The 1988 Great American Bash was the first NWA Great American Bash event broadcast on pay-per-view and the last major event produced by Jim Crockett Promotions before its sale to Turner Broadcasting.
Key Facts
- Event date
- July 10, 1988
- Venue
- Baltimore Arena, Baltimore, Maryland
- Broadcast format
- First Great American Bash on pay-per-view
- Main event result
- Ric Flair defeated Lex Luger (retained NWA World Heavyweight title)
- Promoter
- Jim Crockett Promotions (NWA)
- PPV banner
- First PPV under Turner Home Entertainment
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Jim Crockett Promotions sought to expand its audience by moving the annual Great American Bash event from closed-circuit television to pay-per-view, following the model established by WWF and capitalizing on the growing PPV market in professional wrestling during the late 1980s.
On July 10, 1988, JCP staged the Great American Bash at the Baltimore Arena, featuring Ric Flair retaining the NWA World Heavyweight Championship over Lex Luger, a Tower of Doom multi-man match, and several championship bouts on the undercard, broadcast live on pay-per-view under the Turner Home Entertainment banner.
The event proved to be the final NWA production under Jim Crockett Promotions, as Turner Broadcasting System purchased JCP in November 1988 and rebranded it as World Championship Wrestling (WCW), fundamentally reshaping the national professional wrestling landscape outside of WWF.