WCW Souled Out 1997 Results and Review

Poster From The Event - Pretty Cool For 1997, Honestly

In 1997 big changes hit the professional wrestling world. In the WWF at the time, Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin were getting ready to switch places. The Undertaker, Vader, and several others were caught up in the main event scene, with Wrestlemania 13 going to be a big one that was set up by a lot of frustrating booking. Meanwhile, WCW had been booming with the introduction of the New World Order. The NWO was so big, that they decided to throw Souled Out in January, and the first edition was all New World Order themed. Everything from the mat, the lighting, to the structure of the matches were in favor of the NWO and it was great in my view.

This event took place on January 25, 1997 and it had an attendance of 5,120. If you look at the PPV, the venue was absolutely packed, and it was a very cool building to have a show. The crowd went nuts from time to time, but it wasn’t as hectic as some other events that would come through in 1997 from WCW< but it still had a good crowd. With that in mind, let’s consider the matches, and a review of this big event.

WCW Souled Out 1997 Results

Masahiro Chono defeated Chris Jericho
Big Bubba Rogers defeated Hugh Morris in a Mexican Death Match
Jeff Jarrett defeated Mr. Wallstreet
Buff Bagwell defeated Scotty Riggs
Scott Norton defeated Diamond Dallas Page via Countout
The Steiner Brothers defeated The Outsiders for the WCW World Tag Team Championship
Eddie Guerrero defeated Syxx in a ladder match for the WCW Light Heavyweight Championship
Hollywood Hogan fought The Giant to a no contest in the WCW World Championship Match

WCW Souled Out 1997 Review

Masahiro Chono defeated Chris Jericho

At the time, WCW had a partnership with New Japan Pro Wrestling. They had talent come through to face off against their homegrown talent, and this was one of those matches. Jericho was fighting against Chono’s strong style, and it was definitely stiff. There were a few moments where you could tell Jericho and Chono had a language gap, and you could feel the pain that Jericho was getting into for this one. A decent opener, but Chono got the big win for NWO Japan.

Big Bubba Rogers defeated Hugh Morris in a Mexican Death Match

I’m always surprised by how athletic Big Bubba was. Not only that, Hugh Morris had one of the best moonsaults in the industry. This match was fun, under 10 minutes, hard hitting, fast moving, and interesting to watch, but nothing too grand on the line.

Jeff Jarrett defeated Mr. Wallstreet

This was a boring point in the night. The fans didn’t care for either one of these guys, and honestly, neither did I. A standard wrestling match, with nothing too grand to report here.

Buff Bagwell defeated Scotty Riggs

This is a significant match because Riggs and Bagwell were separating. The American Males were no longer and the two were feuding as a result. Buff joined the New World Order and Riggs wouldn’t get much of a push until he got involved in a feud with Raven towards November of 1997. Riggs would be a glorified jobber on WCW television until then. Oh, this match was cool, hard hitting, and back and forth, but in the end Riggs would lose to Buff.

Scott Norton defeated Diamond Dallas Page via Countout

Norton was a beast. This match was hard hitting, and DDP did his best to entertain the crowd, but Norton wasn’t selling nearly as much, and well, he would eventually win.

A Note On The Miss NWO Contest

Throughout the show there was a showcase of middle-age women that were going to be Miss New World Order. This was lame, and everyone involved said it was lame in shoot interviews. This was stupid, and really broke up the flow of the show.

The Steiner Brothers defeated The Outsiders for the WCW World Tag Team Championship

The Steiner Brothers were getting a bit older here, and it showed. Scott was going to turn into Big Poppa Pump soon, but before that, the Steiners put on a nice match with The Outsiders. Hall and Nash were not really working hard in their matches in WCW, at least not every single time they tagged together. This was evident in this match. There were a few good spots, but overall, the Steiners had little to work with out of Hall and Nash. That didn’t matter, the match got the crowd going, and the title change was a great option, even if it was only one night.

Eddie Guerrero defeated Syxx in a ladder match for the WCW Light Heavyweight Championship

Guerrero and Syxx put on a showcase of some serious talent. This is a five star classic if you ask me. I know it’s not as high flying as some of the more recent ladder matches, but for 1997, this was an incredible match, with a lot of pain involved. Syxx’s heel kick from the top of the ladder is worth the price of admission alone. Guerrero taking bumps like crazy was interesting, and overall this match was absolutely a show stopper.

Hollywood Hogan fought The Giant to a no contest in the WCW World Championship Match

Hogan fought the Giant to a really cool match. I suggest watching all of the matches that The Giant had in WCW because he works very differently than when he was in WWE. Remember, the WWE forced him to not only change his style, but also retrain in OVW after his stellar year in 2000. Whatever the case may be, this match was entertaining, and the crowd ate it up. The end came when the ref, aligned with the NWO, wouldn’t count the 3 and Giant got mad and beat him up. The whole New World Order would come out and get choke slammed one by one for their trouble, and this match just ended in a no contest. The crowd kept chanting for Sting, and he never showed up. The New World Order would get the last laugh as they beat up the Giant, pulled his pants down and wrote NWO across his back. No joke.

Final Thoughts on NWO Souled Out 1997

This was a cool match, I love it. I think that above all else, the ladder match was incredible. Syxx gets a lot of crap for who he was and is, but if you watch this match, you’ll realize that the guy could really wrestle. He put on a show with Guerrero, and the two really did a fine job with the ladder. Not a lot of spots like today, but more psychology and movement, great stuff.

The VHS copies of this event are rare, so you’ll have to look into picking it up on the WWE network, sorry folks.

A Better VHS Experience: WCW World War 3 1997 Results and Review

World War 3 - 1997 Results and Review - A Better VHS Experience

The Palace of Auburn Hills was the home for this event in 1997. The big jump that WCW was gaining in popularity was evident here. This venue was coming from Auburn Hills, Michigan, and there were 17,128 people jam packed in the building for this event. This had a total of 9 matches, and it really showcased how powerful the WCW brand started to get.

I used to have the VHS edition of WCW World War 3 1997, and the original recording from the PPV. I can tell you that there are a lot of musical edits, as well as sign edits that the WWE has put on the Network. If you want to see the unedited version of this, you should buy the VHS tape here.

Here are the quick results, and then I’ll go into the review of the wrestling.

WCW World War 3 1997 Results

The Faces of Fear defeated Glacier and Ernest Miller
Perry Saturn defeated Disco Inferno (WCW Television Title Match)
Yuji Nagata defeated Ultimo Dragon
The Steiner Brothers defeated The Blue Bloods (WCW Tag Team Title Match)
Raven defeated Scotty Riggs (Raven’s Rules Match)
Steve McMichael defeated Alex Wright
Eddie Guerrero defeated Rey Mysterio Jr. (WCW Cruiserweight Championship Match)
Curt Hennig defeated Ric Flair (NO DQ WCW U.S. Title Match)
Scott Hall won World War 3 after eliminating The Giant

WCW World War 3 Review

Here we go, the event was one of the highlights of WCW’s 1997 year. Of course, on the opposite side of wrestling, you had the WWF putting on a show known as Survivor Series in which they completely screwed over Bret Hart, but hey, that’s their thing, and this is the WCW version. Let’s talk WCW and this event that went down.

The Faces of Fear defeated Glacier and Ernest Miller

I may be one of the only idiots that liked Glacier. Yes, he was a gimmick that was ripped from Mortal Kombat, but that wasn’t a bad thing. He had some stellar wrestling moves, and was far better than Ernest Miller. The Faces of Fear were always grand in my book, and Meng was still in his prime before getting injured by Bill Goldberg. The Barbarian was slowing down, but overall this wasn’t a bad match. There was a lot of power moves and eventually the Faces of Fear got the big win.

Match Rating: 2 out of 5

Perry Saturn defeated Disco Inferno (WCW Television Title Match)

Perry Saturn was a very unique wrestler and it showed here with Disco Inferno. Disco is always a character, but he did put on some good matches here and there. This was a good one, but it was Perry Saturn’s unique offense that got the win. Saturn won with the rings of Saturn from what I remember, but overall, this match was well timed, and on the button. Saturn and Disco’s timing was great here, and I definitely enjoyed the match.

Match Rating: 3 out of 5

Yuji Nagata defeated Ultimo Dragon

If you’re not a pure wrestling fan, then you aren’t going to like this match. At the time Ultimo Dragon was feuding with his manager Sony Onoo and Nagata was taking Ultimo’s place in the Asian wrestling stable that was in WCW. Yuji Nagata was the heel, and Dragon was playing off of his strong style. Dragon was great here, and Nagata’s strong style, mixed with some clever counters made this match really strong. The fans didn’t get it at first, but over time they started to get into it and the ending was a shocker, with Ultimo falling short thanks to Sonny Onoo’s constant nagging outside.

Match Rating: 3 out of 5

The Steiner Brothers defeated The Blue Bloods (WCW Tag Team Title Match)

This was a hard-hitting match, with The Steiner Brothers working very stiff with Regal and Taylor. I liked it, the fans seemed to get a kick out of the Steiners, and the match was not too long. You’re not going to get a technical masterpiece here, but The Blue Bloods do have enough heat to make you invest a little bit of your attention into this match up. The Steiners were definitely a great team at one point, so don’t just judge them by their solo runs.

Check out WCW World War 3 1997 VHS Tape, by purchasing it here!

Match Rating: 2 out of 5

Raven defeated Scotty Riggs (Raven’s Rules Match)

JJ Dillon came out and announced that Raven had to decide whether or not he was going to sign a WCW contract. He hadn’t yet, in story line. Well this match featured some nice hits, and Riggs was definitely a good foil for Raven. The match was hard hitting as it was No DQ and it eventually saw Riggs get beat down to the point where he was knocked out solid. I loved the drop toe hold to a steel chair, and the fact that Riggs sold the gimmick by wearing an eye patch. At the end of the match, the flock picked up Riggs and went out of the arena through the crowd. I loved Raven’s WCW Run.

Match Rating: 3 out of 5

Steve McMichael defeated Alex Wright

I miss Alex Wright. I liked the stupid dance, and then Kaz, and the other dancing idiots. This wasn’t much of a match. McMichael was underrated if you ask me, and he won this without a ton of action. It was a fun in between.

Match Rating: 2 out of 5

Eddie Guerrero defeated Rey Mysterio Jr. (WCW Cruiserweight Championship Match)

People always cite the original match, but this is one is my personal favorite. Rey Mysterio and Eddy (as I read it) put on another great match. This time around, Eddie was wrestling a hard style on this one. Instead of flying around, Mysterio was grounded, and Guerrero was attacking ribs, legs, and grounding the little guy. There were a few moments that showed Mysterio selling injuries from Nitro and previous matches. If you liked the Halloween Havoc match, then you will like this one for sure. Without Eddie trying to break Mysterio’s mask, this match really took on a whole new world. Again, people like to cite the Halloween Havoc match as their best, but this was definitely a great sequel to a great match. More people should mention this one, especially with Eddie’s psychology focusing on body parts of Mysterio rather than just trying to do the same thing he did at Halloween Havoc. Great moments, that led to a false finish, and eventual win by Eddie Guerrero! Great match, and one of the best in the cruiserweight division ever! Killer frog splash for the win, and the constant Eddie Sucks chants, great stuff here. Mysterio put on a valiant effort, but man, Eddie was on fire here.

Match Rating: 5 out of 5

Curt Hennig defeated Ric Flair (NO DQ WCW U.S. Title Match)

Two guys that are legends in wrestling faced off over the United States title on this show. How could these guys follow up a stellar cruiserweight match? Well, psychology my dear friends, some great overall booking in this match up. Hennig and Flair put on a show of chops, reversals, suplexes, and a great overall ending. In the end, Ric Flair slapped on the Figure Four and looked to be winning the title, but Hennig used the belt, which was in the ring to knock his old ass out, and then get the win. This had the crowd going crazy, and for me, this was a great booking decision, a desperation move that made this rad.

Match Rating: 4 out of 5

Scott Hall won World War 3 after eliminating The Giant

This was a great one. Scott Hall was getting beat down, and a lot of different wrestlers were part of the last 10, 6, and 4 and then it was The Giant and Scott Hall! The crowd erupted, and then Sting came down from the rafters, going absolutely ape, only to find out that it was KEVIN NASH! Oh man, great ending to a good overall show. For those that aren’t familiar with World War 3, it’s a 60 man battle royal.

Match Rating: 3 out of 5

As far as WCW shows are concerned, World War 3 is a great example of a great show amidst a bad show versus the WWF. Yes, the Montreal Screw Job occurred in WWF in the same month, but this show was better all around. I loved it. I didn’t like the screw job, and didn’t think that show had a lot to it, but this one, had a lot of wrestling, great moments, and overall stellar match ups in the final 3 matches.

My recommendation is that you purchase the VHS tape of this, and NOT watch it on the WWE Network. You will find that there are subtle edits, changes in the music, and a lot of cuts that weren’t supposed to be there. But hey, that’s just my two cents.