Grilling JR - The Great American Bash 1992 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Welcome back to Grilling JR with the voice of wrestling, Hall of Famer Jim Ross! Jim, how are you today?

We are back this week discussing WCW 1992. We’re coming in hot out of Beach Blast that we covered last month - and we’re in the middle of the tag team tournament for the NWA World Tag Team Titles and also the birth of the Bill Watts era.

At the time the lowest ratings for professional wrestling on cable were set when the WWF shows - Prime Time & All-American drew a combined rating lower than any in history. Saturday Night, Main Event & Power Hour in the first week of Watts’ reign also hit lows. It’s really unfair to blame this on Watts as it seems to be a business effect across the board - is this the lowest you remember the wrestling business?

“Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers passed away on June 26th. Can you put into words what Rogers means in professional wrestling history?

The Beach Blast buyrate comes in at .4…which is an all-time low for WCW. When that news come across everyone’s desk…what’s the reaction?

From the Observer:

“In an attempt to push Atlanta's Omni as the new Madison Square Garden of wrestling, WCW had two title changes at the 7/5 house show with Brad Armstrong beating Scotty Flamingo to win the light heavyweight title and Terry Gordy & Steve Williams beating The Steiner Brothers to capture the WCW tag team titles. Both matches, along with a few others, were filmed with a single camera set-up and will probably air as soon as Saturday on TBS. The move to push the Omni shows was exemplified on the TBS shows this past weekend since both national shows heavily pushed the Sunday night card at the Omni with all angles and commentary designed to push those matches at the expense of no hype, no angles and virtually no commentary devoted to the PPV show on 7/12. Looking at things from the short term, this was the ultimate pennywise, dollar-foolish decision. Only a tiny percentage of the audience watching nationally on TBS lived within a one hour drive of the Omni and could even attend the show, whereas roughly 30 percent of those watching those shows have PPV capability and could, if they wanted to, order the Bash. Even with all the hype, the Omni crowd was approximately 2,500 and $25,000, roughly the same as the previous card.”

What say you Jim? Right move, wrong move, short sighted regarding the Omni?

What do you think of non-televised title changes at this time? Do you think it helps house show business or do you think it doesn’t really matter?

Eric Bischoff has always talked about how WCW was a television entity. Was that the feeling you had as well or did you think it was a live event / television entity?

There’s just three weeks between Beach Blast and the Great American Bash and at the time the Great American Bash tour is running around the country. Do you think the branding of the house shows being the Great American Bash tour hurts the ability to sell a pay-per-view named the same thing?

The WCW United States Tag Team titles disappear after The Barbarian & Dick Slater win the titles from the Freebirds. Too many tag team championships right?

On various TV shows you see the beginnings of a young roster coming together. Steve Austin defeating Brian Pillman to retain his TV title, Ricky Steamboat & Barry Windham defeating Austin & Cactus Jack in a tag match main event on Worldwide, did you think you had something with some of this talent at this point?

There’s matches taped to air during this time period with champions who weren’t champions and before the rules were implemented which caused things said in commentary like, “The wrestlers have a two week grace period to get accustomed to the rules…” Was this just a mess of a period in the middle of a transition?

On various Saturday nights you’re joined by Ron Simmons and then Bill Watts. What did you think of working alongside both men?

The Great American Bash tour as we previously mentioned…isn’t exactly lighting the world on fire. Macon, GA draws 1250, Baltimore Arena - a former hotbed - draws 2500, the Omni show was mentioned draws 2500, the Scope in Norfolk draws 1900…was the company better off not running these shows do you think?

There’s been a lot of talk lately with all the injuries in AEW and I know we don’t discuss a lot of current stuff but - is there a thought process that with only working once or twice a week and at most three times a week with a pay-per-view and two TV shows that it’s worse for the wrestlers compared to working four to five times a week like it was in the past?

If we look back a year at the 1991 Great American Bash it was supposed to feature Ric Flair taking on Lex Luger but it is the infamous show right after Jim Herd fired Flair. Was that the beginning of the end in your mind for the company?

We’re at the show and Jim right off the bat you can see the difference in product. No ramp, no pyro, no entrance set…is this cost cutting or an attempt to bring a bare bones product because that wasn’t even a mindset from Mid-South as Bill seemed to always be on the cutting edge of that stuff?

From the Observer: “The Great American Bash PPV show took place 7/12 at the Albany, GA Civic Center before a packed house of nearly 8,000 fans (roughly 4,000 paid with a gate of more than $45,000). Very preliminary estimates are the show did, among the few systems we've gotten reports from approximately the same to noticeable decreases on PPV compared with Beach Blast, or probably an 0.3 to an 0.4 buy rate. Given that this show, aside from Sting vs. Vader, had advertised matches with no box office appeal and wasn't well promoted until the final weekend, it seems this is about as low a level as a WCW PPV is going to do under these market conditions. The freebies turned into a major local news story in Albany which was carried state-wide on the wire services because there were so many give-aways in order to fill the building that thousands of those who had freebies were turned away at the door, some of whom arrived at the Civic Center as early as 9 a.m. and waited until 6:30 p.m. only to be turned away. Civic Center management refused to be interviewed on camera for local television news stories but did admit that half the crowd was composed of those getting in free with coupons, apologized to those who didn't get in and said that on the coupon it did say tickets were subject to availability.”

My goodness Jim what a mess that is. What do you remember of this?

“If the card showed anything, we are in for a major change in direction. A lot more matwork and working holds. Less high spots but more attempt at athletic realism. In other words, the U.S. wrestling scene is going to have two promotions going opposite extremes with nothing in the middle. This total re-education process toward a sports- oriented rather than entertainment-oriented emphasis, if it does work, is going to take some time and, like it or not, it at least is a direction. After years of having no real direction, that is a positive. Judging from the crowd reactions at the show, or lack thereof, those live appeared to be bored, with little response for anything aside from the first match and Sting-Vader. In the messages to here, the word used more than any other was simply "boring," with no real complaints about the show other than that one dreaded word. The booking and storylines were focused. The matches all had clean-cut winners and everyone did jobs to clean moves. There was none of this fear of having the top babyfaces lose cleanly. Clearly, we are entering a period of real unpredictability in the results of the big matches and people will be educated that when it looks like the top face was hit with a devastating move, he may actually get pinned so it should put more suspense into the matches. At least when the message is fully put across but you have to walk before you can run. The announcing was great in trying to put over the holds, and also entertaining at the same time. But with everything that has improved and with all the garbage that has been eliminated, the matches, with two exceptions, were dull. Not technically bad, but no excitement and too long with no excitement.”

This is some fair criticism at the time for the show is it not? If you’re going to change the presentation though you have to make it somewhat exciting do you not?

Right off the bat we’re joined by Bill as he explains to a very young Eric Bischoff and how in the NWA matches the rules are different compared to the WCW matches…this is just too complicated is it not?

“1. Rick Steamboat & Nikita Koloff beat Jushin Liger & Brian Pillman in 19:25 when Pillman came off the top rope (legal in every match but one because of NWA rules) with a crossbody and Steamboat rolled with it for the pin. This match showed flashes of brilliance but was nowhere near the caliber of what one would expect with Steamboat, Liger and Pillman as three of the four contestants.Steamboat & Koloff worked on Liger, however Koloff killed the heat and action once the match got going every time he tagged in. Pillman made the hot tag at 13:00 but his timing with Koloff was way off on some spots but he got a convincing near fall after a dropkick off the top rope which the crowd even believed he was going to win with. Basically, Pillman was all action with some great moves and some missed spots. Steamboat worked well, but wasn't spectacular. Liger was nowhere near his usual level but probably wasn't allowed to be anyway, and did no mind- blowing flying moves, but he's so talented that he still was the third best performer on the show. And Koloff didn't ruin the match but he was pretty bad. ***¼”

This is one of those styles clashes as it could’ve been tremendous with a different worker than Koloff in there could it not? Also with all 4 being babyfaces it’s tough. Liger and Pillman as a tag team could’ve been something could it not?

The Steiners cut a promo on how they’re spectators tonight but in the future they won’t be. Man what could’ve been considering the next match…

“2. Hiroshi Hase & Shinya Hashimoto beat The Freebirds in 9:16 when Hase pinned Jimmy Garvin with a Northern Lights suplex. Great to see the return of Nick Patrick, who was in a severe auto accident earlier this year, as referee. Total Clash of styles although Freebirds seem to Clash with almost any style now. *¼”

Having the Steiners work Gordy & Williams early on in the tournament looks like a disaster now when you see the Freebirds in there with Hase & Hashimoto at this time right?

Next up is Bill Watts again with the Big Gold Belt all of a sudden. From the Observer: “On the PPV Sunday night, the NWA belt that Ric Flair held was displayed by Bill Watts who gave the belt to Hiro Matsuda. WCW won possession of the belt in a lawsuit several months back, but ironically after winning possession, had yet to pay Flair for the belt itself. The financial deal, which saw WCW pay Flair a figure reportedly of slightly more than $28,000, was finally worked out earlier in the week. The fact that the last time Flair's belt appeared on television with a promotion he wasn't working for and that Watts prominently mentioned his name is going to lead to the Flair jumping rumors. Flair's WWF contract doesn't expire until September 5, 1993. Don't think for a moment that Vince McMahon is going to be agreeable to release him from his deal at a time when McMahon has a dearth of main event heels and given the fact that Flair would be a major plus for his opposition. On a similar subject, a companion lawsuit by WCW against Titan Sports for usage of the title belt is expected to be settled sometime this week. WCW was suing Titan for damages caused by using its prized symbol, the NWA belt, on WWF television shows causing the promotion embarrassment within the wrestling community. The sides are close to agreeing to a nominal financial settlement (between $30,000 and $40,000 is being discussed) along with a permanent injunction against using the belt or the facsimile belt that Titan made and used for about a week which the courts looked down upon. In other words, Titan is apparently agreeing not to ever use any footage involving that belt in highlights, footage released to the media or in videos.”

Did Watts ever think he would be able to get Flair back? As it’s just such a shock to hear his name on this show.

Do you think WCW needed the big gold belt?

Was WCW happy to get some money out of the deal?

When Bill mentions that Sting had defeated Ric Flair for the title previously it gets a negative reaction from the crowd. Flair really could do no wrong to this audience at this time could he?

Was there talk of making the Big Gold Belt back to being the WCW Champion or was the deal that it was the NWA title and it had to go back to the NWA?

Why was Bill so interested in being deeply rooted in the NWA?

“3. Dustin Rhodes & Barry Windham beat Rick Rude & Steve Austin in 19:16 when Austin tried to piledrive Windham and Rhodes came off the top rope with a clothesline. Started slow. Rhodes did the cool tombstone reversal on Rude. Madusa was at ringside instead of Paul E. Dangerously, who wasn't even booked on the show. He's kind of in the doghouse right now but theoretically one had nothing to do with the other. The first match didn't pop big because it was face vs. face, the second because it wasn't good and the fans weren't familiar with the Japanese. But then the crowd didn't react in this match either. Windham was controlled on the mat to the point it got boring with constant restholds. Rhodes finally made the hot tag and they went to the finish with the heels selling great in the last minute. *½”

How the hell is Paul Heyman not on this show? Is this early on in the heat with Bill?

This is the first heel vs. face tag team as Meltzer alludes to but man the crowd just wasn’t getting into it even with the work being good. What say you?

“4. Steve Williams & Terry Gordy beat Steamboat & Koloff in 21:39 when Steamboat was on the top rope, Gordy shoved him off and Williams caught him, rammed him into the turnbuckles, and gave him a forward power slam for the pin. This was one of the dullest matches I've ever seen involving wrestlers of this calibre that were all trying hard and not blowing up or missing spots. The amateur stuff was fine to set the stage in the beginning but it lasted way too long. It looked legitimate, but wrestling promoters learned sometime in the 19th century that legitimate wrestling isn't marketable and that's when someone got the idea for showy moves and started making money. When they finally got heat on Steamboat, there was no crowd reaction and this is the No. 2 face in the promotion who is a master at getting crowd reaction. At some point during the match, Williams gave Steamboat a move, I think it was a backbreaker and Steamboat legit hurt his ribs, but no word how seriously. Koloff made the hot tag at 14:45, but he was then controlled on the mat until making a hot tag to Steamboat several minutes later and Steamboat came in for the finish. DUD”

How did this miss? It just doesn’t make any sense when you think about it. You see this on paper and think wow this is going to be great - but my goodness Jim it’s just…slow.

Is it tough to not feel like the push of Williams & Gordy - with the bad turnout at the Omni - the drop in ratings…really started with a focus on them? Not to damn them but it’s hard not to see as soon as they were pushed as a big major act the numbers did start to drop.

“5. Rhodes & Windham beat Hashimoto & Hase in 14:55 when Windham pinned Hase with a lariat. First half of the match was all scientific and not bad even though again no crowd reactions. The Japanese did so many moves U.S. fans aren't educated to yet. Actually from a technical standpoint, this was a good match. Rhodes was punished until Hase missed a double kneedrop off the top and Rhodes made the hot tag to Windham who went to the finish. **”

You can see the difference and focus on this show is to reestablish - I guess amateur wrestling. But you have these 15-20 minute tag team matches really all looking the same. Is this an agenting issue? What’s really missing here?

Do you think a lot of the issue is that here’s a Japanese team that wasn’t even supposed to be on the show and Hase fills in due to an injury but no one really knows who they are and they’re here in the semi finals with no character and supposed to help make baby faces and don’t really work as heels?

There’s a couple lines in here between you and Jesse and it’s hard to tell if it’s the beginning of you two not working together smoothly or just banter. “I love Rude, he reminds me of me” Jesse -

“I don’t know Jesse Rude’s a pretty good looking guy” - JR

“So am I! I’ve done 7 movies, how many have you done?” - Jesse

We know you have thick skin for all the shit you’ve been through but the bitterness it sounds like coming from Jesse at the time - did you feel it?

Would you had rather been working with Tony or even Eric at this point?

Here’s Ron Simmons with Tony & Magnum and you can already tell Ron is in line for the big push. Was he ready?

“6. Big Van Vader pinned Sting in 17:17 to win the WCW title. Hot match all the way with

Vader going up for several suplexes. Given what was going to happen, it was the perfect storyline since Sting destroyed the invincible monster from the beginning since he was doing the job. Vader didn't get an advantage until 6:51 when he squashed Sting as Sting attempted a sunset flip. But Sting kicked out of a big splash that looked like the finish. Vader eventually caught Sting in the scorpion (the reason Vader didn't bend down while applying the hold was because his knee is still in bad shape so he actually did the hold standing up). Sting kicked out of a powerslam as well. Sting made a comeback using a koppo karate kick, face crusher and DDT. The highlight was Sting holding Vader (going right around the legit 380 mark these days and that's live weight and he wasn't wearing a weightlifting belt) on his shoulders and doing a back splash with him. After a ref bump, Sting gave Vader a german suplex but the ref was slow getting down since he'd been bumped and Vader kicked out. Sting did a Stinger splash, but missed the second and hit his shoulder (which was supposed to be his head) on the rod and juiced. Sting kicked out of the first pin attempt, but acted woozy and swung wildly, and Vader used the power bomb finisher. ****”

First off this is historical in so many ways. From the Observer: “Vader most likely became the first wrestler in history ever to win world heavyweight titles in four countries.”

Vader at the time held the IWGP title from New Japan, CWA from Europe and the UWA from Mexico before adding the WCW title. Did that mean anything to anybody not named Dave Meltzer do you think?

The wrestling world was so much more political back then…was there a ton of politics involved in this?

Simmons is shown throughout the match watching intently and you can feel it. But it’s hard not to think Sting was still the top guy in the company and it was going to be a tough transition to move him from that spot to Ron was it not?

Is this just Bill re-running the JYD story again - building around an African american champion who can appeal to everyone even though Ron could out work but definitely didn’t have JYD’s charisma?

If the Simmons experiment is successful - do you think Bill’s reign in WCW is completely different?

In a few weeks here on Grilling JR we will be watching what is in hindsight a historical WCW Saturday Night where Jake Roberts will make his WCW debut and Sting is injured and Ron is chosen to be his replacement for a WCW Title match against Big Van Vader so stay tuned for that!

Onto the main event!

“7. Gordy & Williams beat Rhodes & Windham in 21:01 to win the NWA tag team title. The Steiners came out at the beginning of the match, only to be sent back by Ole Anderson and Doug Dillinger. Rhodes was controlled on the mat for most of the first half of the match until Windham made the hot tag and it sounded like two fans popped. They quickly cut him off and he was controlled for about six minutes until Rhodes made the hot tag and this time it sounded like three fans popped. Rhodes was then cut off. After 20:00 of sudden death, they picked things up with a few near falls before Williams pinned Rhodes after a clothesline with Rhodes taking a nice spin bump. 3/4*”

This…just ends the show again on a sour note as the crowd - who really reacted well to the Sting - Vader match as it was worked so differently than everything else - is just absolutely dead here. It feels like every babyface comeback is cut off and everyone nowadays talks about how empty tag team matches are but this just literally sucks the life out of you does it not?

Gordy & Williams get the win and it was stressed so hard how the WCW Tag team Titles and the NWA tag team titles were going to be kept separate … and already they’re holding both sets of titles. Having the Steiners win this tournament and build to a unification match could’ve been a whole better/different would you agree?

Missy Hyatt is also noticeably absent from this show…do you remember why Missy was just completely erased at this point in time?

The Observer readers voted this one a 52.4% thumbs down. Hard to disagree Jim?

The show draws another .4 buy rate to match Beach Blast and it is the last time we’d see the Great American Bash on pay-per-view until 1995. I know you weren’t there for that but did it feel like the brand of this show was killed by it?