WCW Souled Out 1997

With WCW handily winning the war against the WWF in early 1997, and looking to expand their pay per view lineup to include a regular January event, WCW did something interesting in creating a concept show with Souled Out. The idea was that the show was being promoted by the nWo (the hottest angle in wrestling at the time) as a non-WCW sanctioned event, and would feature nWo commentators, nWo set design, nWo referees, nWo ring announcers, and all the matches would feature WCW guys challenging them under their rules.

From Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Your Hosts are Eric Bischoff and Ted DiBiase.


Opening Match: Masahiro Chono v Chris Jericho: As noted, this is a full-on nWo show, so the WCW guys don't get entrance music, and the ring announcer makes fun of them. Chono starts bitching about a hairpull almost the second the bell sounds, and since he's nWo, referee Nick Patrick doesn't question him. Jericho does, but gets kicked in the gut for his troubles, and tossed to the floor. Meanwhile, we cut to the crowd, as a bunch of WCW wrestlers take their seats in the audience - here as 'guests.' That distracts the crowd as Jericho and Chono try a test-of-strength, and Chono nails him with a Russian legsweep. Chono with a flying shoulderblock, but a snap suplex is reversed, and Chris quickly follows with a spinheel kick. That knocks Chono to the floor for a springboard bodypress, but Jericho misses a charge into the ringpost, and bangs up his knee. Back inside, Chono clips the knee, but takes too long following up, and Jericho hits an enzuigiri. Chono quickly kills the momentum with a legwhip, and he takes Jericho to the mat in an anklelock - only for Chris to make the ropes. A criss cross goes Chris' way with a diving backelbow, but a German suplex only gets two - not aided by Patrick's super slow count. Jericho bitches at him out of frustration, but that earns him an inverted DDT. Bad mistime follows, as Chono tries something off the top rope, but Jericho doesn't catch him right coming down, and they fall in a heap. Chono responds with an inverted atomic drop, and he rolls to the floor for a table - only to get suplexed before he can use it. Jericho with a missile dropkick for another slow two count, so he hits a fisherman’s suplex, and the Lionsault for two. To the top, but Chono shoves him off - Jericho falling through the table they set up on the floor earlier. Back in, Chono hits the Yakuza Kick, and we're done at 11:09. Really slow, plodding match - Chono especially moving at about a quarter what normal pace should be. Not a good start - though it did establish the template for the rest of the show, at least. ¼*

Mexican Death Match: Big Bubba Rogers v Hugh Morrus: Morrus overpowers Bubba in the early going, and knocks him to the floor for a shot into the steps. Inside, Bubba fires off a shot to the gut to slow Hugh down, but fails to handcuff him to the top rope, and gets clotheslined back out to the floor. Morrus manager Jimmy Hart actually lays in a few kicks out there (and looks hilarious doing it - which is probably why he usually doesn't), but Morrus runs into a chain as he tries a charge in the corner. Bubba whips him with the metal chain, but Morrus gets hold of it, and returns the favor. Morrus with a flying moonsault, but Nick Patrick takes his time counting, and Bubba's up before ten. Undeterred, Morrus hits an avalanche and a clothesline, but Patrick's count allows Bubba plenty of time to recover. Morrus unloads with brass knux, so Bubba jams a thumb in his eye, and hits a jumping clothesline. Hugh's up before ten, and unloads a pair of low blows as they spill into the aisle, and brawl up to the entrance area. Morrus tries a moonsault off of the entrance stairs, but Bubba dodges him (no wonder - took him long enough), and steals a motorcycle at ringside (there for the nWo beauty pageant), and runs Morrus down for the victory at 9:03. Uh... okay. Another super slow match, with a really goofy, stupid looking ending, to boot. DUD

Michael Wallstreet v Jeff Jarrett: Wallstreet wastes no time wasting time, stalling Jarrett by hiding in the ropes. Haha, how's it feel now, Jarrett?! Jeff tries a standing side-headlock, but gets whipped into the ropes, and hiptosses Wallstreet after a criss cross. Backelbow sets up a well executed flying bodypress for two, but Jarrett argues the slow count, and gets rolled up for two. Jarrett blocks a backdrop by ramming Wallstreet's face into the canvas, but a dive into the ropes misses - when Nick Patrick helpfully moves Michael. Wallstreet dumps him to the floor for a slam onto the rail, and adds a whip into the crowd for good measure. Inside, Wallstreet slaps on a sleeper, but Jarrett reverses - only for Patrick to force a break when he rules it's a chokehold. That allows Wallstreet an elbowdrop, and he downgrades from the sleeper to a chinlock. Back up, Jeff wins a slugfest, and hits an inverted atomic drop, followed by a snap suplex. Figure Four, but Patrick pulls Wallstreet into the ropes to break. Jarrett tries an abdominal stretch, but Patrick quickly assists Wallstreet in reversing, so Steve McMichael pops out of the crowd to whack Michael with his briefcase, and Jeff gets the pin (counted by a reluctant Patrick) at 9:22 - giving the WCW guys their first win of the night. Jarrett took a couple of nice bumps on the outside, but this didn't work, otherwise. ¼*

Buff Bagwell v Scotty Riggs: Bagwell stalls his former tag partner in the early going, and eventually pops him in the jaw before getting him in a side-headlock. Criss cross goes Riggs' way with a dropkick, but Nick Patrick breaks up mounted punches, and Buff rams him with a high knee. Scotty counters a cross corner whip with a belly-to-belly suplex, but now Buff's pissed, and they get into an actual bitchslap off. Riggs 'wins' (no one really wins there), and knocks Bagwell to the floor for a plancha, but a whip into the guardrail gets reversed. Riggs manages a missile dropkick on the way back in for two, but Buff blocks a suplex, and drops Scotty on the top rope. Bagwell very slowly works Riggs over with punch-kick stuff as the crowd nods off, and hits a powerbomb for two. Scotty tries a sunset flip, but tugs Buff's tights down in the process (exposing a manly thong tan line), but I guess Patrick's blinded by the sight of Bagwell's ass too, and can't count. Buff with a reverse chinlock to really kick this into high gear, but Riggs powers up, and cradles Bagwell for two. Atomic drop and an enzuigiri hit. 2^nd rope tornado DDT and a pair of dropkicks hit. Powerbomb gets two, but Bagwell blocks a superplex, and the Buff Blockbuster finishes at 13:51. God, Bagwell was an absolute chore to watch here - I loved him in his rookie days, but he just couldn't work heel at all, and the match suffered for it. This was so boring that I literally had to go back and double check the clock, because I couldn't believe it was only fourteen minutes. DUD

Scott Norton v Diamond Dallas Page: Norton easily overpowers Page in the early going, but DDP manages to get him in a mat-based side-headlock after 'winning' a slapfest. Page with a DDT for two when Norton tries to power up, but a front-facelock doesn't go his way, and Scott chops him in the corner. Cross corner whip is blocked with an impressive piledriver from Page, but he gloats for too long afterwards, and takes a chincrusher followed by a clothesline. Meanwhile, it appears Sting has joined us in the rafters to distract the crowd - though they're not missing much, as Norton plods around and knocks Dallas to the floor for a little abuse. Page uses his speed to catch Norton with a clothesline on the way back in, and a flying version follows for two. He calls for the Diamond Cutter, but here's the nWo's b-squad to interrupt, and offer Page a spot in the group instead of finishing the match. He initially accepts, but ends up attacking all six guys, and the official decision is Norton by countout at 9:39. Hell, who can blame him. It's not like Hulk Hogan himself came down to recruit him. I mean, would YOU wanna go anywhere with Virgil? Punchy-punchy, kicky-kicky, countout - but you could tell Page was going to be a huge star watching him during this period. DUD

WCW World Tag Team Title Match: The Outsiders v The Steiner Brothers: Scott Hall starts with Scott Steiner, and the Battle of the Scott's goes to a stalemate out of the initial lockup. Hall tries an armbar, but gets taken to the mat in a fireman’s carry, so he fires off a pair of kneelifts, and slaps on an abdominal stretch. Steiner reverses and turns it into a pump-handle slam, then follows with an overhead suplex. That triggers a Steiner-won four-way brawl. The dusts settles on Hall and Rick Steiner ('Oates'), and Rick dominates him in the corner before hitting a slam. 2^nd rope bodypress is countered by Hall with a blockbuster for two, and he grounds Rick with an armbar. Tag to Scott Steiner, but he walks into a chokeslam, and Hall tags Kevin Nash for a cross corner clothesline. A second one misses, however, and Scott hits a belly-to-belly suplex for two before tagging Rick. He tries an overhead suplex, but Nash drives his forearm into the neck to block - only to lose a slugfest. Well, better that than win a slapfest, I guess. Steiner with a powerslam for two, but a cheap shot from Hall takes the pep out of his step, and a big boot from Nash knocks him to the floor. The Outsiders cut the ring in half (Nash using his long legs for some awesome rope-assist spots), but a low blow stops Big Kev in his tracks, and Rick makes the tag. Scott is a house of arson as a four-way brawl breaks out, and Nick Patrick gets bumped - leaving no one to count the fall (even begrudgingly) after Rick blasts Hall with a flying bulldog. Ah, but wait! Here comes WCW referee Randy Anderson out of the crowd, and he counts the fall at 14:40 - popping the surprised crowd big time. Unfortunately, the celebration would be short lived, and the decision overturned on the next episode of Nitro - the belts returned to the Outsiders. Boring match aside from the finish, too - the heat segment especially brutal, as it slowed the match down to a snails pace. ¼*

WCW United States Title Ladder Match: Eddie Guerrero v Syxx: The idea here is that Eddie is the champion, but Syxx stole the title belt, so they settle things with a ladder match. Works for me. And Guerrero wastes no time getting down to business - attacking right at the bell. Unfortunately, a criss cross ends in Syxx unloading lightning kicks, but Eddie hits the deck to block a sidewalk slam. Well, that or they botched it - I'm not sure. Eddie with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker to put the challenger on the floor, and he follows with a flying bodypress to the outside. Back in, Guerrero gets blocked as he tries a superplex, and Syxx hits a flying spinheel kick on his way down. More lightning kicks set up the bronco buster in the corner, but a backdrop is blocked by Eddie with a dropkick to put Syxx back on the floor. Eddie tries to suplex him back in, but gets reversed to the outside, and Syxx follows with a somersault plancha. He heads up the aisle for the ladder - charging Guerrero with it on the floor. He takes it in, but Eddie seesaws it into his face to stop him, and adds a slingshot stomp on the way back in. Eddie gets his licks in with the ladder, but a cross corner whip into the ladder is reversed. Syxx covers him with the ladder for a couple of stomps, and adds a flapjack onto it to make sure his message didn't get lost in translation. Syxx with a suplex, and he takes the ladder to the top rope to ride it down onto Guerrero - only to get it dropkicked into his face. Eddie helps him down with a superplex, but Syxx dropkicks him off the ladder when he goes for the belt (in a really neat spot, as Syxx actually climbed the ladder and dropkicked him - not a standard dropkick into the ladder to wobble it spot). Both men climb for a slugfest atop the ladder, and both men end up falling to the mat. Both guys go up again, and they snag the belt at the same time - but Eddie wins a tug of war, and knocks Syxx off to retain the title at 13:48. The ending seemed quite rushed there, actually... it came out of nowhere. This match gained quite a reputation back in the day, but honestly, it just seemed amazing in contrast to the rest of the card. Not to say that it's bad (both guys kept a good pace, bumped for each other, and generally worked hard), it just tends to be overrated. ** ½

Main Event: WCW World Title Match: Hollywood Hulk Hogan v The Giant: This came about when Giant earned a title shot (by winning the World War 3 battle royal), and got kicked out of the nWo for actually wanting to cash it in. Hogan brings Dallas Cowboys Nate Newton, Ray Donaldson, and George Teague to ringside for whatever reason, but Giant is unimpressed, and smacks him around. Hogan tries a cheap shot, but Giant takes over with stomps in the corner, and adds a few turnbuckle smashes. Hogan tries a handful of powder to the eyes to slow his challenger down, and adds backscratches for good measure - though that spot actually makes logical sense when he's in heel mode. Hulk chokes him with a tag rope, but Giant catches him with a backbreaker on the way back in, and holds onto it as a submission hold. Hogan won't give, so Giant tries an impressive flying elbowdrop, but he takes too long getting to the top, and Hogan rolls out of the way. Hogan with a chinlock, and goes for the kill with the big boot, but Giant no-sells. Bodyslam hits, but the Legdrop gets no-sold as well, and Giant Chokeslams him! Hogan's done, but Nick Patrick won't count the fall - repeatedly stopping at two and claiming Hulk got the shoulder up. The crowd rightly starts pelting the ring with trash until Giant Chokeslams Patrick, and here comes the nWo (including DiBiase and Bischoff - who abandoned their commentary posts). Giant Chokeslams everyone in sight, but eventually gets overwhelmed as they gang up, and the whole thing ends in a no-contest at 10:00. Terrible, terrible match with a shitty non-ending – the crowd understandably annoyed with it. -*

BUExperience: Yeah… this was horrible. One good match in three hours (good, not great mind you) does not make for a very good pay per view experience – at all. That said, it’s certainly historically significant, and worth checking out as a curiosity – though nothing beyond that. Its case isn’t helped by the gloomy, almost nightmarish set design (everything in black and white – everything), though the totalitarian atmosphere was sort of the point. Points for effort here, at least. *