WWE The Great American Bash 2005 Review

Batista and his reign as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion looks to be in trouble as JBL looks to derail the fast train that is The Animal. Will Batista be able to take down another another challenger or will he fall flat in his efforts?

Match 1: WWE Tag Team Championships - MNM (c) vs. Legion of Doom
Paying respects to his former partner, Road Warrior Animal teams up with Heidenreich to take on the team of Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury. MNM was still relatively new to the scene here and having to go against an old Road Warrior Animal and a very stiff Heidenreich was not the easiest of tasks. With a few mishaps along the way, the match ended pretty quickly with LOD being able to hit a Doomsday Device to pick up the win. Forget the quality of the match, that was a cool moment to see Animal get the win and then get on the mic as he dedicated it to his old partner. Nice way to open the show.
Winners: Legion of Doom
Rating: *1/2

Match 2: Christian vs. Booker T
Around this time, Christian was losing his charm and unfortunately, his character was consistently being booked as a chump despite some great crowd reactions. Coming off a big win against Booker T on an edition of SmackDown, Christian looked to do the same here on a bigger stage. Between the two veterans here, this was a solid match that did not need any flashiness or crazy spots, smart wrestling that continued to escalate before Booker T hit a Scissor Kick from the second rope to score the win and avenge his loss. This is a good example of how a good match does not need a ton of nearfalls and a ton of dives. Good stuff from both parties on this one. Just a shame that Christian would soon leave the company following this.
Winner: Booker T
Rating: ***1/4

Match 3: WWE United States Championship - Orlando Jordan (c) vs. Chris Benoit
Still hard to believe that the WWE had some stock in Orlando Jordan back in the day. As stiff and uncoordinated he was at times here, Chris Benoit was able to get some good out of him in this match. Good balance of control throughout this match with Benoit nicely setting himself up for a big comeback at the end before Jordan was able to drive Benoit into an exposed turnbuckle to secure the win. Two things here. One, this may have been the best Orlando Jordan match I have seen. Granted, I have not seen too many of them but I have seen enough to get a gauge of who he is in the ring. Two, Benoit was a master of the craft and this match was a reminder of that.
Winner: Orlando Jordan
Rating: **3/4

Match 4: Muhammad Hassan vs. The Undertaker
For those who don't remember, Muhammad Hassan was scheduled to actually beat Batista at the following PPV in Summerslam and become the youngest WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Those plans derailed way off the tracks when a controversial angle on an edition of Friday Night SmackDown featuring a bunch of hooded goons laying waste against The Undertaker took Hassan off television. Sure, the dude had a lot of heat behind him but there was no denying that he was still pretty green in the ring. The match here just wasn't anything special and the goons that Hassan had surrounding the ring was the biggest story here. Undertaker had to fend off both the attackers and Hassan at the same time as he almost got choked out at ringside while the referee was distracted. However, a Chokeslam to Hassan was enough to put him away to secure the win. Afterwards, The Undertaker takes everybody out before hitting a Last Ride on top of the stage to Hassan to put him away. If I'm correct, this would go on to be Hassan's final appearance with the WWE. What a shame.
Winner: The Undertaker
Rating: *1/2

Match 5: The Mexicools vs. The Blue World Order
I forgot how bad some of these gimmicks in 2005 were. If you are like me and forgot, then this is the match for you. I should also note that I'm not even too sure who the babyfaces and heels were in this one, the crowd just could not care less for this match. Psicosis is able to hit a leg drop from the top rope onto Stevie Richards to pick up the win for his team in another fairly short contest. Nothing to see here, just bridging the gap between the last match and the next one.
Winners: The Mexicools
Rating: *1/4

Match 6: Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio
Welp, these two were in the midst of a feud that went from friendly to personal real fast. Had Eddie Guerrero be the winner for this match, he would spoil Rey Mysterio's biggest secret that was surrounding his son in Dominic. I recall this feud getting a lot of flack back in the day, but Eddie was just fantastic as a heel in my opinion and really made this whole thing work well with Mysterio's sentimental personality. Unlike their other bouts, much of this match focused on what was at ringside more so than what was actually happening in the ring. Dominic was seated at ringside per Guerrero's request and the two did a great job in playing the story, especially with Guerrero being so obsessed in humiliating Mysterio in front of his son. Either way, it's always a pleasure to see these two go at it in a squared circle. Guerrero is able to hit a Frog Splash from the top but as he wastes his time with a silly pin, Mysterio flips the switch and pins Guerrero for a surprise win. Mysterio escapes with his son as an angry Guerrero looks pissed that he let the match slip through his fingertips, this is definitely not the end. They worked a well constructed match that gives the fans the idea that the good guy prevails but in all actuality, things would get even worse after this. Guerrero was masterful in his role during this time, completely looking like a vicious monster throughout. Love it.
Winner: Rey Mysterio
Rating: ***

Match 7: Bra and Panties - Melina vs. Torrie Wilson
Melina does not look happy as she walks her way down the ramp to take on Torrie Wilson in a classic bra and panties match with Candice Michelle serving as the referee. For a bra and panties match, this was more physical than usual. But that doesn't mean for me to say that the match was super enjoyable. Of course, nobody was taking this match seriously as the two simply just tried to undress each other with Melina finally unclothing Wilson to score the win. Afterwards, Michelle and Wilson team up to unclothe Melina as she runs off in disgust. I mean, it wouldn't be a PPV without this, right?
Winner: Melina
Rating: 3/4*

Match 8: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Batista (c) vs. JBL
With John Cena getting drafted to Raw, Batista would go on to jump ships and become a member of SmackDown. This match makes him the first man to headline both a Raw PPV and a SmackDown PPV within a month. Former champion in JBL would be The Animal's first challenger on SmackDown. Decent match here with JBL brutalizing Batista for the majority of the contest before some interference from Orlando Jordan led to Batista drilling both Jordan and JBL with a steel chair as the referee would call for disqualification. As the announcer announced JBL as the winner, Batista would hit him with a Batista Bomb for his troubles. Obviously, they would go on to have a bigger rematch after this but after such a bad show, nobody wants to see it end with a disqualification finish. Like the Guerrero vs. Mysterio match earlier, this felt more like an angle instead of an actual match and puts into perspective why somebody would actually pay for an event like this when they can just save their money for Summerslam. A finish with Batista hitting a Batista Bomb after a steel chair shot and actually pinning him would work just as fine as the finish that actually happened.
Winner: JBL
Rating: **3/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Very disappointing outing from the WWE here with the card lacking any real substance as the main event only serving to be an angle for the rest of their feud. Another great reminder of how some of these brand-exclusive PPVs just weren't working out for the company.
Rating: 4/10