The Great American Bash (1997)
The 1997 Great American Bash was the seventh Great American Bash professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and 11th Great American Bash event overall. It took place on June 15, 1997, at The MARK of the Quad Cities in Moline, Illinois. Production Background The Great American Bash is a professional wrestling event established in 1985. It was first produced by the National Wrestling Alliance's (NWA) Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) and aired on closed-circuit television before becoming a pay-per-view event in 1988; JCP was rebranded as World Championship Wrestling (WCW) later that same year. WCW then seceded from the NWA in 1991. The 1997 event was the seventh Great American Bash event promoted by WCW and 11th overall. It took place on June 15, 1997, at The MARK of the Quad Cities in Moline, Illinois. Storylines The event featured professional wrestling matches that involve different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and stor ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) territory Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) (which had aired its programming on TBS). For much of its existence, WCW was one of the top professional wrestling promotions in the United States alongside the World Wrestling Federation (WWF; now known as World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)), at one point surpassing the latter in terms of popularity. After initial success through utilization of established wrestling stars of the 1980s, the company appointed Eric Bischoff to executive producer of television in 1993. Under Bischoff's leadership, the company enjoyed a period of mainstream success characterized by a shift to reality-based storylines, and notable hirings of former WWF talent. WCW also gained attention for ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Face (professional Wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a face (babyface) is a heroic, "good guy" or "fan favorite" wrestler, booked (scripted) by the promotion with the aim of being cheered by fans, and acts as a protagonist to the heels, who are the villainous antagonist or "bad guy" characters. Traditionally, they wrestle within the rules and avoid cheating (in contrast to the villains who use illegal moves and call in additional wrestlers to do their work for them) while behaving positively towards the referee and the audience. Such characters are also referred to as blue-eyes in British wrestling and ''técnicos'' in ''lucha libre''. The face character is portrayed as a hero relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains. Not everything a face wrestler does must be heroic: faces need only to be clapped or cheered by the audience to be effective characters. When the magazine ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' went into circulation in the late 1970s, the magazine referred to face wrestlers as " ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Randy Anderson
Randall "Pee Wee" Anderson (July 17, 1959 – May 5, 2002) was an American professional wrestling referee and amateur wrestler who worked for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)'s Jim Crockett Promotions and World Championship Wrestling. Professional wrestling career Anderson was a childhood friend of Arn Anderson. He started out training for a professional wrestling career with Arn under the tutelage of Ted Allen. Anderson started working as a referee upon his graduation in 1978 in Mid-South Wrestling. He also refereed in Florida Championship Wrestling before arriving in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)'s Jim Crockett Promotions in 1985. He quickly rose up the referee ranks and was the referee for several main event matches. In 1988, when Ted Turner bought Crockett and renamed it World Championship Wrestling, Anderson stayed on. Anderson was the referee in charge of the main event six-man tag match at Bash at the Beach 1996 which saw the heel turn of Hulk Hogan and the fo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Referee (professional Wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a referee is an authority figure present in or near the ring during matches. The referee's purpose is similar to that of referees in combat sports such as boxing or mixed martial arts, that is, as an arbiter of the rules and the person charged with rendering decisions. In reality, the referee is, like the wrestlers, a participant in executing a match in accordance with its script including its pre-determined outcome, and is responsible for controlling the flow of the match and for relaying information or instructions from backstage officials to the wrestlers. Like wrestlers, referees are also responsible for maintaining kayfabe, and must render decisions in accordance with the promotion's kayfabe rules. Purpose The kayfabe purpose of a professional wrestling referee is to render decisions ( pinfalls, submissions, disqualifications, countouts) during a match but the legit purpose they serve is to transmit messages to wrestlers about the progress of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Michael Buffer
Michael Buffer (born November 2, 1944) is an American ring announcer (or " MC") for boxing, professional wrestling, and National Football League matches. He is known for his trademarked catchphrase: "Let's get ready to rumble!" Early life Buffer was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on November 2, 1944. His father was enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II. Buffer's parents divorced when he was 11 months of age, and he was then raised by foster parents, a school bus driver and housewife, in Roslyn, Pennsylvania. He enlisted in the United States Army during the Vietnam War at age 20 and served until age 23. He held various jobs including a car salesman, then began a modeling career at age 32 before becoming a ring announcer at age 38. Career Boxing In 1982, Buffer began his career as a ring announcer. By 1983, he was announcing all boxing matches promoted by Bob Arum's Top Rank on ESPN, which gave him a national identity at a time when ring announcers were str ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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David Penzer
David Penzer (born May 22, 1966) is an American professional wrestling ring announcer currently signed to Impact Wrestling. He is also known for his work with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1993 to 2001. Outside of ring announcing, he is also a realtor and hosted the podcast ''Sitting Ringside. '' Early life Penzer attended the University of Florida. While there, he operated a mobile disc jockey company. Announcing career Global Wrestling Alliance (1988–1993) Penzer debuted as a ring announcer in 1988, appearing with the Global Wrestling Alliance in the South Florida metropolitan area. World Championship Wrestling (1993–2001) Penzer first became involved with World Championship Wrestling around mid-to-late 1993 or early 1994 while acting as a booking agent for Floridan jobbers who appeared at WCW events. He was eventually hired by Tony Schiavone in 1995 and was mentored by Gary Cappetta. When Cappetta was released from WCW in 1995, Penzer was appointed mai ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ring Announcer
A ring announcer is an in-ring (and sometimes on-camera) employee or contractor for a boxing, professional wrestling or mixed martial arts event or promotion, who introduces the competitors to the audience. In boxing and mixed martial arts bouts, introductions occur after both fighters have entered the ring or cage. Along with each fighter's name, the announcer typically also announces their height, weight, town, nickname, win–loss record and any current or past titles the fighter has won. In MMA, the fighting discipline is usually announced. In professional wrestling, wrestlers are similarly introduced, though usually before or as they come to the ring (the weight of each female wrestler is unannounced in most promotions). In-ring introductions are sometimes used for title matches or other major bouts, to add a "big fight feel". The ring announcer often states the rules of the match. In boxing and MMA, this is usually limited to the number of scheduled rounds and the length of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gene Okerlund
Eugene Arthur Okerlund (December 19, 1942 – January 2, 2019), better known by his ring name "Mean Gene" Okerlund, was an American professional wrestling interviewer, announcer and television host. He was best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and World Championship Wrestling. Okerlund was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006 by Hulk Hogan. He was signed to a lifetime contract with WWE and later worked for promotional programs. He has been described by journalists as the best interviewer in the history of professional wrestling. Professional career Early career Eugene Arthur Okerlund was born on December 19, 1942 in Brookings, South Dakota to Arthur and Helen Okerlund. He grew up in Sisseton and was raised on an Indian reservation. He graduated from Sisseton High School in 1960. He was an all-around athlete, participating in basketball, baseball, football and track. After studying broadcast journalism at the University of Nebraska (Lincoln ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Interviewer
An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" refers to a one-on-one conversation between an ''interviewer'' and an ''interviewee''. The interviewer asks questions to which the interviewee responds, usually providing information. That information may be used or provided to other audiences immediately or later. This feature is common to many types of interviews – a job interview or interview with a witness to an event may have no other audience present at the time, but the answers will be later provided to others in the employment or investigative process. An interview may also transfer information in both directions. Interviews usually take place face-to-face and in person but the parties may instead be separated geographically, as in videoconferencing or telephone interviews. I ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dusty Rhodes (wrestler)
Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. (October 11, 1945 – June 11, 2015), better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American professional wrestler, booker, and trainer who most notably worked for the National Wrestling Alliance, Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling, and the World Wrestling Federation, later known as the WWE. Rhodes is considered as one of the greatest wrestlers and talkers in the history of professional wrestling. Rhodes was a three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, and during his time in Jim Crockett Promotions, later known as WCW, he was a United States Heavyweight Champion, and multi-time World Television, World Tag Team and World Six-Man Tag Team Champion. He also won many regional championships, and is one of seven men inducted into each of the WWE, WCW, Professional Wrestling, and ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' Halls of Fame. His sons, Dustin and Cody, both pursued careers in professional wrestling, currently performing fo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bobby Heenan
Raymond Louis Heenan (November 1, 1944 – September 17, 2017) was an American professional wrestling manager, color commentator, wrestler, and comedian. He performed with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under the ring name Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. Heenan was known for his skill in elevating villainous on-screen talent by drawing negative reactions for himself and his wrestlers from the crowd. He was paired with numerous wrestlers, including Nick Bockwinkel, whom he led to win the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, and he became an integral figure in the 1980s professional wrestling boom by managing King Kong Bundy and André the Giant in WWF main event matches with Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 2 and WrestleMania III respectively. The wrestlers under his tutelage were collectively known as "The Heenan Family" at various times throughout his career. Known for his quick wit and comed ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tony Schiavone
Noah Anthony Schiavone (, ; born November 7, 1957) is an American sports announcer, professional wrestling commentator and podcaster currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a play-by-play commentator and senior producer. He has previously worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and Major League Wrestling (MLW). In addition to his work in wrestling, Schiavone has also worked as a broadcaster for the Gwinnett Braves/Stripers of Minor League Baseball and Georgia Bulldogs football. In 2013, WWE noted that, "At the height of the Monday Night War, veteran broadcaster Tony Schiavone's voice was as vital to the onscreen product of World Championship Wrestling as Jim Ross' Oklahoma growl was to WWE." In 2021, Schiavone announced a Kickstarter campaign for a biographical graphic novel titled ''Butts in Seats: The Tony Schiavone Story''. Tony Schiavone can be heard on his podcast ''What Happened ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |