Kicking off 1997 for WCW was nWo Souled Out. It originally started as a new World order-only PPV but became a joint PPV with World Championship Wrestling billing after the first one. Let’s see how it compares to WWE Royal Rumble 1997 in this “Into the Vault”!
nWo Souled Out: The Best
The Steiner Brothers defeating The Outsiders for the WCW World Tag Team Championships was a really fun match that gave WCW their second win of the night. Still, the new World order was ahead here by four wins.
In a bit of WCW taking a page out of the nWo’s book, WCW referee Randy Anderson came in after nWo referee Nick Patrick was knocked out and took the count for the Steiners.
This would lead to Anderson being fired by Eric Bischoff the following night on WCW Monday Nitro. Remember, the new World order basically had control of the company at this time.
The best match of the night was Syxx unsuccessfully holding on to the WCW United States title belt he stole from Eddie Guerrero in a dope ladder match. It didn’t have way too much going on meaning that it wasn’t spotty in the way that ladder matches would become by 1999.
As a matter of fact, the ending to the match was pretty mild compared to how WWE ladder matches would end in a few years with the likes of the Hardy Boyz, Dudley Boyz, and Edge & Christian.
Believe it or not, Hogan defending the World Championship against The Giant was pretty good. This match and the other title bouts are the only matches that should’ve been plagued with nWo interference and drama.
Did it end in a no contest? Of course! However, that’s the expected ending as WCW couldn’t just end up soundly spanked 3-5, it wasn’t going to a draw at 4-4, but 3-4-1—while a bit of a cop-out—was the obvious direction.
While not as exciting or good as the two other title bouts, this match had the crowd reaction it deserved based on those involved. It wasn’t like “The Rest” of nWo Souled Out. It helps that this match was basically the length of an allowed Nitro main event.
The Rest
Chono vs. Jericho, Jeff Jarrett vs. Mr. Wallstreet, Bagwell vs. Scotty Riggs, and Scott Norton vs. DDP were all bouts that held my attention. It’s not like they were all bad and boring but most of them had nothing going into them outside of being new World order vs. WCW bouts.
All of those matches suffered from the same thing as every match on the card: nWo interference and too much heel referee. I mean, it was expected with this being the nWo’s show but it becomes too much when it impacts the matches themselves in addition to some cringe segments and just meh pace throughout the show.
Getting into the outright bad bout: Big Bubba Rogers—representing the nWo—taking on Hugh Morrus was bad but funny. I mean Rogers used a motorcycle as a weapon to run Morrus over and win this “Mexican Death Match”.
What in the WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role is going on this early in the show?
Into the Vault Verdict: Bronze Medal Show (2.3/5)
So, we have another rough start to 1997 for a major company. Unlike Royal Rumble 1997 which had a solid atmosphere and a good hometown hero to head things up, we had some matches that would’ve been good for Nitro paired with nWo being aggressively nWo.
It’s something that will get boring fast and kind of puts the idea of a nWo brand as a hard “No, please.” What I did enjoy from the presentation was the black and white theme of the PPV and that sweet nWo ring.
Also, the bodiless nWo ring announcer made for good comedy during WCW introductions. Ted DiBiase on the other hand didn’t have the touch on commentary.
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