WCW Halloween Havoc 1994 (Version II)

Original Airdate: October 23, 1994

From Roanoke, Virginia; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan

Opening WCW Television Title Match: Johnny B. Badd v Honky Tonk Man: Little Richard versus Elvis. How did this not make everyone involved millions? Badd shakes off all of Honky's attempts to control in the early going, and a punch sends the challenger to the outside, as we completely cut away from the match to show Sting backstage talking on the WCW Hotline. Wow. Like, I know they were making money off of the Hotline, but damn. Back with Honky pounding the champion, but Johnny wins a slugfest, so Honky kicks him down low. Backelbow puts Badd down for an axehandle-drop, and Honky works a chinlock. Badd escapes and tries a sunset flip for two, but Honky cuts off the comeback with a knee, and he snapmares the champion down for another chinlock. Badd escapes with a pair of bodyslams, but an elbowdrop misses, and Honky covers for two. Back to the chinlock, as Honky continues to wrestle like he's working a house show in 1988. Badd escapes with a backdrop, and this time manages to slug Honky into the corner, but ends up missing a charge to give the challenger two. Honky dumps Johnny to the outside, then follows with a flying axehandle off of the apron, before taking things back in for another chinlock. This is a major style clash, as Badd was the kind of guy who worked hard at improving his craft, while Honky was regressing to what worked in a bygone era. Badd escapes and delivers a ten-punch in the corner, and a kneelift follows to put Honky down. Badd mounts his comeback, but a big left hook misses, and Honky side suplexes him. He grabs Badd in a blatant choke, but Johnny slugs free, and he hooks a small package, but time expires at 9:53. This was a total mess, but both guys are competent enough that it didn't fall apart completely. ¾* (Original rating: -*)

WCW World Tag Team Title Match: Stars and Stripes v Pretty Wonderful: Patriot starts with Paul Orndorff, and it quickly breaks down into a slugfest on the mat, so Paul Roma runs in as backup, but Marcus Alexander Bagwell cuts him off. The brawl spills to the outside, before settling on Patriot hitting Orndorff with a flying axehandle on the way back in. He fails to cut the ring in half, however, and Roma gets the tag, but the champs quickly control him. Bagwell works a wristlock, but Roma bodyslams him to escape, and hits a flying fistdrop. Criss cross allows Bagwell a bodypress for two, and Patriot comes in for a tandem hiptoss for two. Back to Bagwell with a flying sunset flip for two, but Roma slugs him to break free long enough for a tag. Orndorff comes in hot, but Marcus quickly traps him in a standing wristlock, and a pair of bodyslams follow to set up a clothesline - Orndorff knocked to the outside. The veteran uses the escape to regroup, and he comes back in on his home side of the ring, allowing him to trap Bagwell in a double team. Roma works him over a bit, but gets cocky, and Patriot is able to tag in for a cross corner clothesline for two. Back to Bagwell so he can get funky with his wristlock again, but Roma is sick of it, and whips him into a cheap shot from Orndorff to turn the tide. Pretty Wonderful cut the ring in half, but Marcus manages to reverse a vertical suplex from Orndorff for two, and he hooks a backslide for two. Orndorff tries to keep control with a cross corner whip, but Marcus lifts his boot to block, and he slaps on a sleeper - Roma coming in to break. That draws Patriot in, and Roseanne Barr the door! Bagwell tries to finish Orndorff with a bridging fisherman's suplex, but Roma comes off the top with a flying elbowdrop to break it up, and Orndorff pins Marcus at 13:47. Went on for a bit too long, but solid action, with Pretty Wonderful feeling their oats as heels. ** ¼ (Original rating: ½*)

Kevin Sullivan v Dave Sullivan: Dave is in all his 'I wanna be a Hulkamaniac' era glory here, but Kevin is unimpressed, and beats him down at the bell. Dropkick hits, but Dave reverses a turnbuckle smash, and piles on a bunch more. Backdrop connects, so Kevin dumps him to the outside to stop the freight train that is Dave Sullivan, then follows out to send Dave into the post. Back in, Kevin hits a straddling ropechoke, and he stuffs a Hulk Hogan bandanna in his brothers mouth ahead of hitting the double-stomp. Another one connects, and Kevin goes to the top rope, but gets slammed down! No, wait, fuck that, ignore that exclamation point. No exclamation point. This doesn't deserve one. Dave mounts a comeback, but gets distracted when Kevin starts waving the bandana around, and they spill to the outside to slug it out. Kevin sends him into the post again out there, but Dave rolls in before his brother, and he wins by countout at 5:17. This was terrible in every way imaginable, including the finish. -¼* (Original rating: DUD)

Dustin Rhodes v Arn Anderson: Feeling out process to start, with Arn trying to frustrate Rhodes by making accusations of cheating, but ultimately getting frustrated himself, when Dustin dominates him anyway. Rhodes goes up, so Arn tries a superplex, but Dustin blocks, and hits a flying clothesline. Rhodes keeps coming with a cross corner whip, but Anderson blocks the follow-up with a right hand, and he adds an elbowdrop. Spinning-toehold, but Rhodes shoves him to the outside to block, and he follows - Arn taking a couple of trips into the post out there. Back in, Dustin schoolboys him for two, and he works the arm/shoulder that Arn hurt during his trips into the post. Dustin with an inverted atomic drop, but Arn ducks the clothesline follow-up, and Rhodes takes a massive bump over the top as a result, landing a ways down the aisle! Damn! Back in, Arn gutpunches him for two, and he works a double-knucklelock, then snaps Dustin's throat underneath the bottom rope with a catapult. Rhodes starts slugging back, so Arn whips him into the ropes for a clothesline, but Dustin has the same idea, and we have a double knockout. That leads to a slugfest, and Rhodes controls with a big boot, followed by a jumping clothesline for two. Backdrop, so Anderson tries to counter with a DDT, but Dustin holds onto the top rope to block, and covers for two. Hotshot follows, but Arn counters a backdrop with a sunset flip - only to get caught trying to use the ropes for leverage. That allows Dustin to reverse the cradle, and he gets three at 9:52. This was fine, but felt like it never kicked into high gear. ** ¾ (Original rating: ***)

WCW United States Title Match: Jim Duggan v Steve Austin: Austin jumps him before the bell, and hammers the champion in the corner, but Duggan fires back with a pair of clotheslines, followed by a bodyslam. Sleeper, but Steve starts to escape, so Jim tries a side suplex, but Austin back flips onto his feet, and clips the champion's knee. Austin works the leg, but Jim blocks a figure four by sending Steve into the corner, and Hacksaw schoolboys for two. Steve cuts him off by going back to the leg, but a springboard seated senton splash across the knee misses, and Duggan sends him to the outside with an atomic drop. Steve milks the count to regroup out there, but manages to take control on the way back in, and a pair of 2^nd rope flying axehandles connect. Third one, but this time Duggan counters with a clothesline, and he pops Austin with a series of punches until Steve hides out in the ropes - suckering Duggan into a mulekick. Nicely done. Steve with a 2^nd rope pointed elbowdrop for two, but a flying splash misses, and Hacksaw mounts his comeback. He goes for the kill with the 3-point stance, but Steve backdrops him over the top to block, and that's a DQ at 8:03. Started off well enough, but fell apart rather quickly, as Duggan was really out of his depth as a worker against Austin, and couldn't hold up his end. * ¾ (Original rating: DUD)

Vader v Guardian Angel: Exactly how many televised matches did these two have in 1994? Angel tunes up Harley Race before the bell, then tries to do the same to Vader after it - though with notably less success. Vader starts popping him with short-clotheslines, and Angel takes a spill over the top, but manages to reverse Vader into the guardrail out there. Angel adds a clothesline, so Race gets involved again, and Vader recovers as Angel beats the manager down. Back in, Angel slams Vader onto Harley, then drops a leg to the groin, followed by an avalanche. Vader slugs him, but a vertical suplex gets reversed, and Angel smacks him with a big boot. Vader responds with a series of jabs, and yeah, that'll put anyone down. 2^nd rope flying bodypress, but Angel counters with a powerslam, and he comes off the top with a poorly executed flying headbutt for two. Leg-feed enzuigiri connects, and a clothesline sends the big bull over the top. Right back in, Angel headbutts him, but Vader counters the scrapbuster with a clothesline. That looked awkward. Vader with a slam to set up the Vaderbomb, but it only gets two. Another one, but Angel lifts his knees to block this time, and he hits a splash for two. Spinebuster gets two, and the scrapbuster looks to finish, but Race is on the apron to distract him before he can cover. Angel takes the bait, but as he suplexes Harley in from the apron, he puts himself right into position for Vader to splash and pin at 8:19. Serves him right. Felt like a carbon copy of the match they had at Fall Brawl, which itself felt like a carbon copy of the Bash at the Beach match, which felt like a carbon copy of the Spring Stampede match - which was the best one. * ¾ (Original rating: ***)

The Nasty Boys v Bunkhouse Buck and Terry Funk: Big brawl to start, as both teams slug it out in the ring. The Nasties are able to whip the Stud Stable into one another to clean house, and the dust settles on Brian Knobbs and Funk to start. That quickly turns into a slugfest as well, and Knobbs knocks him to the outside to win it. Terry doesn't take it well, and throws a tantrum by knocking chairs around, before getting hammered by Jerry Sags on the way back in. Sags' offense literally involves rubbing his ass in Funk's face, which may be one of the most hardcore things poor Terry's ever had to endure in a ring, and that covers a lot of ground. Tag to Buck, but he gets cornered by the Nasties and pounded, so Terry rushes back in without a tag, but the Boys clean house. Funk throws another tantrum - this time bashing his own head with a chair. And right in front of Muhammad Ali too, which might border on cruel. Dust settles on Sags and Funk, and Terry takes a spill back to the outside, but it's a ploy this time to allow Buck a sneak attack. They ram Jerry into the rail out there, then back in for a tandem clothesline, but Jerry counters by hitting both with facebusters. In comes Knobbs, and Roseanne Barr the door, we've got a kettle on! Meng tries helping his team out, but it backfires when he hits Terry by accident, and the Nasties capitalize by piledriving Funk through a literal pumpkin for the pin at 8:18. Great visual there. Another one that never really got going as a match, but it was entertaining due to Funk's antics. ½* (Original rating: DUD)

Main Event: WCW World Title Career Cage Match: Hulk Hogan v Ric Flair: Mr. T acts as the special guest referee for this one. Hulk blitzes him at the bell, and makes Flair eat his bandanna, but Mr. T steps in when Hogan stands on the top rope and stomps a cornered Nature Boy. Ric uses that opportunity to poke Hulk in the eye, but a trip into the cage gets reversed, and Hogan unloads some mounted punches. Flair goes to the bad knee to turn the tide, and he works the part, then sends Hogan into the cage. Now in control, Flair snapmares Hogan down for a kneedrop, but another toss into the cage gets reversed, and Hulk drives him into it a second time before choking Ric down with his t-shirt. Mr. T intervenes again, allowing Flair a flying axehandle, followed by a hanging vertical suplex for two. Into the corner for chops, but Hulk fires back, so Ric tries to climb, but Hogan follows him up to the top rope and bashes his head into the cage until Ric falls straddled across the top rope! Hulk unleashes some biting next, but a charge in the corner hits boot, and Flair tries the Figure Four, but Hulk hooks a small package for two. Flair responds with more chops, but Hogan is in no-sell mode, and shrugs them off. Cross corner whip and a backdrop connect, and Ric gets tossed into the cage again. Man, it must be eating away at him that he hasn't been able to blade. Like, that many cage shots would be a four alarm blade job from him by now. Hulk then makes it worse by grating Ric's face into the mesh, and a side suplex gets two. Mr. T as a referee is... not so good. Flair tries to climb out again, but Hulk is on his tail, and he crotches the Nature Boy on the top rope again following a flurry of chops. Ric tries a kneebreaker to fight him off, and Flair drops his own knee onto the Hulkster's leg a couple of times, before tearing off Hogan's kneepad to do some more direct damage. Mr. T tries to intervene, but Flair pushes past him, and goes to work. Damn right! This is supposed to be a cage match, fuck his noise. Figure Four looks to finish, but Hulk manages a reversal, so Flair starts throwing kicks at the leg upon escaping. Mr. T gets bumped in the process, and there's no one to count when Ric hits a side suplex, so he responds by stomping Mr. T. That's Sherri's cue, but Jimmy Hart pulls her skirt off to prevent her from entering the cage, so the masked man pops out to stop that effort. That allows Sherri to dive in with a flying axehandle on Hogan, as Flair handcuffs Mr. T to the rope, and the masked man looms. Flair and Sherri pound Hogan, but he starts no-selling, and isn't shy at all about beating on Sherri as he makes his comeback. She even takes a big boot! Big boot for Flair as well, and the Legdrop finishes at 19:26 - Mr. T counting the pin while still handcuffed to the rope! The match was overbooked like crazy, and lacked some of the psychology of the earlier meetings, but certainly entertaining. And then afterwards, the real fun starts, as the masked man returns, but this time Hogan fights him off, and he's unmasked as none other than Brother Bruti! Hulk is in shock, but here comes Kevin Sullivan, followed by Avalanche (still unnamed, and wearing his Earthquake gear) to attack, and beat Hogan down - that going on until Sting makes the save! *** (Original rating: ** ½)

BUExperience: My individual ratings may have been generally stronger this time out compared to the Version I review, but this card doesn’t do much for me. I will say that pretty much all aspects of the overall production had improved tremendously by this point though, which automatically makes these shows easier to enjoy than stuff from a few years prior. Like, there were a lot of early 90s shows that had stronger technical ring work, but they were just so bleak and dull, and had such poor booking, that I’d much rather go back and rewatch a show like this than, say, the ’91 version. At least this era of the promotion felt like they were on the cusp of something exciting, as opposed to on the edge of a cliff.


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