|Date: July 18, 1987
|Venue: Memorial Stadium |City: Charlotte, North Carolina
|tweet me: @BastionBlogger
Jimmy Valiant, Lazer Tron & Kendall Windham vs. Sean Royal, Gladiator #1 & Gladiator #2
Previous PPV matches: This is a first time 6 man tag team match between these men.
Great American Bash PPV Record: Jimmy Valiant is 3-1, Lazer Tron is 1-0, Kendall Windham is 1-0, Gladiator #1 is 0-1 and both Gladiator #2 and Sean Royal wrestle at this event for the first time tonight.
Match: We join the match already in action with Kendall Windham and one if The Gladiators. The Gladiators are on top and make quick tags. Jimmy Valiant looks to make a hot tag but the referee doesn’t see it and kicks him back out. Kendall Windham is the younger brother of Barry. Sean Royal tags in, hits a powerslam but misses with a knee drop off the top. Windham unable to make the tag. All hell soon breaks loose with all six men going at it. Windham hits a cross body and gets the 3!
Result: Jimmy Valiant, Lazer Tron and Kendall Windham win by pinfall.
Review: Well I can’t really review this because the match was already underway when we came to it. A good win for the babyfaces though, if predictable.
Rating: N/A
Todd Champion vs. Vladimir Petrov
Previous PPV matches: This is a first time match between these two men.
Great American Bash PPV Record: Both men wrestle at this event for the first time tonight.
Match: There’s a power struggle in the early going. Petrov has Paul Jones in his corner. Champion hits a big powerslam for a near fall. Champion misses with an elbow drop and Vladimir hits the Russian sickle for the win.
Result: Vladimir Petrov wins by pinfall.
Review: This was a very quick match. Not a classic by any means. Vladimir Petrov gets the win in his PPV debut.
Rating: N/A
Chris Adams defeated Black Bart
The Rock N Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) (c) vs. The Mod Squad (Spike & Basher) – NWA Tag Team Championship match
Previous PPV matches: This is a first time match between these two tag teams.
Great American Bash PPV Record: Ricky Morton is 1-1-1, Robert Gibson has won 2 and drawn 1 and the Mod Squad make their PPV debut tonight.
Match: Robert Gibson and Spike kick off the match and then we go to an ad break. We come back to Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson on top with Spike on the canvas. The Rock N Roll Express take shots at both opponents as the crowd scream along. We go to another break and come back to Basher on top of Robert Gibson. There’s some double teaming from the Mod Squad, they choke Gibson behind the referee’s back. Basher throws Gibson over the top rope but the referee doesn’t see it. Gibson makes the hot tag to Ricky Morton and they hit a double dropkick on Basher. Spike breaks up the cover and throws Gibson out of the ring before the challengers beat down Ricky Morton. Gibson then hits a sunset flip on Spike (I’m pretty sure neither men were legal) but that gets them the win!
Result: The Rock n Roll Express retain by pinfall.
Review: This match was ok, not spectacular. It felt like a straight forward enough routine win for Ricky and Robert.
Rating: 3.75/10
Barry Windham (c) vs. Big Bubba – Western States Championship match
Previous PPV matches: This is a first time PPV match between these two men.
Great American Bash PPV Record: Barry Windham is 1-0, Big Bubba is 0-1.
Match: Big Bubba has Skandor Akbar in his corner. Big Bubba gets the first few shots in before the bell and takes control. Bubba hits an enzeguri and a piledriver for a near fall. Windham sends Bubba flying out of the ring and on to the grass below. Barry hits a suplex but misses with a knee drop. Bubba sends Windham over the top rope but the referee doesn’t see it. Windham heads to the top and hits a cross body for the three!
Result: Barry Windham wins by pinfall.
Review: This match felt a little bit short, it could have been given more time. What they did was good, it was back and forth and could have gone either way. Barry Windham wins though and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him pushed towards the main event of Starrcade.
Rating: 3.5/10
Bob Caudle interviews Barry Windham after the match and tells the likes of Lex Luger, Arn Anderson and Dick Murdoch that the title is his.
The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane) (c) vs. The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts) – United States Tag Team championship match
Previous PPV matches: This is a first time tag team match between these two teams.
Great American Bash PPV Record: Bobby Eaton is 0-3, Stan Lane is 0-1, Michael Hayes and Buddy Roberts are 1-0.
Match: Jim Cornette is in the corner of The Midnight Express. This has a big match feel to it. Bobby Eaton and Michael Hayes kick off the match and it’s Hayes with the early advantage. Following a break Stan Lane is in the match and Hayes tags out to Roberts. Stan Lane accidentally nails his own partner trying to tag him in and the two men have a stand-off! The Freebirds keep control with Roberts hitting a spinning neckbreaker for a two count. Hayes gets tripped from the outside which allows Stan Lane to take control. There’s a couple of miscommunications from The Midnight Express but with the referee distracted Stan Lane smashes Buddy Roberts with Jim Cornette’s tennis racket! Lane pins Roberts for the three! Terry Gordy comes out and explains to the referee what happened and Earl Hebner reverses the decision! The Freebirds win by disqualificstion!
Result: The Freebirds win by disqualification.
Review: This was a decent enough match between these two teams. Given more time it could have been a real classic but with the short amount of time (for TV) it was a little rushed. I’d love to see more between these two teams.
Rating: 5/10
Dr Death Steve Williams & Terry Gordy vs. Dick Murdoch & Eddie Gilbert – Bunkhouse Match
Previous PPV matches: This is a first time tag team match between these two teams.
Great American Bash PPV Record: Steve Williams is 1-0, Terry Gordy is 1-0, Dick Murdoch is 0-1, Eddie Gilbert wrestles at this event for the first time tonight.
Match: All four men go at it as we join this match already in action. Dick Murdoch lays into Terry Gordy as Eddie Gilbert and Steve Williams go at it. Gilbert is already bleeding as he takes the fight with Gordy to the outside. Murdoch hits a three point stance on Williams, using his own finisher against him but Dr Death counters the second attempt. Williams drops Murdoch with right hands as Terry Gordy lays into Gilbert. Williams then hits a football tackle on Eddie Gilbert and looks for a second but Gilbert nails him with a cowbell for a two count. Williams ducks a second cowbell shot and hits an atomic drop before nailing Gilbert with his own boot for the three.
Result: Dr Death Steve Williams and Terry Gordy win by pinfall.
Review: This was a good match but it wasn’t the full match so I can’t really review it. I like Eddie Gilbert and would like to see him get a good run under Crockett. Steve Williams could be a top babyface. A good win for Williams and Gordy.
Rating: N/A
Road Warrior Animal defeated Arn Anderson
Lex Luger defeated Nikita Koloff – United States Championship match
Ric Flair defeated Road Warrior Hawk – World Heavyweight Championship match
Dusty Rhodes vs. Tully Blanchard – Barb-wire Ladder match for $100,000
Previous PPV matches: Dusty previously beat Tully at the Great American Bash 1985 but Tully would beat Dusty at Starrcade 1986 so 1-1.
Great American Bash PPV Record: Dusty Rhodes is 4-0, Tully Blanchard is 1-3.
Match: Barb-wire surrounds the ring as both men look to win $100,000. Tully has JJ Dillon and Dark Journey in his corner whilst Dusty has Barry Windham in his. It’s a cagey start to the match as both men look to rub the others face into the barb-wire. Dusty is bleeding early but he returns the favour, busting Blanchard open. Windham hands Dusty the ladder and he climbs up it slowly so Blanchard kicks him down. Both men climb the ladder and Dusty knocks Tully off but then climbs down himself oddly. Dusty hits a DDT, JJ Dillon hands Tully a glove and Blanchard slaps Rhodes with it. JJ Dillon then gets in the ring and lays out the referee! Barry Windham gets involved and disposes of Dillon. Blanchard climbs the ladder but Dusty kicks him off it, puts the loaded glove on and lays out Blanchard. The referee then holds the ladder for Dusty who climbs it and retrieves the money!
Result: Dusty Rhodes wins the money.
Review: This was a decent match. Again, not a lot of time dedicated to this one but still it was good. These two have a lot of chemistry and they rarely put on a bad match. In some ways this felt like it was a match for the sake of having a match but I don’t really mind.
Rating: 6/10
And that was The Great American Bash 1987 in Charlotte, North Carolina. I didn’t have every match to review and some of the matches were too edited to review but I did have a few full matches. The six man tag team match that kicked things off was too edited for me to review but gave a win to the three babyfaces, albeit predictably. Jimmy Valiant, Lazer Tron and Kendall Windham with the big win there. And then came a very quick win for Vladimir Petrov over Todd Champion. Another predictable win there and too quick to review. Chris Adams beat Black Bart in a match I did not have access to. The Rock N Roll Express beat The Mod Squad cleanly. The Mod Squad aren’t on Ricky and Roberts level so it was a fairly obvious win for the tag team champions who have spent more of this tour battling with The Midnight Express. Barry Windham beat Big Bubba in a match I would have liked to have seen go longer. It was pretty stop/start but in the end Barry Windham retain his Western States Heritage Championship. They need to get rid of some of these titles.
The Fabulous Freebirds defeated The Midnight Express by disqualification and this is a feud I would love to see more of. Two proper tag teams that could have a really good run against each other. With so many tag team I don’t mind there being a midcard tag team title belt. Dr Death and Terry Gordy beat Eddie Gilbert and Dick Murdoch. This felt like it could have been a really good match but again it was heavily edited. I’m not sure the right team won this one, I would have preferred to have seen Gilbert and Murdoch win. And then came three matches I didn’t have access to with Animal beating Arn Anderson, Lex Luger successfully defending his United States Championship against Nikita Koloff and Ric Flair retaining the World Heavyweight Championship against Hawk. I feel like the main event between Dusty Rhodes and Tully Blanchard could have gone on longer. It’s the first ladder match I am aware of and with barb wire ropes too it was a recipe for chaos. And blood of course but that’s a given. A big win for Dusty Rhodes tonight.
Overall Rating: 45.6/100 (ranked 5th out of 8 major shows reviewed so far)
Match Of The Night: Dusty Rhodes vs. Tully Blanchard
Worst Match Of The Night: Barry Windham vs. Big Bubba
Surprise Of The Night: N/A
Worst Booking Of The Night: N/A
Superstar Of The Night: Dusty Rhodes
Great American Bash 1987 – Charlotte Will Be Remembered For: Dusty Rhodes defeating Tully Blanchard in a barb-wire ladder match
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