WCW/nWo: Souled Out
January 17, 1999
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston Civic Center

The current WCW champs are as follows:
WCW World Champion: Hollywood Hogan (1/4/1999)
WCW U.S. Champion: Bret Hart (11/30/1998)
WCW World Tag Team Champions: Vacant (1/7/1999)
WCW World Television Champion: Scott Steiner (12/28/1998)
WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Billy Kidman (11/22/1998)

WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM FOR A WCW SPECIAL REPORT: They have created some sort of room to resemble a white house press office with a POWCW seal behind the POWCW Ric Flair. There’s the U.S. flag (despite being WORLD Championship Wrestling), and the old purple and yellow colors on a WCW flag on either side of the podium. This is SURREAL. How do you interrupt your own program with a special report? Ric Flair quiets the applause and begins his speech when the video feed seems to be messing up. He tells whoever will listen that WCW is unified and will reign supreme over the nWo. This is how we start the SOULED OUT PPV – and the 1999 PPV season, according to Tony.

Your hosts are Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and Bobby Heenan. CALL THE WCW HOTLINE~! You’ll notice the nWo on the PPV logo has been X’d out in red.

We go back to GOLDBERG’s dressing room to find him on the floor, a chair turned over, and he’s pissed off holding onto his left knee. He throws another chair towards the cameraman and tells him to leave. Tony is CLUELESS as to what might have happened.

• Chris Benoit vs. Mike Enos

Benoit has been virtually absent from PPV (he was in the WW3 battle royal, but did nothing of note) since the Great American Bash due to a shoulder injury. I wonder what the thinking was behind putting this match on. Was this Kevin Nash’s idea of putting Benoit in a non-feature match on the card? Why isn’t Benoit fighting an nWo member? I mean, it’s not really a knock on Mike Enos (because I do think he’s underrated) as much as the match is just completely cold and random. Strong tie-up to start as they go from corner to corner. Benoit catches Enos with one chop and Enos is quick to CLUBBER Benoit down in the corner. He spits on Benoit, so Benoit gives Enos the DOUBLE SNOT ROCKET. Enos runs down Benoit with a shoulderblock and takes a moment to soak in the boos. Benoit lights up his chest with chops and puts the boots to Enos. He delivers a Dragon Screw Leg Whip and attempts to pull Enos down into the Crippler Crossface, but Enos OVERPOWERS Benoit and delivers a nice tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Powerslam gets two. Benoit escapes a bearhug and chops back, but Enos won’t go down easily and barrels him over with a clothesline. Tony puts over the Atlanta Falcons winning the NFC championship over *my* Minnesota Vikings. Benoit moves out of the way from a jumping legdrop, but finds himself back in the bearhug. You can see the broken blood vessels on the chest of Mike Enos thanks to all these chops. Benoit comes back with the Hat Trick of Germans. Well, just two of them. He heads up top and lands the Swandive Headbutt. Enos stops Benoit charging at him in the corner with a back elbow. It looked like he was trying to feed Benoit his arm for the Crippler Crossface, but it came off looking like a really bad clothesline. They try again and Benoit pulls Enos down into the CRIPPLER CROSSFACE for the win. (10:34) Of course there’s no such thing as a *bad* Chris Benoit match – only varying degrees of good to great. This was a fine, hard-hitting match with a receptive crowd for one of the Four Horsemen, but I don’t believe it was anything special. Mr. Enos will never be seen on a WCW PPV again. **

Video package for Goldberg and Scott Hall airs. They make it look like the ladder is NEVER ENDING.

• Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Norman Smiley

Nor-MAN Smi-LAY brings a big urn holding Pepe to the ring. I wanted to see him do a Paul Bearer impression. Naturally, Chavo is a HOUSE OF FIRE to start – culminating in a pescado to the floor. Back in, he lands a Springboard Bulldog and a crossbody out of the corner. Smiley launches Chavo into the corner and runs him down with a clothesline so he can do the BIG WIGGLE – nah, he’s going to make them wait. Instead, he gives Chavo the Big Swinging Slam. Heenan is DYING to see the dance. The crowd is chanting “Norman”, which isn’t good for Chavo. He tries a pump splash off the ropes, but Norman brings up the knees to block it. Smiley hangs Chavo out to dry and then double stomps the abdomen. He stretches out Chavo with all sorts of arm holds. Guerrero finds the ropes, but Smiley cuts off the comeback with a swinging neckbreaker. Chavo and Norman trade holds on the mat. Smiley gets the better of that exchange. Of course, the crowd is dead for all the mat wrestling and they pop for the Big Wiggle teases. When Chavo wants to run the ropes, Smiley catches him with a nasty back elbow. More stretching on the mat. Smiley manages a superplex and we have a ten-count going. We finally get the Big Wiggle which gets the crowd energized. Norman then LAUNCHES Chavo into the air to send him crashing to the mat. He goes back to stretching out Guerrero. Sleeperholds are traded, but Smiley executes a back suplex. Smiley dumps Chavo out, but then lets Guerrero come right back in the ring. Chavo looks to have a second wind, but misses a corner charge and Norman is back in charge. He applies a GORY SPECIAL on Chavo. I like it. Chavo escapes and tries a wheelbarrow move, but Norman thinks it’s more entertaining to do the Big Wiggle and spank Chavo’s ass. Guerrero starts trying to pin Smiley with quick rollups to get the hell out of this match. Both men block each other’s finishers. Smiley grabs the urn and throws what’s left of Pepe into Chavo’s face to apply the NORMAN CONQUEST for the submission. (15:44) Not sure why ref Billy Silverman wasn’t interested in the finish there, but whatever. Call me crazy – I liked the Big Wiggle teasing and all the unconventional wrestling holds Smiley used. A little too one sided, though. As for Norman, they start to kill off his Big Wiggle push – right about here – until Russo comes in and makes him a “hardcore” wrestler. Smiley has an awkward style that couldn’t work with just anyone, so he certainly had a glass ceiling. Chavo has no real gimmick and so he’ll be relegated to JTTS status until Misfits in Action become a thing. **½

Konnan is at the WCW.com table talking to Mark Madden. He’s going to “hunt down” the nWo Wolfpac. Yeah, good luck with that.

• Fit Finlay vs. Van Hammer

Van Hammer is subbing for Steve McMichael who missed his flight. His life seems to be pretty much spiraling down ever since divorcing Debra. No matter whether Finlay’s opponent was Hammer or Mongo, this would just be a match pulled out of their butts. Finlay starts doing Finlay things to Hammer. He gives Hammer a full standing slam and then bounce his chest off the apron. Hammer tries a comeback, but Finlay isn’t going for it and puts Hammer on the mat with a traps grab. Hammer goes for the leg and tries a legbar. Man, the crowd is SILENT. To the floor we go, Finlay suckers Hammer to the floor and nails him on the apron. Finlay keeps Hammer on the apron for as long as he wants. Hammer avoids a corner charge and escapes a sleeperhold. He powerslams Finlay for a two-count. Sensing he’s in trouble, the Finlay Roll sets up the TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER for the win. (7:54) Just a match. ½*

We get a video package for the Flairs versus Windham and Hennig match. Why?

• Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Wrath

This is a fairly fresh and unsettled feud between these two. Not very interesting, but it’s something for them to do. Wrath gets the better of Bigelow to start with a bicycle kick to send Bigelow out for a breather. Back in, Wrath maintains the advantage over Bigelow. Wrath gets a flying clothesline for two. Bigelow hotshots Wrath to take control and chinlocks him on the mat. Once Wrath is up, he corners Bigelow and buries some knees, but Bigelow fires right back with a slam and headbutts Wrath before going back to the chinlock. Wrath finally makes a comeback, but Bigelow shuts him down with a powerslam and a DDT for two. Double KO ensues. Wrath avalanches Bigelow and misses a second one to go head first off the top of the ringpost. He staggers around into the GREETINGS FROM ASBURY PARK as Bigelow gets the pinfall. (9:23) Another match with no heat and no chance. The destruction of Wrath continues. *

• Lex Luger (w/Elizabeth) vs. Konnan

Konnan tells Lex he’s about to toss his salad and peel his potatoes. Despite those sentiments, the West Virginia crowd cheers what Konnan has to say. What a WONDERFUL time to be a wrestler, right? You can say just about anything and get a solid reaction. Lex responds by giving Konnan the ultimatum that they can do this the easy way or the hard way allowing him to walk. Basically, Lex calls Konnan a “B Team” wrestler. Well, that pisses off Konnan wailing on Luger in the corner. This crowd is going NUTS for Konnan’s offense to start. Luger heads to the floor to calm things down and attempts a walk out, but Konnan beats him back into the ring. He kicks Luger from one side of the ring to the other. Horrible looking dropkick occurs that Konnan misses. Lex puts the boots to him and starts hammering the back. Eventually, he gets to a bearhug. At one point, Konnan rolls out to the floor and kneels down near the guardrail. Luger comes over to him, and apparently Konnan lets Luger know his back is out, and to go home. Back in the ring, Luger continues to work despite Konnan trying to stay away from him. Konnan gets some time thanks to ref Mickey Jay on the floor. Back in again, Konnan mounts his comeback and looks to be in some serious pain. Out comes MISS ELIZABETH and holy crapola I’ve never seen her bazongas look *that* big. Konnan applies the TEQUILA SUNRISE near the ropes and gets black spray paint in the eyes thanks to Elizabeth. Next thing we know, Liz is back in the locker room. With Konnan blinded, Lex puts him in the TORTURE RACK for the win. (9:31) Konnan gets helped back to the locker room by Mickey Jay and trainer Danny Young. There’s a lot of heat intertwined in this match. Konnan certainly looked like he was in pain more than just being blown up. If he’s lying, he’s much a better seller than he’s let on. It was hinted that Lex thought Konnan was blown up and couldn’t hang, which is what you’ll be hearing tomorrow night on Nitro when Kevin Nash tries to embarrass Konnan. In one of their upcoming house show matches, Lex legit tore one of his biceps and won’t be wrestling until September. *

• “Loser Wears A Dress” Match: Perry Saturn vs. Chris Jericho (w/Ralphus)

Jericho brings the dress in a paper bag. Since we’re talking about fashion, Jericho is wearing one snazzy jacket out to the ring. The referee is Scott Dickinson who seems to love Jericho and hate Saturn – if you can BELIEVE that. Dickinson really seems to be giving Jericho a hard time to start. Saturn throws away a headlock and catches Jericho with a forearm smash and a high head kick in the corner. He whips Jericho across in a corner and clotheslines him from behind. Saturn tries a jumping spin kick that may not have ever connected. A mustachioed Ralphus gets the leopard skin dress ready while Saturn is still kicking Jericho’s ass. Jericho stops Saturn with a hotshot and lands the Springboard Dropkick to knock Saturn off the apron into the guardrail. He follows up with a plancha. COME ON BAY-BAY. Jericho delivers a stalling suplex back inside the ring. Saturn doesn’t like the foot on the chest pin attempt and starts wailing away. Jericho goes to the eyes, boots Saturn down, and lands a back senton splash for two. He tries the Lionsault, but Saturn brings up the knees to block. Jericho flies down off the top into a head and arm suplex. He tries a floatover out of the corner, but Saturn catches him in mid air and drops him on his face for a two-count. Jericho comes back with the butterfly backbreaker, but misses a dropkick and takes a catapult all the way over the top rope and out in the aisle. Saturn dropkicks him through the ropes and back in the ring. He delivers a flying splash on Jericho for 1-2-NO! They trade rollups until Jericho winds up on the top buckle. Saturn attempts a back suplex, but Jericho does a back flip and lands on his feet. They both attempt their finishes. Saturn surprises Jericho with a small package, but ref Scott Dickinson rolls them both around so that Jericho has the advantage for the FASTEST THREE-COUNT YOU’VE EVER SEEN. (11:44) The crowd was pretty mild throughout, but overall I liked it. Being a man of his word, Saturn puts on the dress while Jericho and Ralphus yuk it up. It’s a rare moment where Heenan can enjoy the moment with the heel because it’s not a WCW versus nWo situation. Dickinson tries to zip up the back and Saturn is ready to knock him out, but Dickinson runs out of the ring laughing with Jericho and Ralphus. They really are going back and stealing everything from 1996. **½

Over at the WCW.com table, David Flair is wrestling tonight out of respect for his father. He’s not worried about getting hurt, he’s here to become “David Flair” and not “Ric Flair’s son”. Man, the guy is just OOZING charisma! He looks like he’s being held by WCW against his will.

• Four Corners Match for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Billy Kidman (c) vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Psychosis vs. Juventud Guerrera

Even though I thought Mysterio was still wearing the shirt despite the group being disbanded on Nitro, there are no LWO t-shirts being worn here tonight. Kidman and Mysterio start the match. The rules of tagging in and out make no sense to me since this is every man for himself and one fall to a finish. Rey snaps off a beautiful tilt-a-whirl headscissors. Kidman fires back with a slingshot headscissors from the apron. Both guys try a crossbody block at the same time for a crash and burn. Psychosis and Juventud run in and put the boots to the good guys. Rey blind tags Psychosis for some reason. Psychosis seems upset getting tagged into the match. Kidman does the same to Juventud. Our esteemed commentators point out the most basic logic problem with why you would ever tag out in this match. They exchange friendly rollups – and then some not-so-friendly chops. They go back to countering each other’s stuff and shake hands. Now they want to tag out, but Kidman and Rey drop to the floor. When they turn their backs, Kidman and Rey run into the ring and start attacking the heels. WHAT. At one point, Juventud charges Rey and gets launched into Kidman for a BK Bomb. Rey whips Guerrera into a punch by Kidman from the apron. Apparently, that’s considered a tag and Kidman catches the legal man Psychosis with a flying body press. Juventud trips Kidman up into a sitout gourdbuster by Psychosis. To the floor we go, Psychosis throws Rey into a backdrop from Juventud to send him crashing on the floor onto Kidman. Juventud and Psychosis then argue over who will do the big springboard move. While they argue on the apron, Mysterio and Kidman run over and sunset flip powerbomb them off the apron to the floor. STEREO POWERBOMBS! If you wanted to do a tag match, just do a tag match.

Back in the ring, Kidman puts Juventud on his shoulders and tags Rey for a SPRINGBOARD DOOMSDAY DEVICE. That gets two. Psychosis catches Rey from the apron. He knocks him down on the apron and as he charges Mysterio, Psychosis gets LAUNCHED from the apron over the top of the ring post to the floor. Juventud nails Rey and comes running off the ropes, but Kidman pulls him down by his hair. Kidman then heads up to the top rope and somersault dives into Psychosis. With Rey on all fours, he runs and jumps off Rey’s back for AIR JUVI onto Psychosis and Kidman. With the other three guys on the floor and not to be outdone, Mysterio does his famous somersault plancha over the back of the referee to the floor and wipes out Kidman. Rey brings Juventud back in the ring. He lands LA SILLA for 1-2-NO! Guerrera finds a JUVI DRIVER on Rey, but Psychosis flies in and breaks up the pin. OUCH. Psychosis does some sort of victory roll off the top with Guerrera, but Kidman stops the pinfall. Hey look, it’s YOU CAN’T POWERBOMB KIDMAN! Mysterio breaks up the three-count and delivers the wheelbarrow bulldog. Psychosis dumps out Kidman and Guerrera. He then slides Rey out to the floor. Juventud piles Kidman next to Rey so that Psychosis can give them a somersault senton splash. With Psychosis hurt by doing the move, Juventud grabs Kidman and throws him into the ring for missile dropkick and a nearfall. Psychosis manages to stop the count. Psychosis goes for another senton splash on Rey on the floor, but Mysterio moves out of the way. Meanwhile, Kidman blocks the Juvi Driver with an inverted DDT (thanks to some help from Rey). Mysterio keeps Psychosis on the floor with a springboard headscissors on the floor. While Rey is on the floor for a brief moment, Kidman lands the SHOOTING STAR PRESS on Juventud for the win. (14:24) I wanna know who BOOKED these rules. Just make it a fatal four-way match or a tag match if you are going to make these guys work faces versus heels. Some great popcorn spots and that’s about it. This was considered an early MOTYC at the time. ***¼

We check in with the WCW.com table. Booker T is talking and Chris Jericho comes over referring to Booker as “Mr. T”. Booker is PISSED over the finish in Jericho’s match and wants to fight. Sounds like we’ll have Jericho and Booker T tomorrow night on Nitro.

• Ric & David Flair (w/Arn Anderson) vs. Curt Hennig & Barry Windham

This is Ric’s first competitive PPV match since the last Souled Out PPV. As far as I know, this is 19 year-old David’s first match EVER. He got in some training to do spots with Windham, but not Hennig. Ric comes out in a fancy silver and black robe while David is in a Four Horsemen t-shirt and some Adidas shorts. Apparently, David is wearing his dad’s boots when he won a championship. No specific one as far as we know. When Hennig and Windham stall, Ric tells them they better get in the ring and wrestle unless they want to wrestler at some other place like the WWF. Windham starts off against David and even though he’s INCREDIBLY green and INCREDIBLY awkward, David gets the better of Windham. Imagine having the opportunity to be in the ring in your first match with CURT HENNIG and BARRY WINDHAM. Even though they are far from their peak, they are still two of the best workers ever. In comes Daddy Flair, he’s got chops for everybody. Ric becomes Flair-In-Peril to protect his son. At one point, Hennig catches David napping on the apron and chops him to the floor for a decent bump. After getting beat up on the floor by Windham, Hennig slams Ric off the top. While David tries to come in the ring and help his dad, Hennig and Windham put the boots to the man. Windham delivers a SUPERPLEX to Ric, but only gets two. David doesn’t bother to make a save for some reason. Heenan even points that out. The beatdown on Ric continues as Hennig takes him to school and puts on the Figure-Four. Windham helps out with the extra leverage. Ric goes to the eyes to break the hold. However, he can’t tag in his inexperienced son, and continues to get his butt whooped.

David again gets in the ring to argue with ref Billy Silverman. While Windham and Hennig attempt a double-team, Arn Anderson pulls out Hennig to the floor and pummels him. Ric gives Windham a back suplex and applies the FIGURE-FOUR. Hennig fights back and sends Arn into the guardrail. He breaks up the Figure-Four and continues to help Windham double-team Ric. As they go for a double suplex, David low blows Hennig. He then winds up getting pulled into the ring by Hennig. Time for the Hennigplex, but Arn drills Hennig from behind a TIRE IRON and David literally gets pulled on top of Hennig for the three-count and the biggest win of his career. (13:56) If I were David Flair and I had a chance to be in the ring with Barry Windham and Curt Hennig, I would be BEYOND excited of the opportunity. Like I said, they aren’t at their peak as workers, but they are still two guys who should be able to walk anybody through a match. Having said that, it’s not a good idea in any stretch of the imagination to have your first match when you are clearly greener than a leprechaun’s dick – not just on TV, not just on a PPV, but a PPV produced by the #2 most watched wrestling promotion in the world during one of the hottest periods ever in wrestling. Even if you wanted David to be involved for storyline reasons, why not put Chris Benoit in the match and have David second his dad and Benoit, and then have him get involved in the finish for a low blow or something. They’ve been doing it in the WWF with Chyna for YEARS. It’s a Flair handicap match and there’s not a lot of drama in this one. I think everybody tried, but it ultimately wasn’t going to be much good. *½

It’s not over yet. The ENTIRE nWo (Wolfpac and B&W) come out to do a real number on the Four Horsemen (sans Malenko and Mongo). They handcuff Ric to the middle rope and make him watch David get bullied. Hogan shoves David over Buff who is down on all fours for a big laugh, but then David rushes Hogan only to get swarmed by the nWo. That’s when the shit is on. Hogan whips David with his weightlifting belt and LAYS them in. Out comes the spray paint. Hogan tags him with “EZE” and lets the camera know how much he loves Eric Bischoff. The WV crowd wants “Goldberg” and “Sting” – whoever will come out and end this. After Hogan lays in some punches and talk smack to Ric, they hand David back over to his father. HOLLYWOOD RULES THE WORLD. If nothing else, this sets up the next two months of PPV main events.

They play a black and white, distorted video package from the January 4 Nitro of Lex Luger turning heel and attacking Goldberg for the nWo to attack him. That had an uncharacteristically dark mood to it.

• Stun Gun Ladder Match: Goldberg vs. Scott Hall

Hall says he’s got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that everybody came to Souled Out to see the man who is more handsome than ten movie stars – SCOTT HALL. The bad news is Goldberg (Hall admits to ending Goldberg’s undefeated streak – what a shocker that was) got nervous and wet his pants, slipped on his urine, and got a boo boo on his knee. Now Hall takes credit for ending Goldberg’s career. When Goldberg’s music hits, Michael Buffer apologizes for Hall’s “false announcement”. HERE COMES THE MAN. Goldberg has a left knee brace on now and limps to the ring. Ref Randy Anderson hangs the stun gun on some sort of welded bracket and they raise the stun gun something like 15 feet in the air. Goldberg has an answer for everything Hall tries to start, but Hall is making Goldberg test how bad the knee is hurt. He delivers a powerslam, but Hall is right there to kick at the knee. Hall wraps the knee around the ringpost. Time to go for the ladder. Goldberg manages to catch up with Hall and throws him into the guardrail a few times. He puts Hall back in the ring and goes to retrieve the ladder when Hall baseball slides into the ladder to catch Goldberg in the gut. Hall then bounces Goldberg off the steps to bust him open. Now Hall goes for the stun gun and decides to drop an elbow on Goldberg instead.

Hall climbs the ladder again, but Goldberg brings him down with a back suplex. Hall is up first and folds the ladder to slam it over Goldberg’s back. As Hall climbs again, Goldberg turns the ladder over. Hall again folds the ladder and runs at Goldberg’s knee, but this time Goldberg moves and clotheslines Hall down. Hall leans the ladder in the corner and goes to whip Goldberg, but Goldberg reverses the whip into the ladder. Goldberg slams the ladder over Hall’s back for a receipt. More ladder violence follows. Goldberg goes to climb the ladder, but Hall dropkicks the ladder and Goldberg lands on his knee funny. Hall goes up again, but Goldberg turns the ladder over. Hall looks like he wants to do the ending of the WrestleMania 10 ladder match where Shawn got his leg caught in the ropes,     but it doesn’t quite work. Still looks plenty painful. As Goldberg climbs the ladder, DISCO INFERNO runs out to turn the ladder over. Oh boy. During the fall, Goldberg’s neck bounces off the top rope. Disco sets the ladder back up and tries to help Hall. Now Hall retrieves the stun gun, but he’s got to stun Goldberg to win. Goldberg avoids every attempt to stun him and a side kick to Hall sends the stun gun out to the floor. Goldberg ends up retrieving the stun gun and stuns Disco. Back in the ring, Goldberg tosses the stun gun in the air and as Hall jumps for it, Goldberg SPEARS him down. JACKHAMMER! Now that Hall’s down and out, Goldberg stuns Hall for the win. (17:44) Bam Bam Bigelow shows up right at the bell to attack Goldberg. Hall picks up the stun gun and stuns both Bigelow and Goldberg to leave them laying to end the show. This was oddly more fun than I thought it would be since they make Goldberg appear human by selling the knee, which I thought he did a great job at doing. You don’t want Goldberg to be Ricky Steamboat, but it doesn’t hurt to put him at a disadvantage sometimes. The only REAL problem I do have is after all those promos he was cutting on Nitro where he wasn’t going to fall for the nWo tricks anymore – and then six days later, he gets his knee destroyed by the nWo. As for Scott Hall, he’s no Shawn Michaels which I know is a cliché response to this match, but it’s true. He took some a wild bump here and there, but it looked nothing like a bump Shawn might take. I liked the finish as well. Didn’t like Bam Bam Bigelow showing up – because it just wasn’t necessary for Hall to ZAP both guys to look like the winner of the WAR but not the battle. **½

Final Thoughts: This is certainly an underwhelming show and it makes me wonder if they might have had the idea of a “Big Five” PPV concept like the WWF of old. Nothing groundbreaking or particularly interesting on this show as the main attractions all felt like it’s leading to something else. With only one above average match, I can’t really recommend this one in good faith. Thumbs down for Souled Out 1999.