WCW Bash at the Beach 1994

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WCW Bash at the Beach 1994
Orlando, FL
Arena
July 17, 1994

A huge crowd filled the Orlando Arena for one of the biggest PPVs in WCW’s history. The main event was a dream match fans had been dying to see since the 80s. The WWF really missed the boat by not running this match at Wrestlemania VIII, as evident here. Hogan-Flair had a big fight feel, and this whole show is focused entirely on the main event, which not only lived up to the hype, but also totally over-delivered. The fans in Orlando were electric for the Hulkster, though there was a solid contingent of Flair supporters as well, making for an incredible atmosphere.

I thought this was yet another stellar 1994 pay-per-view, as WCW was on an incredible roll up to this point. The undercard matches overall weren’t quite as great as the last few events, but this was really all about the main event, and it made the entire show feel like a huge deal. The Orlando Arena was a perfect venue, looking as great as it did for Royal Rumble 1990, with that cool band of lights around the arena. I loved the entrance setup, with classic beach props incorporated around the video wall. I’ll say it again, WCW’s production in 1994 was world’s better than the WWF’s. Also interesting is the re-branding of the former Beach Blast, into Bash at the Beach, something that was never explained, and I’ve never found the story for. I do think that Bash at the Beach is a better name, but I’d love to find out what was behind the change. Knowing WCW, they probably just forgot it was called Beach Blast.

The commentary is split again, with Tony Schiavone handling the play by play, and Bobby the Brain Heenan and Jesse Ventura splitting color duties. I made a mistake in my Clash report by saying that was Jesse’s last major show, but it was here at Bash at the Beach. It’s weird to think that there was this short crossover period with both Ventura and Hogan in the same company. When asked by Schiavone for his prediction on the main event, Ventura coldly states ‘Nature Boy Ric Flair’ and never mentions Hogan. No surprise that Bischoff concocted a way to fire him, and of course Jesse isn’t on the call for the main event.

1) WCW TV Champion Lord Steven Regal pinned Johnny B. Badd (sub. for Sting, recovering from a worked eye injury) at 10:40

Oddly, Sting is nowhere to be found on this show. He was supposed to be getting a TV title shot against Regal, but was injured at the hands of Sensuous Sherri and Ric Flair. Johnny B Badd takes his place and works a spirited match against Regal. Hilariously, Badd’s confetti is EVERYWHERE, all over the ring and the floor, and the wrestlers are covered in it. Jesse Ventura later calls it garbage in a disgusted tone, which made me legit laugh out loud. I’ve been coming around on Regal’s matches. When he’s not working to the time limit, his matches are a lot more fun, and I like the contrast of styles against a wrestler like Badd. I don’t remember WCW’s title history all that well, and I thought there was a chance Badd might win it here, but Regal awkwardly reverses a roll up into a pinning combination for the win. It was a hard fought battle and the flukey aspect of the pin gives it a more realistic feel. Regal is the first in a long line of heel victories on this night.

Post match, Mean Gene is in the ring to honor the legendary Antonio Inoki (inspiration for WrestleDream lol) and has some kind of an award. Lord Regal takes exception and feels that he should be honored as a decorated overseas wrestler, not Inoki, and a brawl nearly breaks out. I wonder if this lead to anything? Having not watched very much by this point, I have no memory of some of these feuds.

2) Vader (w/ Harley Race) defeated the Guardian Angel via disqualification at 7:58 when the referee stopped the match after he saw the Angel with a nightstick, moments after Angel stole it away from Race

Yes! This feud has been among my favorites in 1994 and I was pumped to see another match between these beasts. Though it wasn’t as good as their Spring Stampede throwdown, this was still full blast, hard hitting action. These guys were perfect opponents as they hold nothing back, connecting with hard shots and power. The Angel gimmick was ridiculous, wrestling in his white t-shirt, and was a huge step down from the Boss. This wild battle comes to a cheap finish, as Vader introduces a retractable baton into the match, but the Angel gets hold of it and the ref turns around and catches him with it in his hand for the lame DQ. Boo! I get wanting to keep these guys strong, but that finish was so disappointing.

3) Terry Funk & Bunkhouse Buck (w/ Col. Rob Parker) defeated Dustin Rhodes & Arn Anderson at 11:15 when Funk pinned Rhodes when, after Rhodes tagged out to Anderson, Anderson dropped his partner with the DDT and put Funk on top for the win; after the bout, Funk, Buck, and Anderson triple teamed Rhodes

Dustin Rhodes was out for revenge on Buck and Funk and was ready to fight! There’s a lot of great and consistent feuds throughout 94 so far, and I’ve really enjoyed this ongoing war with Dustin Rhodes and Col Parker’s Stud Stable. Speaking of the Stud Stable, Parker has now added MENG as his bodyguard! This was an awesome repackaging, but one that confused me as a kid, as I thought Haku had actually retired from the WWF, and had no idea how young he still was at this time. And he was a lot bigger than his last WWF appearance at Royal Rumble 92. It made no sense to me at the time. The match was a solid fight from the opening bell, and Terry Funk was awesome as always. I love how there’s always a wildness to his matches, with clunky, missed moves and sloppy brawling. It feels like a barroom fight! Dustin ends up being worn down for a big chunk of the match, after essentially fighting Buck and Funk himself, with minimal help from Anderson. In a moment everyone and their grandmother saw coming, when Dustin makes the hot tag, Arn absolutely LAYS HIM OUT with a DDT! Fuck that looked great! Arn was going for the kill on Rhodes, and then drags Funk on top for the pin. After the match, the baddies continue beating down Rhodes and Tony Schiavone is completely disgusted. AWESOME! This was great!

In between all the matches on the show, they take a ton of time to hype up the main event. I’m usually against all the filler, but the way WCW was presenting Flair-Hogan made it feel like a big time title fight and all of this added to the anticipation. They show all sorts of “celebrities” in attendance, like Chris Lemon – Hulk Hogan’s co-star from Thunder in Paradise HAHAHAHAHA! We also have baseball legend Hank Aaron and WCW President Bill Shaw chilling in the crowd together. They’re all here for Hogan-Flair.

4) WCW US Champion Steve Austin pinned Ricky Steamboat with his feet on the ropes at 20:10 after the momentum of a crossbody from the challenger put Austin on top

Damn, Steve Austin was looking like an absolute STAR during this US title run. He’s stone cold serious as he heads to the ring for this title defense, looking like he was ready to kick some ass. This is so cool to see, as there were definitely shades of Stone Cold in Stunning Steve at this time. This was an awesome US title match, with Ricky Steamboat taking Austin to the limit and just coming up short. They wrestle at a slower pace, building and building to a super hot finish. I loved this match and the structure of it. Steamboat was on an awesome run at this time, and sadly this would be his last PPV match. He has more great matches with Austin ahead, but wow, so weird to imagine if the Dragon continued wrestling into the Hogan and NWO eras. Same with Steve Austin. There’s definitely a big transition on the horizon. But that’s getting off course from this fantastic match. To me, this was a hidden gem on this show, especially with the excitement in the last few minutes. Hilariously, Bobby Heenan is full on cheering for Austin, and tries his best to disguise it, just adding to the fun of this match.

After the match, Mean Gene is in the Stud Stable’s locker room and they’re partying and celebrating their tag team win and the new addition of Arn Anderson. This was GREAT! I love heels being heels. They’re pouring champagne and carousing with ladies, and Terry Funk and Bunkhouse Buck are totally off the rails as Arn tries to cut a serious promo. Awesome!

5) Paul Orndorff & Paul Roma defeated WCW Tag Team Champions Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan (w/ Dave Sullivan) to win the titles at 20:11 when Orndorff pinned Cactus as Roma held Cactus’ foot down from outside the ring

HUGE LOL to Paul Roma wearing his old 1987 Young Stallions jacket down to the ring. WTF! After both floating around aimlessly over the past couple months, both Roma and Orndorff made perfect sense to pair together in this egotistical new tag team. They worked well together, as Roma has always been a much better tag team wrestler. But overall this match was boring, and needlessly crawled to the 20 minute mark. Cactus and Sullivan are best suited for full throttle brawls and action not 20 minute mat grinders. And Kevin Sullivan was a lame babyface anyway, with the crowd bored and restless as he was worked over for what felt like an eternity. The ending sucked, as Roma and Orndorff used some weak looking cheating to hold down Cactus and win the tag team titles. Damn, what a disappointing end to a fun and short tag title run for Cactus and Sullivan. Too bad this wasn’t a fast-paced brawl, as this slog did nothing for anyone.

With 40 minutes left to go, we got lots of hype and build up to the main event. Michael Buffer doles out his usual hyperbole about being 25 to the date of the moon landing and other such baloney. Finally though, it was time for the match to begin!

6) Hulk Hogan (w/ Jimmy Hart) pinned WCW World Champion Ric Flair (w/ Sensuous Sherri) to win the title at 21:54 with the legdrop, moments after Mr. T sent an interfering Sherri backstage; after the bout, Hogan celebrated in the ring with Mr. T and Shaquille O’Neal

Five star classic. This was an absolute barn burner of a main event and what pro wrestling is all about! The crowd is AMPED for Hulk Hogan, with pockets of vocal Flair supporters as well. Right from Buffer’s intro, they’re pretending this is Hulk’s first match in three years, which is a whopper of a lie even by wrestling standards. Hulk looks really motivated, working fast and light, and I was shocked when this went north of 20 minutes! Hulk was bringing it though, as was Flair, as they fought back and forth, with so many twists and turns. Both were working hard as this was one of the last true great main events in WCW. The match totally overdelivered, which was no surprise given what a run Flair had been on since December 93. The action never slows down and the excitement is upped by all the nonsense and interference on the outside. Sherri was so damn great and she adds so much to this, constantly cheating and interfering until MR. T – Hogan’s special outside enforcer – has had enough and hauls her to the back! HAHAHA! I love how they even brought in Mr. T with Hogan, as he was such a relic by this point in the 90s, before nostalgia was even a thing. The fans are stunned as Hogan misses the leg drop and Flair gets him in the figure four. This was all so exciting at the time, as this was Hogan’s debut match and I think there was some question as to whether or not he would win the title right off the bat. I remember reading rumors that initially they were planning to do a Hogan/Sting tag team match against Ric Flair and Curt Hennig. This all boils down to a thrilling finish as Hogan overcomes all of Flair’s tricks and puts him away with the big legdrop for the win! And fans are losing their minds!

Hulk Hogan celebrates with his pals in the ring and cameras follow him backstage where he runs into more of his buddies including Hacksaw Jim Duggan – making his WCW debut, Brutus Beefcake (who looks like the world’s biggest background goober), and even B. Brian Blair (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA). Hogan puts over Duggan, along with other WCW stars like Johnny B Badd and Brian Pillman and celebrates with the World title. Amazing! The Hulk Hogan era was officially off to a hot start, but the whole make up and quality of WCW changes almost overnight. 1994 has been a tremendous year up to this match, but there’s about to be a seismic shift as Hogan and friends completely take over.