WCW Souled Out 1999

From Charleston, West Virginia; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and Bobby Heenan.

Opening Match: Chris Benoit v Mike Enos: Yes guys. Blake Beverly. And damned if he doesn't look like a giant next to Benoit. They fight over the initial lockup, and into the corner, Benoit unloads with chops. Enos returns fire with a barrage of forearms, and blasts Chris with a shoulderblock. Bodyslam, but Chris slips free, and levels him with a lariat before stomping a mud hole in the corner. Backdrop, but he telegraphs it, and Enos catches him in a gutwrench backbreaker for two. Powerslam gets two, and he hugs him like a bear, but Benoit chops at him again. Enos interrupts with a clothesline for two, and an inverted atomic drop, but another is countered by Benoit with a sunset flip for two. Enos slaps on a chinlock before Benoit can sway the momentum, and a vertical suplex is worth two. Side suplex, but Benoit counters into a bodypress for two, and hits a two-alarm rolling German suplex. Flying headbutt hits, and the Crippler Crossface finishes at 10:34. Good, solid, hard-hitting (by the end, Enos had a nasty bruise on his chest from all the chops) opener. * ½

Chavo Guerrero Jr v Norman Smiley: Chavo with uppercuts in the early going, and a clothesline knocks Norman to the outside for a plancha. Back in, Chavo hits a springboard bulldog, and a springboard bodypress follows, but he gets flapjacked charging into the corner. Norman with a nice looking bodyslam for two, and he slaps on a mat-based headscissors. Chavo cradles him for two, but a pump-splash hits the knees, and Norman forward suplexes him across the top rope. Double stomp gets two, and ties Guerrero up like a pretzel on the mat with a series of submission holds. He won't give, so Norman stands him up for a swinging neckbreaker, and hooks the leg for two. Superplex and a flapjack get two, as some good ol' boy in the front row starts to get annoyed with Norman's dancing. Smiley with a sleeper, so Chavo reverses - only to get side suplexed by Smiley to break. Backdrop gets two, and Norman gets cute: hooking Chavo in the Gory Special. Guerrero with a victory roll for two, and another gets another two count. Chavo tries the springboard bulldog again, but Smiley counters into a crossface chickenwing. Chavo escapes, so Norman throws a handful of sawdust into his eyes, and locks the chickenwing on for the win at 15:44. Solid, realistic match, with both guys trading unique submission holds, and really fighting over highspots. The cheap, TV ending was really unnecessary here though, and mares an otherwise good match. * ½

Fit Finlay v Van Hammer: Stalling to start, as both guys try to play to the crowd. Finlay gets things moving with a headlock, but Hammer shrugs him off, and hits a shoulderblock. He makes the mistake of backing off to offer Finlay a peace-sign, and gets walloped with a series of European uppercuts and turnbuckle smashes. Heh, if only Finlay were around in the 60s. Finlay with a bodyslam and a headbutt, but Hammer fires back with a pair of kicks, and hits a backdrop. Hammer with a leglock, but Finlay rakes the eyes, so Hammer drops him with a chincrusher. Bodyslam and a baseball slide knock Finlay out to the floor, but he takes too long trying to follow-up, and Fit dropkicks his knee on the apron. Back in, Fit misses a cross corner charge, and gets powerslammed for two. Hammer tries to follow-up, but walks into a fireman’s carry roll, and the Tombstone finishes at 7:50. Nothing to see here. DUD

Wrath v Bam Bam Bigelow: Wrath overpowers him in the early going, and hits a bicycle kick to put the Bammer on the outside. Back in, Bigelow tries a shoulderblock, but misses a falling headbutt, and gets caught with a facebuster. Wristlock, as the commentators amuse me with brilliant calls like, 'they'll feel that in South Virginia!' or 'he's trying to knock those tattoos right off of Bam Bam Bigelow's head!' Dear God, I wish someone made an MP3 mix of these. Wrath with a 2^nd rope shoulderblock for two, but ends up on the mat in a chinlock. Bigelow with a bodyslam and a falling headbutt for two, and it's back to the chinlock, as the crowd talks quietly amongst themselves. Like, seriously. You can actually see people throughout the crowd turned away from the match, and engaged in what I'd imagine are conversations more interesting. Plus, the good ol' boy who hated Norman Smiley has retreated to the toilets and/or a Klan rally. Those are usually held in public bathrooms, right? Wrath powers up and hits a big boot, but walks into a powerslam for two. Criss cross ends in Wrath hitting a jumping clothesline, and a slugfest goes his way, but he misses a charge into the corner, and takes the Greetings from Asbury Park (the stupidest name for a finisher ever, by the way) at 9:23. Bigelow was in full Ham Bam mode here, and Wrath's not the guy to pull a better match out of him. DUD

Lex Luger v Konnan: Konnan unloads on him with rights at the bell, and shoves him into the corner for a ten-punch - the crowd going wild. Inverted atomic drop and a clothesline take Luger off of his feet, and Konnan follows with a backelbow to put Lex on the floor. Luger stalls out there, but Konnan drags him back in, and promptly misses a dropkick. Luger stomps him, and drops a series of pointed elbows to the lower back. Bearhug, but Konnan slugs free, so Luger plants a clothesline on him, and K-Dawg bails to the outside to regroup. Now it's Lex's turn to drag him back in, and he hits a bodyslam, followed by another pointed elbowdrop to the back. Konnan begs for mercy, as our favorite good ol' boy gives Luger a standing ovation at ringside. 'Yeah! Kill that spic!' Konnan tries a bodypress for two, and a rolling clothesline hits. Seated dropkick and a facebuster draw Elizabeth out, and she sprays paint in Konnan's eyes as he goes for the Tequila Sunrise - Luger finishing him with the Torture Rack at 9:30. Shit, but this woke the crowd up, at least. ¼*

Loser Must Wear A Dress Match: Chris Jericho v Saturn: Saturn paintbrushes him out of the initial lockup, and Chris bails to the floor - the stalling commencing. Jericho with a standing side-headlock, and he wrestles Saturn down to the mat in the hold, but gets shoved off. Jericho tries chops, but a clothesline misses, and Saturn plants a backelbow on him. Chinlock, but Chris rakes the eyes, so Saturn clotheslines him in the back of the head. Saturn botches a rotating kick for two, as even the camera team gets bored with this match, and turns their attention to Ralphus - Jericho's head of security. Chris with a stungun and a springboard dropkick to put the challenger on the outside, and he dives after him with a tope suicida. Chris with a forward-falling suplex on the outside, and a hanging vertical suplex brings Saturn back in for two. Saturn takes offense to Jericho's arrogant cover, and pounds him, but takes a stiff looking big boot and a senton splash for two. Chinlock goes nowhere, so Jericho tries a bodyslam, and a legdrop for two. Lionsault, but Saturn lifts the knees, and hits an exploder suplex. Inverted sitout powerbomb for two, and a slingshot fires the champ out over the top. Saturn follows with a baseball slide, and hits a flying frogsplash on the way back in for two. Sloppy reversal sequence ends in Jericho hitting a bridging German suplex for two, but a springboard ends in the champ getting crotched on the top turnbuckle, and side superplexes off. Death Valley Driver attempt triggers another reversal sequence, and Jericho ends up on top during an inside cradle for the pin at 11:43. Both guys looked really, really unmotivated here (not that I can blame them), and the match didn't work at all. They'd have a much better rematch the following month, at SuperBrawl. ¾*

WCW Cruiserweight Title Four Corners Match: Billy Kidman v Rey Mysterio Jr v Juventud Guerrera v Psychosis: Tag rules, only two guys in at a time. They fight over who gets to start, and the dust settles on champion Kidman and Mysterio. Immediately into a big criss cross, and Rey wins with a tilt-a-whirl, but a backdrop lands Kidman on the apron, and he hits a slingshot headscissors on the way back in. Another criss cross ends in both guys trying a bodypress at the same time - Guerrera and Psychosis both immediately running in to stomp them, in a great bit. Both guys tag, and they have a criss cross of their own - Juvi catching him in a breathtaking victory roll for two. Chopfest goes Psychosis' way, but a sloppy reversal sequence ends in a stalemate. Both guys look to tag, but both Kidman and Mysterio aren't interested, and decide to just come in and double-team them. Nice spot, as Rey backdrops Juvi into a sitout powerbomb from Kidman, and the dust settles on Billy and Psychosis. Kidman with a flying bodypress for two, so Juvi trips him into an inverted scoop brainbuster. He dumps him to the floor, and backdrops Mysterio onto him, but ends up getting into a fight with Juvi over who gets to moonsault onto them. That ends with both Rey and Billy hitting stereo sunset bombs off of the apron, and inside, Kidman holds Guerrera in an electric chair for Rey to springboard clothesline down for two. Rey versus Psychosis slugfest on the apron ends in a neat spot where Rey monkeyflips him OVER the ringpost, and Kidman dives out after him to punctuate it. Guerrera dives out onto both of them with Air Juvi, and Rey follows with a somersault tope - but ends up clobbering Kidman. Inside, Mysterio hits a springboard seated senton on Juvi for two, but takes the Juvi Driver for two - Psychosis breaking up the count with a missile dropkick. Psychosis gives Juvi a victory roll off the top for two, but a powerbomb on Kidman gets countered with a facebuster for two. Rey breaks it up with a bulldog on Kidman for two, and everyone ends up back on the floor in a dog pile. In, Guerrera plants a missile dropkick on Kidman for two, but the Juvi Driver is countered with an inverted DDT. Shooting Star Press, and Kidman gets the pin at 14:23, while Mysterio is too busy dealing with Psychosis on the floor. Lots of neat spots, but no psychology, and not even any basic flow, which made it awkward. **

Ric Flair and David Flair v Curt Hennig and Barry Windham: This is David's in-ring debut. And he starts with Windham, which is an interesting choice on Ric's part, from a kayfabe perspective. He tries to shoot the leg, and a sloppy reversal sequence ends in Hennig running in, but Ric cuts him off. The dust settles, and David chops the veteran, as Ric cums his pants on the apron. Tag to the elder Flair, and Ric shows the kid how to properly chop. Backdrop and a snapmare set up a chinlock, but Barry quickly rakes the eyes, and tags. Hennig with chops of his own, and the somersault necksnap hits. God, Hennig looked so bad during this period. Not just his ring-work, but his appearance. Unshaven, pudgy, tights torn. Far from perfect, to say the least. Old Flair flips to the floor for Windham to hammer, and inside, the heels cut the ring in half. Hennig and Windham take turns locking on figure fours, and generally double-teaming at will (with not even so much as a complaint from the referee), until Curt decides to pull David in (without a tag) for the Hennig-Plex. He sets it up, but Arn Anderson slides in a clocks him with a tire iron, and David 'falls' (see: Hennig actually had to pull him) on top for the pin at 13:56. Afterwards, Hollywood Hulk Hogan and the entire nWo run out, and handcuff Ric to the ropes, so Hogan can whip David with his weight belt. This became a source of legit heat between Ric and Hulk for a while, as apparently Hogan went overboard with the beat down, and Flair did not appreciate it. The match itself was the usual soulless junk from the veterans during this period, with David far too green to add much. DUD

Main Event: Stun Gun Ladder Match: Goldberg v Scott Hall: The taser hangs above the ring, and unlike a normal ladder match, grabbing it does not result in victory, but only using it does. Goldberg overpowers him in the early going (no shit!), so Scott tries a side-headlock, but gets tossed around some more. Bodyslam and a powerslam hit, so Hall takes a shot at Goldberg's injured knee (he was attacked backstage earlier in the show), and wraps it around the post. He goes for the ladder, but Goldberg cuts him off in the aisle, and grabs the ladder himself - only for Scott to baseball slide it into him - busting him open. Hall sets it up and climbs, but Goldberg starts to stir, so Scott drops an elbow from halfway up. Climb again, but Goldberg side suplexes him down from about halfway up. Goldberg is too dazed to follow-up, however, and Hall whacks him with the ladder, then throws it onto him. Hall climbs again, but Goldberg tips the ladder over, knocking Scott across the top rope. Hall is STILL up first, but this time a shot with the ladder is blocked with a clothesline. Scott gets up first anyway, and kicks the knee, but a whip into the ladder is reversed, and Goldberg finally gets in a few shots with the ladder. Goldberg climbs, but Hall dropkicks the ladder to knock him down, and then shoves it at him in the corner. Hall climbs, but Goldberg tips it over, and Scott takes a pretty crazy bump by trying to crotch himself on the top rope. Goldberg climbs, only for Disco Inferno to run out to tip the ladder over, and he helps Scott climb - Hall grabbing the taser. Goldberg quickly superkicks it out of his hands, and hits the spear/Jackhammer combo before putting Hall out of his misery with the taser at 17:36. Hey, remember WrestleMania X? That was basically the entire selling point for this as a PPV headliner, but they quickly found out that Goldberg is no Shawn Michaels - and this sucked. Hall did his best to take some bumps here (with some nice symmetry, as he basically copied a lot of Shawn’s spots from 1994), and Goldberg sold the knee quite well, but overall it was really slow, dull, and disappointing. ½*

BUExperience: I guess if you have trouble sleeping tonight, this might be a good idea. Otherwise, avoid at all costs. DUD