WWE – The Great American Bash 2008 – DVD Review

DVD Reviews, Film, Reviews

Available at Amazon.com

In a year when the WWE is delivering good PPVs after good PPVs, wondering whether they can keep that kind of performance going really kicks into gear when The Great American Bash is on the horizon. Let’s face it, this is usually the weakest PPV every year for the WWE and it is proven that it will generally only give one or two decent matches. It just has not really delivered ever since the WWE reinstated the name back in 2004, but that’s not to say it can’t be a fairly decent show if just given the right matches and effort. With the recent draft in the books perhaps a shake-up is just what was needed for The Great American Bash to keep the trend of good PPVs this year going.

On July 20, 2008 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, the superstars from Raw, SmackDown, and ECW came together to fight at the middle of the summer spectacular. The red, white, and blue were ready to fly and the action inside the ring got red hot as all three major championships were on the line. New SmackDown superstar Triple H brought his WWE title with him and Edge was determined to replace the void around his waist after CM Punk cashed in his “Money in the Bank” opportunity for the World Heavyweight title. Speaking of Punk, he would face his biggest challenge yet in former champion Batista for said title. And Tommy Dreamer would try to show that the originals still had what it takes to be champions and vowed to take the ECW title from Mark Henry.

The night was filled with other matches including a WWE Tag Team title match, a United States title match, and one that would see the crowing of the first ever Divas Champion. One of the better matches of the night, though, would belong to Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho. These two are some of the better wrestlers that history has ever seen, and they were out to prove who the better man was. Little did they know at the time that it would lead to a red hot feud that would last long throughout the summer. The Great American Bash looked really good on paper heading into this year’s event, but still failed to be consistently good all the way through. Yet, a number of big matches would try to keep the PPV afloat and continue with the number of good shows the WWE has presented this year.

**Warning: There are SPOILERS in this review!**

~ Fatal 4-Way Match for the WWE Tag Team Championship: John Morrison & The Miz (c) Vs. Finlay & Hornswoggle Vs. Jesse & Festus Vs. Curt Hawkins & Zach Ryder – The Miz and Morrison have quickly become one of my most favorite teams in a long time. Hawkins and Ryder (The Edgeheads) are a close second and may take over the top spot if only they were given more time on the mic. This four-way match is the normal “two guys in the ring at a time and you can tag anyone” rule. Although I’m sure the “Outlaws Rule” is in affect here and no one can pin their own partner.

Not a bad match as there is a lot of action all around with some big moves hit left and right by almost everyone involved, but nothing was exceedingly exciting. It picks up a bit near the finish with some really hot and fast action, but a really lackluster ending leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth.

~ United States Championship Match: Matt Hardy (c) Vs. Shelton Benjamin – Could you ask for much better then this? Matt “freakin'” Hardy and Shelton Benjamin fighting it out on a PPV over a title belt? Awesome. And while not a showstopper, it is still a damn good match. Both guys work well together and have very good chemistry in the ring. While Hardy has bulked up in recent years and can do more power moves, his agility is still there. Benjamin on the other hand is an innovator of moves and displays a lot of versatility in his move set. Some nice counters and good pinfall sequences make this a very enjoyable match.

~ Todd Grisham Interviews CM Punk

~ Triple H Interrupts Edge & Vickie Guerrero’s Wedding Ceremony

~ ECW Championship Match: Mark Henry (c) Vs. Tommy Dreamer – Here you have your basic old school versus new school. Dreamer is everything that the original ECW stands for, and Mark Henry has really come about and finally become a very watchable in-ring performer. I know, I’m shocked too. In what could have been a very good match between the power guy and the underdog, a crappy finish just took away any credibility it had. They spent all this time building up Colin Delaney and having Dreamer tutor him, only to have him turn on his own teacher? Not only that, Delaney only got about three more weeks before he was shown the door completely. Horrible booking here.

~ Shawn Michaels Vs. Chris Jericho – Wanting some payback from Jericho slamming his face into the Jeritron 5000, among other things done, HBK came out on fire. A lot of slugging back and forth starts out the match before things slow down a little bit and it becomes a bit more of the technical match these two can put on so well. Jericho is simply golden as a heel and appears legitimately evil. His portrayal as a bad guy is matched evenly by how good Michaels is as a face; a face with a purpose in mind. Lots of back and forth action throughout with each man taking advantage at different times which keeps you guessing throughout. The brutality that Jericho shows towards the end of the match cements his heel status and makes this a very good match even though the finish could have been better.

~ Edge Responds To Triple H Ruining His Wedding

~ Divas Championship Match: Michelle McCool Vs. Natalya – The debut of yet another title belt in WWE, and quite possibly a belt that looks worse then those damn spinner versions. It is incredibly awful looking and as my good friend Paul Marshall said, “looks like a tramp stamp.” Man, that is just horrible. The match itself wasn’t awful, but would have benefited from a little more time. McCool has really come about in the past year as one of the better wrestlers in the women’s division, and Natalya just plain knows how to wrestle. I’d pay good money for Natalya to head over to Raw and face off against Beth Phoenix and Mickie James. None the less, this match was alright, but nothing special.

Jim Ross saying “Natalya by name, naughty by nature,” almost ruined the whole DVD for me though.

~ World Heavyweight Championship Match: CM Punk (c) Vs. Batista – Even though Batista is about three times the size of Punk, this match isn’t half bad. Punk uses his agility and quickness well to score some good hits on the big man before working him over after he’s down. Batista constantly comes back with power moves that get him out of jams until he messes up a move or two. Even though he didn’t get the chance to hit it here, one thing has to be noted about CM Punk. His finishing maneuver, the GTS, needs to be changed. Or at least they have to give him another finishing move for when he’s fighting a big guy like Batista. When Punk attempted to hit it, it didn’t even seem believable that he could get Batista up to try it. Not a bad match, but another crappy finish that served no real purpose except for Punk to win without actually being able to pin big DAVE!

~ New York City Parking Lot Brawl: John Cena Vs. JBL – I love how whenever there is a “parking lot brawl,” there is a big circle of cars for them to fight in so they still have a “ring.” Obviously pretaped and barely any crowd reaction either. What makes this even worse is that the announcers totally shut up too. Cena pulls out the old battery cables to the nuts spot that Kane did to Shane McMahon about five years ago. Kind of a worthless match that is not even good for a hardcore brawl. Lots of throwing each other into cars and nailing their heads on steering wheels and hoods before we are brought back out live to the arena. Some back and forth brawling and finally the match ends. This is just bad.

~ Eve Torres Interviews Triple H

~ WWE Championship Match: Triple H Vs. Edge – There is really not much here that stands out, but the match itself is pretty good. Not a lot of big spots or anything that would make you remember it, but it’s worth checking out because Triple H is good as always and Edge just continues to get better with every appearance. A totally clean finish to the match is preferred, but at least it didn’t do too much to overtake the entire match and undermine what they had already done.

The event is shown in 1.33:1 Full Screen format and looks great. No pixilation during the pyro at all, and none whatsoever throughout the entire event.

The event is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and it also comes through perfectly. Great sound around the room for crowd noise and entrance themes, and the announcers come through the center speaker loud and clear.

Edge Is Gonna Pay – This thirty-six second clip is a WWE exclusive that happened backstage immediately after the final match of the PPV. La Familia helps Vickie into her wheelchair and she simply tells them that Edge will pay for what he did.

Kane Needs To Know – Another WWE exclusive shows Kane in a boiler room somewhere and he keeps talking about whether “he’s alive or dead.” Another short clip that runs just over a minute.

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So the WWE rebounded with two solid PPVs in a row after the awfulness that was One Night Stand. Don’t think everything works here because some truly crappy endings and otherwise short, pointless matches do litter the card a bit. But a couple strong title matches along with a hot opening match and that gem of a United States title match make up for it. Hardy/Benjamin is the high point and are closely followed by Michaels/Jericho and Edge/Trips. Just think about this though, Michaels and Jericho didn’t even have their best match here yet it was still pretty awesome. The PPV as a whole is a little better then the middle of the road, and if you can check it out then I recommend doing so. Just don’t go out of your way to get a copy of the DVD because once again we are given the short end of the stick in way of special features. I mean come on…a minute and a half of backstage skits? No vignettes or video packages or interviews or extra matches or nothing? Cheap…really damn cheap. Go for a rental here to see half the matches, but don’t buy it unless you’re a WWE DVD junkie.

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WWE Home Video presents The Great American Bash 2008. Featuring: CM Punk, Triple H, Edge, Batista, John Cena, JBL, Matt Hardy, Shelton Benjamin, and many more. Running time: 180 minutes. Rating: PG. Released on DVD: August 19, 2008. Available at Amazon.com