Happy Stinky Saturday Everyone!
Today we do our monthly review of a show with a bad reputation, as we look at nWo Souled Out 1997. This was WCW’s attempt at establishing the New World Order faction as a viable second brand, with the idea being that they could then run separate WCW and nWo branded events and ostensibly make the WWF the third biggest company in the USA (this was actually their plan).
The event ended up being awful though as, even though the nWo were cool, they were still the bad guys and the WCW fans ultimately wanted to see the WCW guys be booked as competent rather than them being the weekly punching bags they usually were. The show ended up being both a critical and commercial bomb, with the only bonus being they managed to sell out the 5,000 seater arena they booked it in.
Let’s see if time has been kind to this one or whether it’s still as stinky as I remember. If you’d like to see the card for the event you can do so by clicking below;
https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=1627&page=2
The event is emanating from Cedar Rapids, Iowa on the 25th of January 1997
The nWo shows up on the backs of rubbish trucks. I remember my friend had the German version of this show and they actually dubbed Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” over this and it actually looked pretty cool. I’m not sure if that was just something DSF did in Germany or if there’s an English cut of the show somewhere with the song playing over it. It’s funny how so many of the lower level members of the faction are desperately trying to get some screen time here alongside Hogan and others. Having the nWo show up in such a fashion was certainly eye-catching if nothing else.
Hollywood Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall cut a promo on the big screens to welcome us to the show.
The design of the arena is mostly just black, white and a splash of red, which certainly plays into the extreme nihilism that some folks in the 90’s seemed to think was the height of cool.
Opening Match
Mr. August Masahiro Chono Vs Lionheart Chris Jericho
Chono quickly jumped on the nWo bandwagon when he saw the reactions they were getting and ended up leading the Japanese version of the group to great success. The likes of Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Keiji Mutoh would join the Japanese version eventually as well. A sarcastic ring announcer mocks the WCW guys and puts the nWo guys over to add to the feeling that the WCW guys are the unwelcome loser guests on this show.
Jericho tries really hard to garner some reactions from the crowd here, as we see that Nick Patrick will be reffing and wearing an nWo shirt whilst doing so. WCW guys come in to sit in the crowd and watch the show, including the likes of The Nasty Boys, The Horsemen, Harlem Heat and the Dungeon of DOOM. Having WCW be the “outsiders” on this show is actually an interesting idea, but it’s not an idea that works in execution as the nWo are the bad guys and the crowd doesn’t really want to cheer them.
Chono and Jericho don’t have a tonne of chemistry together as opponents, but this isn’t a bad match and it’s fun to essentially see a New Japan Vs WAR match taking place on another company’s pay per view event. Chono takes most of the match, which is probably how it would go in Japan at the time as well due to New Japan being the more prestigious company, but Jericho sells well and shows good fire when he’s allowed to get some offence.
Bischoff and Dibiase are exceedingly annoying on commentary, as two Heel commentators bagging on the babyfaces with no babyface announcer to offset them is excruciating in a change the channel way. Chono goes for the Step-over Toe-hold Face-lock, but Jericho manages to get to the ropes before it is applied, thus protecting the move by not having him stay in it for a while and survive it. The crowd decides to chant “USA” in support of Jericho against the evil foreigner, even though Jericho is technically Canadian. That being said, Jericho was actually born in New York wasn’t he, so I think we can allow it.
Chono’s Manhattan Drop really is the best version of that move, as he delivers it with a great snap and I remember they worked the animation into the Virtual Pro Wrestling series of games for the N64 (basically Japanese No Mercy if you’ve never played it. It shouldn’t shock you to learn that it’s a great game). Chono sets a table up outside the ring but this allows Jericho to make a bit of a comeback. They do some good spots where Jericho hits a big move but can’t pin right away because his knee is hurting and that allows Chono to kick out, which protects Jericho’s moves. Jericho ends up taking a trip through the table when trying something off the top and the referee of course allows it, leading to Chono getting the win back inside the ring with a Yakuza Kick.
WINNER: MASAHIRO CHONO
RATING: **
This one never really got going but Chono came across as a star and Jericho was working hard, so I’ll be generous
The WCW guys in the crowd are unimpressed by that result.
Eric Bischoff talks about the women in the Miss nWo pageant later. None of the ladies are that especially hot, which seems to defeat the purpose. Why not just get a bunch of really hot models for it in order to make the nWo like they know what they’re doing rather than making the group look dumb by not doing so? Bischoff sitting on the commentary table like he’s trying to be a cool university professor doesn’t help with giving the proceedings any street cred either. Jeff Katz interviews the women and that’s as bad as you’d think it would be.
Match Two
Mexican Death Match
Big Bubba Rogers Vs The Laughing Man Hugh Morrus w/ Mouth of the South Jimmy Hart
Both of these guys had been in the Dungeon of DOOM but Bubba had jumped ship to the nWo and now they have this match to settle things. Why it has to be a Mexican Death Match when neither of them are actually Mexican is beyond me. A Singapore Death Match would have at least made sense as that was Kevin Sullivan’s gimmick hometown and he was the leader of the Dungeon. Morrus is dressed like a Dudley brother here with his tie-dyed shirt.
Morrus gets the better of things in the early going but Bubba clocks him in the DeMott’s a couple of times and that leads to Bubba working some heat. It’s actually not a terrible brawl, and if you like watching two hefty 300ish pounds guys throwing down then there might be something here for you to enjoy, but the crowd doesn’t really care about it and it leads to the match feeling pretty flat as a result. Morrus is trying to get the crowd into it too but they just aren’t biting.
Bubba works Morrus over with a metal chain at one stage, but Morrus fights back and uses the chain himself, which does garner a bit of a reaction, as does a big Moonsault off the top. We discover that the rules mean you have to be counted down for 10, but Patrick deliberately takes his time making the count and even fans Bubba in an effort to revive him in a funny spot, which allows Bubba to eventually beat the count even though he probably would have been counted out otherwise.
The match does start to drag after a certain point because the crowd isn’t into it and it starts getting silly with all the biased ref stuff. I actually feel kind of bad for the two wrestlers involved as they are working hard here and they’re taking some pretty hefty bumps for guys their size. The finish is one of the wackiest I’ve ever seen, as both men fight down into the entrance way and Bubba ends up commandeering a motorbike and literally running Morrus over with it for the victory. That’s like one of those OMG finishes from the 2K games or something.
WINNER: BIG BUBBA
RATING: *1/2
An okay brawl with a heatless crowd and an all-time terrible finish
They replay the finish again just to highlight how silly it was.
We get more beauty pageant nonsense and it continues to be horrible, as the women seem to have no idea what’s expected of them in order to make this work and Katz is a really rubbish host.
The commentary team hypes up something called a website on a thing called the internet. I believe they have that on computers now.
Match Three
Michael Wallstreet Vs Jeff Jarrett
Someone like Wallstreet being in the nWo was a good example of how they were watering the group down. Chono was at least a big international star and Bubba had been a Main Event level guy in the WWF at one stage, but Wallstreet had never been past the mid-card and the group gained very little from being associated with him. It would be like if during the peak of The Bloodline angle in WWE they let Baron Corbin or Bobby Roode join. Neither are terrible wrestlers but it would just automatically make the group less prestigious to have such a middle of the pack guy join them.
Bischoff slagging off Jarrett’s ring attire on commentary is interesting as I believe he legitimately hated it in real life. The wrestling in this one is fine, as both wrestlers are mechanically sound, but the crowd doesn’t really care about any of it. Neither wrestler really commits to playing the babyface either, as Jarrett is just as willing to do nefarious things as Wallstreet is, the crowd doesn’t really have anyone to cheer for.
Debra McMichael was infatuated with Jarett in storyline at the time, so she drags her husband Mongo down to the ringside with the aim of Mongo helping Jarrett out. Mongo isn’t fully on board with this, but dutifully does as he’s told. Jarrett sells for a bit in a chin lock to try and get the crowd behind him, but they continue to not really care. Patrick does his dodgy reffing again by dragging Wallstreet to the ropes in order to help him break a Figure Four, which leads to Mongo clocking Wallstreet with a briefcase so that Jarrett can get the pin from the intimidated official.
WINNER: JEFF JARRETT
RATING: *
Two fellers having a match in front of a crowd that didn’t care
Arn Anderson doesn’t seem too impressed by that in the crowd. Why exactly? Wasn’t Jarrett a Horsemen at the time? Horsemen helping one another out like that feels like a very Horsemen thing to be doing.
The beauty pageant continues to be terrible.
Match Four
Buff The Stuff Bagwell Vs The American Male Scotty Riggs
Bagwell and Riggs had been The American Males but Buff had split on his partner in order to join the nWo and go Heel. Bagwell had never been out of the mid-card either, but the difference was that he was (at the time) a decently rated young star who seemed to have some genuine upside so him joining the group made a lot more sense than some of the others who joined.
Buff already has his Heel character down here, struggling to take his entrance jacket off because his arms are too big. Buff Bagwell enjoyed playing this odious arrogant character so much that it almost became infectious. It’s a shame the neck injury in 1998 totally derailed his career because he was really on a roll from the Heel turn onwards. Buff just utterly dwarfs Riggs when it comes to poise and star power here, in the most brutal examples of someone being Jannetty’d that you can find.
This is another match where the wrestling is fine, and actually quite good at points, but the crowd continues to sit on their hands for the most part. Riggs gets a bit of shine and looks okay until Buff cuts him off and works some heat. The ring announcer chimes in at that stage to say that Riggs is a loser. Come on, Riggs’ career was going bad enough already what with his tag team partner clearly stepping right over him on his way up the card, he doesn’t need the ring announcer to rub it in on top of everything else. Please, have some pity for the man!
Riggs eventually makes a comeback and the wresting continues to be quite good here, with the crowd starting to get a bit more into it as well. I’ve seen these two have some pretty meh matches together but this is probably the best one I’ve seen. It’s just a shame it’s happened on this show in front of a crowd that mostly hasn’t cared until the final stages. The near falls are done well, with Patrick actually counting fairly for the most part. Eventually Riggs goes for a Superplex but Buff pokes him in the eyes and follows up with the Buff Blockbuster for three.
WINNER: BUFF BAGWELL
RATING: **
This was mostly quite good, but the lack of crowd reactions made it feel pretty flat. Stick that on a Nitro or something in front of a hot crowd and I think it might have been flirting with the *** range
Buff dances with some ladies on the entrance way on his way out and continues to look like a big star in the making. Adding him to the nWo was a very good idea and if they’d just stuck with guys like him as new additions then the group wouldn’t have felt as watered down.
The beauty pageant continues to be terrible, with most of the women not being able to hear the questions. This is honestly some of the worst stuff I’ve ever seen on a wrestling show.
Match Five
Scott Flash Norton Vs Diamond Dallas Page
The nWo had been trying to recruit DDP but he had constantly refused, which ended up getting him over as a rebellious babyface with the fan base, finally making him a top star in the process. Norton has his working boots on here, giving forth New Japan effort™ by the looks of things, leading to it being an energetic match. DDP even manages to heave Norton up for a Styles Clash at one stage, which is no mean feat when you consider how big Norton is.
Norton cuts DDP off soon after that though and works some heat, getting a very cool looking Shoulder Breaker. Sting shows up in the crowd to watch, but I’m not sure if it’s actually Sting or just one of the many Sting imposters from this era, such as nWo Sting. DDP sells well whilst Norton works him over, with Norton’s stuff looking suitably brutal. I know Norton’s penchant for refusing to sell could be frustrating, but I think he’s a bit under rated as a big man worker in all honesty.
DDP eventually manages to dodge a sit out splash and makes the comeback. The crowd doesn’t really care, as the general atmosphere of this show continues to be flatter than a pancake, but DDP does a nice comeback and the match itself has been decent for the most part. Before DDP can finish Norton off though we’re joined by Buff Bagwell, Michael Wallstreet, Big Bubba and Vincent. They try to get DDP to join the nWo, and he teases that he will, but he ends up giving Norton a Diamond Cutter and flees to a big pop. Patrick counts him out though and Norton picks up the win.
WINNER BY COUNT OUT: SCOTT NORTON
RATING: *1/2
They were on their way to having a solid match there until it ended abruptly. I have to say that the way DDP gave Norton the Diamond Cutter was close to perfect, as they shook hands and Norton seemed on board, only for DDP to then pull him in and snap the move off. DDP was great and that entire sequence was a great example of why he got so over
DDP tears off his nWo shirt and leaves through the crowd whilst Buff sends threats his way.
They are still persisting with this terrible beauty pageant. Honestly, could they not have called an audible after all the previous segments sucked so bad and decided to shelve it?
Match Six
WCW Tag Team Titles
Champs: The Outsiders (Kevin Nash and Scott Hall) Vs The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott)
The Steiner’s were WCW’s top babyface tag team, so it was only natural that they would eventually come after The Outsiders and the Tag Team Titles. They would stretch this feud out for nearly a year with a dodgy finish after dodgy finish. The crowd actually seems to care about this one and the early exchanges are quite fun, with The Steiner’s bumping The Outsiders around in the babyface shine. Hall in particular takes some very nice bumps for the challengers and the match has some good energy to start, with four big lads working at a quick clip for guys their size.
Hall manages to cut Scott Steiner off with a Choke Slam though and that leads to Nash putting a whupping on Scott following that, showing some good intensity. Scott fights back with a suplex and it’s very impressive to see a guy like Nash getting flung around with such comparative ease by the challengers. These are four really big blokes and they all appear to be putting the work in tonight, which makes the match very watchable.
Hall gets a cheap shot on Rick to give us our Heel heat segment, with Rick selling that well. The heat segment might perhaps go on for a little bit too long, but aside from that it’s fine and they do a good job teasing the hot tag, with Nash ending up being too smart for his own good by goading Scott into the ring, thus allowing Rick to clobber him right in the Big Daddy Cool’s whilst the ref is distracted dealing with Scott.
Scott gets the hot tag following that and runs wild, bumping around the Heels in impressive fashion. The Steiner’s set up for the Steineriser, but Patrick gets bumped in the chaos when Nash breaks it up, leading to there being no referee when Hall gets The Edge on Scott. Rick comes off the ropes with a bulldog onto Hall and the drapes Scott on top, leading to WCW referee Randy Anderson coming out of the crowd and counting three for the big pop.
WINNERS AND NEW CHAMPIONS: THE STEINER BROTHERS
RATING: **3/4
They worked a mostly fun match here and the crowd responded better than they had for anything else yet up to this point. Seeing The Steiner’s fling such huge opponents around with such ease was really amazing to witness. They were two very scary dudes and Rex Steiner looks to be continuing that legacy for WWE today
The Steiner Brothers celebrate with their new belts but this would end up being a Dusty Finish™ on Nitro the next night with Bischoff overturning the decision and then firing Randy Anderson for good measure, leading to Anderson begging for his job for months afterwards whilst the Heels laughed at him. WCW was sure a pleasant show to watch a lot of the time wasn’t it?
Semi-Main
Ladder Match for the WCW United States Title
Champ: Eddy Guerrero “The Mexican Jumping Bean” Vs Syxx
Yes, that’s actually what the ring announcer referred to Eddy as. Stay classy WCW. This one came about because Syxx stole the belt, so now they’ve put it above the ring and the first person to claim it will be declared the Champion. I think this was WCW’s first ever ladder match actually. It was a genre they never really mastered, outside of a couple of good one’s in 2000 with the Cruiserweights and a very good ladder match at Starrcade 1999 between Jeff Jarrett and Chris Benoit.
These two don’t really seem to have much chemistry together and the match feels pretty disjointed as a result, even though both wrestlers are working hard and putting the effort in. It becomes one of those matches where quite a few things don’t work as they’d like to but they don’t give up and just keep slogging on until it becomes decent by sheer force of willpower. I can appreciate that actually, as it would be so easy to just settle on the match not working and giving up on it, but both of these wrestlers have too much professional pride for that to happen.
Bischoff uses this match as an excuse to get something off his chest about how much he hates karate fighters who exaggerate how good they are. That’s the closest Bischoff has got to sounding sincere on commentary all night thus far. Both wrestlers take some big bumps here, with Eddy getting suplexed to the floor and Syxx then following up with a dive to the outside. I think having the motorbikes at the foot of the entrance way is a bit of mistake here, as it gives the wrestlers less room to work with out there. But then again, I think the only thing that aroused Eric Bischoff more than Hulk Hogan’s sweet caress was bikes, so I’m guessing they were considered essential set dressing.
The crowd chants for Eddy quite a few times in this one and they do respond to both wrestlers getting bounced off and slammed onto the ladder, so they’re invested at least and it definitely adds to the match. Some of the belt teases are done well, with Syxx dropkicking Eddy on top of the ladder at one stage to send both men tumbling down to the mat. That was a heck of a bump for Syxx in particular to take there as Eddy kind of landed on his feet a bit whilst Syxx just fell from the top of the ladder to the mat.
They have a clever idea for the finish but they don’t really execute it properly. Both wrestlers climb the ladder and unhook the belt at the same time, leading to Eddy giving Syxx a belt shot to send him down to the mat, thus making Eddy the winner. However, Eddy actually drops the belt after hitting Syxx with it and it lands on Syxx, so technically Syxx should be the winner. Eddy just runs down and grabs the belt anyway though and it gets a pop, but it’s a shame they couldn’t nail the execution of that as it would have been a cool finish.
WINNER AND STILL CHAMPION: EDDY GUERRERO
RATING: ***3/4
These two buggers worked their arses off to have a good match here, even when things weren’t going their way and the timing was off on some of the wrestling, and I appreciate it because I didn’t think we’d get to see anything even remotely this good on this show after the first two hours. The crowd responded well to Eddy and liked that he won, so this segment gets a thumbs up, even though some of the wrestling was a bit disjointed at points
Eddy celebrates in the crowd with his belt, and I believe that result did stand as opposed to the Tag Title switch.
We finally end the horror that is the Miss nWo pageant, with the winner getting a smooch from Eric Bischoff just for extra sleaziness. What a disaster this was.
Main Event
WCW Title
Champ: Hollywood Hogan w/ Vincent Vs The Giant
Giant had been a member of the nWo but had refused to relinquish a Title shot at Hogan, thus leading to them kicking him out of the group. Hogan beats up a guy of Giant’s size way too easily here, with Giant’s size almost seeming inconsequential. It’s especially odd seeing as Hogan is the Heel so you’d think Giant battering Hogan from pillar to post with a long babyface shine until it was time for Hogan to do something sneaky for the cut off would be the go-to way to structure this one.
Instead, both wrestlers kind of just do stuff, with the execution being pretty sloppy and the crowd not really caring that much until Giant gets a big body slam at one stage for a pop. Hogan does throw some powder in Giant’s eyes following that, but he’s already knocked Giant off his feet and clobbered him a bit prior to that spot, so it’s nowhere near as effective as it’d be if Hogan had been getting destroyed all match and used the powder as a way to get a foothold.
Hogan doesn’t even gain much of a renewed advantage from the powder, as Giant soon gets him with a back breaker and heads up top (?!) with an elbow drop (?!?!) but Hogan is able to move. That was very impressive on Giant’s part I’ll give him that. Hogan gets a slam on Giant following that and delivers the Leg Drop of DOOM, but Giant no sells it and stalks Hogan before getting a Choke Slam, leading to Patrick refusing to count the three. Giant takes out Patrick and the nWo runs in for the lame non-finish.
NO CONTEST (HOGAN RETAINS)
RATING: ½*
Not only was the wrestling not especially good here, but the way they structured the match made no real sense, as they kind of just traded momentum, with Hogan easily hitting moves on Giant and knocking him down when needed, even though he was the Heel and you’d think big spots like Giant getting bumped would be something you’d ration and build to rather than just doing willy-nilly. The finish was also completely offensive for a pay per view Main Event. If Giant wasn’t going over and they didn’t want him to lose then they shouldn’t have booked the match. Hogan and The Outsiders Vs Giant and The Steiner’s would have been fine and you could have actually given us a finish
The nWo beats down Giant following the match whilst the crowd chants for Sting. However, Sting coming out would be something fun that the fans would actually enjoy and would detract from the nWo battering someone, so we don’t get it.
Is It Really A Stinker?
Definitely
Outside of the despicably bad wrestling in the Main Event, a lot of the matches here had solid work, but the general atmosphere was incredibly flat because watching the Heels run their own pay per view and lord it over the babyfaces just didn’t work as a concept and the live crowd couldn’t get into the show as a result.
The beauty pageant stuff was legitimately some of the very worst stuff I’ve ever seen on a wrestling show, as you could feel the life out of all involved being slowly sapped away the longer it went on. Bischoff and Dibiase as the Heel commentary team didn’t work whatsoever and the show was just a very difficult watch overall.
And amazingly, they saw how badly this was received and then STILL tried to make nWo Nitro a thing later in the year, thus killing the go-home show for Starrcade 1997 in the process. This is a show that had “bad idea” written all over it and not only did WCW present it anyway but they then had the temerity to not even learn from it and do even more stupid stuff later on in the year.
An absolute failure of a show from one of WCW’s hottest periods.
Final Rating: Stinker
(Ratings go; Stinker/Stinky/Odourless/Pleasant/Fragrant)