We’ve made it to the 1999 Great American Bash pay per view. WCW continues to be sliding in TV ratings to the point where the WWF is routinely doubling WCW’s numbers. The ratings haven’t been competitive since before Superbrawl IX. The build for Great American Bash hasn’t been all that great, either.
On the last Nitro before the PPV, WCW World Champion Kevin Nash was nearly murdered when a white hummer rammed into a limo several times. Luckily, a few days later on Thunder Nash revealed he had a cracked rib and bruised, but he’ll be at the PPV. The feud between Savage and Nash has been largely comedic with the involvement of makeup and poop. The white hummer incident was the first instance of actual serious storytelling. The timing is not ideal since Nash had to say he was find within three days to not kill the PPV buys.
There are a couple of angles going on right now that I can’t completely write off as being uninteresting. The feud between Konnan & Rey vs. Hennig & Duncum Jr. regarding rap and country music has been enjoyable. Their wrestling segments on TV haven’t been too bad. The other feud that is most interesting and likely going to be a good PPV match is between the Triad and the team of Chris Benoit & Perry Saturn. I’m looking forward to a long-form tag match on PPV. However, I wouldn’t have paid for the PPV to see it in 1999.
Piper vs. Flair has been repetitive for weeks and they are still fighting for power in WCW. I’m not invested in the angle and I think they will be together to combat the young guard. Sting vs. Rick Steiner is another feud that isn’t of major interest. Rick Steiner has been one of the worst characters since his heel turn.
The old vs. young storyline has a lot of potential and it’s easy for WCW to go that route, but only if they are going to put over the young talent. They need to fully rebuild and program the viewer into buying shows for the younger more athletic wrestlers. This should be the last PPV where they focus solely on the older guards, but as we know that’s not the case.
Lets get into Great American Bash ’99.
JUNE 13TH — BALTIMORE, MD — BALTIMORE ARENA
CURT HENNIG WELCOMES MASTER P TO WCW
CONTEXT: Master P and the No Limit Soldiers exit a white limo. Curt Hennig walks up and puts over Master P’s music as being the best. Hennig says he loves rap music. Master P signs a CD for Hennig. Hennig shows how much he respects it by breaking the CD. Master P has to be held back as his pals start screaming.
Bob’s Take: I believe this is Master P’s debut on TV aside from the press conference, so he’ll be in front of a WCW live audience for the first time ever at this event. The reaction by the rappers came across a little silly. I certainly wasn’t expecting eight dudes to just start screaming like birds to scare Hennig away. This also tells the viewer that Master P isn’t watching WCW television otherwise he’d know that Hennig was full of lies. 0 for 1
BRIAN KNOBBS PROMO
CONTEXT: Knobbs says he is dedicating the match to Mrs. Nasty and going to kick Hak’s butt tonight. Knobbs also doesn’t want to use weapons and wants them to fight to see who is truly hardcore.
Bob’s Take: The last thing I want to see if these guys wrestling a traditional singles match. 0 for 2
MATCH #1: BRIAN KNOBBS VS. HARDCORE HAK —KENDO STICK MATCH
FINISH: Late in the match, Hak sends Knobbs into a chair held by Jimmy Hart on the apron. Hak whacks Knobbs with a kendo stick to win the match. After the match, Hugh Morrus comes out and spike piledrives Hak with Knobbs coming off the middle rope. Morrus hits the No Laughing Matter onto Hak, who had a ladder over his body. Knobbs leaps off the middle rope to hit a trash can assisted splash onto Hak, who still had the ladder over his body.
Bob’s Take: While it is announced as a kendo stick match, it is absolutely a hardcore match. Thankfully, they used weapons to give simple entertainment to kickoff the pay per view. They didn’t do anything outside of their normal hardcore routine. The aftermath was fine, I guess. WCW hardcore matches are repetitive and don’t do much for me. 0 for 3
BUFF BAGWELL MEETS WITH RODDY PIPER
CONTEXT: Bagwell mockingly thanks Piper for the the big match with Disco Inferno tonight. Bagwell tells Piper he has his back tonight, but Piper isn’t worried about it. Bagwell leaves and Piper walks off with a frown saying “I love kids.”
Bob’s Take: Piper is absolutely going to turn on Bagwell. 1 for 4
MATCH #2: VAN HAMMER VS. MIKEY WHIPWRECK
FINISH: Hammer finishes Whipwreck off with a cobra clutch slam.
Bob’s Take: Sometimes getting a bonus match on PPV isn’t the kind of good treat the announcers try to make out to seem. Whipwreck tries his best to make something out of this. However, the main purpose is to continue the random push of Hammer. There were maybe a handful of people clapping for Hammer, or for the match being over. Hammer has a good look, but he doesn’t do it for me in the ring. 1 for 5
MATCH #3: BUFF BAGWELL VS. DISCO INFERNO
FINISH: Bagwell hits the Blockbuster to win the match cleanly.
Bob’s Take: Their Nitro match wasn’t all that great, so lets put it on PPV. These two are part of the young core, but Disco has been insulted by Bagwell as not being worth his time. It seems a bit counterproductive to do that. Bagwell doesn’t give me the vibe of a guy who is on the cusp of breaking out into the main event picture. Disco is probably the ultimate midcard character and there’s a lot of work needed to be done to make Disco a serious contender in the future. I’d consider this a better match than their Nitro encounter, but Disco is in such a tough spot because it’s obvious who is going over and Disco isn’t going to get the benefit of the doubt from the audience. 2 for 6
MATCH #4: KONNAN & WCW CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPION REY MYSTERIO JR. VS. BOBBY DUNCUM JR. & CURT HENNIG
NOTE: Early in the match, Master P does physically get involved by slapping Hennig from behind while in the front row.
FINISH: Late in the match, Barry Windham comes out and attacks Konnan. Big Swoll jumps the railing and decks Duncum Jr. Mysterio hit a slingshot leg drop to pin Duncum Jr. After the match, Konnan and Mysterio are attacked by Windham, Duncum Jr. and Hennig. Mysterio and Konnan are hogtied in the ring.
Bob’s Take: There was some good crowd energy, and honestly this match was a lot better than I thought it would be. The action at the start was fast and exciting. I thought we were going to get a crap DQ finish, but luckily there was a decisive victory. I might have enjoyed this more than other reviews that I’ve read on the internet. The live crowd did die out during the middle portion of the match, but I thought it was a decent undercard tag match. 3 for 7
HORACE PROMO
CONTEXT: Horace knows that Cat used a crowbar to beat him on Nitro. Horace thinks the fans want to see Cat beat him up tonight. Cat wants Scott Norton instead of Horace. Horace tells Cat he can’t beat himself up (masturbation joke).
Bob’s Take: I never would have guessed that Horace would have gotten promo time on a PPV. Shockingly, he did fairly well with insults and popped the crowd. 4 for 8
MATCH #5: HORACE VS. THE CAT
FINISH: Sonny Ono gives Cat a red shoe and Cat nails Horace with a superkick to win the match.
Bob’s Take: I’m not sure why this is happening on PPV. I understand Cat is feuding with the NWO Black & White, but the main focus on the feud is between Cat and Scott Norton. We’ve already seen these two wrestle on Nitro six days ago, and that wasn’t good. This bout killed the crowd a bit, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around why this match is on PPV. 4 for 9
MATCH #6: RODDY PIPER VS. RIC FLAIR
FINISH: Late in the match, Buff Bagwell comes out and attacks Arn Anderson. Bagwell gets in the ring and attacks Flair hitting a backdrop and clotheslines. Piper ends up decking Bagwell with a right hand, but Bagwell fights back. Anderson knee lifts Bagwell followed by a spinebuster. Bagwell is held down on the mat allowing Piper to whip Bagwell with a belt.
Bob’s Take: Early in the bout, Piper delivered some of the weakest looking punches I’ve ever seen. Piper comes across as a brawler, and the punches didn’t come across strong, at all. Flair vs. Piper is not a good match no matter how many times they do it. The matches weren’t good in 1997 let alone two years later. I remember enjoying some of their 1992 encounters, but in 1999 they are relying on Flair exposing his buttocks to get a pop from the crowd. Piper turning heel to align with Flair is not a surprise and is the direction they should go in. Piper being aligned with the younger wrestlers didn’t make much sense to me to begin with. I think the old guard needs to stick together to combat the younger wrestlers. So, while the match was not good the angle development after the match was the right direction. 4 for 10
MATCH #7: WCW TELEVISION CHAMPION RICK STEINER VS. STING — FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE, NON-TITLE
NOTE: During the match, Chris Jericho is seen at the WCW.com audio area.
FINISH: Scott Steiner and Tank Abbott assist Rick Steiner by attacking Sting with two Dobermann’s and a Rottweiler. The match is thrown out and ends in a no contest.
Bob’s Take: The brawling was average for the most part. However, the dog angle is one of the worst segments I’ve seen. Easily the worst segment in WCW ’99 thus far. The crowd crapped on it. I mean, Sting is blatantly holding a cloth or something to prevent the dogs from actually biting him. It’s a silly attempt at an angle. 4 for 11
STEINER BROTHERS THREATEN REFEREE
CONTEXT: The Steiner Brothers threaten referee Mickey Jay into giving Rick Steiner a victory over Sting. Scott Steiner says they are going to do things their way and he’s pissed WCW didn’t show the vicious beating. Rick Steiner says he just showed Sting what the dog is all about. Scott says Rick is with him and the NWO because WCW sucks.
Bob’s Take: Here’s the thing, this promo isn’t good and feels like damage control to try and get some level of heat. I’m not even sure if the NWO exists anymore outside of the Black & White. 4 for 12
MATCH #8: WCW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS CHRIS BENOIT & PERRY SATURN VS. THE TRIAD (DDP & KANYON)
NOTE: There’s another production error when they put Brian Knobbs name plate on the screen during the champions entrance.
FINISH: Late in the match, Dean Malenko comes out to help Saturn on the floor distracting the referee in the process. DDP and Bigelow this their combo Diamond Cutter/Greetings From Asbury on Benoit to win the titles. After the match, Malenko suffers the same fate as Benoit and is laid out.
Bob’s Take: There is a noticeable disinterest from the crowd, and I think the previous segment completely took them out of the event. Commentary is a bit questionable as well. They tried to paint a narrative that Benoit only won a title after leaving the Horsemen when three months ago he was the tag champion with Malenko as a member of the Horsemen. The finish makes the young guys look kind of… dumb. I thought Malenko was up to no good, but ends up being unaware of what he’s doing and getting laid out afterward. I like the Triad and I think they have legs as a heel trio with the tag titles. The constant tag title changes need to stop, though for them to be effective. A good match, but the dead crowd probably hurt the match a little bit. 5 for 13
MAIN EVENT: WCW WORLD CHAMPION KEVIN NASH VS. RANDY SAVAGE
NOTE: It is noted on commentary that the top rope elbow drop is legal per Nash requesting it be legal.
NOTE #2: Sid Vicious made his return to WCW during the main event. Sid hadn’t been in WCW since the end of ’93. Sid had worked for ECW earlier in the year and had last worked for the WWF in the summer of ’97.
FINISH: Late in the match, Nash kicked out of the top rope elbow drop. Moments later, Nash hit the Jackknife Powerbomb, but is attacked by Madusa, Miss Madness and Gorgeous George. After taking them out, Sid Vicious entered the ring and nailed Nash with a big boot to cause a disqualification. Sid plants Nash with a powerbomb and taunts Nash on the mat.
Bob’s Take: Obviously this was never going to be good and Savage quickly used the women to get through the match. Savage doesn’t have any secondary moves he can pull off anymore. All Savage can do is basic strikes, piledriver and a top rope elbow drop, which he doesn’t brace himself anymore for. Sid returning is a guilty pleasure of mine, but if they are going to a Nash vs. Sid feud for the titles, well, we saw that in ’95 with the WWF and that wasn’t very good. 5 for 14
It is safe to say that Great American Bash ’99 is the worst WCW PPV of ’99 to this point. It’s a shame because Baltimore seemed to be an energetic crowd at the start and they kept their momentum for a good portion of the show, but the vicious dog attack seemed to completely take them out of the remainder of the event.
Sid returning to WCW is an interesting decision considering the scissor fiasco back in ’93. I’m a huge Sid fan and think he’s an absolute star. However, the last thing WCW needs to be doing is getting older. WCW needs to embrace going younger, and Sid provides the exact opposite. Sid continues to give WCW that nostalgic vibe.
Coming out of Great American Bash, I’m most interested in the potential of the young vs. old angle. Piper aligning with Flair makes the most sense and I’d rather them be together combating the younger generation of talent.
There’s not much to get excited about outside of the potential of the old vs. young. I’m not looking forward to a Sid vs. Nash feud. Savage is washed beyond belief that he’s actually hurting the main event scene. Sting is getting mauled by ‘vicious’ dogs. This is a low point for WCW, no doubt. This is easily the worst PPV thus far in ’99.
Great American Bash ’99 Buy-rate: 0.43 (185,000)
Thanks for reading.