Each week, members of the Place to Be Nation staff come together to watch a professional wrestling show from the past as a group. As they watch and interact, they also track their grades and overall thoughts in various categories along the way. We will regularly be bringing you their output here in a variety of projects and entries.
Road Wild 1998 (Viewed August 21, 2018)
Card:
Meng vs. Barbarian
Dancing Fools vs. Public Enemy
Raven vs. Saturn vs. Kanyon
Rey Mysterio, Jr. vs. Psichosis
Stevie Ray vs. Chavo Guerrero, Jr. – WCW Television Title
Steve McMichael vs. Brian Adams
Juventud Guerrera vs. Chris Jericho – WCW Cruiserweight Title
NWO Invitational Battle Royal
Diamond Dallas Page & Jay Leno vs. Hollywood Hogan & Eric Bischoff
What Worked
JT Rozzero: The atmosphere and setting were really cool visuals; The post match of Meng/Barbarian was hot; Tokyo Magnum dancing at ringside; The dynamic between Kanyon, Raven and Saturn was interesting; Saturn suplexing dudes; Tony saying “Place to Be’ multiple times; Some of these absurd outfits the bikers are wearing; Jericho’s shit talking; The sunset looked cool as a back drop to the ring; Juventud and Jericho worked their asses off; The iconic Wolfpac theme; Goldberg looking like a beast; Buffer’s announcements – “The Dangerous Disciple”; Kevin Eubanks~!
Tim Capel: The stage and overall setting, with some nice aerial views; Sexy Leather Daddy Tony Schiavone; Meng/Barbarian as a hot opener; The Raven/Saturn feud rocked and Kanyon worked as a third man; Saturn taking Lodi and Horace to Suplay City; Rey and Psicosis putting in work with a sick finish; Scott Steiner’s stretcher job selling of a chair shot we didn’t even see; Chris Jericho’s kimono and disdain for the crowd; Scott Hall being lit and saying “Survey Says…”; Goldberg wrecking shop on the entire uppercard; Jay Leno injecting life into a comatose crowd; Smart match layout for the main event with DDP and Hogan holding the match together; Kevin Eubanks hitting a sweet Diamond Cutter
Jennifer Smith: Tony in leather, HACHE MACHE; Mean Gene looking oddly at home on a sweet ass bike; Kanyon’s tights; Stop sign beatdown; Hearing “Place to be”; Pretty cool triple table spot; Psicosis and Rey showing out; Jericho’s glorious top ponytail and real extra robe; Wolfpac music; Hall’s drunken ass; Jay Leno being surprisingly entertaining
Stacey O’Loughlin: The sweet looking outdoor show; Mean Gene on a motorcycle; Meng and Barb stiffing each other; The kitchen sink gag; The bulletproof Rey and Psicosis travelling show; Tony talking about getting “any leather item” to pop Jennifer; Jericho wearing a ladies’ housecoat to the ring; Jericho in general; The cruiserweight title finish; The nWo Wolfpack theme; Goldberg; The Jackhammer on the Giant; The main event had some fun gaga; DDP worked hard
Greg Phillips: The skyline and natural beauty of the scenery; TONY; Menger and the Barbarian hitting each other with force; Raven being the second best character in the company; Rey’s springboard dive; Pepe!; I didn’t mind the Stevie and Chavo stuff; Buff and Steiner’s fantastic cowardly acting; Chris Jericho being the best character in the company; The Malenko/Jericho feud; Juvi getting a rare pop from this horrible crowd for beating Jericho; Disinterested Giant; Jackhammer; Hogan’s commitment to being a heel; DDP’s improving work
Jacob Williams: Jimmy Hart going airborne; Meng/Barbarian power offense; Rey and Jericho trying to bring some energy to the show; Goldberg and Jericho trolling the bikers; Eddie Guerrero’s presence
Neil Trama: The Faces of Fear EXPLODE; Rey Jr. and Psicosis trying to have a good match; Jericho being awesome; Goldberg destroying dudes and jackhammering the friggin Giant; I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the Jay Leno match wasn’t actually terrible; I’m always a mark for shows that start outside in the sunlight and then transition to darkness, so there’s that; Oh and Kevin Eubanks’ diamond cutter!
Trent Williams: It was a show outside which I always enjoy; The hoss battle between Meng & Barbarian; Table spot with Public Enemy; The underrated great music of both Psicosis and Juvi; Mysterio/Psicosis & Juvi vs Jericho actually being good matches; The Sturgis crowd being slightly less racist toward Stevie Ray than they were back in 1996; Jericho insulting Malenko during the match; Malenko getting revenge on Jericho for putting him through crap all year; Goldberg’s performance in Battle Royal and Heenan doing a great job of putting him over; Kevin Eubanks Diamond Cutter
Tim Slomka: Top Rope Suplay by Barbarian (with zero crowd pop); Place 2 Be Shout-outs; Tenay moving storylines along; Helicopter shots of the crowd and the city; Cool sunset; Sting (besides not making sense in the NOW) at least looking like a star; Booking Goldberg to win battle royal; Eddie’s mullet; Loud BS chant during the Steiner screwjob: NWO and Wolfpack music; Jericho trolling the crowd
Tyler Kelley: Rey and Psichosis worked hard despite the crowd; Jericho and Juvy had a very good match; Jericho tried his damnedest to play to the crowd and they eventually woke up to cheer Juvy’s win; Scott Hall’s credit card at the Tramp Stamp Lounge racking up his bar bill before the battle royal; Goldberg was so badass in 1998
Jason Sherman: The Faces of Fear EXPLODE; Raven being Raven; Chris Jericho; Juventud; Rey Mysterio and his theme; Referee Malenko; Tokyo Magnum and Alex Wright’s dancing; Goldberg; Of course, the Wolfpac theme
Logan Crosland: The outdoor venue is always a cool visual; Faces of Fear beating the shit out of each other; Rey and Psicosis working hard despite the crowd; All things Jericho; Wolfpac theme; Jackhammer on the Giant; DDP going all out
What Didn’t Work
JT Rozzero: Shaky production on opening video; Tenay’s Canadian Tuxedo; Heenan’s hat; The lame ECW wannabe hardcore tag match; The dead silent crowd; Chavo Fucking Guerrero; The Steiner Brother bait and switch; Booking Mongo to have to carry Brian Adams; Sting and Luger in the NWO never feels right; Hogan selling for Leno’s soft offense; Leno wrestling at all
Tim Capel: I’d blame the crowd, but really Bischoff’s insistence on going back to this shitty-ass sucky town year after year is the issue; Some horrendous camerawork (even by WCW standards); The backyard wrestling tag match; Saturn going over is fun, but doesn’t really advance the feud; Rey/Psicosis in 1998 not being Rey/Psicosis in 1996; Chavo without Eddie just sucks; Bryan Adams & Mongo having a PPV match; Goldberg going over EVERYONE in a battle royal is pretty dumb; DDP & Leno coming out to a shitty Tonight Show dub; The venue hurting what probably otherwise would’ve been some good matches
Jennifer Smith: The fucking crowd; Bobby’s hat; Garbage tag match; Jim Duggan is still alive?; Sitting through a Chavo match; Boring battle royal; Mongo and Adams making me want to gouge my eyes out; Eric, ugh
Stacey O’Loughlin: Shitty drunk biker crowd; Jimmy Hart doing spots; Dudes walking all the way to the back to pick up weapons mid-match; Two shitty garbage brawls in a row; Psicosis almost dying for these peasants; Scott Hall being absolutely maggoted; Leno’s terrible theme music; Bischoff being scared of Leno but not DDP; Hogan calling someone else “bald”
Greg Phillips: The usual horrendous Sturgis crowd filled with non-wrestling fans; The insanely dangerous ring setup, with an elevated area outside the ring; Virtually any actual wrestling in front of this crowd; Raven losing; Everything to do with Brian Adams and Mongo; The crowd; Blowing Goldberg/Giant off in a battle royal; Nash eliminating himself from the battle royal; JJ Dillon cutting a horrible promo; The crowd; Bischoff going after DDP but cowering from Leno; Hogan selling for Leno; The crowd
Jacob Williams: Brain being sort of checked out; Sedated crowd; Brian Adams’s tights; The disjointed street fight; Unnecessary hardcore brawling; Lounge music in the main event; Lack of condiments in the street fight; Ice trays; The Meat Sauce Mafia
Neil Trama: The Public Enemy in the ring; The public enemies in the crowd; Mongo vs. Crush; World champion Goldberg in a battle royal like a goof; Jay Leno and Hulk Hogan EXCHANGING HOLDS; Jay Leno’s horrible music
Trent Williams: The crowd not knowing or caring who most of the guys were; The absolute clusterfuck booking of the Disco/Alex vs Public Enemy match; Putting two hardcore type matches back to back on the card; The constant bait and switch that was the Steiner vs Steiner feud in 98,; The entire McMichael vs Adam sloppy match that was full of botches; Guys like Sting, Hennig, Norton, & Goldberg being stuck in a battle royal when they could’ve been in other matches and made this show better,; Deciding to do NWO vs NWO in a battle royal instead of an eight man tag; Jay Leno in a match instead of just being in DDP’s corner; Eubanks should’ve been DDP’s partner as at least he looked in shape and hit a sweet diamond cutter,; The fact that for the longest time I didn’t realize Disciple was Brutus “The Fucking Barber” Beefcake; So many talents not on the card or not in a match that could’ve made this a better show like Booker, Benoit, Finlay, Eddie; Hell I would’ve taken a Glacier match instead of Mongo vs Adams; The fact that rewatching this show is taking away my good nostalgic vibe I used to have for it
Tim Slomka: The Brain’s Hat; The Crowd – All time Bad; Having a show with ZERO paid in attendance; Almost everyone in black outfits; Heenan having zero prep calling saying Letterman in the Public Enemy matching following up with “What’s the other guy’s name, NBC”; The Giant give zero effort; The Giant’s elimination of Luger is up there with the worst of all time; Goldberg’s spear on Norton; JJ Dillon cutting a promo and forgetting the next PPV name; Vincent chair shot; The Crowd (deserves 2 mentions); Leno being in a main event
Tyler Kelley: Biker crowd couldn’t give two shits about the show; Tenay talking about getting any leather item you want in Sturgis; Pepe being the most entertaining performer in a match also including Chavo Guerrero and Stevie Ray; Bait and switch on Steiners match; JJ Dillon as the babyface authority figure; Mongo vs. Bryan Adams; Seriously, fuck this dead crowd; Sting’s Lobster Wolfpac facepaint; Goldberg winning the battle royal with…a pin???; Jay Leno’s training regiment; Leno and Bischoff in the main event
Jason Sherman: Sturgis; The Crowd; The First Family; That tag team mess; Chavo and Pepe… and Stevie Ray; Where the hell was Booker?!?; Brian Adams and Mongo; The Crowd; JJ Dillon, Buff Bagwell and Rick Steiner’s ID network level acting chops; Terrible overdubbed music; Did I mention the crowd?
Logan Crosland: Horrible outfits on all the commentators; Terrible crowd; Garbage tag team brawl was kinda boring; Putting Goldberg in a battle royal as the newly crowned champ instead of a one on one match; Chavo Guerrero’s mere existence; Mongo and Brian Adams match was awful
Match of the Night
JT Rozzero: Juventud Guerrera vs. Chris Jericho
Tim Capel: Juventud Guerrera vs. Chris Jericho
Jennifer Smith: Juventud Guerrera vs. Chris Jericho
Stacey O’Loughlin: Juventud Guerrera vs. Chris Jericho
Greg Phillips: Juventud Guerrera vs. Chris Jericho
Jacob Williams: Juventud Guerrera vs. Chris Jericho
Neil Trama: Juventud Guerrera vs. Chris Jericho
Trent Williams: Juventud Guerrera vs. Chris Jericho
Tim Slomka: Juventud Guerrera vs. Chris Jericho
Tyler Kelley: Juventud Guerrera vs. Chris Jericho
Jason Sherman: Juventud Guerrera vs. Chris Jericho
Logan Crosland: Juventud Guerrera vs. Chris Jericho
Worst Match of the Night
JT Rozzero: Brian Adams vs Steve McMichael
Tim Capel: Chavo Guerrero, Jr. vs. Stevie Ray
Jennifer Smith: Chavo Guerrero, Jr. vs. Stevie Ray
Stacey O’Loughlin: Brian Adams vs Steve McMichael
Greg Phillips: Brian Adams vs Steve McMichael
Jacob Williams: Brian Adams vs Steve McMichael
Neil Trama: Brian Adams vs Steve McMichael
Trent Williams: Brian Adams vs Steve McMichael
Tim Slomka: Brian Adams vs Steve McMichael
Tyler Kelley: Chavo Guerrero, Jr. vs. Stevie Ray
Jason Sherman: Brian Adams vs Steve McMichael
Logan Crosland: Brian Adams vs Steve McMichael
MVP of the Night
JT Rozzero: Chris Jericho
Tim Capel: Diamond Dallas Page
Jennifer Smith: Chris Jericho
Stacey O’Loughlin: Chris Jericho
Greg Phillips: Chris Jericho
Jacob Williams: Chris Jericho
Neil Trama: Goldberg
Trent Williams: Chris Jericho
Tim Slomka: Chris Jericho
Tyler Kelley: Chris Jericho
Jason Sherman:Chris Jericho
Logan Crosland:Chris Jericho
Best Live Chat Comment of the Night
JT Rozzero: “Parts Unknown is the flop house all the boys are sharing” – Stacey O’Loughlin
Tim Capel: “So I was curious and looked it up and “110th St in Harlem” is fucking Central Park.” – Stacey O’Loughlin
Jennifer Smith: “I wanted a top ponytail so bad because of him at this time.” – Greg Phillips
Stacey O’Loughlin: “He’d get better at jackhammering the Giant… and in applying his wrestling finisher too.” – Tim Capel
Greg Phillips: “DASTY DICK NUKE” – Stacey O’Loughlin
Jacob Williams: “Parts Unknown is the flop house all the boys are sharing” – Stacey O’Loughlin
Neil Trama: “Crowd loves Leno – think he got 20 people to clap there.” – Tim Slomka
Tim Slomka: “How many people in this crowd do you think are still alive” – Tim Capel
Tyler Kelley: “He’d get better at jackhammering the Giant… and in applying his wrestling finisher, too.” – Tim Capel
Jason Sherman: “I’m ready for Leno to fuck everyone up tbh” – Stacey O’Loughlin
Logan Crosland: “How many people in the crowd do you think are still alive?” – Tim Capel
Show Grade:
JT Rozzero: 3.5/10
Tim Capel: 4/10
Jennifer Smith: 3.5/10
Stacey O’Loughlin: 3/10
Greg Phillips: 3.5/10
Jacob Williams: 3/10
Neil Trama: 3.5/10
Trent Williams: 3/10
Tim Slomka: 2/10
Tyler Kelley: 3/10
Jason Sherman: 3/10
Logan Crosland: 3/10
Match Grades
JT Rozzero: **, *, **½, ***¼, ¼*, DUD, ***½, **, **1/4
Tim Capel: **, *¼, **¾, ***¼, DUD, *, ***¼, **, **½
Jennifer Smith: **, *¼, **¾, ***¼, DUD, *, ***¼, **, **½
Stacey O’Loughlin: **, *, *½, ***, ½*, ½*, ***, *½, **
Greg Phillips: **½, *½, **¾, ***, **, DUD, ***½, **, **½
Jacob Williams: **, *, **½, ***, ½*, DUD, ***½, **½, **
Neil Trama: ** ½, *, **, ***, *, *, *** ½, ** ½, ** ¾
Trent Williams: **¼, *½, **¾, ***¼, DUD, ½*, ***½, **¼
Tim Slomka: ***, ½*, **, ***, **, DUD, ***, **½, **
Tyler Kelley: **, *, **1/2, ***1/4, ¼*, ¼*, ***1/2, **, **
Jason Sherman:**, *½, **½, ***¼, DUD, DUD, ***½, **, **
Logan Crosland: **, *, **, ***, *, DUD, ***½, **, **
