An old favorite among wrestling fans may be making a return soon.
No, we’re not talking about a wrestler from years gone by. Instead, WWE is looking to revive a classic NWA/WCW PPV event from the past that was incredibly popular, especially in the 1980s, was dusted off for a brief time by WWE, and has since been retired.
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One of WCW’s trademark events, the Great American Bash, has recently been trademarked by WWE according to Mike Johnson of PWInsider. The trademark was reportedly filed just last week, April 27th.
It is interesting that WWE apparently no longer held the trademark, probably due to expiration, as the company brought the show back as their own PPV event from 2004 until 2008. The following year, in 2009, WWE renamed the show “The Bash,” and that was the last time the branding was used for a PPV event. In 2012, WWE had a special edition of SmackDown which they branded the Great American Bash as an Independence Day special.
The last WCW incarnation of the Great American Bash was in 2000, about nine months before the company closed its doors for good in March 2001.
WWE’s 2018 PPV calendar is now firmly in place, and the Great American Bash has historically always been a summer event. It’s intriguing to think about how they may use this new trademark; one prediction is they may do a special live event in July using the name, perhaps as a WWE Network special. Another option would be using the show’s name for a house show, likely in the south where the Great American Bash was a staple in the 1980s, similar to how WWE brought back Starrcade for a live, untelevised event in Greensboro last fall.
The last edition of the Great American Bash, the aforementioned special edition of SmackDown in 2012, was headlined by a 20-man battle royal to determine a one week only guest GM for the show. Zack Ryder was victorious in that main event.
