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| 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.
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.
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.
