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.

WCW World War 3 1996 Results and Review A Better VHS Experience

And here we go, in 1996 this event was definitely an intriguing one. If you are not familiar with the wrestling event of WCW World War 3, you should know that it has 3 rings and 60 men. That’s right, 3 rings, and 60 men go in, and only 1 wins. It’s a battle royal to end all battle royals, and it’s amazing to say the least. I loved these events, and absolutely enjoyed the 60 man gimmick. Anyways, for 1996, the VHS was unedited. When I watched it back on the network, I noticed a lot of blurs, and changes made by the WWE team. So if you’re going to watch this, get the unedited version, or just watch it on the network, what do I care?

In Norfolk, Virginia a crowd of 10,314 was gathered to see this one, and there was a lot of action. I didn’t get to see the dark match, but apparently it featured La Parka and Villano IV. So here we go, Sunday, November 24, 1996, World War 3 cue the fireworks.

WCW World War 3 1996 Results and Review

The Ultimate Dragon defeated Rey Mysterio Jr. (J Crown Championship)

Holy crap! This was an opener that you have to see. These two were in their absolute primes. Mysterio is young, light, and flies around the ring like no other. Ultimate Dragon is a great fighter, and he really showcases some great respect for Mysterio in this match. I loved the back and forth, and the two were playing a game of pro-wrestling chess. Dragon would eventually get the win, and that was that.

Chris Jericho defeated Nick Patrick in a one arm tied behind the back match

This was not a high point for Chris Jericho. He beat up Nick Patrick, in a forgettable match.

Harlem heat defeated The Amazing French-Canadians

Not a great match, but afterwards Sherri would get Colonel Robert Parker for 5 minutes. She is awesome, and she really threw herself around the ring. As for Harlem Heat, they worked stiff, and I don’t know how a lot of teams let Booker T drop his tree trunk of a leg on their heads. Holy crap. You have to see him fly around the ring.

Dean Malenko defeated Psychosis (Cruiserweight Championship)

Malenko was all technical wrestling in this one. Psychosis is a high flyer normally, but Malenko had him grounded for the whole match. I was surprised how this went, and Malenko would eventually get the win. Psychosis is one of my favorite luchadors, but here, he just couldn’t get much going against a very methodical Malenko.

The Outsiders defeated The Faces of Fear and The Nasty Boys (World Tag Team Championship)

This match was hard hitting. The Outsiders and the rest worked stiff in my view. They all brawled but it would eventually be The Outsiders with the win. This was like watching the old school get tossed aside for the new. The Outsiders won after around 16 minutes.

The Giant won the World War 3 match

This was amazing. The ending had the NWO against Lex Luger alone. Luger took on all of them by himself, but eventually it was The Giant that would give him the win. Great match, and a lot of fun.

WCW World War 3 Competitors: Arn Anderson, Marcus Bagwell, The Barbarian, Chris Benoit, Big Bubba Rogers, Jack Boot, Bunkhouse Buck, Ciclope, Disco Inferno, Jim Duggan, Bobby Eaton, Mike Enos, Galaxy, Joe Gomez, Jimmy Del Ray, Johnny Grunge, Juventud Guerrera, Eddy Guerrero, Scott Hall, Prince Iaukea, Ice Train, Mr. JL, Jeff Jarrett, Chris Jericho, Kenny Kaos, Konnan, Lex Luger, Dean Malenko, Steve McMichael, Meng, Rey Misterio Jr., Hugh Morrus, Kevin Nash, Scott Norton, Carl Ouellet, Diamond Dallas Page, La Parka, Sgt. Craig Pittman, Jim Powers, Robbie Rage, Stevie Ray, Lord Steven Regal, The Renegade, Scotty Riggs, Roadblock, Jacques Rougeau, Tony Rumble, Mark Starr, Rick Steiner, Ron Studd, The Taskmaster, Syxx, Booker T, Squire David Taylor, the Ultimate Dragon, Villano IV, Michael Wallstreet, Pez Whatley and Alex Wright.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 10

The event seemed short to me. I don’t know if that’s editing on the WWE’s part, or it was that short. Other than that, the matches were not that great, with the exception of the opener, which was a lot of fun to watch. The rest was ok at best. Good back and forth hard style wrestling at points, but it’s the main event and opener that is worth checking this out for.

If you find this on VHS, you should buy it, why not? It’s better than the network experience, I guarantee it.