WCW Road Wild 97'
Surges, South Dakota - August 1997
CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Lex Luger is the WCW World Champion, the Outsiders holds the WCW World Tag Team Championships, Alex Wright is the Cruiserweight Champion, Ultimo Dragon holds the Television Title, and Jeff Jarrett is the United States Champion.
COMMENTATORS: Bobby Heenan, Dusty Rhodes, and Tony Schiavone
6 days before this event, WCW played hot potato with their World Championship on a historic episode of WCW Monday Nitro where number one contender Lex Luger stole a clean submission victory over Hollywood Hulk Hogan to end his title reign just one week short of a year. It was a shocking swerve at the time, more because clean finishes in Nitro main events were incredibly rare than because of the actual title change.
Harlem Heat take on Buff Bagwell and Scott Norton in the night's opening contest. Compared to the lucha action or MK2-inspired feud between Glacier and Mortis that had been used in the undercard in previous shows, this is a disappointing start to the show as, while the participants work hard, there's very little to draw in viewers aside from the occasional impressive feat of power by Norton or a glimpse of why Booker T would eventually thrive in singles competition. Decent finish and it doesn't overstay its welcome, but simply being "inoffensive" is not enough when you want a match to jumpstart a show. (1.5/5)
Mike Tenay joins the commentary team for a Mexican Grudge Death Match (because those exist?) between longtime rivals Rey Mysterio Jr. and Konnan. The story of this match is that Konnan wants to target Mysterio's previously-injured knee, leading to a wide assortment of submissions and strikes targeting the leg. For some reason, Konnan goes after Rey's mask midway through the match, pulling it nearly entirely off, but it's a completely pointless and counterproductive deviance from what was an otherwise solid story built on Mysterio not coming into the match in full health. Plus, as the Sturgis fans aren't lucha aficianados, the significance of Konnan's actions are lost on everyone save Tenay. Not one of Rey's better matches only because he's had countless better ones, but more than tolerable because of his babyface work and Konnan getting to do what he does best - viciously slaughter a babyface smaller than himself. (3/5)
The Horsemen's Chris Benoit and Steve "Mongo" McMichael challenge United States Champion Jeff Jarrett and Dean Malenko in a Tag Team Elimination Match next. This one is considerably more fun than one might think - Malenko does all of the work for his team as the cowardly Jarrett does whatever it takes not to have to get in the ring with Mongo (as Mongo's real-life wife Debra had kayfabe left him for Double J a month prior [they real-life divorced in October of the following year]). Benoit and Malenko tangled in a somewhat controversial match at Hog Wild 96', taking each other to the limit in a lengthy battle of submissions, mat wrestling, and stiffness that drew "boring" chants from the biker crowd. This time around, Benoit and Malenko don't go out to dazzle with technicality but to provide a workrate counterbalance to the raw intensity (but far less proficient work) of Mongo and the grating heel shtick that Jarrett brings in. The mix of elements is surprisingly great because everyone knows their role and executes it beyond average. My pick for Match of the Night. (3/5)
The WCW Cruiserweight Championship is on the line as Alex Wright defends against Chris Jericho. Alex Wright is a confounding talent in some ways - great look, technically proficient, young and athletic - but his list of even decent matches is staggeringly low compared to his potential. Pitting him against Chris Jericho should've created some good contests, but this match is just too long, too repetitive, and too heatless to enjoy. They throw a ton of moves at the crowd, but they don't give any reason to really hate Wright beyond the fact that he dances. Jericho's "C'mon Babies!" don't draw sympathy either. (1.5/5)
Ric Flair vs. Syxx is our next match. The build-up for this match had been months long and, to varying degrees based on what you believe, based on real life animosity between the two. Unfortunately, the result does not live up to what, on paper, looks like it could've been a very good match. Flair and Syxx throw in plenty of character work, but there's a frustrating lack of psychology and suspense, even as the commentators sell that this is a battle between who can lock in their finishing submission first between two guys who aren't afraid to cut corners to get there. What we get though is Syxx hitting his usual moves and Flair flopping around and taking side bumps, all culminating in a ho-hum finish that points to a continuation of a rivalry that is now far less captivating than it was before the match began. (1/5)
Next up, Diamond Dallas Page vs. Curt Hennig. What's interesting here is that Hennig is regarded by most as the considerably better worker, but it's Page who is the undeniable draw, the crowd much more reactive to his actions than anything Hennig does, even when the former Mr. Perfect puts extra oomph into his bumping. The story coming into this match is that Hennig is WCW's most wanted "free agent," not aligned with the Horsemen, nWo, or any other group, an attitude that rubs DDP the wrong way. The first few minutes are full of energy and quite strong, but as things go on this match is hurt by the fact that there really is too little personal animosity between the competitors (the needed ingredient for any great Page match). Some questionable booking decisions in its closing minutes make for a match that just isn't as good as I wish it would've been. (2/5)
The Horsemen's Chris Benoit and Steve "Mongo" McMichael challenge United States Champion Jeff Jarrett and Dean Malenko in a Tag Team Elimination Match next. This one is considerably more fun than one might think - Malenko does all of the work for his team as the cowardly Jarrett does whatever it takes not to have to get in the ring with Mongo (as Mongo's real-life wife Debra had kayfabe left him for Double J a month prior [they real-life divorced in October of the following year]). Benoit and Malenko tangled in a somewhat controversial match at Hog Wild 96', taking each other to the limit in a lengthy battle of submissions, mat wrestling, and stiffness that drew "boring" chants from the biker crowd. This time around, Benoit and Malenko don't go out to dazzle with technicality but to provide a workrate counterbalance to the raw intensity (but far less proficient work) of Mongo and the grating heel shtick that Jarrett brings in. The mix of elements is surprisingly great because everyone knows their role and executes it beyond average. My pick for Match of the Night. (3/5)
The WCW Cruiserweight Championship is on the line as Alex Wright defends against Chris Jericho. Alex Wright is a confounding talent in some ways - great look, technically proficient, young and athletic - but his list of even decent matches is staggeringly low compared to his potential. Pitting him against Chris Jericho should've created some good contests, but this match is just too long, too repetitive, and too heatless to enjoy. They throw a ton of moves at the crowd, but they don't give any reason to really hate Wright beyond the fact that he dances. Jericho's "C'mon Babies!" don't draw sympathy either. (1.5/5)
Ric Flair vs. Syxx is our next match. The build-up for this match had been months long and, to varying degrees based on what you believe, based on real life animosity between the two. Unfortunately, the result does not live up to what, on paper, looks like it could've been a very good match. Flair and Syxx throw in plenty of character work, but there's a frustrating lack of psychology and suspense, even as the commentators sell that this is a battle between who can lock in their finishing submission first between two guys who aren't afraid to cut corners to get there. What we get though is Syxx hitting his usual moves and Flair flopping around and taking side bumps, all culminating in a ho-hum finish that points to a continuation of a rivalry that is now far less captivating than it was before the match began. (1/5)
Next up, Diamond Dallas Page vs. Curt Hennig. What's interesting here is that Hennig is regarded by most as the considerably better worker, but it's Page who is the undeniable draw, the crowd much more reactive to his actions than anything Hennig does, even when the former Mr. Perfect puts extra oomph into his bumping. The story coming into this match is that Hennig is WCW's most wanted "free agent," not aligned with the Horsemen, nWo, or any other group, an attitude that rubs DDP the wrong way. The first few minutes are full of energy and quite strong, but as things go on this match is hurt by the fact that there really is too little personal animosity between the competitors (the needed ingredient for any great Page match). Some questionable booking decisions in its closing minutes make for a match that just isn't as good as I wish it would've been. (2/5)
Mean Gene plugs some news concerning Raven and Stevie Richards before we get a commercial for Fall Brawl.
The Giant vs. Randy Savage starts off with Savage buying his time and initially refusing to enter the ring until The Giant's back is turned. After eating some offense and getting tossed around, Mach wisely target the big man's knee and eventually gets the Giant staggering with clotheslines. A chokeslam soon after wraps up this entertaining but incredibly brief and utterly inessential "contest." Point for Macho being Macho and Liz looking gorgeous. (1/5)
The WCW World Tag Team Championships are on the line in the next bout - The Outsiders defending against The Steiner Brothers. The Steiners get a huge entrance featuring loads of fireworks and the match that follows deserves it. None of these workers are all-time greats (though, Scott Steiner had tremendous potential in his prime), but they know their characters well, they wrestle the match as if the stakes really matter, and the crowd is engaged, even when Hall slows things down with an abdominal stretch. The teamwork of Hall and Nash throughout is evidence that they were more than just two singles guys paired up; their character work, dirty tactics, and ability to draw heat and raise suspense by cutting the ring in half are the hallmarks of any great heel team. Unfortunately, a screwy finish devastates the crowd and keeps this one from being recommended as anything more than a good-not great match. (3/5)
Main event time - Lex Luger defending his WCW World Championship against the former champ, "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan. Anyone who believes Hogan had only five moves in his arsenal should dare sit through this, a match that is, for better or worse, a "Hogan Clinic" (meaning he shows off all ten moves he knows). Dominating for approximately 99% of the bout, Hollywood shows off a variety of not-so-excellently-executed maneuvers in this ridiculously one-sided contest, including a scoop slam, a choke, a vertical suplex, a bearhug, an eye rake, the Big Boot, a backbreaker, the Atomic Legdrop, and probably some other stuff I forgot about. Aside from the cavalcade of offense Hogan displays, he taunts Luger mercilessly throughout the match, calling him "Lex Loser" and begging him to fight back. It is the best of Hogan's heel shtick and it is the saving grace of an otherwise pretty bad match. Fans are treated to a retread of the Bash at the Beach finish (read: Another Fake Sting) and proceed to throw trash into the ring. (1.5/5)
After the show, the nWo celebrates and we get a special appearance by Dennis Rodman. One has to wonder why WCW wouldn't show off having Rodman backstage when the nuclear heat he would've gotten from the bikers in Sturgis would've been epic. No bonus point awarded due to their stupidity.
Main event time - Lex Luger defending his WCW World Championship against the former champ, "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan. Anyone who believes Hogan had only five moves in his arsenal should dare sit through this, a match that is, for better or worse, a "Hogan Clinic" (meaning he shows off all ten moves he knows). Dominating for approximately 99% of the bout, Hollywood shows off a variety of not-so-excellently-executed maneuvers in this ridiculously one-sided contest, including a scoop slam, a choke, a vertical suplex, a bearhug, an eye rake, the Big Boot, a backbreaker, the Atomic Legdrop, and probably some other stuff I forgot about. Aside from the cavalcade of offense Hogan displays, he taunts Luger mercilessly throughout the match, calling him "Lex Loser" and begging him to fight back. It is the best of Hogan's heel shtick and it is the saving grace of an otherwise pretty bad match. Fans are treated to a retread of the Bash at the Beach finish (read: Another Fake Sting) and proceed to throw trash into the ring. (1.5/5)
After the show, the nWo celebrates and we get a special appearance by Dennis Rodman. One has to wonder why WCW wouldn't show off having Rodman backstage when the nuclear heat he would've gotten from the bikers in Sturgis would've been epic. No bonus point awarded due to their stupidity.
With a pretty pitiful Kwang rating of 1.94-out-of-5, Road Wild 97' is the first WCW pay-per-view to score below a 2.0 since Slamboree 96' (which at least had the excuse of featuring SIXTEEN matches as part of the always-dreadful Lethal Lottery/BattleBowl concept). Flair/Syxx underwhelms, Luger/Hogan is more comical than competitive, and only the tag matches (which, while entertaining, basically tell the crowd to fuck themselves) are really strong: the makings of an overall terrible show.
FINAL RATING - DUDleyville
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