Below is a brief synopsis of the amazing events which unfolded at the World Wrestling Incorporated’s (“WWE”) Great Amercian Bash which was live on Pay Per View Sunday July 22nd 2007. The event illustrated some of the most amazing scenes seen this year in the WWE and it had a hard to act to follow having witnessed such excitement as Wrestlemania 23 and ECW’s One Night Stand.
I think it is only fitting to start with a brief mention of the recently dethroned World Heavyweight Champion, Edge. Although, not a popular Champion amongst the fans, Edge is an entertainer and an excellent wrestler who has treated the fans to some excellent contests and battles over the years. Not least defeating the Undertaker in three minutes, something ‘The Animal’ Batista couldn’t manage in three months. Unfortunately, on Friday Night’s Smackdown, Edge had to relinquish the World title which he so coveted due to a torn pectotral muscle picked up during an attack by the ‘seven foot monster’ Kane, who he was ironically due to face at the Great American Bash. Edge will be out for up to four months however, good news for all of us fans is that Michael Cole announced at the Great American Bash that Edge had undergone successful surgery. I’m sure you will all join me in wishing Edge a speedy recovery!
And to last night’s action, the show kicked off in typical WWE fashion with an excellent fireworks and pyrotechnics display before Michael Cole and JBL welcomed us on behalf of Smackdown, WWE Hall of Famers Jim Ross and Jerry ‘the King’ Lawler (who perhaps had a more eventful night than expected - more on that later) on behalf of Raw, and, Joey Styles and Tazz on behalf of ECW. The stage was set for the bash to begin.
MVP (United States Champion) V Matt Hardy
Two of the youngest and fastest rising superstars in the WWE, MVP and Matt Hardy (who surprisingly has yet to hold a major singles title in the WWE) opened the show with a typically highly energetic and impressive display. Whilst it seemed that Matt Hardy had the early advantage in this one, you can never rule out the wily “half man, half amazing” MVP who at one stage managed to counter Hardy’s attempt at a side effect and set Hardy up for the dreaded playmaker however, Hardy managed to escape this one but the watching audience knew that if the United States Champ had one more opportunity to deliver this treacherous finishing move, huge fan favourite Hardy would have to wait another day for that coveted singles title. As the all action Hardy appeared to be getting the upperhand following a thunderous clothesline in the corner and followed up with a bulldog, he went for the ‘twist of fate’ and in doing so, was hurled into the corner by MVP and then met with a forceful boot to the chest forcing Hardy to thump his head off the bottom rope and to the ground. Clearly dazed, MVP took his opportunity and delivered the playmaker and that was it for Matt Hardy. However, on this evidence, that elusive singles title is not far away for Matt Hardy.
Open Challenge for the Cruiserweight Championship
The last time an open challenge was held for the Cruiserweight Championship, Chavo Guerrero walked out Champion and has defended the title successfully since. However, the odds were heavily stacked against the champion as he faced off against fellow cruiserweights Jimmy Wang Yang, Funaki, Shannon Moore and Jamie Noble, the first to score a pinfall victory or submission would be declared Champion. As the contest started, Hornswaggle (Finlay’s leprechaun companion) appeared and charged across the ring sliding under the bottom rope and back under the ring - this wouldn’t be the last we saw of this little menace. After a high flying and highly entertaining contest, Jimmy Wang Yang threw himself off the top rope to the outside of the ring taking Funaki, Jamie Noble and Shannon Moore out of the contest however, on re-entering the ring he was met by Chavo and the two appeared set to battle it to the death for the title. As Chavo had Yang set up for a Superplex off the top ropes, Noble suddenly appeared again and threw Chavo and Wang Yang to the canvas injuring himself in the process. Suddenly, our little leprechaun friend appeared again and delivered a frog splash to Jamie Noble and pinned him. As it was an open challenge, the referee had no choice but to count it and Hornswaggle was declared the new WWE Cruiserweight Champion (as joked by JBL, “the smallest champion since Tazz”), an excellent day for Irish sport which unfortunately will leave Padraig Harrington’s achievements in the shade.
Carlito v The Sandman (Singapore Cane Match)
Another surprise inclusion at the bash was Carlito v The Sandman. A rivalry has been brewing between these two superstars following The Sandman’s draft to Raw and last night’s Singapore Cane Match had the added stipulation that the cane was suspended 15 feet above the ring, the first man to scale the pole and retrieve the cane could use it as a weapon. After a lot of tooing and froing, Sandman finally managed to scale the pole and retrieve the cane. However, as he swung, the young Carlito ducked and delivered the now named ‘backstabber’ for the pinfall victory.
Melina v Candice Michelle (Woman’s Champion)
Having defeated Melina at Vengeance to win her first ever Women’s title, Candice Michelle has continued her impressive rise in the WWE - not to mention that she gets the odd rise out of the male audience, her attire left nothing to the imagination last night and she truly was, and is, a sight to behold. After another titanic battle between these two gorgeous divas, Candice Michelle may finally have rid herself of Melina with a bulldog type manoeuvre (which Jerry ‘the King’ Lawler later informed us she was calling ‘The Candy Wrapper’). Just who can stop the former playboy cover girl Candice on her path of dominance - I sure wouldn’t mind getting caught in her headlights!!!
Umaga (Intercontinental Champion) v Jeff Hardy
Next up it was the turn of the other Hardy, and three time Intercontinental Champion, to attempt to recapture the gold that he had lost to Umaga over five months ago on an episode of Raw. Hardy, another huge fan favourite, due to his high flying, risk taking style started the match as a huge underdog to the Samoan Bulldozer who had literally steamrolled Hardy to win the title back in February. However, it was not gonna be like that this time, Hardy made the mistake of attacking the psychotic Samoan who overpowered him from the off and was giving him a proverbial lesson which included a terrifying Samoan Drop. The writing looked on the wall for Hardy however, from out of nowhere came his chance and Hardy took the upper hand and delivered a number of high flying moves to the Champ such as the Whisper in the Wind and numerous kicks to the chest - the big Champ was obviously reeling from these blows and looked like Hardy may have him ‘on the ropes’ so to speak. He finally delivered the Swan Ton Bomb from the top ropes, a new Champion looked inevitable. However, Hardy was shocked to see the big Samoan kick out. Hardy went for one move too many and this was it for Umaga, he went on the rampage and clattered Hardy in the corner. Wasting no time, and eager to escape with his title, Umaga pulled him onto his feet and delivered the Samoan Spike, immediately pinning Hardy. The contest was over but as Umaga stood over his fallen victim, he had nothing but respect in his eyes for Hardy (something I never thought I would see from Umaga) and even at one stage had the title resting on Hardy’s chest (whether this was intentional or not was not clear - but I like to think that it was a show of sportsmanship from this animal). Hardy will live on!
John Morrison (ECW World Champion) v CM Punk
John Morrision (formerly Johnny Nitro) managed to scrape a victory against the, has to be future ECW Champion, CM Punk. After what was an entertaining encounter between these two young men, you had to feel that CM Punk’s time had come to finally lift that ECW gold. However, as Punk had battered his opponent with kick after kick, Morrison had had enough and fled the ring to snatch his title from the lovely Lilian Garcia and make his way towards the locker room. Punk would have none of this and ran after Morrison and knocked him to the floor and dragged him back to the ring - surely it was Punk’s time. Then came, what i found to be a disappointing end to a good contest. Punk scaled the ropes and leapt towards the champion who reacted and seemed to catch Punk with a kick to the knee as he landed. Morrison then pinned Punk to retain the gold.
Dusty Rhodes v Randy Orton (Texas Bull Rope Match)
The Great Amercian Bash was never going to be complete without an appearance from WWE Hall of Famer and the man who invented The Great American Bash in 1985, Dusty ‘The American Dream’ Rhodes. These two have been on a collisioncourse for some weeks now and Rhodes came out with the intent to teach his young adversary some respect. This contest stipulates that both men are tied at the end of a 20 foot rope by their wrists to each other and a 7lb cow bell is situated at the middle of the rope - this can be used as a weapon - winner must be by pinfall or submission. Rhodes had the experience, Orton had youth. The match started as everyone expected, Rhodes giving the young Orton a lesson in how to win a bull rope match, puling orton from pillar to post (literally!!! - at one stage Orton crashed full steam into the metal ring post on the outside) and delivering vicious elbows to the head. However, the sneaky Orton finally managed to get hold of the 7lb bell and delivered crushing blows to the American Dream’s leg. Rhodes managed to fight back but all too briefly as Orton finally delivered the crushing blow, hammering the bell into the Dream’s skull rendering him unconcious. Orton secured the pin but determined to ‘kill’ the legend sized up his opponent with the intent of delivering a further kick to the head as he had done to Shawn Michaels (Happy Birthday yesterday by the way) and RVD. He would have delivered the killer blow too if it hadn’t been for the interference of Cody Rhodes (the Dream’s son) who picked up the cow bell and urged Orton to face him. Orton backed out of the ring and headed to the back - I’ve a feeling this rivalry hasn’t quite run full circle yet.
The Great Khali (World Heavyweight Champion) v Kane v Batista
Following Smackdown’s amazing events on Friday, The Great Khali emerged victorious from a 20 man battle royal to secure his first World Heavyweight Title. As JBL quipped, the era of the T-Rex has begun, who could possibly win the title from him. However, no sooner had the 7ft 4in, 430lb behemoth secured the title then he was pitted against the seven foot monster Kane and the animal Batista in a triple threat match for the title at The Great American Bash. I had my concerns over this contest due to Kane and also Khali’s mobility, or lack of as it may be. However, I was pleasantly surprised and was served up an exciting contest. As expected Khali dominated at the start leading Kane and Batista to team up which culminated in these two men combining to chokeslam Khali through the ECW announcers table. Could we have a new champion after two days?? Kane and Batista then battled it out in the ring which included Kane chokeslamming the animal (which Batista kicked out from) however, Khali appeared again and was then introduced to an impressive chokeslam by Kane which surely must have put his back out. Kane and the animal went at it again. However, Khali was soon back and introduced to Batista’s spinebuster - surely that was it for Khali who rolled out of the ring. The Animal was on fire and delivered the Batista bomb to Kane and covered him however, the Giant returned once more and dragged the animal from the ring and tossed him like a child into the steel steps. Khali then entered the ring and delivered a powerful two handed chokeslam to the big red machine. The Animal tried to get back in time to stop Khali from pinning Kane but it was too late - the T-Rex era is well and truly underway.
Prior to the commencement of the last match, King Booker made his way to the ring. As alluded to on Monday Night Raw, King Booker is not happy with Triple H calling himself ‘the King of Kings’ and seemingly intends to deal with him on his return - which we now understand will be Summerslam on the 22nd August. However, one other ‘King’ was not to escape King Booker’s wrath. As Booker entered the ring, he requested that “Jerome Lawler” enter the ring and place his crown at the feet of King Booker as there is only one King of the WWE. Lawler refused however, did invite Booker to come down to Lawler and take it off him. Booker, obviously upset by this act of defiance, advised Lawler that he was to be charged with an act of treason and with this he and, the lovely Queen Sharmell, made their way from the ring to the locker room. What lies in store for the “treasonous” Jerry Lawler - perhaps we’ll find out on thie week’s Monday Night Raw.
John Cena (WWE Champion) v Bobby Lashley
And finally, we come to the main event, the battle of two of the youngest, strongest and most agile superstars in the industry. The Champion v the Uncrowned Champion (Lashley had been stripped of his ECW title following being drafted to Raw). The stats seemed to suggest Lashley but you can never rule out the Champ. Cena promised Lashley he would get his best on Sunday and he certainly didn’t disappoint. As the Champ’s music started, he was greeted by the biggest cheer of the night (even greater than the Hardys) and you could tell he was a little taken aback. The contest started as a test of strength which Lashley appeared to have the upper hand in but the Champ does not back down from a fight and managed to fight his way back. Lashley appeared to get an early advantage and started to deliver crushing blows to the Champ’s mid section, seemingly determined to knock the air out of him. But the Champ doesn’t lie down and delivered a number of bull dogs to Lashley who in turn showed amazing strength and ability to carry the fight the Cena. Lashley began to display his sheer strength by holding Cena in the air with one arm for what seemed like ages and delivering a thunderous suplex. However, as Lashley appeared to have the upper hand, the Champ managed to deliver the FU and hurl Lashley to the canvas. However, due to the beating he had just endured, the Champ could not get to cover Lashley in time and he kicked out before the three count. The match continued and Lashley could not manage to deliver any of his finishing moves however, he did manage an impressive back breaker by holding the champ above his head and cannoning him off his shoulders and onto the ground - an amazing show of strength. As Lashley went for a follow up spear, Cena, with a drop toe hold, got Lashley to the canvas and delivered the STFU in the middle of the ring. Triple H and Shawn Michaels have both tapped out to this move however, Lashley fought from the centre of the ring and managed to make it to the ropes, the hold was broken but what damage was done. The referee at this stage dragged the Champ to the other side of the ring to admonish him for not breaking the move in time and as the distracted Cena turned around, he was met with a thunderous spear from Bobby Lashley - we surely had a new champ. Lashley covered the Champ, but was too exhausted to hook the leg, and the Champ somehow kicked out. Cena soon found himself in the precarious position of the top rope and Lashley was getting in position to deliver a super plex but while on the top rope Cena managed to seize control and delivered the FU to Lashley who fell over ten feet to the canvas. The lifeless Champ managed to cover Lashley and secure the pinfall victory. As Cena stood victorious, Lashley approached him and offered to shake his hand which the Champ accepted and Lashley left the ring. It was a fitting way to end this contest but you can guarantee Bobby Lashley is not finished and he will one day secure that WWE gold around his waist.
So, all in all, The Great Amercian Bash certainly did not disappoint and served up some high class entertainment for all concerned. Special mentions go to the Hardys who, although defeated, will feel that their time will come. But who can stop the new World Heavyweight Champion or for that matter can anyone end the 10 month reign of the WWE Champ. It’s all heating up for what should be a pulsating Summerslam where we will see the return of the ‘King of Kings’.
Chris Benoit didn’t feature on last night’s bill - he might be carrying a niggle.
I thank you.
