It’s July 1997 and we’re taking a look at WCW Bash at the Beach 1997. We’ve done WWE In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede which was given an 8/10—or an adjusted 4/5 gold medal—back in 2019.
Let’s see if this show gives the strongest In Your House show on “Into the Vault” a run for its money.
The Best of WCW Bash at the Beach 1997
The Cruiserweight title bout between champion Chris Jericho and Ultimo Dragon is an obvious banger. These two had amazing chemistry when in the ring so this delivered and it’s almost as if WCW learned its lesson about lengthier matches that could drag on.
It’s definitely worth watching. While not exactly a must-watch match The Steiners taking Masahiro Chono and The Great Muta was above-average. It was an entertaining showdown. Every match doesn’t require stakes such as titles, careers, or valets on the line but sometimes you want something to be invested in. This one didn’t have the investment in it and was a match that was just on the card.
It was a pretty good tag bout no one asked for but was welcome nonetheless. The same could be said about the six-man tag Cruiserweight match as the teams of O.G La Parka, Psychosis, and Villano IV takes on Juventud Guerrera, Lizmark Jr, and Hector Garza.
However, the main difference is that at this point, fans expect Cruiserweight tag matches. They might not always respond to the match since they’re often just on the card but no show goes by without the cruisers in action.
It was a short, dope match that had a good position on the card where the action could lift fans’ enthusiasm if necessary. The pressure wasn’t there since the match was sandwiched between two strong bouts.
If anything, it could’ve contributed to burnout if the U.S title wasn’t on the card after our next entry. In a continuation of Benoit’s continued feud with The Taskmaster—and by extension, The Dungeon of Doom—we got their final bout.
Benoit vs. Sullivan has to be my second favorite feud of 1997 WCW purely because of how heated their matches are and the build to this last match. I mean, the Crippler had to go through mid-bosses after grueling, violent showdowns with the main boss at the start of the feud.
As for this match, it was an enjoyable, physical match that is everything I dig in a wrestling match. I’d say it’s a great ending to this chapter in Benoit’s WCW run.
The Rest
More Glacier vs. Vandenberg’s duo as this time Ernest Mill joined the buzzcut ice ninja in taking on Mortis and Wrath. This wasn’t a good bout but it was interesting at least. I was more interested in seeing The Cat in tag team action and seeing Mortis and Wrath as a team—which I felt could’ve worked throughout 1997.
They had a theme, they put in some work on their gimmick, I feel with some wins to showcase their teamwork and could’ve been a cool, supernatural/horror gimmicky tag team. Anyway, this match was mediocre as a whole. There’s nothing to write home about here outside of the individuals involved.
Jarrett taking on Mongo in the next part of their storyline was just a meh affair. Double J defends his U.S title against Steve McMichael in a bout that had a nice length for who was involved but ultimately, it did nothing for me. If anything, this could’ve been on weekly TV and would’ve been the same. Having a stake added very little as the match didn’t wow as a match and wasn’t even a decent title defense for Jarrett.
The Savage-DDP feud hit a stumbling block as a result of the tag match on WCW Bash at the Beach 1997. Randy Savage teamed up with Scott Hall while Curt Hennig came to DDP’s aid. It was a mostly AWA class reunion going down. Not that this factored into the quality of the match. This was a solid match but nothing to get too excited about, honestly.
I will say that it was a necessary departure from the singles matches in the feuds to not burn out those bouts. It would also feed into a short program with Curt Hennig and DDP’s continued progression in WCW.
Roddy Piper in 1997 wasn’t doing it for me but he was doing it for everyone else in the arena as they were into his match against Ric Flair. While the match was cement pace-wise, it wasn’t awful at all.
It was right in the middle as far as the action but had a crowd reaction that dwarfed many of the better in-ring matches on the show. The ending left something to be desired.
Another match that lacked the action of the strong undercard but made up for it in storytelling and crowd investment was the main event as Hollywood Hogan and Dennis Rodman took on The Giant and Lex Luger.
It was interesting because, on paper, The Giant and Lex should have eaten Hogan and Rodman for breakfast purely because Rodman didn’t have the ability or the experience to beat those two in a match. In-ring would’ve been a Hogan carry but Rodman got in there and mixed it up. His stuff was lousy but he played to the crowd extremely well and his dastardliness with Hogan made this bout.
I’d say this was a square, in-the-middle match. Unfortunately, it was just too long for those involved but deserve some time based on the celebrity aspect and that there were established WCW main eventers involved.
WCW Bash at the Beach 1997 Verdict: Bronze Medal (2.5/5)
I have to say, WCW Bash at the Beach 1997 was pretty beefy on above-average matches. However, it doesn’t top In Your House 16. The main reason is that the main event—while it had a great reaction from the crowd thanks to Hogan and Rodman—didn’t have both a great reaction and strong in-ring action.
Now, that really wouldn’t be a factor at the time as in the U.S the WCW main event did the job while in Canada, WWE’s main event was the bee’s knees, obviously. Another reason is that IYH 16 was just a smaller show with just a couple of matches. WCW always runs these bigger shows even when WWE runs full-sized PPVs.
In Your House 16 was something of a blessing for WWE’s July as it was exactly what the IYH series should’ve been: shorter shows with quality matches…instead of what it usually delivers: criminally mediocre shows with one or two bangers.
On the flip side, WCW PPVs were often way too heavy with a larger amount of bangers per show with a mediocre-quality main event.
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