WWE took the name "Great American Bash" from a Jim Crockett Promotions (and later World Championship Wrestling, WCW) tour (and later pay-per-view) of the same name. It is the first (and only) time WWE used any of the intellectual property of WCW in naming their own events.

WWE renamed the event to simply "The Bash" in its final year, dropping the patriotic motif to better appeal to an International audience before dropping the event altogether in 2009, although they revived the name a final time in 2012 for a special live edition of their regular SmackDown TV show.