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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: THE INFAMOUS WCW BASH AT THE BEACH INCIDENT WITH HOGAN AND RUSSO

July 9th

On this day in history in ....

1963 - The Crusher defeats Verne Gagne for the AWA World Heavyweight Title in Minneapolis, Minnesota, ending Gagne's third title reign.

1985 - Rick Morton & Robert Gibson defeat Ivan Koloff & Krusher Krushchev for the NWA World Tag Team Title in Shelby, North Carolina. This marks the first NWA World Tag Title reign for the Rock N' Roll Express.

1986 - Fabulous Moolah defeats Velvet McIntyre for the WWF Women's Title in Sydney, Australia, winning back the belt she had lost six days earlier. This marked the start of Moolah's sixth title reign, although many record books ignore the Australia title changes.

2000 - The most controversial Pay-per-view event in the history of WCW, Bash at the Beach took place in Daytona Beach, Florida at the Ocean Center. Here is Tim Whitehead's original report on the event:

Well, they're gonna be talking about this one, that's for sure. WCW's Bash at the Beach (7/9 from the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach) was nothing special until an elaborate worked shoot angle near the finale involving Vince Russo and Hulk Hogan. At least it appears at press time to be a well-executed angle, though there were people within the WCW locker room immediately afterward who were convinced it was an actual shoot. I guess we'll find out eventually, but in wrestling, always bet on the work. If it is a work, it was a darn good one that involved also working the commentators and most of the wrestlers, though as we've seen in the past, that is something certain parties in the WCW office enjoy doing. Otherwise, the show was so-so at best, with some average Nitro-style matches and a couple of really horrible gimmick matches. Crowd heat was mostly good, which helped the show, and the announcing was fine, though they had to ad lib much of the latter part of the show due to the nature of the worked shoot angle (or actual shoot, depending on your opinion at press time). There was a technical glitch for the first minute or so and the Spanish commentary was heard instead of English. Booker T emerging as the surprise WCW World Champion was a nice touch.

Cat (Ernest Miller) arrived in his limo and was immediately surrounded by the Jung Dragons. Cat kicked them all in the balls.

LT. LOCO defeated JUVENTUD GUERRERA in 12:07 to retain the Cruiserweight Title. Cat banned both the Filthy Animals and the MIA's from ringside. Juventud came out with the title belt, which he had stolen last week on TV. Loco sent Juvi out with an atomic drop. Juvi returned but Loco sent him out again and dived on him. Loco hit some solid moves, including a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and head scissors, scoring some twos. Juvi did a legdrop from the ring onto Loco on the floor. The Animals all came back out wearing masks, but the ref sent them away again. Juvi scored some twos, including one after a People's Elbow. The MIA's then came out with masks as supposed disguises. Hugh G. Rection was wearing a Clinton mask, which was appropriately symbolic. Juvi hit the Juvi Driver but Loco made the ropes and did the big comeback to win with a Tornado DDT. The match was pretty good but all the mask antics distracted the fans.

The Jung Dragons confronted Cat in his office and he tried to appease them by telling them they did a good job on Thunder last week. They sarcastically repeated the word "job". Jeff Jarrett then barged in and was worried that Hulk Hogan hadn't arrived since he wanted to destroy him. Cat said if Hulk doesn't arrive, he'll find a new opponent for him. Jarrett had one of the overweight Viking chicks with him from the hilarious angle they did on Nitro.

BIG VITO beat NORMAN SMILEY & RALPHUS in a handicap match in 5:56 to retain the Hardcore Title. Not much to it. They brawled around backstage a little with garbage cans and the usual objects. Vito beat up a caterer when he emerged from a freight elevator, and then tossed Smiley on the elevator, which carried him up. Vito pounded Ralphus down to the ring. Vito brought in a table but the leg was broken so he had to prop it up at an angle but did splash Ralphus through it for the pin. Smiley arrived for the save but was too late.

Bill Goldberg was backstage with Scott Hall's contract. Hogan isn't immortal, but that contract sure is. Either that, or it's Cat's contract and it has nine lives. Kevin Nash then said that after he beats Goldberg he'll do an audience survey just to piss him off (Hall did a survey to put himself over as a babyface on a Nitro show months ago despite being instructed not to, which at the time legit pissed Goldberg off backstage).

DAFFNEY defeated MISS HANCOCK in the wedding gown match in 4:14. Really bad. David Flair came out wearing a tux and kept kissing Miss H. Daffney gave him a low blow. Mark Madden said they should call this the Flair Witch Project. Miss H did a handspring elbow which was 97% handspring but only 3% elbow. Both David and the ref got their pants torn off. Daffney was down and David was going to shave her head but Crowbar made the save. Seeing that both David and the ref were in their boxer shorts, he stripped to his as well. He was pounding David but Miss H stripped her own gown off to distract him, which had the side effect of giving Daffney the win. They all fought with pieces of the wedding cake afterward, and so much cake got on the ring and ringside mats that it took several minutes for the ring crew to clean it up and the commentators had to kill time talking about whatever came to mind. Why didn't they do the cake brawl backstage to avoid this problem? Because this is WCW, that's why.

Cat was walking around backstage and kept hearing Japanese music. The Jung Dragons were seen hiding and stalking him.

KRONIC defeated SEAN STASIAK & CHUCK PALUMBO in 13:34 to capture the WCW World Tag Titles. They were out there way too long. The match had decent heat but was mainly a bunch of power moves sloppily executed. Brian Adams took a hilarious delayed reaction bump over the top when Palumbo held down the ropes. Stasiak was nearly killed taking an airplane spin into a DDT spot. By the way, weren't these guys sunburned badly in those tanning beds? Shouldn't they have been peeling or something? Anyway, Palumbo got laid out with the high tide and Kronic then pinned Stasiak with their powerbomb spot.

Jarrett again said he wanted Hogan and was furious that he hadn't yet arrived. After Jarrett stormed out, the Japanese music was heard again and the Dragons attacked Cat with martial arts weapons and left him laying.

KANYON defeated BOOKER T in 10:04. Booker sent Kanyon reeling with some good moves and kicks. He got Kanyon's book and removed the brick. Kanyon didn't see this since he was laid out on the floor. They brawled on the floor and Kanyon put the stairs on top of Booker and then hit the stairs with a chairshot. Kanyon worked on Booker's back. Booker came back and scored some near falls. Kanyon wedged a chair between the turnbuckles, but as you might expect he was the one who ended up crashing into it. Kanyon used the book, thinking the brick was in it (didn't it weigh a lot less without it?) but with no brick, he was unable to KO Booker. Booker hit his chokeslam (called the "Bookend") but only got a two count. Jarrett then ran in and busted a guitar over Booker's head and Kanyon pinned him with the Kanyon Kutter. An okay match.

MIKE AWESOME beat SCOTT STEINER by DQ in 9:09 of the U.S. Title match. Scott attacked Awesome on the floor and they brawled into the crowd. Scott scored a near pin after a belly-to-belly suplex off the top. Scott bumped out where Awesome hit him with the ring bell and a chair across the back. Awesome kept working on Scott's back, which has legit sidelined him in the past. Referee Ron Howard overlooked all the chairshots since he was operating under the relaxed rules of the Russo Era. The new ref really does look like Ron Howard. Cat came out, apparently unhurt from the savage beating he had just taken, and tried to kick Scott but hit Awesome instead. Scott suplexed Cat. They traded some near falls and when Scott went for the recliner, Cat warned him that it was a banned move. Scott ignored him and hooked it anyway so Cat DQ'ed him and stripped him of the title. Oh joy, another title stripping. Scott suplexed Awesome afterward. A standard Nitro type match.

VAMPIRO defeated DEMON in the graveyard match. Just awful. The rules were that you had to destroy your opponent in the graveyard and then make it to the arena before him. Demon brought Asya with him, which made no sense given the fact that he's supposedly trying to protect her from Vampiro. Vampiro was hiding in a tree. They brawled around in near total darkness and Vampiro fell in an open grave. Vampiro than pulled Demon in and fled with Asya. Demon ran after him and found Asya freaking out beside a pond. Vampiro emerged from the pond like Mark Lewin during the Kevin Sullivan occult angles from the early 1980's and threw Demon in. The ref had to save Demon from "drowning" and Tony Schiavone said, "we've gone to new boundaries now." Uh-huh. Demon again found Asya freaking out, this time next to a coffin. Vampiro emerged and broke a very soft tombstone over Demon's head, put him in the coffin, and shoved it into a grave. Vampiro then left, I guess to call a taxi to bring him to the arena. This segment lasted 8:07, which was 8:53 too long.

SHANE DOUGLAS beat BUFF BAGWELL in 7:52. Douglas guaranteed that he'd win since he really is "that damn good". It really makes the promotion look bad when they openly borrow the competition's catch phrases. They quickly began brawling on the floor. The crowd heat was okay but they had to kill the mic when a "Shane's a pussy" chant started. See? Even WCW's paying fans borrow WWF's fan chants. Shane tried to piledrive Buff on the concrete floor but Buff blocked it. They kept brawling in pretty much standard action. Shane knocked a chair into Buff's face. Then, Torrie Wilson arrived. Shane wanted to kiss her but she slapped him. Buff made a comeback and was scoring near falls as Torrie cheered him, but then she turned on him (like we couldn't see that coming) and kicked him in the balls (like we couldn't see that coming, too). Shane hit the Pittsburgh Plunge but only got two. Buff scored two with a DDT. Buff shoved Torrie off the apron but ended up getting crotched and Shane won with his new move, which the commentators tried to sell as a big deal even though they didn't know what to call it. It's basically a Stone Cold Stunner from the opposite side. Shane and Torrie kissed and left together.

Hulk Hogan finally arrived. Jarrett told Jurassic Slapnuts (Gene Okerlund) that Plan A would now go into effect and asked if he had seen the movie "Usual Suspects". Hmmmmm.

HULK HOGAN beat JEFF JARRETT in 1:19 to win some version of the WCW World Title. Jarrett's music played but it took a while for him to come out, accompanied by Vince Russo, back from his hiatus. When the bell rang, Jarrett simply laid down and Russo tossed the belt to Hogan. Hogan looked surprised but eventually pinned Jarrett, who then simply got up and left. Hogan got on the mic and said, "That's why this company is in the shape it's in, because of bulls*** like this." I guess Hogan forgot about the Sting match on PPV and the time he himself won the title on Nitro when Nash laid down for him. Come to think of it, I'd like to forget those things, too. Hogan then left. In fact, he left the arena completely.

Vampiro arrived so I guess his win became official. Sting's music played and a bunch of Druids in Sting masks came out carrying a coffin. Another Druid in a Sting mask, supposedly the real Sting, emerged from the coffin, beat Vampiro up, and threw him in. Lame.

Goldberg did an interview and said it was all he could do to keep from destroying Hall's contract. I thought he not only destroyed it, but ate it on Nitro. Maybe Hall has 314 contracts and that's how his ass keeps from getting fired no matter how unprofessionally he behaves.

Russo came back out and did what was either a total shoot or a very good worked shoot interview (take your pick but lean strongly toward the latter). He used the "s" word freely and said Hogan had exercised the creative control clause in his contract to demand the title win over Jarrett since he doesn't give a damn about the company. So Russo gave him his win but said the company is now through with Hogan and that the belt he "won" was the Hulk Hogan Memorial Title and that the real WCW World Title is still held by Jarrett. Basically, Russo was Vince and Hogan was Bret Hart with the babyface - heel roles reversed. Anyway, it was a hot interview and Russo said he came back for the boys in the locker room who work their asses off every night for the company and that there would be a real world title defense later with Jarrett vs. Booker T, whom Russo said had worked his ass off for 14 years in WCW (I agree he's worked his ass off but not for 14 years). The commentators, who were not in on this if it was an angle, had to ad lib and they put all this over as a shoot.

BILL GOLDBERG beat KEVIN NASH in 5:27 in the match for Hall's contract. Nash asked Scott Steiner to watch his back but he didn't act interested. It was slow-paced power moves for the most part. Goldberg really isn't back at 100%. Scott then came out and used the contract to "motivate" Nash. He should have used Nash's contract if that was the goal. Goldberg went for the spear but missed and hit the turnbuckles, rather than the post. Scott then turned on Nash and attacked him, which Nash didn't sell, which made the turn even more meaningless than it was. Goldberg speared and jackhammered Nash for the pin, He tore up the reincarnated contract that cannot die afterward.

BOOKER T defeated JEFF JARRETT in 13:38 to capture the WCW World Title. They were calling the spots all through this match so it was not planned out. If the Hogan incident was a work it was also a work on the boys themselves, which is also quite likely. They brawled through the crowd. Jarrett used a chair and then threw Booker over the announcers' desk before piledriving him on the desk. Jarrett worked on Booker's knee and did the figure four but Booker escaped. The heat began rising. Booker missed an axe kick but Jarrett sold it anyway. There was a ref bump. Jarrett tried to use the belt but Booker got it and used it for a near fall as the ref revived. Jarrett lodged a chair in between the turnbuckles but, as in the earlier match, it was Jarrett who took the blow. Jarrett flattened the ref. He went for a shot with the guitar but missed and Booker hit the bookend chokeslam and scored the three count to become the new world champion as a second ref ran in for the count. A good match, but overshadowed by the bizarre Hogan incident.

Note from Buck: In the days following the event, opinion was split down the middle as to whether this was a shoot or a work. Hogan's name was not mentioned the next night on Nitro, because attorneys for Hogan served WCW with papers to prevent them from doing so. The next day, WCW head Brad Siegal would not allow a taped interview with Russo, where he allegedly tore into Hogan, to air on Thunder. Hogan filed a lawsuit against Russo for defamation of character, which was eventually dismissed by a judge several years later.

To this day, fans argue over where the "work" ended and the "shoot" began, with the most common theory being that everything up to Hogan leaving was a work, and then Russo double crossed him after he left, beginning the shoot.

2001 - The APA defeat The Dudley Boyz for the WWF World Tag Team Title in Atlanta, Georgia, ending the Dudleys fourth title reign, and beginning their own third run with the belts.

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