WCW Halloween Havoc 1997

By the time Halloween Havoc rolled around in 1997, Hollywood Hogan v Sting at Starrcade was as much of a guarantee as one could get in a business like pro-wrestling. But, they still had a pay per view slot to occupy – and with the nWo still drawing massive numbers – they were more than happy to oblige. Unfortunately, because Sting wasn’t used as an active as a wrestler until his return at Starrcade (which was actually a lot of the appeal of the buildup), they couldn’t do some sort of tag team situation with him facing off with Hogan, instead giving us the final blowoff to the year-long, on again off again, Hogan/Roddy Piper feud.


From Las Vegas, NV; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Dusty Rhodes.


Opening Match: Yuji Nagata v Ultimo Dragon: Dragon with his kick routine to start, but Nagata catches him in a chinlock. He does his own series of kicks (apparently having a good kick was a much bigger part of the late 90s than I remember), and piledrives him for two. Suplex gets two, and it's back to the chinlock. God, did you guys forget what division you're in? Dragon comes back with a corkscrew legwhip, and tries a slingshot dive onto the floor, but eats another kick. He still manages to pull out a springboard moonsault out there, but a handspring elbow back inside runs into a (you guessed it) kick. Superplex, but Dragon counters with a powerbomb, in a visually impressive spot. Moonsault for two. Nagata comes back with more kicks, and decides to start working the arm. Northern Lights suplex gets two, and he switches to working the leg. Hey, if you're gonna indiscriminately start working shit now, might as well get it all in. Grab a bearhug, dude! Slugfest on the knees, and Dragon fires off some more kicks, and hits a top rope rana. He grabs the Dragon Sleeper, but gets countered into an armlock, and submits at 9:42. Fast paced, and a kick aficionado’s wet dream, but nothing you couldn't see three times a week on Nitro. *

Chris Jericho v Gedo: Gedo works the arm to start, but gets reversed, causing an array of decidedly girlish screams to bounce off of the walls of the MGM Grand. Jericho with a suplex for two, but Gedo dumps him, and hits a powerslam back inside for two. Another one gets a series of twos (he really wants to win with that powerslam...), so Jericho drops him like a Samoan. Double powerbomb gets two, and Jericho hits a very sloppy super duper rana. German suplex countered with a flip, and Gedo goes upstairs, but gets caught in the Liontamer at 7:18. Take the comments from the opener, and paste - though with fewer kicks. *

WCW Cruiserweight Title v Mask Match: Eddy Guerrero v Rey Misterio, Jr.: Both Eddie and Mysterio are still going with the alternate spellings of their names at this point, and Rey looks like he weighs all of 100 pounds with his dick soaking wet. Or, however that expression goes. Super fast series of criss crosses to start - which Rey gets the upper hand with - and puts Eddy on the floor. He gets pulled out, and tossed into the stairs, and inside, Eddy hits him with a slingshot senton. Side suplex, and a brain buster gets two. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets two, and he tries to rip the mask off. He grabs an abdominal stretch, but instead of the usual rope spot, he tries to rip the mask off, in a nice twist. He finishes the hold off by lifting him out of it into a backbreaker - something you'll never see Mike Rotunda do. He gets a series of two counts off of that, but Rey springs to the top rope like Spiderman, and hits a punishing looking DDT on the way down. Dropkick puts Eddy out, but Misterio eats rail when he tries to follow. Back in, Eddy grabs a camel clutch, again trying to pull the mask. He locks on the Gory Special, and vicious looking shoulder powerbomb. Bow-and-arrow, as Rey screams for mercy. Back elbow gets two, when Eddy gets caught blatantly putting his feet on the ropes. Rey takes a crazy Flair flip, and gets hung in a tree of woe, so Eddy charges, but Rey does an upside-down sit up to get out of the way, and Guerrero's on the floor, in a nice sequence. Rey follows with a flying bodypress nearly into the front row, and back inside a rana gets two. Eddie gets dumped again, and Misterio follows out with a senton. Back inside, he hits a corkscrew moonsault for two, but a springboard moonsault hits the knees. Guerrero with a sick looking cradle powerbomb for two, but he misses a charge, and eats spinkick. Rey tries yet another springboard, but gets caught with a backbreaker. He tries a superplex, but Rey ranas him off, and gets the pin, and the title, at 13:51. Great match - well booked, with every move executed with unbelievable crispness and speed, and making good use of the ‘flippy floppy’ style, used to build to counters, as opposed to just flipping around for the sake of it. *** ¾

Steve McMichael v Alex Wright: They fight over an armbar to start, and Wright bails to regroup with manager Debra, real life wife of Steve McMichael - his opponent - and future wife of Steve Austin - biggest star in the business. She must have whispered something good (hey, I’d listen to her - she married a Super Bowl winner, and then followed it up with the biggest star in wrestling history. She has her ways. Also, a serious thing for guys named 'Steve') as he takes control. Wright with a spinkick, but he botches a tombstone, as he can't hold McMichael up. Steve hits his own, and suddenly Goldberg jumps out of the crowd. He botches the spear (come on! Honestly! You had one job to do!), and jackhammers McMichael to allow Wright the easy pin at 6:30. This was very early into Goldberg's run (I think he had been active about a month at this point), and he was still working heel, and hadn't gotten over yet. Match was a 'punch-kick' DUD affair, and had no place on pay per view.

Inter-Gender Match: Disco Inferno v Jacqueline: Disco was the WCW Television Champion, but this is non-title. Disco dances around the issue, not eager to tie-up, and hides in the ropes, but like any good hooker, Jacqueline keeps hounding him. Jacqueline finally gets him with a sunset flip, but he kicks out, and bails to the floor again. More hiding more chasing. Disco finally decides to just take the countout, and heads to the back, but, of course, Jacqueline drags him back, and crotches him on the ringpost. She manages a suplex on the floor, and a DDT back inside leaves Disco dead. Schoolboy finishes at 9:39. A little stalling in this situation wouldn't be inappropriate, but like most things, it's timing. Booking ten minutes, with nine of them set aside from stalling is bad booking. DUD

WCW United States Title Match: Curt Hennig v Ric Flair: This came about after Hennig turned on the Horsemen in the War Games match at Fall Brawl the month before, joining the nWo. Flair charges in during the entrances, and beats Hennig from post to post, and all around ringside. Flair goes for the knee with a shot to the post, but misses a chair shot, so he just starts unloading chops. Hennig catches him with a clothesline coming out of the corner, and hits the Hennig-necksnap - remembering to sell the knee along the way. He decides to pay Flair back by posting his knee, and he keeps hammering it. Flair Flips to the floor to get his knee pounded some more, and gets dragged back inside for some mounted punches. Hennig makes the mistake of engaging Flair in a chopfest, and Ric looks to takeover - but gets caught in a sleeper. He side suplexes free, so Hennig bails to grab a chair, trying to bash Flair's head with it while he's  up against the post - a reference to the spot from Fall Brawl where he bashed Flair's head to turn heel. Flair dodges, however, and fires him into the post with a slingshot, so Hennig grabs the title belt (the Cruiserweight belt, as they had misplaced the US Title (or possibly lost it at the tables) - a fairly common problem in WCW, actually, as it would happen again to Jeff Jarrett) and heads home. Flair drags him back for a hanging vertical suplex, and hangs him in a tree of woe. He wraps the title belt around his head, and then stomps on it as a receipt for War Games, and gets disqualified in the process at 13:57. Five years earlier, giving these two fourteen minutes would pretty much guarantee a classic. Still a decent, fairly well paced match, with a nice job of selling from Hennig - but certainly not a classic. Also, bad booking in using the title belt as the focal point of the finish when they had the guy carrying the wrong damn belt. *

Lex Luger v Scott Hall: Larry Zbyszko is the special referee for this one - and his presence is immediately felt, as both guys take forever to get going. Hall finally gets a standing side-headlock, but Luger powers out, so Hall goes to a modified bow-and-arrow. Luger reverses (in a poor spot, where Hall is literally keeping himself in the hold, when he could break by simply letting go of Lex Luger), and he tries a ten-punch, but Scott shoves him off. Cross corner clothesline gets two, and a blockbuster for two, as Hall argues the count. Sleeper won't put him away, so Hall tries dumping him for the countout instead. Luger beats it in, so Hall goes ballistic on Zbyszko, and gets backdropped to the floor. Back in, Luger starts CHOKING UP!! Clothesline! Inverted Atomic Drop! Another! Another! Forearm Smash! Torture Rack! - but Hall buddy Syxx sneaks in with a roundhouse kick, and Scott hits the Edge for the pin at 12:30. Oh, but referee Larry decides he's suspicious (of Scott Hall?! Perish the thought!), and calls for an instant replay - revealing the nWo's trickery. He restarts the match, and Luger quickly gets him in the Rack, but Syxx runs in again, and this time it's a disqualification at 13:02. This was like one of those old Coliseum Video matches where they do non-endings to keep guys 'strong' - but it had absolutely no place on a major pay per view. These two were never considered the best workers in the world, but this would have likely been a lot of fun in a mid-90s WWF situation. Unfortunately, by late 1997, Hall was useless, and Luger - while slightly more motivated - was pretty much just there to collect a check. DUD

Las Vegas Sudden Death Match: Diamond Dallas Page v Randy Savage: This is a 'Last Man Standing' match with a fancy name. These two were engaged in a memorable feud through most of 1997 (including headlining two pay per views), and probably could have made it to Starrcade for the blowoff, but Havoc was as good a place as any. Not surprisingly, they get right to brawling, and spill to the floor for Savage to get off a couple of shot at DDP's taped ribs. Page responds with a ram into the rail, and they go inside, where Savage starts jabbing at the ribs. Hangman's clothesline, but he doesn't follow-up, and Page hits a swinging neckbreaker. Diamond Cutter, but Savage hits the deck, and bails to the floor, so Page follows out with a plancha. Savage snaps his neck across the ropes to come back, and dives to the floor with a flying axehandle. They spill into the crowd to slug it out (with the people surrounding them looking completely bored - except for one dude who gets so excited he literally rips his shirt off), and then over to the entrance area for Page to throw him into a few of the foam headstones. Back to ringside, Savage reverses a whip into the guardrail, and then throws him into the steps for good measure. Back in, Savage brings one of the A/V crew’s video cameras with him, but Page knocks it back in his face. That triggers a double count from the referee, so Miss Elizabeth hops up on the apron and smashes a serving platter over his head to break up the count. Where did she even get a serving platter at ringside? Was there a dinner party in the front row I missed? That draws Page's wife Kimberly out for a catfight to the locker room, and another referee heads in to takeover. Page fires up with an inverted atomic drop, and a forward-falling piledriver - but Savage dodges the Diamond Cutter again. Poorly executed Flying Elbowdrop, but Page keeps coming, so Savage drops it again. That only gets an eight count, though, so Savage charges, only to get caught with the Cutter. Another, but Randy mule kicks him, and that draws out 'Sting.' He cracks Page in the ribs with his trusty baseball bat, and Page can't answer the ten-count at 18:07. We'd later learn 'Sting' was Hulk Hogan, though you have to wonder - since it was no DQ - why didn't the whole nWo run down right at the opening bell and beat Page with bats? Why bother with the cloak-and-dagger? Not much of a brawl otherwise, as they both seemed bored and sluggish for the bulk of it - disguised as 'selling.' *

Main Event: Cage Match: Hollywood Hogan v Roddy Piper: Though not billed as such, this is a 'Thunderdome' style cage - made of larger, square shaped bars, covering the entire ringside area, but with no roof. Hogan talks a big game, but immediately tries to climb out, so Piper responds by sinking his teeth into his ass. Well, that's certainly one way to slow a guy down. More biting (he switches to the face), and inside the ring, hits an atomic drop. To the floor again, they go into the cage, and Hogan bails out the door, but the match goes on. Apparently it's not escape rules, though you'd think it would have to be, since there's no referee in the cage with them to count any pinfalls. Piper follows out, so Hogan decides to head home rather than figure out the rules of this shit, but Sting shows up, and forces them back into the cage - again with no referee. Both men climb for an escape - having apparently forgotten that they just escaped moments before with no result - as another Sting comes out to stand in the aisle.  In the ring, Hogan whips him with his weightlifting belt, and goes for the climb again, as a third and fourth Sting materialize. Piper and Hogan slug it out atop the cage - both still fighting for an escape - before deciding to simply climb back down, since the way the cage is designed, they can't really work any fall back bumps without killing themselves. Hogan with two legdrops, and suddenly the referee unpadlocks the door to run in and count - but it only gets two. That draws out Randy Savage, and he hits one of the craziest flying axehandles I've ever seen - as this cage is probably a good eight feet taller than a normal one, and additionally required him to jump across the ringside to reach Hogan and Piper. Unfortunately, his aim is off from that height, and he hits Hogan by accident, and Piper locks the Sleeper for the win at 15:37. Maybe the cage was some sort of riddle, as they just had to keep fighting until one of them could figure out the rules. Afterwards Hogan and Savage beat Piper down, as a few of the fake Stings get involved (triggering a 'We Want Sting' chant), and then, in a bizarre moment, some nut in the crowd with his face painted like Sting decides to climb the cage, but before security can tackle him, Hogan and Savage give him a proper beat down. Hey, can't blame the kid. With all of those fake Sting's running around, he probably thought he could blend in. Match was outrageously bad, as they didn't lay the rules out clearly before hand (a common problem in WCW), and left both guys twisting in the wind trying to work. The fact that this took place the same month as the first Hell in a Cell (one of the most intense matches of all time) made it look even sillier. -**

BUExperience:  One of WCW’s biggest problems during this period was that they had an over packed roster – filled with some of the biggest names a casual wrestling fan would be familiar with – but most of whom lacked motivation. Matches like Hogan/Piper, Hennig/Flair, and Luger/Hall would have been great during different periods, but by the time they were in late-90s WCW, they were all so burned out, or had become so disinterested with the illogical nature of the promotion, that they infrequently lived up to their hype. This show is a great example of this issue, and while Guerrero/Mysterio continues to be well remembered by both fans and critics today, the rest of the show is nearly wall-to-wall junk, with a really bad main event, to boot. *