While the WWE had been putting on the biggest party of the summer for over thirty years, at one point WCW had tried to put on its own big Summer Fest - Bash At The Beach. Over the years, Bash At The Beach had some marquee moments like Hulk Hogan’s first and ultimately last match in WCW as well as the reveal of The Hulkster as the third man of the nWo.
RELATED: The 10 Best Matches In Bash At The Beach History
But the event was more than just a backdrop for some big moments in Hogan’s career, there were a lot of interesting matches that went on during the history of WCW’s big summer jam.
10 Sting Vs. Meng (1995)
Despite his backstage reputation as the toughest man walking the face of the planet, Haku / Meng rarely, if ever got a chance to showcase that toughness on screen. But he did get the chance to open the night back in 1995, the only Bash to be held on an actual beach!
The action between the two superstars was a back and forth fight until Sting was able to sneak a quick roll up for the victory.
9 Stunning Steve Austin Vs. Ricky The Dragon Steamboat (1994)
Before suffering a near fatal, let alone near-career ending injury, Steve Austin was a fantastic technical wrestler. During the very first Bash At The Beach, Stunning Steve defended the US title against Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat.
RELATED: 10 Things Most Fans Forget About Steve Austin's Career
While the match doesn’t get nearly the love that Steamboat and Randy Savage had, it’s still one of the great pre-nWo matches WCW had to offer. But it should not be cast aside, it has earned its place in the annals of Bash at the Beach history.
8 Hulk Hogan Vs. Vader (1995)
When Hulkamania was running wild in the WWE, he was constantly stocked up against a never ending string of monster heels. It was only natural that Hulk and WCW would try to head down that same rabbit hole and there was no bigger big man at the time than Big Van Vader. The two titans clashed on the beach in 1995 inside the confines of a solid steel cage.
While the nWo was a full year away, that still didn’t stop Rodzilla, Denis Rodman from getting involved in the match to keep Kevin Sullivan and Zodiac from interfering. Hogan naturally was able to escape and retain the world title.
7 John Tenta Vs. Big Bubba (1996)
How the mighty fell - it was just several years prior that both John Tenta and Big Buubba were up north working as their biggest wrestlers - Earthquake and The Big Boss Man. Fast forward a few years and they’re both treading water in WCW. Their feud against one another involved Big Bubba cutting off half of John Tenta’s hair and then the two facing off in a Carson City Silver Dollar Match.
Despite Vince Russo being years away, there was still a sock filled with silver dollars on a pole for anyone able to climb and get it.
6 Ric Flair Vs. Konnan (1996)
Because of the never ending list of legends and top tier talent that had rolled through WCW, it was always hard for perceived midcard stars to crack through the glass ceiling; no matter big they were elsewhere. That meant matches like Ric Flair against Konnan were few and far between.
But one of these instances did occur at the 1996 event. With Konnan’s US title on the line, Naitch pulled out all the stops to win, including Miss Elizabeth distracting the referee while Woman decked him with her shoe, allowing Flair to pick up the victory.
5 Public Enemy Vs. The Nasty Boys (1996)
The 1996 event had so many gimmick matches that one might think they were watching an Uncensored match. It’s also clear why Eric Bischoff isn’t a big fan of gimmick matches considering how abysmal some of the ones WCW had. This one surprisingly isn’t one of them. Public Enemy took on The Nasty Boys in a Double Dog Collar match.
The four brawlers found their way outside of the ring where they could add steel chairs and various forms of plunder into battle. Knobs and Sags were able deliver a chain-assisted clothesline to win the match.
4 Booker T Vs. Bret Hart (1998)
With his star on the rise in the company, Booker T was getting the opportunity to have higher and higher profile matches. At the 1998 Bash, he defended his TV title against the incredibly underused Bret Hart. Booker was able to survive The Hitman’s onslaught long enough to eke out a win via disqualification when Bret tried to use a steel chair.
Now that he was a sore loser, after the match, The Hitman delivered the ring post Figure Four and was set to break Booker’s leg until Stevie Ray came to save his brother.
3 Randy Savage & Sid Vicious Vs. Kevin Nash & Sting (1999)
By the time the 1999 Bash came along it was evident that the promotion was as Tony Schiavone puts it, :a coffin on roller skates". That meant WCW was willing to try all sorts of antics to keep the lights on. Antics like having the WCW title up for grabs in a tag team match.
Kevin Nash walked in as a the defending champion with The Stinger by his side against Team Madness - Sid Vicious and The Macho Man, which The Macho Man was able to pull off the victory and win the world title.
2 Junkyard Invitational (1999)
While the WWE was doing silly matches like The Iron Circle, WCW would try to outdo them with their own brand of ridiculous concepts.
RELATED: 7 Gimmick Matches That Sucked When They Debuted But Got Better
The Junkyard Invitational featured fourteen different WCW superstars doing battle inside of a Junkyard, where you had to climb out to win, which is exactly what Fit Finlay did. But despite the spectacle, Finlay won nothing more than a trophy made of junk. This was a match that could have been a dumpster fire, but the sheer ridiculousness of it worked...sort of.
1 Vampiro Vs. The Demon (2000)
During the COVID-19 pandemic, cinematic matches were all the rage. Twenty years earlier however, not so much. But that didn’t stop WCW from trying. Vampiro had kidnapped Aysa and the only way for The Demon to save her would be to do battle in a Graveyard Match.
But Vampiro was able to survive after Torborg couldn’t make it the ring. It was definitely an interesting experiment of sorts, but didn't really work out for the promotion.
