The Great American Bash (1999)

{{short description|World Championship Wrestling pay-per-view event}}

{{Infobox Wrestling event

|name = The Great American Bash

|image = The_Great_American_Bash_1999_poster.jpg

|caption = Promotional poster

|tagline = The Real Fireworks Start June 13th!

|promotion = World Championship Wrestling

|date = June 13, 1999

|venue = Baltimore Arena

|city = Baltimore, Maryland

|attendance = 11,672

|lastevent = Slamboree

|nextevent = Bash at the Beach

|event = The Great American Bash

|nextevent2 = 2000

|lastevent2 = 1998

}}

The 1999 Great American Bash was the ninth Great American Bash professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and 13th Great American Bash event overall. It took place on June 13, 1999, at the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.{{Cite web|url=http://wcw.com/eventinfo/ei_calendar_9906.shtml|title=WCW CALENDAR JUNE 1999|date=October 8, 1999|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991008072730/http://wcw.com/eventinfo/ei_calendar_9906.shtml |archive-date=1999-10-08 }} This was the seventh Great American Bash held at this venue after the 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1996, and 1998 events. This was also the first PPV event to incorporate WCW's new logo, which had debuted two months prior.

Nine matches were contested at the event. In the main event, Kevin Nash retained his WCW World Heavyweight Championship against Randy Savage by disqualification. In other prominent matches, The Jersey Triad (Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon) defeated Chris Benoit and Perry Saturn to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship, Rick Steiner defeated Sting in a Falls Count Anywhere match, and Ric Flair defeated Roddy Piper by disqualification to regain the presidency of WCW. The event also marked the WCW return of Sid Vicious.

Production

=Background=

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 (PPV) event in 1988; JCP was rebranded as World Championship Wrestling (WCW) later that same year. WCW then seceded from the NWA in 1991.{{cite web|url= http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/usa/wcw/gabash.html|title=The Great American Bash|publisher=Pro Wrestling History| access-date=2009-07-17}} The 1999 event was the ninth Great American Bash event promoted by WCW and 13th overall. It took place on June 13, 1999, at the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. This was the seventh Great American Bash held at this venue after the 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1996, and 1998 events.{{cite web |url=http://www.wcwwrestling.com/eventinfo/ei_calendar_9906.shtml |title=WCW Calendar June 1999 |website=www.wcwwrestling.com |access-date=19 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990508161529/http://www.wcwwrestling.com/eventinfo/ei_calendar_9906.shtml |archive-date=8 May 1999 |url-status=dead}} This was also the first PPV event to incorporate WCW's new logo that debuted three months prior.{{cite book | first=Graham | last=Cawthon | title=the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 5: World Championship Wrestling 1995-2001 | publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform | year= 2015 | isbn=978-1499656343}}

=Storylines=

The event featured professional wrestling matches that involve different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Professional wrestlers portray villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.{{cite web|url=http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/pro-wrestling.htm|title=How Pro Wrestling Works|last=Grabianowski|first=Ed|work=HowStuffWorks, Inc.|date=13 January 2006 |publisher=Discovery Communications|accessdate=2015-11-15}}

Event

class=wikitable style="font-size:90%; margin: 0.5em 0 0.5em 1em; float: right; clear: right;"

|+ Other on-screen personnel

!Role:

!Name:

rowspan=3|Commentators

Interviewer

rowspan=2|Ring announcers

rowspan=5|Referees

Johnny Boone

Hak pinned Brian Knobs after Jimmy Hart accidentally hit Knobs with a steel chair. Knobs was then hit with a kendo stick by Hak. After the match, Hugh Morrus came out and attacked Hak. Roddy Piper was disqualified when Buff Bagwell came out and attacked Ric Flair; as per a prematch stipulation Flair regained the presidency of WCW that he had lost to Piper at Slamboree the previous month. After the match, Piper helped Flair and Arn Anderson to attack Bagwell. Rick Steiner won the match after Sting was attacked backstage by dogs, and Rick forced the referee to declare him the winner. Randy Savage was disqualified after Sid Vicious, making his surprise return to WCW, interfered and attacked Kevin Nash with a powerbomb.

Reception

In 2013, Dylan Diot of 411Mania gave the event a rating of 3.0 [Bad], stating, "WCW was in a bad place at the time. They were becoming a cheap rip-off of both WWF and even ECW, and they were going nowhere fast. The booking of the show was horrendous; seven [of] the matches involved interference and there were some mind-boggling stupid finishes throughout the show. Avoid this show at all costs; it's not worth it."{{cite web | url=https://411mania.com/wrestling/from-the-shelf-wcw-great-american-bash-1999/ | title=From The Shelf- WCW Great American Bash 1999 }}

Results

{{Pro Wrestling results table

|results={{cite news|title=2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts: Great American Bash 1999|work=Wrestling's Historical Cards|publisher=Kappa Publishing|year=2007|pages=151}}{{cite web | url=http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/usa/wcw/gabash.html#99 | title=Great American Bash 1999 | date=June 13, 1999 | accessdate=September 16, 2015 | publisher=Pro Wrestling History}}

|match1=Hak (with Chastity) defeated Brian Knobbs (with Jimmy Hart) by pinfall

|stip1=Hardcore match

|time1=05:41

|match2=Van Hammer defeated Mikey Whipwreck by pinfall

|stip2=Singles match

|time2=08:35

|match3=Buff Bagwell defeated Disco Inferno by pinfall

|stip3=Singles match

|time3=10:33

|match4=The No Limit Soldiers (Konnan and Rey Misterio Jr.) defeated The West Texas Rednecks (Curt Hennig and Bobby Duncum Jr.) by pinfall

|stip4=Tag team match

|time4=10:44