The 2005 Great American Bash was the second annual
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and 16th Great American Bash event overall. It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's SmackDown!brand division. The event took place on July 24, 2005, at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York
card, which contained matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed either a villainous or fan favorite gimmick as they followed a series of events which generally built tension, leading to a wrestling match. The name of a wrestler's character was not always the person's birth name, as wrestlers often use a stage name
to portray their character.
Batista faced JBL for the World Heavyweight Championship
The
clothesline.[8][9] The following week on SmackDown!, JBL, who was accompanied by Jordan, threw himself a celebration party with the belief that he had already won the World Heavyweight Championship. Batista appeared, and as JBL fled the scene, performed a spinebuster on Jordan.[10][11]
The event also featured a feud between
Joey Mercury) defeated Mysterio and Guerrero to win the tag team championship.[13][14] On the April 28 episode of SmackDown!, Guerrero and Mysterio faced MNM in a rematch for the title, but MNM retained them after pinning Mysterio for the win.[15][16] At the Judgment Day event, Mysterio defeated Guerrero by disqualification, and on the June 30 episode of SmackDown!, the rivalry between Guerrero and Mysterio continued when Guerrero threatened to reveal a secret concerning Mysterio's son Dominik.[6][7] Both the Mysterio and Guerrero families continued to beg Guerrero to not reveal the secret.[17] A match was made between Mysterio and Guerrero for The Great American Bash, where if Mysterio won, Guerrero could not reveal the secret, but if Guerrero won, he would be able to reveal the secret on live television.[17]
The third predominant feud prior to the event was between Chris Benoit and Orlando Jordan for the WWE United States Championship. On the July 7 edition of SmackDown!, Benoit defeated Booker T in a match to become the #1 contender for the title.[18][19] Long granted Benoit a match against Jordan for The Great American Bash.[18]
Event
Before the pay-per-view went live, a match took place on the
WWE Cruiserweight Championship, which London won to retain the title.[20]
In the next match, Orlando Jordan faced Chris Benoit for the United States Championship. During the match, Jordan removed the top turnbuckle pad. Benoit attempted to slam Jordan but Jordan avoided the attack and instead forced Benoit to run into the exposed turnbuckle. Jordan scored the pin to win the match and retain the title.[4]
The fourth match was between
Tombstone piledriver on Hassan, but Hassan escaped the move and attempted a Clothesline. The Undertaker countered by chokeslamming Hassan and scored the pinfall on Hassan to win the match and become the #1 contender. Following this, Undertaker executed a Last Ride through the stage floor on Hassan, writing him out of storylines.[4][22]
Eddie Guerrero faced Rey Mysterio at The Great American Bash
The following match was between
frog splash. Guerrero then tried to score the pinfall, but Mysterio countered by pinning Guerrero to win the match. As a result, Guerrero was not able to reveal the secret.[4][22]
The seventh match was between
Bra and Panties match. The only way to win a "Bra and Panties" match is for a wrestler to strip her opponent down to her underwear. At the start of the match, Wilson pulled off Melina's shirt to reveal her bra, but Melina retaliated and pulled off Wilson's shirt. Wilson then lifted Melina to her shoulders and dropped her to the mat, while she attempted to pull off her pants, but Melina countered the attack by pulling Wilson's pants off to win the match. Afterward, Michelle stripped Melina and then removed her own clothes, as well.[4][22]
The
Batista and JBL (managed by Orlando Jordan) for the World Heavyweight Championship. Jordan interfered by attempting to hit Batista with a folding chair, but Batista grabbed the chair from him. Batista then used the chair to hit Jordan and JBL, and JBL was declared the winner, via disqualification. In WWE, a title cannot be won by disqualification, but only by pinfall or submission (the normal scoring conditions in professional wrestling matches). As a result, Batista retained the title.[4][22][23]
After the match Batista gave JBL and Jordan a Batista Bomb.
Reception
The HSBC Arena has a maximum capacity of 18,690,
Canadian Online Explorer's professional wrestling section rated the event a five out of ten.[27] The World Heavyweight Championship main event match was rated three out of ten, and the match between Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero received the highest match rating of eight out of ten.[27]
The event was released on
Sony Music Entertainment. The DVD reached seventh on Billboard's DVD Sales Chart for recreational sports during the week of October 8, 2005, and it rose to the fourth spot the following week.[29] It remained on the chart's "top ten" for four consecutive weeks, until the week of December 15, 2005, when it ranked thirteenth.[30]
Aftermath
The feud between Batista and JBL continued after the Bash. On the July 28 episode of SmackDown!, JBL defeated The Undertaker after interference from Randy Orton to become the number-one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship at
Texas Bullrope match on the September 9 edition of SmackDown!, a match where the objective is to touch all four ring corners while tied to one's opponent with a bullrope.[34]
On the edition of SmackDown! following The Great American Bash, Eddie Guerrero revealed the secret he had been keeping; he was Dominick's real father, not Rey Mysterio (was thought to be).
steel cage match to end the feud.[34] Guerrero then began a feud with Batista when Guerrero was given a title match at No Mercy.[35] Guerrero, however, died unexpectedly of heart failure on November 13, 2005.[36] In 2006 Guerrero was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Mysterio, his nephew Chavo Guerrero Jr., and Chris Benoit.[37]
The feud between Chris Benoit and Orlando Jordan continued. At SummerSlam, Benoit defeated Jordan for the WWE United States Championship in a match that lasted 25.5 seconds.[33] On the September 1 edition of SmackDown!, Benoit once again defeated Jordan for the title, but this time the match lasted 23.4 seconds.[38] The following week on SmackDown!, Benoit defeated Jordan in another title match, where the match lasted 22.5 seconds.[34]
