WCW Halloween Havoc 1996

This comes from a period where WCW started getting this right. They had a red-hot angle, with the nWo, solid undercard players with their cruiserweight division, and deep bench, and were quickly building into not only the more interesting of the big two promotions, but possibly the only major promotion – as Vince McMahon was getting pushed closer and closer to bankruptcy. Five years later, they would cease to exist all together, but if you would have told any wrestling fan that on the night of this show – they’d be right to call you crazy.

From Las Vegas, Nevada – Your hosts are Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Dusty Rhodes – with Mike Tenay popping in for some matches.


Opening WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Rey Misterio, Jr. v Dean Malenko: Rey was still billed as 'junior,' and with the original spelling of his name, at this point, not to mention strictly as a cruiserweight. Malenko jumps him to start, and hits a side suplex for two. He goes for the Cloverleaf right away, but Rey twists his way out. Rey with a headscissors takedown to put Malenko on the floor, and a springboard dropkick knocks him off of the apron. Rey hits a somersault senton, and then gets two with a headscissors cradle coming in. He tries it again, but Malenko counters with a sidewalk slam. He dumps him into the ropes out of a hanging vertical, injuring the knee in the process, and grabs bow-and-arrow. Malenko with a super-side suplex for two, and then completes the hanging vertical suplex spot for two. Press slam, but Misterio counters into a sunset flip, but Dean's in no mood for putas, and simply kicks him to stop that effort. Reverse chinlock, and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets two. He grabs a sleeper next, but Misterio escapes (eventually... they worked that one long enough to let half the crowd go get snacks, hit the bathroom, and possibly find a hooker after the show), so Malenko throws him a Northern Lights Suplex. They fight their way to the top rope, and both men tumble to the floor off of it, but they transition it into nothing. Inside, Rey with a somersault senton for two, and a reversal sequence leaves Rey laying after a lariat. Another hanging vertical suplex for Malenko gets two, but he gets dumped off of a criss cross, and Rey follows with a springboard corkscrew press. Inside, a rana gets two, but a second try gets him powerbombed for two. They fight up top again, but this time Malenko hits a gutwrench powerbomb from up there to win the title at 18:32. Good match, if a somewhat long for what they were going for, and certainly a bit slow in the middle. Still, solid psychology, and some terrific, crisp highspots. ***.

Lord of the Ring Match: Diamond Dallas Page v Eddy Guerrero: Eddie was, also, still using the alternate spelling of his name, and this feud was over Page's Battle Bowl ring. Page spits on him to start (hey, in his defense, maybe he was just trying to spit in general and hit him - Eddy's short), and they brawl to the floor. Inside, they fight over a headlock, because nothing says, 'I'll kill you for spitting on me, motherfucker,' like a nice side headlock. Page crotches him on the top rope, and dumps him, following out with a falling axehandle off of the apron. Inside, Dallas with a stomachbreaker for two, and a tilt-a-whirl slam gets two. Slugfest goes Eddy's way with an eye poke, and he rolls Page up for two. Sunset flip reversal sequence gives both guys a couple of two counts (not really dramatic near falls - just two counts), but Page gets sick of it, and just clotheslines him. Eddy comes back with fists of fury, however, and hits a flying bodypress to the floor. Inside, Page takes control with a nice forward falling piledriver, and a sitout powerbomb for two. Diamond Cutter gives Page a very anti-climatic win at 13:44. I glossed over it for the sake of brevity, but there was a lot of standing around during this one - very plodding match. Too long by a half, with some very odd transitions - particularly towards the finish. ¼*.

Jeff Jarrett v The Giant: The Giant would go on to become The Big Show. Jeff Jarrett would go on to become, somehow, even more annoying. Giant brings out the vacant WCW United States Title - which he stole from last reigning champion Ric Flair - and Jarrett responds by brings the never vacant Ric Flair. Jarrett dodges him a bit to start, stalling, but gets caught, and tossed halfway across the ring, right onto his ass - in a nice spot. Hiptoss doesn't work for Jarrett, so he tries a sleeper, and that staggers him. He still walks into a big boot, however, and Giant hits a backbreaker into a backbreaker submission. Bearhug next, but Jarrett bites his way free, and staggers him again with a series of his always impressive dropkicks. He wisely tries a slam, but somehow that doesn't work, so he starts throwing flying axehandles instead. Flying bodypress gets two, but he gets shot to the floor off of a figure four attempt. Giant misses a blind charge out there, however, and Jarrett - who is really blowing my mind with the psychology tonight - slaps on the figure four. On the floor. Where they're both getting counted out. Even Giant realizes how dumb that is, and immediately no-sells it, grabbing him into a chokeslam. Flair, an actual master of ring psychology, gets sick of watching this whole match, and gives the Giant a crotch shot to disqualify Jarrett, and end it at 10:30. Horrible psychology (and I mean horrible psychology) aside, it had its moments – but that schoolyard ending didn't help anyone on pay per view. ¼*.

Chris Jericho v Syxx: Syxx is WCW's take on the 1-2-3 Kid gimmick. See, 1+2+3 = Syxx. Syxx tries to initiate a karate showdown to start, causing Jericho to shoot a brilliant 'yo, is he fucking serious?' look into the crowd. Criss cross leads to a stalemate, and another leads to Jericho working an armbar. Jericho with a cross corner clothesline, and he tries a springboard, but gets dumped to the floor. Syxx dropkicks him off of the apron, and follows with a slingshot senton. Inside, Syxx throws the lightning kicks, and grabs a chinlock. He busts his butt off of a blind charge (I'm not just being alliterative - he literally charged ass first), gets backdropped out, and Jericho follows with a springboard bodypress. Inside, Jericho hits a flying back elbow, but gets an exceptionally slow two count from referee Nick Patrick. Dropkick, and he might as well have gotten a countout in the time it takes the referee to count to two. Bridging roll-up gets the same result. The camel toe breaks off of a springboard forearm, as Jericho loses it on Patrick, allowing Syxx to catch him with a spinkick for the pin at 9:49. The angle here was that referee Nick Patrick was being bought off by the nWo, and deliberately screwing their WCW opponents – which isn't a revolutionary angle in pro-wrestling, but certainly one worth reusing when appropriate. Match was fine, though unspectacular – as it was more a collection of spots than a coherent story. *.

Lex Luger v Arn Anderson: Anderson takes control early, and mocks Luger's pose routine – which is a pretty hilarious sight to see, considering Arn Anderson's build and perpetually thinning head of hair. He's acting kind of like having an out of shape uncle who mocks you for watching wrestling would – in a good way. Luger comes back with a press slam, and shows him how to properly do the poses, in a cute bit. To the floor, Luger posts him, and inside a powerslam gets two. Luger works the lower back, and hits a backbreaker for two. Lex hangs him in a reverse tree of woe (to be able to attack the back), but gets caught in the deadly spinebuster. Arn is too hurt to capitalize, and Luger is up first, so Arn desperately dumps him to the outside. He manages to ram him into the rail out there to take the advantage, and posts him for good measure. He leaves him laying, happy to take the countout victory, but Luger keeps a'coming, so Arn keeps a'stomping. Well timed rope-assisted abdominal stretch, and the DDT looks to finish, but Lex hangs on to the top rope to block. The referee gets bumped during Luger's comeback, however, and Anderson grabs a chair - only to hit the post when Luger ducks. Slingshot into the post, and Luger suplexes him onto the floor. He gets in a few chair shots of his own, making sure to aim them at the lower back, and inside, finishes with the Torture Rack at 12:22. Fun, well paced match, with solid psychology, and really good internal logic. I can only imagine how much fun it would have been about ten years earlier, when Luger was really motivated, and Anderson wasn't at the very end of his career. ***.

Chris Benoit and Steve McMichael v The Faces of Fear: McMichael brings Steve Austin's wife with him, and Benoit brings that woman he killed with him. Nice to see everyone included. Steve and Meng start off, and they do a power showdown – with both guys no selling everything to establish they're both strong. Benoit and the Barbarian (total sitcom name. CBS.) try instead, and Chris catches him with a gorgeous bridging Northern Lights suplex for two. Meng and McMichael (another sitcom CBS would totally pickup) decide to have a football showdown, apparently hoping to catch channel surfers who were looking for a game. McMichael goes crazy though, and starts firing dropkicks, but not to be outdone, Meng throws a senton – and that's enough of that crazy wrestling stuff, so they tag out. Barbarian powerbombs Benoit for two. He follows up with a super-duper overhead suplex, launching Benoit clear across the ring, in a fantastic visual. The Faces look to finish with stereo flying headbutts, but McMichael breaks it up. Suplex/flying splash combo, and this time McMichael clocks Meng with a briefcase when he breaks up the pin, and Benoit hits a proper flying headbutt to finish at 9:23. Solid, and everybody was clearly putting in a good effort – which showed. *.

WCW World Tag Team Title Match: Harlem Heat v The Outsiders: It's almost hard to believe that Hall and Nash debuted in June, but didn't 'get around' to winning the tag titles until October. My brain’s revisionist version of it has them winning them essentially the day they signed with WCW, maybe because the image of The Outsiders with the tag titles - much like with their WWF counterparts the New Age Outlaws - has become synonymous with the tag division in the late 90s. Scott Hall and Booker T start off, with the crowd firmly behind the heel Outsiders. Long stall session to start, as they kinda sorta trade armbars, but spend more time psyching each other out. Stevie Ray comes in to try his luck, so Hall literally spits in his face, but bails to Nash before Ray can slapjack the 'poppy seed bagels' out of him. Kevin controls, but eats an elbow off of an Irish whip, and Booker comes in with the axe kick for two. Nash quickly turns it around with a sidewalk slam, and Hall comes in with his 2^nd rope bulldog for two. Kevin Nash with the big boot, and the snake eyes, as the Outsiders cut the ring in half. Manager Sherri tries to stop the effort, but Hall responds by kissing her - which must have led to quite the work(wo)mans comp claim. Double knockout leads to Stevie Ray tagging in, and he's NOSE STRIPPING UP!! Clotheslines for everybody, and Booker hits a somersault legdrop to finish, but Nash gets a hold of Robert Parker's cane (the Heat's second manager - as apparently wrangling a guy named ‘Stevie Ray’ is a bigger job than it sounds like), and that's enough to win the tag titles at 13:07. The ending of this one was never in doubt - and while I certainly don't think they should have booked a two minute squash over a team like Harlem Heat - the match they booked was like a bad Bond movie, where you know he's going to emerge victorious, but you just wish they'd hurry up and get it over with already. ½*.

Main Event: WCW World Title Match: Hollywood Hogan v Randy Savage: This is the somewhat infamous match where Hogan wears a Bart Simpson-style toupee. He also brings The Giant and Ted DiBiase with him, so Savage responds by bringing a monster truck. Not in the Steve Austin 'drive it to the ring and kill everyone' sense, but in the 'he has a paid assistant drive it out near the entrance' way - which isn't quite the same, but at least he showed everyone he has something big, too! Hogan is in full heel mode here - a role in which he legitimately set the world on fire with - and plays it brilliantly. He stalls to start, bailing on multiple lock up attempts, and finally grabs a headlock, only to bail off of a criss cross – which is actually decent strategy, as it frustrates Savage, if boring. Hogan wins a lockup with a cheap shot, and goes to work with the heel tactics. Savage dodges a punch (busting out the main event offense tonight), and hits a flying axehandle, then STEALS HOGAN'S SHADES, which he'd been wrestling in up until that point. That's pretty much all you need to know about the match so far - Hogan hadn't even bothered to remove his sunglasses yet. He rips the toupee off next, and Hogan sells it brilliantly - a strand of his faux-ponytail dangling - charging him, and getting dumped. Savage hammers him around the ring, and 'whacks' him with a chair - in the same sense that he drove a monster truck that night. Hogan responds with some actually decent shots of his own, and he crotches him on the rail. That draws Miss Elizabeth out (hey, gotta take a ‘hands on’ approach when looking out for your interests), as Hogan chokes away back in the ring. Hogan notices her, and Savage schoolboys him, forcing us to come this close to almost having to see Hogan's ass, in the days before that was an everyday occurrence. To the floor, Hogan hides behind Liz, and uses her to sucker Savage into a clothesline. Inside, big boot, but Liz runs in to check on Randy. Hogan won't have it, though, and moves her into the corner so he can try the Big Leg Drop - which misses. You know, in all fairness, considering the actions of benevolent red-and-yellow babyface Hulk Hogan towards women on more than one occasion - that was actually quite tame and kind, as he just guided her to the corner to move her out of the way, and that was the end of it. No punching, slamming, big boots, or any of the many other things he did to Sherri alone over the years. Liz gets involved again, holding Hogan back from punching Savage, but once more, he shows incredible restraint by not beating a tiny woman into a bloody mess. The referee gets bumped in the confusion however, and Nick Patrick has to run in to count Randy Savage's fall off of his Big Elbowdrop attempt. It gets two, however, when suddenly Patrick's neck 'gives out.' Savage tries again, but Ted DiBiase pulls him off, and The Giant chokeslams him on the floor. Inside, Hogan puts one arm on him, and suddenly Nick Patrick dives back into the game to count the pin at 18:37. Certainly overbooked, but that sort of went with the territory when it came to nWo matches - so no surprise there. It was definitely interesting to see Hogan and Savage work a match with the heel/face dynamics reversed, especially after performing so many the other way around, albeit a sloppy one. ¼*.

Afterwards, Hogan cuts an abridged version of his standard Nitro promos, until Roddy Piper makes his way down the aisle. Piper was not a part of WCW's main roster at that point, and watching the show live - this was quite a surprise, as he was last seen in the WWF months earlier, and as their figurehead President, no less. He proceeds to cut a promo on Hogan, which blew my eleven year old mind at the time, because he references their WWF history openly, and says things like 'hey, remember WrestleMania?' back in the days when that sort of thing was still rare. This came off well. Sure, Piper was well, well past his prime, and seeing Hogan/Piper headline Starrcade wasn't necessarily anyone's dream at that point – but it was exciting – people talked about it the next day – and Piper seemed like an actual threat to Hogan, and the nWo – which isn't something they had going with the rest of the roster. It was well worth trying.

BUExperience: Remember what I said about solid undercard players, and having a deep bench? Yeah, this show isn’t really a great example of that. It has a couple of decent matches, but it needed a stellar main event to carry this show, as opposed to the atrocious one they ended up with. It does have some historical value to it – with the Outsiders first tag title win, and Roddy Piper’s return to WCW for the first time since the NWA days, but in terms of enjoyment – it’s not one I’d pull from the shelf anytime soon. DUD.