WWEâs Great American Bash 2008 will be released on DVD tomorrow. While I continue to be impressed with the turnaround time, the minimalist approach to the special features leaves me wanting a little bit. Previous WWE PPV DVDs featured angles and matches that led up to the big bouts. Nonetheless, an affordable way for those who do not want to pop over twice as much to see the show on pay-per-view. Video and sound is top notch as usual.
The Matches
Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder defeated John Morrison & The Miz, Jesse & Festus, and Finlay & Hornswoggle in a Fatal Four Way to win the WWE Tag Team championship
Shelton Benjamin defeated US champion Matt Hardy to capture the title
Mark Henry defeated Tommy Dreamer to retain the ECW championship
Chris Jericho defeated Shawn Michaels
Michelle McCool defeated Natalya to become the first WWE Divas champion
World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk and Batista ended in a double disqualification
John Bradshaw Layfield defeated John Cena in a New York City Parking Lot Brawl
Triple H defeated Edge to retain the WWE championship
Special Features
Nothing to speak of, really Again, the turnaround of the DVD sacrifices this kind of thing.
Edge is Gonna Pay: Basically, La Familia wheelchairing a ranting Vickie Guerrero.
Kane Need to Know: âHeâs Alive.â âHeâs Dead.â Looks in bag. Laughs insanely. Same olâ, same olâ, but by now we know whatâs in that bag.
My Thoughts
Overall, I liked the show. Heck, anything that features Mike Adamleâs swansong (cross your fingers) on play-by-play is okay by me. Ironically, it also represented Mick Foleyâs PPV announcing finale. I donât blame him. Like Night of Champions, Foley got better as the night went along, but I swear I could hear McMahon yelling in his headphones.
The United States title match was hyped with a certain level of history. JR and Foley told the story about the US championship never changing hands during every previous Bash. Made Shelton Benjaminâs win a little more special. However, being the 21st man to hold both the Intercontinental and US titles? Um, not so special. Especially, when most of those accomplishments occurred after 2001.
Jericho vs. Michaels is a good old-school feud. Build-up with twists and turns. I love the heel turn of Y2J. Blaming the fans and morphing into a less-than-goofy wrestler. And HBKâs straw cowboy hat with his logo adorned on it? Merchandise potential! Especially for guys who are thinning on top, no matter how much Photoshop tries to tell us otherwise.
Punk vs. Batista may have been a clash of styles, but it worked and was anything but a clash. Both men put in a solid performance and showed how a big man should wrestle a supposed âsmaller manâ and vice versa.
I hated John Cena vs. JBL. When will creative learn that a match not put in front of fans and lacking crowd noise and announcing has NO HEAT? Okay, I get it. This is supposed to be a street fight, but do we need JBLâs entrance music when he comes in? Gasoline on cars? Fire on cars? Keys in cars? Jumper cables on nuts? These are NOT a few of my favorite things. Fire bad. Match bad.
And regarding WWE text surveys, they have obviously run out of ideas. Determining who deserves more sympathy (adulterer Edge or scorned wife Vickie) is anything but âinteresting,â no matter what Mick Foley claims.
