WCW Souled Out 1999 (Version II)

 

Original Airdate: January 17, 1999

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

Opening Match: Chris Benoit v Mike Enos: The crowd is very into Benoit here. They posture to start, with Mike dominating, but Benoit hanging in. Chris manages to stomp him down in the corner, but Mike manages a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Mike adds a powerslam for two, and he grabs a bearhug, but Chris fights him off. Enos cuts him off with a clothesline for two, and he delivers an inverted atomic drop. Benoit pulls off a sunset flip for two, before Enos cuts him off, taking him to the mat ina headvice. Mike with a vertical suplex for two, but Benoit fights back with a two-alarm rolling German suplex. That allows Benoit to go up with a flying headbutt drop, but a charge in the corner gets blocked, and Enos clotheslines him. He looks for a follow up, but Benoit counters to the crippler crossface at 10:26. This was fine, and the crowd was into it. * (Original rating: * ½)

Chavo Guerrero Jr v Norman Smiley: Chavo with some fire early on, and he puts Smiley on the outside for a plancha. Chavo stays on him with chops out there, and Guerrero lands a springboard bulldog on the way back in. Smiley begs off, and suckers Chavo into the corner, where Smiley unloads. Smiley with a cross corner whip, but Chavo rebounds with a flying bodypress. Chavo unloads in the corner, but Norman fights him off, and works him over. Norman with a swinging bodyslam for two, and Heenan is marking out for him big time. Smiley works a headscissors, then into a key anklelock. Chavo counters into a cradle for one, and he holds onto it into a submission, but Smiley kind of shrugs it off. Smiley gets him in a modified bow-and-arrow, but Chavo escapes, and schoolboys for one. Smiley clobbers him to cut that off, and he takes it upstairs for a superplex. Smiley with a pop-up flapjack, and a backelbow is worth two. Smiley grounds him in a crossface hammerlock, then into a keylock. The size difference makes it look like Smiley is cuddling him. Smiley gets a sleeper on, but Chavo reverses, so Smiley side suplexes him to shake it off. Chavo tries a charge in the corner, but misses, and Smiley backdrops him for two. That allows Smiley to put him in a gory special, but that’s a bridge too far, and Chavo escapes. A reversal sequence allows Chavo a victory cradle for two, and a victory roll is worth two. Chavo goes to work in the corner, but Smiley blocks a springboard bulldog, and grabs the crossface chickenwing. Chavo escapes before he can get it properly locked, however, so Smiley throws the ashes of Pepe in his eyes, and that allows Norman to get it on at 15:45. Another solid match, if sort of lowkey. * ½ (Original rating: * ½)

Fit Finlay v Van Hammer: Hammer actually dominates things here, and works on the leg. Finlay fights him off, and Hammer ends up on the outside. Inside, Finlay looks to finish up, but Hammer dodges a charge in the corner. Van looks for a front-powerslam, but Finlay escapes, and they trade off. Van manages a powerslam for two, but a clothesline misses, and Finlay delivers a rolling fireman carry slam. That leaves Hammer dazed, and Finlay finishes with a tombstone at 7:50. Gosh, the height difference had be crazy nervous on that finish. This was filler, and went on for far too long for what it was. ¼* (Original rating: DUD)

Wrath v Bam Bam Bigelow: Wrath throws him around a little, but Bam Bam manages to get him down, and uses a ropechoke. Bigelow unloads in the corner, and a snapmare allows him a chinlock. Avalanche, but Wrath dodges, and throws a dropkick. Wrath with a shoulderblock, but he gets reversed into the ropes, and Bam Bam powerslams him for two. Bigelow with a DDT for two, but a clothesline misses, and a criss cross results in a double knockout spot. Wrath wins a slugfest as they get vertical, but a corner charge misses, and Bam Bam delivers an over the shoulder reverse piledriver at 9:09. Another dull match that was just far too long. ¼* (Original rating: DUD)

Lex Luger v Konnan: Lex tries to talk to him, so Konnan slaps the taste out of his mouth, and blitzes. Konnan with an inverted atomic drop, and he tags him with a backelbow, so Lex bails. Luger stalls on the outside, until Konnan chases after him, and unloads with right hands in the aisle. Inside, Konnan puts the boots to him, but a dropkick misses, allowing Luger to deliver some stomps of his own. Lex with a trio of pointed elbowdrops, and he goes to work in slow, dull fashion. I feel like I’ve typed the word ‘dull’ so many times tonight that the letters are going to fade soon. Lex holds a bearhug for a while, but Konnan escapes, and bails to buy time. Lex chases him to the outside with an axehandle, and he rolls Konnan back in for a bodyslam. Lex keeps coming with a pointed elbowdrop, so Konnan bails again. Inside, Luger corner whips him, but Konnan rebounds with a bodypress for two. That allows Konnan to follow up with a rolling clothesline, and a snapmare sets up a seated dropkick. Konnan with a facebuster, as Miss Elizabeth shows up at ringside. She sprays Konnan in the eyes with paint as he’s putting Luger in the tequila sunrise, and Lex capitalizes with the torture rack at 9:32. ¼* (Original rating: ¼*)

Loser Wears a Dress Match: Chris Jericho v Saturn: They feel each other out to start, and Jericho takes control. Chris with a bodyslam to set up a legdrop for two, so Saturn tries slugging, but Jericho wins the exchange. Jericho tries the Lionsault, but Saturn blocks, and suplexes him. Saturn with a facebuster for two, but Jericho counters a backslide into a butterfly suplex. Dropkick, but Saturn dodges, and uses a catapult to send Chris over the top. Saturn with a baseball slide before rolling Jericho back in, and following with a flying splash for two. A reversal sequence sees them trade rollups, and Jericho hooks a bridging German suplex for two. Jericho tries a dive, but Saturn crotches him, and goes for a side superplex, but Chris manages to land on his feet. That leads to another reversal sequence, and Saturn hooks a small package - only for referee Scott Dickinson to ‘accidentally’ reverse it at 11:41. This was surprisingly slow and boring for the most part - not to mention sloppy - though it picked up in the last leg. * (Original rating: ¾*)

WCW Cruiserweight Title Fatal Four-Way Match: Billy Kidman v Rey Mysterio Jr v Juventud Guerrera v Psychosis: Tags are enforced, and the first fall wins it. Kidman and Mysterio start, and Rey wins a criss cross with a headscissor takedown. Rey tries a backdrop over the top, but Kidman lands on the apron, and comes back in with a slingshot headscissors. A criss cross results in both men looking up at the lights, and the other two are quick to rush in to stomp them both. The referee restores order, and another reversal sequence ends in Rey tagging Psychosis. Kidman passes to Juvi at the same time, and at least the announcers actually discuss how stupid it is to voluntarily tag out. Psychosis pounds Juvi down, but Guerrera hooks a victory cradle for two - reversed by Psychosis for two. A criss cross leads to a reversal sequence, going to a stalemate. Both guys want to tag out, but Billy and Rey refuse, which again, dumb. Kidman and Rey decide to come in and double team both guys, and Kidman hits Psychosis with a flying bodypress for two. Juvi trips Kidman up, allowing Psychosis a falcon arrow, and Guerrera dives with a flying headscissors. Psychosis clotheslines the champion over the top, so Rey comes in, but gets backdropped over the top, and onto Billy. Psychosis and Guerrera argue over who gets to dive at them, allowing Kidman and Rey to recover, and powerbomb them each off of the apron. The dust settles on Billy and Juvi, and Billy sets up an electric chair, before tagging Rey for a springboard flying clothesline to knock him off. That gets Rey two, saved by Psychosis. So, Billy was just, like, cool with him getting the win there? Didn’t seem to mind. Rey uses a monkey flip to send Psychosis over the top, and Kidman dives at Psychosis out there. Rey tries a springboard, but Juvi dropkicks him to cut it off, then dives to the outside on Psychosis and Kidman. Rey with a dive of his own on Kidman, and everyone slugs it out on the floor. Rey rolls Juvi in for a springboard flying seated senton for two, reversed by Guerrera for two. Juvi with a scoop sitout brainbuster for two, broken up by Psychosis. Psychosis hits Juvi with a victory cradle off the top for two, broken by Billy. Psychosis tries to powerbomb Kidman, but gets countered into a facebuster for two. Rey hits Kidman with a wheelbarrow bulldog for two, and all four guys come in to brawl, and everyone ends up on the outside again. Juvi rolls Billy in, and a missile dropkick gets him two. A reversal sequence between the two ends when Rey sweeps Juvi’s leg, and Kidman goes up with a flying shooting star press at 13:46. Just kind of a car crash spotfest, but that was a welcome change, after the parade of boring matches thus far. The crowd was surprisingly dead for it, though. * ¾ (Original rating: **)

Ric Flair and David Flair v Barry Windham and Curt Hennig: This is David’s debut. Windham goads David into starting with him, and Heenan is the only one actually getting the psychology of this whole thing over. David goes for a takedown, but Windham falls into the ropes before Flair can get him off of his feet. Windham grabs a headlock, but David counters to a headscissors, and Barry is fuming. Ric comes in to do some strutting on his behalf, but Windham nails David with a kick after suckering the kid into a test-of-strength. David fights back with chops, and Barry backpedals. Windham manages a bodyslam, but an elbowdrop misses, and Ric is tagged. Ric takes Windham into the corner for some chops and fists, so Curt comes in, but Ric fights him off, too. Ric with a backdrop on Windham, and a snapmare allows him a fishhook. Tag to Curt, and Hennig takes Ric into the corner for chops. Ric goes to the eyes to put a stop to the effort, and he unloads his own chops. Ric with a cross corner whip, but Hennig reverses, and snapmares Ric down for a somersault necksnap. Curt with another corner whip that sends Flair flipping over the top, where Windham is waiting to abuse him. Ric manages to get to the top rope, but Curt slams him off, and the heels go to work, cutting the ring in half on Ric. You’d think David would be the one to take the heat segment here. Ric fights them off, and gives Windham a side suplex to set up the figure four, but Hennig saves. That draws David in, and Roseanne Barr the door. Curt gets David in a compromising position, but Arn Anderson nails Hennig with a tire iron, and David falls on top for the pin at 13:35. This was lively, though David was terrible. I mean, it was his first match, I wasn’t expecting him to be great, but he was bad. The match wasn’t, though, as the experienced workers carried it. * ½ (Original rating: DUD)

Main Event: Stun Gun Ladder Match: Bill Goldberg v Scott Hall: The idea is that you have to retrieve the stun gun, and the first person who uses it wins. Posturing to start, with Goldberg dominating. Hall manages to get the ladder, and Goldberg is busted open. Hall climbs, but Goldberg is stirring, so Hall dives off with an elbowdrop. Hall stomps on the cut, and then slams the ladder across his back. Hall tries a whip into the ladder, but Bill reverses, and uses the ladder as a weapon. Goldberg is a dangerous worker at the best of times, so seeing him swing a ladder around is somewhat terrifying. Goldberg climbs, but Disco Inferno shows up, and shoves him off. For those keeping score, that’s two pay per view main events in a row where Disco Inferno is featured. Maybe we should stop blaming the fingerpoke for the downfall of WCW? Hall gets the stun gun, but misses a swing with it, and Goldberg superkicks him. Goldberg grabs the gun, and takes out Disco first, as Hall begs off. Goldberg plays a mindgame, throwing the gun into the air, but then spearing Scott when Hall tries to catch it. The jackhammer follows, and Goldberg uses the gun for the win at 17:39. Slow, dull, too long. Afterwards, Bam Bam Bigelow hits the ring to attack Goldberg, but Hall gets the gun, and takes both guys out to end the show. Way to close on a high note. ½* (Original rating: ½*)

BUExperience: This felt more like a Clash of the Champions special than a proper pay per view effort from this era. It basically came off like a Thunder version of a pay per view, with a lot of random matches, but not a lot of star power. Honestly, you could call this a lazy effort, full stop, with only one title match, and nothing of any real consequence occurring. 

DUD