Hello and welcome to another edition
of Seanomaniac Wrestling Reviews, the only wrestling review series on the
internet that puts people to sleep quicker than a Great Khali match! This time
we are looking at a Great American Bash tour show that took place after the PPV
featuring a big War Games main event which should be a lot of fun, we also have
a ton of irrelevant matches that judging by the looks of the “talent” on
display, I am going to enjoy not very much at all. We also have continuation of
the major feuds from the bash like Jimmy Garvin continuing his battle against
The Varsity Club, The Midnight Express vs The Fantastics and The Horsemen vs
Dusty Rhodes & Co.
Bugsy McGraw
& Tim Horner vs Rip Morgan & Larry Zbyszko
Larry Zbyszko is kind of an enigma to
me because while taking part in one of the biggest feuds of all-time with Bruno
Sammartino, everything else he does feels like a footnote whether it be AWA or
NWA. So, Zbyszko came in with some momentum picking up a win over Barry Windham
and here he is now in an opening match with Bugsy McGraw who I haven’t seen in
about 3 years and Tim Horner who I haven’t seen in a year or two teaming with
Rip Morgan who was the flag-bearer/manager for The Sheepherders.
Zbyszko and Bugsy start, scoop slam by
Zbyszko but multiple elbow drops miss, scoop slam by Bugsy. They lock-up, we go
to the corner. Side headlock from Bugsy, Zbyszko cannot escape the headlock.
Tag to Horner who takes over with the headlock, shoulder blocks to Zbyszko.
Sunset flip for two, Zbyszko claims Horner was pulling the tights. Morgan comes
in, knee and clubbing blows to the back of Horner. Snap-mare into a rear
chin-lock, Bugsy fires up the crowd as Morgan whips Horner. Horner ducks two
clotheslines and floats over the back before nailing a dropkick, arm-wrench
from Horner. Bugsy comes in and pulls Morgan down by the hair, cover for two.
Morgan backs up for a breather, eye rake from Morgan who delivers some big
elbows.
Zbyszko nails a spinning kick and a
right hand, scoop slam for two. Front chancery from Zbyszko, Morgan distracts
the referee so Teddy Long doesn’t see the tag to Horner. Team Zbyszko rough up
Bugsy in the corner, clothesline by Morgan. Bugsy dodges the falling headbutt,
Irish whip but Bugsy ducks his head off an Irish whip and Morgan kicks it as
hard as possible. In comes Zbyszko again, Horner clotheslines Zbyszko from the
apron but Bugsy misses the elbow drop. Morgan comes in with the boot and
clubbing blows before biting the head of Bugsy, choking clothesline from Morgan
for two.
Boot to the head, Zbyszko rakes the
eyes and attacks Bugsy but misses with the dropkick. Bugsy crawls and crawls,
tag to Horner who comes in with punches flying. Right hands to Morgan and
Zbyszko, noggin-knocker from Horner. Scoop slam to Morgan, two for Horner.
Zbyszko kicks Horner, Morgan misses a clothesline and Horner pins Morgan off of
a flying crossbody.
Vanilla match inoffensive and bland in
every way possible, the quintessential opening match from this era. Dare I say
Larry Zbyszko deserves better? Not sure, looking forward to seeing what he can
do in The Dangerous Alliance when we get there!
Winners: Team
Horner over Team Zbyszko via Flying Crossbody!
Ron Garvin W/
Gary Hart vs The Italian Stallion
Dickhead Garvin is large and in charge
after knocking out Dusty Rhodes a few nights before, shoulder block from Garvin
who leap-frogs Stallion and claims to have blown-out his ankle. Stallion looks
and gets caught by the right hand of Ron Garvin who knocks him out in 45
seconds. Great way to get over Ronnie Garvin and Gary Hart can talk people into
the building so that makes up for the big flaw of Garvin’s game.
Winner: Ron
Garvin over Italian Stallion via Right Hand!
Dick Murdoch vs
Gary Royal
Well I know Dick Murdoch but who is
Gary Royal? Why are these two wrestling? Murdoch choke Royal, clean break. Side
headlock by Royal, Royal wrenches the shit out of the headlock. Murdoch tries
countering but Royal holds on tight, Murdoch tries a few cradles but Royal is
in firm control. Side headlock takedown from Murdoch, we go to the corner. Elbow
to the head from Murdoch, beautiful elbows to the head. Right hand to the nose,
Royal fires up with dropkicks. Murdoch powders, knee to the gut from Murdoch.
Elbows on the ring apron before Royal meets the scaffold. Royal reverses a
scoop slam into a roll-up for two. Murdoch stomps the shit out of him, elbow to
the face from Murdoch. Murdoch calls for the finish, sheer-drop Brain-buster.
Another squash that goes a little too
long for my liking, not sure why there are so many squashes on the card but it
does its job so why not I guess? Not entertaining but not offensive so far.
Winner: Dick
Murdoch over Gary Royal via Brain-buster!
Gorgeous Jimmy
Garvin W/ Precious vs Rick Steiner
We start with a clothesline and
stomps, Steiner rakes the face. Garvin is choked with the ropes, right hands
from Steiner. Whip to the buckle, Garvin dodges and fires up with right hands
to Steiner. Crowd goes nuts as Sullivan appears, Garvin fights off Sullivan.
Small package from Garvin back in the ring and it’s over!
Christ is this the nice of the
squashes? What in God’s name is going on with this card? Steiner pinned like
that? Damn NWA, that’s cold!
Winner: Jimmy
Garvin over Rick Steiner via Small Package!
The Rock “N” Roll
Express vs The Sheepherders W/ Rip Morgan
Lots of stalling before we start,
dropkicks are on the menu for the sheepherders. They powder and regroup, Butch
and Gibson start the match properly with Luke coming in to rough up the ribs of
Gibson. Gibson ducks and ducks before trying a sunset flip, two for Gibson.
Luke lands a massive knee to the ribs, Luke climbs high. Middle rope splash
misses, knee-lift from Gibson which Luke tries to break up. Butch stomps Luke
and Rock “N” Roll land dropkicks while Morgan clotheslines his team by mistake.
Morton and Luke wrestle with Luke tossing Morton into the buckle, Butch comes in
and beats down Morton. Morton slides through the legs and slams Butch and Luke.
Noggin-knocker, Gibson and Luke reset. Luke eats a crossbody as Morgan battles
Morton, Butch comes in and waffles Gibson with the flag.
Luke drives knees into the spine of Gibson,
Morton tries helping but cannot do much as Gibson tastes the flag across his
spine. Gibson fights back upon re-entering the ring, we have cheap-shots from
the apron by Butch though which allow Luke to choke Gibson. Gibson starts
swinging at everything but Luke grabs on a rear chin-lock. Butch is in, Gibson
catches Butch with a huge kick to the face. Luke tags in but Gibson battles
back, Luke goes to the ribs. Snap-mare back into the rear chin-lock, Gibson
lands a double crossbody before tagging in Morton who steps in with a kick. The
Sheepherders collide with Morgan being wiped out too, Butch stops Morton’s
roll-up attempt.
Morton is tossed to the floor, Butch
tees off on the outside with Morton watching his back for Morgan. Gibson and
Luke brawl in the ring as Morton is sent into the ring-post. Gibson gets wiped
out with a knee to the back courtesy of Butch, Luke can hold Gibson for the
attacks of Butch. Double gut-buster from The Sheepherders, Gibson pulls Butch
into Luke who spills to the floor and Morton lands the diving crossbody on Luke
for the win.
Good tag team match, good heels in
Sheepherders and great babyfaces in Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson, they work
over Gibson well during the match, crowd is hot for the hot-tag and a lot of
the spots were fun and got the crowd going which was nice to see. A definite
change of pace from the previous matches, happy to see some wrasslin’ on my
card.
Winners: Rock “N”
Roll Express over The Sheepherders via Diving Crossbody!
Al Perez W/ Gary
Hart vs Brad Armstrong
This should have some fine wrestling,
Perez and Armstrong lock-up and we get a clean break. More clean breaks,
Armstrong has the arm. Perez cannot shake Armstrong, Perez wants to crack
Armstrong with his fist but decides not to. Despite monkey flipping Armstrong,
Perez cannot break the hold. Perez backs Armstrong to the corner and here we
go, gut shots from Perez. Forearms to the face, Armstrong stops the Irish whip
and continues working the arm. Wrenching and shoulder blocks from Armstrong,
Perez has been second best this entire stretch. Perez goes to the ropes, side
headlock from Armstrong. Perez manages to escape but misses the elbow drop and
ends up back in the arm-bar.
Knees to the arms from Armstrong, Perez
backs him to the corner. Armstrong shoves down Perez and chases Hart, Perez
lands an apron axe handle. Scoop slam on the concrete, stomps for good measure
too. Hart rams Armstrong into the scaffold, few stomps too because why not am I
right? Perez rams Armstrong into the ring apron, clubbing blows to the spine
too. Elbows to the spine and a massive crucifix powerbomb spinning manoeuvre
from Perez with a little knee-drop for two. Rear chin-lock from Perez, Armstrong
fires up but Perez maintains control with a camel clutch after some elbows.
Armstrong escapes and lands a knee-lift, Perez is staggered.
Perez eats gut shots from Armstrong,
whip to the opposite buckle and Perez dodges Armstrong’s attacks. Irish whip,
Perez ducks and Armstrong goes for the backslide. Small package for two, Perez
hurls Armstrong to the floor. Armstrong lures in Perez and slams him on the
floor, gut shot from Armstrong. Standing dropkick which sends Perez crashing to
the floor, Armstrong tries a suplex into the ring but Hart trips up Armstrong
and holds down his leg so Perez can take the win.
Well I thought this would be the
wrestling match of the night from how it started with the working of the arm
and all that but no, it was a standard affair and the finish is nice, I just
wish I cared more about the action that was in the ring, not really entertaining
for me.
Winner: Al Perez
over Brad Armstrong via Gary Hart’s Help!
The Fantastics vs
The Midnight Express W/ Jim Cornette
So this is a Bunkhouse match, a
handicap one at that where anything goes. Fulton and Eaton to start, they
lock-up with Eaton landing a massive right. Eaton celebrates before Fulton
lands his own right. Eaton lands an elbow and a right hand, hip to the side of
the head. Shoulder block from Eaton, back body-drop from Fulton who lands a
right and Rogers gets in on the action too. Everyone begins brawling with
Cornette defending himself with a chair, Cornette scrambles when Rogers takes
the chair. The Fantastics strut all around the ring, Eaton and Fulton are
fighting again. Right hands from Eaton, Eaton grabs a chair. Fulton atomic
drops Eaton onto the chair and cracks with the chair too.
Eaton is down on the floor, Rogers
chases Cornette. Eaton is decimated with the chair, not sure why Tommy Young is
trying to police this match when there are no rules as Schiavone stated at the
start of the match. Eaton is cracked I want to say at least 12 times with the
chair. Lane and Cornette are irate, telling Eaton to get back in there like a
man. Lane and Rogers will wrestle now, Rogers calls Cornette a chicken, Lane
lands his thrust kick and throat thrust. Rogers skins the cat and dropkicks
Lane multiple times. Fulton cracks Cornette but Lane and Eaton take out Rogers
with an enzuigiri to the back of the head. Cornette throws a chair on Rogers’
head, Eaton grabs the chair and works the ribs.
Cornette gets in on the action with an
elbow drop to the floor, Rogers is being choked with a camera cable as the
referee deals with Fulton in again, a match that is meant to have no rules. Massive
Lariat from Lane, Cornette comes in and lands a fist drop and elbow drop.
Cornette picks up Rogers who fires up but Eaton lands a right hand to the face.
Eaton stabs Rogers with some object in the throat twice, atomic drop into a
back-breaker from Eaton. Scoop slam from Eaton, in comes Cornette with his
wrist-tape. Another fist drop, Cornette needs a hand from Eaton to slam Rogers.
Russian leg-sweep from Lane, Eaton climbs high for The Rocket Launcher. It
connects beautifully, Cornette wants to pin Rogers which leads to some argument
with Eaton.
Rogers kicks out and tags Fulton because
Cornette was a colossal ass, Fulton comes in and wreaks havoc with a back body-drop.
Cornette has powder and blinds Eaton by mistake, Rogers slams Cornette as
Fulton takes out The Midnight Express and we have a double clothesline for the
win with Cornette whipped like a dog by The Fantastics.
Fun match, entertaining and Cornette
as an overconfident fool who causes his team to lose is classic wrestling
perfection, such a fun match between these two. There might be hope for this card
just yet, their previous match was not very good but I hold out for more
classics between these two teams.
Winners: The
Fantastics over The Midnight Express via Double Clothesline!
(NWA Television
Championship Match) Mike Rotunda © vs Sting
Sullivan and Steiner are at ringside,
no idea how this championship is still around the waist of Rotunda, I think he
is the least interesting of The Varsity Club members but I guess the TV title
was not all that important at the time. Sting leap-frogs Rotunda and dropkicks
all three members, noggin-knockers but the referee does not call a DQ as
Steiner and Sullivan rushed the ring. How lenient of him, side headlock from
Sting. Shove-off from Rotunda who eats a shoulder block, hip-toss and scoop
slam by Sting. Rotunda re-thinks his strategy, lock-up with Rotunda backing
into the corner.
Boot misses for Rotunda, massive right
hand from Sting. Leg-drop to the groin, Steiner is less than pleased about this.
Rotunda lures in Sting and works the leg, enzuigiri from Sting. Rotunda takes
another breather, asking for a time-out. Steiner distracts Sting but nothing comes
of it, what is with this stalling? Side headlock again, Rotunda shoves off
Sting. Steiner trips up Sting, Rotunda takes control. Sting is hurled to the
floor, Sullivan uses a weapon to decimate Sting. Steiner does nothing but
Rotunda continues dishing out punishment. Irish whip into an elbow, snap-mare
into an elbow drop for two. Rear chin-lock from Rotunda, Sting escapes but Rotunda
cuts off Sting. Rear chin-lock again from Rotunda, Steiner talks trash from
ringside.
Right hand and a scoop slam from
Rotunda, Rotunda climbs high. Rotunda hesitates so Sting capitalizes, right
hands stagger Rotunda who is thrown to the other ring, Sting runs the ropes and
dives into the other ring. Stomps and ten punches from The Stinger, Stinger
Splash and Scorpion Death-Lock but Steiner and Sullivan come in, Sting escapes
the beatdown but is not a champion.
Sting is red-hot, Rotunda bores me in
the ring and we have a very boring match as a result, I don’t know why Rotunda has
the championship especially when we had the likes of Blanchard, Anderson,
Rhodes and Koloff. It’s quite the drop-off but it is what it is, this match
blows and Sting deserves better.
Winner: Sting
over Mike Rotunda via DQ!
(Scaffold Match)
The Road Warriors W/ Paul Ellering vs The Power of Pains W/ Paul Jones
The best part of this is that the
actual Powers of Pain had left for the WWF so The Russian Assassin and Ivan
Koloff are portrayed as being the group the whole time. Now, I think the
scaffold match is a spectacle and one of these was enough for me so imagine my
thrill at seeing my 3rd one. These matches are a mess, limited
action and limited space and I am just over the concept at this point. Club,
club, club, punch, punch, punch. Nothing going on whatsoever and Animal manages
to push off Koloff, Hawk manages to kick off The Russian Assassin and its over.
The match was garbage, not a fan of this match at all.
Winners: The Road
Warriors!
(WarGames Match)
The Four Horseman (Ric Flair/Tully Blanchard/Arn Anderson/Barry Windham) vs
Dusty Rhodes/Lex Luger/Dr. Death Steve Williams/Nikita Koloff
So how does this work? Two cages and
two teams, two men start with team members entering at timed intervals until
all members are in the ring. Once all members are in the ring, the match can
end by submission, surrender or someone being knocked unconscious. There have
been legendary WarGames’ matches and I hope this may be one of the occasions.
Who is going to start for each team? Well Rhodes decides he wants to be the man
while Arn Anderson steps up for his team. The bell rings and we are underway, Anderson
wants Rhodes to come to him. Rhodes tentatively crosses over, both men start
brawling with Rhodes landing elbows to start. Anderson begs for mercy, Anderson
tries a sunset flip but Rhodes lands a right hand. DDT from Rhodes, Anderson is
getting whooped here.
Anderson backs off, Anderson is sent
flying into the cage. Rhodes smashes Anderson off the cage wall again and
again, The Horsemen shout words of encouragement but it is not going to help I
don’t think. Rhodes comes in to lift up Anderson with Anderson landing a
massive kick to the thigh, Anderson goes to work like only an Anderson can with
repeated attacks to the leg. Anderson is using something to choke and stab Rhodes,
Rhodes is a bloody mess. WarGames lifts up to the hype, low blow from Rhodes.
Anderson comes off the middle rope and eats a right-hand, Rhodes wrenches and
applies the figure four. Barry Windham enters, Rhodes wants to kill Windham.
Understandable and Dream knocks down Windham & Anderson.
Crowd is like molten lava at this point,
Anderson attacks Dream from behind. Rhodes is in trouble now, Windham tees off
with right hands and calls for The Claw. Claw from Windham, Rhodes is in deep trouble.
One minute before someone can help, Dr. Death comes in and tees off on The
Horsemen. Double clothesline to a monster pop, Williams chop-blocks both Windham
and Anderson time and time again. Anderson begs for mercy from Williams,
Windham is with Rhodes. Williams mounts Anderson and explodes with right hands,
Windham tastes the cage. Williams blocks the cage and Anderson tastes the cage
again as Ric Flair watches on from ringside. Anderson goes low with a headbutt,
Williams dodges a knee-drop.
Ric Flair comes in, a shock that the
last man will be Tully. Flair chops Williams who no-sells that, chop after chop
has no effect. Williams stalks Flair, low-blow from The Nature Boy. Williams
meets the cage, Windham and Anderson double-team Rhodes. Williams is bleeding
now, Anderson helps Flair punish Williams. Vicious DDT from Anderson, Rhodes is
bleeding everywhere. Flair spits on Luger, taunting The Total Package. Luger
comes in and clotheslines Windham, Flair is panicking now. Flying clothesline
to Flair and Windham, powerslam to Flair. Powerslam to Windham, Torture Rack on
Flair. Massive low blow from Windham, Flair and Windham wear down Luger who
shakes it off. Flair tries to send Luger into the cage but Luger blocks and
lands ten punches in the corner. Final man in for The Horsemen, here comes
Tully with a chair who waffles Luger. Tully targets the knee but Luger fights
it off, Flair lands right hands to Package.
Rhodes continues to attack Windham,
knee-drop from Flair to Luger. Nikita comes in and cleans house, I made a
mistake about Tully being the last man as I think we are going to have JJ
Dillon and Paul Ellering wrestle in this one. Nikita locks Flair in the figure
four, Nikita continues to show great power as Flair begs for mercy. Heated
contest for sure, lots of low blows going on now. It’s dick-punch city, Dillon
comes in looking as white as a ghost but Dillon gets to work helping his team
before Nikita grabs the hapless manager and batters him over and over. Williams
kicks Flair, this could be a fun match to see one day. Meanwhile, Rhodes is
always looking for Windham to torture him. More low blows as in comes Ellering,
Ellering is fighting off The Horsemen as Williams chokes Dillon.
Tully wants to make Ellering tap but
Rhodes is here fighting everyone in sight, lots of pairing off now. Dillon and
Ellering are alone, this could spell disaster for either team. Irish whip but
Ellering dodges the dropkick, atomic drop and Rhodes applies the figure four
with the ropes for the leverage and win.
A little anticlimactic with the finish
but I suspected some sort of finish like that once I saw the managers were
taking part in the match. I loved the start, brutally at its finest and despite
my feelings about Rhodes vs Windham at their previous match, their hatred for
one another comes through in full effect here which is tremendous for the setting
and the match. Good to see Williams in there too, most talent from the UWF
acquisition were not doing too well so at least their champion is being positioned
as a big deal. Rhodes getting the win instead of Luger irks me a little, I
think Luger deserved the win considering the tour and PPV was based around Luger
vs Flair but then again, Rhodes is the booker man jack and the booker man is
going over! All in all, it lived up to the hype with a finish that sends the
fans home happy.
Winner: Team
Rhodes over Team Horsemen via Surrender!
This was The Great American Bash’s
July 16th tour show and it was mostly uneventful if I am honest, you
could take at least 3 to 4 of the matches off this card because they meant
nothing to me. 3 to 4 squashes in first half an hour was a little intense, I
thought Steiner deserved better in his feud with Garvin, thought there would
have been more to that but I guess it was not meant to be while The Fantastics
vs The Midnight Express is a great tag team wrestling as is The Rock “N” Roll
Express vs The Sheepherders so if you are a tag team wrestling fan, there are
matches that deliver on this card. The Scaffold match is what it is, I could
die happily never watching another one. Finally, the main event is a bloody
spectacle with violence and intensity to it, the finish leaves a lot to be
desired but it wasn’t a PPV so I guess I will let it slide. If you like good
tag team wrestling, seek this out otherwise I would give it a pass! Thanks for
reading and remember: there’s always another night!
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