WCW: The Doctor is In

WCW/nWo Souled Out
Sunday Week 3, January 1998

WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Sting (c) vs Scott Hall

The Mega Powers vs Lex Luger & The Giant

Bret Hart vs Curt Hennig

WCW World Tag Team Championship: The Steiner Brothers (c) vs The Faces of Fear vs Harlem Heat

WCW United States Championship: Diamond Dallas Page (c) vs Buff Bagwell

Raven's Rules: Raven vs Chris Benoit

WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Eddie Guerrero (c) vs Rey Mysterio Jr.

WCW World Television Championship: Disco Inferno (c) vs Lord Steven Regal vs Saturn vs Dean Malenko

Goldberg vs Brian Knobbs

How many championships will change hands? 3

What will be match of the night? Bret Hart vs. Curt Hennig

Who, if anyone, will accompany Sting to the ring? The Boss

WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Sting (c) vs Scott Hall

The Mega Powers vs Lex Luger & The Giant

Bret Hart vs Curt Hennig

WCW World Tag Team Championship: The Steiner Brothers (c) vs The Faces of Fear vs Harlem Heat

WCW United States Championship: Diamond Dallas Page (c) vs Buff Bagwell

Raven's Rules: Raven vs Chris Benoit

WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Eddie Guerrero (c) vs Rey Mysterio Jr.

WCW World Television Championship: Disco Inferno (c) vs Lord Steven Regal vs Saturn vs Dean Malenko

Goldberg vs Brian Knobbs

Sunday, Week 3 January, 1998

30,000 fans at a sold out Ownby Stadium in Dallas, Texas

Announcers: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay and Bobby Heenan

We open with a promo hyping the reunion of Randy Savage and Hollywood Hulk Hogan as well as Scott Hall's challenge for Sting's WCW World Heavyweight title. We end with hype for Bret Hart's first PPV match in WCW. The announce team introduce us to Souled Out as they run down the rest of the card. (90)

WCW Cruiserweight Title: Eddie Guerrero (c) vs Rey Mysterio Jr.

These two have put on some of the best matches in WCW history and look to add another installment to their rivalry here. The early going of the match showcased how well these two know each other in an exchange of high-flying moves and quickly timed counters. Guerrero got the upper-hand with a well-timed Brainbuster onto Mysterio, but that wasn't enough to put him away. Eddie didn't let up and punished Rey setting him up for the Frog Splash only for Mysterio to roll out of the way. From there,
Rey was able to build the resolve and set Eddie up for the 619 and win the Cruiserweight title once again in 14:22. (76)

Raven is backstage with Saturn and Kidman as Saturn paces around hyping himself up for the upcoming match. "Outcasts, the unwanted and undesirable, these are the type of people who make up my Flock. Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko think they're above us, they wouldn't be caught dead in the same place as people like us. Well Chris, tonight we play with my rules and by the end you'll feel all the hurt, pain and torment that you have caused people like us. And Dean..." Saturn gets up close to the camera and snarls. "No more words, everyone is going to pay." (64)

WCW World Television Title: Disco Inferno (c) vs Lord Steven Regal vs Saturn vs Dean Malenko

Saturn lived up to his promise by quickly running through Malenko and Regal. Disco, meanwhile, attempted to avoid Saturn as much a possible by quickly exiting the ring once the bell rang and running up the ramp once Saturn spotted him. Regal and Malenko briefly teamed up to take down the big man and that was when Disco decided to enter and take advantage with failed roll ups on both men. The last few minutes were an all out spotfest as each man got to showcase signature moves before Saturn rallied back and hit Rings of Saturn on Inferno to regain the Television title in 11:37. (73)

Goldberg vs Brian Knobbs

This match was a bit of a breather after two hot matches. Knobbs has been talking trash on Goldberg since returning to WCW and it didn't take long for the undefeated star to take control. Knobbs landed a few punches but that didn't even come close to taking down Goldberg. From there it was guaranteed destruction as Goldberg hit the Jackhammer and moved to 20-0 in 5:46. (63)

Ric Flair is backstage with Mean Gene Okerlund and while he doesn't have a match tonight he states that he is prepared to accompany Sting at ringside if the WCW World Champion needs help. "Stinger, you and I have had our differences and I know trust doesn't come easy. But if you need backup tonight, I'm your man! The two of us together, Luger and Giant, WOOOOO boy, the NWO won't know what hit 'em!" (83)

We cut to black and white as Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage are posing. "OOOH YEEEAAH! Souled Out is the NWO's show and tonight we put those dogs Luger and The Giant in there place and Sting, don't think we forgot about you, man. You'll be left laying by the end of the night."
"Enough about that, brother. Nash and Hall, they can handle themselves. For us, tonight is all about the Mega Powers and we're going to show WCW what a true tag team looks like. Giant, you seem to be putting in a lot of work out there, let's hope your partner doesn't let you down." (89)

Raven's Rules: Raven vs Chris Benoit

Raven is out for this match by himself, however, his Flock are in the stands watching. Raven's Rules is described by the announce team as being "anything goes mayhem" and that is immediately proven when Benoit starts the match by grabbing a steel chair and laying into Raven with it. While Benoit shows an early burst, he makes the mistake of following Raven out of the ring and is run into the ring post. Benoit proves his resilience though as he continues to kick out of every pin attempt and surprises Raven by locking in the Crippler Crossface. This leads Kidman to jump the guardrail and break up the submission. Raven quickly lands the Evenflow DDT and wins the match in 16:25. Post-match, Raven shoves Kidman to the ground and shouts at him for interfering while the rest of The Flock surround the ring. Kidman rolls out, dejected, as Raven poses over Benoit. (78)

WCW World Tag Team Titles: The Steiner Brothers (c) w/ Ted DiBiase vs The Faces of Fear w/ Jimmy Hart vs Harlem Heat w/ Jacqueline Moore

Pure chaos is the best way to describe this match as while three legal men are in the ring at one time, no DQs or count outs are in effect and that leads to a lot of expected interference from partners. The match starts out with Scott Steiner, The Barbarian and Stevie Ray and while all three big men get to show off their stuff, Scott dominates the early part of this. Meng comes in and the Faces begin a beatdown of Scott leading Rick in and the two teams battle. Booker helps even the odds with a Harlem Sidekick and Rick suplexes Meng out of the ring. Outside, Jimmy Hart implores Meng to grab a table from under the ring and Meng splashes a dazed Scott through it. With one Steiner effectively out of the match, the Faces laid into Stevie and Booker before Meng finished off Rick with a Tongan Death Grip in 14:34. The Faces of Fear celebrate their huge victory as Hart says that they are the true greatest tag team. (77)

As the Faces of Fear exit, Stevie and Booker help Rick up and go to Scott, but he pushes the three of them away and leaves on his own, never looking back at his brother as he limps away to the back. (73)

WCW United States Heavyweight Title: Diamond Dallas Page (c) w/ Kimberly Page vs Buff Bagwell w/ Vincent

The first nWo match on the card sees surprisingly little interference as only Vincent gets involved in this match. This was Buff's chance to prove himself as a potential star and sadly, it seemed like an off night for him with some messed up spots and poor timing on a few moves. Page, however, proved himself to be a true leader in the ring by helping keep the match from falling apart entirely. Bagwell's stalling was a major part of the match to break up any momentum DDP got but it wasn't enough to stop the inevitable as a Diamond Cutter finished this in 13:44. (77)

We cut to another nWo promo as the rare pairing of Eric Bischoff, Curt Hennig and Rick Rude talk trash on Hennig's opponent tonight. "Bret, we never had to be enemies, but then you decided to deck me at Starrcade and well, now I have to make you pay. You could have been in with the most dominant force in pro wrestling history and now, you'll just be another footnote." Hennig speaks up next, "We've been up and down the roads together and tonight won't just be another addition to our rivalry, it will be the end of it!" (88)

Bret Hart vs Curt Hennig w/ Rick Rude & Eric Bischoff

Bret seemed off his game as we started this one, at least that's what he told me afterwards, but you'd be hard pressed to notice it with how this match went. What began as a slow battle of holds and mat wrestling evolved into an all out battle between these two. It has been a few years since this pair have faced off but both performers were able to rewind the clock and put on a wrestling clinic that kept the audience enthralled the entire time. Both Bischoff and Rude got involved at certain parts to attempt to cost Hart the match, even causing a ref bump that led to Bischoff bringing in a chair only to end up eating it thanks to kick from the Hitman. The distraction almost cost Bret when he turned around into a Hennig-Plex, but Curt wanted to humiliate his rival and put on the Figure-Four. Bret fought his way to the ropes and while he was unable to put in the Sharpshooter, he busted out a piledriver and finished Hennig in 16:35. (94)

We head to the back with The Outsiders, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, who promise that the World title will be back in the nWo's hands tonight. "Hey yo, Sting thinks he's got in our heads, that just because Hogan had a hissy fit that we're gonna slip up and miss this opportunity. Well, Big Sexy and I have never missed an opportunity and we won't do it tonight. Sting, you're finished courtesy of the nWo." (90)

The Mega Powers vs Lex Luger and The Giant

This was the first time since coming to WCW that Hogan was competing on a show and not in the main event. This still had potential to be the match of the night but a few factors kept it from reaching the highs of the previous match. The biggest factor was Giant not being able to match the energy of the other competitors in the match, leaving the moments where he was dominating to feel a bit flat. The majority of the match involved Hogan and Savage keeping Giant from tagging in and working over Luger. This ended up being a problem as Luger didn't really sell the beatdown and his comeback wasn't really sold by Hogan either. Giant eventually came in and wrecked things, clearly frustrated with waiting so long. This proved to be a problem late in the match when Hogan had Giant reeling and the big man refused the tag from Luger insisting that he could battle back. This proved to be his downfall as Savage low blowed him when the ref was distracted and Hogan picked up the victory with a Leg Drop in 15:28. (85)

Post-match, Hogan and Savage celebrate as Giant comes to in the ring. Luger checks on his teammate offering him a hand up as the crowd cheers them on. Those cheers quickly change to boos as The Giant holds on to Luger's hand and lifts him up for a Chokeslam. Luger is out as the Giant shouts and calls him "worthless" before heading to the back. (87)

Mean Gene is in the back attempting to get an interview in with Hogan and Savage but the two blow him off and announce that they are leaving the arena. "Sorry brother, but we have bigger things going on tonight, dude. I know Hall and Nash have got the main event in the bag." (78)

WCW World Heavyweight Title: Sting (c) vs Scott Hall w/ Kevin Nash

The announcers were quick to point out that they hadn't heard a thing about who would be at ringside with Sting. Sure enough, the reason became clear as Sting showed up alone much to the delight of Hall and Nash. Before the match got underway, however, Bret Hart made his way out to a huge ovation. It looks like Sting has backup after all!

As for the match itself, this far exceeded any expectations we had for it as they put on an amazing match. While there were a few holes in the psychology of the match that held it back from being one of the greatest in WCW history, overall this was worthy of the main event. In the early going, it seemed Hall was a bit distracted by Hart being involved and Sting took advantage and quickly looked to dominate the match. Hall eventually found his opening after a poke to the eyes and almost won the match with the Outsider's Edge before Sting slipped out. Near the end of the match, Sting went in for the Stinger Splash only for Nash to pull Hall out of the way. This led to Hart getting into Kevin's face only to be shoved leading to a huge brawl between the two. With the ref distracted, Hall grabbed the belt and went to hit Sting with it only to be caught with the Scorpion Death Drop. The ref turned around in time to catch the pin and Sting retained in 17:45 (97)

Hart and Nash continued to brawl at ringside leading Sting to get involved with his bat. Hall eventually comes to and joins the fight as Konnan, Bagwell and Hennig all come out to put the odds in the nWo's favor. Soon enough, Ric Flair and DDP come out and help the odds but the nWo still seems to have the upper hand until...



Roddy Piper is here! The Hot Rod runs down to send Hall out of the ring with a clothsline as Sting and Hart dump Nash out of the ring. The show ends with 5 of WCW's best standing tall over the nWo once again! (98)

Overall Grade: 95