The main event was Batista defending the World Heavyweight Championship against John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL).

The event was also notable for the final WWE appearance of Muhammad Hassan, who was involved in a controversial angle on an SmackDown!

[5] The Great American Bash event featured a card, which contained matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots and storylines.

Wrestlers portrayed either a villainous or fan favorite gimmick as they followed a series of events which generally built tension, leading to a wrestling match.

The buildup to the match began when WWE Champion John Cena was drafted to the Raw brand, taking the title with him and leaving SmackDown!

television program, the match took place between JBL, Chris Benoit, Christian, Booker T, Muhammad Hassan, and The Undertaker.

[8][9] The following week on SmackDown!, JBL, who was accompanied by Jordan, threw himself a celebration party with the belief that he had already won the World Heavyweight Championship.

At the No Way Out event, Guerrero and Mysterio won the WWE Tag Team Championships from the Basham Brothers.

[12] On the April 21 episode of SmackDown!, MNM (Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury) defeated Mysterio and Guerrero to win the tag team championship.

[17] The third predominant feud prior to the event was between Chris Benoit and Orlando Jordan for the WWE United States Championship.

[20] The first match on the card was between MNM (Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury, managed by Melina) and The Legion of Doom (Heidenreich and Road Warrior Animal) for the WWE Tag Team Championship.

Animal and Heidenreich then performed the doomsday device on Nitro and scored the pin to win the match and the titles.

[4] The fourth match was between The Undertaker and Muhammad Hassan (managed by Daivari) to determine the #1 contender for the World Heavyweight Championship.

At the match's end, Super Crazy executed a moonsault onto Big Stevie Cool from the top ring rope, and Psicosis performed a leg drop.

[4][22] The main event was between Batista and JBL (managed by Orlando Jordan) for the World Heavyweight Championship.

In WWE, a title cannot be won by disqualification, but only by pinfall or submission (the normal scoring conditions in professional wrestling matches).

[25] The event resulted in 233,000 pay-per-view buys, which was the same amount as the following year's Great American Bash.

On the July 28 episode of SmackDown!, JBL defeated The Undertaker after interference from Randy Orton to become the number-one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam.

following The Great American Bash, Eddie Guerrero revealed the secret he had been keeping; he was Dominick's real father, not Rey Mysterio (was thought to be).

[33] On the September 9 edition of SmackDown!, Guerrero finally defeated Mysterio in a steel cage match to end the feud.

At SummerSlam, Benoit defeated Jordan for the WWE United States Championship in a match that lasted 25.5 seconds.

[33] On the September 1 edition of SmackDown!, Benoit once again defeated Jordan for the title, but this time the match lasted 23.4 seconds.