WWE The Great American Bash

The Great American Bash, known simply as The Bash in 2009 and as NXT The Great American Bash since 2020, is a series of professional wrestling shows held in the summer by WWE since 2004. It was originally made by the National Wrestling Alliance starting in 1985 and then by World Championship Wrestling from 1989 to 2000. According to Ric Flair in his autobiography, Dusty Rhodes invented The Great American Bash.

After the last Great American Bash by World Championship Wrestling in 2000, The Great American Bash did not happen again until 2004 and only SmackDown! superstars were on it until the 2007 event, when Raw and ECW brands joined. Something special about the 2004 event was that anyone in the American military could watch it for free. It was simply called The Bash in 2009, and WWE replaced the series with Fatal 4-Way the following year. In 2012, the Great American Bash returned as a special episode of SmackDown. Since 2020, the name is used for a yearly television special of the NXT brand (the 2023 edition however was a livesteaming-only show).

Dates and venues
Here are the dates and places where past events have been held:
WCW/nWo co-branded eventSmackDown-branded eventNXT-branded event
#EventDateCityVenueMain eventRef.National Wrestling Alliance: Jim Crockett Promotions1The Great American Bash (1985)July 6, 1985Charlotte, North CarolinaAmerican Legion Memorial StadiumTully Blanchard (c) vs. Dusty Rhodes in a Steel cage match for the NWA World Television Championship2The Great American Bash (1986)July–August 1986A tour of 13 shows around the south and eastern parts of the countryDusty Rhodes vs. Ric Flair (c) for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship3The Great American Bash (1987)July 1987A tour of several shows around the south and eastern parts of the countryThe Road Warriors (Animal and Hawk), Dusty Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, and Paul Ellering vs. The Four Horsemen (Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger, and Tully Blanchard) and The War Machine in a WarGames match4The Great American Bash (1988)July 10, 1988Baltimore, MarylandBaltimore ArenaRic Flair (c) vs. Lex Luger for the NWA World Heavyweight ChampionshipNational Wrestling Alliance: World Championship Wrestling5The Great American Bash (1989)July 23, 1989Baltimore, MarylandBaltimore ArenaRic Flair (c) vs. Terry Funk for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship6The Great American Bash (1990)July 7, 1990Ric Flair (c) vs. Sting for the NWA World Heavyweight ChampionshipWorld Championship Wrestling7The Great American Bash (1991)July 14, 1991Baltimore, MarylandBaltimore ArenaRick Steiner vs. Arn Anderson and Paul E. Dangerously in a handicap steel cage match8The Great American Bash (1992)July 12, 1992Albany, GeorgiaAlbany Civic CenterTerry Gordy and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams vs. Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham in a tournament final to crown the first NWA World Tag Team Champions9The Great American Bash (1995)June 18, 1995Dayton, OhioHara ArenaRic Flair vs. Randy Savage10The Great American Bash (1996)June 16, 1996Baltimore, MarylandBaltimore ArenaThe Giant (c) vs. Lex Luger for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship11The Great American Bash (1997)June 15, 1997Moline, IllinoisThe MARK of the Quad CitiesDiamond Dallas Page vs. Randy Savage in a Falls Count Anywhere match12The Great American Bash (1998)June 14, 1998Baltimore, MarylandBaltimore ArenaSting vs. The Giant for control of the WCW World Tag Team Championship13The Great American Bash (1999)June 13, 1999Baltimore, MarylandBaltimore, MarylandKevin Nash (c) vs. Randy Savage for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship14The Great American Bash (2000)June 11, 2000Jeff Jarrett (c) vs. Kevin Nash for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship with Ernest Miller as the special guest enforcerWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)15The Great American Bash (2004)June 27, 2004Norfolk, VirginiaNorfolk ScopeThe Undertaker vs. The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley) in a Handicap Concrete Crypt match16The Great American Bash (2005)July 24, 2005Buffalo, New YorkHSBC ArenaBatista (c) vs. John "Bradshaw" Layfield for the World Heavyweight Championship17The Great American Bash (2006)July 23, 2006Indianapolis, IndianaConseco FieldhouseRey Mysterio (c) vs. King Booker for the World Heavyweight Championship18The Great American Bash (2007)July 22, 2007San Jose, CaliforniaHP PavilionJohn Cena (c) vs. Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship19The Great American Bash (2008)July 20, 2008Uniondale, New YorkNassau Veterans Memorial ColiseumTriple H (c) vs. Edge for the WWE Championship20The Bash (2009)June 28, 2009Sacramento, CaliforniaARCO ArenaRandy Orton (c) vs. Triple H in a Three Stages of Hell match for the WWE Championship21SuperSmackDown LIVE: The Great American BashJuly 3, 2012Corpus Christi, TexasAmerican Bank CenterThe Great American Bash 20-Man Battle Royal to determine the guest General Manager for the following week's SmackDown22NXT The Great American Bash (2020)(Night 1)Winter Park, FloridaFull Sail UniversityIo Shirai vs. Sasha Banks(Night 2)NXT Champion Adam Cole vs. North American Champion Keith Lee in a Winner Takes All match23NXT The Great American Bash (2021)Orlando, FloridaCapitol Wrestling Center at WWE Performance CenterAdam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reilly24NXT The Great American Bash (2022)July 5, 2022WWE Performance CenterBron Breakker (c) vs. Cameron Grimes for the NXT Championship25NXT The Great American Bash (2023)July 30, 2023Cedar Park, TexasH-E-B Center at Cedar ParkCarmelo Hayes (c) vs. Ilja Dragunov for the NXT Championship26NXT The Great American Bash (2024)July 30, 2024Orlando, FloridaWWE Performance CenterRoxanne Perez (c) vs. Thea Hail for the NXT Women's ChampionshipAugust 6, 2024Axiom and Nathan Frazer (c) vs. MSK (Wes Lee and Zachary Wentz) for the NXT Tag Team Championship

References

 Other websites 
Official Website
WWE The Bash 2009 Matches 

Category:WWE