The Great American Bash (1995)
The Great American Bash was the fifth The Great American Bash professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and ninth overall. The event took place on June 18, 1995 at the Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio. This was the first Great American Bash event in nearly three years, with the last event taking place in 1992.
| The Great American Bash | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |||
| Promotion | World Championship Wrestling | ||
| Date | June 18, 1995 | ||
| City | Dayton, Ohio | ||
| Venue | Hara Arena | ||
| Attendance | 6,000 | ||
| Tagline(s) | Back By Popular Demand! Celebrate With Some Red, White, Black and Blue! | ||
| Pay-per-view chronology | |||
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| The Great American Bash chronology | |||
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Seven matches were contested at the event. The main event was a standard wrestling match between Ric Flair and Randy Savage, which was part of a rivalry stemming from a match in a tournament to crown the new United States Heavyweight Champion. Flair defeated Savage. The undercard featured many matches including a tournament final for the United States Heavyweight Championship between Sting and Meng. Sting defeated Meng to win the title.
Storylines
The event featured wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[1]
Event
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| Commentators | Tony Schiavone |
| Bobby Heenan | |
| Interviewer | Gene Okerlund |
| Ring announcers | David Penzer |
| Michael Buffer | |
| Referee | Nick Patrick |
The Fantastics were substitutes for the Rock 'n Roll Express, who failed to show, due to commitments with the National Wrestling Alliance and Smoky Mountain Wrestling. Scott D'Amore was mistakenly billed as Chris Kanyon in this match.[2] After their match, Harlem Heat and Sister Sherri came out to confront Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck; Sherri punched Col .Robert Parker and challenged Slater and Buck to a match later that night. Dave Sullivan won a date with the Diamond Doll by defeating Diamond Dallas Page; had Page won he would've taken possession of Ralph, Sulivan's pet rabbit. Referee Nick Patrick disqualified Sgt. Craig Pittman when he refused to let go of the Code Red while Jim Duggan was holding onto the ropes. Pittman was originally supposed to face Marcus Alexander Bagwell, but Bagwell suffered an injury and Duggan was announced as his replacement. The match between Sting and Meng was originally scheduled as a semifinal match in the United States Championship Tournament started after Vader was stripped of the title. However, the other semifinal between Ric Flair and Randy Savage ended in a no-contest and both men were eliminated from the tournament.
Results
| No. | Results[3][4][5] | Stipulations | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1ME | Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray) (with Sister Sherri) defeated The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers) | Tag team match | 06:46 |
| 2ME | Sgt. Craig Pittman defeated Scott D'Amore[2] | Singles match | 02:16 |
| 3ME | Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck (with Col. Robert Parker) defeated Frankie Lancaster and Barry Houston | Tag team match | 03:52 |
| 4 | Alex Wright defeated Brian Pillman | Singles match | 15:42 |
| 5 | Dave Sullivan defeated Diamond Dallas Page (with the Diamond Doll and Max Muscle) | Arm Wrestling contest | N/A |
| 6 | Jim Duggan defeated Sgt. Craig Pittman by disqualification | Singles match | 08:13 |
| 7 | Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray) (with Sister Sherri) defeated Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck (with Col. Robert Parker and Meng) | Tag team match | 08:39 |
| 8 | The Renegade (with Jimmy Hart) defeated Arn Anderson (c) | Singles match for the WCW World Television Championship | 09:07 |
| 9 | The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) (c) defeated The Blue Bloods (Earl Robert Eaton and Lord Steven Regal) | Tag team match for the WCW World Tag Team Championship | 15:03 |
| 10 | Sting defeated Meng (with Col. Robert Parker) | Singles match for the vacant WCW United States Heavyweight Championship | 13:34 |
| 11 | Ric Flair defeated Randy Savage (with Angelo Poffo) | Singles match | 14:42 |
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Tournament bracket
| First Round (TV) | Quarterfinals (TV) | Semifinals (TV/PPV) | Finals | ||||||||||||
| Sting | 10:36 | ||||||||||||||
| Arn Anderson | sub | ||||||||||||||
| Sting | |||||||||||||||
| Paul Orndorff | sub | ||||||||||||||
| Paul Orndorff | 8:27 | ||||||||||||||
| Johnny B. Badd | pin | ||||||||||||||
| Sting | 13:34 | ||||||||||||||
| Meng1 | pin | ||||||||||||||
| Meng | 8:12 | ||||||||||||||
| Marcus Bagwell | pin | ||||||||||||||
| Meng | 4:41 | ||||||||||||||
| Brian Pillman | pin | ||||||||||||||
| Brian Pillman | 0:15 | ||||||||||||||
| Bunkhouse Buck | pin | ||||||||||||||
| Sting | |||||||||||||||
| Ric Flair | 10:15 | ||||||||||||||
| The Patriot | pin | ||||||||||||||
| Ric Flair | 9:53 | ||||||||||||||
| Alex Wright | DQ | ||||||||||||||
| Alex Wright | |||||||||||||||
| Big Bubba Rogers | DQ | ||||||||||||||
| Ric Flair | |||||||||||||||
| Randy Savage | NC | ||||||||||||||
| Randy Savage | 5:46 | ||||||||||||||
| The Butcher | pin | ||||||||||||||
| Randy Savage | 2:19 | ||||||||||||||
| Steve Austin | pin | ||||||||||||||
| Steve Austin | 7:14 | ||||||||||||||
| Jim Duggan | pin | ||||||||||||||
^1 This match was originally scheduled as a semifinal match in the tournament but the other semi-final match between Randy Savage and Ric Flair ended in a no contest and both men were eliminated from the tournament, resulting in Sting and Meng's match determining the champion.
References
- Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Discovery Communications. Retrieved 2015-11-15.
- "WCW Main Event". WCW Main Event. 1995-06-18. TBS (TV channel).
- Cawthon, Graham (2015). the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 5: World Championship Wrestling 1995-2001. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 1499656343.
- "2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts: Great American Bash 1995". Wrestling's Historical Cards. Kappa Publishing. 2007. p. 142.
- "Great American Bash 1995". Pro Wrestling History. June 18, 1995. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
- "WCW 1995 results". Graham Cawthon. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
- "Great American Bash 1995". Pro Wrestling History. June 18, 1995. Retrieved May 14, 2020.