8 Wrestling Events That Pulled Inspiration From Strange Places

7. Beach Blast - Baywatch

AEW South Park
WWE

Baywatch serving as inspiration for a wrestling event? Okay then…

Regardless of how strange that might initially sound, as a concept WCW’s Beach Blast was inspired by the ridiculously poplar Baywatch TV show.

That David Hasselhoff-starring series had begun life in 1989 and went on to achieve massive success across the globe. While WCW was looking at a way to do its own spin on WWE’s annual SummerSlam extravaganza, Ted Turner’s rasslin’ company looked at Baywatch as the perfect inspiration for its own summer spectacular.

Complete with sand, surfboards and some splendid in-ring action – Brian Pillman vs. Scotty Flamingo, The Steiner Brothers vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams, “Ravishing” Rick Rude vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, and Sting vs. Cactus Jack – the first Beach Blast took place in 1992 and was a hit.

By 1994, Beach Blast was renamed Bash at the Beach, but the same stage setup and surf-inspired theme was maintained right up until the final edition of the PPV in 2000.

In a fun spin on Beach Blast’s initial Baywatch inspiration, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Ric Flair and Vader would end up appearing in a 1996 episode of Baywatch. And the title of that episode? That would be Bash at the Beach.

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Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.