WCW Souled Out 1998 (Version II)

Original Airdate: January 24, 1998

From Dayton, Ohio; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone, Dusty Rhodes, and Bobby Heenan

Opening Eight-Man Tag Team Match: Juventud Guerrera, Chavo Guerrero Jr, Super Calo, and Lizmark Jr v La Parka, Psychosis, Silver King, and El Dandy: Mikey Tenay joins us for this one. Calo and Psychosis start, and Psychosis ends up on the outside in short order, but Calo doesn’t dive. Calo with a powerslam, and tags made to Lizmark and King. King dominates that, but misses a corner dropkick, and Lizmark chops him. King turns the tables, but a reversal sequence ends in Lizmark delivering a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. King comes back with a tornado DDT for two, and tags are made to Chavo and Dandy. Chavo delivers a monkeyflip and a backdrop, but a clothesline sends both tumbling over the top, and Juvi and Parka replace them. Juvi with a springboard flying bodypress, but Parka catches him, so Guerrera uses a spinkick instead. No flow to this sequence at all. Juvi uses a headscissors to send Parka to the outside, so Psychosis comes in to blast Guerrera with a clothesline. Tag to Lizmark and Dandy, and Dandy hooks a magistral cradle for two. Lizmark bails and is replaced by Calo, and Calo takes Dandy off the top with a headscissors. King comes in to hit Calo with a helicopter powerbomb to set up a senton splash for two, so Guerrera comes in, but King cradles him for two. King takes Guerrera upstairs, but Juvi shoves him off, and dives with a flying 450 splash for two. Parka drills Juvi with a sitout powerbomb for two, and Psychosis dives with a flying legdrop on Chavo for two. Everyone continues trading off in fast and furious manner, leading to a dogpile sequence on the outside. Chavo catches Psychosis with a tornado DDT out of the corner, and with everyone else down, that gets him the pin at 9:29. This was just kind of a collection of spots without a proper story being told, but it was fun, and what’s wrong with fun? ** ¾ (Original rating: * ¼)

Raven's Rules Match: Raven v Chris Benoit: The Flock are barred from ringside. Raven attacks him before Chris can even climb into the ring, and he whips Benoit into the guardrail out there. They brawl around ringside a bit, before Raven rolls him in, and delivers a pair of snapmares. Third one, but Benoit counters to a backslide for two, so Raven throws an elbow to keep control. Raven bashes his face into the mat a few times, but Chris counters a knee with a schoolboy for two. Raven cuts him off again, and he tosses Benoit to the outside for a whack with a chair. Inside, Raven bulldogs him on the chair for two (“that’s the hot seat,” quips Dusty), but Benoit reverses a drop-toehold into it. Chris hammers him with chops, and a big clothesline finds the mark. Chris gets some reverse with a snap suplex on the chair for two, and more chops knock him to the outside - where Benoit is right on him with a baseball slide into the rail. He chucks Raven into the steps next, so Raven tries running away, but Chris chases after him with chops all the way up the aisle. Benoit with a snap suplex on the ramp, and another snap suplex on the chair as they head back inside. Chris puts the chair over his face for a stomp, and then leaves it there as he dives with the flying headbutt drop. Unfortunately, that hurts Benoit just as much, and both guys are left looking up at the lights. Chris rolls over at eight, but Raven kicks out at two, and both guys are still loopy. Benoit tries a Northern lights suplex, but Raven counters with a DDT, and both guys are left taking the count again. Chris recovers first again, and manages a cover, but Raven kicks out at two. Raven tries for the DDT again, but Chris counters to the Crossface! Raven literally laughs it off, but he also can’t escape, and ends up passing out at 10:37. Good brawl here, as they did all the usual weapon stuff, but not at the expense of the storytelling stuff. Afterwards, the Flock attack, so Dean Malenko tries making the save, but gets quickly overwhelmed. *** (Original rating: * ¾)

WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Rey Mysterio Jr v Chris Jericho: Tenay is back for this one, and I’m surprised he doesn’t flip out at the guy with a ‘lucha libre wrestling, translation: bathroom break’ sign. They size each other up to start, with Chris dominating, until Rey knocks him to the outside with a headscissors. Rey tries a tiger feint kick as a taunt, but hurts his bad knee in the process. That gives Jericho an in, but Rey fights him off, and tries to take things to the mat with a chinlock to keep him from going for the knee. Rey with a victory roll for two, and a matslam leads to Jericho bailing to the apron. Rey tries a rana to the floor, but Jericho hotshots him to block, and a butterfly backbreaker finds the mark out there. Jericho springboards off of the steps with a clothesline, and Chris bashes the leg into the turnbuckles on the way back in. Jericho works the leg, but Rey fights back with a tomikaze, and a cross corner whip flips Chris out to the apron. Rey uses a baseball slide to send him into the aisle, and Rey dives after him with a springboard flying somersault senton. That doesn’t do his knee any favors, but he stays on Jericho with a hotshot into the steps. Rey with another springboard on the way back in, but Jericho shakes the ropes, and Rey wipes out. Jericho drops him front-first across the top rope, but a superplex attempt goes badly when Rey crotches him. Rey tries a rana off the top from there, but Jericho counters into the Liontamer on the way down, and Mysterio quickly taps at 8:21. This was pretty average, but it was also psychologically sound, and told a good story, and I prefer that over just a bunch of complex spots devoid of it. Afterwards, Chris destroys the knee in response to the crowd’s booing, writing Rey out until July. ** ½ (Original rating: **)

Gene Okerlund brings JJ Dillon and Roddy Piper out to make his big announcement regarding the held up WCW World title, and they’re quickly joined by Hollywood Hulk Hogan, WCW World Tag Team Champion Scott Hall, Eric Bischoff, and Sting. Hall is there since he won World War 3, and is due a title shot. So, after tons of jawing (and even a non-ironic ‘not’ joke from Piper), word comes down: Sting/Hogan II at SuperBrawl for the held up title, with Hall getting his title shot against the winner sometime afterwards. There was absolutely no reason this needed to be on pay per view as opposed to TV. WCW was always backwards, doing TV segments on PPV, and giving away money matches on free TV

WCW Television Title Match: Booker T v Rick Martel: Feeling out process to start, with both guys evenly matched. Booker delivers a clothesline for two in the first pin attempt, and he grounds his challenger in an armbar from there. Rick fights to a vertical base, so Booker vertical suplexes him, and adds a Harlem sidekick for two. Back to the armbar, but Martel fights him off in the corner, and Rick dives with a 2nd rope clothesline. Punch, but Booker blocks, and delivers a savate kick for two, before going back to the armbar. Criss cross sees Booker accidentally headbutt Rick down low on a leapfrog, and Martel milks it - suckering Booker into a cheap shot in the corner. Rick capitalizes with a cross corner whip, and he adds an elbowdrop. Gutwrench suplex gets him two, so he works a chinlock, but Booker fights to a vertical base. Martel cuts him off with a spinebuster for two, but a corner charge is countered with a sunset flip for two. Martel takes him down in a modified chinlock to cut off any comeback, and he shifts to an abdominal stretch when Booker starts fighting to a vertical base. Booker uses a hiptoss to escape, so Martel keeps on the back with an axehandle, but he loses a criss cross when Booker throws a jumping forearm. Booker makes a comeback, but a dropkick misses, allowing Martel to slap on the Boston crab! Booker makes the ropes to save his title, however, and Martel is frustrated now. That allows Booker to pull out an axekick, and a sidewalk slam follows. Upstairs for the Harlem Hangover, and Martel’s title hopes are dashed at 10:48. Martel was having a real career renaissance during this period, and this was a nice little match, with Rick looking a little slower than he did in his prime, but the storytelling still sharp. Afterwards, they do the mutual respect deal, until Saturn attacks Martel, and Booker chases him off. ** (Original rating: *)

Larry Zbyszko v Scott Hall: Zbyszko unveils Dusty Rhodes to stand in his corner, since Hall has hanger-on Louie Spicolli in his. Larry dominates him with takedowns in the early going, taunting Hall. Hall tries an armbar, but Zbyszko reverses, and Scott needs the ropes to escape. Hall is getting annoyed, but Larry doesn’t back off, continuing to get under Hall’s skin. Larry hooks an abdominal stretch, but Hall hiptosses free. An elbowdrop misses, however, allowing Larry to try a waistlock, but Hall is in the ropes. Scott throws a right hand to put Larry down, however, and Louie adds a cheap shot for good measure. Yeah, Dusty’s not really the best corner man, all considered. Not exactly the best guy to chase trouble away. Hall takes control of the contest, working Larry over, but Zbyszko blocks the Outsider Edge with a backdrop. Larry makes a comeback, but gets overzealous, and the referee catches a shot in the crossfire. Larry hooks Hall in a guillotine choke, so Louie runs in, but Dusty chases him off, drawing a huge pop in the process. Zbyszko holds Hall for Dusty to hit with his elbowsmash, but Scott moves, and Larry takes the shot - Dusty then taking off his shirt, and revealing an ‘nWo’ one underneath! He hits Zbyszko again, and the referee calls for the DQ at 9:14. This was, surprisingly, a better match than many of Hall’s recent bouts with better workers. It wasn’t a classic, but it stayed within Larry’s wheelhouse, and Hall seemed really game to play. Definitely better than Zbyszko’s terrible match with Bischoff at Starrcade, anyway. ½* (Original rating: DUD)

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Ray Traylor, Scott Steiner, and Rick Steiner v Konnan, Buff Bagwell, and Scott Norton: Tony is so overwhelmed by Dusty’s turn that he needs to step away to compose himself, and Tenay steps in to help out, in a great touch. Schiavone does a tremendous job here. Meanwhile, there’s, like, a match going on. Rick and Bagwell start, and Steiner dominates. Tag to Ray for a corner splash, and a bodyslam follows. Back to Rick for a chinlock, and he slams Buff into the turnbuckles for one. Back to Ray for a wristlock, as they ignore Scott’s extended arm, since he’s been a ring-hog in recent weeks. Norton gets a tag, but Ray fights him off, before stupidly trying to battle the entire heel team, and getting overwhelmed. No wonder Scott didn’t want to tag these goofs in. The nWo go to work on Traylor, but Rick grabs a tag, and… promptly makes the same mistake as Ray, trying to fight the entire heel team, and getting overwhelmed. Again, is it any wonder that Scott was just doing it all himself? They weren’t losing when he was, tell ya that. The match drags badly as the heels work Rick over, until Konnan misses a charge in the corner, and Ray gets the hot tag. Scott decides he’ll take it anyway, and it’s suplex city! The referee kicks him out, but Scott demands a tag from Ray, and Traylor obliges - Scott killing Konnan with a modified tombstone at 11:46. The main function of this match was advancing the storyline, and that’s fine, but it was really slow, and much longer than it needed to be to make its point. ½* (Original rating: DUD)

Giant v Kevin Nash: They fight over the initial lockup, and Nash manages a headlock, but Giant quickly fights him off with a side suplex. Elbowdrop follows, and he hammers Nash in the corner a bit, until Nash bails. Nash comes in with fire, and manages a cross corner whip, which he follows in with a clothesline. Again, but Giant reverses the sequence, and adds a big boot. Bootchoke follows, and Giant actually biels the man. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Nash take a move like that. Kevin wins a criss cross and clotheslines Giant over the top, and Nash actually tries a tope suicida, but Giant catches him, and bashes him into the post! Giant rolls him back in, but Hollywood Hogan hits him with a chair before he can follow. Giant beats the count, so Nash welcomes him with a pair of straddling ropechokes, but both guys throw a big boot at the same time for a double knockout spot. Nash recovers first and makes a cover for two, and he takes Giant into the corner to hammer. Ten-punch count, but Giant fights him off with an inverted atomic drop, and starts making a comeback. Chokeslam, so Bischoff hops onto the apron, but Giant kills him. The distraction allows Hogan to pass Nash a pot of coffee, and Giant takes it right in the face. Nash adds a low blow, before delivering a very sloppy powerbomb (where he drops Giant right on his neck) for the pin at 10:47. Man, that finish was terrifying, but luckily Giant was fine. This had a great build, though the match itself didn’t quite live up to it. It was interesting seeing both Giant and Nash doing things they wouldn’t (or couldn’t) normally, since they’re so rarely in the ring with anyone close to their size. ½* (Original rating: DUD)

Ric Flair v Bret Hart: This is Bret’s in-ring debut. Feeling out process to start, with Hart dominating. He puts Ric in a figure four, but Flair is in the ropes right away, though Hart milks the count to the full five. Ric bails to the apron, so Bret uses a vertical suplex to bring him back in for two, and the Hitman grounds him in a chinlock from there. Flair fights to a vertical base, but an attempt to counter to an overhead wristlock gets reversed, and Bret takes it back to the mat. Flair is in the ropes again, and the Nature Boy is frustrated now, shoving Hart. Bret responds in kind, however, and the frustrated Nature Boy bails. Inside, Hart uses a backdrop and a bodyslam before trapping Flair in a side-headlock on the mat, but Ric fights him off in the corner, and gets some shots in before Bret can come up with another sequence. Ric tries a whip into the ropes, but Hart is ready with a sleeper, so Flair quickly drops him with a side suplex to break the hold. Flair adds a low blow to make sure Hart gets the message, and a snapmare sets up a kneedrop for two. Chinlock, and Ric isn’t shy about using the ropes for leverage. Back into the corner for chops, and a cross corner whip rattles the ring. More chops, but Bret starts responding with rights, and he drops Flair with a swinging neckbreaker. Bret with a bulldog for two, and a legdrop follows. Hart starts going after the leg, but Flair shoves him into the guardrail to block the ringpost figure four. Inside, Flair adds an elbowdrop for two, and a kneebreaker allows Flair to work the leg some - Hart doing a brilliant job of selling it. Another kneebreaker works, but Bret counters a third with a leg-feed enzuigiri. His leg is messed up, so he can’t follow up, allowing Flair to attack with the figure four - only for Hart to counter with a cradle for two. Backslide gets two, so Flair clips the knee after they break up. That allows Flair to apply the figure four, and Hart is screaming in pain, but manages a reversal. Ric escapes, and hustles to the top rope, but Bret slams him off before he can dive. Flair manages a cross corner whip, but Bret blocks a suplex, and delivers a Russian legsweep. Flair tries fighting him off with chops again, but Bret is all riled up now, and gives him the no-sell. Kind of weird from Hart, but ‘when in Rome,’ I guess. Hart with a ten-punch in the corner, so Flair tries an inverted atomic drop, but Hart blocks. Hart with a backbreaker for one, and a pointed elbowdrop finds the mark. 2nd rope pointed elbowdrop also connects for two, so Bret takes him upstairs with a vertical superplex to knock the Nature Boy silly. Sharpshooter, and Flair submits at 18:05. This was a good match here, right on par with the title switch from 1992 and the Coliseum Video match from 1991, but a step below the Iron Man from 1993. It was firmly a ‘Flair match,’ though, with Bret plugging himself into the formula. It’s too bad Ric was so averse to deviating, because Bret probably could have put together a better match had Flair been more willing to play ball. But then, Flair was agreeing to put him over clean, so I can see him not wanting to push his luck. Hart was likely quite eager to prove something here, and his selling was tremendous throughout, as was how effortlessly both guys shifted from play heel to babyface. *** (Original rating: ***)

Main Event: Lex Luger v Randy Savage: How is this the main event? Both Flair/Hart and, especially, Giant/Nash were much better positioned for the main event slot. Savage stalls on the outside right away, until Miss Elizabeth can distract Lex, and Macho attacks. Savage with a flying axehandle for two, and a hangman’s clothesline is worth two. Side suplex gets two, so Savage turnbuckle smashes him, and a cross corner whip rebounds Lex into a backelbow for two. Randy with a variety of chokes, but a corner charge hits boot, and Lex makes a comeback, so Liz trips him up. That allows Savage to dump him to the outside with a high knee, and Randy dives after him with a flying axehandle on the floor. Liz adds a slap to the face for good measure, allowing Savage another cheap shot. They spill into the crowd for some aimless brawling (notice the difference between this, and the brawling that had purpose in the Raven/Benoit match earlier), and Lex gets control of things out there. He drops Savage across the rail on the way back to ringside, and Macho kisses the post before Luger rolls him in. Lex with a series of clotheslines ahead of a running forearm smash, as Hollywood Hogan and Scott Hall make their way out. Lex stays on Savage with a powerslam, so Hall hops onto the apron, but Lex shoves Randy into him. That allows Luger the torture rack, and Randy quickly submits at 7:03. The finish was really clumsy, with Hall supposedly distracted by Hogan (for reasons that aren’t made clear), and Scott looking like a total goof. Afterwards, the nWo beat Luger down, but Sting makes the save to give us a happy ending. Savage was apparently angry that Flair and Hart cut into their time by going long, but let’s just add that to the list of great things those two have done for this sport. ½* (Original rating: ½*)

BUExperience: Random question: why are they still calling this show ‘Souled Out’ if it’s not an nWo run show any more? Like, from a kayfabe perspective, why in the world would WCW produce a show basically honoring their bully? What kind of beta shit is that?

That said, it’s a good show! A good amount of stuff delivered between the ropes, and even the stuff that wasn’t workrate gold at least had other things going on in terms of storyline development/payoff. The card was also really well developed, with almost every match having a strong build and purpose.

And with the (alleged) main event (the shortest match on the card) not dragging things down, this lands as WCW’s best overall pay per view since the Great American Bash in 1996.

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