JR and Tony call the show. Not normally hot on all babyface teams, but they have solid chemistry. Ross was always on good form at this time, but Tony really was on fire and out did him on this night. BTW just noticed the Havoc logo looks like the Bat Signal
We open with a segment. Recoreded earlier to show the injury Windham suffered during an attack by the Enforcers slaming his arm in the car door as he arrives. This puts him out of the Chamber of Horrors being replaced by Vader. I guess that's how 91 WCW did face turns?
. BTW this bit dragged on too long. Instead of just cutting to the part where Windham is attacked they had a young Eric Bischoff interview (if you could call it that) a bunch of other guys as they arrived. For some reason WCW had hired a guy in a suit to open each car door
. Another thing watching Bischoff here if someone had told me back then this guy would be kicking Vince's ass 5 years later I would have had them committed!Chamber of Horrors Match
In classic WCW style the wrestlers come out to the cage in random order (they don't just do all of team one followed by all of team two noooooo!
). I marked so much just for the ring entrances. Vader's crazy looking Sci-Fi headgear! Abdullah's crazy antics. The Steiner's were so over and had a legit claim as the world's best tag team in 91. Sting's surfer era music always gets the juices flowing. The crowd were hot for it, but that's before they saw the match, ha!
. Another reason to pop is that glorious dodgy 90s tech and the refer-cam!! I guess the normal camera man was just too chicken shit to get in the cage!. Props to the poor local indie job guy who was paid to pop out of the casket at a random moment in a hood and get the shit kicked out of him. So this is the Electric chair one when the goal is to turn on the Christmas lights and fry some poor bastard!!. And oh that fucked up finish!!
. The only thing missing was Tony's histerical call: "ABDULLAH'S DEAD!!" "ABDULLAH'S DEADDDDDDD!!!!" "THEY FRIED THE POOR BASTARD!!!!"
. After the match the heels stand around looking at Abdullah and seeing their careers flash before their eyes. You know what don't give me shit, but this match is so silly, campy, and baffling that I'm going to defend it as a experience "Motherfuckers!" You'll never forget it unlike some matches on this show, ha!. *** I need a drink! Before match two Bischoff getting in the Halloween spirit dressed as Dracula and Missy looking great as always dressed in striking Gold interview The Young Pistol who say nothing of note. Missy wants to know who the WCW Masked Phantom is, Steve doesn't care, way to sell the storyline brother!
. This is one of the big storylines of the night and one of the best things on the show. Big Josh and P.N. News VS. The Creatures
The future Doink the Clown and the world's naffest Rapper job out the hooded jobbers who get a decent push from the announcers. Well their push lasted all of 3 minutes.... My guess is its Halloween Havoc so they just wanted a Halloween themed team
. One of The Creatures was regular job guy Joey Maggs (RIP). BTW some random lady in the crowd won a contest for writing the winning rap for PN News, just think how bad the other enteries were?!. This is barely a TV style match. DUD. *. Beautiful Eaton VS. Terry Taylor (W/Alexander O'York)
With the sad recent passing of Bobby it was nice seeing him get a decent pop from the crowd and featured in a really solid match. I will defend the York Foundation Computer gimmick to my death that was some ahead of its time cutting edge early 90s shit!
. Their a jobber stable, but Taylor is an upgrade from Michael WallStreet (who fit the gimmick more) as the front man. Two of the most underrated guys of the era. They have nice back and forth. The match flows nicely, with a decent build. Its more psychial than you'd expect and those sharp rights from Bobby look crisp. Taylor gains control with a mix of heel tactics, counter moves and wear down moves on the back. In another nice touch Eaton makes the slow comeback and actually sells his back when back dropping Taylor (realism like that is hardly seen in modern wrestling). In the end Eaton goes for the Alabama Jam top rope legdrop, Taylor cuts him off, but is then nailed up top. Bobby recovers and hits the match winning Jam for the well earned win. A blow for Taylor's latest push. Eaton made it clear before the match that he wanted the winner of the Light Heavyweight tournament final later. ***1/2Johnny B. Badd (W/Teddy Long) VS. Jimmy Garvin (W/Michael PS Hayes)
The Freebirds work the crowd to perfection here. Hayes uses a fake soulder injury to get cheap shots in and winks at the crowd
. The Freebirds were cool anti-heroes before they really existed. I was confused who the face or heel was in this one, but the crowd was sold on the Birds! Hard to think of Badd as the heel but guess he was. This felt like a odd choice for the 4th match, but it was surprisingly solid filler match with positive crowd reactions. Of course the finish was kinda screwy with Badd popping Garvin with the a hook, and Long knocking Garvin's foot off the bottom rope at the last second so the ref didn't see it and stop the count. Its a silly finish, but I do enjoy it as a classic heel move from Long. It keeps Badd's heat and the Freebirds get the last word post-match. Job done. **1/2TV Title Match: Stunning Steve Austin (C) (W/Lady Blossom) VS. Dustin Rhodes
Blossom a former AWA Valet is a poor woman's Missy or Madusa. But she gets some decent heat anyway. This is my match of the night. The pair just click, and the match has the perfect mix of great technical wrestling, realistic brawling (with some nice use of blood just for Halloween season!), and dramatic near falls. The 15 minute time limit to these TV title matches add to the drama. Its a good length for these guys to have a good wrestling match, but short enough to feel like a dramatic thriller countdown. You can see why Austin became one of the biggest stars ever, even here he has all the tools. Dustin looks very good for a rookie too. The last couple of minutes are packed with exciting near falls as Austin just holds on to the strap with a time limit draw. Some great selling from both guys too and a decent crowd response. ****
Oz VS. Bill Kazmaier
Once again its worth saying Oz has to be the naffest gimmick ever to have such a kick ass entrance theme!
. At the time WCW were claiming Kazmaier was the strongest man in the world (he pulled a car with his teeth baby!). He was the dizzling shits in ring and this match sucked the life out of the crowd. Even at 4 minutes the match dragged. Kazmaier took the predictable win by submission. *Van Hammer VS. Doug Somers
Yes they had a fucking job match on a PPV! WHO BOOKED THIS SHIT!!! Van Hammer's entrance has to be seen to be believed. For some reason they have a guy jilling away at a tombstone even though Hammer's gimmick is a rock star body builder
. Hammer was sholved down everyone's throat because Bill Herd was so high on him. To make matters worse Hammer had a big ego and was a handful back stage. Hammer blew his slingshot surplex finish and the highlight was Sommers having the nerve to nearly kick out on 2! *Light Heavyweight Tournament Final: Flyin' Brian VS. Richard Morton (W/Alexander O'York)
For some reason Patrick is wearing that silly looking refer-cam on his head again
. One cool thing about this match is its got that nice passing of the torch style feel. Morton during his Rock 'N' Roll Express days was a classic old school babyface, with perfect selling, looks and charasma. Pillman just getting the rub here fees like the new Morton just with more exciting high spots. Over the next year the Light Heavyweight title would become one of the highlights of WCW and Pillman would be at the forefront of that. This match itself was a bit of a letdown, and at least a 2-3 minutes overlong. Pillman becomes the first Light Heavyweight champ with a generic top rope crossbody pin. **The WCW Halloween Phantom VS. Z-Man
Zenk must have been pissed when he got the call sheet that night
. A lot of people shit on this, but I actually think they handle this reveal and debut really well. The match is just whatever, and anybody who knows anything about wrestling knew who the phantom was. Later on in one hell of a promo Paul E. along with Medusa (her reactions when Dangously lets rip are funny!) announces his return to the company, claiming he will bring the WCW down brick by brick. Dangeriously is pissed at the company for firing him from his broadcast role. Paul E. unvails Rick Rude as his big new signing and the man under the Phantom mask. Rude makes it clear he has his sights set on Sting and the US Title. Getting Rude in his 91 prime was quite the boast for WCW. For me Rude VS. Sting should have been a main event feud. This sets the table for super heel stable The Dangerous Alliance. Again if you want to know how out of touch Bill Watts was as WCW Head he killed both the Light Heavyweight division and the Dangerous Alliance. **1/2 (more for the post-match segment).Tag Title match: U.S. Tag Champs: The Patroits VS. WCW Tag Champs: The Enforcers (Arn Anderson and Larry Zbyszko)
No surprise the heels give it their all. This really was like trying to get blood from a stone. The Patroits were so wooden and the silly firemen/chipperdale gimmick just so cartoony
. The Enforcers finally put us out of our misery at 9.51. *1/2WCW World Title 2 out of 3 Falls Match: Lex Luger (C) (W/Harley Race) VS. Ron Simmons (W/Dusty Rhodes)
The video package with Simmons going back to his florida State roots was fantastic and a great way to set the table. Adding the legend of Rhodes in his corner was a nice touch. Simmons is perfectly positioned as the gutsy underdog and is given a nice rub and put over strongly in defeat. Credit to Lex who heeled it up nicely and did a solid job selling for Ron. The match itself exceeded expectations and told a nice story. It was nothing special, but very watchable, with a decent crowd response. I also enjoyed the guy near the front row in the Jason mask
. Simmons spinbuster to go one up looked really good, and it made sense that he made such a fast start and had Lex on the back foot. Race did a good job of showing his desparation at ringside. How ironic that with Dusty at ringside we got a "Dusty Finish" for Luger's first fall. In the end Lex retains when Simmons gets a bit over excited and hits the steps with a running tackl. . Luger gets the deciding pin with a piledriver. Many feel the main event was the first match, but this'll do. ***
