I forgot to say this Friday... The guy who is helping to finance or run WCW, was the same guy who helped to create Classic Sports. Just remember, that before ESPN bought them out, it was a struggling channel, BIG TIME. Remember the "Save the Sports" campaign they did? Classic Sports was about to be ousted on Cable until ESPN threw some Disney dollars at it. Ever since then, it was ESPN who made a decent channel out of Classic Sports, and NOT the guy who is involved with WCW. Scary, eh?
Souled Out 1997
It was just a show to milk the New World Order gimmick, and I believe it was on a special Saturday, if I'm correct. The set was interesting, as many would claim it was an early model for the RAW is WAR set up. It was an NWO PPV, like I said, and it just had NWO wrestlers versus invited WCW wrestlers. The hosts were Ted Dibiase and Eric Bischoff. They gave some good heel commentating back then, especially Dibiase. They also had Nick Patrick as the referee for ALL of the matches, since he was the crocked referee then.
Here's a listing of the matches and who won:
Chono defeated Chris Jericho(clean)
Big Bubba(or Bossman) defeated Hugh Morris (or Rection) (screwy?)
Buff Bagwell defeated Scotty Riggs(clean)
DDP vs. Scott Norton (no contest)
Steiners defeated the Outsiders (reversed the next night)
Eddie Guerrero defeated Syxx(clean in a ladder match)
Giant defeated Hogan (DQ)
A couple things to note for this lovely card. The Steiners defeated the Outsiders after Randy Anderson ran out of the crowd to make the count that Nick Patrick refused to do. Then, Eric Bischoff reversed the decision the next night on Nitro, and FIRED Randy Anderson. The Eddie Guerrero vs. Syxx match was pretty good, and I hope the WWF takes note of that. Giant got the win, thanks to the NWO run-in.
Souled Out 1998
Souled Out 1998 was making up for the fuck up that was Starrcade. Kevin Nash didn't disappear, this time, for his match with the Giant. The PPV was the first big match for Bret Hart, who fought Ric Flair. WCW tried to really stack this card, since they took a lot of heat for the half-assed Starrcade. The World Title wasn't on the line, either, as it was still held up and under controversy because Hogan REFUSED TO JOB cleanly to Sting. They'd rematch at Superbrawl.
Here's the card:
Juvy, Chavo, Lizmark Jr., and Super Calo defeated La Parka (!!!), Psychosis, Silver King, and El Dandy (clean)
Chris Benoit defeated Raven(clean)
Chris Jericho defeated Rey Mysterio Jr.(clean)
Booker T defeated Rick Martel(clean)
Scott Hall vs. Larry Zbyszko(no contest)
Steiner brothers and Ray Traylor (Bossman, again) defeated Buff, Norton, and Konnan (clean)
Kevin Nash defeated the Giant(clean)
Bret Hart defeated Ric Flair (cleanly)
Lex Luger defeated Macho Man(cleanly)
This show is VERY interesting. It shows that the WCW midcarders are beating down the door against the main eventers. ALL of the main eventer matches, while all of the undercard or midcard matches were very solid. Benoit and Raven tore the roof off too. Jericho got a thrilling pin over Mysterio, and Martel put on a good showing. It's sad that his great comeback ended the next month. *sniff* This is also the card where Kevin Nash messed up the powerbomb on the Giant. It was a combination of Nash losing muscle tone, and the Giant gaining lots of extra weight. So sad. Decent old school match between Flair and Hart.
Souled Out 1999
This is the bi-product of Kevin Nash's booking, and the RETURN of the New World Order, which occurred earlier in the month. Oh boy. Actually, this was much worse and it proved what an idiot Nash is, and that an NWO recycling won't bring in the dollars.
Here's the Card:
Chris Benoit defeated Mike Enos(clean)
Norman Smiley defeated Chavo(screwjob)
Fit Finley defeated Van Hammer(clean)
Bam Bam Bigelow defeated Wrath or Brian Clarke(clean)
Lex Luger defeated Konnan(screwjob)
Chris Jericho defeated Perry Saturn(screwjob)
Kidman defeated Juvy, Psychosis, and Rey-Rey(clean)
Ric and David Flair defeated Barry Windham/Curt Hennig(screwjob)
Bill Goldberg defeated Scott Hall (clean)
A few things here... The Smiley/Chavo feud was actually one of the hottest feuds going, during this time. Saturn's loss to Jericho forced him to wear a dress! Remember, Saturn wanted it, as he enjoyed wearing the dresses for a few months after this. Geesh. I hated the Flairs getting the cheap win during this match. Hall is way past his prime to even give Goldberg a decent match. I remember Bill Goldberg saying some lovely things about working with Hall, in his book.
Souled Out 2000
Are we there yet? Vince Russo was FIRED on the Friday before this show (with WDB breaking the news first), so this show is rather interesting since Kevin Sullivan was announced to be the NEW WCW booker. The ending would show that one. This show was supposed to beef up the Russo NWO, BUT Jeff Jarrett and Bret Hart were injured before this show.
Here's that card:
Kidman defeated Dean Malenko(???)
Vampiro defeated David Flair and Crowbar
Harris Boyz defeated Vito/Johnny the Bull
Oklahoma defeated Madusa (sigh)
Knobbs defeated Smiley, Finley, and Meng(clean)
Kidman defeated Perry Saturn(clean)
Booker T defeated Stevie Ray(DQ)
Tank Abbott crushed Jerry Flynn
Buff defeated DDP(clean?)
Kidman defeated Wall(clean, and he wasn't A-Wall yet)
Nash defeated Terry Funk(clean)
Benoit defeated Sid(reversed the next night)
This card marks the beginning of the hell known as the Sullivan Era. The main event is very significant, since Sullivan knew Benoit might walk out, he booked it so that Sid had his foot near the ropes. That's very smart booking, which they used when Benoit walked out of the company the next night. Benoit, though, did carry Sid to a good match. Amazing! During the Stevie Ray/Booker T match, Ahmed Johnson or "Big T" made his WCW debut. Well, he lost all power moves and he was a bit out of shape at this point in time. Nash defeated Funk to become the new commissioner, which really got stupid during some certain Thunders.
Which brings me to Sin. "Souled Out" was an NWO name, so to maybe sell more tickets or PPV shows, they changed the name to "Sin". The hype for this show has been rather weak, but that blame goes to the WCW organizers, who didn't notice that they would be pre-empted months in advance, to you know, prepare. They've quickly rushed some angles, and did some odd things with others.
It should be noted that Eric Bischoff MIGHT have a hand in this Pay Per View, and he might want to start his era off with a BANG! Maybe?
Big Vito vs. Reno
Weak build up for this match. I guess that WCW wants us to remember what happened at Starrcade with these two? Anyway, I see Vito getting the win so that these guys could move on to other things.
Tito's Pick: Reno
Cruiserweight Title: Chavo Guerrero vs. Shane Helms
Chavo's contract is coming up soon, and I don't think Bischoff wants him around. Helms, with the title, would be good, because MAYBE WCW could actually build up a match between he and Shannon Moore, instead of slopping one together, out of no where, like they did on that one Nitro. Hopefully, he'll hit a "Nightmare on Helm Street" tonight. I've been hooked on the Nightmare on Elm Street series lately, and it would only be fitting for me.
Tito's Pick: Shane Helms
Hardcore Title: Meng vs. Terry Funk vs. Crowbar
Why does WCW shove Meng down our throats? Didn't they get that he was washed up after the 10 times Goldberg ran him over? I don't see the "new" WCW using Funk at all, so Crowbar is the most logical choice to win, I'd hope.
Tito's Pick: Crowbar
Commissioner: Mike Sanders vs. the Cat
The Cat sucks at everything else he does, so that's a good reason for the Cat winning. Plus, the Cat is good pals with Eric Bischoff, and I believe Bischoff will have some influence on this show tonight.
Tito's Pick: The Cat
Penalty Box Match: Team Canada vs. Filthy Animals
Why break the rules for this match? How lame. Ummm, I'll flip the famous Tito coin here... Hopefully, Rey-Rey sells some powerbombs tonight.
Tito's Pick: Team Canada
World Tag Titles: DDP/Nash vs. Natural Born Thrillers
Nash and DDP losing before Bischoff is in control? I don't think so. Plus, the NBT tag teams need built up some more, even Jindrak/O'Haire. Of course, when you get depushed for others, it happens.
Tito's Pick: The Insiders(get it?)
US Title: Shane Douglas vs. General Rection
The Bischoff influence is scaring me here... Rection is horrible, and Shane can at least draw SOME heat. I don't know anymore. MIA sucks, but yet I'm the only one who sees it. Hmm.
Tito's Pick: Shane Douglas
Bill Goldberg/Sarge vs. Buff/Luger
Oh lord. Let's hope that Bischoff pushes Goldberg to the moon after this match. Goldberg will run through these two washed up wrestlers tonight, and go on to better things.
Tito's Pick: Team Goldberg
World Title: Scott Steiner vs. Jeff Jarrett vs. Sid vs. Black Scorpion
Although I'll go with Rick Steiner as the Mystery Man, I won't doubt that maybe Hulk Hogan or Ric Flair will put on the mask. Ugh. If it's Rick, Scott has it in the bag! Jarrett's due for the title, since he worked hard in the midcards for the past 3 months. Hmm. I'll stay with Scott, which is the most logical choice. I hope.
Tito's Pick: Scott Steiner
Did you like my PPV hype today??? If so, let me know. I don't know if I'll keep this up, especially with long running PPVs like Royal Rumble coming up. That's over 10 years of PPVs to recap! AHHH!!! We'll see.
Results Correspondents Needed on LOP!
Wrestle Palooza Audio Show: Sin Preview Show Today!!! I, Mr. Tito, will be on the show with the great Bill Edgar and "Shooter" Shawn Valloric to hype Sin. Just CLICK HERE to listen. Show should by up by 2 pm EST today.
NEWS ORGY: Like News? Like Orgies?
@That's all for today. Enjoy Sin today, and go Raiders and Giants! Just chill till the next episode.