The Great American Bash

Card Information:
 Held in: BALTIMORE ARENA
Location: MARRYLAND, UNITED STATES
          on June 2005 at 7:30pm


Elimination Table No-Countout-No-DQ-Match:
The Dudley Boys (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) and Rhyno beat
The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) and Spike Dudley 3 falls to 1:
         x J. Hardy beat Bubba via putting him through a table in 0:02:58
         x Rhyno beat J. Hardy via putting him through a table in 0:21:52
         x D-Von beat M. Hardy via putting him through a table in 0:26:57
         x Rhyno beat Spike via putting him through a table in 0:29:19
Survivors: D-Von Dudley, Rhyno
Rating: ***
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Left on his own against D-Von and Rhyno, Spike really didn't have much of a
chance, and he soon ended up getting wood.  Good opening contest.


The Great Americans (Kurt Angle and John Bradshaw Layfield), Vader and Triple H
 defeated Thug Life (John Cena and Tazz), Scott Hall and Terry Funk when Vader
 pinned Hall with the Vader Bomb in 0:17:53.
Rating: *** 1/2
[Val Venis interfered against John Bradshaw Layfield.]
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Vader picked up the win for his team.  Strange to see the number 1 contenders
for the tag titles, Edge and Val Venis, trying to continue their beef with the
Great Americans, rather than concentrate on their match.


Interview:
Rey Mysterio...
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Mysterio explains his actions at Bad Blood, and vows to take the Cruiserweight
Title here tonight.


Rey Mysterio pinned Brian Kendrick after a ropeflip moonsault in 0:12:10.
Rating: *** 1/4
(Rey Mysterio won the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.)
Click here to see highlights.

To the disappointment of the crowd, Rey Mysterio won the match to once again
become Cruiserweight Champion.


[Ultimate Submissions Match]: No-Countout-No-DQ-Iron Man I-Quit Match:
Chris Benoit beat Ric Flair 1 falls to 0:
         x Benoit beat Flair via an abdominal stretch in 0:28:37
         x time limit expired (Benoit and Flair) in 0:30:00
Rating: ***
Click here to see highlights.

Good match, with Benoit getting a virtually last gasp victory.  Both men were
able to withstand each others signature submission moves during the fight.


Masahiro Chono pinned Brock Lesnar after a power bomb in 0:02:46.
Rating: ***
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Despite saying it would never happen, Chono managed to put Lesnar out in less
than three minutes with his vicious power bomb.  No-one in the arena was more
shocked than Lesnar himself.


Christopher Daniels defeated Chris Jericho by disqualification in 0:11:52.
Rating: ** 1/4
(Christopher Daniels retained the WWE Intercontinental Championship.)
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Jericho's frustrations with Nick Patrick's slow counts cost him the match, as
he threw the referee over the top rope.  When Patrick regained consciousness,
he didn't hesistate in disqualifying Y2J and costing the title.


Steve Austin defeated Ted DiBiase when Ted DiBiase passed out in
an abdominal stretch in 0:04:26.
Rating: ***
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A unusually short match, which saw Austin gain a manner of revenge over Ted
DiBiase, by making him pass out to a submission hold.


Edge and Val Venis defeated Shawn Michaels and Cactus Jack when Venis defeated
Michaels by countout in 0:09:08.
Rating: ** 1/2
(Shawn Michaels and Cactus Jack retained the WWE Tag Team Championship.)
Click here to see highlights.

A very disappointing end to a promising match, as Shawn's miscalculation saw
his team lose the match via count-out.  HBK and Cactus retain the tag titles,
despite the loss though.


Buried Alive No-Countout-No-DQ-Match:
Hollywood Hogan defeated Kane in 0:50:11.
Rating: ***
Click here to see highlights.

After a long and gruelling match-up, Hogan finally managed to bury Kane alive.
In the backstage area, a distraught Shane McMahon realised that this meant he
would have to face Hogan at Vengeance.


Interview:
The Champion...
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Randy Orton does not fear the challenge of the Big Show.


Randy Orton pinned The Big Show after a flying cross body press in 0:13:57.
Rating: ****
(Randy Orton retained the WWE Championship.)
Click here to see highlights.

Orton certainly proved his worth as a champion tonight, kicking out of a choke
slam from the Big Show, and then using his resourcefulness to pick up the win
after realising that the RKO wouldn't work.



Card rating: ***


Match observations: 

Well, that was certainly an interesting night of action.  The main event was
able to surpass a lot of people's expectations to become the match of the night
for the PPV, and went a long way to showing off Randy Orton as a credible WWE
Champion.  Everyone in the arena seemed to think that Big Show had the title
won after hitting the choke slam out of nowhere, but Orton somehow managed to
get a shoulder up, and then go on to win the match.  He may be an arrogant son
of a gun, but Orton is seriously starting to back up his words with his actions
in the ring.

And speaking of backing up words, Shane McMahon will now have to back up his,
as he'll face Hollywood Hogan at Vengeance.  Hogan put Kane in the grave and
buried him alive tonight, thus giving Hogan the chance to face the Commish at
Vengeance.  It'll be very interesting to see how they build up to this, the 
third meeting between Hogan and McMahon Jr.

Stone Cold came out all guns blazing to defeat Ted DiBiase here tonight.  After
the weeks of dominance from the Million Dollar Man, it was odd to see Austin
make him pass out with ease.  Perhaps there's something else to the result of
this match.  Or else I'm just being paranoid.

Speaking of quick matches, Masahiro Chono destroyed Brock Lesnar here tonight
in a shocking finish.  If Chono can do that to Lesnar, surely he must be in
line for a shot at Orton.  Orton vs Chono could well prove to be a very good
match to watch.

We saw the Cruiserweight Title change hands tonight, as Rey Mysterio took the
gold from Brian Kendrick.  However, our other two title matches, for the Tag
Team and Intercontinental Titles both had disappointing finishes, with Chris
Jericho losing by DQ to Chris Daniels, and Edge and Val Venis getting the win,
but not the gold, from Cactus Jack and HBK due to a count-out.  Do not be at
all surprised if both challengers receive rematches very soon.

Finally, Chris Benoit did want he intended to do tonight, which was make Ric
Flair tap out.  However, it wasn't to the Crossface, like he might have hoped.
On the plus side, though, Benoit was able to survive the Figure 4 Leglock from
the Nature Boy.  Benoit is another man with a legitimate claim to a shot at
the WWE title.  But will he get it any time soon?

Next Show: Raw