The Great American Bash


The Great American Bash is a professional wrestling event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment. It was originally produced on pay-per-view by the National Wrestling Alliance's Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling, and then by WWE. According to Ric Flair in his autobiography, To Be the Man, Dusty Rhodes invented the concept of The Great American Bash.
The last WCW event was held on June 11, 2000, not to be held again due to the acquisition of WCW by the World Wrestling Federation. After a four-year hiatus, the event was revived by the rechristened WWE in June 2004 and would be exclusive to the SmackDown! brand from 2004 to 2006. In 2007, to follow the format of WrestleMania, WWE made all its pay per view events promotion-wide, featuring matches with competitors from its three brands, Raw, SmackDown, and ECW. The event was replaced in 2010 by Fatal 4-Way and WWE Money in the Bank.
In July 2012, the event name was used for a special live episode of SmackDown, featuring the Great American Bash Battle Royal. In 2020, the event name was brought back as a two-night event for WWE's NXT brand, airing July 1 and July 8 on USA Network as special episodes of NXT's weekly TV show.

Dates and venues

1985

The Great American Bash was the inaugural The Great American Bash professional wrestling closed circuit event produced by Jim Crockett Promotions. It took place on July 6, 1985 at the American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The event included a 1-hour live concert performance by David Allan Coe.
As a result of Dusty Rhodes winning the match, Tully Blanchard's valet, Baby Doll was forced to be Dusty Rhodes' valet for 30 days which sparked her face turn as she became a full-time valet for Rhodes and his then partner, Magnum T.A.

1986

The Great American Bash was the second The Great American Bash event series produced by Jim Crockett Promotions.
JCP used "The Great American Bash" as the name for a tour that had several pay-per-view caliber shows around the country. In 1986, there were 13 Great American Bashes and NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair defended his title at each one against Ricky Morton, Road Warrior Hawk, Ron Garvin, Nikita Koloff, Robert Gibson, Road Warrior Animal, Magnum T.A., Wahoo McDaniel and Dusty Rhodes. Rhodes defeated him for the title at the July 26 Bash. Flair challenged for it on the last Bash on August 2. Nikita Koloff and Magnum T.A. were involved in a best of seven title match series throughout the Bash for the U.S. Title. The cities toured in 1986 were in order as follows: July 1 in Philadelphia, July 3 in Washington, D.C., July 4 in Memphis, Tennessee, July 5 in Charlotte, North Carolina, July 8 in Charleston, WV, July 9 in Cincinnati, July 10 in Roanoke, Virginia, July 12 in Jacksonville, Florida, July 18 in Richmond, Virginia, July 21 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, July 23 in Johnson City, Tennessee, July 25 in Norfolk, Virginia, July 26 in Greensboro, North Carolina and August 2 in Atlanta.
In July 2019, the July 5 and July 26 editions were uploaded as hidden gems on the WWE Network.
July 5, 1986 in Charlotte, North Carolina
July 26, 1986 in Greensboro, North Carolina

1987

The Great American Bash was the third The Great American Bash event series produced by Jim Crockett Promotions.
This was the first use of the WarGames: The Match Beyond match conceived by Dusty Rhodes.
Rhodes was on the winning side in both events along with The Road Warriors, Nikita Koloff and Paul Ellering. Koloff, Rhodes and J.J. Dillon sustained serious injuries in the first encounter. The Bash series took place in numerous venues all July long, starting in Lakeland, Florida at the Lakeland Civic Center Arena on July 1. This was also the final wrestling event of the National Wrestling Alliance's JCP to be aired live on closed-circuit television, as Jim Crockett Promotions began airing their wrestling events live on pay-per-view, starting with Starrcade in November 1987.
July 4, 1987 in Atlanta, Georgia
July 18, 1987 in Charlotte, North Carolina
July 31, 1987 in Miami, Florida

2012

On July 3 2012, the Great American Bash title was revived for a special SuperSmackDown Live episode of WWE SmackDown from the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. Unlike previous editions of The Great American Bash, it was the first to air as a special episode of a regular WWE television program, as opposed to a pay-per-view event.

Battle Royal

;Notes
  1. Slater and Swagger's eliminations occurred during a commercial break.

    2020

On June 24, 2020, WWE announced that the eighth Great American Bash under the WWE banner would take place as a special two-week event during the July 1 and July 8 episodes of NXT. Both episodes were taped on July 1. One scheduled match for July 8 was a champion vs. champion match between Adam Cole and Keith Lee for the NXT Championship and NXT North American Championship. The Bash went head to head against AEW's Fyter Fest, which was held on the same nights.
;Night 1
;Night 2