The Great American Bash (2017) was a professional wrestling pay per view produced by War Hawks Entertainment Inc. for their SmackDown brand. It took place on July 24, 2017 from the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was the first event in the WHEI Great American Bash chronology. It was also the first (and only) SmackDown exclusive pay per view of Season 2, as well as the third and final pay per view of season 2 overall.
The main event was a singles match for the WHEI WWE Championship between Shane McMahon and Randy Orton, in which Orton defeated McMahon to win the championship.
Also at the event Kenz (at the time of WGP) retained the WHEI SmackDown Women's Championship in a Triple Threat Match also involving Lita and former champion Nightingale.
Background[]
The card consisted of matches that resulted from scripted storylines that played out on WHEI's SmackDown brand. Storylines played out on the War Hawks' weekly show on Twitch Friday Night SmackDown Live. Wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters as they built tension that lead to a match or series of matches heading into the event.
The primary feud heading into the event was between Shane McMahon and Randy Orton, with the two feuding over the WHEI WWE Championship. By virtue of being the champion at the end of Season 1, McMahon was the champion heading into season 2. Orton got tired of Shane lording it over the SmackDown locker room and quite frankly, so did Ironman. To remedy this, he scheduled a match between the two with the title on the line at The Great American bash.
Another feud heading into the event was between Baron Corbin and Hideo Itami, with the two feuding over the WHEI United States Championship. After weeks of beating on smaller opponents and saying no one on SmackDown was on his level, Corbin went to SmackDown General Manager Ironman and demanded a trade to one of the other brands. Ironman got in his face and told him he was in no position to demand anything, and if it were up to him, he'd kick his ass and take the title himself. However, he had found someone who could do it for him. He then scheduled a match between Corbin and Itami for the pay per view.
Another feud heading into the match was between Enzo & Cass (Enzo Amore & Big Cass) and Breezango (Tyler Breeze & Fandango) with the teams feuding over the WHEI SmackDown Tag Team Championship. Shortly after being drafted to SmackDown in the season 2 draft, Breezango started up their "Fashion Police" gimmick. They routinely spent episodes handing out tickets for infractions, including, hilariously, one to Ironman for thinking he looked cool in a leather jacket. When they ran afoul of Enzo and Cass for one such ticket, they challenged the two for the Championship at Great American Bash, which they accepted.
Another feud heading into the event was between Kenz, Lita, and Nightingale. With the 3 women feuding over the WHEI SmackDown Women's Championship. The night before the pay per view, Kenz defeated Nightingale in the main event in a Last Woman Standing Match to win the championship. Nightingale immediately announced she would be invoking her rematch clause at the pay per view. This angered #1 Contender Lita, however Kenz told her not to worry as she would defend the title against them both at the show.
Another feud heading into the event was between War Hawks member Micah and Devon Dudley with the two feuding over the WHEI Hardcore Championship. After the championship was reinstated and made exclusive to the SmackDown brand, Micah defeated Bam Bam Bigelow to win the title on an episode of SmackDown. After weeks of bragging about defeating an ECW Original for the title, Micah would go on to claim no one from ECW could beat him. This lead to Devon coming out and challenging him for the title, which he accepted.
Another feud heading into the event was between debuting War Hawks member Stephen and the Rock. Stephen made his SmackDown debut by interrupting the Rock, who then proceeded to dress him down in his usual manner. Stephen didn't like this and challenged the Rock to a match at the pay per view. When Rock didn't take this challenge seriously, Stephen attacked him, this lead to The Rock accepting his challenge and the match being made official the next week.
The final feud heading into the event also involved a debut, this time Sherania. When she made her debut on SmackDown, Alicia Fox came out and demanded to know who the hell she was. Instead of answering her, Sherania simply hit her with a Chokeslam before walking away. Furious, Fox would go to Ironman and request a match with Sherania at the pay per view. Ironman agreed and scheduled the match for The Great American Bash.
Event[]
Preliminary matches[]
The pay per view opened with a triple threat match for the WHEI SmackDown Women's Championship between Champion Kenz, Lita, and Nightingale. After an unbelievable 15 minute match packed with excitement and lots of near falls, Kenz countered a knee to the back attempt and hit Lita with a Deep 6 while Nightingale was out of the ring to win the match and retain the championship.
This was followed by match for the WHEI SmackDown Tag Team Championship between Enzo & Cass (Enzo Amore & Big Cass) and champions Breezango (Tyler Breeze & Fandango). After a great back and forth match between both teams, Fandango isolated Amore and hit a Rude Awakening Neckbreaker followed by a Top Rope Legdrop and pinned him to win the match and retain the championship for his team.
Following that was a No Holds Barred Match for the WHEI Hardcore Championship with Devon Dudley challenging War Hawks member Micah. After a brief 6 minute match that was pretty much dominated by Micah, including a brief fight on the outside, Micah hit an Ozark Street Cutter to win the match and retain the championship.
After that was a Last Man Standing Match between Stephen and The Rock. In the end, the Rock's arrogance in not taking the War Hawks member seriously cost him, as Stephen hit him with an 8 Second Ride. This resulted in Rock not being able to make it to his feet before the referee counted to 10. As a result, Stephen won the match.
Then was the match for the WHEI United States Championship between defending champion Baron Corbin and Hideo Itami. The match barely lasted 3 minutes as Corbin all but dominated Itami and hit him with an End Of Days to win the match and retain the championship.
The penultimate match was between Sherania and Alicia Fox. In the end, despite Alicia having the experience advantage, her overconfidence was her undoing as Sherania countered an Axe Kick attempt and hit her with a RIott Kick followed by a Powerbomb and stacked her up to win the match.
Main event[]
The main event was a match for the WHEI WWE Championship between Randy Orton and Shane McMahon. In the end despite a valiant effort by McMahon, Orton was just too much for him as he hit his patented stomps to his various limbs to win the match and the championship.
Results[]
| No. | Match | Stipulations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenz (c) def. Lita and Nightingale | Triple Threat Match for the WHEI SmackDown Women's Championship |
| 2 | Breezango (Tyler Breeze & Fandango) (c) def. Enzo & Cass (Enzo Amore & Big Cass) | Tag Team Match for the WHEI SmackDown Tag Team Championship |
| 3 | Micah (c) def. Devon Dudley | No Holds Barred Match for the WHEI Hardcore Championship |
| 4 | Stephen def. The Rock | Last Man Standing Match |
| 5 | Baron Corbin (c) def. Hideo Itami | Singles Match for the WHEI United States Championship |
| 6 | Sherania def. Alicia Fox | Singles Match |
| 7 | Randy Orton def. Shane McMahon (c) | Singles Match for the WHEI WWE Championship |