Wwe: United We Slam - The Best Of Great American Bash [DVD]

As a long time, HUGE, WCW fan (especially in my early teens) I was really looking forward to this 3 disc set from Fremantle Media. The subtitle - The Best Of Great American Bash - leads you to expect a DVD compilation that will at least do the event justice. And unfortunately, this set doesn't quite live up to that standard. The Great American Bash was a long standing WCW pay-per-view tradition, much like Starrcade, Halloween Havoc or SuperBrawl. There are no WWE matches featured on any of the discs, so be warned if you're expecting some action from the other side of the fence.Dusty Rhodes is on hand to talk a bit about the Bash, provide links between *some* of the matches and for *alternate* commentary. Unlike Booker T and DDP, however, he does a poor job of hosting. The man can barely string a coherent sentence together, often doesn't finish his sentences; and speaks in southern Texan drawl that can be highly difficult to understand. The alternate commentary on disc 1 should have been made optional, but isn't. Instead of professional commentary from Jim Ross, we get Dusty and Larry Zbysko not even calling the matches.It seems to me they'd rather make a mockery of mid 80's cameramen, fashion sense and workers like Nikita Koloff, Road Warrior Hawk and Lex Luger. I'd also add that they add very little to each match. Nothing they say is particularly interesting, entertaining or worth listening to.Disc 1 kicks off with Flair Vs. Koloff for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in July of 1985. I always liked Nikita as a performer and this is a pretty solid outdoor match. Being '85 it has a slower pace - as you'd expect - but you've got Nikita's raw power and strength versus Flair's ring savvy and technical expertise. There is one crazy moment when a fan hits the ring, very quickly followed by two or more police officers. It doesn't have the feel of a Flair/Ricky Steamboat wrestling classic, but is nevertheless an entertaining match to start things off.We then have an NWA tag team match featuring the always underrated Rock N' Roll Express Vs. Arn & Ole Anderson. I would've enjoyed this match a lot more if it wasn't for the inane *special* commentary. Rhodes and Zbysko are needlessly distracting throughout a classic see saw battle with a hot crowd. Arn Anderson adopts his usual ground and pound style approach, whilst Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson rely on speed and agility. I will say that everything the Rock N' Roll did in terms of performance was always well timed and expertly executed.The July '86 Steel Cage Match between Rhodes and Flair is pretty standard. It doesn't have anywhere near the intensity of Flair Vs. Garvin from Starrcade '87. In fact, despite his success, I've never really rated Dusty Rhodes as one of the *all time* greats. He arrogantly describes it as a classic match, but in my estimation it's far from classic. Flair does most of the work, whilst Rhodes throws some punches and drops a couple of elbows. Granted he wins the World Title for a third time in front of an elated crowd, but this bout really didn't do much for me.We're then treated to War Games '87. A brutal two cage, double ring match between Dusty Rhodes, The Road Warriors, Nikita Koloff and Paul Ellering Vs. Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Lex Luger and JJ Dillon. The image quality (from certain camera angles) isn't quite up to par, but that can easily be forgiven. I did find the commentary to be too quiet and some of it is fairly indistinguishable from crowd noise. This was a violent fight with plenty of action, but perhaps best remembered for the sick bump JJ Dillon takes on his shoulder from Hawk and Animal.The final match on the first disc is Sting & Lex Luger Vs. The Road Warriors aka. Hawk and Animal. If you've never seen them go at it (this bout is from 1988's Bash), I'd recommend watching this match. Again though, the exclusive commentary is pretty annoying. I'd much rather they'd stuck with the original commentators; whether that be Jim Ross, Tony Shiavone or Jesse Ventura. This is more of a power match between four men who were arguably in their absolute prime. It's also been well documented that The Road Warriors were perhaps the most intimidating team in wrestling history.I'd just like to add it also p***** me off that Jesse 'The Body' Ventura's commentary has been unnecessarily removed from all the matches he commentated on. Likely because as a 'heel' announcer he occasionally made disparaging remarks towards the competition. It really is pathetic that WWE in general can't accept the fact that not all wrestling fans are/were WWE fans. I'm also annoyed that you won't find a single Ron Simmons match - a major WCW superstar - from this time period. A bit more variety in these releases really wouldn't go amiss.The double header on disc 2 - between Sting Vs. The Great Muta and Ric Flair Vs. Terry Funk - almost restores my faith in this being a quality set to own. Both matches are exceptional without outstaying their welcome. Muta shows exactly why he was named The Pearl of The Orient and proves a perfect match for Sting. Likewise Funk takes Flair to another level with his particular brand of iron-branding crazy. There's also an excellent post match two on two brawl outside of the ring; where all four men just continue beating down on each other.The July '90 NWA World Heavyweight Championship match seems like a pointless showcase. It's Sting's first NWA World Title win (not a spoiler as this is common knowledge) and has been featured on multiple releases. Once you've seen it half a dozen times the match may begin to grate. It's by no means a bad contest, but the angle is obviously Sting's post injured knee, so it gets a bit old with Flair's usual figure four routine. Nevertheless it's another stellar hot crowd and there's plenty of will-he-won't-he back and forth action; plus Flair really puts Sting over.On the same card we're given a tag team match between The Steiner Brothers Vs. The Fabulous Freebirds. This is during the Freebirds' camp/makeup phase and to be honest I'm not sure why this match is on here. Both teams had far better matches throughout their careers. It's almost like a squash match and Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin either seem quite lazy or just out of their depth. Scott Steiner was, of course, an absolute power house who could suplex anybody out of their boots. I've edited this review to say it's better than I first thought; although this is really Rick and Scott's match. Check out the power moves on offer though, as well as Scott Steiner's unbelievable standing Frankensteiner.We're then treated to a match from the 1992 event featuring the great pairing of Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham Vs. Stunning Steve Austin and Rick Rude. This is a genuinely classic tag team confrontation with Austin and Rude constantly cutting Windham off from making a hot tag. Rude uses his - legal - piledriver (arguably the best piledriver in wrestling history), whilst Austin proves that once upon a time he actually knew how to wrestle. Dustin proves his worth as a WCW fan favourite long before he ever allowed himself to become a dismally costumed freak.If you've never seen Sting Vs. Big Van Vader definitely check out their Heavyweight Title match from the same year. This was a big match given Sting's - legitimate - previous injuries at the hands of Vader. What this bout won't show you is how long their feud went on for or the level some of their battles took it to. Whilst this is still a great match to watch I find myself longing for their more brutal four corners Leather Strap series of bouts. Sting suplexes Vader like he's a featherweight, whilst Vader's powerbomb still makes me want to cringe from its impact.Disc 3 gets going with yet *another* Flair match against Randy Savage. To be honest I've seen enough Ric Flair matches to last me a lifetime. I didn't bother watching this one so can't comment on the action or quality. Flair rarely changed things up in the ring, so whilst he *could* put on good matches, I wouldn't expect this to be any different. It just seems like a Wrestlemania rehash, which probably didn't need to happen. The following contest is a repeat bout (from WCW's Greatest Pay Per View Matches) between the always reliable DDP and the late, great 'Macho Man' Randy Savage.The Cruiserweights then take things up a gear. Ultimo Dragon Vs. Psicosis is one of the best cruiserweight contests I've ever seen. I only wish WWE/Fremantle would release a set on WCW's awesome Cruiserweights; or give us more of these kind of spectacular matches. I'd especially like to see more Ultimo Dragon/Psicosis bouts on future sets. It's simply outstanding, even more so than Chavo Guerrero Vs. Eddie or Chris Jericho Vs. Dean Malenko. (Both are great matches in their own right, although I'd take Chavo Vs. Eddie for being more entertaining).What can I say about Piper and Macho Man Vs. Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart? It's just an appalling match from start to finish. Hogan can't wrestle, Piper's clearly past it, Macho Man doesn't have an opponent to wrestle and Bret's lost all his motivation. For a Best Of DVD this match probably shouldn't have been included. It's nothing more than a complete waste of time.If you're still watching, to round things off there's an okay Ambulance Match between DDP and Mike Awesome. Awesome could at least wrestle and was a solid worker. The ending's kind of annoying and the match could have perhaps gone longer, but it's still worth a watch. The final match - Jarrett Vs. Kevin Nash - was another contest I didn't bother with. I've never cared for Nash - who post WWE couldn't wrestle a decent match if he tried - and Jarrett was never as good as he thought he was. I've read - from other sources - that this match is overbooked and pretty awful.And there we have it. If you're asking yourself whether this is a set worth owning... I'd say get Volume 1 of WCW's Greatest Pay Per View Matches instead (hosted by Booker T). This was a great nostalgia trip, but The Great American Bash is let down by some poor hosting, poor alternate commentaries, below average presentation and a few questionable match choices. There's also no documentary portion so you can't really get a feel for what the event meant or why it came about. Overall though, despite enjoying *most* of what's on here, I'd suggest that you look up a couple of youtube videos first. The Sting/Muta match and Psicosis Dragon bout are the two that really swung it for me.

Great blu ray with classic match ups. Hilariously presented by the American dream himself. A must watch!

I haven’t watched this yet but I know i am going to enjoy it

The matches was ok but what made it bad was they recorder on the original commenters and it lost the spark of what WCW commenters had at that time it seemed the new commenters did have a clue how to call the matches at all so very disappointing in my view.

Great nostalgic wrestling

great

Great product

This three disc DVD highlights the best matches from WCW Great American Bash. It starts and ends with WCW, there are no matches here from WWE's version of the event which I think was the right choice. It's appropriately hosted by Dusty Rhodes although he's not a very good host. He just rambles and doesn't appear to add anything or even to be able to form a coherent sentence. He just repeats "Great American Bash" a load and doesn't really say a lot more."Nature Boy" Ric Flair vs. Nikita Koloff - This was an NWA World Heavyweight Championship match. It commentary recorded for it with Dusty Rhodes and Larry Zbyszko which is not optional. It's pretty bad commentary as they barely talk about what's going on. Dusty even laughs about how bad of a job they're doing as commentators so it would have been better to just see the match without commentary. The match was decent. Koloff took control early on and dominated with his power, trying to wear Flair down. This was pretty slow but things picked up once Flair managed to come back and as they were going back and forth. There was some chaos towards the end with some outside involvement and the finish, while decisive, felt a little anti climactic. Flair made this into a decent match but it wasn't one of his better ones.Ole and Arn Anderson vs. Rock 'N' Roll Express - This was a number one contender's match for the NWAWorld Tag Team Championships. It again has commentary recorded by Larry and Dusty. It was a good tag team match. The Rock 'N' Roll Express dominated their opponents for the first half. After that the Minnesota Wrecking Crew started to control more and more of it until they were able to work over one of the Express for most of the rest of the match. It didn't have a satisfying conclusion but it was some good old school wrestling until that point.Dusty Rhodes vs. "Nature Boy" Ric Flair - This is a Steel Cage match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Dusty Rhodes is joined by Mike Graham for commentary on this one. It's less annoying than when he's with Zbyszko thankfully. The match is good. Flair gets a good amount of offence in, busting Rhodes open before working on his leg for a bit to set up for the figure four. Unfortunately Dusty stops selling the leg when he comes back which I didn't like. Rhodes wasn't as obnoxious with his offence as he sometimes can be though which was good. It built into an enjoyable match.The Road Warriors, Dusty Rhodes, Nikita Koloff and Paul Ellering vs. "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Lex Luger and JJ Dillon - This was one of the first ever Wargames matches which if you didn't know takes place in a cage over two rings. Two men start and then at regular intervals another man would join the match until everyone was in the rings. From there it was down to submission or surrender. It was a really good fight. It felt like a really big deal and there was a lot of intensity. It was a violent brawl with plenty of blood and painful uses of the cage. It went back and forth as the heels would get the advantage and then the babyfaces would even things up two minutes later. Because of the amount of people in the ring and things going on it can be hard to spot the finish exactly but it was still a very good old school war.Sting and Lex Luger vs. The Road Warriors - Rhodes and Zbyszko are back for commentary here for the final time. The match was alright. The Warriors controlled a lot of it with their power moves while Luger and Sting tried to come back. It broke down towards the end and it had an unsatisfying ending. Also Hawk no-sold a piledriver which I hated so much.Sting vs. The Great Muta - This was an NWA World Television Championship match. It was a good match with some impressive athleticism, especially for it's time. It had a fast pace for the most part although it did slow down while Muta tried to wear Sting down. Muta did control the majority of the match. There was some unfortunate controversy around the finish which was a shame as we don't really know who won. It was a good match though."Nature Boy" Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk - This was a match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. It was a very good back and forth match. You could feel the intensity of the rivalry all through out the action. They spent a lot of time fighting on the outside, both ended up bleeding and used a branding iron(behind the referee's back). Funk focused on the injured neck of Flair with neckbreakers and piledrivers. He even tried a piledriver on the concrete. I don't think it was as good as their "I Quit" match from later in the year but it was still very good with a decisive finish."Nature Boy" Ric Flair vs. Sting - This was for Ric Flair's NWA World Heavyweight Championship and it really felt like an important match. Sting overpowered Flair but Flair would out wrestle Sting. Ric worked over Sting's leg to set up for the figure four. Sting came back and unfortunately he stopped selling all the leg work Ric had done which wasn't good. The match overall was really good though with a good, clean finish.The Steiner Brothers vs. The Fabulous Freebirds - There's a lot of stalling in this match as the Steiners keep getting the advantage which causes the Freebirds to bail.When that was over the action was decent enough but for the most part nothing special. The Freebirds spent most of the rest of the match working over Rick Steiner. The finish was a bit chaotic but not necessarily in a bad way. It wasn't a bad match but wasn't a great one either.Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham vs. "Stunning" Steve Austin and Rick Rude - This was the quarter finals of a tournament for the NWA World Tag Team Championships. It was a very good tag match. Rhodes and Windham were dominant individually but Austin and Rude worked better as a team which allowed them to isolate Windham for a while. They had a good amount of time, a clean finish and some good teamwork.Sting vs. Vader - This was for the now WCW World Heavyweight Championship. It was a very good match that was mostly dominated by Vader. Vader controlled the match while Sting came back with small flurries of offence and impressive showings of strength. These two had very good chemistry and it was a really good monster vs. underdog match. It had a good finish too."Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. "Nature Boy" Ric Flair - This was a very intense and personal match. It went back and forth as Flair viciously went after Savage's leg while Savage just wanted to punish Flair. The finish wasn't clean but it wasn't an unsatisfying one either so it wasn't a bad thing. It was a very good, competitive and personal match.Diamond Dallas Page vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage - Before this we see WCW responding to The Outsiders' challenge from the year before. Anyway this match was Falls Count Anywhere and they took full advantage of that stipulation. They fought all over the arena, even breaking up the set with each other. They used weapons and it was a back and forth brawl. Savage worked on Page's injured ribs. There was a load of chaos towards the end as a couple of referees got knocked out and there was some interference. It was a good brawl.Ultimo Dragon vs. Psicosis - Psicosis tried to keep this match at a slower pace than you'd expect. It sped up with Dragon in control and eventually it forced Psicosis to do the same. By the end it was a good back and forth match with some impressive manoeuvres. It was a good change of pace for this DVD but it wasn't anything too special over other cruiserweight matches at the time.Eddie Guerrero vs. Chavo Guerrero - This was a good back and forth match. It was mainly kept as a fast paced wrestling match but it had the intensity of a personal rivalry. Eddie seemed to have the match won multiple times but just decided to keep the match going anyway to make a point. The action was all good and there was a clean and decisive finish.Dean Malenko vs. Chris Jericho - This was a match for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. It was a good back and forth match with lots of fast paced counters and some dramatic submission holds. The finish was disappointing but it did make some sense with the story of how personal this rivalry had become so it's still overall a good match."Rowdy" Roddy Piper and "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan and Bret "Hitman" Hart - This match was alright. The action wasn't anything exciting and it definitely didn't feel like something that belonged on a 'best of' DVD compilation. It was just a fairly average match really.Diamond Dallas Page vs. Mike Awesome - This was an Ambulance match although it was more like a stretcher match in execution. They had a decent brawl although it wasn't anything special. It then had some chaos thrown in at the end with some interference and a heel turn. Overall it was entertaining enough but really nothing you need to see.Jeff Jarrett vs. Kevin Nash - This final match was for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Before this match they brought out a bunch of people which included an unmasked Rey Mysterio, I think that's the first time he's been shown like that on a WWE DVD. It was a chaotic match with lots of interference on Jarrett's behalf. There was some brawling around the ring as well as some use of weapons. Jeff worked over the leg of Nash for a while but he never really sold it so it felt pointless. The match was a chaotic mess that I would have hated watching at the time but now I guess it wasn't too bad.This is a good DVD that contains some good matches if you're into your old school NWA/WCW style of wrestling. I wouldn't say it's a DVD you need to see but if that's the kind of wrestling you're in to then you'll certainly be entertained by this DVD package. There's a few matches that have already been released on DVD elsewhere but I'd say it's less than half of the seven hour set so there could still be enough new footage to be worth picking up.