Most common people see the NWA as either two things, the old name of WCW, or a bunch of little indy promotions. The NWA was in the 1980's the most powerful group in wrestling. The promotions that were involved included, World Class, Florida, Mid-Atlantic, Georgia, Pacific Northwest, Central States and more. The NWA had always held together based on the supercards of its various promotions. Jim Crockett Promotions had Starrcade, World Class had The Cotton Bowl and Parade of Champions, etc. On July 6, 1985 the first ever Great American Bash was held in Charlotte, NC. The reason for the sudden card is that the WWF was rising in popularity and the NWA needed to counter the rise so after a mediocre Wrestlemania, the National Wrestling Alliance presented The Great American Bash.

The first match was Buddy Landel vs. Ron Bass. The match had no special build up or anything, Landel was calling himself "Nature Boy" to give the fans the impression that he was the next Ric Flair, it probably would have happened if Landel hadn't always burned promoters and made a bad name for himself. Buddy Landel could sell moves with the best of them, the man sold a punch like a gunshot. It was a decent match carried by Landel who was by far the most talented and as usual the more talented guys took the loss.