Sharpshooter Review: Souled Out 1998

Date: January 24, 1998
Attendance: 5,486
Venue: Hara Arena
Location:Trotwood, Ohio
Buy-Rate: 400,000+

World Heavyweight Championship: Vacated
US Championship: DDP (12/28/1997)
World Tag Team Championship: The Outsiders (1/12/1997)
Cruiserweight Title: Rey Mysterio (1/15/1998)

PPV opens up with Eric Bischoff hyping the show.

Juventud Guerrera, Super Calo, Chavo Guerrero Jr, and Lizmark Jr v. Psychosis, La Parka, Silver King and El Dandy.

The match is under Lucha Libre rules (If your tag partner goes outside the ring, any wrestler on their team can come in without a tag.) Calo and Psychosis start off. They do a few cool series of exchanges to start. Mike Tenay calls Silver King “stocky”, which leads to a lawsuit from Jason Alexander for stealing his gimmick. La Parka is really over with the crowd, which is the reason he was not pushed harder. It’s WCW, brother. The action is spilling out and impossible to recap. Silver King executes a helicopter slam on Juvy. ONE-TWO-THR-NO! Juvy fights back and slams King. Juvy nails a 450 splash. ONE-TWO-THR-NO! They all try to run in and hit their finishers. Silver King misses a plancha and then all the Luchas start hitting high-spots on each other outside the ring. Everyone but Chavo and Psychosis are down outside the ring. Chavo NAILS a Tornado DDT. ONE-TWO-THREE-DONE (8:00). The match had lots of amazing action and it got the crowd hot. It also did not go too over the top whereas it overshadows the rest of the card. Perfect way to start a show. I just wish Oklahoma called the match. That be epic. *** ½

Anything Goes: Raven vs. Chris Benoit

At Starrcade 1997 this match was supposed to happen, but Perry Saturn took Raven’s place. Because, the angle was about Raven not wanting to face Benoit and therefore he would make his flock go up against him until he didn’t have anyone for Benoit to face but himself. The flock’s banned from ringside. Raven’s sitting in the corner and he cuts a promo saying he does not care his Flock is gone. He’s taking more pain and hardship in his life than what Benoit can do to him. Raven beats Benoit up outside. Raven brings it in the ring. Benoit reverses a neckbreaker into a pin and gets a two. A huge Raven sucks breaks out. On the outside, Raven CREAMS Benoit with a chair shot over his back. Raven snapmares Benoit onto the chair. Raven BULLDOGS Benoit on the chair. ONE-TWO-T-NO. Raven irish whips Benoit, but Benoit reverses with a told hold and Raven’s head goes right into the chair! Benoit sadistically suplexes Raven right on the backend of the chair. Benoit put the chair in the corner. Raven ducks to the outside, but Benoit drills a baseball slide, sending Raven into the guardrail. They fight up the entranceway. Benoit nails a suplex onto the ramp. Back in, Benoit hits another SUPLEX ON THE CHAIR. Benoit puts the chair over Raven’s head and steps on it. Benoit goes and nails the HEADBUT ONTO THE CHAIR. BOTH MEN ARE NOW DOWN! Benoit covers Raven. ONE-TWO-THRE-NO. Benoit picks up Raven, but Raven reverses with Raven’s DDT. Benoit drop toeholds Raven down. Benoit puts in the Cross Face. RAVEN IS LAUGHING IN THE CROSS FACE! RAVEN PASSES OUT. Awesome! (11:30) After the match, Kidman goes up on the top rope, but Malenko shoves him off. The Flock hit the ring, but Malenko beats up all them. Benoit and Malenko come face-to-face. What is going to go down here? Hmmm. They look at each other and just walk away. I wonder if we have to tune into Nitro to find out? This was stiff, vicious, and bump crazy. There was no dull moment in this match, just all action start to finish. I loved how they added the chair psychology into the match and the innovative spots they did with it. These two could take an ass beating and still be capable to tell a lucid story . And not to mention how badass the finish was. Great stuff. *** ¾

Cruiserweight Championship: Rey Mysterio Jr. © vs. Chris Jericho

Rey Mysterio’s knee was bother him, which ended up making him take off quite some time after this. Jericho sucks chant breaks out. Jericho is beyond disbelief that the crowd would actually heckle him. Tony Schavonie calls Jericho a crybaby and a whiner. Dusty Rhodes says something, but nobody can ever understand him. Rey drills Jericho with forearms to his head, but Jericho shoulder blocks him. Jericho goes to the outside. Rey does the fake 619. Rey pulls out his knee doing the move, however. Jericho goes to seize the opportunity, but Rey takes him down. Rey puts in a sleeper. Jericho tries to counter. Rey sits on Jericho’s shoulders and gets a two off a victory roll. Outside the ring, Jericho powerbombs Rey into the ropes followed up by a double-arm backbreaker. Back in, Jericho whips Rey into the buckle and slams Rey’s knee into the it. Jericho taunts Rey by kicking him. Jericho whips him, but Rey kicks Jericho while his head was down. Rey is trying to fight back. He hits an inverted DDT. Outside, Rey comes off the ropes with a summerset flip. Back in, Rey tries to go springboard, but Jericho cuts him off. Jericho goes up top, but Rey crotches him. Rey goes for a ‘rana, but Jericho counters with the Lion Tamer. Rey taps out instantly (8:40). After the match, Jericho is mad the fans are boo him, so he takes out Rey’s knee, driving a toolbox into it, while it is between the stairs. Jericho tells the fans that he is sorry. Solid, yet short. Good adaptation surrounding Rey’s knee, as they did moves logically rather than running through their usual routine. Shockingly, however, their matches in 2009 surpassed mostly all their matches early in their career. ** ½

Mean Gene and JJ Dillon are in the ring. JJ has the vacated belt. They talk about pulling the title from Sting, even though it was not a popular decision. Piper comes out, and he announces the rematch for Hogan-Sting at Superbrawl.

WCW Television Title: Booker T © vs. Rick Martell

Booker T beat Disco Inferno for the title one night after Starrcade. Both wrestlers are faces and respect each other. Booker T is really over with the crowd, but of course, WCW being WCW, he did not get a main event push until WCW was irrelevant. Back and forth action early on. Both men trade hammerlocks. Rick tries a hiptoss, but Booker T hits a lariat. Can you did that, Suck ah? Booker T reverses a suplex into one of his own. Booker T does a little Spin-a-Roonie with cheese followed by a flying roundhouse kick. Martell gets the advantage from a 2nd rope clothesline, but Booker T takes control with a spinning roundhouse kick. Booker T delivers an arm drag and keeps it in for a while. Rick gets back up. Booker T reverses an Irish whip. Rick tries to play leapfrog, but Booker T mistakenly goes headfirst wear the sun doesn’t shine. Booker T feels bad, so he goes to check on Rick. Rick takes an advantage off Booker being off guard. Rick stomps a mud pile into Booker T. Rick sends Booker hard into the turnbuckle. Rick hits a gut wretch slam for two. Rick puts in a chinlock, but Booker T fights out with elbows to the midsection. Booker sends him off the ropes, but Rick reverses with a picture perfect Spinebuster. Rick works on Booker’s back. He puts his right knee into Booker’s back while forcing Booker’s neck up. Rick lets him up just to put in the abdominal stretch. Booker T gets out and hits a forearm off the rebound. Booker goes for a dropkick, but Rick holds onto the ropes. Rick is going for the Québec Crab, but Booker T finds the ropes. Rick whips him off, but Booker kicks him in the gut followed by the scissors kick. Booker T is RASING THE ROOF. HE’S GOING FOR IT! BAM! HARLEM HANGOVER. ONE-TWO-THREE!!! (16:42). After the match, Rick grabs the belt out of the ref’s hands. But all he wants to do is present the title to Booker T. As Booker leaves the ring, Perry Saturn attacks Rick. Booker T makes the save. Although the I respect you, you respect me story can be very cliché. They pulled it off pretty well. Rick Martell teased the heel turn on numerous occasions, which added drama to the match. It is funny to see a passionate Booker T rather than the through-the-motions Booker T I’ve been accustom to over the past years. *** ¼

Scott Hall w/ Louie Spicoli vs. Larry Zysbsko w/ Dusty Rhodes

Larry is upset with the nWo like every other day. Nothing much really happens early on. Dusty looks very unhealthy here. I am surprised he never had a heart attack. Hall throws a hey yo, chico punch to Larry’s face. Larry puts in an abdominal stretch. Heenan makes a joke about Dusty: saying Larry cannot understand what he is saying. Hall takes the match over and dominates with punches and kicks. The crowd tries to motivate Larry back into the match by cheering him on, but Hall cuts him off. After that chant, we get a Larry sucks chant followed by a Hall sucks chant. Hey, at least the crowd is entertaining. Another Larry sucks chant breaks out. Scott Hall picks Larry up and hits a follow way slam. Hall calls for the Outsider’s Edge, but Larry back body drops out. A brawl breaks out between the two, but Hall gets the best out of him. Larry will not quit. Larry gets the best out Hall, but the ref keeps trying to space him from Hall in the corner. Larry does a contrived spinkick, which hits the ref. Later on, Larry plays possum. Hall goes for a pin, but Larry puts in the guillotine. Louie breaks up the move, which makes Dusty come in. Dusty hits some elbows, which Louie oversells to death. Larry holds Scott Hall, but Dusty hits Larry by mistake. Hall points to Dusty, then Dusty takes his blue shirt to show the black nWo shirt. Dusty drops the bionic elbow, which finally draws the DQ (better late than never, I guess). Dusty Rhodes joins the Dark Side. ( 8:25 ). Other than Dusty’s illogical heel turn, there is not much to say. Match sucked. ½*

Buff Bagwell, Scott Norton & Konnan vs. The Steiner Brothers & Ray Traylor.

Yay! More nWo stuff. I cannot wait! Scott Steiner is teasing a heel turn. Buff Bagwell makes fun of Rick’s retardation problems. The announcers are still talking about Dusty Rhodes’ heel turn. Tenay says he is dumbfounded. Do not piss off Mike Tenay! He will give you the evil look. Very scary, ask Don West. Tony says let us get to this match. Let’s not and say we did, Tony. The crowd doesn’t care about this match at all. Tony tries to say everyone is blown by Dusty Rhodes turning heel. Ray gets beat down on the other side of town, but he cannot sell anything for shit. Frequent in and out tags make Ray a face-in-peril for a while. Norton and Ray both hit clotheslines on each other. Ray tries to make the tag. He tags in Rick Steiner. Steiner takes everyone out. Tony doesn’t understand why the crowd isn’t in the match. Well, Tony, are you watching? Heels get the advantage on Steiner, making him the face-in-peril. Do you know what a great show is? Arrested Development. It’s one of the best well written shows I have ever seen possibly ever, but in order to understand the story developments, you have to watch every episode. It was a really brilliant episodic TV show. It sucks that FOX cancelled it. Big mistake. Do not worry; you are not missing anything. Konnan is working over Rick on the mat. The announcers are still talking about Dusty. Scott’s now mad that they are beating up his brother unfairly. Some lack of application of the rules by the ref as Buff and Konnan are in the ring way longer then 5 seconds. A double tag brings both Ray and Scott in. The ref does not know who is legal, but he counts against the faces. Could you be more biased, ref ? Steiner NAILS the STEINER SCREWDRIVER! ONE-TWO-THREE! Most people say six men tags cannot fail, but this proves that theory wrong. This was totally dull and tremendously uninspiring. Let’s go with a 1/4* because of the Screwdriver,

Kevin Nash w/ Hollywood Hogan and Eric Bischoff vs. Giant

This match was scheduled for Starrcade, but Nash no-sold the showed. Gutta love those WCW contracts! They start with a stare down. Giant pushes Nash off. Both men tie up and try to power each other. Nash grabs in a headlock. Giant picks Nash up like nothing and slams him down. Giant comes off the ropes and drops an elbow. Giant gives Nash some thumps in the corner. Giant chokes Kevin Nash with his foot. Nash goes outside. Back in, Giant nails a big boot to the side of Nash’s head. Giant works Nash over some more. Nash comes back and clotheslines Giant over the top. Giant falls on his feet. AIR NASH! AIR NASH! But Giant catches him and drives him into the ring post. When the ref is not looking, Hogan drills Giant in the back with the chair while Giant was trying to get back in the ring. Count is up to 9, but he gets in. Nash drills Giant two elbows. Giant shakes them off, though and nails a clothesline. Both go for a double boot and connect. Count is at 9, but Nash covers Giant. ONE-TWO-THR-NO. Nash works Giant over with corner elbows. Giants hit an atomic drop. Giant keeps hitting Nash with everything, but Nash keeps getting up. Giant hits the big boot, Hogan style. Giant scoop slams Nash. Giant calls for the Choke Slam. Hogan and Bischoff run up to the apron. Bischoff takes a Choked Slam into the ring for the team, as Hogan gave Nash a bowl of hot coffee, and Nash throws it into Giant’s face. In case you are wondering how the coffee stayed hot, I came up with a theory. I believe the lights above the ring ricocheted off Hogan’s body oil, resulting in extreme heat to keep the coffee nice and hot. Yep. That is exactly what happened. Oh yeah, Nash goes low and then botches the Jackknife Powerbomb by dropping Giant right on his head.ONE-TWO-THREE! ( 7:55 ). While it was no classic, it had steady flow and never overstayed its welcome. I could’ve done without the low-iq booked finish, but it is WCW. What do you really expect? Good finishes? Psh. Go watch ECW if you want those. Oh yeah, I forgot…**

Battle of Egos: Bret Hart vs. Ric Flair

Bret Hart puts in a headlock. Flair battles out, but Hart takes him down with a shoulder block. A headlock takeover takes Flair to the mat. Hart goes for the figure four, but Flair makes it to the ropes. Hart delivers a suplex for two. Hart puts in a rear chin lock. Flair gets up and shoves Bret. Bret fires back with one, which sends Flair on his ass. Bret Hart follows up by a slap to Flair’s face. Who does he think he is? That is the Nature Boy God Damnit! Bret Hart puts in a headlock. Bret Hart then puts in a sleeper hold, but Flair belly to-back suplexes out. Flair hits a low blow while the ref was not looking. DIRTIEST PLAYER IN THE GAME! Snapmare followed by a Flair knee drop. ONE-TWO-NO. Flair puts in a chinlock. Flair uses the ropes for leverage. Flair works Bret over methodically. Fair puts Bret into the turnbuckle, but chops wakes Bret up. Bret Hart swings a neckbreaker followed up by a bulldog for two. Bret Hart works Flair’s knee over, taking away the figure four, or setting up for the figure four. Bret Hart takes Flair near the ring post, but Flair kicks Hart into the guardrail. Flair comes out selling the leg like a pro. Flair sends Bret back into the ring. Flair drops an elbow for two. Flair hits the knee breaker and yanks Bret’s leg. Flair hits another knee breaker. Flair goes for the Figure Four, but Hart rolls him up. ONE-TWO-NO. Bret goes to argue with the ref, so Flair chop blocks him. Wo0oo0o0o0o0o0. Flair puts the Figure Four in the center of the ring. Will Bret Hart tap? Flair starts to slap him into the face. Bret is trying to fight out of the pain. Bret tries to roll Flair over….and does. Flair goes up top, but Bret throws him off. Bret Hart nails the Russian Leg Sweep. Flair hits a chop, but Bret TAKES DOWN THE STRAPS. Bret tells him to bring it, bitch. Bret is mad. Bret hits the backbreaker. Bret goes up and drives the elbow into Flair’s jaw. Bret puts Flair on the top. Bret nails the superplex. Bret is going for the Sharpshooter. Will Flair tap? Yes! Flair taps. (18:02) Arguably the two greatest psychologist ever showing that even though they are not in their prime, they can still deliver a good match with the fundamentals of wrestling psychology as well as eagerness from well-placed twist and turn spots.*** ½

What a great way to end this PPV! Oh wait, Luger-Savage is main eventing. Oh yay.

Main Event:Lex Luger vs. Randy Savage.

Man, this would have been a great match in 1989. Too bad it’s1998, though. Michael Buffer does his typical announcer. LET’SSSSS GET READDYYYY TO SUCK IT BUFFER! They are playing a song I remember from some porno. Oh wait, it is just nWo’s music. Both wrestlers get barely a reaction from the crowd, as the crowd’s burnt out from, well, good wrestling. Savage runs away from Luger. Elisabeth hits Luger in the back. Savage sends Luger back in the ring. Savage comes off with a double axe handle for two. Savage has a nice bald spot going out. OOOOHH YEAH! Savage is giving the ref some heat because he is a heel. Savage chokes Luger because he is a heel. Elisabeth chokes Luger because she is a heel. But how could Elisabeth ever want to be with Luger? He does nothing for society. All he does is waste space! I take it all back. I swear, Luger! We all love you! They’re outside the ring brawling, for a lot longer than ten seconds. TNA steals so many WCW ideas! Now what’s the deal with companies stealing stupid ideas? Back in the ring, Luger hits the powerslam. Hall and Hogan come out, but Hogan stops Hall. Savage goes right into Hall, and then Luger puts in the RACK ( 7:02 ). nWo all do a beat down on Luger, but Sting makes the save. Luger puts in the RACK on Nash. Sting puts in the Deathlock on Hogan. Blah. ½*

The 411: All the non-nWo stuff delivers, but all the nWo stuff pretty much sucks. Even though there's a lot to enjoy on this card, it still reminded me of a nursing home since you could smell death coming. Eric Bischoff was a one-trick pony for a booker. The only major angle he came up with was nWo. It got over huge, but once it was time to end it, he didn't. Instead of pushing talent the fans wanted to see, he shoved nWo down the fans throats. Bischoff thought no matter how shitty the product was, people would still watch WCW over WWF. His method did in fact work for a while, but once people started seeing fresh talent, interesting characters, cussing, puppies, and aggressive violence - the WCW fans evolved into WWF fans. I will have to give this a thumbs up, but do not say I didn't warn you about the nWo garbage.

Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]