Bash at the Beach 1996 was arguably the most important PPV in WCW history. Everyone remembers Hulk Hogan’s heel turn, but there were plenty of other fascinating aspects to the event. WCW made this PPV their biggest event of the summer taking place in July every year. There was huge appeal going into this event based on the New World Order storyline.

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It also showed that WCW had amazing depth with many talented names all over the card from opening match to the main event. WCW witnessed the company changing forever due to the main event, but it also set the table for many other important things. The historic Bash at the Beach 1996 PPV deserves another look back at things fans should know about.

UPDATE: 2023/08/23 14:30 EST BY JOEY HAVERFORD

Time only adds to the importance of Bash at the Beach 1996 with fans and talents that worked for WCW still talking about the event. Podcasts, interview series and more fans watching the legendary show lead to more conversations. Any WCW fan is happy to learn more about these iconic events that refuse to be forgotten.

Even more interesting little tidbits have emerged or deserve some attention when looking at a PPV from almost three decades ago. Names like Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Sting and Rey Mysterio all had memorable nights in their legendary careers. The following notes will add a deeper spotlight on Bash at the Beach 1996 and why it matters so much after all this time.

15 Eric Bischoff Wasn't Sure About Hulk Hogan Agreeing To Plans

Hulk Hogan turning heel to end Bash at the Beach 1996 is the visual everyone remembers from that special night. Eric Bischoff imagined this scenario unfolding when he talked Hogan into agreeing to be the third man of the New World Order.

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Even though Hogan said he wanted to do it, Bischoff had fears that he would change his mind on the day of the show. Hogan was conflicted at first since his face character was still making him huge money. Bischoff revealed that once he finally felt comfortable when arriving to the arena and planning out the show.

14 WCW Hotline Did Record Numbers Before Show

WCW’s hotline phone number drew a lot of controversy for people hating them for having a scam set up. Many young viewers would call the number that charged a few bucks per minute just to hear “Mean” Gene Okerlund’s rumors.

The mystery of the New World Order’s third man made this the hottest time for WCW’s hotline. Fans wanted to know who it was and called in with the hopes of getting the hot scoop. Names like Bret Hart and Lex Luger were teased by Okerlund to try to trick fans.

13 Tag Team Title Match Was Bumped To Pre-Show

The pre-show of a PPV can be a big opportunity for wrestlers to steal the show before it starts, but most wrestlers view it as a demotion compared to the main card. WCW taped the pre-show match of the Steiner Brothers vs Harlem Heat for the WCW Tag Team Championship.

The match aired on a future television show, but it was a weird move to not book them on the PPV. Both teams were the most successful in company history and had greater importance with the tag belts on the line. The Steiner Brothers won the match without winning the belts due to Harlem Heat getting disqualified.

12 Joe Gomez Had His Only PPV Singles Match

Many diehard WCW fans don’t even know of Joe Gomez since he barely got much television time in the company. That made it more surprising when they added Gomez to the Bash at the Beach card for a singles match against Steve “Mongo” McMichael.

WCW picked someone that could take a loss to put over Mongo, but it came off low rent like a television squash match. Gomez never wrestled another singles PPV match and only appeared in one World War 3 battle royal without leaving an impact.

11 "Double Dog Collar" Match Stipulation

WCW booked a unique tag team attraction on the Bash at the Beach 1996 main card over the snubbed Harlem Heat vs The Steiner Brothers tag title match. One reason for the latter match not making the card was the other noteworthy tag match already having a bigger spot on the show.

The Nasty Boys and Public Enemy had a double dog collar match with weapons and violence used while tied together. Both teams were among the first to make hardcore wrestling popular in mainstream wrestling and showed it on this massive PPV.

10 Hulk Hogan Was Upset At Bobby Heenan's Commentary

The main event was booked differently than usual with WCW’s Lex Luger, Randy Savage and Sting having the advantage over Scott Hall and Kevin Nash since the third man didn’t show up for a while. Hogan walking to the ring received a huge pop since fans thought he was going to help WCW.

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Bobby Heenan quickly questioned which side Hogan was on when he was approaching the ring. Hogan talked about his anger with Heenan over this in future interviews since he believed it took away from the shocking moment.

9 Konnan Had Longest U.S. Title Reign Of Monday Night Wars Era End

An overlooked aspect of the Bash at the Beach 1996 card was the singles match between Ric Flair and Konnan. WCW was criticized for never having the rising mid-card stars and established legends having matches or feuds against each other.

Konnan received this rare match against Flair when dropping the United States Championship to Flair. Most fans would be surprised to learn that Konnan had the longest reign with that title for WCW throughout the Monday Night Wars.

8 The WCW Champion Was In A Tag Match

WCW had the storyline explanation that they picked three names out of the top stars in the company to represent the company in the main event match. That was partially done to explain why The Giant was not involved in the angle despite being the WCW Champion.

Eric Bischoff didn’t even book a World title match since he didn’t want to take any of the spotlight away from the main event. The Giant ended up in a tag match teaming with Kevin Sullivan to defeat Chris Benoit and Arn Anderson during the Dungeon of Doom vs Four Horsemen feud.

7 Opening Match Was A Top 10 All Time WCW Match

Everyone remembers the main event most, but the opening match of Bash at the Beach 1996 was the best in-ring bout of the night. Rey Mysterio and Psychosis had a legendary rivalry that started in Mexico and moved to the United States with ECW and WCW.

Their first big WCW match was a classic that still holds up as must-watch today. Cagematch is considered the best place to find cumulative fan ratings of important matches, and they gave it an 8.92 grade. This remains the ninth most beloved WCW match ever on Cagematch and a rare choice without Ric Flair involved.

6 WCW Employees Were Celebrating After It Ended

Many WCW employees knew that Bash at the Beach 1996 was a classic show just minutes after it ended. Tony Schiavone described the atmosphere as being tremendous after the show with many of the WCW co-workers high-fiving and expressing celebration for the night going so well.

An interesting comment from Schiavone revealed that this may have been the most important and memorable show of his career. The night was a true glimpse into what WCW offered, from an awe-inspiring opening cruiserweight match to an all-time great storyline paying off in the main event.

5 Hulk Hogan Made First WCW Appearance In Months

WCW didn’t have much going on for Hulk Hogan in the months before Bash at the Beach 1996. Hogan was taking part in his acting projects and was barely part of WCW TV. The last PPV match came about four months prior with the doomsday cage match win teaming with Randy Savage against the Alliance to end Hulkamania.

Hogan made a few Nitro appearances after that, but he was off television from April of 1996 until this July PPV. This ended up working in favor of WCW having him turn heel since it felt like a big return before fans realized what Hogan was doing joining the New World Order.

4 Kevin Nash Hit Fan Entering Ring

Another wild footnote from the Bash at the Beach 1996 main event featured Kevin Nash having to protect him and the other New World Order members. Hulk Hogan’s heel turn gained so much heat that fans threw trash in the ring for the first time in years.

However, one fan almost went too far when entering the ring only for Nash to deck him upon realizing what was happening. Any fan entering a ring is risking a world of pain, and Nash made sure this one knew to never do that again.

3 Diamond Dallas Page Won A Rare Taped Fist Match

WCW booked a strange stipulation match for the mid-summer PPV to settle the score between Diamond Dallas Page and Jim Duggan. A taped first match saw them trying to sell the appeal of them actually throwing punches for a fight since moves were limited.

The stipulation felt a bit pointless when they started hitting their normal moves later in the match to feel like a traditional match. Page won after hitting the Diamond Cutter during this stage of him playing a heel and slowly getting over before his big push at the end of the year.

2 Top 5 WCW Show Ever On Cagematch

Cagematch readers voting on shows have followed the match ratings that many fans use to compare wrestling things historically. The card has a few highly reviewed WCW matches all-time, but the overall show quality ranks even higher.

Bash at the Beach 1996 received an average rating of 8.01 as the fourth best Cagematch reviewed WCW PPV of all-time. Spring Stampede 1994, Great American Bash 1989 and Fall Brawl 1996 are the only PPVs to currently have a higher score to show how much fans enjoyed that card from top to bottom.

1 Eric Bischoff Tried To Make It A Bigger Annual PPV

WCW tried to make Bash at the Beach a more important annual PPV after the 1996 event became a legendary show. A previous issue was that WCW failed to make shows outside of Starrcade feel important like WWE did with the Royal Rumble and SummerSlam.

Eric Bischoff has talked about treating Halloween Havoc and Bash at the Beach like massive events equal to Starrcade after the New World Order boom. Dennis Rodman made his wrestling debut the next year at Bash at the Beach 1997. The 1998 PPV featured Rodman and Karl Malone bringing their NBA feud to WCW with the second biggest buyrate in WCW history.