Souled Out (2000)

Souled Out (2000) was the fourth and final Souled Out professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). It took place on January 16, 2000 from the Firstar Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.[1] The event would be replaced by Sin as the January pay-per-view the following year. As of 2015, this event is available on the WWE Network.[2]

Souled Out (2000)
UK VHS cover featuring Kevin Nash, Diamond Dallas Page and Buff Bagwell
Promotion	World Championship Wrestling
Date	January 16, 2000
City	Cincinnati, Ohio
Venue	Firstar Center
Attendance	14,132
Tagline(s)	Control Is Everything! Who Will Be The Soul Survivor?
Pay-per-view chronology
← Previous Starrcade Next → SuperBrawl 2000
Souled Out chronology
← Previous 1999 Next → Final

The main event was a match between Chris Benoit and Sid Vicious for the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship. The match was notable because it was the last match that Benoit wrestled for WCW, as he left for the WWF shortly after he won the championship.

Storylines

The event featured wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[3]

The originally scheduled card was heavily changed due to the serious injuries of Bret Hart and Jeff Jarrett. On the December 20, 1999 edition of WCW Monday Nitro, the WCW World Heavyweight Championship was vacated due to a controversial finish to the main event match between Hart and Goldberg at Starrcade, where Goldberg mule-kicked Hart; this resulted in a severe concussion which limited Hart's ability to compete. Hart defeated Goldberg to win the vacant title with the help of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash; this resulted in the formation of a new incarnation of the nWo known as nWo 2000.[4] However, in early 2000, Hart was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome; this forced him to vacate the title on his own terms.[5] Jarrett, who was scheduled to wrestle Chris Benoit in a Triple Threat Theater series (Dungeon Rules, Bunkhouse, Caged Heat), suffered lingering headaches from Benoit's diving headbutt off the top of the steel cage on the January 10 episode of Nitro, which forced him to vacate the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship. Benoit was instead moved to take Hart's place against Vicious in the championship match and the Triple Threat Theater series was contested between Billy Kidman and three separate wrestlers. Kidman won the first match because Dean Malenko forgot that the match rules stated that a wrestler could win by having his opponent's feet touch the floor; Malenko had rolled out of the ring to collect himself in the early stages of the match, thus losing the match per the rules.[1] The second match of the show was originally scheduled to be a match between Flair & Crowbar and Vampiro & a partner of his choosing for the WCW World Tag Team Championship; when Flair and Crowbar jumped Vampiro during a backstage interview, Vampiro wanted to take them on himself.[1]

Other on-screen personnel

Role:	Name:
Commentator	Bobby Heenan
	Tony Schiavone
	Mike Tenay
Interviewer	Gene Okerlund
Referee	Johnny Boone
	Mark Johnson
	Nick Patrick
	Charles Robinson
	Billy Silverman
Ring announcer	Michael Buffer
	David Penzer

Results

No.	Results[1][6][7]	Stipulations	Times
1	Billy Kidman defeated Dean Malenko	Catch-as-Catch Can match	02:36
2	Vampiro defeated David Flair and Crowbar (with Daffney)	Handicap match	10:32
3	Big Vito and Johnny the Bull (with Disco Inferno) defeated The Harris Brothers (Ron and Don)	Tag team match	09:33
4	Oklahoma defeated Madusa (c) (with Spice)	Singles match for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship	02:56
5	Brian Knobbs (c) defeated Fit Finlay, Norman Smiley and Meng	Fatal 4-Way match for the WCW Hardcore Championship	06:11
6	Billy Kidman defeated Perry Saturn	Bunkhouse Brawl	10:05
7	Booker T (with Midnight) defeated Stevie Ray by disqualification	Singles match	06:30
8	Tank Abbott defeated Jerry Flynn	Singles match	01:39
9	Buff Bagwell defeated Diamond Dallas Page	Last Man Standing match	11:19
10	The Wall (with Shane Douglas) defeated Billy Kidman	Caged Heat match	05:03
11	Kevin Nash defeated Terry Funk	Hardcore match with the position of WCW Commissioner at stake	07:59
12	Chris Benoit defeated Sid Vicious by submission	Singles match for the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship with Arn Anderson as special guest referee	14:53
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

Aftermath

The following night on Nitro, Chris Benoit was (kayfabe) stripped of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship after Arn Anderson determined that Sid Vicious' foot was under the rope when Benoit performed the submission hold. In reality, however, Benoit left for the WWF and relinquished the title due to a management dispute.[8] WCW then refused to recognize Benoit's reign;[9] this reign was later recognized by the WWF after it acquired the rights to the championship in March 2001.[10]

As a result of Benoit leaving WCW for the WWF, a tournament was organized to determine who would receive the vacated championship. On the January 24 edition of Nitro, Sid Vicious defeated the Harris Brothers for the right to face Kevin Nash, who became the commissioner of WCW after defeating Terry Funk at Souled Out. Vicious then defeated Nash to win the vacant title; however, he was stripped of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship on the January 26 edition of WCW Thunder for pinning the wrong Harris brother.[11] This led to a triple threat steel cage match between Vicious, Nash, and Ron Harris for the vacant title; Sid went on to win the championship by forcing Nash to submit, and would remain champion until WCW was rebooted one week before Spring Stampede.[12]

Bret Hart would retire from professional wrestling on October 20, 2000.

References

1. "Souled Out pay-per-view results". The History of WWE. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
2. "Every pay-per-view available on WWE Network". WWE. February 4, 2014. Archived from the original on February 5, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
3. Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Discovery Communications. Retrieved 2015-11-15.
4. "History of the WCW World Championship: Bret Hart". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-06-14.
5. Arpe, Malene (2007-10-27). "Bret Hart wrestles with life". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2008-06-14.
6. "The SmarK Retro Repost – Souled Out 2000". 411Mania. Retrieved 2017-02-28.
7. Hoops, Brian (January 16, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/16): Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton win WCW Tag Team Titles". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
8. "Wrestling Information Archive - Wrestling Timeline: (1999 - Present)". August 4, 2001. Archived from the original on August 4, 2001.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
9. "World Heavyweight Champion and WCW/NWA Title History". WCW.com. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved October 20, 2016.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
10. "WCW World Championship". WWE.com. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
11. "Kevin Nash's fifth reign". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
12. "Sid Vicious' second reign". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2007-10-13.