The Great American Bash 2006: King Booker Gets His Crown While the Card Falls Apart Around Him

London and Kendrick give the reshuffled show exactly the opener it needs. The Pit Bulls slow the champions with stiff strikes and compact double-team work, while London and Kendrick keep creating space through speed. The match improves once London becomes the isolated partner because Noble and Kash can grind him down without turning the bout into a sprint. Kendrick's hot tag then feels earned. The final run stacks dives, counters, and broken pin attempts without becoming chaotic. Kendrick finally catches Noble in a sunset flip while London adds a dropsault, forcing the weight shift that completes the pin. It is a clever finish to a match that makes four smaller wrestlers feel like a genuine championship attraction.

Finlay and Regal are too skilled to produce nothing, but the circumstances work against them. Both are heels, both enter expecting a different match, and the crowd is still frustrated over Lashley's removal. They lean into bruising forearms, hand work, suplexes, and Little Bastard interference, yet the pace rarely rises above methodical. Regal losing his boot becomes the match's running gag and eventually the finish. While the referee removes the shillelagh, Little Bastard gives Finlay Regal's boot, Finlay uses it as a weapon, and then adds his feet on the ropes during the pin. The cheating fits Finlay perfectly. Thirteen minutes is simply too long for a replacement match with no emotional side for the audience to choose.

Helms and Hardy turn another late replacement into one of the show's most reliable matches. They know each other well enough to skip the feeling-out process and immediately begin trading counters, neckbreakers, and increasingly credible near falls. Helms' top-rope swinging neckbreaker is the visual highlight, while Hardy's Side Effect and moonsault press create believable chances for the upset. Neither wrestler wastes motion, which makes the eleven-minute runtime feel generous rather than rushed. The finish is suitably heelish. Helms sends Hardy into the turnbuckle, catches him in a rollup, and uses the tights to secure the pin. It is not a major story, but it is clean professional wrestling in the middle of a show desperate for exactly that.

The first Punjabi Prison match asks Undertaker and Big Show to explain an unfamiliar structure while also wrestling inside it, and neither task goes well. Timed doors, two cages, bamboo walls, straps, spikes, and escape rules turn every transition into a mechanical exercise. Big Show looks exhausted long before the twenty-one minutes end, while Undertaker spends too much time climbing or waiting for doors. Blood and table crashes add violence without adding rhythm. The final spot captures the problem perfectly: Undertaker jumps from the inner structure onto Show, and both crash through the outer wall rather than completing a clean escape. Undertaker is declared the winner because his feet hit first. The spectacle is memorable, but almost none of it is enjoyable.

The match is designed around stripping rather than wrestling, so competitive logic barely exists. There are body slams, dropkicks, corner spots, and brief alliances, but each sequence is primarily a setup for removing clothing. Jillian is the most experienced wrestler involved and occasionally gives the exchanges some shape, while Ashley receives the clearest crowd support. The finish comes when Jillian holds Kristal and Ashley removes her top to win. WWE then extends the segment with more stripping between the babyfaces after the decision. The performers commit to what they are asked to do, but the stipulation leaves almost no room for a meaningful athletic contest. Modern replay makes the presentation feel especially distant from what WWE later expects from its women's division.

Batista's pay-per-view return should feel triumphant, but the match becomes increasingly uncomfortable after Kennedy is legitimately cut open on the steel steps. The injury adds intensity without improving the structure. Kennedy targets Batista's surgically repaired arm and tries to slow the returning star, while Batista responds with increasingly aggressive power offense. The finish is frustrating by design. Batista traps Kennedy in the corner, refuses to release a choke when the referee reaches five, and is disqualified. He then destroys Kennedy with spinebusters and a Batista Bomb, standing tall despite officially losing. The post-match image protects Batista and the result protects Kennedy, but the compromise leaves the audience without the clean comeback victory the match appears built to deliver.

Mysterio and Booker give the show a respectable main event by leaning into the champion's speed and the challenger's control. Booker slows Rey with strikes and measured offense, while Mysterio's bursts create the belief that one 619 can still rescue his reign. The match improves after Sharmell is removed because the focus finally narrows to the wrestlers. Rey appears to have Booker beaten after the 619 and seated senton, only for Chavo Guerrero to arrive with a chair. The expected rescue becomes the betrayal. Chavo strikes Mysterio, Booker makes the cover, and the royal character becomes World Heavyweight Champion. The wrestling is good rather than great, but the turn and title change give the finish lasting weight.