The Great American Bash Recap

One of the main events featured two fan favorites battle it out over the WWE Championship. The other main event saw the tallest wrestler in the WWE defend his newly won World Heavyweight Championship for the first time. However, the highlight of the night might have been the performance by the smallest wrestler on the roster and his surprise entry into a title match.

U.S. Title: Champion MVP vs. Matt Hardy - A Hardy has been in the opening match of 7 of the 9 WWE PPV events held this year. MVP dominated the early part of the match by working on the head of Matt Hardy to ruin his equilibrium and take away his ability to do his high-flying maneuvers. The match ended with MVP hitting a big boot followed by the Play Maker to keep the title. Winner: MVP

Cruiserweight Open Title Match: Champion Chavo Guerrero vs. Funaki vs. Jamie Noble vs. Shannon Moore vs. Jimmy Wang Yang - This match was open to any member of the SmackDown roster that met the weight limit. Prior to the start of the match, Hornswoggle came out, ran across the ring, and went to his hiding spot under the ring. During the match, all five men were momentarily put out of commission. Hornswoggle came out from under the ring, climbed to the top rope and dropped down on Jamie Noble. The ref counted to three and for the first time in WWE history, a leprechaun is holding championship gold. Winner: Hornswoggle

Singapore Cane on a Pole Match: Sandman vs. Carlito - Sandman did not enter the ring with his usual beer drinking festival. After managing to climb the pole to grab the cane, Sandman was only able to get off one swing. He missed and Carlito hit the Back Cracker to get the win. Winner: Carlito

Women's Championship: Champion Candice Michelle vs. Melina - This match was much better than their previous two PPV battles. Candice hit her new move, the Candy Wrapper (a standing bull dog), to get the win. Winner: Candice Michelle

- In the locker room, Matt warns his brother Jeff about losing focus. Candice enters the room and pours water on herself and starts dancing in slow motion to seductive music. Matt and Jeff stare with their mouths wide open when Ron Simmons walks in the room and gives his funniest sounding “Damn” to date.

Intercontinental Championship: Champion Umaga vs. Jeff Hardy - Umaga dominated the majority of the match. Jeff had a few chances to win the match when Umaga was careless and allowed his momentum to be used against him. However, Umaga used the kick, butt splash in the corner, and Samoan Spike combo to get the win. Winner: Umaga

ECW Championship: Champion John Morrison vs. CM Punk - Morrison felt his title was in danger and left the ring. Punk, knowing that he couldn’t win the title by count out, chased after him and threw him back into the ring. Punk followed Morrison back into the ring by trying a springboard off the top rope. Morrison kicked him when he tried to get in the ring and was able to get the three-count. Winner: John Morrison

Bullrope Match: Randy Orton vs. Dusty Rhodes - For the first few minutes of the match, Randy was in trouble because he was unfamiliar with how to navigate the bull rope with the cow bell in the middle. One he got the hang of it, Dusty was in trouble. Randy clocked Dusty in the head with the cow bell to easily get the three-count. After the match, Randy tried to continue his assault on Dusty but Cody Rhodes came out to save his father. Winner: Randy Orton

World Heavyweight Championship: Champion The Great Khali vs. Batista vs. Kane - When Khali was outside the ring, Batista got himself pumped up and delivered the Batista Bomb to Kane. When he tried to pin Kane, the arm of Khali reached into the ring and dragged Batista out of the ring. Khali rammed Batista into the ring steps. He then went into the ring and finished off Kane with the two-handed choke slam. Winner: The Great Khali

- A video package for the upcoming return of “The King of Kings” Triple H is shown. He will return from his injury at SummerSlam. King Booker came out and is angry that Triple H is using his King moniker. He then gets on the case of announcer Jerry “The King” Lawler and demands that Lawler relinquish his crown at the feet of King Booker. King Booker declares Lawler’s refusal to vacate his crown an act of treason. Booker leaves the ringside area without a physical confrontation.

WWE Championship: Champion John Cena vs Bobby Lashley - In this battle of fan favorites, the fans started off slightly in the favor of Lashley but by the end of the match they were solidly behind Cena. This match saw both men come close to losing on several occasions. The ending sequence saw Lashley attempt a spear but Cena reversed it into the STFU. Lashley escaped by grabbing the ropes. A few moments after it was broken, Lashley hit the Spear and came close to getting the win. A few moments later, Lashley placed Cena on the top rope but Cena was able to block Lashley’s attempted move and hit the FU off the top rope to get the win. After the match, both men shook hands. Winner: John Cena

What does this event mean for the future?
This PPV is the show that leads to the second biggest show of the year, SummerSlam. After tonight, it seems obvious that Triple H will be making his return to the ring against King Booker. It is also known that the cast of Jackass will be involved in the show in an angle with Umaga. Both of these angles were known prior to the start of this show though.

As far as what we learned tonight, it is that both champions appear to be dominant. Cena cleanly beat Lashley while the Great Khali cleanly beat his two giant enemies. Despite cleanly winning their matches, I still predict that there will be rematches held next month with exciting stipulations.

Overall Thoughts
With all the bad news surrounding the company, it was very important that they give their fans something to be happy about. While this show can never make up for the events since the last PPV, the WWE did a good job of “putting smiles on people's faces” with this show. Everything on the show was good and the main event was special. If you purchased the show, you made a good decision.

Match Results

• U.S. Title: Champion MVP beat Matt Hardy
  
• Cruiserweight Title: Hornswoggle beat Champion Chavo Guerrero, Funaki, Jamie Noble, Shannon Moore, and Jimmy Wang Yang to win the title
  
• Singapore Cane on a Pole Match: Carlito beat Sandman
  
• Women’s Title: Champion Candice Michelle beat Melina
  
• Intercontinental Championship: Champion Umaga beat Jeff Hardy
  
• ECW Title: Champion John Morrison beat C.M. Punk
  
• Bull Rope Match: Randy Orton beat Dusty Rhodes
  
• World Heavyweight Championship: Champion The Great Khali beat Batista and Kane
  
• WWE Title: Champion John Cena beat Lashley

_{Photo: © 2007 World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Great Khali can be seen every Friday night on the CW Network Show Friday Night SmackDown.}