NWA (WCW) Halloween Havoc 1990 (Version II)

Original Airdate: October 27, 1990

From Chicago, Illinois; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Paul E. Dangerously. Unfortunately, WWE Network only has the home video release version available for some reason, though the matches cut are all junk anyway, so we can make do

Opening Match: The Midnight Express v Ricky Morton and Tommy Rich: Rich is subbing for Robert Gibson here. If he's an honorary rocker, who does that make him? David Blowie? Bobby Eaton starts with Morton, and catches him with a backelbow coming out of the corner, but Ricky nails him during a flying axehandle attempt, and hits a backdrop off a criss cross. Rana sends Bobby right into an overhead elbowsmash from Rich, and Eaton bails for a breather. Back in, he tries slugging it out with Ricky, but that ends badly, so he makes a blind tag to Stan Lane, and a tandem move puts Morton down. The Express waste no time cutting the ring in half on little Ricky, leaving me with a moment to reflect on how much I dig these old school Halloween Havoc sets. They'd do better entrance areas in later years (with haunted houses and graveyards, and such), but they never topped the ring design after the 1990 show. I wish they'd change things up like that in today's environment. Other than WrestleMania, and the pink ropes in October, it's the same old-same old every week. The Express cheat like crazy as they work over Morton, including a Rocket Launcher on the elevated ramp for two. Ricky tries to roll Stan up after escaping a somersault cradle, but Bobby breaks it up with a DDT, then hits a slingshot backbreaker for two. Jim Cornette adds a shot with the tennis racket at the Express continue to work Ricky over, and Eaton creams him with the Alabama Jam, but stupidly wants to win by TKO instead of covering. That doesn't happen, so they try the Rocket Launcher, but Morton lifts the knees, and gets the tag to Rich! Thesz-press looks to put Lane away, but Eaton saves, and Roseanne Barr the door! Cornette uses the racket to knock Tommy down off the top rope, but that draws the Southern Boys out (dressed as Cornette), and Rich ends up getting hold of the racket, and whacking Stan with it for the pin at 13:21. A good formula match, with Rich hanging out on the apron for almost the entire match, and allowing the Express to basically work a Handicap Match with Morton. *** ¼ (Original rating: *)

The Fabulous Freebirds v The Renegade Warriors: Michael Hayes starts with Mark Youngblood, and gets destroyed, so Jimmy Garvin comes in without a tag - only to get cutoff by a flying clothesline from Chris Youngblood. The Freebirds bail, but incredibly, the stalling is kept to a minimum, as Hayes gets back inside in relatively short order. He tries forcing Mark into the heel corner for a double-team, but Youngblood fights him off, and both men tag. Chris gets the better of Garvin in a criss cross with a hiptoss, and he cranks on a standing side-headlock. A well timed cheap shot from Hayes turns the tide, however, and the Freebirds cut the ring in half on Chris. He manages to backdrop out of a DDT attempt by Hayes then slam Michael down off the top rope to get the tag to brother Mark - which draws literally nothing from the crowd. Not even a polite pop. Nothing. The Warriors unload on the Freebirds to a dead crowd, but Hayes catches Mark with a DDT at 12:15 - which gets a huge face reaction, despite them being heels. The Freebirds actually did a decent job of carrying these two, keeping the stalling to a minimum, and doing a good job of cutting the ring in half. No small task, either, considering that the Warriors were pretty terrible. That said, I think this match was clipped, because I remember it being much longer, and there being an endless chinlock spot during the heat segment. * (Original rating: DUD)

NWA United States Tag Team Title Match: The Steiner Brothers v The Nasty Boys: Big brawl to start, with all four guys really getting into it, and letting each other have it in and out of the ring. Bonus points for the angry granny who shakes her fist at the Nasty's. Jerry Sags tries a vertical superplex on Scott Steiner, but Scott slips free, and counters with a overhead superplex - popping the crowd big. It's almost like this is a different crowd from the previous match. It gets two when Brian Knobbs saves, and Sags capitalizes with a bulldog for two, as things settle down. Sags tries a clothesline, but Scott ducks, and catches him with a tiger driver. That draws Knobbs in illegally, but Rick Steiner cuts him off with a Steinerline, and the they hit Jerry with the inverted electric chair/flying bulldog combo! That's that, but Knobbs saves with a chair behind the referee's back, and covers for two. Sidewalk slam and a powerslam follow, as the Nasty's go to work cutting the ring in half on Scott. Spike piledriver looks to finish, but this time Rick saves with a chair, and Scott is able to side suplex a now bloody Sags. Knobbs cuts him off at the last second, however, and slaps on a bearhug, the drills him in the corner. The Nasty's continue to cut the ring in half on Scott, but a tandem move misses, and Scott finally gets the tag to brother Rick! He's a doghouse of fire, and Roseanne Barr the door, we've got a kettle on! Sags manages to backdrop Scott over the top rope during a ten-punch, but the Boys make the mistake of turning their back on Rick, and he blasts them both with a double-flying clothesline! The Nasty's try a double-team, but Scott saves, and Rick drills Knobbs with a Steinerline for Scott to put away with the Frankensteiner at 15:21. The heat segment was a little dull, but the brawling was awesome, with both teams not being afraid to commit to the bumps, and pulling out some unique spots. This probably would have been a near classic with about five minutes shaved off, though. ** ¾ (Original rating: ***)

NWA World Tag Team Title Match: Doom v Ric Flair and Arn Anderson: Ron Simmons starts with Arn, and Ron uses his size advantage to push Anderson around. Arn stupidly tries to turn things around by vertical suplexing Ron out of the ring, but Simmons easily reverses back in, then sends Arn running with a series of headbutts. Flair takes a cheap shot from the apron to knock Simmons into a vertical suplex, but Ron promptly no-sells, and powerslams Anderson for two. That brings Flair in illegally to try a double-team, but Simmons shrugs them both off with a double-clothesline, and the dust settled on Butch Reed with Flair. Ric uses his experience edge to control Butch in the corner, but he gets cocky, and Reed press-slams the Nature Boy. Arn charges, but gets the same treatment, and Flair gets a hiptoss to grown on. Reed keeps coming with a clothesline, so Ric goes to the eyes, but Butch ignores THAT too, and unloads in the corner. Flair takes out the poor cameraman as he flips over the turnbuckles, but that doesn't save him from an angry Simmons out on the ramp! Tag to Arn on the way back in, but Reed is ready with a high knee, and a tandem-clothesline gets two. Simmons telegraphs a backdrop to allow the Horsemen to takeover, however, and a slick double-team builds some momentum on Ron. The Horsemen cut the ring in half, but Ron manages to catch Flair with a clothesline during a criss cross, and he bulldogs an incoming Anderson to allow the tag to Reed - Roseanne Barr the door! Arn tries to piledrive Reed, but Simmons saves with a flying shoulderblock - only to have Flair break up the count. That allows Anderson to DDT Reed, but Ron saves at two! It spills to the outside, and we have a double countout at 18:18. Fun match, as the Horsemen translate the usual Flair formula to tag team wrestling, with Doom more than game to play. I've really gained a new appreciation for Doom as we go through these chronological Version II reviews - you can almost always count on them to deliver a three-star level performance, no matter who they're matched up with. *** ¼ (Original rating: * ½)

NWA United States Title Match: Lex Luger v Stan Hansen: Hey, a single's match! How novel! Stan tries to intimidate him early on, but Luger isn't having it, and sends him to the outside with a backelbow. Hansen rakes the eyes on the way back in, and a snapmare sets up an elbowdrop for two. He tosses Luger to the outside for an axehandle off the apron, and he rams him into the post while they're out there. Back in, Stan stays on him with a turnbuckle smash, but Luger fires back with a bodyslam, so Stan uses a kneelift to keep control, then takes the champion down in a side-headlock. Charge in the corner misses, however, which may be the only instance of an actual near blind dude missing a blind charge. Luger takes over with a hiptoss and a pair of pointed elbowdrops for two, but Stan goes low, and vertical suplexes him to setup an elbowdrop for two. Bodyslam and a kneedrop get two, but Luger keeps fighting, so Stan headbutts him to setup a bulldog for two. Lex still can't take a hint and tries a ten-punch, but Hansen escapes with a spinebuster for two. That looked awkward. Another bodyslam sets up a 2^nd rope flying elbowdrop, but Lex dodges, and hits a nice dropkick. Bodyslam of his own sets up another pointed elbowdrop for two, and a vertical suplex gets two. Cross corner whip gets reversed, however, and Hansen follows him in with a clothesline - the referee getting bumped in the process. Luger fights out of the corner with a lariat, as Dan Spivey shows up, and passes Hansen the cowbell. With the referee still down, Stan tries hitting Luger with it, but gets backdropped. Lex with a one-handed bulldog to setup the Torture Race, but Hansen levels him with a Lariat for the pin at 9:29 - ending Luger's record 523 day reign! The ending seemed messed up. Like they were supposed to incorporate the cowbell, but then didn't. The match was awkward too, as they didn't really click. * (Original rating: ¾*)

Main Event: NWA World Title Match: Sting v Sid Vicious: Apparently this match didn't draw because Sid wasn't really at that level yet, but honestly, I can see why they tried it. I would have definitely bought him as a threat at the time. Sting tries a bodypress, but gets caught in a forward-backbreaker, but Sid turns his back, and gets taken down for a figure four - Vicious in the ropes before Sting can apply. He bails, then starts walloping Sting on the way back in, but gets dumped over the top, and this time Sting follows to ram him into the guardrail and post. In, Sting works a wristlock, but Sid escapes a headscissors with a kipup, and he chokes the champion on the ropes. Sting comes back with a sunset flip for two, but Sid cuts him off with a clothesline for two, and grounds him with a nervehold. Sting slugs free, but runs into a powerslam for one, and Vicious chokes him down. One thing for sure here, Sting is no Shawn Michaels. He reverses a cross corner whip and tries the Stinger Splash, but Sid sidesteps, so Sting goes to the top, and dives with a flying bodypress for two. Sid pounds him right back down for another nervehold, and a clothesline gets two. Sid never really became a good worker, but he did prove to be carryable by the right opponent, and Sting just isn't that opponent tonight. That was actually a major problem with Sting as a top guy (especially in a workrate oriented promotion, like WCW) - he could work up to the level of better worker, but he couldn't carry a bad worker to a good match. Sid misses an elbowdrop, allowing Sting to comeback with a one-handed bulldog, but he charges right into a big boot, and falls out onto the ramp. Sid follows for a clothesline out there, and he adds a bodyslam on the ramp. Genius that he is, he then leaves Sting out there to die, and goes back in to gloat. Sting charges back in and dives over the top rope with a clothesline, then adds a dropkick to send Sid to the floor for a plancha. They brawl up the aisle to the backstage area, then back down to the ring. Sting tries a bodyslam, but Sid topples him for the pin at 11:50. The crowd actually gives him a babyface reaction for that, and some dude there must have been one of Dave Meltzer's field reporters, because he's frantically spitting his thoughts into a tape recorder. Sid starts to celebrate, when all of a sudden Sting comes down the aisle with ropes tied around his arms - the man Sid pinned was Barry Windham in disguise! Sting quickly blitzes Vicious with the Stinger Splash, and an inside cradle retains at 12:36. I know I'm in the minority, but damn it, I liked that finish. Or, at least, the idea behind it. It was kind of stupid to have Sting come back and immediately win the match instead of doing a quickie title switch, but I can see why they didn't want to put the belt on Sid at this point either. ½* (Original rating: ¾*)

BUExperience: I’m hesitant to give them show a proper rating since the WWE Network version is incomplete, but the clipped version isn’t really worth bothering with. There are a trio of good tag matches, but then three mediocre matches, and nothing especially significant otherwise. Considering the four matches not shown all pretty much sound terrible on paper, I think it’s pretty safe to assume this one is a hard ‘no.’

I also find the difference between WCW and the WWFs home video releases interesting. WCW would generally cut out a bunch of matches to edit it down to two hours, but give you full versions of the selected matches. Meanwhile, the WWF would usually give you every match that aired, but would often edit them down significantly, but that way, they could advertise more names and matches. Just an interesting juxtaposition