Great American Bash 1989

Great American Bash 1989 Review



This is the first time I've ever watched this show or any of these matches. This PPV has been described as one of the best ever and some even claim that it is as good as or better than Wrestlemania X-Seven. That's one hell of a way to hype up a show, but is it as good as everyone says? Let's find out.




King of the Hill Battle Royal
This is the finals of the Triple Crown Tournament where the winner will receive $50000. Fourteen men are battling and two rings are being used for the action. I hate rating battle royals as they're all basically the same. Dull until the finish. The two finalists are supposed to fight in a normal match at the end, but that didn't happen here as the two finalists decided to split the winnings. Crappy ending there and it was just an average battle royal before that. I'll go with  *1/2



Will Bill Irvin vs Brian Pillman
Both guys competed in the opening battle royal so I don't know why they had to pull double duty. The fans were behind Pillman in this one, with help from Irvin's good trash talk that gained him a bit of heat. This was a good match with Pillman using his high-flying abilities against Irvin's ground and pound style. Good stuff here. ***



Dynamic Dudes vs The Skyscrapers
Holy shit it's Big Johnny! I've missed that lovable oaf. For those boys and girls that don't know, former General Manager of Raw, John Laurinaitis is a member of the Dynamic Dudes. Awesome. The Skyscrapers are the guys that ruined the battle royal earlier by winning. The crowd loved Sid for some reason, and he was a heel. The match was decent and very generic aside from the strange crowd. **



Paul E. Dangerously vs Jim Cornette : Tuxedo Match
To win you have to take your opponents tuxedo off. These matches are generally known for being awful, but this was (very surprisingly) entertaining. Paul was great in his heel role (as usual) and Cornette even had his own version of hulking up at one point. I think it's safe to say that this is the best Tuxedo match ever. Might be the best manager vs manager match ever. **1/4



Kevin Sullivan & Mike Rotunda vs The Steiner Brothers : Texas Tornado Match
All four guys are in the ring at the same time and this one started off as a brawl pretty damn quickly. I wish this had been longer than five minutes because this was a ton of fun while it lasted, it's just a shame that it had to be so short. Five minutes of great action though. ***



Sting vs The Great Muta
The World TV Title is on the line. I've seen a couple of matches between these guys and they definitely have chemistry together, and that was shown again here. From start to finish this was an awesome back and forth contest and another one that I wish had been longer, but what we got was great anyway. The match ended controversially with both guy's shoulders up during the pin, so hopefully there was a rematch at some point. Match of the night so far. ****



Ricky Steamboat vs Lex Luger
The US Title is on the line. I've never really been a fan of Luger, but Steamboat definitely brought the best out of him and that especially shows here. This was like an epic thirty minute match scrunched into ten minutes and it was amazing. Not one second was wasted and it was exciting the entire time. Both guys worked hard and it showed. The DQ ending was a bit disappointing, but it was worth it for that contest. The new match of the night and it might be Luger's best match ever. ****1/2



The Road Warriors / The Midnight Express / Steve Williams vs Freebirds / Jimmy Garvin / Samoan Swat Team : War Games
I've only ever seen one War Games match before (Fall Brawl 1997), but I know the rules well as it's kind of like an Elimination Chamber except with teams and no eliminations and the only way to win is to surrender. Garvin and Eaton started things off. This one was a ton of fun from the beginning to the end, and the crowd was really hot for it the entire time. The Road Warriors got an especially big pop. A crazy, chaotic brawl and it was awesome. ****1/4



Terry Funk vs Ric Flair
The NWA World Title is on the line. This feud started after another classic Steamboat/Flair match when Funk attacked Flair and piledrove him through a table. Their I Quit match a few months later is their most famous collision, but this one deserves a ton of respect as well. The story of the crazed Funk doing everything he could to win, including using a branding iron, was great, and the piledriver looked like a genuine match-ending move. Fantastic match. An awesome end to an utterly fantastic show. ****1/4



9.99/10. It was very hard to decide, but I think I'd give the edge to Wrestlemania X-Seven as the best wrestling show ever, but this was so close. The final four matches were all fantastic and all were an astounding four stars or more. The undercard was solid as well and there was nothing bad at all. One of the best shows ever that needs to be watched by every wrestling fan. Very highly recommended.