Grilling JR - Great American Bash 1991 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Welcome back to this week’s edition of Grilling JR with the voice of wrestling, Jim Ross! Jim how are you doing man?

We got a big episode...one of our most requested as a matter of fact. The first pay-per-view...major event...whatever you want to call it for JCP - NWA - WCW without Ric Flair in what feels like an eternity...Great American Bash 1991.

This is probably the most chaotic time in Jim Herd’s tenure of manning the ship of World Championship Wrestling would you agree?

We’re coming off a Clash that was headlined by Ric Flair vs. Bobby Eaton and it’s the second lowest rated Clash ever at that point. Was Flair vs. Eaton a miss in your opinion to the masses?

We’re building to a couple big matches at the Bash which is taking place in Baltimore, MD which is supposed to feature Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger in a Steel Cage Match for the WCW Title, Sting vs. Nikita Koloff in a chain match, and the Steiners & Missy Hyatt against Paul E., Barry Windham & Arn Anderson in a cage match. There’s also a Scaffold Match scheduled and a lumberjack match. Is this just overloading gimmick matches to help sell what is really not the deepest talent roster?

The show is snake bit almost immediately as Scott Steiner tears his bicep. Is there a feeling of some sort where dread becomes overwhelming in the weeks leading up to the show?

You’re involved with Herd, you’re part of the booking committee, you’re close to Ric. How much of the drama involving Flair and his contract and Herd are you a part of?

Did you think it would ever get to the point where Ric would quit?

In the run up to the show...and this is completely off topic but features a major friend of yours...the UWF runs Beach Brawl and Herb Abrams main events with Bam Bam Bigelow vs. “Dr. Death” Steve Williams. Did you watch the show and were you proud to see Steve in the main event?

The George Zahorian trial begins which as we all know is going to play a major impact on the state of professional wrestling. Were you keeping an eye on it and also on WCW’s steroid policy at the same time?

In a sentence I’d never thought I’d say out loud...Danny Spivey is fired for refusing to put over Tom Zenk in a tag team match and then refused to put over PN News. Did Spivey provide any value at this point?

From the Observer on 7/1/91… “In a story that was still up in the air as we are going to press, the future of Ric Flair in World Championship Wrestling is very much in doubt. According to four different company sources, on Monday, during contract negotiations between Jim Herd and Flair's attorney, Dennis Guthrie, Herd told Guthrie the company was giving Flair 30 days notice and rumors began that Flair's final day with the company would be either 7/14 in Baltimore or 7/22 in Los Angeles. As of Tuesday, Flair hadn't gotten notified by the office of his notice. Herd denied the story and said that the two sides are simply negotiating a contract extension, which from all accounts would require Flair to take a huge pay cut from his one-year contract estimated at guaranteeing him between $700,000 and $750,000 per year (which doesn't include additional income from his cut of merchandising revenue). Flair is actually still under contract to WCW through June 1, 1992. According to Herd, Flair has an escape clause in his contract that would allow him to quit provided he gave 30 days written notice. Herd said that WCW doesn't have a similar escape clause in the contract, which seems to mean the company can't legally give Flair notice without having to pay off the duration of the contract, although other sources say that there are loopholes to the company's benefit.”

You wrote in your book, “Slobberknocker: My Life in Wrestling” that Herd wanted changes and wanted younger and new stars developed and he was doing it for the sake of change. Herd wanted to change Ric’s persona. We always talk about...cash or creative. The story has always been his contract but do you think it was more creative?

This is not the first time Ric Flair has “cried wolf” as they would say. Did at any point the thought run through your mind...Naitch won’t drop the title in the ring?

There’s been a ton of criticism in the past of Bret Hart and his refusal to lose to Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series and also the Jeff Jarrett situation where he “held up” the WWF to get paid to drop the title. What are the differences in this situation with Flair and contract negotiations and the other ones?

From the July 8th Observer… “It's the end of an era. And the dawning of a new error.

Ric Flair was fired by WCW Monday, effective immediately, after both sides failed to reach an agreement on a contract extension which would be from June 1, 1992 through May 31, 1994. The official word was faxed Monday afternoon by Jim Herd to Flair's attorney, Dennis Guthrie, in Charlotte, that Flair's contract is being terminated effective August 1, 1991. Flair was scheduled to drop the WCW title to Barry Windham on 7/1 in Macon, GA in a revised plan decided upon within the past week that had been the subject of many behind-the-scenes problems. WCW officials weren't expecting Flair to show up to Macon (he was originally scheduled to be on vacation until Wednesday's show at the Meadowlands but was given the word last week to be in Macon). The revised plan was for Windham to defend the title against Lex Luger in Baltimore, with Windham's title victory airing on TBS either this coming Saturday night or the day before the Baltimore show. It was announced in Macon, which airs on television on Saturday, basically the truth, that Flair has been stripped of the title due to contractual problems and that the top two contenders, Windham and Luger, would wrestle for the held up title on 7/14 at the PPV show from Baltimore in a cage match. This marks the first time in the 43-year history of the NWA/WCW that the world heavyweight title didn't change hands in the ring.”

How crushing is this as someone who was close to Ric and also knowing he’s the top draw of the company and really there’s no one behind him to replace him?

“I guess it can be reported here that the original plan was for Flair to drop the title to Luger in Baltimore. The hang-up was that the two sides haven't been able to come to terms on a contract extension that had been verbally agreed upon seemingly forever. WCW offered Flair $350,000 per year, which would cut his current salary in half or slightly more than in half. According to Flair, as quoted in the Miami Herald in Wednesday's paper, WCW asked Flair to have his salary cut in half effective immediately. Other reports are that WCW wanted Flair to agree to terminate his existing contract and sign a new contract at $350,000 per year, but TBS sources say the disagreement was over the extension and that no major cut in pay was requested for the period covered by the current contract, which was to expire on May 31, 1992. Flair wasn't willing to take such a massive pay cut for the extension period to begin with, plus there is the ego involved in earning far less than Lex Luger (who will earn $600,000 next year, which politically, is a key reason why the company decided to make him champion because they have to be able to justify that huge contract) and also less than Sting. In truth, things of this nature aren't that unusual in the world of pro sports where the veteran and management can't get together because management feels the veteran is no longer worth his hefty salary, even if he's still a good player.”

You wrote in Slobberknocker, “There was a very distinct, stark difference in philosophy and opinion between the two men. Their lack of communication with each other allowed the problem to manifest itself into an unsolvable issue, where eventually there was no solution left on the table.”

Could these two had ever fixed the issues or was it done early on?

Did you know right away that Vince McMahon was going to scoop Ric Flair up?

There’s some big news outlets that cover Flair leaving WCW. The Associated Press, Knight-Ridder National wires, and obviously the Charlotte Observer. Did you or Herd expect this type of reaction in terms of publicity?

Did the Ric Flair leaving WCW story begin when he refused to put Lex Luger over in Chicago in late March of 1990 like we covered in our Lex Luger episode?

Did Dusty being involved again in creative also help to push this matter?

There’s a show at the Meadowlands not long after the news gets out that has a really good house for WCW at the time...5800 fans for a house just about over $87,000...where the fans chanted “We Want Flair.” Is this one of the worst PR nightmares you were a part of at this point in your career?

From the July 15th Observer: “Jim Ross was exceedingly complimentary to Flair on both his 900 hotline and his radio show when talking about Flair's departure. He also not only didn't try and ignore the steroid question, but he brought the subject up himself at the beginning of the show and continually went back to it during the show.”

Did you get any heat for putting Flair over or bringing up steroids on your radio show? Seems to be two taboo topics that were hot buttons at the time.

In a last ditch effort to either save face or because there was really no legal grounds for Flair’s firing...he’s offered a 1 year deal for $750,000 which he turns down. Did you think this was the right move?

Well Jim we’re here. The “We Want Flair” Great American Bash and it is poorly received by the readers of the Wrestling Observer. 0 votes for thumbs up, 239 for thumbs down and 2 thumbs in the middle. The show draws 7,000 fans which is 5,500 paid for a $99,000 gate. It’s estimated that the show had 145,000 buys compared to Great American Bash 1990 which drew 9,000 fans for a $150,000 house and had 200,000 buys with Flair vs. Sting on top in Sting’s return.

To lose almost 2,000 fans and $51,000 just a year later in the same building you have to look at the creative don’t you?

Meltzer reports you were very sick for this show but you battled through. What was going on?

We open a show with a doozy…

“Bobby Eaton & P.N. News defeated Terry Taylor & Steve Austin in a scaffold match in 6:00. Unannounced in pre-match hype, they had changed the scaffold match rules to allow winning by knocking the foe off the scaffold or by capturing the opponents' flag that was on their side of the scaffold. This was among the worst matches in the history of pay-per-view television. The highlight of the match was Austin & Lady Blossom walking to the ring, with a decked-out Taylor without Ms. York behind them, looking like he was all dressed up for his prom and his date stood him up. Nothing happened at all. You have to give the guys guts for going up there. But what does it say for the booker when he takes two of the four best workers in the company, puts them in a match that guarantees not to make use of their talent and make no sense to boot. Negative 3 1/2 stars is what it says. Bobby captured the flag to win. The announcers didn't even know it was the finish, nor did any of the fans. Lady Blossom handed Austin a hair spray container and he sprayed both faces. Then they all climbed down and had a short brawl in the ring.”

I mean wow Jim. Is there a worse way to start off a pay-per-view here? You have a guy that will change the business eventually, Eaton & Taylor who are the two great workers Meltzer references, and also PN News. Did you know the rules of the match?

“While they were taking down the scaffold, Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone opened the show. They mentioned the offer made earlier in the week to Flair (which was also announced to the live crowd before the show went on the air in order to quell what the company knew was going to be tons of "We Want Flair" chants, but the announcement brought the loudest chant of the night, but as the company hoped, it was off television).”

Did you feel comfortable talking about the offer on the air?

Diamond Studd pinned Z-Man in 6:59. Opened hot with Zenk diving over the top rope into the ring onto Studd. Dallas Page (minus his Diamond Dolls) pulled down the top rope and Zenk took a bump over. As Zenk went after Page, Studd attacked him from behind and Zenk took a great bump over the guard rail. The action moved pretty well but neither guy sold the others' punches well. Zenk had Studd pinned after a dropkick off the top rope when Page slapped Zenk. Zenk went after Page, Studd kneed him from behind and hit a back suplex for the win. *3/4

We’re only 2 matches in and now you got DDP & Scott Hall who would go on to be big time stars just 5-6 years later. How much talent was just not ready or were they wasted in WCW in 1991? What did you think of the match?

Ron Simmons pinned Oz in 7:55. Jim Ross said both men could bench press 500 pounds. But in this match, neither could get one ounce worth of heat. Really bad match. Simmons won with a flying shoulderblock. That's the end of Oz, although now there is word that Kevin Nash will be kept around and given a new role. DUD

What was it about these two that just didn’t click? Also another big star here early on in their career. It’s hard not to make the comparison of TNA 10 years ago when they had a lot of guys who are on top in the WWE and AEW who were just floating in the undercard just years before they’d explode.

Richard Morton pinned Robert Gibson in 17:01. They started brawling on the ramp before the match started. Morton then stalled for several minutes. At the 4:00 mark, Morton went after Gibson's bad knee and basically worked on it the rest of the way. Robert sold the knee great. They did a two-minute plus figure four spot. Technically this match wasn't bad, but there was no heat and because of that it seemed to drag on. They were both brawling on the ramp again and each missed a dropkick. Alexandra York then distracted the ref as they both got in the ring and Morton took the computer and came off the top rope with it for the pin. *1/2

17 minutes on the break up of the Midnight Express. I understand these two are great workers but this should be a brawl type match considering all the time they were a tag team and everything they’d been through. What missed about this?

Dustin Rhodes & Young Pistols (Tracy Smothers & Steve Armstrong) beat Freebirds & Brad Street (Brad Armstrong) in an elimination tag team match. These guys should have had a great match but it just didn't work. It was really bad early. It was hard to understand why given the talent involved (well, some of the talent involved). Steve Armstrong was pinned after a double DDT first in 13:49. Then Michael Hayes threw Tracy Smothers over the top rope in :15 to even the sides. Smothers was then pinned by a double DDT in 1:12. Rhodes pinned Garvin with a clothesline in :08. This left Rhodes and Brad. Dustin pinned him with a bulldog headlock in 1:46 and at the same time dropkicked Big Daddy Dink out of the ring when he tried to interfere. *1/4

This is an attempt to elevate some talent that just missed the mark wrestling wise. But it’s obvious Dustin is going to be something. What did you think?

Yellow Dog (Brian Pillman) beat Johnny B. Badd via DQ in 6:00. It was a very long six minutes, too. Badd does a great ring entrance but he's nowhere near ready in the ring for what they're pushing him for. He did a great sunset flip off the top rope and clearly has potential but he's years from being ready in the ring. Dog hit a flying body press and had Badd pinned when Teddy Long interfered for the DQ. After the match Badd sucker punched Dog to the floor. 3/4*

This Yellow Dog gimmick for Pillman really doesn’t connect with an audience in 1991 does it? How far was Mero from being ready like Meltzer said? Did you expect more out of this knowing the two workers?

At this point Eric Bischoff went to interview Missy Hyatt in her locker room. Bischoff looked like he was auditioning for the WWF with his 1960s used car salesman insincere overacting. Of course Missy was in the shower when Bischoff came in and Missy screamed and threw her shampoo at him.

That Eric. I wonder whatever happened to him?

Big Josh pinned Black Blood in 5:39 in a lumberjack match. Nobody cared about either of these two but their work in the ring was solid and stiff. The lumberjacks outside brawled as well. Finish saw Blood about to hit Josh with the ax when Dustin Rhodes grabbed Borne's ax handle and hit Blood in the knee and Josh inside cradled him for the pin. That made four people that Dustin had single-handedly beaten this show. *¾

Obviously the point Dave is trying to make here is that Dusty is putting his son over a lot of people tonight. Was that the feeling you got here? Also...the undercard is still going! Is this an attempt to fill time that was being missed now that Flair wasn’t on the show?

El Gigante pinned One Man Gang in 6:09. Gigante came down to the ring with four midget wrestlers who ran around biting Gang in the butt and harassing Kevin Sullivan. This was really bad, although Gang did take a slam off the top rope which is pretty impressive considering his size. Gigante got the claw on Sullivan, who gave Gang powder. Before he could throw the powder, Gigante kicked his hand, the powder went in Gang's face and Gigante clotheslined Gang from behind for the pin. -1/2*

Yup. These two. In a wrestling match. With midgets. WCW in 1991 was a weird time wasn’t it?

Nikita Koloff beat Sting in a chain match in 11:37. Some good pops for low blows. Both guys touched the first three corners and brawled for a while, then sprinted to hit the fourth corner with Nikita hitting it first. Sting gave Nikita a low blow with the chain after the match was over. **1/4

The first “real” stars come out almost 2 ½ hours into a show. These two are always good together and this is no exception. Is the touching the three corners together and then having the heel slip into the 4th one of the oldest wrestling gimmicks ever?

Now before we get to the World Title match let’s talk about titles because as you know I’m a belt mark. Flair keeps the Big Gold Belt because he doesn’t get his $25,000 security deposit back from Jim Herd. WCW goes to commission a belt but it’s never going to be ready in time. So the two stories is that a title from Florida Championship Wrestling that Dusty Rhodes had was used and also a WCW World Tag Team Title belt was used. Do you remember which one was actually used?

Lex Luger beat Barry Windham in 12:25 to win the WCW world heavyweight title in a cage match. You knew Barry was doomed when they spelled his name "Windam" on the graphic. This was a tough situation. Flair was the most over wrestler on the card, and this match featured mainly chants of "We Want Flair." Clearly, the people who came were there not to enjoy this match. The heat was on Luger and Windham to rise to the occasion and make them forget about Flair, at least while their match was going on. This shouldn't have been in a cage as it detracted from the match. It was a good match, but for what was needed in the situation, it was nowhere close. Windham had a bad knee and Luger's obsession with the number on his bathroom scale in the morning works against him in the ring. Windham worked as a babyface and Luger as a heel, but nobody picked up on it. Windham did some hot stuff, especially when one considers his size. Lots of near falls and good moves. Finish saw Harley Race and Mr. Hughes come to the ring. Windham was distracted by Hughes and Race told Luger to do it. Luger gave Windham a piledriver and pinned him. After the match, Luger left with Race and Hughes. Although nobody knew it, Luger did turn heel. I think Windham turned face, but I'm not even sure about that. ***

There’s always a mess when something like this happens but this is probably the worst double turn because it’s not really made obvious to the live fans to react the way you want to and it’s left up to you & Tony to decipher it for the fans at home. The match is good but really isn’t enough to not just make up for Flair not being there and what is about to happen in the next match. How hard is it for you to sell something like this when you know it’s just not working?

Why was Windham not put over here when the original plan was for Windham to pin Flair?

Was the plan for Windham to beat Flair to lose to Luger in the same finish?

Missy Hyatt & Rick Steiner beat Arn Anderson & Paul E. Dangerously in a cage match. What happened here is that the Maryland State Athletic Commission has a rule prohibiting man vs. woman confrontations. Somebody made a huge mistake if that's the case. If the commission wasn't going to allow it, it had no business being advertised as such. If the company knew, well, we already know this is a dishonest company. If the company didn't know, then the commission is at fault considering the match had been advertised on television for weeks. Dick Murdoch & Dick Slater "kidnapped" Missy (now with black hair) before the match and carried her away. Poor Missy still had to take a bump because a fan went after Murdoch, and he dropped Missy on her head so he could take a pop at the fan. In the ring, Rick laid Arn out with a clothesline, then pinned Paul E. after a clothesline in 2:08. DUD

Wow Jim. What the hell happened here? Is this the worst ending to a pay-per-view in history?

Is this one of the worst pay-per-views you've ever been a part of? Any positives you can pull from it?