Post by adamclark52 on Feb 1, 2015 14:52:21 GMT -5
WCW/now Road Wild
Sunday August 8th, 1998
From the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota
Commentators: Tony Schivonte, Bobby “the Brain” Heenan and Mike Teney
A pretty bad promo video (even for 1998) promoting Leno/Page vs. Hogan/Bischoff kicked off the show.
Interesting to see a wrestling show aired from a parking lot surrounded by bikers. Kinda cheesy. I'd rather real fans in an arena/stadium/bingo hall myself.
Gene Okerlund promo looking' as hardcore as he can on a motorbike...let's just start the damn show.
The Barbarian w/Jimmy Hart vs. Meng
This was a pretty bad match. It was stiff but that doesn't really matter. I like both guys but I prefer them in enforcer roles. After the match Jimmy Hart attacks Meng and I can't help but think to the stories of how dangerous Meng could be in real life and laugh. Then Hugh Morris attacks him as well and I still laugh. Then Hacksaw Jim Duggan comes in for the save and I'm pretty much ready for it to be over.
Winner: Meng
Disco Inferno and Alex Wright w/Tokyo Magnum vs. Public Enemy
I've always liked Alex Wrights music. But aside from his time as Berlyn I don't think I've ever seen one of his matches. Now I have. This wasn't a hardcore match but weapons came out pretty quickly and no one got disqualified. So it became a Street Fight. Did anyone ever want to see Public Enemy in a real match anyway? This was a terrible match.
Winners: Public Enemy
Lee Marshall with Dean Malenko, who's going to be the special referee in Chris Jerichos match later tonight.
Triangle Ravens Rules Match
Raven w/Lodi vs. Saturn vs. Kanyon
The used Ravens WWE entrance music in this match. That pissed me off a little bit. I don't know why they felt to put their stamp on it in such a minor matter that only a hardcore Raven mark like me would notice. Thankfully they left Kanyons music. I always liked that song. I don't think he ever had music in the WWF anyway. Kanyon really did come up with some interesting stuff. He did a Triple Side-Russian Leg Sweep in this match that was like the three suplex thing Eddie Guererro used to do, except with Side-Russian Leg Sweeps. Very cool. Kanyon was a guy that if he could have gotten over on creativity he could have been huge. Him and Saturn did some Eliminators homage's too. This was actually a pretty good match but the crowds lack of interest really hampered it. And a stupid ending with Lodi and Horace Boulder costing Raven the win.
Winner: Saturn
For a WCW Cruiserweight Title Match
Psychosis vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.
Did these guys have a match at every WCW pay per view? I can't say anything new except Psychosis' mask this time utilized his real hair, and he had great hair. It's too bad he's so ugly. This was another good match that was stifled by the crowds lack of interest.
Winner: Rey Mysterio Jr.
For the WCW Television Championship
Chavo Guererro Jr. w/Pepe vs. Stevie Ray (champion)
I really wasn't paying attention to this match but it wasn't worth paying attention to.
Winner: Stevie Ray
Lee Marshall with Chris Jericho. It could've been good...but they cut them off after forty seconds to show more shots of the crowd.
Rick Steiner comes out for a match with his brother Scott. JJ Dillon comes out to say that since Rick attacked Scott with a chair last week the match can't happen because he (Scott) is hurt. Buff Bagwell brings Scott out on a stretcher and JJ makes the match for the next pay per view.
Bryan Adams w/Vincent vs. Steve Mongo McMichael
At least the last segment and this match brought out some people the crowd could relate to. Mongo is starting to remind me of WCWs version of John Bradshaw; a guy who was always there and you always ask yourself why is he there. This match blew.
Winner: Steve Mongo McMichael
Gene Okerlund with the American Iron Horse Girls. The one on Genes far right is pretty hot. The one on his far left looked like she'd inhaled too many motorbike fumes that weekend.
For the WCW Cruiserweight Championship
Juvientud Guererra vs. Chris Jericho (champion)
Special Referee: Dean Malenko
They f***ing changed Jerichos music in this match too. That pissed me right off. I loved his WCW music. Juvi had some great hair too. Unlike Psychosis he's a good looking guy. It's too bad he's messed up beyond belief. The match was okay. I've seen better from both. The ending sequence was pretty good.
Winner: Juvientud Guererra (new WCW Cruiserweight champion)
A Battle Royal - Pinfall or Over the Top Rope
nWo Black and White (Scott Hall, the Giant, Curt Hennig, Scott Norton) vs. nWo Wolfpack (Kevin Nash, Sting, Lex Lugar and Konnan) vs. Goldberg
Goldberg was 129-0 at this point. And he was billed from "Parts Unknown". I never knew they went with that angle for him. Nash and Hall went out WAY too early in this match. But I guess it was furthering their feud. Everyone else was just fluffer in this match. It's sad to see Sting, Curt Hennig and Lex Lugar reduced to that. This match sucked. Not because of anyone involved. It was just all the eggs in one basket.
Winner: Goldberg
Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff w/the Disciple and Miss Elizabeth vs. Diamond Dallas Page and Jay Leno w/Kevin Eubanks
After all the trashy women in the crowd...Miss Elizabeth looked SO GOOD. I'm sure most of the buffoons in the crowd had just as much an idea who Jay Leno was as they did most of the wrestlers. This match was fine whenever it was DDP and Hogan in the ring. It was even passable when Bischoff was in there. But the few moments that Jay Leno was in it was embarrassing. Kevin Eubanks contributed more to the match. At least they didn't try to sell it as anything but I just didn't need to see it. There wasn't even any heat to it. I don't even think having it in front of an actual wrestling crowd would've helped it. I just spent the whole match hoping for more wide shots to stare at Elizabeths ass. I'm done.
Winners: Diamond Dallas Page and Jay Leno
The show ended with a recap of the whole event with the announcers and a sale for the next pay per view: Fall Brawl. That was different. Then there was the promise of a Travis Tritt concert, which was mercifully cut off.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
It's been written that a crowd can make or break an event. It was evident here. Watching this reminded me of seeing a concert at a casino. There were probably a few people there who were weekly viewers of Nitro. But most were just there because the event was held during a yearly biker convention and most of the crowd probably got in for free. You look at any crowd shots and it's so clear that so many people didn't care/know or want to be there. I don't know why WCW thought it was a good idea. But WCW wasn't known for good ideas.
Another bad idea, having Jay Leno in a match should have been used as a tool to expose their product and industry to a wider audience. I can't imagine many of Lenos fans ordered the pay per view but I’m sure a few did. So they took this big opportunity and presented something that came across as a show at the county fair. The matches and stuff were fine but the presentation was ridiculous. For a company that still had millions of viewers and some of the biggest names in wrestling it set wrestling back a few decades.
Aside from the crowd and presentation this still wasn't a very good show. There was a lot of dead weight, miss-matches, cluster-f***s...and f***ing Jay Leno in a wrestling match. The Ravens Rules match was good but needed more time. Rey and Psychosis are always entertaining, as is Chris Jericho even though it wasn't one of his best matches. But of all the WCW pay per views I've seen which is three, now...this is the worst. I still had FUN watching it because I'll always have a soft spot for WCW 1993-1999 and I'm riding the nostalgia train with the Network but I really wouldn't recommend going out of your way to watch this. I watched it for $11.99 a month...so for nothing, really. If I watch six vintage pay per views in a month plus a current one this cost me around eleven cents. So it's worth that. But this event was a fail on every count.
Sunday August 8th, 1998
From the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota
Commentators: Tony Schivonte, Bobby “the Brain” Heenan and Mike Teney
A pretty bad promo video (even for 1998) promoting Leno/Page vs. Hogan/Bischoff kicked off the show.
Interesting to see a wrestling show aired from a parking lot surrounded by bikers. Kinda cheesy. I'd rather real fans in an arena/stadium/bingo hall myself.
Gene Okerlund promo looking' as hardcore as he can on a motorbike...let's just start the damn show.
The Barbarian w/Jimmy Hart vs. Meng
This was a pretty bad match. It was stiff but that doesn't really matter. I like both guys but I prefer them in enforcer roles. After the match Jimmy Hart attacks Meng and I can't help but think to the stories of how dangerous Meng could be in real life and laugh. Then Hugh Morris attacks him as well and I still laugh. Then Hacksaw Jim Duggan comes in for the save and I'm pretty much ready for it to be over.
Winner: Meng
Disco Inferno and Alex Wright w/Tokyo Magnum vs. Public Enemy
I've always liked Alex Wrights music. But aside from his time as Berlyn I don't think I've ever seen one of his matches. Now I have. This wasn't a hardcore match but weapons came out pretty quickly and no one got disqualified. So it became a Street Fight. Did anyone ever want to see Public Enemy in a real match anyway? This was a terrible match.
Winners: Public Enemy
Lee Marshall with Dean Malenko, who's going to be the special referee in Chris Jerichos match later tonight.
Triangle Ravens Rules Match
Raven w/Lodi vs. Saturn vs. Kanyon
The used Ravens WWE entrance music in this match. That pissed me off a little bit. I don't know why they felt to put their stamp on it in such a minor matter that only a hardcore Raven mark like me would notice. Thankfully they left Kanyons music. I always liked that song. I don't think he ever had music in the WWF anyway. Kanyon really did come up with some interesting stuff. He did a Triple Side-Russian Leg Sweep in this match that was like the three suplex thing Eddie Guererro used to do, except with Side-Russian Leg Sweeps. Very cool. Kanyon was a guy that if he could have gotten over on creativity he could have been huge. Him and Saturn did some Eliminators homage's too. This was actually a pretty good match but the crowds lack of interest really hampered it. And a stupid ending with Lodi and Horace Boulder costing Raven the win.
Winner: Saturn
For a WCW Cruiserweight Title Match
Psychosis vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.
Did these guys have a match at every WCW pay per view? I can't say anything new except Psychosis' mask this time utilized his real hair, and he had great hair. It's too bad he's so ugly. This was another good match that was stifled by the crowds lack of interest.
Winner: Rey Mysterio Jr.
For the WCW Television Championship
Chavo Guererro Jr. w/Pepe vs. Stevie Ray (champion)
I really wasn't paying attention to this match but it wasn't worth paying attention to.
Winner: Stevie Ray
Lee Marshall with Chris Jericho. It could've been good...but they cut them off after forty seconds to show more shots of the crowd.
Rick Steiner comes out for a match with his brother Scott. JJ Dillon comes out to say that since Rick attacked Scott with a chair last week the match can't happen because he (Scott) is hurt. Buff Bagwell brings Scott out on a stretcher and JJ makes the match for the next pay per view.
Bryan Adams w/Vincent vs. Steve Mongo McMichael
At least the last segment and this match brought out some people the crowd could relate to. Mongo is starting to remind me of WCWs version of John Bradshaw; a guy who was always there and you always ask yourself why is he there. This match blew.
Winner: Steve Mongo McMichael
Gene Okerlund with the American Iron Horse Girls. The one on Genes far right is pretty hot. The one on his far left looked like she'd inhaled too many motorbike fumes that weekend.
For the WCW Cruiserweight Championship
Juvientud Guererra vs. Chris Jericho (champion)
Special Referee: Dean Malenko
They f***ing changed Jerichos music in this match too. That pissed me right off. I loved his WCW music. Juvi had some great hair too. Unlike Psychosis he's a good looking guy. It's too bad he's messed up beyond belief. The match was okay. I've seen better from both. The ending sequence was pretty good.
Winner: Juvientud Guererra (new WCW Cruiserweight champion)
A Battle Royal - Pinfall or Over the Top Rope
nWo Black and White (Scott Hall, the Giant, Curt Hennig, Scott Norton) vs. nWo Wolfpack (Kevin Nash, Sting, Lex Lugar and Konnan) vs. Goldberg
Goldberg was 129-0 at this point. And he was billed from "Parts Unknown". I never knew they went with that angle for him. Nash and Hall went out WAY too early in this match. But I guess it was furthering their feud. Everyone else was just fluffer in this match. It's sad to see Sting, Curt Hennig and Lex Lugar reduced to that. This match sucked. Not because of anyone involved. It was just all the eggs in one basket.
Winner: Goldberg
Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff w/the Disciple and Miss Elizabeth vs. Diamond Dallas Page and Jay Leno w/Kevin Eubanks
After all the trashy women in the crowd...Miss Elizabeth looked SO GOOD. I'm sure most of the buffoons in the crowd had just as much an idea who Jay Leno was as they did most of the wrestlers. This match was fine whenever it was DDP and Hogan in the ring. It was even passable when Bischoff was in there. But the few moments that Jay Leno was in it was embarrassing. Kevin Eubanks contributed more to the match. At least they didn't try to sell it as anything but I just didn't need to see it. There wasn't even any heat to it. I don't even think having it in front of an actual wrestling crowd would've helped it. I just spent the whole match hoping for more wide shots to stare at Elizabeths ass. I'm done.
Winners: Diamond Dallas Page and Jay Leno
The show ended with a recap of the whole event with the announcers and a sale for the next pay per view: Fall Brawl. That was different. Then there was the promise of a Travis Tritt concert, which was mercifully cut off.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
It's been written that a crowd can make or break an event. It was evident here. Watching this reminded me of seeing a concert at a casino. There were probably a few people there who were weekly viewers of Nitro. But most were just there because the event was held during a yearly biker convention and most of the crowd probably got in for free. You look at any crowd shots and it's so clear that so many people didn't care/know or want to be there. I don't know why WCW thought it was a good idea. But WCW wasn't known for good ideas.
Another bad idea, having Jay Leno in a match should have been used as a tool to expose their product and industry to a wider audience. I can't imagine many of Lenos fans ordered the pay per view but I’m sure a few did. So they took this big opportunity and presented something that came across as a show at the county fair. The matches and stuff were fine but the presentation was ridiculous. For a company that still had millions of viewers and some of the biggest names in wrestling it set wrestling back a few decades.
Aside from the crowd and presentation this still wasn't a very good show. There was a lot of dead weight, miss-matches, cluster-f***s...and f***ing Jay Leno in a wrestling match. The Ravens Rules match was good but needed more time. Rey and Psychosis are always entertaining, as is Chris Jericho even though it wasn't one of his best matches. But of all the WCW pay per views I've seen which is three, now...this is the worst. I still had FUN watching it because I'll always have a soft spot for WCW 1993-1999 and I'm riding the nostalgia train with the Network but I really wouldn't recommend going out of your way to watch this. I watched it for $11.99 a month...so for nothing, really. If I watch six vintage pay per views in a month plus a current one this cost me around eleven cents. So it's worth that. But this event was a fail on every count.
