Welcome to this month’s special edition of ThunderStruck! October has been an interesting month for the history of pro wrestling, and for my theme this month I’ve decided to do a flashback of various Halloween Havoc matches and look at where some of the competitors have ended up. Due to the length of this, I’m doing this piece in 3 parts, with 3-4 matches in each part. I’m also putting the matches in chronological order. That being said, here’s part 1:
Halloween Havoc: October 28, 1989 from Philadelphia, PA
The Dynamic Dudes(John Laurinaitis(Johnny Ace) and Shane Douglas with Jim Cornette) vs The Freebirds (Michael PS Hayes and Jimmy Garvin) NWA Tag Team Championship match: Interesting that two top guys working backstage for WWE were involved in this contest. This was a short match but was fun to watch if you’ve never seen it before. It’s very basic wrestling turned into an entertaining beatdown on the Dynamic Dudes. Just when you think the heel Dudes have capitalized in the match, they get pinned after a reversed back suplex. Make sure to check this one out!
John Laurinaitis: The current executive vice president of talent relations can be seen sporting long bleach blonde hair in this match, and that’s just funny! Laurinaitis has come a long way since 1989 but some of his tag team matchups as one half of the Dynamic Dudes are quite fun to watch!
Shane Douglas: Douglas had two very brief runs in the WWF; one as Shane Douglas where he partcipated in the 1990 Royal Rumble matchup, and the other as the infamous Dean Douglas character. Douglas was portrayed in a teacher role with a rather annoying chalk board. Douglas also had two runs in WCW; one where he teamed with Ricky Steamboat to capture the tag titles, and another gimmick where he formed the Revolution stable that wanted to get Ric Flair out of WCW. Douglas is perhaps best known for his speech in 1994 where he threw down his newly won NWA World Title and became the very first Extreme Championship Wrestling Heavyweight Champion.
Jimmy Garvin: Garvin didn’t have much success beyond the Freebirds gimmick, but did have a ton of matches in the original WCCW and is a big part of their history. He is shown in several matches on the Triump and Tragedy of WCCW dvd release.
Michael PS Hayes: Hayes has always been entertaining and is now a writer for the WWE Creative team. Hayes saw success in his gimmick as Dok Hendrix in the WWF in 1995 as an announcer alongside Vince McMahon. Hayes also managed the Hardy Boys in 1999 before being fired so that Terri Runnels could take his place. Hayes served as a part time announcer and made sporadic appearances on WWE television after that. Hayes was also inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009.
Halloween Havoc: October 27, 1990 from Chicago, IL
NWA World Heavyweight Champion Sting vs Sid Vicious: This was a good match for Sting during his bleach blond hair gimmick and really showed the dominance of Sting in WCW during this time period. The match is very back and forth and has a twist for a surprise ending. Towards the finish of the match, Sid walks sting backstage and comes out with him and scores a fast pinfall. The catch here is the fact that the person Sid scored the pinfall was in fact NOT Sting! To see the heroic finish to this contest, make sure you either check it out on youtube or purchase the vhs from either youtube or amazon ect.
Sid: Sid would become notorious for his incident with Arn Anderson backstage that resulted in his first release from WCW. Sid would go on to do the HBK bodyguard gimmick, have a slight face turn, then only to turn heel again in November 1996 when he defeated Shawn Michaels for the WWF title. Sid would go on to drop the title back to HBK at the ’97 Royal Rumble ppv, only to regain the title from Bret Hart in early March. Sid would then drop the title to the Undertaker at WrestleMania 13 and do a few other matches for the WWF as a face after that. Sid has been seen in the WWF since then. He would do a two year run in the Memphis wrestling circuit and then do a small stint in ECW before going to WCW in 1999. Sid captured the US title one time in a great match with Chris Benoit at the Fall Brawl event that year. Sid would lose the title in controversy at the 1999 Halloween Havoc event when his match with Goldberg was stopped due to too much bleeding. Sid would go on to defeat Kevin Nash for the vacant WCW title in January 2000 on Monday Nitro. Sid was eventually stripped of the title when the New Blood angle came about as were all the WCW champions at the time. Sid came back for another attempt at the world title in late 2000 and failed. He would go on to break his leg in a match at the Sin pay per view in January of 2001. Sid would never wrestle for a major promotion again.
Sting: What is there to say about Sting? The man is a 14 time World Champion(in major promotions) and has done it all. He’s had multiple memorable feuds ranging from his battles with Luger, Flair, Hogan, and Vampiro in WCW, rivalries with Jeff Jarrett and Kurt Angle in TNA, and most notably his recent feud with Mr. Anderson. Stings gimmicks have ranged from the Blonde Surfer, to the black crow, to the wolfpac sting, to his current Joker gimmick in TNA. The man has been headlining pay per view main events for more than 20 years, and continues to be at the top of his game. I only hope his match with Hulk Hogan at Bound for Glory isn’t a total bust that makes Sting look like less of the star that he actually is.
Halloween Havoc: October 27, 1991 from Chattanooga, TN
World Television Champion Steve Austin vs Dustin Rhodes: Steve sported long blond hair going into this match against the future Goldust. These two were solid mid card wrestlers in World Championship wrestling at the time and gave us a great fifteen minutes of action. Unfortunately the match did end in a time limit draw, but it’s definitely one of the better matches on the 1991 HH card that’s worth checking out.
Dustin Rhodes: Rhodes would go on and never reach bigger success in the mid card level than where he was at. In late 1995, Rhodes made his debut as Goldust in the WWF. Goldust would have an IC title run and would have various feuds with guys like Ahmed Johnson, Marc Mero, and Triple H. Rhodes would come and go with the Goldust gimmick over the years and is now a working road agent for WWE. In between one of his runs as Goldust, Rhodes returned to WCW with a spinoff all black gimmick that failed before it started. Rhodes is one of the long term competitors that never saw World Title success.
Steve Austin: To say the least, this was only the beginning of Steve Austin’s career. Steve would continue to have success at the mid card level and would join the WWF in 1995 after his termination from WCW and a brief stint in ECW. Austin’s success would grow as he won the 1996 KOTR tournament, won the 1997 and 1998 Royal Rumble, captured the Intercontinental Championship, and won the WWF title from Shawn Michaels at WM14. Paraphrasing JR, the Austin era had begun. Steve would have multiple feuds with anybody that Vince McMahon could throw in his path, and was ultimately inducted into WWE Hall of Fame as a member of the class of 2009.
So there you have it for part 1 of my Halloween Havoc flashback. All of these matches can be found on youtube if you don’t have access to the VHS tapes. Feel free to leave comments below or send them by email. You can also add me on facebook and check out Nonstop Wrestling Online’s fan page while you’re there. In my next edition, I’ll be looking at matches from the following four HH events. Until next time, you’ve been ThunderStruck!
Facebook: Facebook.com/thunderstruck11 and Facebook.com/truewrestling
Email: joethunder06@hotmail.com
Halloween Havoc: October 28, 1989 from Philadelphia, PA
The Dynamic Dudes(John Laurinaitis(Johnny Ace) and Shane Douglas with Jim Cornette) vs The Freebirds (Michael PS Hayes and Jimmy Garvin) NWA Tag Team Championship match: Interesting that two top guys working backstage for WWE were involved in this contest. This was a short match but was fun to watch if you’ve never seen it before. It’s very basic wrestling turned into an entertaining beatdown on the Dynamic Dudes. Just when you think the heel Dudes have capitalized in the match, they get pinned after a reversed back suplex. Make sure to check this one out!
John Laurinaitis: The current executive vice president of talent relations can be seen sporting long bleach blonde hair in this match, and that’s just funny! Laurinaitis has come a long way since 1989 but some of his tag team matchups as one half of the Dynamic Dudes are quite fun to watch!
Shane Douglas: Douglas had two very brief runs in the WWF; one as Shane Douglas where he partcipated in the 1990 Royal Rumble matchup, and the other as the infamous Dean Douglas character. Douglas was portrayed in a teacher role with a rather annoying chalk board. Douglas also had two runs in WCW; one where he teamed with Ricky Steamboat to capture the tag titles, and another gimmick where he formed the Revolution stable that wanted to get Ric Flair out of WCW. Douglas is perhaps best known for his speech in 1994 where he threw down his newly won NWA World Title and became the very first Extreme Championship Wrestling Heavyweight Champion.
Jimmy Garvin: Garvin didn’t have much success beyond the Freebirds gimmick, but did have a ton of matches in the original WCCW and is a big part of their history. He is shown in several matches on the Triump and Tragedy of WCCW dvd release.
Michael PS Hayes: Hayes has always been entertaining and is now a writer for the WWE Creative team. Hayes saw success in his gimmick as Dok Hendrix in the WWF in 1995 as an announcer alongside Vince McMahon. Hayes also managed the Hardy Boys in 1999 before being fired so that Terri Runnels could take his place. Hayes served as a part time announcer and made sporadic appearances on WWE television after that. Hayes was also inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009.
Halloween Havoc: October 27, 1990 from Chicago, IL
NWA World Heavyweight Champion Sting vs Sid Vicious: This was a good match for Sting during his bleach blond hair gimmick and really showed the dominance of Sting in WCW during this time period. The match is very back and forth and has a twist for a surprise ending. Towards the finish of the match, Sid walks sting backstage and comes out with him and scores a fast pinfall. The catch here is the fact that the person Sid scored the pinfall was in fact NOT Sting! To see the heroic finish to this contest, make sure you either check it out on youtube or purchase the vhs from either youtube or amazon ect.
Sid: Sid would become notorious for his incident with Arn Anderson backstage that resulted in his first release from WCW. Sid would go on to do the HBK bodyguard gimmick, have a slight face turn, then only to turn heel again in November 1996 when he defeated Shawn Michaels for the WWF title. Sid would go on to drop the title back to HBK at the ’97 Royal Rumble ppv, only to regain the title from Bret Hart in early March. Sid would then drop the title to the Undertaker at WrestleMania 13 and do a few other matches for the WWF as a face after that. Sid has been seen in the WWF since then. He would do a two year run in the Memphis wrestling circuit and then do a small stint in ECW before going to WCW in 1999. Sid captured the US title one time in a great match with Chris Benoit at the Fall Brawl event that year. Sid would lose the title in controversy at the 1999 Halloween Havoc event when his match with Goldberg was stopped due to too much bleeding. Sid would go on to defeat Kevin Nash for the vacant WCW title in January 2000 on Monday Nitro. Sid was eventually stripped of the title when the New Blood angle came about as were all the WCW champions at the time. Sid came back for another attempt at the world title in late 2000 and failed. He would go on to break his leg in a match at the Sin pay per view in January of 2001. Sid would never wrestle for a major promotion again.
Sting: What is there to say about Sting? The man is a 14 time World Champion(in major promotions) and has done it all. He’s had multiple memorable feuds ranging from his battles with Luger, Flair, Hogan, and Vampiro in WCW, rivalries with Jeff Jarrett and Kurt Angle in TNA, and most notably his recent feud with Mr. Anderson. Stings gimmicks have ranged from the Blonde Surfer, to the black crow, to the wolfpac sting, to his current Joker gimmick in TNA. The man has been headlining pay per view main events for more than 20 years, and continues to be at the top of his game. I only hope his match with Hulk Hogan at Bound for Glory isn’t a total bust that makes Sting look like less of the star that he actually is.
Halloween Havoc: October 27, 1991 from Chattanooga, TN
World Television Champion Steve Austin vs Dustin Rhodes: Steve sported long blond hair going into this match against the future Goldust. These two were solid mid card wrestlers in World Championship wrestling at the time and gave us a great fifteen minutes of action. Unfortunately the match did end in a time limit draw, but it’s definitely one of the better matches on the 1991 HH card that’s worth checking out.
Dustin Rhodes: Rhodes would go on and never reach bigger success in the mid card level than where he was at. In late 1995, Rhodes made his debut as Goldust in the WWF. Goldust would have an IC title run and would have various feuds with guys like Ahmed Johnson, Marc Mero, and Triple H. Rhodes would come and go with the Goldust gimmick over the years and is now a working road agent for WWE. In between one of his runs as Goldust, Rhodes returned to WCW with a spinoff all black gimmick that failed before it started. Rhodes is one of the long term competitors that never saw World Title success.
Steve Austin: To say the least, this was only the beginning of Steve Austin’s career. Steve would continue to have success at the mid card level and would join the WWF in 1995 after his termination from WCW and a brief stint in ECW. Austin’s success would grow as he won the 1996 KOTR tournament, won the 1997 and 1998 Royal Rumble, captured the Intercontinental Championship, and won the WWF title from Shawn Michaels at WM14. Paraphrasing JR, the Austin era had begun. Steve would have multiple feuds with anybody that Vince McMahon could throw in his path, and was ultimately inducted into WWE Hall of Fame as a member of the class of 2009.
So there you have it for part 1 of my Halloween Havoc flashback. All of these matches can be found on youtube if you don’t have access to the VHS tapes. Feel free to leave comments below or send them by email. You can also add me on facebook and check out Nonstop Wrestling Online’s fan page while you’re there. In my next edition, I’ll be looking at matches from the following four HH events. Until next time, you’ve been ThunderStruck!
Facebook: Facebook.com/thunderstruck11 and Facebook.com/truewrestling
Email: joethunder06@hotmail.com