Legacy Review
Great American Bash '85
July 6, 1985 from Charlotte Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, NC
Well this is a nice surprise. Years ago I reviewed three Great American Bash tour shows that were uploaded to the fantastic Hidden Gems section of the old WWE Network, two from '86 and one from '88. Now WWE has just uploaded onto their WCW Vault channel on YouTube the first ever GAB show from 1985. Previously this show was only available as a hugely truncated one hour VHS release. Now we have the whole show to enjoy, and I will always take more mid '80s Jim Crockett Promotions shows, one of my favorite periods in wrestling history.
Starrcade was a huge success the past two years for Crockett and the NWA, even if the '84 show wasn't all that great, so the obvious thing to do was to try to add on some more supercard shows. Since Starrcade was a Thanksgiving show, it made sense to hold one during the middle of the summer, specifically coinciding with the 4th of July holiday. Starting in '86 GAB would become a multi-week tour of shows during midsummer before eventually becoming a yearly PPV, but this first year it's just a single outdoor stadium show. And the NWA wouldn't be putting all its eggs in this basket right away, as they also had a huge joint show with the AWA planned for the fall to try to compete with the WWF's success with the first Wrestlemania, which would end up being the first Superclash. They were also slowly building to what would end up being possibly the greatest Starrcade of all time in November.
We get the "presented in the most complete form possible" disclaimer at the start, which is completely understandable under the circumstances. Some skydivers start things off to get the crowd going. #1 misses his spot pretty bad, #2 does better, and #3 sticks the landing right on target. After that is a real nice panning shot of the whole crowd before intros for the first match. I like how there's only a dozen or so rows of floor seats. Yeah it makes the stadium field look awful empty, but I can tell you from experience that if you get that far back on unraised seats at a wrestling show you can hardly see a damn thing anyway. No commentary for this show as it wasn't shown on TV.
"Cowboy" Ron Bass and "Nature Boy" Buddy Landel (w/JJ Dillon) time limit draw- Bass' nickname is "Cowboy" here instead of the more well known "Outlaw" because he's a face. Landel's whole gimmick is he's a delusional heel that thinks he's the real "Nature Boy", and in fact had just had a few title shots against the real Nature Boy so this is a bit far down on the card for him considering. Also ironic that Dillon's managing him when he'll soon be the manager of the Four Horsemen. Red Pants is the referee working the first batch of matches tonight. You know Red Shoes Unno, here's Red Pants Sonny Fargo. He was a regular ref for lower card matches for Crockett in this period. The bell rings and Landel immediately runs around and bails to the floor. When he gets in he tries to hide behind the ref and bails again. After some Dillon advice he manages to attack Bass from behind, triggering off an extended back and forth slugfest. Landel takes a couple of buckle shots and rolls out again. Cautious knucklelock back in. Off a whip Landel grabs the ropes and escapes to the turf one more time. Bass has had enough and chases him down. Post shot for Landel and Bass is very happy with his handiwork. Another cautious knucklelock in the ring and Bass stomps on Landel's foot. He starts working on Landel's arm. ARMBAR. Landel backs him into the corner and hits some chops. Bass dodges in the opposite corner and Landel runs shoulder first into the top turnbukle. Bass identifies the target and runs the shoulder into the corner a couple of more times. He hooks on a hammerlock to try to work the shoulder some more. Landel eye rakes free. Bass hooks on the gut claw! Landell gets himself free and powders again. Back in Landell tries an arm wringer that Bass easily reverses. Bass then delights in some more arm punishment. It's always good to see someone that loves their job so much. Landel gets another chop in and tosses Bass out. Dillon gets a couple of shots in, including the dreaded back rake. Landel gives Bass a shot on the timekeeper's table that actually rings the bell, then chokes him with a camera cable. Back in Landel works a chinlock and asks "Who's the real Nature Boy?". In between chinlocks Dillon gets a slap and chokes in. Bass dodges an elbow drop and gets a flash small package for 2. Landel gets back on the chinlock, then there's a small edit cutting to Landel beating on Bass on the turf again. Bass fires back and knocks Landel around the ringside area. Landel begs off back in. No dice there. Landel then tries to walk. Bass follows, but then chases Dillon after Dillon tries to distract. Landel tries to use that to jump but Bass was ready for him. Bass no sells some punches and they stand off as the bell rings for the 20 minute time limit draw (about 17 minutes shown thanks to the edit). Pretty time limit stally and it didn't have the usual trying for a last second win flurry at the end (which might be more of a plus than a minus), but overall it was an OK opener. **
The fight continues a bit after the bell. Dillon tries to get involved but Bass maneuvers him and Landel into colliding, then Bass puts the Claw on Dillon before Landel saves him.
NWA National Tag Team Championship: The Minnesota Wrecking Crew (c) def Buzz Sawyer and Dick Slater- The National titles were the titles in the NWA's Georgia territory that was recently acquired by Crockett after the whole Black Saturday fiasco, the start of Crockett's expansion that would eventually overtax them and lead to their downfall and Turner buyout. The Arn and Ole Anderson team go by both The Andersons and The Minnesota Wrecking Crew (second version) and it's hard to tell what it's supposed to be on any given day, so in the absence of clarity I'm going with the much cooler name. One of the best team names ever. Sawyer and Slater ride in on a golf cart, charge to the ring and attack! It's weird seeing them as faces as both had most of their most prominent exposure as heels (and Sawyer was a pretty big heel in real life by all accounts). Sawyer's got on fur covered boots that honestly look like they could be slippers. Big 2v2 brawl with Slater atomic dropping Arn on the floor while Sawyer takes it to Ole in the ring. Eventually the faces clear the ring and pose while the Andersons try to find an opening. They think they see one and call the play but the faces are ready for them again. Red Pants finally restores some order with Arn and Slater in the ring. They lock up and Arn pushes Slater to his corner so Ole can blind tag in. The Andersons try a corner beatdown but we're quickly all in donnybrooking again. Sawyer bites Arn. The Andersons get whipped into each other and bail for a think again. Reset with Slater now stalling Ole to play some of his own mind games. Lockup and Slater hooks on a hammerlock. Ole gets dragged around by the arm but escapes enough to make a tag. Arn tries a corner floatover but Sawyer turns around and decks him with a forearm. After another short order breakdown Sawyer ducks an Arn crossbody attempt, but Arn bounces the right way and tags out. Sawyer and Ole have a nice short mat sequence before Sawyer starts in some arm work on him. Slater comes in with an elbow off the top rope on Ole. Slam and elbow drop from Slater for 2. He tries for a figure four but Ole tights pulls him down to the mat. The Andersons try a double team. Sawyer runs in to stop them, but takes away Red Pants' attention and the Andersons beat Slater down in their corner. The next couple of minutes are some classic Anderson arm work and cutting the ring in half, keeping Slater in their corner with nice toe holds. They make a mistake when Ole tries to get creative (there's a sentence with multiple future meanings) and goes up top. Slater slams him off! Tag to Sawyer. Sawyer hits a powerslam on Arn for 2. Flying forearm and he covers Arn. Ole elbow drops Sawyer in the back of his head, covers and wraps his head up so the ref can't see it's him, and gets a three count even though Sawyer might have just kicked out in time. It was bang bang. Slater points out to Red Pants the wrong Anderson was making the pin but the Andersons are already half out of the stadium. They even left the belts behind. After a minute or so the ring announcer says the Andersons win....by DQ. Uh, OK? Nothing in the online results on Cagematch or Wiki say anything about a DQ and I can't see any reason for a DQ going that direction so I'm going with the ring announcer goofing on that. A solidly good match that showed off that classic advanced level Anderson tag team strategery. ***
Manny Fernandez, Buzz Tyler and Sam Houston def Abdullah the Butcher, Konga the Barbarian and "Superstar" Billy Graham- Tyler is the reigning Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight champion and has his belt on. Fernandez is the reigning NWA Mid-Atlantic Bare Knuckles champion and does not have his belt on. If there even was a belt for that short lived title, I don't remember. Konga is the artist that will later be known as just the Barbarian, mostly in WWF and WCW. Tyler and Graham start. Quick speed run and Graham runs into Fernandez on the apron, knocking himself down. Too bad for Graham he didn't run into Houston, that bean pole wouldn't have even bothered him. Graham backs off and tags Barbarian. They do the same sequence, but Barbarian slams on the brakes before hitting Fernandez. But that allows the faces to knock him around the circle a couple of times. Barbarian gets a chop on Fernandez. Fernandez responds with a back elbow and some chops of his own. Fernandez fakes Barbarian out with a crossbody tease, then hops to the other side and hits the crossbody for 2. Graham tags back in and Fernandez speeds around him, not difficult as Graham was barely mobile by this point, and hits an uppercut. Graham wants a time out. Fernandez responds with a Spaceballs salute. The faces work on Graham's arm for a bit. Graham is easily able to outmuscle Houston once he's in, getting him in the heel corner and tagging in Abby. Abby runs Houston over, which is about the equivalent of a train hitting a sheep. Barbarian hits a slam and legdrop on Houston. Graham comes in with some martial arts shots to the throat. Fernandez runs in to try to stop a triple team, but that only lets Abby squash Houston in the heel corner. Houston gets tossed out and flipped over the guardrail. Fernandez helps him back over and into the ring, but Houston stays in peril. Eventually Houston manages to speed around Graham and hits a crossbody. DONNYBROOK! Houston wraps Graham up in a small package, and gets a shock upset pin! After the bell Houston celebrates like crazy with his teammates for a couple of minutes, clearly unable to believe what he just did. Solid six man stuff, with a good old "monster heels vs quick bumpaholic babyfaces" formula. **1/2
Dog Collar Match: Jimmy Valiant (w/Buzz Tyler) def Paul Jones (w/Abdullah the Butcher)- Hebner checks in to ref the next couple of matches. Yes, Hebner was with the NWA for a while before joining WWF. I haven't seen anything close to resembling a decent Jimmy Valiant match during these years and I'm not expecting that to start now. Most of those shitfests have been against former wrestler turned manager Jones too. This was a neverending feud. The crowd was always hot for it though, I can't deny Valiant's offbeat charisma. Not sure why two guys from the last match stayed behind to be seconds but whatever. Naturally we get the usual heel refusing to put the collar on stalling. Jones takes the collar, has a really good and long think about how exactly to apply it....then tries to put it on Abby. Tyler jumps him and forces it on, but while he's doing that Abby lays out Valiant. Once the collar's on the bell rings to officially start things. Valiant is still wobbled and Jones takes advantage to work him over. Valiant's already bleeding and we get plenty of his specialized spasm selling. He's got "FM 100" on his tights. Is that a local radio station that's sponsoring him? Jones goes up to the second rope, then comes down with what I really hope wasn't an attempt at a move because it was weak as shit. He goes up there again. Valiant uses the chain to crotch him! Jones gets out of the ring and tries to run but can't because of the chain. Valiant uses it to pull him into the post. Jones gets back in and Valiant works him over with his crazy over the top punches that make the Rock's look subtle. Jones is bleeding a little. Valiant hooks on the sleeper! Abby tries to get in. Valiant uses the chain to pull Jones into Abby. Elbow drop, cover, and Valiant gets the pin. After the bell Abby attacks Valiant with his Spike of Death but Tyler fights him off with a chair. The usual slow motion, barely come within 6 inches of each other on any strikes crapfest from these two, but at least they kept it short and to the point. 1/4*
NWA World Tag Team Championship: AWA World Tag Team Champions The Road Warriors (w/Paul Ellering) and The Russian Team (c) double DQ- There's another edit that clips the entrances for this match, so sadly I can't say if the Roadies rode in on their bikes or not. The Roadies are announced as the AWA World tag champs (without their belts though), but the ring announcer makes it clear this is for the NWA titles only. Then he goes and does a full on Lillian Botch, announcing the Russians as Ivan and Nikita Koloff when it's Ivan Koloff and Krusher Kruschev defending tonight, before quickly correcting himself. The Russian Team were a three man unit that defended under Freebird Rules, and Nikita had bigger things going on later tonight. Kruschev is the very not Russian Barry Darsow, the future Demolition Smash, Repo Man and Blacktop Bully. Not all at the same time. Hawk and Ivan start. Hawk easily overpowers him out of the first lockup. Ivan tries a top wristlock but Hawk also fights that off. Ivan tries to counter a backdrop attempt with a kick but Hawk dodges it and hits the backdrop going the other way. Powerslam for 2 and both sides tag. Animal and Kruschev have a little flex off. Lockup and Kruschev picks Animal up and tosses him! Pretty unexpected and impressive power there honestly. Another lockup and this time Animal does the lifting and tossing, with a bit more force. Test of strength that ends in a stalemate. They have a long top wristlock leverage fight that also ends in stalemate. Full speed shoulderblock collisions that are also inconclusive. Very fun sequence there. Kruschev cranks things up a notch by laying in the first strikes between the two and he hits a slam. Animal comes off the ropes with a tackle. He has a bit of trouble lifting Kruschev up, but eventually does and drops him on the top rope. Both sides tag again. Ivan gets a boot up in the corner and goes up top, but Hawk slams him back down. Running chop and fistdrop from Hawk for 2. He hooks on a front facelock. Ivan manages to fight over and get a tag, but Kruschev was standing on the bottom rope so Hebner doesn't allow it! Yes, back when tag rules were actually enforced. To a degree. While Kruschev is arguing that the Roadies swap without a tag! Hebner hilariously makes a big show asking the crowd if there was a tag, then shrugs his shoulders and pretty much goes "whatever". Kruschev decides to argue some more and the Roadies swap with no tag again! Another very fun expectation subverting sequence. Then Hawk does a little biting. The Roadies can heel it up all they want, there's no way in hell the crowd is going to root for the Soviet pinko commies. Hawk press slams Ivan, then Animal tags in and hits a big elbow drop for 2. He chinlocks Ivan literally inches away from being able to tag just to tease him, then drags him back over. Ivan manages to fight back to his corner, but Kruschev isn't there for the tag! He gets back on the apron but just misses Ivan again! I don't know what happened there, if Hawk pulled him down or not, we never saw on camera. Kruschev has finally had enough, getting in the ring and brawling with Hawk. They go around the ring and back in, and while passing Animal Kruschev gives him a shot to finally put the Russians in control. They quick tag to keep Animal isolated. Animal ducks an Ivan punch and hits a back suplex, but Kruschev cuts the tag off. Back elbow on Animal for 2. Animal headbutts Ivan in the gut but again gets blocked from tagging. Tagblocked. Kruschev and Animal double clothesline each other. Tag to Ivan. Tag to Hawk! Hawk runs wild on everyone. Big clothesline on Ivan but the pin is broken up. Everyone in the pool! Hawk hands Ivan to Animal on the ropes, but before Animal can do anything Kruschev hits him with a chair. Hawk gets the chair and unloads chairshots on everyone. Hebner calls for the bell, tossing the match out. No one cares, they're still fighting. Eventually the Roadies clear the ring to stand tall at the end. That was a pretty damn fun match with some very well done mini stories and everyone working hard. You can even forgive the finish as that was the norm in these kinds of interpromotional matches back then. ***1/4
Three days after this show, the Rock N Roll Express made their debut with Crockett and in their first night with the company defeated the Russian Team for the World tag titles, kicking off a feud that would last the rest of the year and culminate in a steel cage match at Starrcade. Over the next couple of years the RNR Express would be arguably the top draw in the whole company, even more than Ric Flair or Dusty Rhodes.
NWA United States Heavyweight Championship: Magnum TA (c) def Kamala (w/Skandor Akbar) by DQ- Magnum is in his first reign as US champ, and he was someone the NWA and Crockett had a lot of hopes in as a future company carrying babyface. This is a one off stop for Kamala in Crockett as he was mostly working for the AWA and Mid-South at this time. NWA senior ref Tommy Young steps in for this match. He tries some prematch instructions but impatient Kamala takes is as a cue to attack instead. Probably a translation issue. Skandor Akbar is no Kim Chee. Magnum ducks a clothesline and hits a crossbody with a very delayed Kamala reaction. After a few punches Kamala makes a hard left turn out of the ring and out to the turf. Back in Kamala holds his hand up for a test of strength. Magnum comes in cautious and decks Kamala before Kamala can try anything sneaky. Kamala eye rakes and hits a head chop. He drops Magnum on the top rope and lays in some more head chops, followed by a back kick and the classic "I'm hungry" belly pat. Magnum is already bleeding off the chops. This is most definitely the NWA's "blood heavy" period. Kamala bites the cut then hooks on the Titty Pinch of Pain +2. He switches between that and choking. Magnum tries to power up but Kamala head chops him again. Big splash for 2. Chops to Magnum's back and Kamala hits another big splash, then tries to pin Magnum while Magnum's face down. Kamala even hooks a leg! What a goof. More choking and titty pinching follow. Magnum fights up again and punches free. He comes off the ropes but Kamala chops him in the back of the head as he's passing. Magnum fights up again and goes into full resilient babyface comeback mode. Corner dodges and Kamala crashes into the corner. Magnum wobbles Kamala with dropkicks and the third one puts him down. Magnum covers. Akbar comes in and attacks Magnum to draw the cheap DQ. The heels try to continue the punishment after the bell. Magnum slams Kamala! Then belly to belly suplexes him! Sure, do the best stuff after the match is over. He covers and counts a quick three on his own while Young reminds him the match is already over. You're never going to get much out of Kamala and Magnum wasn't really good enough to carry anyone yet, but he certainly tried. *3/4
The ring announcer has an important announcement: if you're parking on the other side of Independence at the baseball field, you better go and move your car now or it's going to get blown up by the post-show fireworks being set off from there. I'm paraphrasing a bit. I believe the legal phrase for that announcement is "covering your ass".
NWA World's Heavyweight Championship: "Nature Boy" Ric Flair (c) (w/local TV sports personality) def Nikita Koloff (w/Ivan Koloff)- Nikita Koloff only had about a year of experience under his belt and was still awfully green, but he'd become a big enough heel thanks to his Soviet gimmick to get a test run against The Man here. He's billed as Ivan Koloff's nephew, but in reality was from that great factory for wrestlers in the 20th century, Minnesota. Flair was slightly over a year into his (officially) third reign as champion, a reign that would end up being the longest of all his reigns. We're also still in the period where Flair is a face in his home territory. His big heel turn and the start of the slow formation of the Four Horsemen won't happen until the fall. After Nikita's entrance the ring announcer tells fans to clear the field in a certain section as they have a special surprise happening over there. It's soon clear what it is. A helicopter slowly makes its way in and lands there, and lo and behold there's Ric Flair inside it. That's making an entrance. And in the News 9 WSOC TV News Copter no less! The man spares no expense. A red carpet gets rolled out and fans quickly swarm the area. It takes security a bit to get Flair a path to the ring and there's another edit there. Some local TV sports guy handles the ring announcements, all while holding a rubber chicken. I have no idea if that's some reference to the Russians being chickens or if that's just his gimmick. For some reason David Crockett is reffing this match instead of Tommy Young, wearing khakis and a teal polo. It looks like he walked out of the corporate office straight into the ring. Flair struts a bit after the bell and we're on. Much stronger Nikita easily wins the early lockups. Flair works around into a hammerlock and down for a leg takedown. Quick reset. Nikita cranks a headlock and fights off Flair's attempt to escape with a top wristlock, all while the crowd is distracted by something or other. Flair backs into the corner and hits a big chop flurry, followed by a hiptoss and some more strutting. Nikita responds with his own corner attack and hiptoss. Backbreaker for 2. Nikita hooks on a bear hug. Flair bell rings out. Whip from Nikita and he gets the bear hug back on. Flair jabs free this time. Clothesline from Nikita followed by a choke before he goes back to the bear hug. This time Flair lifts him up and hits an inverted atomic drop! He fires off some more chops. Nikita hits a forearm and yet more bear hug. They're keeping it dead simple for him. Flair goes down into some near falls. He fights back up into the corner but Nikita hits another backbreaker for 2. Flair shoulders Nikita in the gut to get some space. Snap mare/kneedrop combo for 2. More chops. Leg sweep and Flair goes for the knee for the first time. Back suplex. Nikita tries to fight it but Flair hooks on the figure four! Nikita eye rakes free. Flair grabs the leg to try to stay on it, but Nikita hooks him in a front chancery. Flair drops into some more near falls. When he gets back up Nikita switches to a headlock, then hits a shoulderblock. More Flair chops wobble Nikita. Flair hooks on a sleeper! Nikita backs him into the corner and muscles Flair up for a slam. Flair Flip! He falls all the way down to the turf. Nikita runs him into the post a couple of times and Flair does his usual duck near the ring skirt to blade right on camera (the camera's fault, not his). Flair crawls back in bleeding. Nikita bites the cut and covers for 2 with Flair's blood on his mouth. Nice. Clothesline from Nikita, but he takes absolutely forever to cover and only gets 2. Rookie mistake. He goes back for the bear hug but Flair very quickly bell rings free again. He's bleeding pretty good now. Comeback flurry from Flair. Chop and roll up for 2. He ground and pounds Nikita some and struts around again. Suplex from Flair. Elbow drop for 2. Corner chop and jabs. Ivan pulls Flair down in the corner and Nikita lays into him. Crockett goes down somewhere in there. Ivan goes up to the top rope. When he comes down he manages to take Crockett out again, not anyone else. A fan comes into the ring and grabs Ivan! 100% total legit fan run in here. Security very quickly runs in and gets him away. Once they clear out Flair does another Flair Flip, goes across the apron and comes off the top rope with a crossbody that Nikita completely fucks up his end of. After a lot of groping they get in position for Flair to cover for 1. Flair goes to the apron and pulls Nikita over the top rope for some elbow shots. Nikita lifts Flair back into the ring, but Flair falls on top of him and gets a pin! After the bell the Russians take Flair out while the ring announcer asks fans to clear the ringside area. It's still real to everyone, dammit. The face locker room tries to run in and help but the Russians take them all out too and leave Flair laying on the turf to end it. House show loop rematches set up. We're just getting into Flair's peak period, and this is a classic "good match with a broomstick" Flair match as he carried Koloff as well as possible. ***1/2
Steel Cage Match for the NWA World Television Championship: "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes def Tully Blanchard (c) (w/Baby Doll)- The TV title might seem like a bit of a come down for Dusty, but this was the hottest feud in the company at the time, which is why it's main eventing over the World title. That and the cage was too much work back then to put up and take down during the show. Blanchard held the TV title for almost exactly a year before Dusty defeated him in March, then Blanchard managed to win it back again in April. In this period Blanchard looked every bit the surefire future world champion before his personal demons took over and Crockett was slowly grooming him to move up the card. More on that later. Another edit on the tape and we jump from Flair laying on the ground to the cage already set up for this match and both wrestlers in the ring. Tommy Young is back in to ref. This is announced as lights out unsanctioned. There's also an added stipulation that if Dusty wins he gets Baby Doll as his manager for 30 days. Blanchard's been making use of a loaded elbow pad lately, and he refuses to let Young check it. Dusty insists, so Young insists, and finally Blanchard relents. Young gives it every test possible, even standing on it, and says it's clean. Lockup and Dusty gets a quick elbow in. Blanchard dodges another elbow and we get a bit of a strut off. Dusty wins that. Speed run and Dusty hits a slam. Blanchard takes a second to double check the door really is locked, which makes Young also double double check. Yes it is. Remember the NWA didn't do escape rules cage matches like WWF did, they were designed to keep the wrestlers locked in and everyone else out. Dusty gets a leg takedown and drops an elbow. Blanchard pounds away on him on the mat, then tights pulls Dusty into the cage for the first cage shot. Elbow off the second rope from Blanchard. Dusty's already bleeding. Another cage shot for Dusty. Blanchard hooks on a chinlock. Dusty jawbreakers out. Blanchard dodges an elbow drop and hits his own. He grounds Dusty again with an armbar. Dusty comes back up firing off elbows. Cage shot for Blanchard. Dusty gives him repeated shots into the cage and now Blanchard is bleeding. Both wrestlers keep pushing Young away, he's taking as many bumps as anyone. Dusty hits a couple of swinging double ax handles and gives Blanchard the good old cheese grater spot on the cage. Blanchard crawls to the door and tries to open it. Still locked. Blanchard slips out of a suplex attempt but runs into a Dusty clothesline for 2. Dusty hooks on a figure four! Blanchard reverses it and they have a mutual agreement rope break. Blanchard tries to attack Dusty's knee from the mat. Dusty gives him some more elbows and backdrops out of a Blanchard piledriver attempt. Blanchard starts to climb the cage. Dusty follows, headbutts him, and gives him an elbow that drops him down to the mat. Dusty walks the top rope a bit using the cage as a support, then drops down with an elbow that's mostly dodged. Blanchard rolled away but it still hit him in the back. Both guys are down. Blanchard climbs the ropes again and Baby Doll hands him the loaded elbow pad. He puts it on, but never gets a chance to use it because Dusty pulls him down by the tights, plants him with a piledriver, and gets the pin to win the title and Baby Doll's services for 30 days! The face locker room empties to celebrate with Dusty and the last shot before the tape ends is a furiously resisting Baby Doll being drug into the ring. Another good but not quite great co-main event. There's nothing wrong with it, it just never hit the next level for whatever reason. ***1/2
The loss wouldn't bother Blanchard any. I mentioned he was slowly being groomed for bigger things. Later this very same month he'd defeat Magnum TA for the US title, kicking off another red hot feud that would end at Starrcade in their legendary I Quit Steel Cage match.
OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Not a blowaway start to the Great American Bash lineage, but it's still a fun stadium show. Old school shows like this almost always lived or died by their main event(s), and this one delivered well enough in that regard. It's also a good window into what Crockett was doing right at the beginning of their hottest period. Watching this won't exactly change your wrestling life, but still I'm very happy to see this finally liberated out of the vault after so long and I definitely recommend it for anyone wanting to check out some classic NWA action.
OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B
