The Outsiders © vs The Steiner Brothers
WCW World Heavyweight Tag Team Title Match
01/25/1997
The end of 1996 was a dire time, storyline-wise, for members of the WCW roster. As soon as Hulk Hogan dropped a leg on Macho Man and joined Nash and Hall to form the New World Order, their numbers had continued to swell and they had run roughshod over any wrestler who stood in their way. The NWO brand had been so popular with the fans that Eric Bischoff decided to create a PPV that was designed to promote the stable, rather than being one technically under the control of WCW.
Souled Out was the result of this endeavour, and saw members of the New World Order permeate throughout the card, as well as an NWO ring and referees to complete the look. It seemed to signal the almost complete capitulation of WCW to the black and white attack. Aside from the odd slip-up – Hulk Hogan losing a non-title match to Roddy Piper – the NWO were all conquering, and the WCW fans was just waiting for that one hint and glimmer of hope for their fallen wrestlers.
The Giant, having recently been ousted from the group, was due to face Hogan in the main event for the WCW World Heavyweight Title. However, before that was The Steiner Brothers attempt to wrestle the tag team gold from around the waist of Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. On NWO ground, with Nick Patrick the far from impartial referee, things didn’t seem to be stacked in the Steiner’s favour.
With Ted Dibiase and Eric Bischoff doing the commentary to complete the NWO whitewash, Scott Steiner would spend the opening minutes with doubts getting cast about a back injury. It wouldn’t initially seem to cause him problems as a pumphandle slam and a belly to belly suplex leaves Hall splitting to the floor to regroup. The break seems to have little effect as Rick continued to go to work, only for Hall to catch him coming off of the top rope and land the Sack of Shit fallaway slam. A chokeslam on a tagged-in Scott would put the Outsiders in control and allow Nash in the ring for the first time.
The first sign that Patrick might not be calling action straight down the line came when a belly to belly suplex on Nash saw a leisurely count by the official for two. Ignoring a cheapshot on the apron by Hall followed, and the numbers game began to take its toll on the challengers. Whenever possible, Hall and Nash illegally double teamed Rick, with Patrick spending an inordinate amount of time stopping Scott from making his way into the ring to help his partner.
Patrick’s focus on Scott finally does allow Rick to use a low blow to stop Nash in his tracks, tagging in his brother to clean house. Hall is dumped with a tiger driver, Nash with a side suplex, but Patrick wound up taking a pretty awful looking bump as Nash interrupted an attempted double team bulldog off of the turnbuckle. With Patrick down, Scott would get dropped hard with a Razor’s Edge and seemingly be out for the count.
For once, things seemed to go WCW’s way. Rick nailed Nash from behind at ringside, before planting Hall with his top rope bulldog. As Patrick was still out at ringside, it seemed as if all was for nought until Randy Anderson jumped the guard rail, slid into the ring and counted the three count. Finally, WCW had truly got one over on their arch rivals.
The joy would be short lived. Though technically correct due to Anderson not being the designated official, stripping the Steiners of the titles two nights later (the PPV on Saturday due to the Superbowl) was backwards booking at its best. Rather than putting over how much control NWO had, it was a Dusty Finish that just seemed to spit in the face of the fans who thought they’d finally been given that glimmer of hope. Little did they know at the time, but the NWO’s supremacy had only just begun, eventually assisting in running the WCW brand into the ground.
