Prior to the 1991 Great American Bash, Lex Luger was named number one contender for Ric Flair’s WCW World Heavyweight Championship and was set to face Flair at the pay-per-view. However, Flair left WCW before the event and the title was declared vacant. Barry Windham was named the number two contender, and he and Luger squared off in a steel cage match to determine a new champion.

In the match, Luger used the advice of Harley Race (who became Luger’s manager that night) to defeat Windham with a piledriver and finally claim the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.