WCW The Great American Bash 1997 Results and Review: A Better VHS Experience

The Great American Bash 1997 Poster 

On June 15, 1997 around 9,613 people packed into The Mark of the Quad Cities in Moline, Illinois for The Great American Bash. This had a total of 9 matches and nearly ran out of time when it was presented. I didn’t get it live, but I had the VHS tape and can tell you that the WWE network experience is very edited. The music is different, the signs are blurred, and even some of the commentary is missing. Also, there are edits in the angles, and much more. It’s for that reason why I recommend you get the vhs tape.

You can purchase WCW The Great American Bash 1997 by clicking here for the VHS tape

WCW The Great American Bash 1997 Results

Ultimate Dragon defeated Pyschosis
Harlem Heat defeated The Steiner Bros. by disqualification
Konnan defeated Hugh Morrus
Glacier defeated Wrath
Akira Hokuto defeated Madusa for the WCW Women’s Championship and retirement
Chris Benoit defeated Meng
Kevin Greene defeated Steve McMichael
The Outsiders defeated Ric Flair and Roddy Piper
Randy Savage defeated Diamond Dallas Page in a Falls Count Anywhere Match

WCW The Great American Bash 1997 Review

From the results, you are not going to be blown away. But there were some insane matches on this card, and that’s what saves this overall. If you’re a collector then you will definitely want to pick up the VHS tape of this, or if you’re a casual WCW fan, then check out the WWE Network, neutered version.

Ultimate Dragon defeated Pyschosis

The first match on the card wasn’t fast paced. It was an ongoing storyline in which Sonny Onoo was recruiting cruiserweight talent to beat up Ultimate Dragon because he didn’t want to align with Onoo any longer. Anyways, this match was really good, well paced, and strong style. Dragon is an incredible talent, and Psychosis should’ve been on par with Rey Mysterio in the WWE, but for whatever reason the WWE never gave him a shot the same way. Anyways, this match was exciting, and had a great overall finish.

Match Rating: 3 out of 5

Harlem Heat defeated The Steiner Bros. by disqualification

The one thing that I took away from this match was that it was strong, and stiff. The Steiner Brothers and Harlem Heat were not pulling punches. They were hitting as hard as they could against one another, and it looked awful on the screen. If you’re a fan of hard hitting action, this match will suffice.

Match Rating: 2 out of 5

Konnan defeated Hugh Morrus

Hugh Morrus always surprised me. I loved how fast he could move in ring. Konnan has always been a favorite of mine, and in this match he really worked well with Hugh. Even though the match was passable, it wasn’t anything to write home about.

Match Rating: 2 out of 5

Glacier defeated Wrath

This was a slow down in the event, but the two guys were feuding at the time. Glacier has a really cool entrance and I loved the idea at the time. Going back to see it, however, it wasn’t that grand. It was ok.

Match Rating: 2 out of 5

Akira Hokuto defeated Madusa for the WCW Women’s Championship and retirement

Madusa’s final match, and it wasn’t half bad. Madusa loses the title and retires here. She seemed to have legitimately hurt her knee here. Other than that, it was ok, nothing crazy, in a wasted division on WCW.

Match Rating: 2 out of 5

Chris Benoit defeated Meng

Chris Benoit had been going through the Dungeon of Doom 1 by 1. This was another hurdle he had to cross this year. Every PPV Benoit was getting beat up by Kevin Sullivan and the Dungeon of Doom. This was a hard hitting match, and Benoit came through with great toughness, and if you follow wrestling, then you already know that this led to the retirement of Kevin Sullivan at Bash At The Beach 97, which was a great match between the two.

Match Rating: 3 out of 5

Kevin Greene defeated Steve McMichael

Even though this sounds terrible, it wasn’t half bad. It was a fun match, even though it seems like an odd pick today.

Match Rating: 2 out of 5




The Outsiders defeated Ric Flair and Roddy Piper

Roddy Piper had hip surgery and he had a HUGE scar on his leg, and the outsiders were attacking at will. Flair and Piper did well here, and it was interesting to see them fight The Outsiders to get the titles, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. The big men were not ready to vacate just yet, and they won with the crowd going absolutely nuts. Standard match here, nothing too crazy, but always fun to see Flair and Piper put on performances.

Match Rating: 3 out of 5

Randy Savage defeated Diamond Dallas Page in a Falls Count Anywhere Match

Now, this was the main reason why I wanted to rewatch this event. Savage and DDP had been feuding with the two fighting across Nitro. The two would meet this time around for the second time, the previous encounter being at Spring Stamped 1997. In that match, DDP was able to get the win after an insane finish. This time around, Macho won with help from Scott Hall. DDP and Savage worked very stiff here, like a glove, and the refs got beat down throughout. DDP had a legit looking rib injury and Savage landing on his ribs nearly killed the guy, as you may have heard from shoot interviews. You can see it right after the 3 count as DDP tells Macho to get off of his ribs. This 15 minute match was everything that a good feud should be, and the two just made each other so much better. Great match that would lead to a third and final match at Halloween Havoc 1997.

Match Rating: 4 out of 5

The main reason to watch WCW The Great American Bash 1997 is for that main event. That main event holds up very well, with the two putting on a showcase of strong wrestling, and the crowd going absolutely nuts for it. Great match, albeit a bit short.

I recommend getting WCW The Great American Bash 1997 by clicking here for the VHS tape, and NOT watching it on the WWE Network.

This is heavily edited without the original music, and a lot of other liberties that the WWE has gone through to make this a bit different. If you haven’t seen the original, you won’t notice it, but I have seen the original and had the VHS tape so I can tell you it’s way different.

WWE Slamboree 1998 Results and Review A Better VHS Experience

In this edition of a Better VHS Experience, I will be reviewing one hell of a WCW pay per view. This event was held on May 17, 1998, and it was held at The Centrum in Worcester, Mass. The show got 11,592 into the building, and they were raucous for sure. The matches here were well booked, and set up. In fact, this may have been the best WCW pay per view from 1998.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to see these shows on VHS tape instead of the WWE Network. There’s a LOT of censorship when you see them on the network, but hey, that’s just my 2 cents as to why I talk about this stuff on this site. This is my take on going back and watching this instant classic.

Pick Up WCW Slamboree 98 by Clicking HERE

WWE Slamboree 1998 Results

Fit Finlay defeated Chris Benoit

What an opener. Fit Finlay put the boots to Benoit, and this match was stiff. Both guys were hitting each other with some serious lumber in the ring, but it was Finlay with a serious tombstone piledriver on Benoit for the win. This was a hard hitting television title match, and definitely a good starting point.

Lex Luger defeated Brian Adams

This wasn’t very good. Lex Luger is great in high profile matches, but this wasn’t necessarily grand.

Ciclope won the Cruiserweight Battle Royal

This was awesome. Chris Jericho announced each participant, and it was a lot of great lucha guys. The match was great, and then left 2 major wrestlers in the ring. Ciclope and Juvi, and after a stare down, Juvi jumped out of the ring eliminating himself, only to reveal that under the Ciclope mask was none other than Dean Malenko! This absolutely blew up the crowd, and things went insane. This was exciting, and beyond what you may think. I was even screaming, it was great

Dean Malenko defeated Chris Jericho for the Cruiserweight Title

This was a scientific match, and it got the crowd moving. Jericho played a great heel here, and his in ring work is so much better with smaller guys. The two went back and forth across moves you don’t see anyone do in WWE, and it was amazing. The crowd was eating out of their hands, and when the dust settled, Dean Malenko won this grudge match. Great overall wrestling here, and perhaps one of the finest performances between the two.

Diamond Dallas Page Defeated Raven in an Asylum Match, I Mean a Bowery Death Match

Raven’s rules made this one so cool. DDP fought Raven inside a steel cage with weapons inside and it was awesome. This was my favorite match of the night, and Raven really put on a show against DDP. He also bumped like crazy for Page. Through the mid-point of the match, however, the FLOCK got involved, only to get beat up by Kanyon! Kanyon ripped his mask off from being Mortis, and then chained the flock to the cage, and hit Raven with a chair shot heard round the world. But overall, this match was insane, lots of hard hits, lots of back and forth, and even Raven doing the Diamond Cutter at one point. This was an instant classic for me.

Eddie Guerrero defeated Ultimo Dragon

Another instant classic, Guerrero and Dragon put on a showcase of pro-wrestling the likes you don’t see in WWE a lot. Guerrero is so underrated here, and Dragon was misused in WWE. The two put on a showcase of amazing moments, and in the end Guerrero took the win. Excellent match.

Goldberg defeated Saturn in the WCW United States Championship match

Goldberg ran through Saturn. Don’t get this wrong though, the match was only 7 minutes long, but Saturn put the boots to Goldberg and he looked as though he was going down until Goldberg caught Saturn in mid-air and drove him to the mat. Then things went nuts. The crowd was so into Goldberg it’s insane.

Bret Hart defeated Randy Savage (Piper was special referee)

If you read WIKIPEDIA they are wrong. While the match ending was reversed, Savage lost this one in an instant classic from Hart. Hart and Savage put on a classic psychological match with Hart targeting Savage’s injured leg. The injured leg would come into play at the end when Savage would get locked into the sharpshooter. Savage even reversed the Sharpshooter at one point and it was to no avail. The ending was a bit much, with Piper going down after Hart hit him, then Hogan showing up to mess up Savage’s leg, and Hart getting the win after all the shenanigans.

Sting and The Giant defeated The Outsiders for the WCW Tag Team Championships

This was a match that had some big hits, big moves. Lots of back and forth, and a classic match with two teams that were quite good overall. The Giant joined the NWO, so this was an odd one. Whatever the case was, this was a good 15-minute match that could’ve been better, but hey, I’m not going to complain too much. The shocker here was that Scott Hall turned on Kevin Nash. This of course would lead to the formation of the NWO red and black which was HUGE in the second half of 1998.

Overall Rating: 9 out of 10

Slamboree 1998 is one of the best WCW pay per views in my opinion. The matches were fun, and the stories that were told were classic in my opinion. Of course, there were a few lulls, but overall, there’s a lot to explore here. The cruiserweight battle royal and Raven vs DDP were absolutely great. This is a follow up to the Spring Stampede match that Raven beat DDP in, and it was amazing. Great stuff. This is well worth tracking down on VHS.

DDP vs. Goldberg Halloween Havoc 98

In 1998, my favorite Goldberg match happened. It happened at Halloween Havoc 1998, and it was the main event. The way the match flowed, the near falls, the Diamond Cutter, I thought for sure it was the end of the streak. I had no idea if Goldberg's streak was to end that month, or not, because the match was so convincing.

DDP vs. Goldberg is by far one of the best Bill Goldberg matches ever. He didn't just plow through DDP in a few seconds, he actually worked and DDP's style meshed so well that this match is one of my favorites of all time.

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Jay-Z Loses To Diamond Dallas Page

Jay-Z was sued by DDP recently over the usage of the Diamond Cutter, and won! That's right, Diamond Dallas Page successfully won a case at an undisclosed price from Jay, and DDP is sitting on a ton of money, and all he had to do was create the iconic Diamond Cutter symbol.

This is a great win for washed up and/or retired wrestlers world wide.

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