WCW Halloween Havoc 1991 (Version II)

Original Airdate: October 27, 1991

From Chattanooga, Tennessee; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone

Opening Chamber of Horrors Match: Sting, El Gigante, and The Steiner Brothers v Diamond Studd, Cactus Jack, Abdullah the Butcher, and Big Van Vader: Literally 75% of the heel team are replacements. Much like at the Bash, I assume we're starting with this due to time constraints. Odd entrances, as they introduce Gigante, then Vader, then Studd (who finally has his name spelled correctly on his own tights), Jack, then the Steiners, then Abdullah, and finally Sting. Weird. Sting and Rick Steiner brawl with Jack and Butcher on the ramp as the match starts, as everyone else goes at it inside. They eventually follow, and Sting uses a kendo stick on the heels. Another weird bit, as there are random caskets staged inside the chamber, and one ends up containing a masked man who gets beat up by Scott Steiner for no fully explored reason. Sting knocks Vader over the top to setup a plancha, as Scott DDT's Cactus off of brother Rick's shoulders, and the electric chair lowers from the ceiling. It also takes up a huge chunk of the ring, thereby effectively preventing anything in the way of spots. The announcers note that it's going to take a long time for someone to get worn out enough to get put into the chair, which I honestly consider to be a threat. Cactus blades after getting beaten with the kendo stick courtesy of Scotty Steiner, as Gigante lumbers around clubbing Vader with forearms, and Studd gets chocked with a chain. It should be noted that the switch used to 'turn on the electric chair' has already been flipped, since it got loosened by guys banging into the cage, leaving the poor referee trying to manually flip it back to the 'off' position to prevent exposing the match. It falls right back down, and even though Studd has gotten Scott Steiner into the chair, nothing seems to happen. Like, not even a tingle. Hmm, perhaps this whole 'pro-wrestling' thing isn't quite what it seems to be. The referee resets the switch yet again for the finish, which sees Butcher get Rick into the chair, but Steiner able to reverse as a distracted Cactus flips it on his own teammate at 12:36. Points for originality, I suppose? I'd call this a straight 'DUD' if not for the electric chair silliness that pushes it into negative-star territory. Such a waste of some great talents, too. -* (Original rating: DUD)

The Creatures v Big Josh and PN News: Sadly, Josh doesn't have any circus animals with him this time. Just PN News. Some poor chubby asshole in the crowd is super into News, and there's even a WCW Magazine PN News Rap Contest winner on hand. It's hard to sit here and make fun of this shit when the promotion does such a good job of it themselves. Josh and News bounce the Creatures around (quite literally, as one of News' big offensive moves is bouncing guys off of his massive gut), with News even busting out a dropkick for the occasion. Josh misses a flying double-stomp, but the Creatures fail to build any momentum, and he hits a German suplex. Over to News for a northern lights suplex, and back to Josh for a belly-to-belly suplex. The Creatures try double teaming, but Josh fights them off with a powerbomb, and the Northern Exposure sets up the Rapmaster Splash from News at 5:16. Energetic enough, but little more than an extended squash. * (Original rating: ¼*)

Terrance Taylor v Bobby Eaton: Feeling out process to start, with Bobby dominating, and Terrance bailing after taking a series of armdrags. Taylor takes him to the outside for a whip into the guardrail, but he ends up getting backdropped over it for his trouble, and Eaton slugs him down on the way back in. Bobby grounds Terrance in a hammerlock, as the announcers do a great job of getting over the psychology at play here. Taylor uses a stunner to escape the hold, but ends up getting slammed onto the ramp when they spill to the outside, and Eaton adds a flying kneedrop out there. Taylor begs off, and Eaton falls for it - getting sucker punched, and sent crashing into the rail with a high knee. Taylor clotheslines him and leaves him out there to take the count, but Bobby beats it in, so Taylor blasts him with a cross corner clothesline and a kneedrop for two. Eaton tries a charge, but Taylor sidesteps, and sends him crashing out on to the ramp, where Terrance follows with a gutwrench powerbomb. He leaves him out there to eat the countout again, but Bobby beats it, so Taylor bodyslams him to setup a flying splash for two. He grounds him with a chinlock, but Bobby escapes, so Taylor throws a knee, and dumps him to the outside again - only for Eaton to come back in with a flying sunset flip for two! Terrance cuts him off with a clothesline, however, and adds a quick kneedrop for two. He goes to a reverse chinlock in an effort to keep Eaton grounded, but Bobby escapes, so Taylor ups the ante with a sleeper. Eaton escapes that as well, but a splash hits knees, and Taylor tries a 2^nd rope pumpsplash - only for THAT to hit the knees! You'd think fellow York Foundation homie Richard Morton would have given poor Terrance a few tips against this guy first. That's enough to allow Bobby to mount a proper comeback, and a ten-punch count sets up a vertical suplex for two. Swinging neckbreaker hits, but Taylor crotches him on the top rope to stop the Alabama Jam! Terrance tries a superplex, but Eaton blocks, and the Jam finishes at 16:39. Solid match here, with hard work all around. I don't know what my problem was with it the first time, but this was much better than I gave it credit for in the original review. *** (Original rating: *)

Johnny B. Badd v Jimmy Garvin: Badd makes the Freebirds look tough by comparison. An early criss cross ends in Jimmy reversing a hiptoss to send Johnny over the top, where Michael Hayes is waiting with a nice right hand. Back in, another criss cross ends in Garvin powerslamming him, and he starts manically running the ropes like the Ultimate Warrior on speedballs to setup a running forearm that sends Badd back to the floor. In, Garvin starts working the arm, but Badd fires off a jumping hangman's clothesline, and he grounds Jimmy in a chinlock. Johnny with a backdrop and a lariat to setup a sloppy flying sunset flip for two, and a bodyslam sets up a flying elbowdrop for two. That sunset flip was ugly as fuck, and he's lucky he didn't wind up with a broken neck there. Another slam sets up a flying axehandle, but Garvin gutpunches him out of the air. Badd tries a charge in the corner, but Jimmy dodges to send Johnny over the top, and the camera angle totally exposes the fact that Badd basically leapt over the ropes there. Whoops. Inside, Garvin works him over, and the DDT looks to finish, but Teddy Long distracts the referee to prevent a count, and Badd recovers with a knockout left hook at 8:26. Badd still had a lot of learning to do, but he was improving rapidly. It's actually kind of astounding how quickly he went from a green goof to a reliably good worker by the mid-90s. * ¼ (Original rating: ¼*)

WCW Television Title Match: Steve Austin v Dustin Rhodes: It's kind of funny to hear the announcers repeatedly say the word 'natural' while the camera crew takes long close-ups of Lady Blossom. I mean, I know they're talking about Rhodes, but still. Dustin goes right for him, and controls on the mat in the early going, and a fast criss cross ends in Rhodes clotheslining him, then hitting a dropkick for two. Steve cuts that off with a headscissors on the mat, but Dustin counters to a toehold, so Steve is forced to use the ropes to escape. Rhodes clotheslines him over the top, but a headlock attempt on the way back in is countered with a side suplex from the champion. Backdrop, but Rhodes counters with a kneelift, then tries the Bulldog, but Steve dodges. Dustin takes him back down with a headlock, and they feel each other out on the mat for a while, until Steve escapes for a criss cross - Rhodes throwing a bodypress, but Austin ducking, and Dustin bumping to the floor off of it! Steve follows to hammer him with some mounted punches, as we get another look at the 'naturals' - distracting us from the fact that Rhodes is blading. He stagers around ringside a bloody mess, but Austin doesn't let him feel sorry for himself for long - diving out after him with a flying axehandle. Back in, Austin hits a gutwrench powerbomb for two, and grounds his challenger in a chinlock - making sure to use the ropes for leverage. He gets caught, allowing Rhodes to fire off some solid rights, but a monkeyflip gets blocked, and Steve levels him with a lariat for two. Rhodes tries an inside cradle, but Steve reverses at two - only for Dustin to reverse back at two. Rhodes with a clothesline for two, but a dropkick misses, and Steve makes a lateral press for two. Blossom smacks him around a little bit for good measure, but Steve still misses a straddling ropechoke, and Dustin hits an atomic drop to setup a jumping clothesline for two. They spill to the outside, where Rhodes sends him into the post to bust him open as well, and inside, he hits a powerslam for two. Snapmare sets up a series of mounted punches, and an elbowsmash is worth two. They're clearly doing a time limit draw here, and it's very obvious. Rhodes tries a ten-punch, and a flying clothesline looks to finish, but time indeed expires at 15:02. Dustin's another guy that was rapidly improving, as at the start of 1991 he was just 'the promoter’s kid,' but by the end of the year he was a worker. This is also another one I vastly underrated the first time around. *** (Original rating: ¾*)

Bill Kazmaier v Oz: They match power to start, with Kazmaier dominating, so Oz tries to use his height advantage with a test-of-strength, but gets dominated there as well. Oz tries some knees and forearms to turn the tide, but Bill reverses a cross corner whip, and hiptosses him. Oz manages to dodge a corner charge to setup a side suplex for two, but he runs into a lariat, and Kazmaier puts him in a torture rack for the submission at 3:58. Not much to this one, and Kazmaier looked terrible, but they were trying, at least. ¼* (Original rating: DUD)

Van Hammer v Doug Somers: Hammer quickly takes him down and hits a powerslam, then cross corner whips Doug to setup a backdrop. Hammer follows with a pair of elbowdrops, as the announcers act like he's the biggest star on the planet, or something. A slingshot suplex quickly ends this mess at 1:12 - during which literally none of the moves came off well. Hammer was green as fuck, and the experienced Somers didn't seem keen on helping to guide him through this at all, and made him look (even more) terrible. -* (Original rating: DUD)

WCW Light Heavyweight Title Match: Brian Pillman v Richard Morton: This is a tournament final to crown the first champion. The poor referee is forced to wear a helmet with a camera mounted in it (dubbed the 'Refer-Eye Cam') for this, which looks ridiculous. Morton heels it up in the early going with cheap shots to control/frustrate Brian, but he ends up getting bodyslammed, then sent to the outside with a spinheel kick. Back in, Pillman head fakes him in the corner to set Richard up for a mat-based side-headlock, but Morton counters to a headscissor. Brian hits a Japanese armdrag to setup another headlock, but a criss cross ends in Morton executing an inverted atomic drop. Hiptoss sets up a kneedrop to the arm, and Richard tries dumping him, but Brian hustles back in with a rollup for two. Morton cuts him off with a clothesline, and he grounds Pillman with an armbar. Why the fuck does Morton have back pockets on his tights, like blue jeans? Also, why the fuck is Morton still wearing his Rock 'n' Roll Express babyface teen idol tights when he's a) a heel and b) thirty five? Pillman escapes the hold, but quickly eats a knee, and Morton continues to punish the shoulder with an overhead wristlock. Morton with a side suplex for two, but Brian manages a leg-feed enzuigiri, and he adds a backdrop. Morton tries to turn it back around with a cross corner whip, but Brian slugs back, and a criss cross results in both guys falling out of the ring. Brian ends up taking a trip into the post out there, but he gets to the top rope on the way back in, and nails a flying bodypress for the title at 12:43. This was decent, but didn't really deliver what this type of match needed - worked like a regular match with smaller guys instead of presenting a unique style like the later Cruiserweight division. * ½ (Original rating: ¼*)

Tom Zenk v WCW Halloween Phantom: Phantom is a masked mystery man. Luckily, he wrestles in a shirt, otherwise it would have been a dead giveaway. I'm actually kind of surprised the geniuses running WCW at the time even managed to figure that out. Anyway, Phantom blitzes him, and totally destroys Zenk, but telegraphs a backdrop, and Tom hits a dropkick. Unfortunately for him, Phantom shrugs it off, and hits a neckbreaker for the pin at 1:28. Just a complete and total squash. And then, later on in the show, Paul E. Dangerously brings the Phantom back out, and he unmasks as Rick Rude - in a great reveal. They probably should have done the reveal right after the match, for maximum impact. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

WCW World Tag Team Title Match: The Enforcers v The Patriots: The Patriots are the reigning WCW United States Tag Team Champions here, but those aren't on the line, which should giveaway the winner. But then, the fact that a guy named 'Firebreaker Chip' is competing for a world title should give away the ending on it's own, really. Larry Zbyszko starts with Chip, and they feel each other out, with the Chipper looking sloppy as hell. That was a common problem in WCW during this time period, if you haven't yet caught on. And while some matured into bonafide workers, like Rhodes and Badd, others stayed Firebreaker Chip. Chip bounces the Enforcers around, but Arn Anderson manages to get the better of Todd Champion - only to have a piledriver on the outside countered with a backdrop. Back in, Todd grabs a bearhug, but Larry takes a cheap shot to save, so Champion double-clotheslines them. God, these guys are terrible. I'm surprised they got the push that they did, all considered. It wouldn't be surprising for the WWF, but WCW generally required that you have at least a light sprinkling of actual wrestling talent to get pushed prior to 1994. 1991 was a weird year, ruled by desperation. The Enforcers cut the ring in half on Champion, but he manages to reverse a vertical suplex from Larry, and get the hot tag off to Chip. Unfortunately, he's a fireman, and the heat is quickly extinguished - Anderson hitting a rotating spinebuster to retain at 9:52. Arn and Larry tried, but this was nicht gut. ¾* (Original rating: ¼*)

Main Event: WCW World Title Two-out-of-Three Falls Match: Lex Luger v Ron Simmons: Feeling out process to start, which segues into Luger working him over in plodding style, but walking into a facebuster. Simmons quickly follows up with a powerslam and a spinebuster for the first fall at 4:54. Well, that was to the point. Simmons keeps coming with a pair of cross corner whips, so Luger goes to the eyes to slow him down, but misses a cross corner charge, and eats a bulldog for two. Luger is like the opposite of Dustin Rhodes in 1991, as he was turning in great performances at the start of the year, and by this point he looks like he's lost all his passion and motivation - just going through the motions in this main event. Simmons tries an inside cradle for two, and a slingshot sunset flip gets two, but he misses a charge, and goes crashing out of the ring. He beats the count, so Luger welcomes him with an elbowdrop for two, then hits a powerslam for two. Vertical suplex gets two, and Lex grounds him in a chinlock. Ron powers up, so Luger dumps him into the corner, but a charge misses, and Simmons schoolboys him for two. Backslide gets two, so Harley Race trips the challenger up from the outside, and Lex charges with a bodypress - only to go over the top! Unfortunately for him, the referee rules that as a DQ at 16:26. That was a really poorly booked fall. Lex hides in the corner as they restart for the final fall, and takes a sucker punch at Ron when he comes for him, but Simmons starts no-selling. He unloads a ten-punch in the corner, so Lex tries an inverted atomic drop, but Ron counters with a lariat for two. Cross corner whip sets up a backdrop for two, and Ron executes his own inverted atomic drop. Vertical superplex is worth two, and another powerslam sets up a 2^nd rope flying shoulderblock that sends the champion to the outside. Ron follows, but misses a shoulderblock against the post, and Lex capitalizes with the piledriver on the way back in to retain at 19:48. Not a bad match, but on the dull side. Simmons was game, but Luger was sleep walking out there. That's a shame too, since a motivated Luger probably would have had a fun power match with Ron. * ½ (Original rating: ¾*)

BUExperience: Well, it’s not as bad as I remember it being. I remember the Chamber of Horrors being an abortion (which it was), and the show being quite boring (which it was), but it does at least have some bright spots in the form of a couple of good outings on the undercard, and the memorable Rick Rude debut angle. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still not a good show. There are two negative-star matches, and a phoned in main event on top, but I remember it practically being one of the worst shows of all time, and it’s at least not that.

DUD