WCW Road Wild 1997

After a less than stellar outing with Hog Wild the year before, WCW returned to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in 1997 with another (slightly altered for legal reasons) biker-themed outdoor pay per view event.

From Sturgis, South Dakota; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone, Dusty Rhodes, and Bobby Heenan.


Opening Match: Harlem Heat v Vicious and Delicious: Well, ya gotta give the Heat credit - they've got balls agreeing to come back to Sturgis after nearly getting lynched the year before. Speaking of balls, Buff Bagwell (smells like 'em) starts with Booker T, but both men quickly tag out, and Stevie Ray murders Scott Norton in the corner - only to walk into a sidewalk slam. A cheap shot from Booker helps turn the tide back around, and he tags in with a diving shoulderblock. The Harlem sidekick gets countered with a powerslam, however, and Scott gets back to Buff. Another cheap shot from the Heat leave Bagwell in a heap on the floor, and the Heat get back to cutting the ring in half with their new victim. Bagwell manages to catch Booker with a bodypress coming out of the ropes, and reverses a powerbomb to allow him the tag back to Norton. He's a house of arson (the crowd silent - something tells me 'arson' was hitting a bit too close to home for some of them) to trigger a four-way brawl, but Jacqueline (the Heat's new manager) attacks him, and Booker blasts Scott with a pair of sidekicks for the pin at 10:19. Maybe everyone was tired from the Rally, or something, because this was house show stuff. Not a great way to start a pay per view, either. DUD

Mexican Death Match: Rey Mysterio Jr v Konnan: Konnan tries a charge as Rey climbs into the ring, but Mysterio outmaneuvers him, and hits a springboard dropkick. Rey with a headscissors takedown, but a charge gets him stungunned, as some dude in the front row waves a gigantic American flag to protest the idea of a Mexican Death Match. Though, really, you'd think the white trash in the crowd would be thrilled to see the death of a Mexican. Oh well. Anyway, Konnan tries to tie Rey up on the mat, but Mysterio grabs the ropes and bails to the floor before too much damage is done to the knee. Back in with a rana, but his knee gives out during a criss cross, and Konnan clips him into a leglock. Konnan keeps after the leg with a series of stomps, and he wrenches the knee against the turnbuckle. Rey tries to fire back, but the knee is too battered to fly around, and Konnan sweeps him into a grapevine. Konnan goes for the mask to try and get the crowd even remotely into it, but Rey struggles, so Konnan powerbombs him. He gets the mask off, but the camera stays wide as Rey decks him in the gut, and pops it back on. Mysterio with a dropkick and a pair of legdrops to set up a springboard slingshot moonsault - only for Rey to bang the knee of the way down. Konnan tries a stump puller, and a well executed overhead suplex when Rey tries to pick up the pace. Mysterio manages a standing victory roll for two, and he pops off a dropkick to the knee before Konnan can regroup. Another one, and he goes to the top, but the leg is giving him trouble, and he takes too long getting to the top - Konnan catching him with a belly-to-belly suplex on the way down, and tying him up in the Tequila Sunrise to finish at 10:55. The crowd absolutely did not care for this (nothing new there, though), but they worked a nice, psychologically sound match, and tried their best to engage the hostile crowd with the mask bit. ¾*

Elimination Match: Jeff Jarrett and Dean Malenko v Steve McMichael and Chris Benoit: Down to business with Jarrett and Benoit - Chris quickly outwrestling him during the initial lockup, but walking into an armdrag. Jarrett struts, but passes to Malenko before Benoit can slap the shit out of him. He and Dean do a criss cross stalemate, and a long reversal sequence ends in Dean countering a tombstone with an inside cradle for two. Tag to McMichael, but he charges right into a droptoe-hold, so Benoit fires off a cheap shot from the apron, and McMichael nails Malenko with a tilt-a-whirl powerslam. He and Benoit cut the ring in half on Malenko, but he manages to dodge a 3-point stance from McMichael, and tags a reluctant Jarrett. Jeff comes in with a chincrusher, but then pulls the stunned McMichael’s body onto his to purposely get himself eliminated at 7:10. That annoys McMichael (Why? That's what literally every opponent he ever had did for him), but while he's busy complaining, Benoit makes sure to chop Malenko before he can recover. Dean manages a backslide on Benoit for two, and a side suplex sets up the Texas Cloverleaf, but Benoit's in the ropes. Dean tries a tombstone, but Benoit reverses, and hits a flying headbutt before tagging McMichael to finish with a tombstone of his own at 9:36. Some decent spots and chain wrestling from Benoit and Malenko, but pretty dull overall - McMichael’s plodding offense really killing the flow. Oh, and the crowd hated it, of course. ¼*

WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Alex Wright v Chris Jericho: They trade hammerlocks to start, and Wright hides in the ropes when Jericho dominates. Both guys stop to play to the crowd as they desperately try and get them into watching wrestling at a wrestling show, and Jericho unloads a series of chops to put the champ on the floor. He stalls out there, but a charge back in gets him caught in a droptoe-hold, and Jericho slaps on a mat-based headlock. Wright powers up with an overhead wristlock into a standing side-headlock, but a criss cross goes Chris' way with a spinheel kick. Suplex, but Wright slips free, so Jericho crotches him on the ropes, and then knocks him to the floor with a springboard dropkick. Wright decides to take a walk, but Jericho dives after him with a springboard bodypress, and Jericho slams him on the floor. A whip into the steps gets reversed though, and Wright adds a snap suplex on the outside. Wright tries to go to the top rope on the way back in, but Jericho stops him with a slam and a pair of dropkicks. Jericho with an armbreaker, but Wright catches him with a spinheel kick coming out of the ropes. Wright with a gorgeous flying stomp to the midsection and a side suplex, but a flying moonsault misses, and Jericho blasts him with a chincrusher. Chris with a series of cross corner clotheslines to flop the champ, and the Lionsault sets up a senton splash for two. Jericho with a two-alarm no-release powerbomb for two, but a trip to the top rope gets him crotched, and Alex superplexes him off for two. Wright with a German suplex, but Jericho counters with a standing victory roll for two. Jericho with a side suplex for two, and a double-underhook rollup, but Wright rolls through and gets the pin at 13:02. It got good towards the end, and Jericho finally managed to get the crowd (slightly) into things, but it a mess overall, and heatless for the most part (though that's not really the fault of the workers in this case). *

Ric Flair v Syxx: Syxx wins a power-showdown with a shoulderblock, but a Stinger Splash misses, and he ends up on the floor. Back in, Syxx tries a headlock, but Flair counters into an overhead wristlock and swats him with a knife edge chop. A criss cross goes Flair's way with another chop, but a spinkick takes Ric down, and Syxx adds a sliding legdrop. Syxx with chops of his own in the corner to set up the bronco buster, and boy, the rednecks don't appreciate that one at all. Syxx decides to try and engage them with a chinlock, and a bodyslam sets up a flying legdrop for two. A slugfest goes Flair's way, but Syxx finds another spinheel kick, and gets two. Back to the exciting chinlock, but Flair chops some more, and hits a kneebreaker - only for Syxx to blast him with an enzuigiri. Syxx with a swanton bomb, but Ric rolls out of the way, and slaps on the Figure Four - but they're too close to the ropes. Undeterred, Flair tries a side suplex, but Syxx dumps him into the corner and goes back to old faithful with another bronco buster - only to get kicked (hard) in the balls, and get pinned in a rope-assisted cradle at 11:05. This is the type of match that could have been a lot of fun on an episode of Saturday Night around 1994, but by this point neither guy was the same, and neither seemed in the mood to try. ½*

Diamond Dallas Page v Curt Hennig: Hennig leads Page through a chase on the floor, but his attempt at suckering DDP back into the ring gets him decked and stomped. Page with a wristlock, but Hennig uses the hair to break, and shoves him into the corner for a chop. That triggers a Page-won slugfest, and a hairpull slam that only Curt Hennig and Divas can take. A hiptoss sets up Hennig getting crotched on the ringpost, and Page rips at the tights - tearing them off and exposing Hennig's manly purple underwear. Page goes to the top, but Curt falls into the ropes to crotch him on the turnbuckle (in a nice bump from DDP), and Hennig uses his tights to try and hang Page on the ropes. Curt with a kneelift, and a snapmare sets up a necksnap. Hennig with a backelbow for two, and he starts going to work on the leg to immobilize Page. Spinning toe-hold and a sleeper, but Page stuns him to break, and hooks a sunset flip for two. Curt clips him with a clothesline for two, and a somersault cradle gets two. Page fires back with a short-clothesline for two, but the referee gets bumped, and Curt exposes the turnbuckle. He rams Page into it, and picks his limp body up for the Hennig-Plex - for two! The crowd responds by literally revving their engines (most of them are on motorcycles), and Page comes a comeback - ramming Hennig into the exposed buckle. Unfortunately, the referee gets bumped again as he hits a forward-falling piledriver, and in comes Ric Flair. He takes a Diamond Cutter, but the distraction proves enough to allow Curt to hit another Hennig-Plex for the pin at 9:42. Dallas Page could always be counted on to work hard during this period, and Hennig seemed to be putting in a good effort while trying to navigate the waters of WCW (where he was still a newcomer), but they just didn't click, and the disinterested crowd didn't do them any favors. A case of a good effort, but not a very good match. * ¼

Randy Savage v The Giant: Savage stalls on the floor as the bell sounds, so Giant threatens to dive out after him - only for Randy to hide behind Elizabeth. Why? Dude, let him! How hard would that be to dodge, anyway? Instead, MENSA Man Randy Savage decides to try a bodyslam, but gets toppled, and Giant hammers him with forearm shots. Back to the floor, Savage uses Liz as a shield again, but Giant moves her aside, and press slams Savage back in. Giant with a headbutt, but Savage manages to clip him during a criss cross, and rams his knee into the ringpost to capitalize. Savage kicks at the leg, but a series of clotheslines can't knock Giant down. Savage tries a flying bodypress to knock him over (and get a two count), but a flying axehandle is countered with the Chokeslam to finish things at 6:05. Savage was pretty useless other than in his feud with Dallas Page by this point (where he looked like he was actually having a good time out there), and sadly this was no exception. DUD

WCW World Tag Team Title Match: The Outsiders v The Steiner Brothers: Scott Hall starts with Scott Steiner, and the champ quickly controls with an overhead suplex into an armbar. Steiner fires back with a short-clothesline and a belly-to-belly suplex, but Kevin Nash nails him after a butterfly suplex, and we have a four-way brawl! The Steiner's manage to clean house, and the dust settles on Hall and Rick Steiner ('Oates'). Unfortunately, Scott is in no mood, and passes to Nash before making contact. Nash takes control with a quick cross corner clothesline, but Rick counters snake eyes with a side suplex. Tag to brother Scott for an axehandle off the 2^nd rope, but a cheap shot from Hall takes the pep out of his step, and Nash blasts him with a big boot. Hall in with a chokeslam and a blockbuster for two, as the Outsiders cut the ring in half on Scott Steiner. Steiner finally (and I mean FINALLY, 'cause that heat segment had no heat) manages to catch Hall with a release belly-to-belly suplex so he can tag, and Rick catches Hall with the elevated flying bulldog during the four-way brawl, but Nash pulls the referee out during the cover, and the Steiner's win (but don't get the titles) at 15:27. No finesse here. It was formula, but done with the least amount of effort or style possible. Forget the bullshit ending, the match itself sucked, as they went almost immediately into the heat segment, and punched-kicked their way through a match that was five minutes too long. DUD

Main Event: WCW World Title Match: Lex Luger v Hollywood Hulk Hogan: Luger had won the title a week before on Monday Nitro - the only interruption in Hogan's epic title reign before dropping it to Sting at the end of the year. Hogan controls with kneelifts in the corner during the early going, and he tries an armbar. Hulk uses a droptoe-hold to shift into a hammerlock, but Luger powers into a wristlock, and slaps an armbar on his challenger. Hogan bails to the floor after a pair of armdrags, but manages to slam Luger on the way back in, and adds an elbowdrop for two. Chinlock, but a turnbuckle smash gets reversed, and they end up on the outside. Hulk rams him into the steps instead, and chokes the champ with an electrical cable. Inside, Hogan hits an inverted atomic drop and follows with a backbreaker for two. Mind you, there was probably a minute between each spot - the pace absolutely brutally slow here. Hogan decides to speed things up with a bearhug, then kicks it into the stratosphere with a test-of-strength. Hogan with a side suplex, as I mess with Tinder to try and pass the time between moves. Hogan with a vertical suplex, but Luger no-sells, and clotheslines him - only to get his eyes raked. Hulk with a schoolboy rollup for two, and a bodyslam sets up the Legdrop - but Luger dodges him, and hits a series of clotheslines. That draws the nWo down, but Luger destroys them all with ease, and slams Hogan. That draws out Sting (well, Dennis Rodman dressed as Sting - which fools less than no one), and he whacks Lex with a bat to allow Hogan to finish with the Legdrop at 16:14. Standard cookie cutter 1997 Hollywood Hogan main event stuff here. No more, no less. Ring announcer Michael Buffer wearing a leather beret for the occasion is almost worth watching this whole show for, though. –½*

BUExperience:  Man, usually you can count on the undercard to save these things, but no such luck here. Just a brutally bad show, with an awful crowd creating a terrible atmosphere (both for the wrestlers and for the viewer), and a terrible main event. Horrible. Horrible, horrible, horrible. Also, it sucked.

And the worst part is that they still didn’t get the message, and came back to Sturgis again the next year. And the year after that, too. If any company ever deserved to go out of business, it was WCW. DUD