WCW Souled Out 2000
Cincinatti, OH - January 2000
COMMENTATORS: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Mike Tenay
Souled Out 2000 begins with Tony Schiavone announcing that Bret Hart is injured and had to vacate the World Championship and that Jeff Jarrett has also had to vacate his US Title, forcing the Powers to Be to make an impromptu main event pitting Chris Benoit vs. Sid for the WCW World Championship. We then cut to a clip of The Revolution (Malenko, Saturn, and Douglas) beating down Konnan to the point that he has been taken out of the arena too. With Jarrett and Hart not wrestling on the show, fans should be upset. With Konnan out? I'd say its a small win.
I'm going to go ahead and add a half-point for the graphics WCW busts out here. Was their budget cut in half before this show? The commentators run down the card and the graphics are literally nauseating, like sub-Max Headroom style. Speaking of vomit, extra half-point for Mike Tenay not puking when he tries to sell the audience on Oklahoma challenging Madusa for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. (+1)
The cost-cutting doesn't stop with the graphics, either, as the camera work and entrance way look much more gaudy in appearance than they had just a month earlier. I'm guessing when they axed Vince Russo before this show, they also decided to cut production costs too. Whatever the cause, Billy Kidman vs. Dean Malenko is our opener and, on paper, could've been good, but it does not last long. For some reason, the stipulation of this match is that you can lose if your feet touch the ground and Malenko takes a powder after something like 2 minutes of action so he loses. Why even have this match? Just incredibly dumb and the fans boo accordingly. Considering that coming into this show, with Jarrett/Benoit and Hart/Sid cancelled, WCW was in desperate need for content, cutting this match to under 3 minutes is extra dumb. Malenko/Kidman probably could've filled a very good 15 minutes but, instead, they opted to have them not do anything at all. Very bad. (0/5)
AUTHOR'S NOTE - Whoops. As I watched this match, I totally blanked on the fact that Malenko had asked for his release from the company prior to the show. This would explain why he was "jobbed out" and also why it looked like he gave zero shits about this match. My 0 rating stands.
Next up - David Flair vs. Crowbar vs. Vampiro. This is billed as a "triple threat" but its really more like a handicap match. A video package is aired before the match and its a bit astounding to watch because, say what you will about Shane McMahon's prominence on WWE programming over the years, in late 99', David Flair was treated like a top act despite the fact that he couldn't wrestle at all. David Flair was booked as a more legit madman threat than Bray Wyatt has been at any point in his career. At least with Shane, at least initially, he only wrestled on rare occasions and used kendo sticks, trash cans, and his childhood friends to bolster his abilities - David Flair wrestled weekly (sometimes more than one a week) and was a Tag Team Champion....Onto the match itself, Vampiro controls early, taking both men out early before, as one would expect, falling prey to the numbers game for a stretch. Crowbar (aka Devon Storm) has some better-than-average offense, enough to keep the crowd into things and carry this match beyond the normal awfulness of a David Flair match. Vampiro botches a reversal of a powerbomb and an audible "You Fucked Up" chant begins before they just go right into the next spot. Vampiro hits a Rock Bottom for two, but Flair breaks the count. Storm hits a huge splash from the top but doesn't go for the cover, instead encouraging David Flair to end it with a Figure Four. Vampiro doesn't tap, though, so Crowbar goes for the cover after another splash and Flair pulls him off (wanting the win for himself). The match wraps up when Daffney gets involved and Vampiro, wisely, steps aside and David Flair splashes into her in the corner. Vampiro hits the Nail in the Coffin to get the W and (hopefully) end this feud and Flair's in-ring career. Schiavone notes on commentary that Vampiro has quite a following and he's not wrong. As I was not a WCW viewer at the time, I definitely underestimated Vampiro's overness. He deserved a shot in the WWE. Surprisingly not a terrible match. (2.5/5)
Buff Bagwell arrives backstage. Cut to the Big Vito and The Bull arguing with Disco Inferno.
Back to the ring we go for The Harris Brothers vs. the aforementioned Johnny The Bull and Big Vito. The Harris Brothers being white supremacists makes it hard for me to enjoy their ringwork, but its also hard to enjoy their ringwork because they're one-dimensional and lack any charisma. The story coming into this match is that Inferno has been essentially forced to become the manager of the Bull and Vito and so he doesn't help them out on the outside. This match runs at least 3-5 minutes too long as, despite some decent action to start, the Harris Boys looked winded and out of ideas halfway through. A "Boring" chant starts as Johnny The Bull plays the heel-in-peril...? A small "D.O.A" chant can also be heard so its not like the entire audience shat on this match, but this was just nothing worthy of being on PPV - hell, I'm not sure it was even worthy of being on Thunder at this point. (0.5/5)
The infamous Cruiserweight Championship match is next - the champion Madusa defending against Oklahoma (who stole the belt the previous week on Nitro). I've written quite a bit about how unfunny the Oklahoma gimmick was so I won't get into it again here. Before the match, Oklahoma cuts a promo on the women in the audience. Madusa comes out and hits Oklahoma with a number of dropkicks and a headbutt-to-the-crotch in the corner. Schiavone jokes that the Cruiserweight Title has come a long way, admitting how much of a joke this match (and, in effect, this company) has become. Oklahoma hits Madusa with a DDT and goes to the outside where he tries to wrest away the deadly BBQ sauce bottle from Spice (Madusa's valet). Asya shows up and attacks Oklahoma, but he manages to get back into the ring and somehow get the W with a lucky roll-up. Oklahoma tries to escape with his new championship but Asya and Spice grab him and hold him still while Madusa covers him with BBQ sauce. Every bit as atrocious as its been written about. (0.5/5)
Brian Knobbs, the WCW Hardcore Champion, gives an interview backstage thanking Fit Finlay (one of his opponents tonight) for helping him "find his way" before his big 4-way title defense also featuring Meng and Norman Smiley. Knobbs and Finlay are dressed like a tag team (specifically, the Dudleys) and wrestle that way too, going after Meng and Smiley in an effort to eliminate them before squaring off themselves. This match is sloppy and there are a half-dozen unprotected chair shots that seem gratuitous and dangerous in 2018. The lack of structure or any semblance of escalation of violence makes this more boring than a match featuring so many weapon shots should ever be. The biggest pop of the match might be for Smiley's Big Wiggle, further evidence of how ineffective these types of matches had become in garnering crowd interest or excitement. (1/5)
Billy Kidman returns to the ring for his second match of the night, this time taking on Saturn in a Bunkhouse Brawl. Like the opener, I'm not sure The Revolution's Saturn understands that he's involved in a stipulation match until the referee reminds him about 5 minutes into the thing. Saturn dominates early and hits a number of his patented maneuvers, including several springboard moves and an excellent superkick. Saturn tries to draw heat by jawing to the crowd, but the crowd is just indifferent to the entire affair. Unlike Malenko, Saturn at least wants to go out on a high note as he also requested his release prior to the show. Still, all of Saturn's efforts don't really get the crowd involved. I'm thinking they would've had some more engagement if Kidman was able to gain sympathy and support through hope spots and cut-offs, but they're non-existent for the first half of this match. As one might expect, a release suplex over the top rope that sends Kidman through a table gets a great reaction. Back to the ring they go and the "Bunkhouse Brawl" element is forgotten again as they start trading wrestling moves. Kidman gets a fluke win despite having inflicted almost no damage at all to Saturn. Saturn's execution might be great and his offense flashy, but the layout of this match made almost no sense. (1.5/5)
A video airs of Stevie Ray hanging out in an impoverished area of Atlanta. This was supposed to make Ray look like a heel? Stevie Ray accuses Booker T of turning his back on his real friends and family. Cut to backstage where Stevie promises "Mean" Gene that he's going to hurt Booker T...
And to the ring we go for Brother vs. Brother - Stevie Ray vs. Booker T. I'm usually a sucker for Brother vs. Brother matches, but I had some real misgivings about this one based on Stevie Ray having a sub-average average Kwang rating and Booker T, despite being a character and performer I've liked at times, not being one I've consistently found to be all that great. Wisely, Ray and Booker T kept this one physical and made this more of a brawl than the "Bunkhouse Brawl" match that preceded it. Stevie Ray eventually (and predictably) slows things down with a chinlock, but Booker T fights back and hits a good sequence of trademark moves before we get a run-in from one of latter-day WCW's biggest flop signings, Ahmed "Big T" Johnson. The crowd definitely recognizes Ahmed despite the fact that he looks to be a good 20-30 pounds heavier than he was in his last WWF appearance. This just goes to show how batshit insane WCW was by 99' as two years earlier they almost buried their biggest babyface act (Sting) because he looked a little pale and soft but here they're acting like Ahmed Johnson (who had vanished since leaving the WWE in early 98') is someone to be feared. Yeah, sure, maybe at the Nathan's Invitational. Anyway, Stevie hits a woeful Slapjack and then Ahmed connects with a slightly less sloppy Pearl River Plunge. Midnight runs out but is too afraid to attempt to make the save. What happened to her using the element of surprise and cutting the lights before her run-ins? All in all, not the worst match I've ever seen and there is a little bit of fun to be had in seeing Ahmed Johnson again, one of the more interesting "coulda been a contender" characters in modern pro-wrestling. (1.5/5)
Tank Abbott destroys Jerry Flynn next. This match doesn't even last two minutes and seems to be a semi-shoot with Flynn, who might've been able to hold his own in a real MMA context, letting Abbott pound his face in. Abbott getting the Goldberg treatment wouldn't have been a bad idea if it hadn't have just been done two years earlier. For what this is and supposed to be, I'd call it an effective, if uninteresting, showcase. (2/5)
A video package promotes the next match-up: Buff Bagwell vs. Diamond Dallas Page in a Last Man Standing match. This was your typical WCW falls count anywhere brawl in that they went into the crowd and eventually went to the "internet area" for a table spot (that the camera crew failed to actually capture). I wrote this in one of my other recent reviews but this era of DDP's career showed just how much WCW wasted his talent as it was only 2 years earlier that he was having awesome matches against Randy Savage and, before that, better-than-they-have-any-right-to-be matches against Johnny B. Badd and Alex Wright. Page was obviously uninspired by the material WCW was giving him and Bagwell, while more over than I remember him being at this time (especially with the females), was just not the right opponent for a tweenerish Page (who gets his fair share of cheers). Page's role at this point was just a bizarre mix of concerned husband/obsessed co-dependent. Kimberly, the centerpiece of this feud, eventually makes her way down the aisle but doesn't actually make it down in time to be involved in the finish. Speaking of the finish, it is putrid: Buff hits his finisher and nails DDP with a riot stick, but only gets a 9 count for both. Then DDP blasts him with the Diamond Cutter only for DDP to be the one not to answer the 10 count. After the match, Kimberly is supposed to look conflicted, I think? Poor production, poor booking, and poor acting on Kimberly's part really hurt what was, at times, a decent fight. (1.5/5)
Billy Kidman makes his way into the cage for his third match of the night, taking on a mystery man selected The Revolution. Shane Douglas comes out and announces that Kidman's opponent is noneother than...The Wall. The crowd is definitely not "wowed" by this, though it could be worse and they could've put Ahmed Johnson in this position. Kidman and The Wall actually wrestle a relatively physical, heated cage match (though the cage itself is barely used) with Kidman definitely working to establish himself as a guy credible enough to take on someone far bigger than him. With the Radicalz leaving, one has to think Kidman saw an opportunity on this show and was striving to make the most of it. Unfortunately, the Wall wasn't really established enough for this to feel like as big of a match as Kidman and the commentators would've wanted. The Wall ends up winning via chokeslam to continue his push and one has to wonder why they'd have Kidman overcome all the odds the rest of the night just to lose the final match to a guy that wasn't even really in The Revolution? One step forward, two steps back booking. (1/5)
Next up, Kevin Nash vs. Terry Funk in a No DQ match to decide who will be the Commissioner of WCW. At this point, WCW's "talent raiding" had reached its ungodly conclusion, with the company going from stealing ECW's best talents (Eddie Guerrero, Benoit, Malenko, Mysterio in the mid-90s) to their best characters (Raven, Sandman) to their most broken down performers (Shane Douglas, Terry Funk). Nash dominates but doesn't move around too much better than the Funker. Nash sends him through a table and Funk emerges busted open - which doesn't make perfect sense, but at least adds drama to the match. There was a time when Nash seemed to give a crap about actually building a match and telling a story in the ring or at least playing to the crowd - and its not like it was that long ago as the Starrcade match against Goldberg, as imperfect as it was, at least felt like a big deal - but he is just totally coasting by this point. The crowd is firmly behind Nash, who grabs a mic and puts himself over by mocking Funk as he tries to get back in the ring. After a low blow hope spot from the Funker, Nash regains control and powerbombs him through some chairs (which, admittedly, is always a cool spot) to win the Commissionership. At least this was entertaining even if it was also kinda sad to watch. If I'm not mistaken, Nash, despite winning this match, took a vacation a few weeks after the show and was off TV for awhile. (2/5)
Main event time - Sid vs. Chris Benoit for the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship. This match has been praised in certain circles on the interwebs, but I just don't think it holds up one bit (and that has nothing to do with Benoit's crimes). The crowd is heavily behind Sid in Cincinnati while, at least on the internet, Benoit was the more popular/beloved figure at the time. Benoit bumps huge in the early minutes, but there's little "flow" to the match as Benoit just kinda throws himself into position for Sid to toss him around. For someone so respected for making his matches look competitive and "real," this one features way too much choreography and guys just "taking moves" instead of trying to wrestle their way out of them (and that includes Benoit's dropkicks into the steps, which Sid just lies there for). Benoit wrestles with a little bit of heelishness, but its not pronounced enough through the whole course of the match to feel like a special performance out of the guy. In fact, its Sid who brings all the emotion to this match as Benoit doesn't really express much of anything beyond his normal aggression - not frustration, not disappointment, not desperation. Benoit hits some impressive suplexes and Sid's "Hulk Up" moments genuinely pop the crowd, but the finish is just atrocious. Benoit, despite working on Sid's legs for the vast majority of the match, wins with a Crossface after Sid taps out in under 3 seconds (despite the commentators laying it on heavy that Sid would "never quit"). The finish not only makes Sid look weak, but it kills the commentators credibility too. Sid's leg is clearly under the rope, which might've been a neat trick to give the company an easy "out," but is bothersome because, not 5 seconds before Benoit locks in the Crossface, guest referee Arn Anderson breaks Sid's count for the same reason. Just a stupid mess that doesn't even give the live crowd what they wanted. I've seen some people go as far as to call this a 3.5-star match but I'm not going anywhere close to that with my review. In fact, I think their Fall Brawl match from a few months earlier was probably better. (2/5)
With Vince Russo suddenly out of the picture, WCW had to scramble to put together Souled Out 2000 and it shows. Wooh, boy, does it show. An absolute mess from top to bottom, this show only contains one match that could even called "average" and its high point is probably just the Tim & Eric graphics that open up the show. With an average score of 1.42-out-of-5, this show is unrecommendable and I remain baffled that there are some corners of the internet where the main event actually gets praised as a miraculous carry job when there are multiple, fundamental flaws with the match.
FINAL RATING - DUDleyville
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