FEEDBACK: WCW Great American Bash 1996

Rewind-A-Wai #117 will be released this Tuesday with a review of WCW Great American Bash 1996.

This event was chosen by Espresso Executive Producer @Jochy.

Watch WCW Great American Bash on the WWE Network (account required).

Leave us your feedback and questions related to the event in the thread for Tuesday’s show.

WCW Great American Bash
Sunday, June 16, 1996
Baltimore, Maryland at Baltimore Arena
*WCW Heavyweight Championship: The Giant (c) vs. Lex Luger
*Ric Flair & Arn Anderson vs. Kevin Greene & Steve McMichael
*Lord Steven Regal vs. Sting
*Falls Count Anywhere: Kevin Sullivan vs. Chris Benoit
*Big Bubba vs. John Tenta
*WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Dean Malenko (c) vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.
*Diamond Dallas Page vs. Marcus Alexander Bagwell
*WCW Television Championship: Konnan (c) vs. El Gato
*The Steiner Brothers vs. Fire & Ice

Brandon from Oshawa

I’m loving the WCW reviews lately. We’re going from my favorite PPV in Starrcade 95 to one of my favorite matches/feuds in Benoit vs Sullivan. I went back just to watch that match and I knew they had done a lot of editing with Benoit, but I never realized how much. Seeing “Taskmaster competes in a Falls Count Anywhere match” with no mention of Benoit at all felt odd to me just noticing it for the first time.

My favorite parts of the match were the bathroom brawl, which has always stood out for me, because it isnt something we often see in these matches and of course Dusty shouting “There is a lady in the mens john here in Baltimore.” Why dont you think we see many unique locations anymore during these Falls Count Anywhere or Street Fights? It just feels like they stick to the ringside area and the ramp area, with the occasional crowd brawl.

Roy from Rhode Island

I’m sure you will have covered this to some extent during the course of your review, but if not- given the resurgence of interest in his career prompted by his unfortunate ill health, wondering if you guys could discuss Steve McMichael’s WCW career in general. There’s parallels to Pat McAfee to an extent with any “polish” lacking from his commentary being entirely overcome by his force of personality, but his in-ring career to me was a little bit of “too much too soon”, putting a guy that inexperienced in a group that important, even in its waning days, and his run never really recovered from that, whereas McAfee has in contrast been extremely well utilized in one-off matches at big shows.

That said, the past few months have shown how well-liked Steve is, and he definitely livened up those early Nitros.

1996! Let’s cue up some Fugees! Maybe some Smashing Pumpkins, or Bush X! What are we even doing here?! No Doubt, “Spiderwebs!”

I really had nothing constructive to offer, and I just posted that. I’ll see myself out of this thread.

Jesse from the 6

You first reviewed this show in June of 2016 (with Damian Abraham). I wonder if today, as then:

  • You will spend 35 minutes chatting before starting the review.

  • You will discuss whether or not Periscope is still a thing.

  • John will discuss his idea for John Tenta’s gimmick: Shark Attacks! In which Tenta would cut the ring canvas open with his fin and drag wrestlers under the ring to “the sea”.

  • John will deride the concept of fate needing to be guarded by iron gates. And if so, will this debate turn into a discussion of the band King Crimson and the Prussian King Frederick the Great.

  • If John will like the falls count anywhere match but Wai will not.

Your last review of Starrcade '95 featured Luger as a tweener. Here, he’s facing the heel champion, the Giant. The Giant, a heel, would go on to lose the title to the newly heeled Hollywood Hogan in August. The Giant, a heel, who won the title from the heel Ric Flair a few months before this show. Flair, a heel, was the leader of the Horsemen, who were also feuding with the heel stable the Dungeon of Doom.

What the hell was going on here? Did Kevin Sullivan love booking heel-heel matches because it was…more realistic? Do you know if this was part of his booking philosophy? Or were he and the booking team just lazy and inconsistent?

Take Care