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The Great American Bash (2005) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was the second such annual event and took place on July 24, 2005 at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York. The event featured wrestlers and other talent that performed on the SmackDown! program.

The main event was Batista defending the World Heavyweight Championship against John Layfield (John "Bradshaw" Layfield or "JBL"). JBL won the match after Batista was disqualified, but did not win the title because a championship can only be won via pinfall or submission. One of the featured matches on the undercard was Rey Mysterio versus Eddie Guerrero, which Mysterio won by pinfall. The other was Orlando Jordan versus Chris Benoit for the WWE United States Championship, which Jordan won, also by pinfall.

The event grossed over $375,000 in ticket sales from an attendance of 8,000, and received about 233,000 pay-per-view buys, the same amount as the following year's event. This enabled WWE's pay-per-view revenue to increase by $4.7 million from the previous year. When the 2005 event was released on DVD, it reached a peak position of second on Billboard's DVD Sales Chart. The event was also available free of charge for Armed Forces members and their families. (more...)

In the news

• The Evolve promotion held their first show on January 16.

• On January 14, The Fortunate Sons (Brett DiBiase and Joe Hennig defeated The Dudebusters (Caylen Croft, Trent Barreta, and Curt Hawkins) to win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship.

• K-Ness defeated Naoki Tanisaki to win the Dragon Gate Open the Brave Gate Championship on January 11.

• On January 10:
  • It was reported that World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) had released several developmental workers, including Dino Carter, Chris the BambiKiller, Lennox, Lift Swayner, Leroy Morgan, Max McGuirk, and Dylan Klein.
  • Former wrestler Tony Halme was found dead at the age of 47, in his apartment in Helsinki. No cause of death has been announced.
  • Dr. Cerebro defeated Tetsuya Bushi to win the IWRG Intercontinental Lightweight Championship.

• On January 9:
  • It was reported that WWE had signed Asher Knight to a developmental contract.
  • It was reported that WWE had released developmental wrestler Sweet Papi Sanchez.

• On January 8, Steven Lewington was released from his WWE contract.

• On January 6, Mascara Dorada, Metro, and Stuka, Jr. defeated Dragón Rojo, Jr., Misterioso II, and Sangre Azteca in a tournament final to win the vacant Mexican National Trios Championship.

• On January 4:
  • WWE confirmed Tommy Dreamer's departure from the company, after his final match and farewell speech on the December 29 episode of ECW.
  • WWE announced that Melina had vacated the WWE Divas Championship due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament, and set up a tournament to determine the new champion.
  • Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) held their first live edition of Impact! to compete against Raw.
    • The live Impact! featured returns from wrestlers including Jeff Hardy, Shannon Moore, Scott Hall, and Sean Waltman, as well as the debuts of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff.
    • ODB defeated Tara to win the TNA Knockout Tag Team Championship.
  • Hamada and Awesome Kong defeated Talyor Wilde and Sarita to win the TNA Knockout Tag Team Championship.
  • At Wrestle Kingdom IV:
    • No Limit (Tetsuya Naito and Yujiro) won the IWGP Tag Team Championship at by defeating the former champions, Team 3D (Brother Devon and Brother Ray), and Bad Intentions (Karl Anderson and Giant Bernard) in a three-way hardcore match.
    • Naomichi Marufuji defeated Tiger Mask IV to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.

• In early January it was reported that Super Nova had signed a WWE contract.

• On December 30, "Dr. Death" Steve Williams died at the age of 49 due to cancer.

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Did you know...

• ...that throughout his career, CM Punk has consistently used the gimmick of being straight edge, a lifestyle he follows in real life?
  
• ... that, due to a government-imposed curfew, professional wrestler Mario Milano had to wrestle under a mask at the beginning of his career because he was underage and not allowed out after 9 o'clock?
• ... that despite the word "heavyweight" in the title of the CZW World Heavyweight Championship, multiple non-heavyweight wrestlers have held the championship?
  
• ... that professional wrestler Juan Aguilar Leos was not revealed to be the son of El Texano until he was unmasked, after which he adopted the ring name "El Texano, Jr."?
• ... that American professional wrestler Jigsaw was trained by Chris Hero and Mike Quackenbush?

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