RAW and SmackDown present The Great American Bash!
In a dark match before the pay-per-view went to air, Vladimir Kozlov picked up a victory over Orlando Jordan
Mr. Money in the Bank Sinn picked up a big win over King Balor
Angel Williams (Angelina Love) made her main roster debut, last eliminating Kana to win a Gauntlet match to become the #1 contender for the Women's title
Matt Cappotelli picked up a huge win over Samoa Joe after a quick roll-up
AJ Styles then retained the US title with a victory over Tommy Diablo
Jun Kasai keeps hold of the Cruiserweight title, picking up a victory over Gregory Helms
In another Match of the Year candidate, Abyss defeated Chris Benoit to keep hold of the World Heavyweight title
In what has to be his biggest victory to date, Mr. Kennedy defeated Shawn Michaels in an amazing match
And, in the main event, Steve Corino picked up a big victory, defeating Minoru Tanaka, Charlie Haas and Jushin Liger in a fatal-four-way match to keep hold of the WWE Championship!
We are now three weeks away from Vengeance!
https://preview.redd.it/1pktrq2m2tc61.png?width=1750&format=png&auto=webp&s=1fe8f526a21a955ca5f4525d0588e3d080ff1968
The Great American Bash
July 20, 2008
Uniondale, NY
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
In 2008, WWE announced the move of SmackDown to MyNetworkTV and put forth the biggest efforts since the initial draft to beef up SmackDown's appeal. WWE Champion Triple H, Jeff Hardy, and WWE's longtime lead announcer Jim Ross were both sent to the brand in the 2008 draft.
SmackDown closed the GAB, with Triple H defending the WWE Championship against Edge. Despite these two dominating the 2000s, this was their only pay-per-view main event against each other one-on-one. Edge and Vickie were in their long-running relationship and were in the midst of turmoil due to the revelation of an affair between Edge and Alicia Fox, their wedding planner. Nice to know that Alicia has become one of the longest tenured women in the company. Surprisingly, a Triple H match took a backseat to the drama of another story and while this match is good, it is forgettable. As punishment for his cheating ways, Vickie would book Edge in a Hell in a Cell against Undertaker at SummerSlam.
Raw's closing match was JBL facing John Cena in a parking lot brawl. I figured I would mention that JBL got away with murder during this story line; you can find out what I mean here. JBL's body was failing him during this time and he would end up retiring by the next WrestleMania, but he still had enough juice in him to give a good fight with Cena. Cena took a brutal bump on the top of JBL's limo that split his arm wide open at the end of the match.
The World Heavyweight Championship was contested between CM Punk and Baitsta in the midst of Punk's "You're the champion, but not the man, Part 1" title reign. Punk had cashed in Money in the Bank on Edge to bring the world championship to Raw thanks to a beat down by Batista and this brought these two together. Punk was booked like, well, a punk during this time, and I don't like the term "buried" as I feel it is used so much it has lost its meaning, but this was a definite burial of Punk. Kane, who was going through his "Is he alive or is he dead?" psychotic heel push, interfered in the match and ended it in a double disqualification. After the match, just because, Batista planted Punk with a Batista Bomb. Punk, of course, did not get retribution.
Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho battled in the midst of the run that made Chris Jericho a legend in my eyes. At Backlash, Jericho was the guest referee for a match
... keep reading on reddit ➡Some consider this a match and others consider it attempted murder. This match was one of the biggest turning points in the career of Chris Jericho. Jericho's character went from being a happy go lucky face to a vicious piece of shit. The second he realizes that his elbow busted Shawn open, he pounces on him immediately and exploits the injury. As the blood is flowing and the match goes on, Michaels sells like an absolute madman as Jericho systematically destroys him. This isn't your average Jericho vs Michaels match. There aren't many counters or much back and forth action, just Michaels fighting for his life and Jericho becoming a completely new man. His heel turn may have started when he threw Michaels into the Jeritron 3000, but this solidified it.
Also, highly recommend watching Jericho's promo later in the night. Right as Michelle McCool is celebrating being the first ever Divas Champion, Jericho comes back out and announces that Michaels suffered a detached retina and that tonight was the last time you'd ever see HBK. It's pretty chilling.
Something really special about this feud is that every single PPV match/segment they did together had meaning. From Jericho reffing Michael/Batista to the Judgment Day match to Jericho 'willing on' Michaels at One Night Stand, to this match, to Jericho slugging Michaels wife at Summerslam, to the Unsanctioned Match at Unforgiven and the blowoff match at No Mercy. It really felt like WWE actually planned this out long term.
I know I'm just getting back into Wrestling (see previous posts) but I decided to watch this match just because I'm an unabashed Jericho Mark, and holy crap was I not disappointed. This was definitely before the blood ban, and maybe that helps a lot, but that was a good match for sure.
Does anyone know how much of this was planned? How much was Kayfabe? How much was unintentional? Jericho did look concerned at the end of the match when walking back to the locker room. Either way, I enjoyed it for sure, even if the blood was a bit much near the end.
Link to Spring Stampede: https://www.reddit.com/r/fantasybooking/comments/ro558n/rebooking_wcw_spring_stampede_2000/
Link to Slamboree:
https://www.reddit.com/r/fantasybooking/comments/rsgsch/rebooking_wcw_2000_pt_ii_slamboree/
Billy Kidman(c) (with Torrie Wilson) def. Chavo Guerrero Jr. to retain the WCW Cruiserweight Championship
The Filthy Animals (Konnan, Rey Misterio Jr. & Juventud Guerrara) (with Tygress) def. The Mamalukes (Disqo, Big Vito & Johnny the Bull) in a Six-Man Tag Team Match
Booker T def. Rick Steiner
Kanyon def. Diamond Dallas Page(c) to win the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship
Kanyon turned on Page by pinning him after using brass knuckles to win the title.
KroniK(c) def. Sting & Vampiro to retain the WCW World Tag Team Championship
Hollywood Hogan (with Horace Hogan) def. Jeff Jarrett (with The Wall) to become the #1 contender to the WCW World Heavyweight Championship
Shane Douglas def. Ric Flair (with David Flair) in a "I Quit" Match
David threw in the towel for his father, awarding to the match to Douglas.
Goldberg (with Ernest Miller) def. Tank Abbott
Scott Steiner(c) (with Midajah and Shakira) def. Kevin Nash & Mike Awesome in a Triangle Match to retain the WCW World Heavyweight Championship
After the match, Goldberg argued with Nash after making the save in a brawl that also involved Eric Bischoff, Vince Russo, Rick Steiner, The Filthy Animals, Kanyon, Disqo, The Mamalukes, Shawn Stasiak, Hugh Morrus and Lash LeRoux and then gave him a spear to close the show.
Meltzer went on to say that Weatherall almost banned Bez from the studio for stealing that weeks observer to try and skin up with it during the recording of WFL
NXT! NXT! NXT! NXT! NXT!
Announced Matches/Segments for NXT Great American Bash!
| Match | Stipulation |
|---|---|
| Kyle O'Reilly vs. Adam Cole | Singles Match |
| Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell(c) vs. Io Shirai & Zoey Stark | NXT Women's Tag Team Championship Match |
| MSK(c) vs. Tommaso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher | NXT Tag Team Championship Match |
| LA Knight(c) vs. Cameron Grimes | Million Dollar Championship vs. Grimes Becomes Knight's Butler Match |
Plus...
- Karrion Kross and Johnny Gargano will meet face-to-face at NXT Great American Bash
- Hit Row to host Championship Cypher at NXT Great American Bash
- Check out the full preview for more...
Buy NXT merchandise on WWE.com • Check out the NXT page on WWE.com • WWEPC on YouTube
Follow WWE NXT on Facebook • Follow WWE NXT on Twitter • Follow WWE NXT on Instagram
Took a break from playing around the holidays, but now I'm back, and here's my first PPV since returning~
(Dark) Sudden Impact defeated The James Boys in 6:28 by submission - 57
It's insane, but I cannot get Jericho over at all. I keep giving him wins and promo time, and he continues to be regarded as "Unimportant"
(Dark) Lex Luger and the Giant defeated Apex Predators in 9:40 by submission - 70
WCW World Television Championship**: Disco Inferno (c) defeated Ultimo Dragon in 9:36 by disqualification** - 70
First match of the actual card sees Disco Inferno defend his TV title against Ultimo Dragon. Ultimo gets DQ'd when Sonny Ono tries to get involved.
Dean Malenko defeated Alex Wright in 12:17 by submission - 75
A bit of a revenge match from Nitro when Alex Wright beat Malenko with a surprise roll-up.
Big Bubba Rogers defeated The Belfast Bruiser in a Hardcore match in 10:16 - 77
Part of an ongoing rivalry, getting ramped up a bit.
American Males defeated Road Warriors and Nasty Boys in 14:43 - 61
Intended to see who the next contenders for the tag belts will be. Lack of psychology hurt this match a bit.
WCW World Tag Team Championships**: Harlem Heat defeated Faces of Fear (c) in 13:40 by disqualification** - 80
Champs intentionally DQ'd to retain the belts. The feud goes on...
Randy Savage defeated Scott Norton in 5:41 - 70
Despite an ambush before the match, Savage was still able to claim victory over Norton. Seems he didn't do a good job selling, though.
WCW United States Championship**: Diamond Dallas Page (c) defeated Paul Orndorf in 11:41** - 79
Orndorff previously attacked Page and provoked this title shot, but DDP was able to hang on to the belt.
Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart defeated Ric Flair and Arn Anderson in 13:52 - 90
Recently landed Bret after his WWF contract expired. This is his first PPV match and it was a good one. Him and Anvil were right away thrown into a feud with the Four Horsemen and this is just the beginning.
WCW World Heavyweight Championship**: Sting defeated Rey Misterio Jr. (c) in 15:39 by submission** - 77
Rey ended up with like 3 different belts since everyone wanted to put him over and I ran with it and pushed him to the moon... but it's time to move on with the World title, so I
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