The Great American Bash (1998)

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The Great American Bash
Promotional poster
Promotion	World Championship Wrestling
Brand(s)	WCW nWo
Date	June 14, 1998
City	Baltimore, Maryland
Venue	Baltimore Arena
Attendance	12,810
Tagline(s)	Baseball, Hot Dogs & Apple Pie. Tradition Bites! The New American Pastime!
Pay-per-view chronology
← Previous Slamboree Next → Bash at the Beach
The Great American Bash chronology
← Previous 1997 Next → 1999

The 1998 Great American Bash was the eighth Great American Bash professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and 12th Great American Bash event overall. It took place on June 14, 1998, at the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.

Production[]

Background[]

The Great American Bash was 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 event in 1988; JCP was rebranded as World Championship Wrestling (WCW) later that same year. WCW then seceded from the NWA in 1991.^[1] The 1998 event was the eighth Great American Bash event promoted by WCW and 12th overall. It took place on June 14, 1998, at the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.^[2][3]

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.^[4]

For several weeks leading up to the event, Booker T and Chris Benoit had been battling each other to determine the #1 contender for the WCW World Television Championship. Booker T has previously lost this title to Fit Finlay on the May 4, 1998 edition of Monday Nitro. Coming into the event, the best of seven series was tied at 3-3. Therefore the winner of their match at The Great American Bash would go on to face Finlay for the later in the evening.

At Slamboree Dean Malenko was stripped of the WCW Cruiserweight Championship due to his actions against Chris Jericho. The rematch was scheduled for The Great American Bash, with the winner being declared the champion of the vacated title.

At Slamboree, Sting and The Giant beat The Outsiders (Kevin Nash and Scott Hall) for the WCW World Tag Team Championship, after Hall turned his back on Nash. After Sting joined the nWo Wolfpac, the championship was vacated. A match between Sting and The Giant would be scheduled for The Great American Bash, with the winner choosing their partner to become champion with. Sting declared his partner would be Kevin Nash if he won and The Giant chose The Disciple as his.

Events[]

The opening match was the final match of the Booker T and Chris Benoit best of seven series to determine who would face Fit Finlay later that evening for the WCW World Television Championship. Booker T ultimately picked up the victory following two Harlem Sidekicks.

Before the next match, someone entered the arena dressed as Mortis. During the match between Kanyon and Perry Saturn, two men entered fighting, both dressed as Mortis distracting Saturn. This enabled Kanyon to hit the Flatliner on Saturn and pick up the victory. One of the men who were dressed as Mortis entered the ring and celebrated with Kanyon, however he turned on him and hit him with a DDT, before removing his mask and revealing himself to be Raven. Raven was then joined by Kidman, Horace, Lodi, and Scotty Riggs, who all beat up Saturn.

The next match was for the rematch for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship between Dean Malenko and Chris Jericho. During the match Jericho grabbed the mic and started making comments about Malenko's dead father. Malenko lost his temper and began beating Jericho with a chair. Eventually Malenko's assault on Jericho continued to the back and all the way to the parking lot. Jericho ran across the street in order to seek cover in a building there. Following the match no new champion was officially declared and Tony Schiavone told everyone to tune into Monday Nitro the next night to find out what was happening with the title.

The following match saw Juventud Guerrera defeat Reese after a hurricanrana. This was followed by Chavo Guerrero Jr. defeating Eddie Guerrero following a springboard DDT. Booker T next received his Television Championship opportunity and recaptured the title with a victory over Finlay.

The WCW United States Heavyweight Championship match was next which saw Goldberg defend his title against Konnan. Goldberg defeated Konnan quickly, which brought his undefeated streak to 100-0. Curt Hennig and Rick Rude, who had been in Konnan's corner, helped him to his feet and then turned on him and began attacking him. Kevin Nash and Lex Luger came out to help Konnan, and Hennig took off his nWo Wolfpac shirt to reveal a nWo Hollywood shirt underneath.

The next match saw Hollywood Hogan and Bret Hart take on Roddy Piper and Randy Savage, and should Hogan and Hart win, Piper and Savage would need to wrestle afterward. Throughout the match, Hogan continually used the ringpost to work on Savage's knee. Ultimately Hart got the sharpshooter on Savage, to which Savage submitted. Gene Okerlund came out to interview Piper about Savage's bad knee and their upcoming match. As Piper helped Savage up, Savage attacked Piper and the bell rang to begin their match. Piper, however, quickly got a figure-4 leglock on Savage to which Savage again submitted.

The final match was a singles match to determine who would control the WCW World Tag Team Championship. The match ended after Sting hit a third reverse DDT on the Giant, after he kicked out of the first two. Sting left the arena with both belts, and Sting and Nash were declared the champions.^[5]

Aftermath[]

The following night on Nitro, Jericho was awarded the WCW Cruiserweight Championship due to his victory the night before.^[6]

Results[]

References[]