WWE The Bash

The Bash featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that were played out on Monday Night Raw, Friday Night SmackDown, ECW and WWE Superstars—World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) television programs. Wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches.[8] All wrestlers were from WWE's Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands—a storyline division in which WWE employees are assigned to a television program of the same name.[9]

CM Punk defended the World Heavyweight Championship at The Bash against Jeff Hardy.

Three weeks ago at Extreme Rules, CM Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and defeated Jeff Hardy to win the World Heavyweight Championship, after Hardy had already defeated Edge in a ladder match to win the title. On the following episode of SmackDown, both Hardy and Edge demanded rematches, but SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long then announced a number one contender's match between the two to determine who would face Punk for the championship. The match ended in a no-contest after Punk interfered, resulting in Long making a triple threat match between the three men for the World Heavyweight Championship on the June 15 episode of Raw, where Punk would retain the title by pinning Edge after Hardy had performed a Swanton Bomb on him.[10] Punk and Hardy had tense confrontations in the coming weeks, leading to Theodore Long making a championship match between the two for the Bash.[11]

After winning the WWE Championship at Extreme Rules, Batista was assaulted the next night on Raw by former champion, Randy Orton, incapacitating Batista and leading to him vacating his title due to a legitimate tear in his Biceps brachii muscle.[12] The next week on Raw, a fatal four-way match was held to determine the new champion, which featured Orton, Triple H, John Cena, and The Big Show.[13] Orton won the match, and it was later announced by WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon, that the next man to face Orton for the title would be the winner of a 10-man battle royal; Triple H won the match, and became the number one contender.[14] It was also announced on this episode of Raw by storyline owner, Donald Trump, that the title would be defended the next week on Raw between the two in a Last Man Standing match,where the winner would go into The Bash with the title, defending against the other.[13] The match ended in a draw when neither man was able to answer the referee's ten-count; Orton retained the championship as a result. Later in the show, Mr. McMahon acquired Raw back from Trump with his first act back in control being to change the match between Orton and Triple H at The Bash to a Three Stages of Hell match, consisting of a singles match, Falls Count Anywhere, and a stretcher match for the first, second, and third falls respectively.[15]

For the two months before the event, Christian, Tommy Dreamer, and Jack Swagger had been in constant conflict with each other over the ECW Championship with Christian defeating Swagger at Backlash and Judgment Day, and Dreamer defeating both at Extreme Rules.[16][17][18] In the wake of their conflict, Finlay inserted himself into the rivalry on the June 16 episode of ECW on Sci Fi by attacking all three men.[19] It was announced following the program that the four wrestlers, along with Mark Henry, would participate in a Championship Scramble match at The Bash.[20]

After Rey Mysterio retained the Intercontinental Championship against Chris Jericho at Judgment Day, Jericho had begun a moral crusade, accusing Mysterio of being dishonest to the fans for wearing his mask, not showing his true face; he assaulted him after posing as a fan in the crowd wearing one of Mysterio's masks.[21][22] This led to another match between the two at Extreme Rules, in which Jericho won the title in a No Holds Barred match by removing Mysterio's mask. On the June 15 episode of Raw, Mysterio received his rematch against Jericho, but failed to win.[23] On the June 19 episode of SmackDown, it was announced that the Intercontinental title would be defended at The Bash in a match where if Mysterio were to lose, he would remove his mask.[24][25]

Since being drafted to Raw in April, The Miz had been making challenges to John Cena.[26] These were generally made after Cena either had been injured or was already in a match, leading to The Miz claiming victory by forfeit.[27][28] This would continue until The Miz accumulated a record of 7–0.[29] After some confrontations, as well as an ambush by The Miz with a steel chair as a weapon, on the June 22 episode of Raw, it was announced Cena and The Miz would officially meet in a match at The Bash.[30]

On the episode of Raw following The Bash, it was announced that the general manager position for the Raw brand would be eradicated and replaced with a new weekly special guest host role. Batista was then announced as the first person to be special guest host. In his position, Batista announced the WWE Championship would be defended at the July event, Night of Champions; the competitor who would face Orton would be determined by the winner of the tournament that commenced that night. The semi-finals saw Triple H defeat Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) and John Cena defeat The Miz to advance to the finals of the tournament to be held on the July 6 edition of Raw.[36]

Following his match, on the July 2 episode of Superstars, CM Punk revealed he suffered a storyline eye injury at The Bash; after a match with Edge that caused him to forfeit due to extra damage inflicted in the match.[37] Punk claimed the reason he struck the referee was because he was unable to see who his target was. Hardy continued after Punk, leading to the announcement the two would meet at Night of Champions for the title.[38]

Randy Orton before his match

The show was rated as merely average by wrestling journalists. Canadian Online Explorer had analyst, Brian Elliott, review the show; he would comment that the show "failed to live up to expectations, largely due to bad booking." This criticism was built around what he had felt to be the inability of the company's creative writers to showcase effective segments and matches.[39] Dave Meltzer, editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, wrote a real-time commentary during the event; he was disappointed by a few moments in the show, but still saw the wrestling as a positive, particularly the main event, but said it was "nothing compared to their match (Triple H and Orton had) on Monday and this was the one you were paying for."[32]

A seemingly-universal praise for the event from critics came in their commentary of the WWE Intercontinental Championship match between Rey Mysterio and Chris Jericho. Elliott dubbed this the "Match of the Night", giving it a rating of 8/10.[39] James Caldwell, an editor for the Pro Wrestling Torch, commended the effort of both men for the overall quality of their rivalry over the past few months leading up to this encounter, saying that the two had "great chemistry".[33] Meltzer called it "one of the better WWE matches this year."[32]

The most noteworthy criticism of the show came from John Cena's match with The Miz. Wade Keller, editor of the Pro Wrestling Torch, who wrote a report of the show, said the encounter "was pretty much the worst finish possible" as it did not help elevate the status of The Miz as a viable competitor. Despite the favorable reviews of the Three Stages of Hell match, Keller referred to it as "stale" due to how many times prior to the show these two wrestled.[35]

ECW Championship Scramble Interim Champions

• The official Bash website