Video Review:
WCW Great American Bash 1990
By Simon Mulvaney
March 11, 2004
Here is a rather delayed, review from myself on the Great American Bash 1990. As was noted earlier it was requested some time ago but I've only just gotten round to finishing it. So here it is for your viewing pleasure and remember if you have a request for a review let me know and I'll see what I can go. On with the show...
- Live from Baltimore, MD.
- Your hosts are Bob Caudle & Jim Ross.
- NWA U.S. Tag Team Championship Match: NWA U.S. Tag Team Champions Midnight Express vs. Southern Boys - Jim Cornette is with the Midnight Express. Both teams brawl outside the ring to start which ends with the Southern Boys on top. The Express re-groups and the match starts properly with Steve Armstrong and Bobby Eaton. Armstrong gets an armdrag but Eaton comes back by hammering Armstrong in the corner and then slamming him. Eaton goes to the top but Armstrong stops that with a shot to the gut, followed by a slam. Armstrong hammers away and then hits a dropkick. He goes to the top and hits Eaton with a flying clothesline. Tracy Smothers tags in and the Southern Boys knock down Eaton with a double chop. Smothers and Eaton lockup and Eaton gains control but Smothers comes back with a superkick that knocks down Eaton. I don't understand why Eaton doesn't tag in Stan Lane considering that he is just being hammered by the Southern Boys? They lockup again and Eaton gains the advantage by backing Smothers into the corner. Eaton attempts to whip Smothers to the other corner but Smothers reverses it and gets a backdrop. Lane finally tags in and he and smothers break out some martial arts which ends with Smothers knocking down Lane with a superkick and a brawl erupting between both teams. Smothers and Lane lockup and Lane gets a drop toehold which Smothers reverses to a hammerlock. They repeat that but Lane rakes the eyes to escape and then tag in Eaton. Eaton gets taken down with an armdrag and Smothers slaps on an armbar. Eaton gets to the corner and the hold is broken. Eaton whips Smothers to the other corner but Smothers comes back with a dropkick for two. Wow, the first two count comes into the match at 8:29. Do guys even wait that long anymore? Lane comes in, no tag by the way, and attacks Smothers. Eaton tags in and the Midnight Express knock Smothers down with a double clothesline. Eaton knocks Armstrong off the apron. The Midnight Express attempt to double-team Smothers again but he escapes and Armstrong both of the them with a flying crossbody from the top. They go for a double pin but can only manage one counts. The Southern Boys ram the Midnights heads together and they go to the outside. Back in Smothers and Eaton lockup. Smothers goes for a rollup but Cornette distracts the referee which allows Lane to come in and throw Smothers to the outside where he rams Smothers into the railing. Cornette adds a shot with his tennis racquet for good measure. Smothers tires to climb back into the ring but the referee is distracted again and Lane knocks him off the apron into the railing. Lane heads out and put Smothers back in the ring before tagging in Eaton. Eaton hits a backbreaker. Smothers tries to fight back but Eaton takes him down with a clothesline. The Midnights are getting an awesome response from the crowd and these guys are supposed to be the heels! Lane tags in and beats on Smothers in the corner. Eaton tags in again and he gets a two count. Smothers fights back and knocks Eaton down with a kick. Smothers tries to get to his corner but Eaton stops that and then hits a scoop slam. Eaton goes to the top turnbuckle and nails Smothers with a great legdrop. Lane tags in and hammers on Smothers for a bit. Lane sends Smothers into the rope but he manages to get a sunset flip for two. Eaton tags in and hits a neckbreaker on Smothers. Eaton throws Smothers outside, throw the ropes not over. Eaton launches Smothers back in and Lane comes in with a double-armed suplex for two. Eaton tags back in and beats on Smothers before throwing him out of the ring. Eaton tires to fire Smothers back into the ring but Smothers reverses it and send Eaton out instead. Lane comes in and clotheslines Smothers and then beats on him for a bit. The Midnights try to double team Smothers but he hit them with a double sunset flip and then tags in Armstrong. Armstrong hammers both Midnights. He hits Lane with a flying shoulderblock for two. Smothers comes in and a brawl erupts. The Southern Boys get their finisher on Lane but it only gets a two. Armstrong goes to the top turnbuckle but Eaton pushes him off. The Midnights hit the rocket launcher on Armstrong for a two. The crowd is going nuts at this point. The Midnights argue with the referee as the Southern Boys switch places. Smothers get an inside cradle on Eaton for two and another brawl breaks out. Lane kicks Smothers in the back of the head from the apron, knocking him down, and Eaton get the win at 18:21. Winners: Midnight Express. ****1/2 Fantastic match!
- Gordon Solie interviews the Fabulous Freebirds. Michaels Hayes says that the
Freebirds and going to ride the Steiner Brothers all night long. Probably not the best thing to say when you have a sequined outfit on along with glitter all over your body.
- Z-Man vs. Big Van Vader - This is Vader's WCW debut. Vader hammers on Z-Man, whips him to the corner and then hits him with a splash. Vader knocks down Z-Man with a short clothesline and then retreats to the entrance ramp. Vader pulls him back in by the head. Vader whips into the ropes and misses a clothesline. Z-Man hits a dropkick but it has no effect and Vader press-slams him to the mat. Vader drops an elbow and then hits a suplex. Vader whips Z-Man into the ropes, hits a clothesline and finishes Z-Man off with a bodysplash for the win at 2:17. Winner: Big Van Vader. *1/2. Just a squash but I enjoyed it for some reason.
- Gordon Solie interviews the Horsemen. Nothing of note is said.
- Fabulous Freebirds vs. Steiner Brothers - Both teams brawl for a bit to start with both of them trading the advantage until the Freebirds are knocked out or the ring. The crowd starts to chant "Faggots" at the Freebirds. How nice. The match starts properly with Rick Steiner and Jimmy Garvin. They lockup and Garvin beats on Rick in the corner. Rick whips Garvin into the other corner and gets a backdrop. Rick with a Steinerline and a cover for two. Hayes tags in and gets his ass bitten by Rick. And the crowd call the Freebirds faggots? Garvin tags back in and Rick tags in Scott. They lockup and Garvin takes Scott down. Scott hiptosses Garvin so Hayes runs in and he gets one too. Scott dropkicks both men down and out of the ring. Garvin gets back in and tags out to Hayes. The crowd start a "Freebirds Suck" chant. Is it just me or the do the crowd no like the Freebirds? Hayes takes control and rams Scott into the corner. Hayes lays in with some chops but Scott comes back with a suplex. Garvin comes in and gets a tilt-a-whirl slam for his trouble. The Freebirds retreat to the entrance ramp until Hayes get back in with Rick. More anti-Freebird chants from the crowd. This time claiming that Michael Hayes is a bitch. Rick gets a headlock and a powerslam. Garvin tries to come off the top but gets powerslamed in mid-air by Rick. Rick bounces off the ropes but Garvin attacks him from the apron and Hayes knocks him out of the ring. Garvin hits Rick with a clothesline outside the ring then the Freebirds follow that up with a double suplex. Garvin hits another clothesline and throws Rick back in the ring. Hayes slams Rick for two. Hayes hits a bulldog for another two count. Garvin tags in and kick Rick in the head to take him down. Garvin slaps on a chinlock and then gets a cover for two. Garvin slaps a sleeper on Rick. The match slows down a bit. Rick fight out but get knocked down again by Garvin. Garvin goes to the top for a double axehandle but Rick nails him coming down. Garvin tags in Hayes and Rick tags in Scott. Scott hits Hayes with a powerslam and then throws him into Garvin. The Steiners hit the Freebirds with a double Steinerline. Scott hits the Frankensteiner on Hayes but Garvin hits him with a DDT. Garvin goes for the cover but the ref doesn't count because Garvin isn't the legal man. Rick comes in and nails Hayes with a belly-to-belly suplex and puts Scott on top for the win at 13:40. Winners: Steiner Brothers. ***1/2 Good match.
- NWA TV Champion Arn Anderson, Sid Vicious & Barry Windham vs. El Gigante, Paul Orndorff & Junkyard Dog - This is El Gigante's WCW PPV debut. Gigante went on to be known as Giant Gonzalez in the WWF. Sid and Orndorff start things off. Sid hammers Orndorff for a bit. Sid misses a legdrop and Orndorff dropkicks him out of the ring. Arn comes in and gets hiptossed by Orndorff and so does Windham. He tries to do the same to Sid but Sid blocks it. Orndorff goes for a backslide instead and that gets a two count. Arn tags in and he beats on Orndorff. Orndorff comes back as a brawl almost breaks out between all six men but the Horsemen retreat to the outside. Back in and JYD hammers on Arn. JYD headbutts Arn a few times then Arn tags out to Windham. JYD headbutts Windham down and he tags in Arn. Arn and JYD lockup. JYD gains the advantage and hammers on Arn in the corner. Arn gain control and tags in Windham. He nails JYD with a DDT but it has no effect so he tries to slam him instead. JYD blocks that and then suplexs Windham. I really feel sorry for the Horsemen. Arn and Orndorff tag in. Orndorff manages to beat on all three of the Horsemen. Orndorff hit Arn with a clothesline and then tries to piledriver him but Windham nails him from the top. The crowd chants for Sid and Arn tags him in. Sid slaps a chinlock on Orndorff but Orndorff battles out of it. Sid puts a stop to that with a powerslam for two. Sid puts Orndorff in the Horseman corner and tags in Windham. Windham nails Orndorff with a suplex for two. Windham nails Orndorff on the mat and then tags in Arn. Arn hammers on Orndorff for a bit until he tags in Windham. Windham knocks Orndorff with a shoulderblock but he comes back with an elbow. JYD tags in and a brawl break out until Sid throws JYD over the top rope causing a DQ at 8:53. Winners: El Gigante, Paul Orndorff & Junkyard Dog. 1/2* Total rubbish with the Horsemen having to sell for El Gigante all the time despite the fact that he never even got in the match. Gigante cleans house on the Horsemen after the match.
- Gordon Solie interviews Lex Luger. He promises to take care of Paul E. Dangerously (Paul Heyman) if he sticks his nose in his business as well as predicting Sting to win in his match with Ric Flair. He must have seen the booking sheets.
- NWA U.S. Championship Match: U.S. Champion Lex Luger vs. Mean Mark - Mean Mark is the artist currently known as the Undertaker. He looks a bit like the Undertaker with his biker gimmick...without all the tattoos that is. They lockup and that gets broken. Seemed a bit pointless. By the way, Mean Mark's finisher was the "awesome" heart punch. Just thought I would point that out. Luger works over the arm of Mark and then puts him in the corner. The crowd starts up a "Paul E. Sucks" chant. Shame on you people. Luger grabs a headlock and works it round into a hammerlock. Mark takes Luger down and tries to grab a headlock of his own but Luger gets out of it and goes back to the hammerlock. Mark gets to the ropes to break the move. Lockup and Luger gets an armdrag. Another lockup and this time Mark gets the advantage and hammers on Luger in the corner. Mark whips him to the corner but misses with the elbow and Luger goes to work on the arm. Mark whips Luger to the ropes and Luger hits a crossbody and an armdrag. Luger goes back to work on the arm and the match slows down. Mark gains the advantage and get a big boot to take down Luger. Mark hammers Luger down for a bit and then chokes him on the ropes. Mark goes to work on Luger's arm and the match slows down again. Armbars Galore! Back up and Mark does the ropewalk years before it became "Old School". Luger comes back with an elbow but takes a run a Mark and goes flying over the top rope. Dangerously distracts the referee while Mark knocks Luger off the apron and into the railing. Mark goes outside and beats on Luger out there for a bit. Bob Caudle calls the steel guard rail around the ring a "cage" for some reason. I can't think why. Back in, Luger makes a comeback with a sunset flip for two but Mark hammers him to regain control. Slugfest in the corner with Mark coming out with the advantage. Mark hits a suplex but Luger get right back up. Luger make a comeback with three clotheslines. Luger put Mark in the Torture Rack but the referee gets taken out by one of Mark's legs. Paul E. comes in and nails Luger in the ribs with his mobile phone. He revives the referee but Mark only gets a two count. Mark takes down Luger with a clothesline and signals for the heart punch. He goes for it but Luger hits him with a kick to the face, takes out Paul E. and hits Mark with a clothesline for the win at 12:16. Winner: Lex Luger. * Boring match with a crappy ending. I mean a clothesline to finish. WTF?
- Earlier on Gordon Solie interviewed Sting.
- NWA World Tag Team Championship Match: NWA World Tag Team Champions Doom vs. Rock-N-Roll Express - Doom have Teddy Long with them. Long promises victory tonight. Ron Simmons and Robert Gibson start things off. Simmons shoves down Gibson and then poses. The repeat that spot and then Simmons hammers on Gibson. Gibson comes back with a rollup for two and then tags in Butch Reed. Reed hammers on Gibson but Gibson gets a scoop slam. They fight into the corner and Ricky Morton tags in. Reed knocks down Morton with a shoulderblock. Reed gets another one. They lockup and Morton makes a blind tag allowing the Rock-N-Roll to double team Doom. Reed overpowers Gibson and then stomps on him. Reed tags in Simmons and they hit Gibson with a double elbow for two. Simmons gets a scoopslam on Gibson and then rams Gibson's head into Reed's boot before tagging out. Reed comes in and beats on Gibson before throwing him over the top rope behind the referee's back. Gibson comes back into the ring with a sunset flip for two. Gibson tries to make a tag but is cut off by Reed who hits a neckbreaker for two. Gibson comes back with a knee and tags in Morton. Morton comes in and beats on Reed and then gets a rollup but Simmons attacks from behind to break it up. Reed clotheslines Morton down and drops a couple of elbows for a two count. Reed continues to hammer away on Morton and tags in Simmons. Simmons beats on Morton in the corner. He whips him into the other corner and charges but he gets booted in the face by Morton to stop that. Reed tags in rakes the eyes of Morton and more beating ensues. Reed hits a flying elbow but only gets a two count. Reed slaps on a headlock and Morton fights out and gets a backslide for two. Simmons comes in and gets a scoopslam for a couple of two counts. Morton gets a cradle out of nowhere for a two count but Simmons come back with a powerslam for two. Reed tags in and gets a couple of fist drops for two. Reed slaps on a chinlock. Morton is tossed outside and double-teaming ensues on the outside. Back in, Morton knocks down Reed with an elbow. Reed tags in Simmons and he slams Morton for two. Morton fights back but Reed comes in and hammers away. Morton comes back again and finally tags in Gibson. Gibson fights of both of Doom and gets a sunset flip on Simmons for two. A brawl erupts. That ends when Reed nails Gibson with a flying shoulderblock for the win at 15:42. Winners: Doom. *** Another good tag match but not as good as the earlier ones. Shame because it probably could have been better.
- Earlier on Gordon Solie interviewed Ric Flair. He promises victory against Sting.
- NWA World Championship Match: NWA World Champion Ric Flair vs. Sting - The set for this match all begin in 1989 when Sting was invited to join the Horseman and he accepted. He then decided to challenge Flair to a match for the title and when he didn't take back his challenge the Horsemen kicked him out of the group and beat the shit of him. Anyway, Sting got injured and the blow off match was delayed until now. Well then. You know what I mean. By the way, for some reason Flair allowed himself to be backed into a corner by agreeing to a bunch of dumb stipulations. No DQ, no countout, the Steiners, Paul Orndorff and JYD are at ringside while the Horsemen have been banned except for Ole Anderson who is to be handcuffed to El Gigante up the entrance ramp. Bloody hell, talk about a stacked deck. And people thought Steve Austin had it bad at "Over The Edge: In Your House" against Dude Love. Anyway to the match. They lockup to start with Sting getting the advantage. Sting grabs a headlock and then knocks down Flair with a shoulderblock. They lockup again and Flair takes control with chops in the corner. Sting fires back with a press slam, a hiptoss and a dropkick. Flair retreats to the outside. Sting follows him out and they brawl on the entrance ramp which ends when Sting clotheslines Flair back into the ring. Flair comes back with a poke to the eye and a snapmare. Flair drops a knee. Flair gets a suplex but it has no effect on Sting who comes back with a pair of clothesline. Sting hits a flying crossbody for two. Flair heads outside again. Back in Flair goes to work on the dodgy knee of Sting. Good plan Ric. Flair hammers on Sting with chops and then throws him out of the ring on to the entrance ramp. Flair follows him out and then brings Sting back into the ring. Flair continues to work over Sting with knees and chops in the corner. He starts kicking the bad knee but Sting comes back and hits a hiptoss. He misses a dropkick and Flair goes back to work on the leg. Flair misses a kneedrop and Sting slaps figure-four on Flair and the crowd goes NUTS! Now that's what I call heat! Flair makes the ropes and then gets out of the ring. He pulls Sting out and chops and sends him into the guard rail. The head back in and Sting pummels Flair on the mat. Flair heads up top and, of course, gets slammed off the top. Flair tries to comeback with a hiptoss but Sting reverses to a pin for two. Flair takes out Sting's leg and regains control as the crowd cools a bit. Flair continues to work over the knee and hits a snapmare. Flair is really laying into Sting's knee. He goes for the figure-four but Sting gets out of it so Flair starts chopping in the corner. Sting comesback with a press slam and a clothesline for two. Sting pummels Flair in the corner and beats him down. Sting stays in control with a suplex and that gets a two count. Flair tries to back off but Sting is having none of it and gets a Stinger Splash. The crowd pops like crazy as Sting puts on the Scorpion Deathlock. The Horsemen run down but they are stopped by the faces and brawl up the entrance ramp. Flair makes the ropes and the move is broken. Sting pummels Flair but he comes back with a shoulderblock for two. Sting gets a rollup for two. Sting goes for a backslide but it only gets two. Sting misses with a knee and hits the turnbuckle. Flair goes for the figure-four but Sting reverses it to a small package for the win at 16:06 Winner and NEW NWA World Champion: Sting. ***1/2 A good match with fantastic crowd heat. Although, again, it could have possibly been better. Sting celebrates after the match and then thanks the fans in an interview with Gordon Solie.
Overall: With four good matches and only a few bad ones this is definitely one to see. Particularly if you haven't seen the tag matches. Highly recommended.
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