Leighty’s Retro Review: nWo Souled Out ’97

-We continue along with 1997 as WCW took a chance with this nWo PPV. This was also a Saturday PPV as it was the same weekend as The Super Bowl. Speaking of football, how about my 49ers? Teenage me would be losing his mind knowing the 49ers knocked the Cowboys and Packers out of the playoffs in back to back weeks. Anyway, let’s get to it!

-Five Seasons Center, Cedar Rapids, IA
-Date: Jan 25, 1997
-Announce Team: Eric Bischoff and Ted Dibiase
-Attendance: 5120
-PPV Buys: 170,000 (half of what Starrcade did the previous month)

-We open with black and white footage of the nWo arriving via a police escort and semi-trucks, garbage trucks, and limos through downtown Cedar Rapids. It looks freezing there and sure enough Nash tells us it’s -200 outside, but still sweet. I’ll give them that it’s a memorable way to open a PPV because I never forgot it. Hogan is here and he has members of The Dallas Cowboys with them which makes sense as this was Super Bowl weekend and just like every weekend since they have no reason to be at The Super Bowl. Yeah, I can still fire shots because my 49ers just ended their over hyped season!

-Now the proper introduction which again, has been seared into my memory. Bischoff yelling, “we are in control,” was played quite a bit in video packages over the years in WCW.

-The arena set-up is pretty sweet and I will give them credit for trying something different. This show definitely doesn’t look like any other show. Hogan, Hall and Nash each pop up on one of the 3 video screens to hype the show some more before throwing to Eric Bischoff and Ted Dibiase. Elizabeth is with them as well rocking the nWo dress and she looks wonderful.

Chris Jericho vs. Masahiro Chono

-In a fantastic touch, the WCW guys don’t get any entrance music or pyro. The disembodied voice that handles the introductions is great as well as he buries the WCW guys and praises the nWo members. Nick Patrick is the ref for this one and is the ref for every match on this card which doesn’t get mentioned enough. That’s quite a night’s work for him. Lockup to start and Chono complains to Patrick about a hair pull. Chono no sells a shoulder tackle and buries a kick to the ribs. Harlem Heat, The Face of Fear, Brian Knobbs and a few more WCW stars show up in the crowd. I mean, they could have sent Meng alone to handle things. Back to the match as Chono gets an arm lock into a choke side Russian Leg Sweep. He heads up and comes off the top with a flying shoulder block. Jericho blocks a suplex and hits one of his own. He sends Chono to the floor with a spinning kick and follows with a springboard cross body. Chono catches Jericho and runs him into the post as Jericho starts selling the knee. That gives Chono a body part to target as the crowd starts a USA chant. I mean, Jericho is Canadian. Jericho connects with a enziguiri, but Bischoff tells us to forget that name and call it what it really is: jump back leg round kick. That’s simpler? Chono lands another kick and looks for the STF, but Jericho fights it off before getting to the ropes. Jericho lands a back elbow and hits a German Suplex into a pin, but it only gets two. Bischoff thinks the count was too fast, but Jericho has a different opinion. Chono counters a sleeper with a jawbreaker as they break out a new camera view that would become something we see all the time now. Jericho gets caught coming off the ropes with an atomic drop. Chono heads to the floor and breaks out a table. He tries to suplex Jericho to the floor through the table, but Jericho counters into a suplex back into the ring. Missile dropkick off the top gets a two count as Chono gets his foot on the bottom rope. Fisherman’s suplex followed by a lionsault, but Jericho is too slow to cover due to the damaged knee. Jericho up top and he gets caught with a boot to the face that sends him crashing to the floor through the table. Chono hits another running kick to the face and that finishes this one at 11:08.

Winner: Masahiro Chono via pin at 11:08
-This was solid as Jericho was a good choice as an opponent for Chono. It went about the right amount of time and they kept the crowd engaged throughout. This was okay. **1/2

-They show photos of the women that entered the Miss nWo pageant. Oh man, I forgot about this part of the show. They throw to Jeff Katz who introduces some of the contestants and asks them some questions that are meant to be answered with sexual overtones, but the ladies are lost. Not a fan of this at all.

Mexican Death Match: Hugh Morrus (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. Big Bubba

-Lockup to start in this Death Match as they jockey for position. Bubba offers a clean break in the corner, but then tells Hugh to kiss his ass. It should be noted Hugh is dressed like a long lost member of The Dudley Family. The fight hits the floor and Bubba takes a nice bump into the steps. Nick mentions there are rules in this match and I mean, I know he is the heel ref, but this is a DEATH MATCH. Bubba lands a low blow which Eric calls working the midsection. Bubba gets sent back to the floor and Jimmy Hart throws some kicks to pop the crowd. Bubba gets tossed in the corner, but finds a well placed chain and blasts Hugh in the face. Bubba tells Nick that Hugh brought the chain in the ring and he is going to use it. Eric questions why this is called a Mexican Death Match. Hugh gets the chain and blasts Bubba. He connects with No Laughing Matter (top rope moonsault) and that gets a massive response. Patrick starts the ten count and makes me laugh as he tries to fan Bubba to wake him up. Bubba is up so Hugh hits a splash in the corner. The count starts again as Hugh gets a pair of brass knuckles. Ted and Eric are aghast at the rule breaking from Hugh and Nick scolds him that this is a wrestling match. Bubba rallies and drops Hugh, but he is able to answer the ten count. Low blow from Hugh sends Bubba to the floor, so we fight out there for a bit. Morrus gets a slam on the floor and heads up the staircase from the stage and tries another moonsault but misses. That was awful looking as the intention was good, but execution was bad. Bubba gets on a nearby Harley and runs Hugh over as Eric questions what he is doing. “It’s against the law.” Hugh is done as the 10 count ends this at 9:04.

Winner: Big Bubba via KO at 9:04
-This went about five minutes too long but I guess the ending was creative in a vehicular assault kind of way. *

-More Miss nWo garbage with Katz. We also have women dancing behind the video screens at the top of the stage. Again, they went for it with this show to try to make it different.

Jeff Jarrett vs. VK Wallstreet

-I forgot all about IRS being in the nWo, though it does make sense considering Dibiase was there. Lockup to start and Wallstreet lands a right hand in the corner. Jarrett is annoyed by that, so Wallstreet takes a powder as Jarrett complains to Patrick about not getting a clean break. Another go and now Jarrett tries to land a punch in the corner, but Patrick steps in to stop that. A third go and Jarrett gets a hip toss and lands a back elbow. Jarrett heads up top and hits a cross-body. Dibiase tries to get over that Jarrett is another guy that uses a lot of high risk maneuvers. Yeah, Jarrett is all about the Lucha! Jarrett chokes VK on the ropes and makes sure to count out with Patrick before releasing on four. Wallstreet lands a low blow and hits a clothesline that sends Jarrett to the floor. They pan to Debra in the crowd and she is quite concerned about Jarrett’s well being. She starts talking to Mongo and you can tell where this is leading. They brawl on the floor a bit and Jarrett takes a nice bump over the security railing. Back in the ring, Wallstreet gets a sleeper as Debra starts pulling Mongo closer to the ring. Now Jarrett gets a sleeper or a choke hold apparently as Patrick forces a break. Wallstreet lands a kick and goes for a cover, but Patrick doesn’t count as Jarrett is apparently too close to the ropes. No clue what that was about. VK goes to a chinlock as they just lay around the mat for a bit. Even Bischoff has to mention that the crow is getting a little anxious. They trade blows before Jarrett connects with an inverted atomic drop and then a suplex. Jarrett misses a move and VK is back with right hands. Jarrett shrugs that off and gets a kick to the chest. He hooks the figure-four and Patrick helps Wallstreet get to the ropes. Back on the floor Debra is pulling Mongo towards ringside. Jarrett gets an abdominal stretch and uses the ropes, so Patrick forces him to release it and VK gets one of his own. Mongo gets on the apron and blasts Wallstreet and then he threatens Patrick to make a count and he does to finish this at 9:22.

Winner: Jeff Jarrett via pin at 9:22
-I was actually more entertained by the previous match as at least they hit each other hard. This was just bland and basic with too much Nick Patrick and then the ending was bad. I mean, WCW had to win something, and they found a way to kind of make it make sense. Jarrett winning was the right call, but he just didn’t work as a babyface at all during this run. 1/2*

-More with Katz and the Miss nWo nonsense. This is just awful and they aren’t even paying this off with what they are trying to do. Katz is giving these women soft questions to get a sexual response and the women have no clue what they are being asked or how to play along. Again, just awful as one woman didn’t even hear or understand the question.

Scotty Riggs vs. Buff Bagwell

-THE AMERICAN MALES EXPLODE! The nWo jump reinvented Bagwell and he ran with it. Riggs jumps Bagwell before the bell and lands a backdrop that sends Buff packing to the floor. Bischoff promises a fine for that. Bagwell has Patrick tell Riggs that this is a wrestling match and if it’s not, then he is leaving. Bagwell works Riggs over with some right hands and hooks a side headlock. Riggs escapes and hits a dropkick and then pounds away on a grounded Bagwell as we get the shaky corner cam. Bagwell gets caught with a belly to belly suplex, so he slaps Riggs in the face. They do a leap frog spot and Riggs ends up sending Bagwell over the top with a hip toss which should be a DQ and yet isn’t here. Bischoff calls Patrick out for it while Dibiase tries to cover for it by saying Patrick knows Bagwell wants to beat up his former partner. They fight on the floor for a bit as this match has already gone too long. This should have been Buff getting a win without breaking too much of a sweat. Bischoff gets a shot at the WWE in as he mentions guys who can’t make it here go to Connecticut. Riggs gets knocked off the apron and into the railing as the disembodied voice tells us he is a “loser.” Okay, that’s kind of funny! Ugly spot as Bagwell lifts Riggs up and drops him rib first on his knee. That looked rough for Riggs. Bagwell gets a two count and I really just want this match over with at this point. Bagwell hits a decent powerbomb as we go back to the shaky cam that is hard to watch as it’s zoomed in and is making me nauseated. Speaking of which, Riggs pulls down Bagwell’s pants which pops the women in the crowd. Bagwell goes to a weak looking camel clutch as he talks trash. Riggs tries to rally as we keep getting shots of the crowd because this match sucks. Again, Bischoff mentions the crowd is getting restless. Finally, Riggs is able to break with an Electric Chair Drop. A suplex is turned into a small package as Riggs gets a near fall. Atomic drop next and then an enziguiri or whatever Bischoff is trying to call it. Tornado DDT from Riggs as this is picking a little bit thankfully. Dropkick and then another. Riggs ducks a clothesline and then another and we get a midair collision with Bagwell ending up on top for two. Riggs gets a backslide for two and then his a powerbomb for two. Everyone throwing around powerbombs here! They battle up top and Riggs gets shoved off. The Buff Blockbuster finishes for Bagwell at 13:51.

Winner: Buff Bagwell via pin at 13:51
-This match didn’t need 14 minutes and these two couldn’t fill the fifteen minutes. There was a decent 6-7 minute match in here if you cut out the middle. Also, weird because this should have been a Bagwell squash to blow off the feud and get him over stronger. *1/2

-The Katz misery continues as he works in a dig at Vince McMahon. Again, this is so bad as nobody can hear what Katz is asking them. You think they would have pulled the plug at some point.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Scott Norton

-Page is still coming out with the cigar which he would ditch not too long after this. He was getting over and is fresh off turning down the nWo by dropping Hall with a Cutter. The crowd chants for DDP as it was fun watching him shoot up the card and become a star. Norton pushes Page around to start so we get another “loser” from the disembodied voice. Page tries to run Norton down and that seems rather dumb. Page bails to the floor to regroup as this one is starting at a slow pace. Back inside Norton works the arm, but Page rolls through and works Norton’s arm. Page with a take down into a side headlock as we see shots of Meng and Barbarian in the crowd. Thankfully, nobody tries to bother them. Norton lands a shot to the throat and hits some chops in the corner as we get the shaky zoom cam again. Page comes back with a flapjack and calls for the Diamond Cutter. Norton decks him as the crowd stands to see Sting walking amongst them. Norton works the shoulder against the ring post as they fight in the floor. Norton no sells a punch and fires Page into the stairs. “Loser.” Bischoff tells the story of Norton being a bouncer at a club in Minneapolis and honestly that is more entertaining than the match in the ring. Norton misses a butt splash, but Norton no sells some punches before finally bumping off his feet. Page comes off the top with a flying clothesline for two. Norton comes back with a hiptoss, but for whatever reason he sells it like the move happened to him. Page calls for a Diamond Cutter, but Bagwell heads down with the rest of the nWo B Team to try to get Page to join the group. DDP mentions they got him and he got them so everything is cool. He puts on the colors as Norton looks pissed. Page drops Norton with a Diamond Cutter and then takes out the B Team to a big pop before bailing through the crowd. I guess this is a no contest at 9:50 or so. I take that back as Patrick informs us that Norton wins by count-out. That actually makes sense.

Winner: Scott Norton via count-out at 9:50
-Another bad match with no real finish. The B Team looked stupid for falling for Page pretending to join the group again. DDP should have won this one without breaking a sweat, but they were more concerned with getting over the angle. 1/2*

-More Miss nWo garbage with Katz. At least the women heard the questions this time.

WCW World Tag Team Championship: The Outsiders (c) vs. The Steiner Brothers

-Hall and Nash get a big reaction because they are actual stars on this show. Hall and Scott Steiner start this one out and we got a lock-up. Steiner backs Hall into the corner and we get a clean break. Hall throws his tooth pick in Steiner’s face or he offered a handshake per Bischoff. Hall lands some punches and slaps Scotty around a bit which probably isn’t smart. Steiner fires back, but gets a knee buried in his gut. Hall goes to the abdominal stretch early though it makes sense as everyone knows Steiner is coming off a back injury. Steiner escapes and hits a a pump handle slam to pop the crowd. Next an overhead belly to belly suplex which brings Nash into the ring and Rick plants him with a DDT. The Outsiders bail and the crowd roars as The Steiners hit their pose. Things slow a bit and then we start proper again with Hall and Rick now. They trade blows in the corner and Rick wins that battle. Powerslam from Rick followed by an elbow drop. Hall catches Steiner off the middle rope and hits the fall-a-way slam for two. Hall goes to work on the arm and slaps Rick around, so he just punches him in the face and makes the tag to Scott. Hall catches him coming with with a chokeslam and makes the tag to Nash. Big pop for that! He works the back a bit and then buries some knees and elbows in the corner. Running clothesline in the opposite corner as this match has more heat than anything else on the card. Scott gets a boot up to catch Nash and drops him with a belly to back suplex. Tag to Rick and Nash just clubs him in the back. Rick comes back with a powerslam for two. Hall comes in for the save and gets decked, but Nash catches him with a big boot from the blind side. Hall gets in a cheap shot on the floor and Nash gets a two count with his feet on the ropes and Hall adding leverage. More shakzy zoom cam which again is unique, but it sucks. Stiff clothesline from Hall and then a tag back to Nash. Snake Eyes in the corner and Hall hits a running clothesline from the apron. I always liked that spot! Nash hits a slam, but misses an elbow drop. Tag back to Hall and he stomps away in the corner. Hall lands a shot on Steiner to bring him in the ring so Nash get beat on Steiner on the floor. Sidewalk slam from Hall and then another tag to Nash, who hits his own sidewalk slam for two. Nash uses his boot to choke Rick on the middle rope and drops a leg over the back. Scott has had enough and decks Hall on the floor as he tells as Patrick to do his job. Short-arm clothesline from Nash Nash spits on Scotty, which lets Rick hit a ball shot on Nash. Now the race is on and Nash gets the tag first, but the hot tag is made to Scotty. He runs wilds and hits a double underhook powerbomb on Hall. Nash gets dumped on his head with a side suplex. All four men brawl in the ring and Nash gets sent over the top to the floor and that should be a DQ. Bischoff is quite annoyed! Hall catches Scott with The Outsiders Edge, but Patrick got knocked down in the chaos. Rick heads up top and connects with a top rope bulldog. Randy Anderson hits the ring to a massive pop and he makes the count to end this one for The Steiners at 14:43.

Winners and New WCW Tag Team Champions: The Steiner Brothers via pin at 14:43
-Standard tag match between 4 pros. The heat segment on Rick seemed to drag a bit but this was going along well until the screwy ending. I mean, yeah it popped the crowd but you knew there was no way it was going to stick and of course Hall and Nash had the Titles back the next night. **1/2

-Dibiase rightly points out that Anderson is not a sanctioned referee at this event. Again, you could see the screw job coming a mile away. Bischoff promises this call will not stand. In a nice callback Dibiase asks if we are sure that’s Pee Wee. Well, he would know about imposter referees.

WCW United States Championship: Ladder Match: Eddie Guerrero (c) vs. Syxx

-Eddie won the vacant title at Starrcade, but Syxx immediately stole the title away from him and that leads to this match. I believe this is the first Ladder Match in WCW history. You think they would have used the stipulation more with the Cruiserweight Division they had during this period. Guerrero decks Syxx before the bell, but Syxx comes back with a hook kick. Chops from Syxx followed by a back elbow that looked awkward. Eddie back with with a head scissors take down and then a spinning back breaker. Syxx tries to bail, but Eddie follows with a cross body from the top rope to the floor. Good hang time on that! Back in the ring they fight on the top and Syxx shoves off and comes off with a spin wheel kick. Syxx connects with The Bronco Buster in the corner as Bischoff takes shots at Glacier for being a fake karate guy while also putting himself off for his karate abilities. They fight on the apron and Syxx hits a release suplex from inside the ring to the floor as Eddie took a nasty bump on that one. Syxx hits a somersault plancha as they are bumping all over the place in this one. This is already the best match on the card and we are less than five minutes into it. Syxx is the first to get the ladder and he rams it into Guerrero while pinning him against the ring apron. Dibiase mentions Syxx was being tutored by Hall to get ready for this match. Makes sense! The ladder gets caught on the top rope and Eddie uses it as a catapult to catch Syxx in the face. The crowd starts an Eddie chant as the ladder is finally in the ring. Bischoff rails against Eddie using the ladder as a weapon. The ladder gets propped up in the corner but Syxx reverses a whip and Eddie splats on the ladder, which then falls back on him. Nice! Another impressive spot as Eddie gets alley-ooped in the air and dropped on the ladder. That had to suck! Bischoff and Dibiase make sure to mention that Scott Hall invented the ladder match and made it famous. The ladder gets set up in the corner and they fight on top. Syxx hits a low blow to send Eddie crashing to the floor. Syxx sets up the Shawn spot where he rides the ladder down, but Syxx dropkicks the ladder to stop that noise. Eddie heads up and brings Syxx down from the top rope with a superplex. The race is on as they climb the ladder and Syxx hits a dropkick that sends both men crashing to the mat. Damn! The climb is on again and they trade blows while making the climb. Eddie falls off, but staggers into the ladder which sends Syxx crashing off onto the top rope. The crowd is digging this one now! Eddie starts his slow climb, but Syxx cuts him off. Eddie lands an uppercut and climbs once again. Syxx makes it up as well and they both grab the belt resulting in a tug of war. Eddie opts to use the belt to blast to Syxx in the head. That lets Eddie grab sole possession for the win at 13:50.

Winner and Still WCW United States Champion: Eddie Guerrero via belt retrieval at 13:50
-This was a wonderful match as each made decided to kill themselves for our entertainment. It goes without saying that this was the match of the night. I mean the competition wasn’t strong, but even then this was still a great match. I know people were blown away by it twenty five years ago and then this backlash came that it was overrated, but I think that came from all the craziness we saw in the 2000s with WWE ladder matches. Sure, it had the slow climbing trope, but that was to be expected. Fun stuff here and the only match worth going out of your way to see on this show. ***3/4

-The Miss nWo crap finally ends and I still have no idea what they were thinking with this. Bischoff picks the winner (the oldest one there) and makes out with her to pay-off whatever the gag was. Oh, I forgot to mention her throne is a toilet. Yep!

WCW World Heavyweight Title: Hollywood Hulk Hogan (c) (w/ Vincent) vs. The Giant

-Giant earned this shot by winning World War 3 which ended up getting him turfed from the group after joining it only 3 months earlier. Hogan makes his entrance with members of The Dallas Cowboys with him as again, this was Super Bowl weekend and they had nothing else to do. Hogan gets a ton of pyro with his entrance as well. Hogan throws a punch and Giant just laughs at him. Giant stalks Hogan around the ring and unloads with chops that sends Hogan bailing to the floor. Giant gives chase and Hogan catches him on the way back in with an elbow. He pounds away with right hands and bangs Giant’s head off the mat. Now Hogan lands some chops and some more right hands. Whip is reversed, but Hogan ducks and they clothesline each other. Giant to his feet first and he pounds away in the corner. He bounces Hogan from corner to corner and then dumps him to the floor. The brawl on the floor and Vincent gets decked by the Giant. Back in the Hogan apparently tries a small package, but Giant just picks him up for a slam. That was very ugly! The crowd is behind Giant in this one as the fight ends up on the floor again. Hogan finds some powder and tosses it in Giant’s face. Hogan goes to his back rake offense to go with some right hands. Hogan uses his wrist tape to choke but Giant is back as he rams Hogan’s face first into the apron. Back in the Giant hits a back breaker and stretches Hogan over his knee. Giant heads up top which is an insane visual, but he misses a flying elbow. Hogan gets a two count, but Giant kicks out with ease as Hogan goes flying. Hogan goes to a chinlock and the crowd is way into this one, so while this isn’t what you would call a good match, the crowd is eating it up. Hogan gets the body slam and drops the leg, but Giant no sells and the crowd is losing it. Chokeslam plants Hogan in the ring, but Patrick will only count two as apparently Hogan got his shoulder up. That happens two more times as Giant holds both shoulders down. Giant has had enough as he chokeslams Patrick and then each member of the nWo B team takes one as well. Syxx eats one too as Hogan shatters a guitar over The Giant’s back. We have no commentary now as Eric and Dibiase have hit the ring. The crowd chants for Sting as Hogan breaks a balsa wood chair over Giant. I guess this one is over with no winner at 11:30 or so. The nWo pose as they tag Giant with spray paint.

Winner: No Contest at 11:30
-Again, not what you would call a good match, but the crowd was into it as they played the hits. It was kept short enough, but that ending was awful. To not have a finish in your Main Event is a black eye. Giant could have eaten a pinfall there through interference or whatever. *

-The nWo celebrate as trash fills the ring and pyro goes off. Thanks for reading!

3.5

The final score: review Bad

The 411

Credit to them for having the guts to try something new and this show certainly has a unique look that made it memorable. With that said it was a boring show with some bad matches that ran too long. The ladder match is worth seeing and the crowd helps the matches that involve legitimate stars. I would say watch it just to see something different, but prepared to be bored while sitting through a lot of screwy finishes.