It's October 29th, 1995. Get Shorty is still the number one movie in America, while Mariah Carey's "Fantasy" still dominates the Billboard charts. In the world of WCW however... I don't even know how to properly describe the insanity that has been going on in the world title picture, but to the best of my abilities, here we go.
Back at Fall Brawl the Giant snapped the neck of Hulk Hogan. Following that, The Taskmaster (disguised as an old woman) attacked Hogan, and with the aid of the Dungeon of Doom, clipped off the iconic mustache of Hulk Hogan. This turned Hogan somewhat emo, as we witnessed the "darkside of Hulkamania". Hogan would be dressed in black and be louder, angrier, and I assume have access to a time machine. All this leading to the 1995 Halloween Havoc pay per view where Hogan challenged Giant to a monster truck sumo match above Cobo Hall, and after that an actual wrestling match. Also there's a mummy called The Yeti that broke out of a block of ice.
In other feuds, Ric Flair has been running afoul of Arn Anderson and Brian Pillman, to the point that Flair is seeking help from one of his oldest enemies, the man called Sting. And Sting, being gullible, finds himself willing to help the nature boy out. Randy Savage and Lex Luger have been at each other's throats. Sting tried to play peacemaker, but when that didn't work he suggested that if Savage beats Kamala and Luger beats Meng, then they should both wrestler later in the night at Halloween Havoc. So, compared to the more tepid In Your House 4 build, things have actually been going on over at WCW. Some bizarre things, but at least it feels like they use their hour of TV far better.
Opening action is Diamond Dallas Page defending his Television title against Johnny B. Badd. This boils back to a few weeks ago on WCW Saturday Night when thanks to Page, Badd was screwed out of his US title match against Sting, thanks to a flat tire. Page gloats about his title in front of Badd, but thanks to the loud mouth of Max Muscle, it was revealed that Page sabotaged Badd's car, and cost him his shot. Also, two weeks ago on Nitro, Page attacked Badd with his title before their TV title match could even go down, which leads us to tonight's matchup.
Someone who looks like Badd backs his way down the entranceway as the real Johnny B. Badd sneaks up and lays in some punches on Page. High knee lift from Badd who follows with a whip to the buckle that sends Page tumbling outside. Max Muscle tries to attack, but Badd lays both men out with a noggin knocker. He sends Page to the crowd and sends him back in. He then grabs a bucket and slaps it over his head. Page tries to come back, but Badd gets in an arm drag and an arm bar as the match officially starts.
He turns it into a wrist lock, keeping the pressure on. Page tries to pull the hair, but Badd comes right back with some hair pulling of his own (Nice yell of "HE PULLED MY HAIR" from Page). Badd reverses a whip and jumps over, eventually landing a hiptoss to Page, covering for a two. He goes for punches in the corner, but Page counters, sending Badd face first into the top turnbuckle. Page takes Badd to the corner with an elbow and a shoulder to the midsection. Cover gets a two count. Back suplex by Page who points at the Diamond Doll to put up the "10" card, much to her disgust. Pancake by Page who covers for two. Page looks to have cut his right eye as some blood is trickling down the side of his face.
Chinlock by Page. Badd tries to break free, but is quickly taken right back down. Cover by Page for two. He returns to the chinlock, dropping his weight for pressure. Cover only gets a two however. Backslide by Badd only gets a two. Page recovers with a clothesline, covering for another two. Sunset flip is broken by Page who cockily covers, but Badd reverses into a rollup for two. Powerslam by Page, who covers again for two. He returns to the chinlock, but Badd quickly escapes, locking a wristlock. However Max Muscle aids Page in taking down Badd. Cover only gets another two.
Page drops an elbow and begins to yell at Muscle to get up to distract the referee while he chokes Badd with the wrist tape. Back into the chinlock. Badd escapes again with the wristlock, but this time Page can't get Mac Muscle's aid as Badd turns things around into a back suplex. Page recovers first with a right hand, but Badd gets a pair of atomic drops from both sides. He drives some fists into Page and follows with a headscissors. Badd goes to the top and lands an ax handle. The Diamond Doll even gives Badd a 10. Cover only gets a two.
Falling powerbomb by Badd, who covers for the two. Diamond Dream by Page that takes out both men. Cover from Page only gets a two. Badd avoids a diamond cutter and covers for two. Badd goes for the corner punches. Page tries to counter again, but Badd sends Page over the top rope. Bad Day from Badd lays out both Page and Muscle. He follows with a flip over the ropes on to Page, covering for two. Muscle grabs Badd, but he escapes, dropkicking Page into Muscle. Cover only gets a two. Page throws Max Muscle into the post, but he no-sells. Page grabs Badd for Muscle to clothesline, but Muscle hits Page instead (how is there no disqualification yet?). Badd knocks down Muscle and covers for the three and the title win.
Much like my issues with Badd's match at Fall Brawl, this did not need to be that long. Badd looked good, Page played a great scumbag heel, and the last few minutes were exciting. But the majority of the 17 minutes being basic slow mat work really bogged it down. Despite that, still a decent opener with a hot way to start with a new champion crowned.
Up next, it's Randy Savage against Kamala... Err, I mean Zodiac. Savage was supposed to face the Ugandan Giant, but instead it's Zebra Brutus. Savage sneak attacks Zodiac (I'm sensing a pattern here that faces in WCW love their Pearl Harboring), laying in some strikes and a punch to the corner.
Another issue WCW was notorious for was not being able to handle rowdy crowds as a fan jumps into the ring and tries to attack Savage, only to be subdued. Savage slams around Zodiac on the outside as the fan is thrown out. Zodiac comes back, slamming Savage into the post. He brings him back in and lands a slam. Zodiac goes up for a splash, but misses. Savage goes up for the elbow as you see security escorting the fan out at ringside. Savage gets the win in a quick squash where the focus became far less on the in-ring action.
Mean Gene is backstage shilling the hotline and then interviews Johnny B. Badd. Badd says there will be a celebration in the motor city. He tells the fans that dreams can come true since he is now the television champ. He promises to keep his belt because he's a bad man. He walks off early in the promo as Gene promises to sing some Tutti Frutti later in the night at the celebration.
Up next, it's Road Warrior Hawk vs Kurosawa. This is a "revenge match" (per Schiavone) when Kurosawa broke the arm of Hawk back at Clash of the Champions. The bell rings and Hawk goes in on the attack (at least he waited) and lands a shoulder block and a neckbreaker. Diving fist drop and a series of covers from Hawk as Kurosawa kicks out at two. Hawk stiffs on Kurosawa with hard chops and boots to the head.
Kurosawa avoids a charge in the corner, but Hawk continues with some hard strikes and a gutwrench suplex. Colonel Robert Parker trips the leg of hawk allowing Kurosawa to land a slam. He goes for an elbow off the top, but Hawk avoids. Clothesline to the outside by Hawk to Kurosawa. He follows with a clotheline to Colonel Parker. Kurosawa rams Hawk into the post. Back drop by Kurosawa followed by a Samoan Drop. Cover, using the ropes and an assist from Coloel Parker gets the win for Kurosawa in a quick, basic match. Really didn't feel like it settle much in this feud.
Mean Gene is backstage with Savage. He says that he's beaten the Zodiac (mentioning the fan interference) and is ready for Luger. He goes on to Hogan and says that he isn't fond of what he said last week. Then he starts fighting with Gene over crooked mustaches and beards. Since the world revolves around Hogan-Senpai, Savage talks about the monster truck match and says he will be watching through the video scope.
Up next, it's Mr. J.L taking on Sabu. Sabu being accompanied by his uncle the original Sheik, Eddie Farhat. And since this is a night of Pearl Harbors, Sabu tries to attack before the bell, but J.L comes back, sending Sabu to the outside. Sabu whips J.L into the ropes and then hits an Asai moonsault.
Smacking Sheik in the process.
Sabu goes for a dive on J.L, but he avoids. J.L follows up with a dive off the buckle to the outside on Sabu. Sabu comes back into the ring and tries a moonsault, but J.L avoids and lands one of his own, covering for two. Sitout powerbomb by J.L only gets a two count. J.L goes for an attack, but misses. Slingshot leg drop by Sabu only gets a two count. J.L follows with a german suplex off the ropes, but the bridge only gets a two count. He goes back up, but Sabu counters, landing a rolling sunset flip off the top, covering for two. Sabu goes back up, but J.L dropkicks, sending him falling outside. Sabu guillotines J.L and lands an Arabian Press for the win. Sheik throws a fireball at J.L as Sabu is about to continue his assault, only to leave.
A very fast paced match, but honestly, it felt like a mess. Lots of big speedy spots with no substance. Lots of kick outs from high impact moves. Could have been better, but felt very underwhelming.
Promo time with The Master and Taskmaster. The stars have aligned for Sullivan as there will be a total eclipse of the sun because they are here right now. Tonight, Sullivan will walk upon the galaxies when the Giant and the Yeti destroy Hulk Hogan. Sullivan talks about how Hogan doesn't have a friend in the universe, stating that Savage, Luger and Sting are vultures, picking at the bones.
We get a segment with Hulk Hogan giving away a motorcycle to the winner of the Harley Davidson contest, "Maniac Mike". good to see how Hogan has some time to not focus on his heated feud with the Giant.
Up next, it's Lex Luger taking on Meng. If Luger wins, we'll see him face Randy Savage later in the evening. Guess how we start the match by the way? You guessed it, Pearl Harbor. Lex attacks Meng before the bell and begins ramming his head into the buckle ten times. Headlock is broken by Meng, but Luger catches him with a boot to the lower extremities. He follows with a catapult to the buckle. He grinds the eyes of Meng on the ropes. Meng comes back by ramming Luger into the buckle, followed with a boot and a small package for two.
Luger blocks a buckle ram and he slams Meng into the buckle instead. Boot and a clothesline sends Meng over the top rope. Luger throws Meng into the post and then follows with a slam of the arm on the steel. Luger drops the arm on the ropes while Taskmaster keeps his focus on the total package. Meng returns to control, biting on the face of Luger. Luger comes back with some rights. He tries to charge Meng in the corner, but Meng avoids. Back suplex attempt by Luger is met with Meng dropping his weight on Lex, covering for two. Meng lands a brutal looking shoulder breaker.
Meng stomps down Lex in the corner (complete with some great Luger overselling noises). He follows with a piledriver and a cover for two. Meng chokes down Luger, turning it around into a chinlock. Luger escapes and both men collide with cross body blocks. Meng recovers and lands a back suplex, covering for another two count. Meng throws Luger out of the ring while Sullivan continues to focus in on Luger. Luger returns to the ring, only for Meng to continue to beat him down.
Luger tries some shoulder blocks, but Meng rakes at the eyes. Meng tries to suplex Luger over the ropes, but Luger counters with one of his own. Meng recovers first and goes for a back drop, only for Luger to come back with clotheslines, eventually knocking down Meng. Back body drop and more steel plated clotheslines follow. After a powerslam, Luger calls for the torture rack, but gets caught with the golden spike. Cover...
But Sullivan breaks the cover and in turn disqualifies Meng. Meng shoves at Sullivan angrily, not understanding what's going on. Overall, despite the confusing ending (yes, I know it's continuing the question on if Luger is on the side of the Dungeon of Doom), this was an okay match. Hot early on, slow and dragging in the middle, and hot again by the end. Definitely one of the better Luger matches I've seen since blogging.
Mean Gene is with Jumpsuit Giant. He says that if Hogan has the courage to face him atop Cobo Hall, he promises to shove Hogan right off the roof, and later he'll promise to chokeslam right through the floor and win the championship in the wrestling match.
Up next, it's Arn Anderson and Brian Pillman taking on Sting and... well, Ric Flair was supposed to team with Sting, but was attacked before the show began, thus making the early parts of this match a handicap match. And leave it to the handicap situation to not start with a Pearl Harboring. I guess Sting is that rare a babyface. Andersron and Sting start as they exchange hammerlocks. Full nelson from Arn, but Sting boots Pillman and turns it around on Double A. Pillman screams at the camera as already the pair are at a disadvantage. Arn tries to keep Sting down, but Sting recovers quickly and gets a boot to the midsection and a bulldog. He follows with some strikes to both Arn and Pillman sending them out of the ring to regroup.
Pillman is in next who slaps Sting and runs out. Sting avoids the attempted double team sneak attack and lands clotheslines to both Arn and Pillman. Press slam by the Sting to Pillman who focuses his gaze on Arn. Both men have another timeout to strategize, until Arn lands in some hard ax handles. He tries a piledriver, but Sting turns it around into a catapult, that causes Arn to crash into Pillman. He then grabs Pillman and throws him into the steel guardrail.
Arn throws Sting into the head of Pillman and follows with a shoulder block to the midsection. Ric Flair finally arrives, tape on head, and chases after Arn while Pillman attacks Sting on the outside. Dress shoes and slacks, Flair is still strutting. Tag to Pillman who fights and exchange of chops and strikes from Stinger. Drop toe hold and a tag to Arn who locks the chinlock as the crowd chants "We want Flair". Flair tries to attack Arn with his shoe as Arn tags in Pillman, who goes for a splash, but Sting gets the knees to the gut. Flair is strutting and ready for the tag. Tag to Arn who lands a back suplex. Cover only gets a two.
Sting blocks some offense from Arn but is still too out of it to make a tag to Flair, who then turns his attention to chasing Pillman. If it didn't feel like something's up, it is slowly but surely. Abdominal stretch from Arn, using Pillman as leverage. Tag to Pillman who lands a facebuster. He works down Sting, laying in a bite in the process. Half crab from Pillman, again using Arn as Leverage as Flair distracts. Tag back to Pillman who lands a boot to the ribs. Quick covers, but Sting kicks out qith no issues. Flair stops some double team efforts as Sting comes back with some strikes, however Arn lands the spinebuster. Cover only gets another two as Flair tries to break the pin.
Pillman locks in a leg lock as the crowd is hungry for Flair to come in. Another quick tag to Arn as they land a double wishbone. Double A continues work on the leg as Sting screams for Flair. He gets close to Flair, but Arn stops him, applying a bearhug. We get the arm drop spot, but Sting recovers, breaking out. However, Arn stops his comeback and tags in Pillman, who continues to lay in offense. He throws Sting into the corner, but Sting fights off both men. He knocks Pillman into Arn and finally manages to crawl over to Ric Flair, but...
Surprise, surprise! This was all a ruse as Flair sucker punches Sting. The match is thrown out as the reunited Horesemen beat down on Flair. Sting tries to fight back, but the three on one is eventually too much for him. Flair throws off the tape as there's nothing wrong. Flair lays some punches and stomps on Sting as the trio work down the Stinger.
I liked this match. Sting looked hot early on, managing to work down both men for a good while. When Flair finally came in the match did slow down, but again it was good logical booking. I'm not the biggest fan of "face in peril" tag booking, but considering how this match ended, it was more than fine. And yes, this makes no sense that after over a month of double teaming on Flair, that suddenly he's in collusion with Anderson and Pillman, but it continues the constant trend of gullible Sting.
Flair says that now we go school. Don't mess with the enforcer, Pillman, or Flair. Don't walk, talk or breathe unless the Horsemen tell you to. Reunited and it feels so good, Horsemen style!
Mike Tenay is backstage with Luger, who says that he may not be 100% right now, but when the bell rings, it will be him and Savage, the big boys, getting it on. He promises to be all over Savage, because he has a goal to become the WCW champion, the greatest champion the world's ever seen. Pretty decent Luger promo from a guy who was pretty stale in his delivery in the WWF.
Up next, it's the Machine vs Machine match between the Giant and Hulk Hogan. After a recap of the history between the men. Eric Bischoff replaces Schiavone on commentary for this "match". The rules are simple. Just shove one truck out of the ring completely. Both trucks are welded from the bumper and there are charges randomly placed in the circle, because what we need is death via explosion. Since there isn't really much to talk about here other than the fact that it's just both men shoving the other back and forth for minutes, I'll spare my sanity from typing any "Hogan shoves Giant, then Giant shoves Hogan" level commentary. Regardless, after a few minutes of two trucks spinning around, Hogan eventually gets the win. Honestly, this was boring as hell for how much they hyped this match. Just two trucks pushing around with one little explostion. It's just gimmicky crap that WCW was known so well for.
Up next, it's Lex Luger vs Randy Savage. As per the stipulation, both men won their matches earlier in the evening and as such, leads to them both wrestling tonight. Despite the heated issues, this is a match that doesn't start with any Pearl Harboring. Instead, Luger wants to shake hands. Savage instaed chooses to... yep, Pearl Harbor. He attacks Luger early, only for the Luger to hit a clothesline. Jimmy Hart arrives at ringside, seemingly in the corner of Lex Luger who is stomping down on Savage in the corner. Savage fights out of the corner only for Luger to lay in a strike. He follows with a kick to the chest and a choke in the ropes.
He throws Savage out of the ring while Heenan is in a panic over what's happening outside of the building. He follows with an ax handle on the outside and a ram into the guardrail, only for Savage to come back and smack Luger around on the rail and stairs (with Luger overelling like a boss with "OH!" "OW!" and "AARGH!"). Clothesline by Savage on the inside and a dive that's countered by Luger. Jimmy Hart distracts the ref as Luger goes for a cover using the ropes, but the referee is too distracted. Savage throws Luger into Hart and then hits the elbow for another quick win. For a rivalry match, it should have felt more intense and back-and-forth, but it felt a bit too one-sided, flimsy, and the focus was taken away from them as the world still revolves on Hogan-Senpai and his possible murder.
Bobby Heenan, still angry about not getting any info about the Giant, almost walks off in an angry huff, but eventually maintains his composure and sits down. He's really concerned while Schiavone acts like a cynical douche.
Despite this, we go to our main event. The "Man vs Man" portion of the world title feud. Hulk Hogan vs The Giant. Hogan comes out first and tries to apologize for his clear act of murder, but is interrupted by the Giant, who, as it turns out, survived the fall from Cobo Hall. He's certainly not wet, so he did not fall in the river. So, unless he floated down and there's not a giant crater in the Cobo Hall parking lot, then maybe the Giant truly is the one, true immortal. Or it's just bad WCW booking, that seems about right.
Hogan (with marking on his head like Sullivan) tries to punch down the Giant, but it only gets a stagger. He tries the slam, but Giant stops it. Giant lands some strikes and rakes to the back. In fact, he's pretty agile for a man who, again, fell off a frigging building! Giant lands some chops in the corner and chokes down the Hulkster. Test of stength follows with Giant winning the battle easily. But the chants eventually lead to Hogan trying to fight back, but to no avail. Eventually after a minute, Hogan gets to his feet and tries to overpower the Giant, only for Giant to break the hold, landing an elbow and hitting a scoop slam.
Giant tries to drop the leg, but Hogan recovers and begins the hulking up. He lays in some more punches and rams him into the buckles. He gingerly climbs the ropes and hits in some punches and a bite to the face. Back rakes follow and a clothesline to the corner as Hogan has regained control. Next up is the clothesline spot as the third one sends Giant flopping over the top rope. Giant and Sullivan walk up the ramp to escape, but Hogan stops them and brings Giant back in the ring. Pokes and rakes by Hogan (ever the babyface) and we go back to the clothesline spots. Giant tries a chokeslam, but Hogan continues to rake at the face.
Backbreaker by the Giant, who covers for two. Bearhug by the Giant. Hogan tries to rake the face some more, but to no avail. Hogan breaks out, but Giant is quick to slam him and reapply the hug (biting the shoulder in the process). After the arm drop spot, Hogan gets his arm up and breaks free from the hold, landing multiple punches. He gets caught however in the chokeslam. Cover only gets two as Hogan begins his hulking up. He gets in the big boot and lands the body slam. Leg drop by Hogan, but Jimmy Hart hit the referee.
Hart then shoves the referee down and hits Hogan in the back with the title belt. Hogan no-sells it (of course) and turns his attention to his turncoat manager. This gives Giant time to locks in another bearhug. Savage and Luger try to make the save (despite, you know, Hogan badmouthing them last week), but to the shock of no one, Luger goes after Savage instead as Jimmy Hart cheers him on. But if you thought this was getting too absurd...
Here comes the Yeti (or Yetay as Schiavone calls him) waddling down the aisle as only a mummy/yeti man can. No, seriously, why is he called a yeti if he's a mummy? They're from two different places! I'm living in a cuckoo clock!
Yeti joins in on the bearhug on Hogan, which just looks like Hogan's being stuck in the middle of a sex sandwich. A sexwich, if you will. Luger then locks Hogan in the rack, until following up by racking Savage as well. The referee decides, the hell with it, the Giant is the winner (but not the champion, despite the fact that he just leaves with the title). This is a full on garbage fire of overbooked nonsense. Basic Hogan wrestling that turned into a lot of chaos post match. Despite that, I actually enjoyed this weird, weird ending. And any show that has Hogan beaten down again to end the show is fine by me. Two for two!
Halloween Havoc 1995. A strange, strange show. In terms on in-ring, we had some decent stuff, some super fast nothing matches, and a lot of bizarre booking. Page vs Badd was good, if a bit too long, Savage and Zodiac was only notable for the fan interference, Sabu vs J.L was meaningless, Hawk vs Kurosawa felt rushed, Sting looks like the world's biggest sucker, Luger and Meng was pretty decent for a Lex Luger match, and the Luger/Savage match felt way too rushed. And of course all the antics of Hulk Hogan and the Giant were the awful, yet entertaining high points. From Hogan almost murdering the Giant, to Giant no-selling a fall off a building, to Luger and Hart turning on Hogan and Savage to the grand crescendo of mummy bumming, it's that kind of absurd wrestling stuff that I love watching, no matter how bad I think it is in terms of actual wrestling. For being an okay at best show with some fun nonsense, I give Halloween Havoc a B-.