Souled Out 1998

Date:
January 24, 1998

Location:
Hara Arena, Dayton, Ohio

Attendance:
5,486

Commentators:
Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Dusty Rhodes

Reviewed by Tommy Hall

We’re
a month removed from Starrcade and there’s no world champion at the
moment due to the screwy events of Starrcade and the Nitro that
followed. WCW has promised an announcement on the title situation
tonight instead of an actual match because why have the match when
you can drag it out for another month? The main event tonight is
Flair vs. Hart in a well built up feud. Let’s get to it.

The
opening video is Bischoff surrounded by candles in what looks like a
demonic ceremony as videos play of Nash vs. Giant. Bischoff says
he’s looking to buy more souls because hell hath no fury like Souled
Out. It’s remarkable how much better these videos were back in the
90s than the generic ones we see today.

The
announcers preview the main events. The set is as basic as you can
get but unique at the same time: it’s just a stand alone video screen
and the wrestlers walk out from behind it. It’s a cool set up.

This
is under lucha libre rules, meaning going to the floor is the same as
a tag. These matches are always insane so bear with me when things
get nuts. Calo and Psychosis get things going with Calo armdragging
him to the floor. No one replaces Psychosis so he comes back in to
chop Calo down and drops an elbow for no cover. Calo climbs
Psychosis’ chest in the corner and powerbombs him down for two before
it’s off to Lizmark vs. Silver King. King misses a dropkick in the
corner and Lizmark backflips away.

A
tilt-a-whirl powerslam gets two for Lizmark but King comes right back
with a running DDT. Off to El Dandy vs. Chavo with Guerrero monkey
flipping Dandy from the corner before being taken down by a backdrop.
A clothesline puts both guys on the floor and it’s off to La Parka
vs. Juvy who both dive at the guys on the floor. They fight on the
apron for a bit before Juvy’s springboard is caught in mid air by La
Parka. The skeleton man (La Parka) struts around and sits Juvy in
Guerrera’s corner before being pounded by Juvy’s partners.

Guerrera
hits a gorgeous top rope hurricanrana to take La Parka to the floor.
Lizmark comes in with a top rope standing Lionsault for two on
Psychosis but El Dandy comes in without a tag. Things are quickly
breaking down with Calo getting two off a top rope headscissors on
Dandy. Silver King comes in with a somersault legdrop for two on
Calo before Juvy walks in and botches a rana attempt. King’s
powerbomb is broken up and Juvy’s 450 connects for two as La Parka
makes the save.

Psychosis
hits the guillotine legdrop on Chavo for two before La Parka comes in
to throw Chavo to the floor. El Dandy dropkicks Calo to the floor
but Silver King completely misses his dive. Calo pops up to the top
rope to dive onto King before almost everyone dives onto everyone
else. Chavo and Psychosis are left alone in the ring with Guerrero
hitting a quick tornado DDT for the pin.

Rating:
B. It’s an idea that has worked
time after time and this was no exception: take a bunch of luchadores
and let them go nuts for ten minutes to open the show. Everyone
looked great out there and the dive sequence at the end was excellent
with all of the guys hitting their spots almost perfectly. This was
the perfect choice for an opener and the crowd is hot right off the
bat.

Post
match La Parka cleans house with the chair, including his own
teammates, sending the audience into a frenzy.

This
is one of the best built matches WCW has had in a long time with
Benoit having to face every member of the Flock before finally
getting his hands on Raven. Raven has sent all of his lackeys to
attack Benoit time after time and tonight Benoit FINALLY gets his
hands on their leader. The Flock comes out to back Raven but are
ejected by an executive order. Raven rants about being shunned all
his life and being fine with it here. The match is also Raven’s
Rules, meaning anything goes.

Raven
starts with a baseball slide before Benoit is even in the ring.
Benoit is sent into the barricade and then the steps before heading
inside for a backslide on Raven for two. Benoit is sent right back
to the floor so Raven can blast him in the back with a chair. Back
in and Benoit is snapmared and bulldogged down onto the chair for
two. Benoit comes back with a drop toehold onto the chair (Dusty:
“YOU TAKE A SEAT! YOU TAKE A SEAT! YOU TAKE A SEAT!”) but can’t
immediately follow up.

Chris
hits the snap suplex onto the chair for two of his own before ripping
Raven’s shirt off. Raven bails to the floor and gets caught by a
baseball slide before being sent into the steps. That’s a nice
callback to what Raven did to open the match. Bird Boy stumbles up
the aisle with Benoit chopping him down along the way. There’s
another snap suplex on the ramp to put Raven in big trouble. Back in
and Benoit stomps the chair into Raven’s head before hitting the Swan
Dive onto the chair but both guys are out.

Benoit
finally covers for two but can’t even stand up to keep the pressure
on Raven. A northern lights suplex is countered into Raven’s DDT but
Raven is too weakened to cover. It’s Benoit covering Raven for two
before putting on the Crossface. Raven doesn’t try to escape and
instead smiles at the pain. He laughs himself into unconsciousness
in a creepy moment to end the match.

Rating:
A. If there’s a better Raven
match out there I’d love to see it. These two beat the tar out of
each other and it was brutal throughout. This is the kind of
emotional response you can get to a well built feud. The place went
NUTS for Benoit’s win, which makes you wonder why he was wasted for
so long in WCW.

Post
match Kidman comes out for the save but Dean Malenko runs out to put
him in the Cloverleaf. The rest of the Flock comes in but Dean and
Chris fight them off.

Rey
is defending after winning the title nine days earlier. Jericho had
injured Rey a few days before the title shot before earning a title
shot later to set this up. The fans chant JERICHO SUCKS and Chris is
stunned. Jericho makes fun of Rey for being short so the champion
armdrags him down. A hard clothesline gives Jericho control but Rey
comes hooks a slingshot rana to send Jericho to the outside. Rey’s
knee goes out while Jericho is on the floor and things slow down.

Jericho
charges back in but gets caught in a chinlock followed by a victory
roll for two but Rey’s knee goes out again. A running hair takedown
puts Chris down but a hurricanrana attempt is countered into a
modified hot shot to put Rey down again. Jericho hits a double
underhook powerbomb (called a shoulder breaker by Tony) on the floor
followed by a running knee to the face. Why isn’t he going for the
knee?

Back
in and Jericho sends the knee into the buckle before toying with Rey
a bit. Rey fights back with the good knee and manages a jumping
Killswitch for two. Jericho is sent to the apron and a baseball
slide takes out the knee, sending Jericho face first into the apron.
A big flip dive over the top takes Jericho down again but the knee is
damaged even worse. As they come back in, Jericho breaks up a
springboard attempt and Rey’s knee is hurt again. He tries a
springboard hurricanrana but Jericho catches him in the air and puts
on the Liontamer for the tap out and the title.

Rating:
C+. The match was about Rey’s
bad knee with Jericho toying with him the entire time until the end.
At the end of the day there wasn’t much Rey could do on one leg and
Jericho played it perfectly. This made Jericho look like a goofy
killer which is perfect for his character at the time.

Post
match Jericho says the fans must really like him before kicking Rey’s
knee out. The leg is crushed between a toolbox and the steel steps
to put him out for a LONG time, as in the next six months.

Here’s
JJ Dillon with the world title. He talks about the big mess in the
last month and how he’s tried to come up with the best answer.
Dillon brings out Roddy Piper for the first time since Halloween
Havoc. Roddy talks about nothing of note before bringing out Sting,
Hall and Hogan for the big announcement. Piper says that Hall earned
his world title shot, but since there’s no world champion, Hall has
to take a back seat for the time being.

As
for Hogan, he’s a three time world champion and Piper would love to
put the title around his waist……NOT! Seriously that’s what Piper
said. The solution to all the problems over the belt: a rematch
between Hogan and Sting at Super Brawl. Sting gets in Hogan’s face
and Hall walks away with a disgusted look on his face. Somehow this
took over twelve minutes.

Booker
is defending and this is face vs. face. Martel saved Booker from
some beatdowns and was granted a title shot as a thank you. Booker
takes him by the arm to start before running Martel over with a
shoulder block. An O’Connor Roll gets two for Rick and it’s a
stalemate. They trade hammerlocks until Booker gets two off a
clothesline and hooks an armbar. The champion misses an elbow but
spins up for a side kick for two.

Back
to the armbar but Martel fights up with a dropkick for two. Booker
comes back with a superkick for two before hooking the third armbar.
Rick is accidentally kicked low and Martel is angry. He goes nuts on
Booker with right hands and chops before hooking a chinlock. Rick
gets two off a spinebuster and goes to work on Booker’s back.

Off
to a reverse chinlock on Booker despite his leg being under the
bottom rope. Back up and Booker hits a flying forearm smash but Rick
holds the rope to avoid a dropkick. The Quebec Crab goes on but
Booker is right next to the ropes. The ax kick sets up the Harlem
Hangover to retain the title for Booker.

Rating:
B-. This was a different kind
of match with an old school style to it. There was a basic story
being told with both guys playing mental chess to outwit the other.
Martel’s comeback is very impressive as he looks like he hasn’t
missed a step in all the years he’s been gone. The ending was a
little abrupt but this was a very good match for the most part.

Post
match Martel takes the belt from the referee but hands it back to
Booker and raises his hand. Booker shakes Martel’s hand in a display
of mutual respect. Booker leaves and Saturn runs in to beat down
Martel after their altercations on Nitro and Thunder.

These
two have a long history dating back to the AWA in the 80s and it’s
picked up here in a battle of tradition vs. disrespect. Hall has his
lackey Louie Spicolli with him. Larry had promised he wouldn’t come
to the ring alone and points to Dusty Rhodes to be his corner man.
Scott’s toothpick is swatted out of the air and Larry takes him to
the mat. Hall goes after the arm as Tony makes fun of Heenan for
thinking Larry was bringing Ted DiBiase to the ring with him. That’s
hardly a ridiculous guess.

Larry
offers a test of strength but gets Hall’s arms moving so fast that he
slaps Scott in the face. Hall gets suckered into an abdominal
stretch as Dusty plays cheerleader. Larry goes for a front chancery
but Hall counters with a right hand to the face. Hall punches Larry
down in the corner before tying up the legs like an STF but putting
on an armbar instead.

A
clothesline puts Larry down as the fans are all over Hall. The
fallaway slam puts Larry down but he backdrops out of the Outsider’s
Edge. Zbyszko pounds away in the corner but accidentally spin kicks
the referee down. In a nice move, Larry plays possum to catch Hall
in the front chancery but Spicolli runs in for the DQ.

Rating:
D+. This was pretty good
considering it was Larry’s second match in several years. Hall had
to tone it down to let Zbyszko keep up with him but the match was
hardly a disaster. It’s not a great match on its own but the long
story building up to it makes the payoff a bit better. Not much but
some.

Post
match Dusty elbows Spicolli before accidentally hitting Larry. Hall
points at Dusty who opens his shirt to reveal the NWO colors. Dusty
drops some elbows and talks trash as the announcers are disgusted.
This is one of those ideas that was supposed to be a big deal but
most people didn’t care.

Tony
is upset and doesn’t want to call the match so Mike Tenay joins
commentary. For the sake of clarity, Scott Steiner will be the only
person referred to as Scott. Rick and Bagwell get things going with
Bagwell imitating the dog bark. He tries to take Rick to the mat but
bails to the corner when the former collegiate wrestler is ready to
go. Rick poses at Buff in the corner for a quick laugh. Some
suplexes put Buff down and it’s off to Traylor.

Rick
and Traylor start tagging in and out pretty quickly while leaving
Scott on the apron. The idea is that Scott hasn’t been tagging out
during their recent matches so his partners aren’t letting him in at
all. Traylor gets caught in the wrong corner and it’s off to Norton
for some standing splashes. Konnan gets in a cheap shot to knock
Traylor into a powerslam for no cover. Tony is back to whatever you
call normal for him as the NWO double teams Traylor.

Norton
and Traylor hit a double clothesline and it’s back to Rick. The
announcers say that it’s surprising that Scott didn’t get the tag,
even though Traylor fell into Rick as he was much closer. Tony tries
to defend the bored crowd as being stunned by Dusty’s actions. The
NWO takes Rick down as Scott is now standing on the same side of the
apron as Traylor to get a tag.

Norton
slams Rick and it’s off to a chinlock from Bagwell. Konnan comes in
for a leg lock as this match is dragging badly. Bagwell and Konnan
double team Rick until Traylor makes the save, allowing for a tag
from both of Rick’s partners at once. Everything breaks down and
Scott hits a dragon suplex and the Screwdriver on Konnan for the pin.

Rating:
D. This was long and boring and
not much else. The idea of Scott being left out in the cold was fine
but in the end it wound up meaning nothing at all. The problem for
the Steiners was they had no one to challenge them with the Outsiders
feud being done to death so their time as a tag team was long since
over.

Post
match Scott and Bagwell have an unheard chat and a pose down. Scott
leaves on his own.

Bischoff
and Hogan come out with Nash. This is a match that was supposed to
happen at Starrcade but Nash “hurt his knee”, allegedly over not
wanting to job. Both guys had to put up $1.5 million as a bond with
Nash guaranteeing to appear and Giant promising not to attack Nash
before the match. Giant shoves Nash back and picks him up for a
pretty good looking belly to back suplex. Nash gets crushed back
into the corner and choked down on the mat as this is one sided so
far.

Kevin
bails to the floor for a meeting with Hogan before hitting a running
clothesline in the corner. Giant reverses an Irish whip and a big
boot puts Nash down again. Nash actually leapfrogs over Giant before
kicking him in the face to not much success. Giant is punched to the
floor and Nash DIVES over the top rope, only to be caught in mid air
by the bigger man. Giant rams him into the steps but Hogan blasts
him in the back with a chair to give Nash a big advantage.

Back
in and Nash pounds away, only to have Giant shrug the offense off
before kicking Nash in the face to get himself a breather. Back up
and Nash pounds away in the corner, only to be caught in an atomic
drop. Giant clotheslines him down a few times and hits a big boot
with a point to Hogan. Bischoff distracts the referee, allowing
Hogan to throw Nash some hot coffee. Giant is blinded by the liquid
and Nash delivers a famously botched powerbomb, dropping Giant on the
top of his head for the pin.

Rating:
D+. This was better than
expected but the ending is the only thing that people remember is the
ending. It’s so odd to see Nash doing stuff like dives over the top
rope and leapfrogs but he didn’t look all that awkward. The
interesting thing to me though: allegedly Nash was booked to do the
job at Starrcade, then screwed over the fans and got to win the match
once it happened. That’s quite the reward.

Giant
is looked at for a good while.

This
is your basic battle for respect. Bret has a column in the Calgary
Sun newspaper and said that he was better than Flair. That wasn’t
cool with Ric and we had a main event. This is Bret’s in ring debut
for WCW. Feeling out process to start until Bret takes over with a
headlock. Flair reverses into one of his own and runs Bret over with
a shoulder as we’re still in first gear.

Bret
grabs a Figure Four of all things but Flair is almost immediately in
the ropes. A suplex gets two for Hart and it’s chinlock time. Flair
fights up but loses a battle of top wristlocks, allowing Bret to take
him back down with an armbar. Bret slaps him out to the floor and
Flair takes a breather. Back in and Hart puts on the headlock again
to keep Flair at a slow pace. Flair fights up and pounds away in the
corner and suplexes his way out of a quick sleeper.

Ric
has the referee check the time so he can hit Bret low like only
Naitch can. A knee drop gets two and it’s off to a chinlock on Hart.
Back up and they slug it out until Bret grabs a neckbreaker to put
both guys down. Hart gets two off a bulldog and it’s time to go for
the leg. He cannonballs down onto the knee and loads up the Figure
Four around the post, only to have Flair kick him back into the
barricade. Back in and it’s Ric’s turn to go after the knee with the
knee crusher and a few pulls on the leg.

The
Figure Four is countered into a small package by Bret but now the
Figure Four works for Flair. Bret finally turns it over to escape
before slamming Ric off the top. Bret comes right back with a
Russian legsweep and takes down his straps so Flair can chop him even
harder. The Five Moves of Doom set up a superplex which sets up the
Sharpshooter for the submission.

Rating:
B-. Solid match here but it
wasn’t going to be able to live up to the hype. It’s a great debut
for Bret and good proof that he still has it with an ending that
makes sense. The match was all about respect and Bret won the match
with pure wrestling skill and a submission hold. That’s the right
choice.

Yeah
this is the main event instead of Flair vs. Hart. This is a rematch
from the night after Starrcade which wasn’t a big deal at all.
Savage bails to the floor to start and the stalling is already
rolling. Luger is dropped throat first across the barricade for two
back inside. A suplex gets two on Luger as this is really basic
stuff so far. Savage chokes away and Liz gets in some of her own.

Luger
fights out of the corner but has to deal with Liz again. He finally
goes after her but the trap works to perfection with Savage getting
in another cheap shot. They head into the crowd with Luger taking
over as this match drags on. Back in and Luger hits the steel
forearm as Hall and Hogan come to ringside. Savage is sent into Hall
and Luger throws him into the Rack for the fast submission.

Rating:
D-. This would have been a bad
match on Nitro and it’s even worse on a pay per view. These guys had
no business having the main event slot on this show as the match was
treated like a midcard match for weeks setting up the show. Nothing
to see here at all and a very bad choice to end the show.

The
NWO beats Savage down until Sting makes the save to end the show.

Overall
Rating: B+. This is one of the
best WCW PPVs ever produced with four good to great matches and only
two that weren’t at least good. The main event is a stupid choice
but I’m guessing Hogan had to be in the final segment so it had to go
on last. Definitely check out Benoit vs. Raven for a great fight if
you don’t have three hours to watch the whole thing, but if you do
have the time the whole show is worth checking out.

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