Bash in Berlin was a professional wrestling event produced by the American company WWE. It took place on Saturday, August 31, 2024, at the Uber Arena in Berlin, Germany and featured wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event aired via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming, marking WWE's first PPV and livestreaming event to be held in Germany.
| Bash in Berlin | |||
|---|---|---|---|
_poster.jpg) Promotional poster featuring Gunther | |||
| Promotion | WWE | ||
| Brand(s) | Raw SmackDown | ||
| Date | August 31, 2024 | ||
| City | Berlin, Germany | ||
| Venue | Uber Arena | ||
| Attendance | 13,149 | ||
| WWE Network event chronology | |||
| |||
| WWE in Europe chronology | |||
| |||
Five matches were contested at the event. In the main event, which was the main match from Raw which was also an interbrand match, Gunther defeated SmackDown's Randy Orton by technical submission to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. In the opening match, which was SmackDown's main match, Cody Rhodes defeated Kevin Owens to retain the Undisputed WWE Championship.
Production
editBackground
edit
On October 25, 2023, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE announced that it would hold its first-ever pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event in Germany called Bash in Berlin. The event was scheduled for Saturday, August 31, 2024, in Berlin at the Uber Arena (at the time of the event's announcement still known as Mercedes-Benz Arena) and featured wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event aired on traditional PPV worldwide and was available to livestream on Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network in most international markets.[1] It was also announced that the August 30 episode of Friday Night SmackDown would air live locally from the same venue, which was the first time for the program to broadcast from Germany. Tickets went on sale on November 30, 2023.[2] An additional five nights of WWE Live shows in Europe preceding Friday's SmackDown were also scheduled as part of the "Road to Bash in Berlin" tour, concluding with Bash in Berlin itself.[3] The official theme song of the event was "Ratatata" by Babymetal and Electric Callboy.[4]
Storylines
edit| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| English commentators | Michael Cole |
| Wade Barrett | |
| Spanish commentators | Marcelo Rodríguez |
| Jerry Soto | |
| German commentators | Sebastian Hackl |
| Manu Thiele | |
| Ring announcer | Samantha Irvin |
| Ludwig Kaiser (Gunther) | |
| Referees | Jessika Carr |
| Dan Engler | |
| Charles Robinson | |
| Rod Zapata | |
| Interviewers | Cathy Kelley |
| Byron Saxton | |
| Pre-show panel | Jackie Redmond |
| Big E | |
| The Miz | |
| Pre-show correspondent | Peter Rosenberg |
The card included five matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television programs, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.[5][6]
At King and Queen of the Ring in May, Raw's Gunther defeated SmackDown's Randy Orton in the final of the King of the Ring tournament, which earned him a match for Raw's World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam in August. During the King of the Ring final, however, Orton's shoulder was not fully on the mat when the referee counted the pin.[7] After the show, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque noted the mistake and said the referee's decision was final but that there would likely be a rematch between the two.[8] At SummerSlam, Gunther won the World Heavyweight Championship,[9] and during his speech on the following Raw, he was interrupted by Orton, who noted that because of that mistake in the King of the Ring final, that ultimately allowed Gunther to become champion. He then said that he wanted his rematch at Bash in Berlin so he could take the World Heavyweight Championship from Gunther, who accepted the challenge. It was later stipulated that if Orton won the championship, he would be transferred to Raw with Gunther transferred to SmackDown.[10]
At SummerSlam, Cody Rhodes retained the Undisputed WWE Championship against Solo Sikoa in a Bloodline Rules match, which included aid from Kevin Owens in fending off other members of The Bloodline (Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga, and Tonga Loa).[9] On the following episode of SmackDown, as Rhodes was about to say who he wanted to defend the title against at Bash in Berlin, he was interrupted by The Bloodline (Sikoa and The Tongans), as Sikoa wanted a rematch. Rhodes declined, stating that Sikoa did not deserve it, and as The Bloodline were about to enter the ring and attack Rhodes, Owens again came to his aid. After The Bloodline retreated, Rhodes said that due to all the times Owens had helped Rhodes in fending off The Bloodline, he felt that Owens deserved an opportunity and wanted to defend the title against Owens, who felt that he had not earned it due to his win/loss record. Rhodes then left to go talk to SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis to have the match approved, and despite Owens's objection, the match was made official.[11]
At SummerSlam, Liv Morgan defeated Rhea Ripley to retain the Women's World Championship after seemingly accidental interference from Ripley's on-screen love interest and Judgment Day stablemate, "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio. After the match, however, Mysterio betrayed Ripley and kissed Morgan, ending their partnership. Later that night, fellow Judgment Day member Damian Priest lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Gunther after being betrayed by fellow stablemate Finn Bálor.[9] On the following episode of Raw, Bálor excommunicated Priest and Ripley from the group, with it subsequently consisting of himself, Mysterio, Morgan, JD McDonagh, and Carlito. Later that night, Priest was attacked by Bálor during his match against McDonagh before Ripley came out to save him.[10] The following week, a mixed tag team match between the team of Priest and Ripley, who would take on the name The Terror Twins, and Judgment Day's Mysterio and Morgan was made official for Bash in Berlin.[12]
At SummerSlam, Drew McIntyre defeated CM Punk, which had Seth "Freakin" Rollins as the special guest referee. Weeks prior to the event, McIntyre had stolen Punk's bracelet that had his wife (AJ Lee) and dog's (Larry) names on it. During the match at SummerSlam, Punk retrieved the bracelet but accidentally dropped it. Rollins picked it up to get it out of the way and Punk attacked Rollins as he thought Rollins was sabotaging him, which ultimately cost Punk the match, after which, McIntyre stole the bracelet again.[9] On the August 12 episode of Raw, the two brawled which ended with Punk whipping McIntyre with a belt.[12] On the following episode, Punk announced that Raw General Manager Adam Pearce approved a Strap match at Bash in Berlin between him and McIntyre, who came out and accepted the challenge.[13]
At Clash at the Castle: Scotland on June 15, The Unholy Union (Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn) defeated defending champions Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill and the team of Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark, who they pinned, to win the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship.[14] Over the next few weeks, Belair and Cargill vowed to regain the title. On the August 2 episode of SmackDown, Belair and Cargill defeated Fyre and Dawn in a rematch by disqualification after interference from Blair Davenport. Since championships do not change hands by disqualification or countout unless otherwise stipulated, Fyre and Dawn retained.[15] On August 23, SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis announced that Fyre and Dawn would defend the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship against Belair and Cargill at Bash in Berlin.[16]
Results
edit| No. | Results | Stipulations | Times[18] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cody Rhodes (c) defeated Kevin Owens by pinfall | Singles match for the Undisputed WWE Championship[17] | 23:16 | ||
| 2 | Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill defeated The Unholy Union (Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn) (c) by pinfall | Tag team match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship[17] | 12:02 | ||
| 3 | CM Punk defeated Drew McIntyre | Strap match[17] | 19:15 | ||
| 4 | The Terror Twins (Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley) defeated The Judgment Day ("Dirty" Dominik Mysterio and Liv Morgan) by pinfall | Mixed tag team match[17] | 14:20 | ||
| 5 | Gunther (c) defeated Randy Orton by technical submission | Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship[17] Had Orton won the championship, he would have been transferred to Raw and Gunther would have been transferred to SmackDown. | 34:28 | ||
| |||||
References
edit- ^ "SmackDown & Bash in Berlin". WWE. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
- ^ Lambert, Jeremy (November 20, 2023). "WWE SmackDown On August 30, 2024 To Take Place In Berlin". Fightful. Archived from the original on December 8, 2023. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- ^ Lee, Joseph (March 18, 2024). "WWE Announces Road to Bash in Berlin Tour For August". 411Mania. Archived from the original on August 10, 2024. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
- ^ Triple H [@TripleH] (August 16, 2024). "Excited to have @BABYMETAL_JAPAN blasting through @WWE speakers again. They've joined forces with Germany's own @ElectricCallboy for "RATATATA", an official theme song of #WWEBash in Berlin" (Tweet). Retrieved August 16, 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ Grabianowski, Ed (January 13, 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
- ^ "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
- ^ Powell, Jason (May 25, 2024). "WWE King and Queen of the Ring results: Powell's live review of Cody Rhodes vs. Logan Paul for the WWE Title, Gunther vs. Randy Orton in the KOTR finals, Nia Jax vs. Lyra Valkyria in the QOTR finals". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on June 13, 2024. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
- ^ Lee, Joseph (May 25, 2024). "Triple H Comments On Controversial Finish To King of the Ring Finals". 411Mania. Archived from the original on July 19, 2024. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
- ^ a b c d Powell, Jason (August 3, 2024). "WWE SummerSlam results: Powell's review of Cody Rhodes vs. Solo Sikoa in a Bloodline Rules match for the WWE Championship, Damian Priest vs. Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on August 4, 2024. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
- ^ a b Powell, Jason (August 5, 2024). "WWE Raw results (8/5): Powell's live review of Gunther's first appearance as World Heavyweight Champion, CM Punk and Drew McIntyre, Sheamus vs. Ludwig Kaiser". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on August 6, 2024. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
- ^ Powell, Jason (August 9, 2024). "WWE Friday Night Smackdown results (8/9): Powell's review of Roman Reigns' return, DIY vs. Pretty Deadly for a shot at the WWE Tag Titles, Andrade vs. Santos Escobar for a shot at the U.S. Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on August 14, 2024. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
- ^ a b Powell, Jason (August 12, 2024). "WWE Raw results (8/12): Powell's live review of Bron Breakker vs. Sami Zayn in a best of three falls match for the Intercontinental Title, Damage CTRL vs. Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark for a shot at the WWE Women's Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on August 15, 2024. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
- ^ Powell, Jason (August 19, 2024). "WWE Raw results (8/19): Powell's live review of Randy Orton and CM Punk's appearances, three-way for the WWE Women's Tag Team Titles, Sheamus vs. Pete Dunne". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on September 22, 2024. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
- ^ Powell, Jason (June 15, 2024). "WWE Clash at the Castle results: Powell's live review of Damian Priest vs. Drew McIntyre for the World Heavyweight Championship, Cody Rhodes vs. AJ Styles in an I Quit match for the WWE Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on June 15, 2024. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
- ^ Powell, Jason (August 2, 2024). "WWE Friday Night Smackdown results (8/2): Powell's review of Cody Rhodes and Solo Sikoa face-to-face before SummerSlam, DIY vs. Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga for the WWE Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on September 24, 2024. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
- ^ Tessier, Colin (August 23, 2024). "Unholy Union To Defend WWE Women's Tag Titles Against Jade Cargill And Bianca Belair At WWE Bash In Berlin". Fightful. Archived from the original on September 7, 2024. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "Gunther reigns supreme over Randy Orton at WWE Bash in Berlin". WWE. August 31, 2024. Archived from the original on September 2, 2024. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
- ^ McGuire, Colin (August 31, 2024). "WWE Bash in Berlin results: McGuire's review of Gunther vs. Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Title, Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens for the WWE Championship, CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre in a strap match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on September 27, 2024. Retrieved August 31, 2024.