DigificWriter

Thanks for the feedback, FillerUgliest04. Under normal circumstances, our PPV results WOULD be longer, but we had some computer problems that forced us to restor to the Nitro-style recap in order to get the results posted without a further delay.

Sorry it took so long to get these results up, but real life (and some computer problems) got in the way.

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SOULED OUT Results

January 25, 1998

The second-ever nWo-sponsored Souled Out PPV turned out to be a night that WCW fans might never forget. The night saw scores settled, a new superstar debut in dramatic fashion, and, in the case of one WCW superstar, what could possibly be a career-changing moment. The night also saw four of WCW's five titles change hands, with only Sting managing to retain his championship, despite the efforts of Hollywood Hogan and the appearance of a man who up until Souled Out was thought to be an employee of ECW: Taz. Hogan and Taz would have succeeded in their quest to bring the belt back to the nWo had it not been for the intervention of the ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage, still out for vengeance against Hogan. Also, in what added further salt to the wounds of the nWo, J.J. Dillon announced that Hogan cannot challenge for the World Heavyweight title again while Sting is champion.

Despite his failure to help Hogan recapture the WCW title, Taz’ arrival was a highpoint for the nWo, but it wouldn't be the only one. The Outsiders defeated The Steiner Brothers to make their claim that they were the 'real' WCW World Tag Team Champions a reality, though they did it in dubious fashion. Late in the match, Scott and Rick started arguing with each other, and the Outsiders took advantage. With the ref trying to restore order, Scott Hall hit Scott in the back of the head with an illegal object and then made the pinfall to give himself and Kevin Nash the victory and the tag titles.

For weeks, Ric Flair had been pressuring Bret Hart to prove that he really was “the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be,” and at Souled Out he may have proved exactly that with a pinfall victory over the Nature Boy. The Giant was another WCW competitor who sought to settle the score with his opponent at Souled Out, the ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage, whom the Giant blamed for missing out on the World Heavyweight Title main event. The Giant got his revenge, albeit with an unwanted assist from Hollywood Hogan.

Also victorious was Chris Jericho, who became the new United States Heavyweight Champion in an upset win over Diamond Dallas Page. Yet, as surprising as Jericho's win was, it was not the night's most shocking. The old saying goes “the third time is the charm,” and Lizmark, Jr. seems to be the living embodiment of that term, rising out of obscurity when he pinned Ultimo Dragon for the third consecutive time, this time in a four-way dance with the WCW Cruiserweight Championship on the line. Still one more title change occurred when Eddie Guerrero cheated his way to victory over WCW Television Champion Booker T.

Match Results

Bill Goldberg d. Ernest ‘The Cat’ Miller and Glacier (handicap match)

Lizmark, Jr. d. Ultimo Dragon, Juventud Guerrera and Psychosis to win the WCW Cruiserweight Championship (four-way dance)

Eddie Guerrero d. Booker T. to win the WCW Television Championship

Mortis and Wrath d. The Faces of Fear

Chris Benoit d. Saturn (Raven must face Benoit at SuperBrawl)

Chris Jericho d. Diamond Dallas Page to win the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship

The Giant d. ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage

The Outsiders d. The Steiner Brothers to win the WCW World Tag-Team Championship

Bret Hart d. Ric Flair

Sting d. Hollywood Hogan to retain the WCW World Heavyweight Championship (Hogan cannot challenge for the title again as long as Sting is the champion)

Preview

Courtesy of 1Wrestling.Com

Thursday, January 22

This Sunday, WCW presents the nWo-sponsored Souled Out PPV. Coming off of a hugely successful 1997, WCW is looking to continue its success into the new year with Souled Out. With the PPV just days away, we here at 1Wrestling.Com are here to run down the card and give our thoughts on each match.

WCW World Heavyweight Championship

Hollywood Hogan vs. Sting ©

Sting spent most of the year 1997 feuding with the nWo, who tried to sully his name by making WCW fans believe that he'd joined their ranks. This culminated in an epic match at Starrcade '97 that saw Sting dethrone Hollywood Hogan and become the WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Now, heading into Souled OUt, the two men will once again collide. This match was set up on the January 19th edition Nitro as the result of a one-night tournament put together by J.J. Dillon, but if the past two encounters between these two men are any indication of what we're going to be treated to at Souled Out, this could be one hell of a match, especially if you factor in the issues Hogan's been having recently with the 'Macho Man' Randy Savage, whom he unceremoniously kicked out of the nWo a couple of weeks ago.

'The Nature Boy' Ric Flair vs. Bret 'The Hitman' Hart

After being screwed over by Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series '97 in the infamous 'Montreal Screwjob', Bret Hart came to WCW looking for a fresh start. When he expressed a desire to test himself against some of WCW (and the nWo)'s biggest names, but failed to mention Ric Flair as one of those names, the 'Nature Boy' took this to mean that Hart believed he was better than him and challenged 'The Hitman' to face him in the ring.

WCW World Tag Team Championship

The Outsiders vs. The Steiner Brothers ©

Since defeating their arch-nemeses The Outsiders for the WCW World Tag-Team titles, the Steiner Brothers have been like a thorn in the side of the nWo. Hall and Nash have since acquired phony tag-team title belts and have proclaimed themselves the true World Tag-Team Champions. However, the Outsiders’ inability to accept the fact that their title reign ended over five months ago pales in comparison to the Steiner Brothers’ own inner turmoil. Since the beginning of the year, Scott Steiner has been displaying a meaner attitude and a darker side to himself than we have ever witnessed before.

'Macho Man' Randy Savage vs. The Giant

The purpose of this match can be summed up in one word: revenge. On the January 19th edition of Nitro, J.J. Dillon set up a one-night tournament to determine who would face Sting for the WCW World Heavyweight title. After being rendered unable to compete in the tournament courtesy of an attack by Hogan, Savage came to the ring during the finals of the tournament (in which Hogan faced off with The Giant) to get his revenge on the nWo leader. However, his eagerness to get at Hogan ultimately cost The Giant his shot at winning the tournament, a fact that the 7'4" 480-pound big man didn't like in the least. Incensed at Savage because of his interference, The Giant challenged the 'Macho Man' to a match.

WCW United States Championship

'The Lionheart' Chris Jericho vs. Diamond Dallas Page ©

Chris Jericho, one of the best young talents on WCW's roster, is finally back on the winning track after suffering a string of embarrassing losses, and, this Sunday, has an opportunity to pick up his first WCW title since losing the Cruiserweight Championship when he goes one-on-one with Diamond Dallas Page for the WCW United States Championship. This match came about after Page tried to give Jericho a pep talk after one of Jericho's losses. After beating Page in a non-title match to end his losing streak on WCW Saturday Night this past week, Jericho declared that it was time to get some gold around his waist and challenged Page to defend the US title against him, a challenge that the ever-ready-for-a-fight Page accepted without hesitation.

'The Canadian Crippler' Chris Benoit vs. Saturn

Chris Benoit has had an ongoing feud with Raven and his Flock over the past couple of months. Raven continuously has refused to face Benoit and has sent his minions in to challenge the Canadian Crippler instead. One after another, Benoit met each challenge with swift victory after swift victory until Raven called upon his #1 agent, Saturn. Benoit has asked for one stipulation in addition to Raven’s preference of no DQ: If he (Benoit) wins, Raven MUST face him at SuperBrawl.

Mortis and Wrath vs. The Faces of Fear

What began as a simple one-on-one match between Wrath and the Barbarian has escalated into an all-out war during the month of January between two of the top tag-teams in all of WCW. Both are teams that the WCW fans have loved to hate in the past. Since the winner surely will be a top contender for the World Tag Team titles, will the fans be able to force themselves to get behind the lesser of the two evils?

WCW Television Championship

Booker T © vs. Eddie Guerrero

Since winning the WCW Television title at the end of 1997, Booker T has been a fighting champion, accepting any and all challenges to his title, the latest of which is Eddie Guerrero. A former WCW Cruiserweight and United States Champion, Guerrero is looking to regain some of his former glory, and a win over Booker T could be just the thing he needs to get noticed again.

WCW Cruiserweight Championship

Juventud Guerrera vs. Lizmark Jr. vs. Psychosis vs. Ultimo Dragon ©

Cruiserweight wrestling, which has long been a staple of Japanese and Mexican wrestling programming, is slowly beginning to gain prominence here in the United States. And nowhere is Cruiserweight wrestling hotter than in WCW, with the company boasting some of the world's best cruiserweight competitors. This Sunday, 3 of WCW's brightest Cruiserweight stars (Juventud Guerrera, Psychosis, and WCW Cruiserweight Champion Ultimo Dragon) will step into the ring with one of its lesser-known Cruiserweight competitors (Lizmark Jr.) in a 4-way Dance for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. All four men in this match are capable of coming away with the title, which means that the chances of Dragon retaining the belt are much less than they would be were he defending it in a traditional one-on-one match. Add in the fact that all four men have vastly different styles of wreslting and you have all the ingredients for an incredibly exciting match that has the potential to be a contender for Match of the Year.

Bill Goldberg vs. Ernest 'The Cat' Miller and Glacier

Since debuting in WCW in September of 1997, the man they call Bill Goldberg has been on a roll, tearing through WCW superstars left and right. However, the former Atlanta Falcons football player faces the biggest challenge of his fledgling career at Souled Out when he takes on the experienced tag team duo of Ernest 'The Cat' Miller and Glacier. In all of his matches thus far in WCW, Goldberg has never faced more than one opponent at a time, which creates an interesting situation for him.

NITRO Results

January 12, 1998

When Nitro went off the air last week with Randy Savage down in the ring after having been taken down by his fellow nWo members Hollywood Hogan, Eric Bischoff, and Kevin Nash, the world was left with more questions than answers as to what was going on with the 'Macho Man', and, even after this week's Nitro, we still have very little answers and even more questions. After arriving at the arena separately, 'Macho Man' Randy Savage confronted the rest of the nWo and angrily challenged Hollywood Hogan and Eric Bischoff Kevin Nash to a tag team match in retaliation for what they had done the week before. However, when he attempted to find partners among the other members of the nWo, Savage was unsuccessful. However, his inability to find partners ultimately didn't matter, as Hogan refused to actively abuse Savage, trying to convince the 'Macho Man' that the whole thing was a misunderstanding. Savage, though, would have nothing of Hogan's talking and blasted the nWo leader with a steel chair, which led to him being ambushed by Bischoff and beaten down. Then, in an act that surprised everyone, including some of the other members of the nWo, Hogan called the rest of the nWo down to the ring and ordered them to hold Savage down while he [Hogan] spraypainted the 'Macho Man' with the nWo's colors.

In other nWo-related action, the Outsiders picked up a victory over the WCW Tag Team Champions, The Steiner Brothers, in a non-title match after Scott's new agressive attitude caused him to inadvertantly clothesline Rick while the two were attempting to double-team Hall. However, the victory did come with its own consequences, as Nash was almost immediately assaulted by an angry Giant, who was looking to resolve issues with Nash that had gone unresolved since Starrcade when Nash failed to show for his scheduled match that evening (which was against The Giant).

In addition to the drama unfolding within the ranks of the nWo, Nitro saw further developments in the feud that seems to be building between the 'Nature Boy' Ric Flair and Bret 'The Hitman' Hart. Following a backstage altercation with Hart, the British Bulldog, and Jim 'The Anvil' Neidhart, Flair took on Neidhart in singles action. However, the match broke down into a 3-on-1 assault on Flair courtesy of Hart, Neidhart, and the Bulldog before it could even officially get underway. The brawl was touched off when Flair, showing further aspects of his old heelish Nature Boy personality, verbally assaulted Neidhart's wife, who was in the front row of the audience.

In other action, obscure Cruiserweight performer Lizmark Jr. scored a huge upset over the WCW Cruiserweight champion, Ultimo Dragon, in a non-title match, Chris Jericho tried and failed to turn around his recent losing streak when he took on Steve McMichael, and Booker T successfully defended his Television title against Flock member Saturn, although he did it in controversial fashion after taking advantage of interference from Chris Benoit. Speaking of Benoit, the 'Canadian Crippler' became the first person to announce his official participation in a match at Souled Out when he challenged Saturn to face him at the upcoming PPV.

Match Results

Steve McMichael d. Chris Jericho

Goldberg d. Glacier

World Television Champion Booker T d. Saturn

Lizmark Jr. d. Cruiserweight Champion Ultimo Dragon (non-title match)

Ric Flair and Jim Neidhart wrestled to a No Contest

Randy Savage, Eric Bischoff, and Hollywood Hogan wrestled to a No Contest

The Outsiders d. World Tag-Team Champions The Steiner Brothers (non-title match)

NITRO Preview

January 12, 1998

For the second straight week in a row, Nitro went off the air in the midst of controversy and drama concerning the nWo. After losing to Lex Luger, Randy Savage went beserk, attacking both Eric Bischoff and Hollywood Hogan after they inexplicably tried to prevent him from destroying Luger with a steel chair. What does this mean for the nWo? Tune into Nitro this Monday night to find out.

And if the developing situation with the nWo weren't exciting and intriguing enough, there's the situation that seems to be developing between WCW's newest superstar Bret Hart and the 13-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair. Last week on Nitro, Flair verbally assaulted Hart, showing a side of his personality that we haven't seen for some time. Speaking of the Nature Boy, he will be in action this Monday when he faces off with Hart's brother-in-law Jim 'The Anvil' Neidhart.

Also last week, Scott Steiner exhibited a new-found aggression during his and Rick's non-title match with the nWo's Buff Bagwell and Konnan. This week, the Steiners could stand to put some of that new aggression to work when they face off with their #1 enemies The Outsiders.

In other action, Lizmark Jr. takes on the new WCW Cruiserweight Champion, Ultimo Dragon, in a non-title match, Booker T defends the WCW Television Championship against Flock member Saturn, and Chris Jericho takes on Steve McMichael.

Confirmed Matches

Ric Flair vs. Jim Neidhart

Lizmark Jr. vs. Ultimo Dragon

Booker T vs. Saturn (WCW Television Championship Match)

The Steiner Brothers vs. The Outsiders

Chris Jericho vs. Steve McMichael

Courtesy of WCW.Com

It was announced on WCW.Com today that in an effort to downsize its massively bloated roster, WCW has parted ways with the following superstars:

Barry Darsow

Barry Horowitz

Big Titan

Bobby Blaze

Bobby Eaton

Brad Armstrong

Chris Adams

Damien

Dusty Rhodes

El Dandy

Greg Valentine

Hardwork Bobby Walker

Jerry Flynn

Jim Duggan

Jim Powers

Jimmy Hart

Joey Maggs

Johnny Swinger

Kendall Windham

Kenny Kaos

Lanny Poffo

Lenny Lane

Louie Spicolli

Madusa

Mark Starr

Marty Jannetty

Michael Wallstreet

Mike Enos

nWo Sting

Ray Traylor

Roadblock

Robbie Rage

Scott Armstrong

Sick Boy

Silver King

The Disciple

The Renegade

Villano IV

Villano V

Wayne Bloom

WCW would like to thank these individuals for the time they spent with the company and wishes them the very best of luck in the future.

Main Eventers

Bret 'The Hitman' Hart

'Hollywood' Hogan

Kevin Nash

'Macho Man' Randy Savage

'The Nature Boy' Ric Flair

'Rowdy' Roddy Piper

Scott Hall

Sting

Upper Midcarders

Booker T

Curt Hennig

'The British Bulldog' Davey Boy Smith

Diamond Dallas Page

'The Total Package' Lex Luger

Raven

'The Dog-Faced Gremlin' Rick Steiner

Scott Steiner

The Giant

The Great Muta

Midcarders

'Das Wunderkind' Alex Wright

Bill Goldberg

'Delicious' Buff Bagwell

'The Canadian Crippler' Chris Benoit

'The Lionheart' Chris Jericho

'The Iceman' Dean Malenko

Disco Inferno

Eddie Guerrero

Ernest 'The Cat' Miller

Fit Finlay

Jim 'The Anvil' Neidhart

Johnny Grunge

Konnan

Mortis

Rey Mysterio Jr.

Riggs

Rocco Rock

Saturn

Steve 'Mongo' McMichael

'Lord' Steven Regal

Ultimo Dragon

Vincent

Wrath

Lower Midcarders

Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Glacier

Hugh Morrus

Juventud Guerrera

Lizmark Jr.

Kidman

Lodi

Masahiro Chono

Meng

Psychosis

'Vicious' Scott Norton

Stevie Ray

The Barbarian

Van Hammer

Openers

La Parka

Prince Iaukea

Super Calo

Yuji Nagata

Managers

Arn Anderson (Manages 'The Canadian Crippler' Chris Benoit)

Elizabeth (Manages 'Macho Man' Randy Savage)

Eric Bischoff (Manages 'Hollywood' Hogan)

James Vandenberg (Manages Mortis and Wrath)

Kimberly

Miss Jacqueline (Manages Booker T and Stevie Ray)

Rick Rude (Manages Curt Hennig)

Sonny Oono (Manages Yuji Nagata)

Ted DiBiase (Manages The Steiner Brothers)

Champions

WCW (nWo) World Heavyweight Champion: Sting (as of 12/28/1997)

WCW (nWo) United States Champion: Diamond Dallas Page (as of 12/28/1997)

WCW (nWo) Television Champion: Booker T (as of 12/29/1997)

WCW (nWo) Cruiserweight Champion: Ultimo Dragon (as of 12/29/1997)

WCW (nWo) World Tag Team Champions: The Steiner Brothers (since 10/13/1997)

Stables

nWo ('Hollywood' Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, 'Macho Man' Randy Savage, 'Delicious' Buff Bagwell, 'Vicious' Scott Norton, Konnan, Curt Hennig, Vincent, Masahiro Chono, The Great Muta, Eric Bischoff, Elizabeth, Rick Rude)

The Flock (Raven, Lodi, Kidman, Saturn, Riggs, Van Hammer)

*******

Key:

Blue = Face

Red = Heel

Purple = Tweener

Italics = Stable Leader

Nice job. I've thought about doing an WWF nWo-era game/diary, but could never really come up with any decent ideas. You, on the other hand, are doing a great job. I'm looking forward to seeing where you go with this diary, particularly the nWo situation. I'm also enjoying the HHH/Jericho stuff and the Taker/Flair stuff, so keep up the good work.