The Great American Bash (2004)

Background The Great American Bash is a professional wrestling event established in 1985. It was first produced by the National Wrestling Alliance's (NWA) Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) and aired on closed-circuit television before becoming a pay-per-view (PPV) event in 1988; JCP was rebranded as World Championship Wrestling (WCW) later that same year. WCW then seceded from the NWA in 1991. The final Great American Bash event promoted by WCW was the 2000 event, as in March 2001, the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF) purchased WCW. In 2002, the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). That same year, WWE introduced the brand extension where the promotion divided its roster into brands where wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform. After three years since the acquisition of WCW, WWE revived The Great American Bash as their own PPV to be held on June 27, 2004, at the Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, Virginia and as a SmackDown!-branded event. Although it was the first Great American Bash held by WWE, it was the 15th overall. Storylines The main feud heading into The Great American Bash was between The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) and The Undertaker. On the May 27 episode of SmackDown!, Paul Heyman told The Dudley Boyz to "make an impact". As part of the storyline, The Dudley Boyz responded by abducting Paul Bearer, The Undertaker's manager. On the June 17 episode of SmackDown!, a Handicap match between The Dudley Boyz and The Undertaker was booked for The Great American Bash, with the stipulation being if The Dudley Boyz won, Bearer would be buried in a glass crypt with cement. Another primary feud heading into the event was between Eddie Guerrero and John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) over the WWE Championship. At Judgment Day, JBL defeated Guerrero by disqualification after Guerrero hit JBL with the WWE Championship belt. Since a championship cannot be lost via countout or disqualification, Guerrero retained the title. On the May 20 episode of SmackDown!, Cena faced Duprée in a rematch for the title. Duprée executed a low blow on Cena outside the ring, which caused Cena to be counted out. Duprée won the match, but not the title since a championship cannot be lost via countout or disqualification. On the May 27 episode of SmackDown!, Cena defeated Duprée in a Lumberjack match to retain the title. The man to defeat Cena would become the number-one contender to the United States Championship at The Great American Bash. Cena, however, won all three matches as no man was able to defeat him within the time limit. but when Torrie was featured on the cover of SmackDown! Magazine, Sable turned heel by displaying jealousy over Torrie's cover and berating her in a backstage segment, leading to a brawl between the two Divas. The events led to the announcement that Sable and Torrie would face each other at The Great American Bash. ==Event==

Before the live broadcast of the event began, Spike Dudley defeated Jamie Noble in a match that aired on Sunday Night Heat. He showed on the TitanTron that JBL's shoulder touched the final turnbuckle before Guerrero's hand, also, Angle stated that it did not matter which part of the body touched, all that mattered was who touched first; as a result, JBL won the WWE Championship. Much of the footage of Bearer in the cement during the PPV broadcast of the show was of Bearer pre-taped before the show, while a stunt double was used for Bearer in the tank when the match took place in the Arena for actual burial which is seen in live shots and in footage of the actual burial. ==Aftermath==

, who began feuding with Eddie Guerrero following the event After the event, it was stated in the following episode of Smackdown that Bearer survived his concrete burial but had suffered kayfabe "serious injuries", writing him off TV. At the event, John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) defeated Eddie Guerrero to begin his first reign as WWE Champion, which would last nearly ten months. The two faced off again at No Mercy in an Ambulance match, in which the objective is to place your opponent in a hearse and drive out of the arena. JBL defeated The Undertaker and concluded their storyline after interference from Heidenreich. Following the conclusion of his title match against JBL at the event, Eddie Guerrero began to feud with Kurt Angle. During a Steel Cage match between Guerrero and JBL for the WWE Championship, El Gran Luchadore (Kurt Angle in disguise) interfered on JBL's behalf, which allowed JBL to escape the cage and win the match. After the match, Guerrero attacked El Gran Luchadore and pulled off his mask, revealing him to be Kurt Angle. Angle won the match, and their feud concluded at the November pay-per-view, Survivor Series, when Guerrero's team defeated Angle's in a 4 on 4 Survivor Series match. On the July 8 episode of SmackDown!, Booker T challenged John Cena for the WWE United States Championship. During the match, General manager Kurt Angle and Luther Reigns interfered on Booker's behalf, and Booker inadvertently caused Cena to attack Angle. The match ended in a disqualification subsequently thereafter; however, Angle stripped Cena of the title for attacking him. On the July 29 episode of SmackDown!, Booker T won the vacant United States Championship after last eliminating Rob Van Dam in an elimination match. The following week, Cena defeated Van Dam to become the number-one contender to the title. Theodore Long, who proceeded Angle as General Manager after he was fired as part of the storyline, announced that Cena would be facing Booker in a "Best of 5 series", in which the winner would be the man who earns three victories over the other first. Cena defeated Booker in the first match at SummerSlam, The Great American Bash would continue as an annual summer PPV for WWE until 2009, with that year's event titled as The Bash. In 2010, the event was replaced on PPV by Fatal 4-Way. The event, which reverted to being called The Great American Bash, then returned in July 2012 as a special episode of SmackDown. It was again revived in 2020 for the NXT brand and has since been held as special episodes of NXT. ==Results==