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The Great American Bash (1991)

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The Great American Bash
Promotional poster featuring Ric Flair, Lex Luger, Sting, Nikita Koloff, and Missy Hyatt
PromotionWorld Championship Wrestling
DateJuly 14, 1991
CityBaltimore, Maryland
VenueBaltimore Arena
Attendance9,320
Tagline(s)Legend vs Legacy
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The 1991 Great American Bash was the third annual Great American Bash professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the seventh annual Great American Bash event overall. It was also the first held by WCW alone following its split from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in January 1991. The event took place on July 14, 1991, at the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. This was the fourth Great American Bash held at this venue after the 1988, 1989, and 1990 events.

The original scheduled card of the event was heavily changed. Ric Flair was scheduled to defend the WCW World Heavyweight Championship against Lex Luger in a steel cage match, but Flair quit WCW before the event and was replaced by Barry Windham, with the match being for the vacant championship. Luger defeated Windham to win his first world championship. The final bout of the show was a handicap steel cage match, in which Rick Steiner defeated Arn Anderson and Paul E. Dangerously.

Production

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Background

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The Great American Bash is a professional wrestling event established in 1985. It was first produced by the National Wrestling Alliance's (NWA) Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) and aired on closed-circuit television before becoming a pay-per-view event in 1988; JCP was rebranded as World Championship Wrestling (WCW) later that same year. The 1991 event was the third annual Great American Bash event promoted by WCW and seventh annual overall. The event took place on July 14, 1991, at the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. This was the fourth Great American Bash held at this venue after the 1988, 1989, and 1990 events. It was also the first Great American Bash held by WCW alone after its split from the NWA earlier that year in January.[1]

Storylines

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The card was originally to be headlined by a steel cage match between Ric Flair and Lex Luger for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, and this match was heavily promoted on WCW television but two weeks before the show, then-WCW Executive Vice President Jim Herd fired Flair over a contract dispute, stripping him of the title in the process. At the time, champions left a $25,000 security deposit that would be refunded to them (along with any accumulated interest on the deposit) once they lost the title. As Herd did not give Flair back his deposit, Flair retained possession of the belt and later brought it to the World Wrestling Federation, where he appeared with it on television. WCW had to commission a new world championship belt. However, the new belt could not be readied in time for the event, so the company was forced to improvise. A Championship Wrestling from Florida title belt that was in the possession of Dusty Rhodes was used and a metal plate with "WCW World Heavyweight Champion" was attached to the front.

Event

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Other on-screen personnel
Role: Name:
Commentators Jim Ross
Tony Schiavone
Ring announcer Gary Michael Cappetta
Interviewer Eric Bischoff
Referees Mike Atkins
Randy Anderson
Nick Patrick

In the advertised main event, Lex Luger pinned Barry Windham, who replaced Flair, after delivering a piledriver on the orders of Harley Race. After the match, Luger turned heel and appointed Race as his manager and Mr. Hughes as his bodyguard.

P. N. News and Bobby Eaton were scheduled to face Steve Austin and Terrence Taylor in a traditional scaffold match but, on the day of the show, a "capture the flag" stipulation was added as the wrestlers were unwilling to perform a risky fall from the scaffold.

Dustin Rhodes and The Young Pistols (Tracy Smothers and Steve Armstrong) faced The Fabulous Freebirds in a six-man elimination match.

The masked Yellow Dog defeated Johnny B. Badd by disqualification when Badd's manager Teddy Long interfered to try and unmask Yellow Dog; had he done so, Brian Pillman (who was wrestling under the mask) would not have been allowed to wrestle in WCW again.

The final match was originally supposed to pit The Steiner Brothers and Missy Hyatt against Arn Anderson, Barry Windham and Paul E. Dangerously. After Windham was moved to the title match following Flair's departure from WCW and Scott Steiner sustained a bicep injury at the June 12 Clash of the Champions, the match was changed into a mixed tag team match pitting Rick Steiner and Missy Hyatt against Arn Anderson and Paul E. Dangerously. Before the match, Dick Murdoch and Dick Slater kidnapped Hyatt and forcibly took her backstage, turning the match into an 2-on-1 handicap match which Steiner won (in reality, this was done because the Maryland State Athletic Commission did not allow intergender matches).

Results

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No.Results[2][3][4]StipulationsTimes
1DJunkyard Dog defeated Black BartSingles match12:45
2P. N. News and Bobby Eaton defeated Steve Austin and Terrence Taylor (with Lady Blossom)Capture-The-Flag Scaffold match06:19
3The Diamond Studd (with Diamond Dallas Page) defeated Tom ZenkSingles match09:00
4Ron Simmons defeated Oz (with Merlin the Wizard)Singles match07:55
5Richard Morton (with Alexandra York) defeated Robert GibsonSingles match17:03
6Dustin Rhodes and The Young Pistols (Tracy Smothers and Steve Armstrong) defeated The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes, Jimmy Garvin and Badstreet) (with Big Daddy Dink)Elimination match17:10
7The Yellow Dog defeated Johnny B. Badd (with Teddy Long) by disqualificationSingles match06:00
8Big Josh defeated Black BloodLumberjack match05:39
9El Gigante defeated One Man Gang (with Kevin Sullivan)Singles match06:13
10Nikita Koloff defeated StingRussian Chain match11:38
11Lex Luger defeated Barry WindhamSteel Cage match for the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship12:25
12Rick Steiner defeated Arn Anderson and Paul E. DangerouslySteel Cage match02:08
D – this was a dark match

Dustin Rhodes and Young Pistols vs. Fabulous Freebirds eliminations

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Elimination no. Wrestler Team Eliminated by Elimination move Time
1 Steve Armstrong Dustin Rhodes/Young Pistols Michael Hayes Double DDT with Badstreet 13:49
2 Michael Hayes Fabulous Freebirds None Disqualified for backdropping Smothers over the top rope 14:04
3 Tracy Smothers Dustin Rhodes/Young Pistols Jimmy Garvin Double DDT with Badstreet 15:16
4 Jimmy Garvin Fabulous Freebirds Dustin Rhodes Lariat 15:24
5 Badstreet Fabulous Freebirds Dustin Rhodes Bulldog 17:10
Survivor: Dustin Rhodes

References

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  1. ^ "The Great American Bash". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
  2. ^ Cawthon, Graham (2014). the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 4: World Championship Wrestling 1989-1994. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1499656343.
  3. ^ "2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts: Great American Bash 1991". Wrestling's Historical Cards. Kappa Publishing. 2007. p. 136.
  4. ^ "Great American Bash 1991". Pro Wrestling History. July 14, 1991. Retrieved September 16, 2015.