Mad Mike Retro Pay Per View Review: Bash at the Beach 1994

Here we go again with another classic from the WWE 24/7 library, Bash at the Beach 1994!

Opening thoughts

• First off a lot of these old shows and ppvs now have the “unsuitable for children” warning on it…weird
• This was Hulk’s WCW debut show…I’m going to guess he wins the title
• Wow the beach setup by the entrance looks nuts
• I really miss Bobby Heenan
• Apparently Shaq is going to present the belt to the winner, he was still on the Magic
• Sherri dressed up like a man to distract Hogan, and then Mr. T chased them off…wow

Television Title: Johnny B. Badd vs Steven Regal

• This pay per view has the longest opening ever, about 10 minutes before this first match starts, oh WCW
• Why was the TV Title ever defended on ppv? Seems off to me
• Badd is a replacement for Sting, who got injured
• Regal back in 94 looks a little like Wade Barrett
• Wow such a good match spoiled by a crappy rollup

Big Van Vader w/ Harley Race vs. The Guardian Angel

• The Guardian Angel is Big Boss Man…really
• Apparently Nick Bockwinkel stripped Boss Man of his nightstick
• Vader just tried a sunset flip off the second rope…450 pound Vader
• Everytime I see Vader do a moonsault I realize how out of shape I am
• Ref DQ’d Boss Man because he took a baton from Vader
• After this match there is a recap of a match between two guys and a woman from earlier where the first row wasn’t even filled yet, it had to do with some sort of radio show that wasn’t Bubba the Love Sponge

Arn Anderson and Dustin Rhodes vs. Terry Funk and Bunkhouse Buck w/ Colonel Robert Parker and Meng

• Ah this was when they had the “over the top” rule…man I hate that rule
• Half of these men are still covered with glitter left over from the first match, it’s distracting
• Wow Arn double crossed Dustin, never would have guessed that…

US Title Match: Ricky Steamboat vs. Stunning Steve Austin

• Austin has “Dragon Slayer” on his tights, awesome
• This match has been really good, but long…looks like it has time limit written on it
• Austin won when he reversed the momentum of a crossbody and then put his feet on the ropes
• This is a good show so far, but it doesn’t really seem like a ppv

WCW Tag Team Title Match: Pretty Paul Roma and Mr Wonderful Paul Orndorff vs. Kevin Sullivan and Cactus Jack

• Nice old school tag move of using your body on the turnbuckle to cushion the Irish whip
• Heenan has definitely been curbing some of Schiavone’s normal stupid comments
• I think this was back when storyline were very, very basic as in almost nonexistent, because I have absolutely no idea why these teams are fighting
• Wow, this crowd is definitely just waiting for Hogan it looks like
• Pretty Wonderful won via cheating, the only match with a clean finish so far was the first one

World Heavyweight Championship: Ric Flair vs Hulk Hogan

• Wow Mr. T has more bling on him than I’ve ever seen
• Way too many dudes in the audience with Hogan stache, hair, and bandanas on
• I wonder if they ever thought they’d still be doing this match 16 years later…
• I think this is the most technical Hogan match I’ve ever seen, the man used a cross arm breaker
• Here comes the Hulk Up
• Second Hulk Up
• Ref bump and Sherri just splashed Hogan
• BTW Hogan is still so winning this match despite him now being double teamed
• Third Hulk Up of the match
• Mr. T is carrying Sherri off after passing Flair brass knuckles
• Fourth Hulk Up…after brass knuckles
• And Hogan wins the match and the belt
• Nice cameo at the end for little Nicholas Hogan

Final Analysis: Not a horrible show but it was very clearly centered around Hogan the whole time, which is fine, but almost nothing else of note happened on this show, and even though the matches were fine, they could have appeared on any WCW Saturday Night.