The Great American Bash is a professional wrestling event held during the summer and has been produced by the American promotion WWE since 2004; since 2020, it has been held as an annual event for WWE's developmental brand, NXT. Created by Dusty Rhodes, the event was originally established in 1985 and was produced by the National Wrestling Alliance's (NWA) Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). It originally aired on closed-circuit television until 1988 when it began broadcasting on pay-per-view (PPV), and later that same year, JCP was rebranded as World Championship Wrestling (WCW), which seceded from the NWA in January 1991.
In March 2001, the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF) purchased WCW. In May 2002, the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and the promotion revived The Great American Bash as their own annual PPV event in 2004. It was held exclusively for wrestlers from WWE's SmackDown brand from 2004 to 2006 before brand-exclusive PPVs were discontinued in April 2007. In 2009, WWE renamed the event as The Bash, which was also the final Great American Bash broadcast on PPV, as it was replaced by Fatal 4-Way in 2010.
The event returned for one-night only in July 2012 under its original full name and was held as a television special, airing as a special episode of SmackDown. In July 2020, the event was again revived and became an annual event for WWE's developmental brand, NXT. From 2020 to 2022 and in 2024, it aired as special episodes of NXT, while in 2023 and since 2025, it has aired as a premium live event on WWE's livestreaming platforms.
History The Great American Bash was invented by Dusty Rhodes, a prominent wrestler of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), who became a wrestler and booker of the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). The first Great American Bash event was held by JCP on July 6, 1985, in Charlotte, North Carolina at the American Legion Memorial Stadium. In 1986 and 1987, The Great American Bash was held as a series of events. It was broadcast on closed-circuit television until the 1988 event, when it began broadcasting on pay-per-view (PPV). In November that year, JCP was purchased by Turner Broadcasting System and JCP was rebranded as World Championship Wrestling (WCW).
WCW continued to produce The Great American Bash under the NWA banner until WCW seceded from the NWA in January 1991. As such, the 1991 event was the first Great American Bash produced by WCW alone. After the 1992 event, WCW did not hold the PPV again until 1995. It then continued annually until 2000. The 2000 event was the final Great American Bash held by WCW, as in March 2001, WCW was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), which was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in May 2002.
After a four-year hiatus, the event was revived by WWE in 2004. To coincide with the brand extension, where the promotion divided its roster into brands where wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform, the 2004 event was held exclusively for the SmackDown! brand. It continued to be held exclusively for SmackDown! in 2005 and 2006. Following WrestleMania 23 in April 2007, brand-exclusive PPVs were discontinued, thus the events from 2007 to 2009 featured the Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brands. In 2009, the event was renamed as The Bash. It would be the only held under this name, as well as the last broadcast on PPV, as the event was replaced by Fatal 4-Way in 2010.
In April 2011, WWE ceased using its full name with the WWE abbreviation becoming an orphaned initialism. The company then revived The Great American Bash once in July 2012 under the event's original full name, but it was held as a television special, airing as a special episode of SmackDown. After another eight years, WWE again revived the event, this time for its developmental brand, NXT, as a two-part special episode of NXT. The event was scheduled to again be held as a special episode of NXT in 2021, but reduced to one night, thus becoming an annual event for NXT. In 2023, the event was broadcast as a premium live event (PLE), marking the first Great American Bash to air on WWE's livestreaming platforms, notably Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network in most international markets. It returned to being a television special of NXT in 2024, but as a two-night event for the first time since 2020. It then returned as a one-night PLE in 2025.
Following the end of WWE's contract with Peacock in mid-March 2026 for NXT's events, and after NXT's previous PLE, Stand & Deliver, aired on YouTube in early April, later that month on April 28, WWE announced a new multi-year broadcasting deal for NXT's events in the United States in which 20 PLEs would air on The CW beginning with the 2026 Great American Bash; this expanded on an existing deal, as the weekly NXT program had been airing on the network since October 2024. Outside of the US, NXT's PLEs remained on Abema in Japan (until October 1 before switching to Netflix), SuperSport in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Netflix everywhere else.
Events WCW/nWo co-branded eventSmackDown-branded eventNXT-branded event #EventDateCityVenueFinal matchRef.National Wrestling Alliance: Jim Crockett Promotions1The Great American Bash (1985)July 6, 1985Charlotte, North CarolinaAmerican Legion Memorial StadiumTully Blanchard (c) vs. Dusty Rhodes in a Steel cage match for the NWA World Television Championship2The Great American Bash (1986)July–August 1986A tour of 13 shows around the south and eastern parts of the countryDusty Rhodes vs. Ric Flair (c) for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship3The Great American Bash (1987)July 1987A tour of several shows around the south and eastern parts of the countryThe Road Warriors (Animal and Hawk), Dusty Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, and Paul Ellering vs. The Four Horsemen (Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger, and Tully Blanchard) and The War Machine in a WarGames match4The Great American Bash (1988)July 10, 1988Baltimore, MarylandBaltimore ArenaRic Flair (c) vs. Lex Luger for the NWA World Heavyweight ChampionshipNational Wrestling Alliance: World Championship Wrestling5The Great American Bash (1989)July 23, 1989Baltimore, MarylandBaltimore ArenaRic Flair (c) vs. Terry Funk for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship6The Great American Bash (1990)July 7, 1990Ric Flair (c) vs. Sting for the NWA World Heavyweight ChampionshipWorld Championship Wrestling7The Great American Bash (1991)July 14, 1991Baltimore, MarylandBaltimore ArenaRick Steiner vs. Arn Anderson and Paul E. Dangerously in a handicap steel cage match8The Great American Bash (1992)July 12, 1992Albany, GeorgiaAlbany Civic CenterTerry Gordy and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams vs. Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham in a tournament final for the inaugural NWA World Tag Team Championship9The Great American Bash (1995)June 18, 1995Dayton, OhioHara ArenaRic Flair vs. Randy Savage10The Great American Bash (1996)June 16, 1996Baltimore, MarylandBaltimore ArenaThe Giant (c) vs. Lex Luger for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship11The Great American Bash (1997)June 15, 1997Moline, IllinoisThe MARK of the Quad CitiesDiamond Dallas Page vs. Randy Savage in a Falls Count Anywhere match12The Great American Bash (1998)June 14, 1998Baltimore, MarylandBaltimore ArenaSting vs. The Giant for control of the WCW World Tag Team Championship13The Great American Bash (1999)June 13, 1999Baltimore, MarylandBaltimore ArenaKevin Nash (c) vs. Randy Savage for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship14The Great American Bash (2000)June 11, 2000Jeff Jarrett (c) vs. Kevin Nash for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship with Ernest Miller as the special guest enforcerWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)15The Great American Bash (2004)June 27, 2004Norfolk, VirginiaNorfolk ScopeThe Undertaker vs. The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) in a Handicap Concrete Crypt match16The Great American Bash (2005)July 24, 2005Buffalo, New YorkHSBC ArenaBatista (c) vs. John "Bradshaw" Layfield for the World Heavyweight Championship17The Great American Bash (2006)July 23, 2006Indianapolis, IndianaConseco FieldhouseRey Mysterio (c) vs. King Booker for the World Heavyweight Championship18The Great American Bash (2007)July 22, 2007San Jose, CaliforniaHP PavilionJohn Cena (c) vs. Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship19The Great American Bash (2008)July 20, 2008Uniondale, New YorkNassau Veterans Memorial ColiseumTriple H (c) vs. Edge for the WWE Championship20The BashJune 28, 2009Sacramento, CaliforniaARCO ArenaRandy Orton (c) vs. Triple H in a Three Stages of Hell match for the WWE Championship21SuperSmackDown LIVE: The Great American BashJuly 3, 2012Corpus Christi, TexasAmerican Bank CenterThe Great American Bash 20-Man Battle Royal to determine the guest General Manager for the following week's SmackDown22NXT: The Great American Bash (2020) The event was taped on July 1 and aired on July 1 and 8.(Night 1)Winter Park, FloridaFull Sail University Io Shirai vs. Sasha Banks (Night 2) NXT Champion Adam Cole vs. North American Champion Keith Lee in a Winner Takes All match23NXT: The Great American Bash (2021) Orlando, Florida Capitol Wrestling Center at WWE Performance Center Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reilly 24NXT: The Great American Bash (2022)July 5, 2022 WWE Performance Center Bron Breakker (c) vs. Cameron Grimes for the NXT Championship 25NXT The Great American Bash (2023)July 30, 2023Cedar Park, TexasH-E-B Center at Cedar ParkCarmelo Hayes (c) vs. Ilja Dragunov for the NXT Championship26NXT: The Great American Bash (2024)July 30, 2024Orlando, FloridaWWE Performance CenterRoxanne Perez (c) vs. Thea Hail for the NXT Women's ChampionshipAugust 6, 2024Axiom and Nathan Frazer (c) vs. MSK (Wes Lee and Zachary Wentz) for the NXT Tag Team Championship27NXT The Great American Bash (2025)July 12, 2025Atlanta, GeorgiaCenter StageJordynne Grace and Blake Monroe vs. Fatal Influence (Jacy Jayne and Fallon Henley)28NXT The Great American Bash (2026)June 28, 2026Orlando, FloridaWWE Performance CenterLola Vice (c) vs. Kendal Grey for the NXT Women's Championship
1985
The 1985 Great American Bash was the inaugural Great American Bash professional wrestling event produced by the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions. It took place on July 6, 1985, at the American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. The event included a 1-hour live concert performance by David Allan Coe.
As a result of Dusty Rhodes winning the match, Tully Blanchard's valet, Baby Doll was forced to be Dusty Rhodes' valet for 30 days which sparked her face turn as she became a full-time valet for Rhodes and his then partner, Magnum T. A.
After the event, Buzz Tyler left JCP after a dispute with booker Dusty Rhodes and took the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship belt with him. The Russian Team would lose the NWA World Tag Team titles to the debuting Rock & Roll Express three days later. Ric Flair would turn heel later in 1985 and join his (kayfabe) cousins Ole & Arn Anderson and break Dusty Rhodes' leg in a steel cage in September of that year, forcing him to surrender the NWA World Television title, and Flair/The Andersons would become the foundation of the Four Horsemen with Tully Blanchard and James J. Dillon joining in early 1986. Kamala would join the WWF later in 1985.
1986