The Great American Bash
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The Great American Bash was an annual summer PPV in the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions and then in WCW. After WCW was sold to WWE, WWE took over the promotion of the event.
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History
NWA & Jim Crockett Promotions
The first NWA Great American Bash was on July 6, 1985 in Charlotte Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. The headline match was NWA World Champ Ric Flair defending his title against "The Russian Nightmare" Nikita Koloff. 32,000 fans attended this event that saw Flair defeat Koloff and even a fan attacking Koloff.
Jim Crockett Promotions used The Great American Bash as the name for a tour that had several PPV caliber shows around the country. In 1986, there were 13 Great American Bash's and NWA World Champ Ric Flair defended his title at each one against Ricky Morton, Road Warrior Hawk, Ron Garvin, Nikita Koloff, Robert Gibson, Road Warrior Animal, Magnum T.A., Wahoo McDaniel and Dusty Rhodes. Rhodes defeated him for the title at the July 26th Bash. Flair challenged for it on the last Bash on August 2. The cities toured in 1986 were in order as follows: July 1 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 3 in Washington, DC, July 4 in Memphis, Tennessee, July 5 in Charlotte, North Carolina, July 9 in Cincinnati, Ohio, July 10 in Charleston, West Virginia, July 12 in Jacksonville, Florida, July 18 in Richmond, Virginia, July 21 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, July 23 in Johnson City, Tennessee, July 25 in Norfolk, Virginia, July 26 in Greensboro, North Carolina and August 2 in Atlanta, Georgia.
The last NWA Great American Bash was on July 7, 1990 in Baltimore, Maryland and saw Sting defeat NWA World Champ Ric Flair for the title.
WCW
At first, WCW kept the tour idea for The Great American Bash but made it a once a year PPV starting in 1995. The first WCW Great American Bash was on July 14, 1991 in Baltimore, Maryland and was highlighted by Lex Luger vs. Barry Windham for the vacant WCW World Title. Luger won with the help of his new manager, Harley Race. Nikita Koloff also defeated Sting in a "Russian Chain Match".
The last WCW Great American Bash was held on June 11, 2000 in Baltimore, Maryland. The main event saw WCW World Champ Jeff Jarrett defeat Kevin Nash with Ernest Miller as the special referee.
WWE
The first WWE Great American Bash was held in 2004 at The Scope in Norfolk, Virginia and saw John "Bradshaw" Layfield defeat Eddie Guerrero in a Texas Bullrope Match. In addition, Undertaker defeated The Dudley Boyz in a Concrete Crypt Match, which resulted in Paul Bearer being buried in the crypt.
The next edition of The Great American Bash is scheduled to take place on July 24, 2005 at HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York.