WWE: United We Slam - The Best of The Great American Bash Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

WWE: United We Slam - The Best of The Great American Bash Blu-ray Movie Review

Stars everywhere!

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 17, 2014

The Great American Bash was an annual, summertime staple Pay-Per-View event that ran from 1985-2000 as, predominantly, a product of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), sort of a parallel to the WWE's SummerSlam, now a long-running late August PPV event that saw its birth in 1988 and that continues on today to great success. Home to a number of top-rated matches performed by some of the biggest names in the industry -- including Ric Flair, Randy Savage, Dusty Rhodes, Sting, Hulk Hogan, and Steve Austin -- the event will be long remembered as an indisputable highlight of a bygone era that is now preserved in what is, essentially, a full-match greatest hits highlight reel on Blu-ray.

Bashed.

Hosted by the always-affable Dusty Rhodes, United We Slam: The Best of Great American Bash represents the quintessential WWE Home Video retro compilation. There's not much backstory here and no assembled Documentary meant to tell the story of the pay event but rather a string of the best of the best from the debut 1985 match between Ric Flair and Nikita Koloff all the way to a 2000 World Heavyweight Championship bout between Jeff Jarrett and Kevin Nash. Rhodes does a fine job of filling in the gaps and adding a little color to the proceedings. Despite getting off track here and there, for a moment, he conveys the basics but mostly allows the wrestling to do the talking, and it shouts. There are plenty of terrific matches here, some of them a little fuzzy and long in the tooth in terms of their technical presentations but clear enough to recognize wrestling at its best. The program follows basic WWE compilation structure, with Rhodes only checking in on occasion rather than before every match. WWE Home Video veterans know what to expect, and newcomers who grew up fans of this PPV will enjoy the to-the-point layout and hours upon hours of classic wrestling excitement.

United We Slam: The Best of Great American Bash contains the following matches:

Disc One:

• NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match: Ric Flair vs. Nikita Koloff. Charlotte, NC -- July 1985 (Exclusive commentary provided by Dusty Rhodes & Larry Zbyszko).
• #1 Contender's Match for the NWA World Tag Team Championship: Rock N' Roll Express vs. Arn & Ole Anderson. Greensboro, NC -- July 1986 (Exclusive commentary provided by Dusty Rhodes & Larry Zbyszko).
• Steel Cage Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Ric Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes. Charlote, NC -- July 1986 (Exclusive commentary provided by Dusty Rhodes & Larry Zbyszko).
• War Games Match: Road Warriors, Dusty Rhodes, Nikita Koloff & Paul Ellering vs. Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Lex Luger & JJ Dillon. Atlanta GA -- July 1987.
• Tag Team Match: Sting & Lex Luger vs. Road Warriors. Charlotte, NC -- July 1988. (Exclusive commentary provided by Dusty Rhodes & Larry Zbyszko).
• NWA World Television Championship Match: Sting vs. The Great Muta. Baltimore, MD -- July 23, 1989.
• NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match: Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk. Baltimore, MD -- July 23, 1989.
• NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match: Ric Flair vs. Sting. Baltimore, MD -- July 7, 1990.
• Tag Match: Steiner Brothers vs. The Fabulous Freebirds. Baltimore, MD -- July 7, 1990.
• Quarter Finals Match in the NWA Tag Team Title Tournament: Dustin Rhodes & Barry Windham vs. "Stunning" Steve Austin & Rick Rude. Albany, GA -- July 12, 1992.
• WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match: Sting vs. Vader. Albany, GA -- July 12, 1992.

Disc Two:

• Singles Match: "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair. Dayton, OH -- June 18, 1995.
• WCW Responds to the Outsiders' Challenge: Baltimore, MD -- June 16, 1996.
• Falls Count Anywhere Match: Diamond Dallas Page vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Moline, IL -- June 15, 1997.
• Respect Match: Ultimo Dragon vs. Psicosis. Moline, Il -- June 15, 1997.
• Singles Match: Chavo Guerrero vs. Eddie Guerrero. Baltimore, MD -- June 14, 1998.
• Singles Match for the Vacant WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Dean Malenko vs. Chris Jericho. Baltimore, MD -- June 14, 1998.
• Tag Team Match: "Rowdy" Roddy Piper & "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan & Bret "Hit Man" Hart. Baltimore, MD -- June 14, 1998.
• Ambulance Match: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Mike Awesome. Baltimore, MD -- June 11, 2000.
• WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match: Jeff Jarrett vs. Kevin Nash. Baltimore, MD -- June 11, 2000.

WWE: United We Slam - The Best of The Great American Bash Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

United We Slam: The Best of Great American Bash arrives on Blu-ray with, as always, the typical mix-and-match WWE 1080i transfer, this one containing both 1.78:1 and 1.33:1 aspect ratio material. There are two camps here, the up-converted standard definition material and the newly minted HD material. As usual, the score is reflective of the HD material; it would be unfair to alter the score for material that's only available in SD. The HD footage offers crisp, nicely defined details, featuring host Dusty Rhodes standing inside an empty arena with a backdrop of the big WWE digital signage. Clarity is excellent, colors pop, depth is strong, and detail is superb. Viewers will be able to soak in finer details some distance away as well as skin and clothing textures on Rhodes close-ups. Black levels satisfy here, too, as do flesh tones. Some compression issues are evident. The SD material ranges greatly in quality as the material progresses to the more modern. Details and crispness improve, as does color and stability, but ever-present are a number of technical issues that hold it back. Nevertheless, it's more than passable for what it is.

WWE: United We Slam - The Best of The Great American Bash Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

United We Slam: The Best of Great American Bash features a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, standard issue for the WWE and, here, at least, all the presentation needs. Intro music enjoys solid presence and clarity, and Rhodes' interlude commentary is delivered clearly and efficiently from the center. The matches contain either Rhodes and Larry Zbyszko commentary or classic play-by-play and crowd ambience. The newer Rhodes/Zbyszko commentary plays a bit more clearly and with better definition than much of the older material, which can sound shallow early but fill in a bit more nicely as the material progresses through the years, both in terms of vocal delivery clarity as well as arena ambience, such as crowd noise and music. The retro collections rarely, if ever, stretch sound systems, and this one is no different. It's basic WWE and sonic stuff, getting the listener through the material, nothing more and nothing less.

WWE: United We Slam - The Best of The Great American Bash Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

United We Slam: The Best of Great American Bash contains the following bonus matches, labeled as "Blu-ray exclusives," on disc two, with a total run time of 1:42:05.

• Steel Cage Match: Dusty Rhodes, Magnum Ta & Baby Doll vs. The Midnight Express & Jim Cornette. Charlotte, NC -- July 1986 (Exclusive commentary provided by Dusty Rhodes & Larry Zbyszko).
• NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match: Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger. Baltimore, MD -- July 1998.
• Russian Chain Match: Sting vs. Nikita Koloff. Baltimore, MD -- June 14, 1991.
• Tag Team Match: Kevin Greene & Steve McMichael vs. Ric Flair & Arn Anderson. Baltimore, MD -- June 16, 1996.
• WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match: Kevin Nash vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Baltimore, MD -- June 13, 1999.

WWE: United We Slam - The Best of The Great American Bash Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

United We Slam: The Best of Great American Bash never deviates from traditional WWE compilation structure, and that's just fine. The program, spread across two discs, offers practically a day's worth of professional wrestling entertainment, preserved as it was broadcast and still just as entertaining as they day the matches took place. This collection is packed with star power and it's a must-see for fans and not a bad place to start for wrestling newbies looking to dig back through the archives. WWE Home Video's Blu-ray release of United We Slam: The Best of Great American Bash features typically sound 1080p picture quality, adequate Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, and several bonus matches. Recommended.