker but gets nailed by Meng. Meng works on Sting outside the ring and he runs him into the railing. Meng chokes out Sting again underneath the rope. Meng hits a Pearl River Plunge for 2. Meng hits a shoulderbreaker for 2. Meng goes to the nerve pinch. Meng throws Sting outside the ring and Parker nails some blows on Sting. Meng hits a headbutt. Sting tries a sunset flip but gets caught. Meng goes back to the nerve pinch. He slowly works on the back of Sting. They run into each other and Sting blocks a hiptoss and tries a backslide and uses the ropes to flip over and he hits a back splash on the 2nd rope. Meng gets up and hits a headbutt from the 2nd rope for 2. Meng tries another pin. He tries a back suplex but Sting falls on him for 2. Sting knocks Meng down with a flying clothesline. He hits a face slam. He hits an inverted atomic drop and clotheslines Meng and both men go outside. Sting works on Meng outside but the ref pulls Sting off and Sting nails Col Parker and Meng tries to jump Sting but is rammed into the ringpost. Sting hits a flying fistdrop outside and goes for the Scorpion Death Lock and Meng doesn’t give up and breaks out of it. Sting clips the leg and goes to the top and hits a flying clothesline. He goes to the top again and hits a flying splash for 2. Sting hits a flying DDT for 3 at 13:35 and he is the new U.S. Heavyweight champion. Match started off terribly but picked up near the end **
We get a look at the Randy Savage/Ric Flair feud. At Superbrawl Savage goes after Flair after beating Avalanche. Flair dressed in drag attacks Savage at Uncensored. Ric Flair was reinstated by Nick Bockwinkel. At Slamboree Hulk Hogan and Savage beat Flair and Vader but Flair and Arn Anderson would attack Savage’s father Angelo Poffo after the match and puts him in the Figure Four Leglock. Both men would eliminate each other in the U.S. title tournament.
Savage brings his father with him to ringside. Savage beats up on Flair to start. He hits a backdrop and a clothesline. He clotheslines him out of the ring and goes to the top and hits a double ax handle. Flair goes to the eyerake and he gets backdropped on the floor. Savage is rammed into the ringpost. Flair rams Savage into the rail and hits a double ax handle. He continues to pound on Savage in the outside. They go back in and Savage starts to fight back but gets beaten down by Flair. Flair hits a kneedrop. Savage gets rammed into the corner but he fights back and chokes Flair and pounds away on him. He puts his knee on Flair’s throat and continues to choke him out. Flair gets rammed stomach first into the turnbuckle. Savage pounds on Flair and he goes to the outside. Savage pounds on Flair outside now. Flair throws him back in the ring goes to the top but gets caught and thrown over the ring. Savage throws Flair upside down and over and Flair goes after Angelo and Savage stops him but he gets clipped in the knee. Savage gets his knee dropped on the railing. Angelo helps his son up. Flair clips Savage’s knee again. Flair grabs the knee goes to the top and does a sunset flip with it. Savage pulls Flair to the apron. Both go to the outside again and Flair in rammed into the railing. Both men get back in and Flair hits the Figure Four Leglock as Angelo is crying. Flair uses the ropes for leverage. Savage reverses the hold but gets out of it. Savage is limping and Flair goes after the damaged leg. Flair goes to the top rope and misses a knee drop. He gets back up and hits a chop and Savage fights back. He sends Flair upside down and catches him from the top rope and almost gets 3. Flair gets slammed and Savage goes to the top and hits the flying elbow but pulls up Flair. He goes outside and finds a ring bell outside the ring. Savage’s eye is busted open at this point. Savage goes to the top again and Flair catches him on the outside and Savage hits his face on the railing. Flair is working on Savage now outside. He goes after Angelo and Angelo chokes out Flair with a cane. Flair elbows Angelo and Savage nails Flair and checks on his father. Flair has the cane and he whacks Savage in the face for the pin at 14:42. Decent match bad ending **1/2.
Summary: Well there’s not that much to see here
beside a few decent matches. But on th e bright side Hulk Hogan doesn’t wrestle
on here though but that still doesn’t save it from being RECOMMENDATION TO
AVOID