The Top Ten 7.24.07: Great American Bash Matches

Posted by Julian Williams on 07.24.2007

Remember when the Great American Bash didn't suck? Yea, me neither, but these matches might help refresh your memory.

Good morning folks and welcome back to another patriotic edition of The Top Ten. This week we're going to look at the Top Ten Great American Bash matches. Now you may be thinking that there haven't been enough great matches at the GAB to warrant a top ten list and if you were talking about the WWE-only version, you would be right. But during the days of the NWA and WCW, this PPV event produced quite a few classics. So strap on your nuts and get ready for a ride back to the old school. But first, feedback!

Reader Feedback

First up is Tanner who provides his favorite matches for 2K7….so far:

Hey Julian,

Great article!!! It is hard to argue with putting the Cena/Michaels RAW match at the top, but I thought that there were a few matches that should have made the list that I didn't see on there:


Steel Cage: BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs (from ROH Supercard of Honor II): The best match from what I would estimate as the best ROH show of the year so far, if not, the best OVERALL show this year!!! This was the conclusion to the year-long fued that these two had, and I must say, with all the dynamics, drama and build of this match, it easily led me to believe that this was one of the Top 3 matches of the year, along with........


Rematch: Blood Generation vs. Do Fixer (from ROH Supercard of Honor II): It is rare to find that the rematch was as good as the original, but this match certainly broke all of those barriers. This match was definitely as exciting as the one the year before, but the six men involved also sported some new moves that the ROH fans hadn't seen before, which is very rare. SCOHII was definitely the show of the year for me!


Texas Death Match: James Storm vs. Chris Harris (Sacrifice): This one was on your list, but I must say that it was good enough for me to put in the top 5 of the Year. Like you said, this match was absolutely SICK!!! Some really devastating stuff, and it finally gave Chris Harris what he needed to get insanely over like he was back in 2002-2003.

Takeshi Morishima & Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness & KENTA (Respect is Earned): You've got four of the best in the world (by workrate standards) against one another at ROH's first ever PPV!!! This match wasn't even really being announced until about 10 minutes into the show, but the mystique of the match is what built it and that's how it was able to succeed. The match itself is tremendous, obviously, or else it wouldn't be on this list. Just the simple fact that they were able to build a main event during the show would be enough for me, but these four came out and killed, and the cherry on top of it all is that THIS IS AN INTERNATIONAL DREAM MATCH!!!!!


SO, my top 5 of 2007..... so far stands as listed:

1. Cena vs. Michaels: The 60 minute Classic (RAW)
2. Cage: BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs (ROH SCOHII)
3. Blood Generation vs. Do Fixer (ROH SCOHII)
4. Texas Death Match: Chris Harris vs. James Storm (TNA Sacrifice)
5. Takeshi Morishima & Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness & KENTA (ROH Respect is Earned)

I haven't seen SuperCard of Honor II so I can't comment on Tanner's two picks from that show, but knowing his taste, I don't doubt that they were indeed superb matches. I tried to order Respect Is Earned today and my damn cable company didn't put the order through so I have to wait until the next showing which isn't until Wednesday. Bastards! Anyhow, great list as always by Tanner, I definitely have to check these matches out.

Jared is next with his own Top Ten:

Although I dont get TNA pay per views I do watch some matchs online.
Earlier
in the week I watched the Ultimate X match from victory road I thought
that
was better them some of the matchs you mentioned. Heres my top 10

- 1.(WWE Royal Rumble) Last Man Standing WWE Title MATCH: Cena vs.
Umaga
- 2.(WWE Backlash) Last Man Standing World Title MATCH: Batista vs. The

Undertaker
- 3.(TNA Sacrifice) Texas Death Match: Chris Harris vs. James Storm
- 4.(WWE Royal Rumble) The Royal Rumble Match
- 5.(WWE WM XXIII) WWE TITLE MATCH: John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels
- 6.(TNA Victory Road) Ultimate X
- 7.(TNA Slammiversary) King of the Mountain Match: Angle vs. Harris
vs.
Cage vs. Joe vs. AJ-
- 8.(TNA Destination X) NWA Title Match: Christian Cage vs. Samoa Joe -
- 9. (WWE WM XXIII) Money in the Bank III
- 10.(TNA Lockdown) Lethal Lockdown (Team Cage vs. Team Angle)
- Hon. (TNA Final Resolution) 30-Minute Iron man Match: Kurt Angle vs.

Samoa Joe
- Hon. (TNA Victory Road) Match of Champions: Joe and Angle vs. Team
3D

This is a very good match by Jared and I can't really argue with him putting any of these matches in The Top Ten. All of them were fantastic matches and deserving to be on any list. This year has produced a ton of matches that can be interchangeable in any top ten list.

Finally, we've got CL Smooth who threatens a little violence to get his point across:

Imma bitch slap you.

Sure, the matches you used were all good. But to leave off Kings of Wrestling/Briscoes, Mark vs Jay and Shingo/Doi beating the Briscoes is bordering on criminal. All better than Hardys/WGTT and the Backlash Taker/Batista match.

Also, I must be one of very few IWC geeks who was not orgasming over Joe/Kobashi. Sure it was 4.5 or 5*, but I've seen better matches from both. Joe/Morishima, for my money, should have been higher on this year's list. The guys matched up better on paper and visually, they looked like they were killing each other, and they both move so well for their size that the match made you suspend disbelief on another level. The only thing that lessened my enjoyment of the match was the kind of predictable ending.

But I'm the guy who liked McGuinness/Marufuji better than Danielson/KENTA.

No need for all the violence CL, we're all brothers here. I haven't seen too much ROH this year, but I have 5 DVD's currently being sent to me so I should be caught up pretty soon. Even though Joe/Morishima was great, I can't say it was better than Joe/Kobashi. Joe/Kobashi just had the feeling of a big time matchup and the crowd ate up EVERYTHING that those guys did. And they were legit beating the hell out of each other, the welts on Joe's chest after the match was a testimony to that. But then that's just my opinion. Say CL, what's Pete Rock been up to?

That's all for the feedback for this week people. Thanks to all you guys that wrote in and I hope to hear more from all you in the future. Let's keep this truck moving.

Poll Results

Last week I asked you guys what was your favorite match of 2007….so far. The results are in and with 32% of the votes the winner is:

John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels (Raw, 4/23)

Well what do ya know, you guys agreed with me. Guess I'm not so bad after all. Shut up, let me have my moment.

Random Thoughts Of A Disturbed Wrestling Fan

-So the Great American Bash was on Sunday night and I couldn't have cared less. Wasn't the whole point of creating the tri-branded PPV's to make them have better cards and more star power. I haven't been so unenthused with a PPV since the 2004 version of The Bash. The only two matches of this card that intrigued me were Cena/Lashley and MVP/Hardy. Two matches isn't enough to warrant me plunking down 40 bucks. I have a four-match rule going into to PPV's: If there isn't at least 4 matches that I want to see, I'm not wasting my money. This marks the second time this year that I haven't bought a PPV due to lack of enthusiasm (Judgment Day being the other) and they were both tri-branded PPV's. I think the ‘E needs to realize that the only way the tri-branded PPV's are going to garner more PPV buys is if they actually present GOOD matches that the people want to see. The people aren't dying to see Carlito vs. Sandman. The people aren't dying to see ANOTHER Cruiserweight Open. The fact that people like Kennedy, Booker, TWGTT, London & Kendrick, and Regal were left off the PPV while motherfricking HORNSWOGGLE won a championship is absolutely ridiculous. WWE needs to get their shit together and STAT.

-I was thinking about the brand extension the other day and while I do think it is still a great way to showcase new talent and give everyone more screen time, I cant help but think about how absolutely STACKED the WWE roster would be if it was only one brand. Think about it, you'd have one roster that looks like this: Cena, Edge, Batista, HHH, HBK, Orton, Lashley, Rey, The Undertaker, Ric Flair, Booker, Kennedy, CM Punk, The Hardys, London & Kendrick, Regal, MVP, Umaga, Kane, Carlito and a bunch of others. That would be a SERIOUS roster that would be just about as good as the 2000 roster that consisted of guys like Rock, Austin, HHH, Jericho, Benoit, Eddie, Angle, Undertaker, Kane, The Big Show, Foley, Malenko, Hardyz, Dudleyz, E&C, Too Cool & Rikishi (when they were massively over), and others. And we all remember how good the PPV's in 2000 were. I'm all for the brand extension, but if we could get PPV quality like that if all the brands were rejoined, then I would whole heartedly say capital F-U-C-K the Brand Extension and rejoin the brands.

-I love the fact that the summertime is no longer a dead time for great TV. I remember when I was a kid, all that was on TV during the summer was a bunch of reruns and Richard Bay, but the networks smartened up and realize that people still watch TV during the summer. Great shows like Psych, Monk, Entourage, Flight Of The Conchords, The Closer, Burn Notice, The Bronx Is Burning, Last Comic Standing, Mind Freak, Rescue Me, and John From Cincinnati have kept my DVR busy this summer. There are also other quality shows like Dexter and Mad Men which will be showing later this summer. If you have a chance you should definitely check out some, if not ALL, of these shows. And yes, I have absolutely no life and that's why I'm able to watch so much TV.

-Speaking of great TV, I watched the premiere of The Kill Point the other night on Spike and I was very impressed by it. It's just like every other show or movie about hostage situations with the twist that you don't exactly vilify the robbers in the show. They are all war veterans who seem to only be robbing as a way to make means after the country turned their back on them and left them broke. They all seem to be only doing it for the money and don't seem like they want to hurt anybody as evidenced when they opened up the wounded woman's trachea so she could breathe. But then again, they all have a dark side like when one of them (I think Pig) tried to take advantage of one of the female hostages and when Wolf was going to kill the gay old man to make a point. Donnie Walberg as the grammatically paranoid negotiator is great and Tobin Bell as the seemingly sneaky politician adds another level of intrigue to the show. Overall, it was a great debut and I look forward to watching it in the coming weeks.

-50 Cent's new song "I Get Money" is now the new official theme song of my LIFE.

The Top Ten Great American Bash Matches

Honorable Mention: Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard vs. Sting & Nikita Koloff (1988)
This was the opening match for the Bash '88 and you'll be hard pressed to find a match that had a hotter crowd than this one. The crowd was thirsting to see Sting and his foreign comrade, Koloff, finally bring some pain down on half of The Four Horsemen. This was a match over the NWA tag titles which Tully & Arn had a stronghold on. This was a hard-hitting and fast paced affair that say both teams deal out a good amount of punishment until the end when Sting had Tully locked in the Scorpion Deathlock right in the middle of the ring, but the time limit ran out on Sting which allowed Tully & Arn to just BARELY keep their titles. If you want to see a crowd be completely into a match for over 15 minutes, this is the match for you.

Honorable Mention: Doom vs. The Rock N' Roll Express (1990)
Doom consisted of Butch Reed and Ron Simmons, in case you're wondering. This was a match for the NWA tag titles and the dominant team of Doom came in as the champions while the perennial crowd favorites, the R&R Express, came in with their usual plucky underdog manner as the challengers. Doom dominated their smaller challengers early and in the process, had some of the crowd begin to cheer for them. The Express of course fought back but it wasn't too long until Doom killed them dead when Reed hit Gibson with a shoulderblock off the top rope. This was great, old-school tag team action that is definitely worth a look.

10) Chris Benoit vs. Booker T (1998)
This was the final match of their Best of 7 series (even though this was technically match #8 due to Bret Hart interfering in the 7th match) and this match was the same high caliber that all the other matches between these two were. They exchanged offense back and forth and neither man had a distinct advantage at any point in the match which solidified how evenly matched up they were. After various offensive exchanges, which included a sweet Dragon Suplex by Benoit, Booker was able to pick up the win after a missile dropkick from the top rope. This was a fitting end to a great series and showed why both men were ready to step to the next level of their careers.

9) Dean Malenko vs. Chris Jericho (1998)
If you think that American crowds aren't interested in Cruiserweight wrestling, watch this match and be proven wrong. These two had a fantastic match that the crowd absolutely ate up with most of them solidly behind Malenko, but some cheering on the dastardly Jericho. After both men were able to escape each others submission holds, Jericho talked trash to try to distract Malenko, but instead it just infuriated the future ladies' man and he began to wail on Jericho with chairshots which caused a DQ. Despite the lack of a finish, this was a fantastic match that is necessary viewing for anybody who calls themselves a fan of either man.

8) Sting vs. Steven Regal (1996)
Sting was one half of the Tag Team Champions at this point and had a little bit of a beef with the man we now know as William Regal. These two men went out and put on a hell of a technical display with Regal stiffing the hell out of the Stinger. The match ended once Sting locked on the Scorpion Deathlock and this was pretty much one of Sting's last truly great matches.

7) Sting vs. The Great Muta (1989)
The Great American Bash '89 is heralded by many to be the best pay-per-view ever and this match is one of the reasons so many people remember this event so fondly. This was a match over the World TV Title and it was a classic matchup of speed(Sting) vs. high impact(Muta). This match was non-stop action from bell to bell and the crowd was very into it as both men were incredibly over. Sting won after countering Muta with a backdrop suplex and this match was a testimony to just how over Sting was in his glory years.

6) Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger (1988)
Believe it or not, there was a time when Lex Luger could actually go in the ring and this is a classic example of it. This was a match for the NWA World Title and Luger was hungry from the outset of the match. He completely dominated the early going until Flair was able to bait him outside to rake his eyes and start chopping away. Flair then took over from there and after a valiant attempt at a comeback by Luger, Flair focused on the leg and began dissecting it.

5) Chris Benoit vs. Kevin Sullivan (1996)
What makes this match so memorable is not only that it was an insane brawl that went all over the arena, but also because it felt so real due to the real-life issues between both men. At the time, Kevin Sullivan was a booker in WCW and thought it would be a great idea to put himself in a feud with Chris Benoit in order to elevate his own status. He made the basis of their feud an alleged affair that Benoit would have with Sullivan's real-life wife, Nancy Sullivan aka Woman. Life imitated art in this case because Benoit was in fact having a real-life affair with Mrs. Sullivan. Needless to say, these two men did not like each other due to the real-life situation involving Woman. That hatred was apparent in this match as the two men just stiffed the hell out of each other in a brutal battle that went everywhere, even the men's bathroom! Some memorable spots in this match include Benoit getting kicked down some concrete steps, Sullivan slamming (and I mean SLAMMING) a bathroom stall door into Benoit's unprotected head, and Benoit giving Sullivan a superplex off of a table propped up in the corner of the ring for the three count. The post-match antics were memorable as well as it had been teased for weeks that Arn Anderson would leave The Four Horsemen to join up with Sullivan's Dungeon Of Doom stable and Anderson hit the ring after the match, but attacked Sullivan instead of Benoit and the two men proceeded to stomp The Taskmaster HORSEMEN STYLE! This match also features one of my favorite calls ever from Dusty Rhodes as Sullivan and Benoit are fighting in the men's bathroom and a woman joins the men to cheer the two on: "There is a lady! There is a lady in the men's bathroom! Whoa Baby!!" Classic.

4) The Midnight Express vs. The Southern Boys (1990)
The Southern Boys, if you're wondering, were Steve Armstrong and Tracy Smothers. The Midnights were in the twilight of their run together and people started to wonder if they could still perform how they used to, but on this night Sweet Stan and Beautiful Bobby proved why they were one the best tag teams ever. Jim Cornette even called this match one of the Midnights best matches EVER and considering some of their classic matches, that is a high compliment to this match. The Southern Boys were pretty much seen as fodder before this match, but after this impressive showing, they immediately became big time contenders in the tag team division. This was just a great match that saw The Midnight Express dominate for most of it by secluding Smothers into their side of the ring. Smothers was eventually able to get the hot tag to Armstrong and then it all broke down from there with The Midnights hitting The Rocket Launcher and doing the OLD SCHOOL switch-a-roo, but The Southern Boys just couldn't be put away. The ending came when Sweet Stan nailed Smothers in the back of the head with a kick from the apron which allowed Beautiful Bobby to roll him up for the win. This is definitely a forgotten classic and should be looked up by anybody who loves great tag team wrestling.

3) Dean Malenko vs. Rey Mysterio (1996)
This was Rey's WCW debut after coming in under a lot of fanfare and he certainly didn't disappoint. This was a fast paced match that featured some incredible action like Dean reversing a sunset flip into a Slingshot (something you have to see for yourself), Rey hitting a springboard dropkick (which wasn't really seen in American wrestling until then), Rey hitting a springboard senton from the ring to Malenko on the outside, and some great pinning sequences with a ton of near falls. The match ended when Malenko powerbombed the hell out of Rey and put his feet on the ropes for a three count. This was a fantastic debut for Rey and he wound up becoming perhaps the most popular cruiserweight of all time.

2) Sting vs. Vader (1992)
This here is the match that made Vader's career. Sting was uber-over and was easily the most popular face in the company and Vader just came in and beat the living crap out of him which made Vader look like a complete badass. Sting got in a couple of offensive moves but for the most part, he was dominated by The Man They Call Vader. Vader mercifully ended the match with a powerbomb to pick up his first WCW Title. What makes this match so great is that you had an unstoppable monster in Vader that dominated the most popular guy in Sting and it would take Sting a while until he would crack the code that was Vader and overcome the big man. Great stuff.

1) Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk (1989)
This was the main event for what some (not me) call the greatest PPV of all time. The backstory for this match was that Terry Funk was a judge in the final match between Flair and Steamboat and after Flair won, he asked for a title shot and once Flair declined, Funk went apeshit and beat the hell out of Flair including a piledriver on a table. This match was filled with fast paced, intense and violent action. Both men just beat the holy hell out of each other with Flair piledriving Funk twice, Funk WHACKING Flair in the head with a branding iron, Flair returning the favor by CRACKING Funk in the head with the same branding iron, and Flair backdropping Funk on the concrete floor. The match ended after both men unsuccessfully tried to lock in their submission moves and once Funk went for an inside cradle, Flair countered by rolling into it and getting the 3 count. This was just an awesome, brutal match that is a testimony to how great both men were during their prime.

Drive-By Pimpin'


Check out all these great columns by my 411 brethren:

-Andy Clark's "Shimmy"
-Ari's "Column Of Honor"
-Sean, Alex and David's "Triple Threat"
-Bayani's "Truth B Told"
-Weyer's "Shining The Spotlight"
-Byers' "Cheap Wrestling for Cheap People"
-Larry and Geoff's "4R's"
-Fact Or Fiction
-O'Dog's " Goodness"
-Sat and Uncle Trunx's "High Road/Low Road"
-Phill Feltham's "Quick Talkdown"
-Sarnecky's "Piledriver Report"
-Slimmer's News Report
-Hidden Highlights
-Carapola's "That Was Then" and "Friendly Competition"
-The Fink's Payload
-Gamble's "Just 'Spose"
-Cook's "Ask 411"
-Meehan's "Meethinks"
-Sforcina's "Evolution Schematic"
-Prag's "In Defense Of?."
-Wrestlers of the Week
-Sullivan's "Crystal Ball"
-Randle's "Wrestling News Experience"
-Joe Boo's "Ringside Or Cheap Seats"
-Linkous' "Why I Love Wrestling"
-Double M's Rasslin Report
-News To Start Your Weekend
-Dunn's Rawtopsy, Smackdown Breakdown, & ECW eXperience
-Your News, Larry's Views
-Zac Calhoun's "The Ripple Effect"
-Joe Estee's "Keys To The Game"
-Halden's "You're An Idiot And Here's Why"
-Buy......OR SELL!!

The Sign-Off

That's all I gots for this week people. Be sure to send in all your thoughts and feedback and come back next week when the topic will be The Top Ten Pops of all-time. And by Pops, I mean crowd reaction not John Witherspoon from The Wayans Brothers. Although that would be pretty cool. Go Pops, Go Pops, Go Pops!