nWo Souled Out II - Saturday, 01/24/98
nWo Souled Out II - Saturday, 01/24/98
- We start off with a montage of Giant's $1.5 million challenge to Nash, and Bischoff's "Hell hath no fury" speech.
- And we're live from Dayton, OH, with Snickers Souled Out!
- Just as an aside, my girlfriend's cat is named Snickers, so I've been going around for the past couple of weeks calling her cat a sellout.
- Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Dusty Rhodes are in the broadcast booth tonight.
- Match 1: Juventud Guererra, Lizmark Jr., Super Calo, and Chavo Guererro Jr. beat La Parka, Psicosis, Silver King, and El Dandy when Guererro pinned Psicosis after a Tornado DDT
- This match is under Lucha Libre rules.
- La Parka comes out with a chair, strutting for all he's worth.
- Calo's got one pant leg up. Either he's trying to look like a "gangsta," or his momma dresses him funny.
- This is going to be too fast for me, so I'll try to hit the high spots.
- It may just be my opinion, but I think Chavo's a pretty good wrestler who's really underrated.
- Calo whips Psicosis into the corner, then walks up him and back-flips off.
- Silver King with a nice superkick to Lizmark's forehead.
- I've just noticed something - Psicosis is the only heel without a big ol' beer gut.
- La Parka "dances" Juvy into the corner.
- La Parka catches Juvy in a bodyslam position, struts with him, then sets him down.
- This has been a very good match thus far.
- Silver King whistles the "Charge" tune before slamming Calo. Pretty funny.
- Juvy hits his 450 splash on Silver King, but La Parka makes the save.
- Silver King's got a lot of pop on his moves tonight.
- The requisite "everyone hurl yourself over the top and leave two men in the ring."
- Chavo hits a spinning "tornado" DDT on Psicosis for the win.
- Post-match, La Parka comes in and gives each of the faces a chairshot to the head. He then turns and hits Silver King and Dandy with a chair shot! He then struts around a bit more, tucks the chair under his arm, lifts his head high, and leaves the ring. Man, that guy rules!
- Match 2: Chris Benoit made Raven (w/o The Flock) submit to the Crippler Crossface
- The Flock comes out alongside Raven. Looks like that fool is going to finally wrestle. If there's a God in Heaven, Benoit will get his revenge tonight.
- If there's no Horseman reunion tonight, I'm gonna be highly disappointed.
- Tony notices that Saturn isn't with the Flock.
- Special stipulations: Raven must wrestle tonight, and the Flock is barred from ringside.
- Hammer doesn't look as much like a transvestite as he used to, but that's not saying a lot.
- Raven blathers about society leaving him all alone again. Says he doesn't fear Benoit's pain, he feasts on it.
- Apparently this is also an Anything Goes match.
- Raven dropkicks Benoit outside as Benoit tries to enter the ring, and then whips him into the guard rail and steps.
- Not much offense yet from Benoit.
- Benoit's only offense so far is reversing a couple of Raven's moves into pinning predicaments.
- Raven with a chair to Benoit's back.
- Raven sets up the chair in the ring, and bulldogs Benoit on it.
- Raven sets up the chair again, and Benoit reverses an Irish Whip and drop toeholds Raven into the chair.
- Benoit with one of his awesome clotheslines.
- Benoit snap-suplexes Raven on the chair.
- Benoit rips Raven's shirt off.
- Those chops are ringing loud tonight.
- Benoit with his baseball-slide dropkick to Raven on the outside.
- They're fighting up the ramp to the entranceway, and Benoit gives another snap-suplex on the ramp.
- Another Benoit snap-suplex on the chair.
- Benoit puts the chair on Raven's face and stomps on it, then goes up to the top for the flying headbutt.
- Benoit hits the headbutt, but also hits the chair. Both men are out as the referee counts.
- Benoit rolls over on Raven, but he kicks out at 2.
- Benoit tries a Northern Lights suplex, but Raven turns it into his DDT. Both men are down again as the referee counts.
- Loud "Benoit" chant from the crowd.
- Benoit makes the cover after getting DDT'd, but it's only 2.
- Raven tries another DDT, but Benoit turns it into the Crossface.
- Benoit holds Raven in the Crossface, but Raven just laughs at him. Benoit keeps the hold on, and Raven passes out, the ref checks the arm three times, and Benoit's the winner.
- Kidman tries to interfere, but Dean Malenko comes in and puts him in the Cloverleaf.
- The rest of the Flock runs in and works over Malenko and Benoit as Hammer carries Raven out.
- Malenko gets his second wind and clears the ring.
- Malenko and Benoit stand together, look at each other, and then Malenko leaves.
- Not as big a step as I would have like to have seen in a Horsemen reunion, but laying the foundation for a Malenko/Benoit team is good.
- Match 3: Chris Jericho made Rey Misterio Jr. submit to the Liontamer to win the WCW World Cruiserweight title for the third time.
- Jericho comes out wearing a Rey Misterio Jr. T-Shirt.
- Jericho still looks confused as to why the fans are booing. The early verdict is that he's playing the heel role pretty well.
- Misterio comes out with a knee brace.
- The Cruiserweight belt is almost as big as Rey is.
- Loud "Jericho Sucks" chant. Jericho looks like he's about to cry.
- Jericho chides Misterio on his height.
- Jericho breaks clean on the ropes.
- Another clean break by Jericho in the corner, but Rey flips him around in the corner.
- Slingshot headscissors by Misterio, then does his fake-out almost-dive out the ring. Misterio favors his knee after that move.
- Jericho tries to take advantage, but Misterio knocks him down.
- Jericho picks Misterio up, but Misterio turns it into a rollup for two.
- Misterio tries what looked like a headscissors over the top to Jericho on the apron, but Jericho drops him throat-first over the top.
- Jericho hits a double-arm backbreaker on the floor.
- Jericho sets up the stairs as a ramp, and then springs off onto Misterio.
- Misterio has a question mark on his knee brace. Cute.
- Inverted DDT by Misterio, which is a cool move.
- Misterio springboards off the top to Jericho on the outside, and favors the knee again.
- Misterio Hotshots Jericho onto the steps.
- Misterio calls for the hurricanrana, but Jericho knocks him off the ropes.
- Misterio tries a springboard top-rope frankensteiner, but Jericho drops him straight down into a Liontamer for the win. Quite impressive.
- Jericho wants a mic.
- Jericho: "Right now is the greatest moment of my life. And I realize one thing about you people: You like me! You really like me!"
- For you youngsters out there wondering where that quote initially comes from, some 15 years ago, Sally Field gave the "You like me! You really like me!" speech when receiving an Oscar and it's been a household phrase ever since.
- Jericho tells the crowd not to boo him.
- Jericho tells the crowd he'll give them a reason to boo him, and starts working over Misterio's knee.
- Jericho traps Misterio's knee in the ringsteps, picks up a trunk, and sandwiches Misterio's knee between the two.
- Jericho walks out saying "I'm sorry" as Misterio gets carried out.
- Mean Gene's got JJ Dillon (and the world title belt) in the ring
- Some meaningless chat to start off.
- Dillon wanted to make a decision about the title that would be fair to all parties.
- Dillon says he consulted with Roddy Piper about the situation.
- Gene calls out Piper.
- Handshakes all around.
- Piper refers to himself as the "Independent Counsel," and says he made the Hogan/Sting match.
- Piper calls out Sting, Hogan, and Hall.
- Some guy in the crowd has his head painted up like a 6-ball.
- Piper says that Hall deserves shot at the belt.
- Piper says that Hall couldn't get a title shot at the DMV right now, since there's no champion.
- Piper says he understands Hogan's claim to the title.
- Piper says he should put the belt around Hogan's waist. NOT!
- Piper says that Sting and Hogan will fight at Superbrawl for the title.
- Sting gets in Hogan's face, Piper takes his jacket off, and Hogan calls for Hall's help.
- Hall walks out of the ring in disgust, so Hogan and Bischoff hit the road.
- As Hogan leaves, he says he's going to find out what's up with Scott Hall.
- Sting does crotch chops toward Hogan, then leaves.
- Match 4: WCW World Television Champion Booker T pinned Rick Martel after the Harlem Hangover
- Martel comes down, slapping hands.
- Booker T gets a good pop as he comes down.
- Booker and Martel jaw at each other for a minute.
- Clean break in the corner.
- Lots of armbars to start off.
- Booker blocks a hiptoss by Martel, then levels him with a clothesline.
- Booker misses and elbow, breakdances, then nails Martel with a Harlem Sidekick for a two-count.
- Martel doesn't break clean in the corner, then hits a second-rope clothesline.
- Martel seems to be getting frustrated.
- Martel tries a leapfrog, but gets headbutted in the gut by Booker. Booker tries to help Martel, but Martel snaps and starts kicking Booker in the corner.
- Martel with a forceful corner whip.
- Martel hits his spinebuster, and goes for the pin instead of the Quebec Crab. He only gets 2.
- Booker reverses a corner charge into a sunset flip for two.
- Martel really working on the back.
- Booker with a flying forearm.
- Booker misses a dropkick, and Martel rolls him into a Quebec Crab, but Booker gets to the ropes. Martel thinks he's won, and isn't happy when he finds out he hasn't.
- Booker hits the scissor kick, and hits a side suplex.
- Booker goes up for the Harlem Hangover, and hits it for the win!
- Martel grabs the belt out of the ref's hands, and gives it to Booker, and raises his hand.
- Booker shakes Martel's hand, and raises his hand in return.
- After Booker leaves, Saturn runs in and starts beating on Martel.
- Booker runs back in to make the save for Martel.
- This was kind of a surprise. I was expecting a Martel heel turn here, but it looks like they've set up a Martel/Saturn feud.
- Match 5: Larry Zbyszko (w/Dusty Rhodes) defeated Scott Hall (w/Louie Spicolli) by disqualification when Louie Spicolli interfered
- nWo first-team music comes on as Hall comes out alone.
- Actually, Hall comes out with Louie Spicolli, who is wearing an Outsiders shirt.
- Spicolli's playing the lackey.
- Hall doesn't do a survey, which is a high point for this PPV, in my mind.
- Zbyszko, who promised not to come out alone, does Hall's "double finger point" to the back, and Dusty Rhodes leaves the broadcast booth to walk down with Zbyszko.
- Hall, of course, throws his toothpick in Hall's face.
- Zbyszko with a couple of takedowns early.
- Zbyszko teases a test of strength, but slaps Hall instead.
- Zbyszko gets Hall in an abdominal stretch, but Hall breaks it.
- Zbyszko gets the hold back on as Dusty encourages him.
- Zbyszko tries to put his choke sleeper on Hall, but Hall gets to the ropes.
- Spicolli pounds Zbyszko on the outside.
- Big Dust chases Spicolli around the ring.
- Hall with an avalanche clothesline in the corner.
- Hall gets Zbyszko in a bit of an STF-type move.
- Sounds like a loud "Larry Sucks" chant from a group of nWo fans near the camera.
- In response, a "Hall Sucks" chant starts.
- Hall hits his "snap ab suplex," then signals for the Outsider Edge.
- Hall sets up, but Zbyszko backdrops him.
- Zbyszko's a house-a-fire in the corner.
- Zbyszko accidentally kicks Mickey Jay in the back as Hall goes for the cover.
- Hall and Spicolli check on the referee as Zbyszko plays possum.
- Zbyszko puts Hall in the choke sleeper as Spicolli runs in and breaks the count.
- Big Dust gives the bionic elbows to Spicolli and knocks him out of the ring.
- Zbysko holds Hall for Dusty to give him the elbow, too, but Hall moves out of the way and Dusty hits Zbyzsko instead.
- As Dusty moves toward Hall, Hall points toward Dusty.
- Dusty takes off his denim shirt to reveal a nWo shirt, and starts chumming around with Hall and Spicolli.
- Dusty gives a prone Zbyszko several big elbow drops, then says "That's tradition, WCW. Bite this!"
- Tony Schiavone's on the verge of tears.
- Match 6: Rick Steiner, Scott Steiner, and Ray Traylor (w/Ted DiBiase) beat Buff Bagwell, Scott Norton, and Konnan (w/Vincent) when Scott Steiner pinned Konnan after the Steiner Screwdriver
- It's time for the completion of the Steiner breakup!
- Norton gives Buff another piggyback ride to the ring.
- Can anyone tell me why Vincent is still employed?
- The Steiners and Traylor don't look too happy.
- Tony Schiavone's apparently too broken up about Dusty going nWo to talk right now, so Brain babbles for a bit.
- Tony's asking for Mike Tenay to come out.
- Rick Steiner insists on starting for the WCW team, much to Scott Steiner's chagrin.
- Buff barks like Rick Steiner, and Konnan and Norton rub his head like Scott does to Rick. Buff's one of the best "new" guys around these days.
- Rick mocks Buff's posing, and gets a kick to the gut for his troubles.
- Steinerlines for everyone!
- Rick Steiner tags in Traylor, who tags back to Rick Steiner.
- Rick and Traylor are freezing out Scott from the tags as "payback" for Scott's glory-hogging over the past few weeks.
- Scott Norton's another guy I kinda like the not too many other people seem to care about.
- Traylor's getting slapped around by Norton.
- Konnan comes in to add to the Traylor abuse.
- Tony Schiavone's still heartbroken about Dusty's nWo turn.
- Buff does the "waggle ears" to Rick, who responds with some crotch chops.
- Scott Steiner's chomping at the bit for a tag, but Traylor makes the tag to Rick.
- Konnan DDTs Rick, and Scott Steiner pulls the referee out of the ring and yells at him.
- Scott and Traylor are standing beside each other.
- Bagwell grabs Rick's hand and teases a tag to Scott Steiner, but pulls Rick back.
- Konnan with his rolling clothesline.
- Rick's been worked over for a while now.
- Scott tries to come in, but gets sent back, much to his chagrin.
- Traylor pulls Rick out of the way of a Konnan avalanche splash, and Rick makes the tag to both Traylor and Scott.
- The ref tries to send Scott out of the ring, and Traylor then tags Scott in.
- Scott hits Konnan with the Steiner Screwdriver for the win.
- Post-match, Buff and Scott have another posedown.
- Traylor, Rick, and DiBiase still look displeased as Scott poses for the crowd.
- Konnan's taken the Steiner Screwdriver so often, he should put it on his business cards.
- They didn't do as much with the Steiner "troubles" here as I thought they would. I wonder where this is heading?
- A promo for the first pay-per-listen Boston Brawl on Jan. 31. I don't know if it's worth $8 to listen to some Real Audio.
- Match 7: Kevin Nash (w/Hollywood Hogan and Eric Bischoff) pinned Giant after a Jackknife Powerbomb
- Nash does his hilarious Frankengoof impression on the way down.
- Giant looks to be in better shape than he has been in a while.
- Staredown to start off.
- Giant shows his power early, and hits a big elbow drop.
- Giant with a couple of butt-splashes in the corner.
- Nash escapes to the outside with Hogan.
- Nash comes back in and starts frailin' on Giant in the corner, and hits him with an avalanche splash.
- Giant with a Big Boot to Nash's head.
- Giant stretches his hamstring, using Nash's throat for balance.
- Nash answers with a Big Boot to Giant's head, and flips him over the top.
- Nash tries a slingslot plancha, but Giant catches him and slams him into the ringpost.
- Hogan nails Giant with a chair as Giant tries to get back in the ring.
- The referee starts the 10-count as Nash celebrates in the ring.
- Right at the 10-count, Giant rolls back in.
- Giant comes back and rocks Nash with a clothesline.
- Both men try a Big Boot, and both go down.
- Nash covers Giant and gets a 2-count.
- Nash climbs the turnbuckles to punch Giant, but Giant hits him with an inverted atomic drop.
- Giant with another Big Boot, and points at Hogan to let him know that was for him.
- Giant slams Nash, then gives the signal for the chokeslam.
- Bischoff gets on the apron, and gets chokeslammed.
- Nash gets a decanter of hot coffee, throws it in Giant's face, then hits him between the legs.
- Nash tries to jackknife powerbomb Giant, but looks like he dropped Giant on his head instead.
- Nash covers Giant for the win.
- Bischoff is still unconscious on the floor.
- Trainers come out to check on Giant. I couldn't tell if it was a blown spot or not, but the nWo leaves the ring. The trainers are patching Giant's eyes because of the "hot coffee," so I assume Giant's OK.
- Match 8: Bret Hart made Ric Flair submit to the Sharpshooter
- I can't believe they're putting Luger/Savage as the main event.
- Flair's got a real shiny robe.
- Hart comes out in what looks like his usual WWF gear, complete with wraparound shades.
- Both men come out alone, in case that comes into play later.
- Hart gives his shades to a kid.
- This is Hart's debut in WCW.
- Hart takes the early advantage.
- Hart with a bodyslam, and a headlock takedown.
- Flair with a clean break in the corner.
- Hart gets the figure-four on Flair, but Flair gets to the ropes.
- Flair shoves Hart, and Hart shoves and slaps Flair, sending him to the outside.
- Flair comes back with a knee to the gut.
- Hart's had 90% of the offense during this match.
- Flair fakes a clean break in the corner, but gives Hart a thumb to the eye.
- Hart puts the sleeper on, but Flair reverses it into a belly-to-back suplex.
- Flair with another cheap shot, after he asks the ref to check the time left in the match. Classic Flair.
- The Flair rolling kneedrop for two.
- Flair chops in the corner.
- Flair with some more chops, which just serve as the root of Hart's Hulk-up.
- Hart with a pretty sloppy swinging neckbreaker.
- Hart bulldogs Flair, but only gets 2.
- Hart works over Flair's knee.
- Hart tries the ringpost figure four, but Flair shoves him into the railing.
- Flair hits his kneebreaker, and starts yanking on Hart's leg.
- Flair hits a second kneebreaker.
- Flair sets up for the figure four, but Hart turns it into a small package.
- Hart talks to the referee, and Flair clips his knee.
- Flair puts the figure four on in the center of the ring.
- Flair slaps Hart in the face during the figure four.
- Hart tries to reverse the figure four, and does so, but Flair breaks the hold.
- Flair goes up top, but Hart tosses him off the turnbuckle.
- Flair tries a belly-to-back suplex, but Hart turns it into a Russian legsweep.
- Hart no-sells a few Flair chops, and Flair begs off.
- Hart with a backbreaker for a one-count.
- Hart with a second-rope elbowdrop for two.
- Hart with a top-rope superplex on Flair, and then sets up for the Sharpshooter.
- Hart turns Flair over in the middle of the ring, and Flair gives up.
- Match 9: Lex Luger made Randy Savage submit to The Human Torture Rack
- Why is this the main event????
- Michael Buffer in. Whatever they pay this guy, it's too much. He'd be a lot better if he sounded like he had an ounce of sense, and if he didn't tell a story before introducing each man.
- Savage comes out wearing a vest, instead of his usual T-shirt.
- It's pretty funny to see Buffer still reading his card as both men are in the ring jawing at each other.
- Luger starts off by chasing Savage on the outside.
- Savage is luring Luger up toward the entrance, allowing Elizabeth to hit Luger in the back of the head.
- Savage uses that opportunity to take over, and hits Luger with a top-rope axehandle.
- Savage using some wrestling moves in this match.
- Luger hasn't done much so far.
- Savage distracts the ref as Liz chokes Luger.
- The way Luger screams, he sells a kick to the back like a ruptured appendix.
- Savage charges into the corner and gets a boot to the face, allowing Luger take over.
- Liz grabs Luger's leg, Luger grabs her by the hair, and Savage hits Luger from behind.
- Liz slaps Luger, and Savage attacks from behind again.
- Savage shoves Luger into the crowd, and the two fight several rows back.
- They go back into the ring, and Luger starts his series of clotheslines.
- Luger hits the big forearm, and Scott Hall comes down with a steel chair.
- Luger hits Savage with a powerslam as Hogan stops Scott Hall from interfering.
- Hall gets on the apron, but Luger shoves Savage into Hall, then racks him for the win.
- The entire nWo comes into the ring to beat on Luger, but Sting comes down to clear house.
- Sting starts pounding on Hogan as Luger racks Nash. Sting then puts Hogan in the Scorpion Deathlock.
- Sting and Luger stand together as the nWo retreats and the show ends.
- Wrapup
- This turned out to be a lot better than I expected it. With only the two lower-level singles titles being defended, no Hogan, no Sting, no DDP, etc., I wasn't expecting much. But I was pleasantly surprised.
- The good: Benoit won, Giant got to kick some butt, Flair and Hart put on a decent match, and the Luchadores were entertaining as always, especially La Parka.
- The bad: No real Horsemen reunion push, Nash's powerbomb looked embarrassing, Dusty Rhodes went nWo (just what the hell was the rationale behind that, and even more pressing, what are they going to do with him now? Make him vanish faster than Rick Rude?), and the whole pot-of-coffee thing is getting old.
- The surprising: Booker T kept his title, the Hart/Flair match ended in a clean win, as did the Benoit/Raven match, the Steiners are still together, and they actually did something with Malenko.
- The ending was kinda disappointing, as they didn't do as much with nWo disunity as I think they should have. A Sting/Luger housecleaning was pretty boring.
- Top-to-bottom, I think this was a better-worked card than Starrcade!
- As far as my own predictions, looking at wins and losses, I went 6-3, missing only Booker T/Martel, Norton/Bagwell/Konnan vs. Steiners/Traylor, and Hall/Zbysko. But I didn't see the Dusty Rhodes thing coming at all.
- Questions/comments/criticism? Send 'em to to wrestling@lunenburg.org.