July 5, 2004 Observer Newsletter: Ric Flair autobiography, Great American Bash review

Goose stepping your way to the WWE title, and a storyline homicide were the themes of what was the worst WWE PPV show in a long time.

One of the key reasons WWE business overall, even with popularity falling, looks nothing like WCW, is because WWE has maintained a large percentage of its PPV audience. The reason? Unlike with WCW at the end, WWE PPV shows consistently deliver. But a collection of matches, most of which had no storyline build-up, featuring talent that wasn’t ready for the PPV stage, led to a sad undercard. John Bradshaw Layfield became the most unlikely WWE champion, with the possible exception of Vince McMahon, in company history, by winning a bullrope match over Eddie Guerrero, ending a planned long-term reign that wound up lasting four months.

But the company can’t afford too many shows like the 6/27 Great American Bash at the Norfolk Scope Arena.

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