Today In Wrestling History 7/7: Hulk Hogan Heel Turn, Sting Wins 1st NWA Title, McMahon Trial Day 3

* 25 years ago in 1990, WCW ran the third annual Great American Bash pay-per-view (as part of the fifth annual Great American Bash tour) live from the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. The big story was that Sting returned from a major knee injury (torn patella tendon, thought to be career-threatening at the time) to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (there were no WCW titles until the start of 1991) from Ric Flair in the main event.

Sting was originally supposed to win the title from Flair in the main event of Wrestle War in February, but that went out the window when he blew out his knee. Lex Luger was hastily turned babyface to take over for him. In the long run, this badly damaged Luger, as he was in th middle of the best run of his career as a heel.

As for Sting...well...WCW panicked. Instead of keeping him off TV as a regular character for a few months, they not only kept him around but also overexposed and overhyped him. To keep his momentum going, they ran a "Sting Coloring Contest" where the Little Stingers at home could win a "10 speed bicycle." Just too much stuff like that.

As for the match itself, the deck was stacked to make it clear that Sting was winning, with his friends handcuffed to the rest of the Four Horsemen at ringside. For his first match back, he wasn't 100%, and it wasn't at th level of other Flair-Sting matches, but it still felt like a big moment, and Sting in his American flag themed tigers and paint clutching the belt is one of the more iconic images of WCW's early history.

Overall, it was a very good to great PPV. The Midnight Express's successful U.S. Tag Title defense against The Southern Boys (Tracy Smothers & Steve Armstrong) was a match of the year candidate and one of the best bouts in WCW history. Doom retaining the World Tag Titles over the Rock 'n' Roll Express was another quality tag match. The rest was a mixed bag, with a number of good matches, but a lot of them were filler that meant little in the grand scheme of WCW's ongoing storylines, like Brian Pillman vs. Buddy Landel or Tommy Rich vs. Harley Race.

* 21 years ago in 1994, the third day of Vince McMahon's steroid distribution trial consisted entirely of testimony from former Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission doctor George Zahorian, who was convicted in his own distribution trial in 1991. His testimony ended up covering three days.

They opened by having Zahorian verify he was not promised any special treatment for his testimony. He sold anabolic steroids, Valium, Tylenol with codeine, and Halcyon to wrestlers from 1981 or 1982 to 1989. He got the drugs from Rugby-Darby Pharmaceutical Company of Westbury, New York, which let him order anything he wanted after registering his DEA identification number with them. He let the wrestlers pick the drugs they wanted and basically admitted he was wrong to do what he did.

The WWF road agents knew what he was doing, though Pat Patterson seemed concerned he was dealing street drugs and they had to hash out that he wasn't doing that. Once, in early 1988, Patterson took him to see McMahon, who asked him if he was giving the wrestlers steroids. He said yes, but the wrestlers would get them anyway, and it's better to know they're on legitimate steroids instead of possibly fake or tainted drugs from gym sources (his defense at his own trial), so McMahon told him "Don't stop what you're doing."

Eventually, he started providing steroids to McMahon via his secretary, Emily Feinberg. Around that time, the law changed in Pennsylvania so that the promoter would hire a doctor instead of one being appointed by the commission. Before they could officially hire him for a show, the company was tipped off about a possible investigation. Patterson called Zahorian, told him to call back on a pay phone, and then told him to destroy all records regarding wrestlers to be safe. He had them moved to his lawyer's office.

Jerry McDevitt's cross-examination started precariously by kind of alleging he was lying. While Zahorian wasn't promised anything for his testimony, prosecutor did try (and failed) to get him into a work program. This all went back and forth for a bit, then they got back to the case itself, and Zahorian said Hulk Hogan once called him from the set of No Holds Barred to get a few bottles of testosterone for Tiny "Zeus" Lister and asked if he could send it to Vince. They called it a day at that point.

* 19 years ago in 1996, WCW ran the third annual Bash at the Bash pay-per-view live from the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida. It played host to possibly the most famous moment in WCW history: Hulk Hogan turning heel and joining the NWO.

Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, who weren't named on TV until this show, wrestled the entire main event against Sting, Lex Luger, and Randy Savage without their "third man" partner. Luger was injured to tease he'd be the partner, but eventually, the match broke down, Hogan sauntered down the aisle after an extended break from appearing on TV, looked around, and hit the legdrpp on Savage. Cue the first NWO beatdown. After the match, Hogan cut the greatest promo of his life, channeling into real frustrations, naming the NWO, and much more. Tony Schiavone signed off the PPV with the greatest line of his career: "Hulk Hogan, you can go straight to hell. Straight to hell."

The other most memorable match was the opener, where Rey Misterio Jr. defeated Psicosis. Rey had impressed so far in WCW, but working against Dean Malenko didn't quite let him show everything that he was capable of. Here, he got to work with his favorite opponent and they blew the roof off the Ocean Center. For whatever reason, WCW fans were always more receptive to new wrestlers and new styles, and here, they put on an absolute clinic of a high flying match. As impressive as today's flyers are, a lot of them don't hold a candle to Rey when it comes to timing, psychology, and even the wow factor of som moves. This match is one of the best examples of just how special a talent he is/was.