The NWA does it again with another innovative concept that was a major success in its territory. The Great American Bash 86 was a tour of 14 cities (all typical NWA stops like Charlotte, Cincinnati, Memphis, etc.), but each card was treated like a PPV. Ric Flair defended the NWA title on every date against a different good guy challenger, which says a lot about his ability during this era. Most interestingly, story lines continued from card to card, which really baffles me, because how the fuck should the people in Charleston know what happened in Washington DC two nights earlier? Still, this was a really cool idea for a major tour. It even included stops in stadiums, showing just how tremendously popular the NWA still was in 86.
The tape I have is a highlights tape, showing matches from the Charlotte and Greensboro events – the two biggest of the tour. The matches are mostly complete, but several have “weero” parts. It was a fun tape to watch, but it left me wanting to see more of the tour since every card was so unique.
1. Hair vs Hair: Jimmy Valiant pinned Shaska Whatley
Why is Jimmy Valiant on every f’n NWA event? I just can’t understand his popularity. Shaska Whatley is an internet favorite, as he is the former Pistol Pez Whatley who was just a good guy jobber for years. He turned heel shortly before this event because he is black – seriously, that’s the explanation. He felt that white fans didn’t like him because he was black! He wasn’t a great wrestler, but definitely a hilarious character and he made this match a lot more fun. The racism in the NWA was blatant at this time. After Shaska loses and gets his head shaved, Tony Shiavone makes fun of his Brillo pad hair, which is terrible. The match sucked, but Shaska was fun to watch.
2. Hair vs Hair: Paul Jones pins Jimmy Valiant
This was the follow up match. The feud between Valiant and Jones has been going on since 1984! That’s crazy! This sucks balls, as you might expect, and of course in true NWA fashion due to heel chicanery the heel manager wins the match. I haven’t seen a heel manager lose a match yet. A big schmozz breaks out at the end of the match, but Valiant ends up getting his head shaved. Good.
3. NWA National Title: Taped Fist Match: Tully Blanchard knocked out Ronnie Garvin in the 4th round
Okay, this was ridiculous! They treated this match as more of a boxing match, complete with rounds. Both guys had their hands taped up and just threw punches, not actually wrestling. Garvin sucked in the NWA, and was under a ‘Hands of Stone’ gimmick. This was boring, and was luckily clipped.
4. Russian Chain Match: Road Warriors defeated Ivan & Nikita Koloff
One thing you’ve probably noticed from all of these reports is all the stipulation matches at NWA events. I remember reading about these cards for years in PWI and the PWI Almanac and always wondered about these stipulations. The WWF was smarter about stip matches, making them out to be bigger attractions. Anyway, the Warriors are mega over, but are very green here. This match is brutal, with the guys beating the shit out of each other with the chains. The Warriors suck at selling, which makes them look nearly invincible. The match is a great brawl with the new monster faces going over – smart way to get them over.
Before the next match they showed clips of the Rock N Roll Express singing at a “rock concert”. This was fuckin’ hilarious. It was in some shitty bar and they were “singing” some southern rock song that sounded way more country. Ridiculous!
5. Rock N Roll Express fought Ole & Arn Anderson to a draw
The ‘net fans love both these teams, but I thought this match was pretty boring. The Andersons make for good heels, but they have no personality. It’s just straight wrestling. The Express get the shit beat out of them, but make a good comeback. The last few minutes are pretty exciting.
6. Best Of Seven Series – Match #4 – For the Vacant US Title: Magnum TA pinned Nikita Koloff
This was a cool concept stemming from a goofball booking decision. Magnum TA was stripped of the title for ‘conduct unbecoming of a champion’ due to a brawl he had with Koloff. Man, the NWA sure did some dumb things. Anyway, to determine a new champ they had a best of 7 series. This made for great drama, as Koloff was leading the series 3-0 at this point. The fans were hugely into this match and it was a great battle. This is the last major event appearance for Magnum before he gets in the horrible car accident that ends his career. His popularity was immense, and wrestling history may have turned out different had the accident never happened. Great match.
7. Cage Match: Dusty Rhodes, Magnum TA, Baby Doll defeated the Midnight Express & Jim Cornette
This match was pretty dumb. The fans were all going nuts to see Baby Doll kick Cornette’s butt, which she does and even gets the pin on him! Rhodes and Magnum dominate the Midnights and the blood flows. Not much else to say.
8. NWA World Title: Cage Match: Dusty Rhodes pinned Ric Flair to win the title
This was a great battle! It was easily my favorite of the three Dusty-Flair matches I’ve seen thus far. It was a slow paced, brutal, psychology driven battle. Both guys beat the shit out of each, raking each other’s faces across the cage. The blood flows as Flair grinds Dusty into the mat with the figure four. Dusty surprises everyone by winning the belt at the end of the match. His reign doesn’t last very long, but for the time being the fans are going absolutely insane for the win.
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