WCW Road Wild 1997 (Version II)

Original Airdate: August 9, 1997

 

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

 

Opening Match: Harlem Heat v Buff Bagwell and Scott Norton: Booker T starts with Bagwell, and they feel each other out a little bit. Scott tags in, but misses a corner charge, and Booker passes to Stevie Ray. Stevie unloads on Norton in the corner, and Scott is doing a surprising amount of selling today. Maybe it's sunstroke setting in? They Heat work Scott over, but a spinkick attempt from Booker gets caught in a slam, and Buff gets the tag. The Heat quickly take a cheap shot to send Bagwell tumbling over the top, and I'm guessing they were expecting another 'less than warm' reception for the Heat in Sturgis when they booked this, because otherwise I can't understand why they're working like heels. The Heat cut the ring in half on Bagwell, as Jacqueline shows up at ringside to cheer the Heat on. Buff fights Booker off with a powerbomb to allow the tag to Scott, and Roseanne Barr the door. Vincent trips Stevie up during the brawl, distracting him as Scott gives Booker an inverted shoulderbreaker. That looks to finish, so Jackie jumps up on Norton's shoulders, and Booker capitalizes with a kick for the pin at 10:19 - with Jackie holding Scott's foot down all the while. This was really dull, and the reversed babyface/heel alignments made it seem pointless, after weeks of TV building the Heat up as babyfaces looking to cut down the nWo. ½* (Original rating: DUD)

 

Mexican Death Match: Rey Mysterio Jr v Konnan: Mike Tenay joins us on commentary here, though no one bothers to clarify what the rules are for this. Konnan tries attacking at the bell, but Rey quickly fights him off, and hits a springboard missile dropkick. Headscissors takedown works, but a charge doesn't, and Rey eats turnbuckle. Konnan adds a clothesline, and the rolling clothesline sets up an Indian deathlock to work the bad leg. Rey makes the ropes, and he bails to regroup, favoring the left leg now. Rey with a slingshot headscissors on the way back in, but he hurts his knee in the process, and Konnan clips him before he can follow up. Konnan grabs a grapevine, but Rey makes the ropes again, and he's selling like crazy here. Konnan keeps working the leg, and a powerbomb gets him two. Konnan rips the mask off, but Rey manages to slip it back on before anyone can see anything, and he throws a dropkick to buy time. Rey uses a pair of legdrops to set up a springboard slingshot moonsault, but he hurts the knee on the landing, and Konnan capitalizes with a stump puller. Rey makes the ropes, and he tries mounting a comeback, but Konnan very quickly cuts him off with an overhead suplex. Rey manages a victory cradle for two, but the knee slows him way down as he gets to the top for a dive, and Konnan catches him in a package DDT. Tequila Sunrise finishes at 10:55. This was psychologically sound, but boring, with Konnan just working the leg and Mysterio selling it. And little else. Also, they worked this like just a straight match, I'm still not sure what the gimmick was supposed to be. * (Original rating: ¾*)

 

Elimination Match: Jeff Jarrett and Dean Malenko v Chris Benoit and Steve McMichael: The rules are clearer on this one, though the announcers still don't bother to explain them. And it's not like it was built up as an elimination match on TV. Jarrett and Benoit start, and Jeff armdrags him over, then passes to Malenko. Really earning his pay today, I see. Criss cross ends in Benoit missing a leg-feed enzuigiri, but Malenko misses an elbowdrop. That leads to a reversal sequence that ends in Dean hooking a small package for two, so Chris tags out. Mongo charges in, but Malenko is ready with a drop-toehold, so Benoit throws a cheap shot from the apron. That allows Steve a sidewalk slam, and the Horsemen cut the ring in half on him. Mongo loses control to allow the tag to Jeff, but Steve doesn't seem too disappointed about that, of course. Then, in a weird bit, Jarrett hits Mongo with a chincrusher... and pulls Steve on top of him, getting himself intentionally pinned at 7:08. Jeff, somehow, thinks this is some great scam he pulled off, and the announcers seem to agree. Not sure Dean would, however. Or anyone with a brain, really. So the Horsemen double up on Malenko, with Jarrett still strutting around like he just pulled off the heist of the century. Benoit hits a tombstone to set up the flying headbutt drop, and Steve adds his own tombstone to finish at 9:34. Well, that was certainly... something? They're doing a good job of building matches on TV, but all these payoffs are just horrible. ¾* (Original rating: ¼*)

 

WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Alex Wright v Chris Jericho: Tenay is back to do commentary here. Feeling out process to start, dominated by the challenger. Wright bails to the outside to stall, and he tries a sneak attack when Chris turns his back, but Jericho is ready with a drop-toehold into a headlock. Wright uses the hair to reverse, so Jericho forces a criss cross, and throws a spinheel kick. Suplex, but Wright slips free, and a reversal sequence ends in Jericho crotching him across the top rope to set up a springboard dropkick. Alex responds by stalling on the outside again, so Chris dives after him with a springboard bodypress on the floor, and the challenger adds a bodyslam out there. Whip into the steps, but Alex reverses, and the champ capitalizes with a vertical suplex on the floor. Wright cracks him with chops, but a trip to the top rope on the way back in ends badly when Jericho slams him off. Chris adds a dropkick, and an armdrag traps Wright in an armbar. Criss cross ends in Wright throwing a spinheel kick, and he goes up with a flying stomp before taking a dance break. Side suplex sets up a flying moonsault, but he takes too long getting up there, and Jericho rolls out of the way. Chris comes back with a chincrusher, and he rattles the champion with a trio of cross corner whip/clothesline combos. Senton splash gets Chris two, and a powerbomb is worth two. Dead lift powerbomb gets two, so Jericho goes up for a dive, but Wright falls into the ropes to crotch him. That allows the champion a vertical superplex for two, but Jericho counters a German suplex with a victory cradle for two. Chris adds a side suplex for two, but Wright reverses a rollup to retain at 13:02. This was okay, but the crowd was disinterested, and it came off flat. This was originally supposed to be Jericho winning the title back here, but the nWo was pulling a power play about there being 'too many title switches,' and it was vetoed (along with the Outsiders getting to keep the tag title). Hulk Hogan still got the world title back, though. Whoops, spoilers, sorry. But then Jericho just ended up getting the belt back a week later anyway. Whoops again. ** ½ (Original rating: *

 

Ric Flair v Syxx: The bikers revving their engines at the crescendo of Flair's theme is a nice touch. They feel each other out to start, and Flair isn't shy about mixing it up with him. Syxx tries a corner charge, but Flair sidesteps him, and Syxx takes a bump over the top. He regroups out there for a bit, but Flair is ready with chops once he comes back inside, as the announcers try to get Syxx over as some sort of dangerous shooter. Uh, yeah. Syxx wins a criss cross with a spinkick to set up a lightning legdrop, and he adds the lightning kicks in the corner to set up the bronco buster. Chinlock, but Flair wrestles to a vertical base, so Syxx kicks him back down. Bodyslam sets up a flying legdrop for two, and a whip into the ropes sets up a spinheel kick for two. He didn't find the mark on that one. Back to the chinlock, but Flair escapes, so Syxx corner whips him, but Flair flips over the buckles. Ric chops his way back in and deliver a kneebreaker, but Syxx buys time with a leg-feed enzuigiri. He capitalizes by going upstairs, but a flying somersault senton splash misses, and Ric clips the knee. Figure Four looks to finish, but Syxx is in the ropes. Flair responds by pounding him in the corner, so Syxx tries for the Buzz Killer, but Flair blocks him. Syxx responds with another go at the bronco buster, but Flair counters by busting his balls, and a leveraged pin ends it at 11:06. This was really disappointing. Was Flair under the weather here, or something? Because Syxx was carrying this, and Ric didn't seem game to play at all. What a shame, because this should have been a lot better than it was. ¾* (Original rating: ½*)

 

Diamond Dallas Page v Curt Hennig: Hennig suckers him to the outside to steal the high ground, and he keeps Page on the outside. Dallas finally manages to sweep him to the outside as well, and he unloads with rights. Inside, Hennig tries chops in the corner, but Page quickly turns the tables, and a slugfest ends in Curt falling out to the apron. DDP drags him back in by the hair, and Hennig crotches himself on the post, though the camera mostly misses it, and it didn't have the same impact as when he'd do that in the WWF. Page goes up for a dive, but Hennig shakes the ropes to crotch him up there, and wraps a towel around his throat for some choking. Forearm smash puts Page down, and a kneelift follows. This has to be the most disengaged crowd I've ever seen in my life. This venue makes for an interesting visual, but I still can't believe they kept going back there year after year, especially since there seemed to be more negatives than positives with this venue/type of crowd. Hennig with a somersault necksnap and a backelbow for two, and he starts going to work on the leg. Sleeper, but Page quickly escapes, and a sunset cradle gets him two. Curt cuts him off with a clothesline for two, and a somersault cradle is worth two. Dallas fires back with a discus clothesline for two, so Hennig exposes a top turnbuckle, and feeds it to Page. That knocks him silly (and busts him open), allowing Hennig to pick his limp body up for the bridging fisherman suplex, but DDP gets a shoulder up at two. Hennig tries for the exposed buckle again, but Page reverses, and he hits a pancake piledriver, but the referee gets bumped in the process. Cue Ric Flair, but Page fights him off with the Diamond Cutter. The crowd is so dead here that they didn't even acknowledge the run in. Unfortunately for Page, the distraction allows Hennig recovery time, and he hits another fisherman suplex to put it away at 9:46. Hennig looked slow and bloated out there, not even bothering to do much of his trademark overselling. This actually felt a lot like Hennig's WrestleMania match with Lex Luger, so maybe he's just more of an indoors cat? * ¼ (Original rating: * ¼)

 

Giant v Randy Savage: Savage stalls on the outside to start, until Giant turns his back, and Macho runs in trying for a bodyslam, but he gets toppled. Did he ask Hogan for tips before this one? Giant pounds him for a while until Randy bails, but this time Giant chases after him, pressing him back into the ring. Headbutt connects, but a criss cross ends badly when Savage clips his leg. Macho goes to work on it, and a flying bodypress gets him two. Flying axehandle, but Giant catches him in the chokeslam at 6:00, with Tony actually surprised that Giant could execute the move on Savage. So, like, is anyone going to bother making an effort tonight? ¼* (Original rating: DUD)

 

WCW World Tag Team Title Match: The Outsiders v The Steiner Brothers: Scott Hall starts with Scott Steiner, and there's lots of posturing to start. Hall gets the first takedown and hooks an armbar, but he makes the mistake of slapping Scott around, and gets suplexed. Scott with a tigerbomb, so Kevin Nash runs in, but Rick Steiner cuts him off, and the challengers clean house. You'd think guys would learn not to try and double team the Steiner's in the first few minutes of a match. They should teach you that on day one of training, right before the rule about piledriving Hawk. The dust settles on Kevin and Rick next, and Nash dominates. Snake-eyes, but Rick shoves him into the corner to block, and delivers a side suplex. Tag to Scott for a 2^nd rope axehandle, and he corners Kevin for a ten-punch. Or, well, until the number he can count to. Cheap shot from Hall allows Nash to throw a big boot, however, and he tags back in to chokeslam Scott. The Outsiders work Scott over, until Hall looks for the kill with the Outsider's Edge, but Rick comes in with a clothesline to block him. That allows Scott a suplex, and he's finally able to tag - Roseanne Barr the door! The challengers go for the kill with the elevated flying bulldog, but Nash pulls the referee out at two, and the official calls for the DQ at 15:29. Man, if you're going to book that shitty finish, did they HAVE TO have Nick Patrick officiating? This made it seem like he was turning heel again! Also, why are the Steiner's celebrating? Are they really that stupid? Come to think of it, didn't they run out to hoist Lex Luger up on their shoulders at SummerSlam '93, too? Maybe they are that stupid. The match was pretty uninspired, and the heat segment felt like it went on for hours. As noted, this was originally booked as the Steiner's getting the belts, before the nWo vetoed it. And in this case it was just pure selfishness, since the Steiner's winning the belts would have been a great payoff to months of booking, and instead... nothing. Just the Outsiders keeping the belts because because. ¾* (Original rating: DUD)

 

Main Event: WCW World Title Match: Lex Luger v Hollywood Hulk Hogan: Michael Buffer wearing a biker beret along with his white tuxedo is a look. Speaking of 'looks,' Hogan looks so wrong without the title belt. Feeling out process to start, dominated by Hogan. Hulk takes firm control and works him over, but Lex reverses a series of turnbuckles smashes, and the challenger bails. Hulk sweeps him to the outside for a smash into the steps, and he hits an inverted atomic drop on the way back inside. Backbreaker gets him two, and he works a knucklelock, then delivers a side suplex for two. Big boot gets two, but Luger no-sells a vertical suplex, and he starts making a comeback. Hogan goes to the eyes to cut him off, and a bodyslam sets up the legdrop, but Lex dodges. Luger goes back on the comeback trail, so the nWo start running in, but Lex fights them off like he did on Nitro. Maybe they should try all attacking him at once? Just a thought. Torture Rack time, but (a clearly fake to everyone but the announcers) Sting hits him with a bat, and Hulk legdrops him to get the gold back at 16:15. This was coming off of one of the hottest TV matches of its era, but you'd never know it with this sad crowd, and it hurt the piece a lot. The Nitro match wasn't remotely good from a workrate perspective, but the hot crowd, and the big moment made it work. There was nothing here to compensate for the lack of workrate, just leaving them alone out there with a poor match. DUD (Original rating: -½*)

BUExperience: This era continues to perplex me, as they're building up great angles on TV, but almost every pay per view show under delivers. It probably didn't help that the nWo's power play upended a lot of the booking choices, and the disinterested crowd made it even more of an uphill battle. Also, what's with putting the heels over in all the big matches? Not to mention unclear booking that freely changed heel/face alignments in several matches completely from what was being built up on TV. This was a mess.

DUD