WWE Great American Bash 6-27-2004

WWE Great American Bash - Live from Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia

We start off with, as always, a nice video package hyping the main events for tonight; John Bradshaw Layfield vs Eddie Guerrero & The Dudley Boyz vs. The Undertaker. We cut to the ring and Torrie Wilson, it the outfit she has been in the past few weeks (Uncle Sam) welcomes us to The Great American Bash.

The pyro hits and we're into our first match.

Match 1 - United States Championship - Rob Van Dam vs. Rene Dupree vs. Booker T vs. John Cena(c) - Fatal Four Way Elimination Match - John Cena wins via his finisher, the FU, to Booker T to retain the United States Championship after dodging Booker's Scissors Kick. A very solid match that left all four men looking strong. For once, thankfully, a heel in a match like this did the right thing. Booker T was outside the ring letting Cena and Van Dam beat each other. Order of elimination was: 1. Rob Van Dam by John Cena via rollup after Van Dam had hit Five Star Frog Splashes on both Booker T and Rene. Nice heads up pin by Cena. 2. Rene Dupree by Booker T after Cena hit Rene with an FU. Rene had the top rope to try and block the FU, but Booker kicked Rene's arm allowing Cena to hit the FU. As Cena turned around after the FU, Booker hit a Scissors Kick and then covered Rene. After eliminating Rene, he tried to cover Cena, but too much time had passed and Cena kicked out at two. A very good opening match that got the crowd going early, and they would need it...

Backstage, Charlie Haas and Miss Jackie are by the entrance to the backstage area. Cena comes by and they congratulate him. Cena made a comment to Miss Jackie regarding his "equipment" and leaves them both looking confused. On cue, up rolls Kurt Angle who rips into Haas for hanging with Cena. Haas tries to tell Kurt off, but Kurt will have none of it and books Haas tonight in a match with Luther Reigns.

Cut to the hot tub the Divas are hosting the PPV from. Sable is there and talks a bit about her match with Torrie later on...standard heel Diva interview. We head out to the ring for our next match...

Match 2 - Charlie Haas vs. Luther Reigns - Luther Reigns wins with his current finisher, The Roll The Dice. Sadly, and I like Haas, but this match was nothing to get excited about. Standard strong man tosses the smaller guy around match. The feeling I have is that this match was made solely to get Miss Jackie out into the arena (I hope that isn't the case, but with how short it was and how much of a squash it was, it's hard not to think that).

Short interview with John Bradshaw Layfield. Pretty much the same things he has been saying all the time; Judgment Day win, this is more than personal, etc, etc.

Match 3 - Cruiserweight Championship - Chavo Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio(c) - Rey Mysterio wins via countering the Gory Bomb (Chavo's finisher) into the snap sunset flip Rey uses to retain the Cruiserweight Championship. This match was outstanding and should show the powers that be in the WWE writing and booking teams that if you give the cruiserweights the time to make a match, they will shine BIG TIME. This match had high flying, weardown, and told a great story (gotta love how Chavo was working on Rey's leg the whole match and how it showed when Rey would try and use his aerial offense). The spot of the match is a tie between when both men came off the top rope and slammed each other face first into the mat and the finish. It took a lot of work to make the counter to the Gory Bomb at the end look right, and both men did great.

Back to the hot tub where Torrie has Spike Dudley, Billy Kidman, and Funaki with her. All three of them are arguing over which one, if they were in Chavo's place, could have beaten Rey. Torrie stands up and is wearing a small bikini and that stops the argument. She excuses herself and heads off to get ready for her match tonight with Sable. Funaki watches her go and says "God Bless America". Two things, first, did Billy Kidman slap Funaki in the head after the cameras went off (Kidman and Torrie are married in real life, if you didn't know that...) just out of impulse. Second, why do people still hoot and holler for Torrie or Sable. Yes, they are nice looking ladies, but if you wanted to see them 100% naked, they have both been in Playboy. I guess for that part of the PPV, I wasn't the target audience...

Match 4 - Kenzo Suzuki vs. Billy Gunn - This is where I question the WWE again. I have been at arenas where Billy Gunn comes out and the cheers that come over the TV are NOT fake. My girlfriend is not a full time fan and she likes Billy Gunn still from the days of the New Age Outlaws and DX. When SmackDown came to Chicago, she came with to see him. Sadly, he wasn't even in a dark match (sorry Kathy :( ). After all the hype for Kenzo, I have to say I'm disappointed so far. I was hoping for something great and when I first saw him come out on SmackDown, I got excited, "a big Japanese wrestler! This guy is going to rock.". Sadly, he has done nothing of the sort. Someone needs to remind him that this is 2004 and that no one buys the "iron claw" bit anymore. Also, the finisher he uses to beat Billy Gunn is a move Christian uses in matches ALL THE TIME. WWE either needs to rethink how this guy operates or not push him so hard at first. Oh - Kenzo Suzuki wins via a inverted DDT into a neckbreaker. The crowd was DEAD for this. At least they have been smart enough to put the slow matches between good ones, keeps the crowd awake.

Backstage, we see Paul Bearer tied up with Heyman walking around him doing what he does best; talking. Heyman says that the authorities think he is bluffing about the cement, but Bearer knows Heyman is not.

Match 5 - Sable vs Torrie Wilson - Help me now...I know they tried hard, I know they work hard, but this was a trainwreak. As far as I had read, the original plan for the Bash was to have the Divas in summer contests (volleyball, swimsuit contest, etc) over the course of the show. Honestly, even if it would have been cheap thrills for the fans, that would most likely have been better than this. Both ladies tried hard, but the ending was SO BAD. They collided in the corner and Sable played that she was hurt and Torrie walking around the ring looking lost. Sable then grabbed her and rolled her up for the three count. Michael Cole and Tazz could be heard trying not to laugh about BOTH of Torrie's shoulders being off the mat, they even showed it in the replay.

Back at the Diva's hot tub. Dawn Marie is interviewing Rene Dupree about his loss earlier in the show. Rene plans to go protest. Good idea, you go do that. He then starts to hit on Dawn when the FBI (the FBI!? On a PPV!?) come by and Nunzio shows off his big feet and tries, and fails for a while, to get Dawn to understand why it is good to have big feet. Dawn goes off with Nunzio and Johnny the Bull looks over at Rene and INSULTS HIM. Could this be a push for the FBI or is Rene going to Velocity without passing Go or collecting $200?

Match 6 - Mordecai vs. Hardcore Holly - Mordecai wins with his finisher, the Razor's Edge. Again, while I like Hardcore Holly, this match didn't feel like a PPV match to me. I felt like something I should see on SmackDown or Velocity. That being said both men worked hard, but the crowd was dead from the past two matches and this did nothing to wake them up.

Match 7 - WWE Championship - John Bradshaw Layfield vs. Eddie Guerrero(c) - Texas Bull Rope Match - For those who don't know the rules, in a bull rope / leather strap match like this, the object is to beat your opponent up and then drag him around the ring with you and touch the four turnbuckles in succession. If you are stopped by your opponent, you have to start all over again. A new twist was put in by the WWE about if you take the rope off intentionally, you get DQed. My brother and I figured that would come into play, but it never did. The also had lights at the corners; green for Bradshaw (Tazz said it was for money) and red for Guerrero in case you couldn't keep track of it...A decent match over all with both guys working hard and your standard bull rope / strap match spots. Bradshaw got busted (hardway I think) by a chairshot from Eddie (it was in the same place outside the ring that Bradshaw busted Eddie open at Judgment Day last month). The other big spot of the match came when Bradshaw wrapped the rope around Eddie's neck and toss him off the top rope, to the outside and off the Spanish announce table. Of course, it didn't break, so Bradshaw then powerbombed Eddie through it. The end of the match saw both Eddie and Bradshaw with three lights each and Bradshaw reaching for the final one. Eddie rushed Bradshaw and jumped over him to hit the final turnbuckle. The ref awarded Eddie the match but then Kurt Angle came down and showed a replay of the end of the match. Bradshaw's back touch the turnbuckle before Eddie touched it so the winner, and NEW WWE Champion, John Bradshaw Layfield.

I have no issue with Bradshaw getting the title, but I do have an issue with the end of this match. MANY MANY times in the WWE, we have seen replays where it is OBVIOUS that the wrong call was made, but "The referee's decision is final". Also, on more than one occasion I've heard the announcers say "There's no instant replay in the WWE.". SO, if that is the case, how does Angle have the right to come and do that, GM or not? Now, if the end had played out where Eddie when into Bradshaw and the ref called for the bell and then reversed the decision himself, I could deal with that. Yes, I know it's wrestling, yes I know it's scripted, but still, if you're going to set out rules and precedents, then stick to em. Now, there should be no reason why people can't call for an instant replay all the time...

Match 8 - The Dudley Boyz vs. The Undertaker - Concrete Crypt Match - Undertaker wins with a chokeslam to Bubba and a tombstone piledriver to D-Von (gotta love the D-Von leg twitch, classic). Before the match started, we were shown Paul Bearer in his glass coffin. Heyman put on a little demonstration for Undertaker of what would happen unless he did "the right thing" and Heyman filled the coffin up to Bearer's ankles. Bubba then got on a mic and told Undertaker to do the right thing and lie down. After Undertaker did this, Bubba got over him and said he had been waiting for this for a long time. Undertaker then grabbed Bubba by the throat and the match was on. Standard fair from the Dudleys and Undertaker. As the match when on, Heyman got more confident and moved closer to the ring. After Undertaker got the win, Heyman started to head back for the switch to run the cement mixer when lightning hit it, knocking Heyman on his back. Undertaker then stalked Heyman, who, screaming like a little girl, ran into the back. After reaching the coffin, Undertaker did his kneeling bow to Paul Bearer. Undertaker then grabbed a mic and told Paul to rest in peace and THREW THE HANDLE HIMSELF. We fade to black as the cement covers Paul Bearer's head.

Review - As with most WWE PPVs lately, The Great American Bash had it's strong and weak points. The strong would be the title matches. All three of them told good stories and featured good wrestling / brawling (depending on the match). On the other side of the coin, I still think there are too many backstage interviews on PPV today. PPV is where the talking stops and the action starts. It's a place where all the smack that was talked is over and it's time to put it on the line. I understand pre and post match interviews, but not new storylines. We don't need that at the PPV. Also, a few of the matches seemed like overflow from Velocity and just took the air out of the crowd. It'll be interesting to see how things with the titles and with Undertaker go from here. How does he justify "killing" Paul Bearer? What will Kurt Angle try next to bring John Cena down? Where does Eddie Guerrero go from here? We'll find out this Thursday on SmackDown.