Review of WCW the Great American Bash

This event held in Baltimore MD, is a great example of everything wrong with WCW (World Championship Wrestling); horrible booking, majority of bad matches, and a severe lack of compelling story being told. It was painful to sit through & watch. If you don't believe me, let's start with the opening contest; P.N. News and Bobby Eaton facing off against the team of Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor in a scaffold 'capture the flag' match. Not only, did WCW officials shot themselves in the foot, by booking an extremely gimmicky stipulation with four wrestlers, not known for their daredevil highflying performances; but they also severe handicap those talents by having the plywood scaffold, only three feet wide. This cause the match to be, contested in a very slow, lumbering safe pace as none of the wrestlers were willing to take a risky big bump fall from the platform. Not only that; but the awkward ending with the hairspray was all screw up, as it look like somebody miss their cue. The next match, which had roidy, Diamond Stud/Scott Hall taking on the Z-Man was just below average. Having, manager, Diamond Dallas Page at ringside didn't really help, as this short contest, was very botchy. Nevertheless, the fight wasn't as big of a joke, as the next contest, which saw Oz AKA Kevin Nash facing Ron Simmons in a very slow botch fest. It was meh. However, the theatrical entrance for 1939's 'Wizard of Oz' character was somewhat entertaining, in a guilty pleasure, kind of a way. It was just silly & surreal, to the point that I really didn't care that the gimmick didn't look like the movie counterpart. The curtain castle backdrop & costume look awesome. Sadly, the bizarre stint as the Wizard of Oz didn't last long, after this, as Nash was moved into a gambler gimmick. It's somewhat disappointing, because Oz had potential of being, somewhat great. Oz could had been 'the Phenom' of that promotion. Anyways, this brings us to the next match on the card, which saw the Rock & Roll express members (Robert Gibson & Richard Morton) split up and fight each other. This bout was pretty decent. I like the in-ring storyline about Morton going after Gibson's injury leg. It made the match, very technical. Yet, it was far from boring. I just wish, Morton look more like the bad guy part. It's weird to see Morton look like a Jersey Rockstar, rather than a snobby, rich, Wall Street broker. Despite that, both men really gave Baltimore, a show. It's just sad, the crowd wasn't buying it. Dustin Rhodes and The Young Pistols (Tracy Smothers and Steve Armstrong) versus The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin & Badstreet/Brad Armstrong) in a six-man tag elimination match was up next and surprising; the tag, by far, one of the most entertaining contest of the night. Very impressive moves combos. Sadly, the next match, between Yellow Dog AKA Brian Pillman & Johnny B. Badd, couldn't follow it. That bout was really hard to watch for all the offensive gay slurs, being tossed around, & the fact that, they are going with the tiresome clichés 'Midnight Rider' mask storyline. It was not a good time. Much like the next contest, the Lumberjack match between Big Josh & Blackblood. The only time the crowd came alive is when the lumberjacks were brawling with each other. Yet, another stinker on this show, along with the next contest, between One Man Gang Vs El Gigante. Not even the dwarfs that surround El Gigante could save the match. It was ugly. At least, the next match, was not. I kinda like the Russian Chain match between Sting & Nikita Koloff. It was above average. This brings us to the biggest controversial of the night. As you see, the show was originally to be highlighted by a Steel Cage match between champion Ric Flair and challenger, Lex Luger for the WCW World Championship. However, two weeks before the show, then-WCW Executive Vice President Jim Herd & Flair cut business ties, over a contract dispute & career direction. This cause the main event to be change to Luger and ex-horseman brother, Barry Windham fighting each other for the vacant world championship. However, since WCW did not pay Flair, back for the security deposit for the belt, Flair retained possession of the title and later brought it to rival company, WWF (World Wrestling Federation). Because of this, WCW had to commission a new championship belt. Things got even worst, for them, when a new belt wouldn't be available, in time for the event, so the company was forced to improvise. A Florida title belt that was in the possession of Dusty Rhodes was used and cheaply edited to look like WCW. If that wasn't enough, the steel cage took forever to set up, causing a lot of mindless ramblings going on. As for the match, it self, the crowd was not into any of the wrestlers, here & the wrestlers barely use the cage for any advances. In short, it was huge disappointment. Sadly, the main event between Rick Steiner versus Arn Anderson & Paul E. Dangerously in a handicap steel cage was even worst, as it was nothing match. It was sad shell of its former self, which supposed to pit The Steiner Brothers and Missy Hyatt against Arn Anderson, Barry Windham and Paul E. Dangerously, but since Windham was moved up to the title picture and Scott Steiner sustained an injury, the match was changed into a mixed tag team match pitting Rick Steiner and Hyatt against Anderson and Paul E. Yet, that contest was scrapped as well, due to Maryland State Athletic Commission not allowing intergender matches. Either way, this was not a good match to be the climax. Luger & Windham should had ended the show. Overall: If this was fireworks. It would had been a dud. It was not a beautiful showcase. Can't recommended watching at all.