World Championship Wrestling exploded onto pay-per-view tonight with
"Halloween Havoc." The card, live from the MGM Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV,
was the first PPV since Vince Russo and Ed Ferrera took control of WCW
booking. How did it measure up? Judge for yourself. Here are your complete
results.
The show opened up with a run down of the action, and the announcement
that Rey Mysterio, Jr. has been injured and thus could not wrestle. The WCW
board of directors stripped the Tag Team titles from Mysterio and Konnan, and
ordered a three way dance later in the evening for the straps: Konnan and
Kidman vs. Hugh Morrus and Brian Knobs vs. Harlem Heat.
Match #1: WCW World Cruiserweight Champion Disco Inferno vs. Lash LeRoux.
Choppy opener to the card, as LeRoux, the recipient of WCW's "midcarder push
of the month" looked very green against Disco. Sloppy action for most of the
match, as Lash seemed too interested in hitting highspots and didn't
concentrate on much else. Interesting note about LeRoux, he got his name from
a 1920's silent film star. Speaking of silent, that's what the crowd was for
this one. Disco eventually hit the Last Dance for the merciful end to this
one. Afterwards, Lash hit his "Ragin' Cajun" (AKA the Amniville Horror that
Chris Chetti uses, or the finisher Ivory has favored lately) and walked out
with the title. Please Russo, save us from a rematch.
Winner: And still Cruiserweight Champion, Disco Inferno
Pre-shot footage showed Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko telling Saturn they
quit the Revolution.
Match #2: WCW World Tag Team Title Match -- 3 Way Dance: Harlem Heat
(Booker T & Stevie Ray) vs. The Filthy Animals (Konnan & Kidman) vs. The
First Family ("Laughing Man" Hugh Morrus & "Nasty" Brian Knobs) (with Jimmy
Hart). This one was contested under Hardcore rules (?). Wild brawl from the
outset, and it was hard to follow all of the action. Knobs was tossed into
the cemetery set up and had the tombstones broken and bashed over his skull
by Heat. Hugh Morrus was working over Konnan in the ring, while Kidman
brawled with Stevie Ray. Booker T and Knobs ended up in the locker room, with
Morrus setting Konnan up on a table in the ring. Booker T got the pin in the
back on Knobs, and just seconds later Morrus put Konnan through the table and
got the pin there. The referee's argued briefly over who got the win, but
eventually decided Booker T has gotten the pinfall first.
Winners: And for the 10th time, WCW World Tag Team Champions, Harlem Heat.
Ric and David Flair are showed entering the building, Ric clutching a
crowbar. Meanwhile, back in the ring, "Diamond" Dallas Page and Kimberly were
bad mouthing Flair. DDP challenged Flair into making their match a strap
match later in the night.
Goldberg was shown entering the building and asking for Sid. Mike Tenay
talked to Kidman and Eddy Guerrero about Eddy's upcoming match with Saturn.
Match #3: Perry Saturn vs. Eddy Guerrero. Eddy took off his watch (which
used to be Ric Flair's watch) and gave it to Bobby Heenan. This was a very
good match, with lots of back and forth action and solid mat work. Saturn hit
his trademark moves (T-Bone suplex, savate kicks, legdrops) and Guerrero
proved why he is one of the top five workers in the US today. Good exchange
as Eddy went for the Frog Splash but Saturn moved, then Eddy got crotched on
the top rope and fell victim to a super-Northern Lights Suplex. Saturn then
looked like he was going for a super bomb, but Eddy turned it into a top rope
brainbuster. Cue Ric Flair, who hit the ring crowbar in hand. He clocked
Eddy, ending the match. Kidman, who tried to help Guerrero, got a crowbar
shot, too. Finally Torrie got a big kiss planted on her by Flair, as the
"Dirtiest Player in the Game" reclaimed his watch and walked out.
Winner: Eddy Guerrero by DQ.
In the locker room, Goldberg was beating the snot out of Sid Vicious.
Buff Bagwell came out to the ring and called out Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett,
making his second PPV appearance in two weeks, brought a guitar with him. The
two men brawled briefly before Lex Luger ran in and tried to nail Jarrett,
but instead clobbered Buff with the guitar.
Eddy Guerrero was shown in the back calling Rey Mysterio, Jr. on his
cellphone and saying "Get back here now."
Match #4: Berlyn (with his bodyguard) vs. Brad Armstrong. Decent back and
forth action in this one, although a short match (thankfully). Crowd was dead
again. Sounded like there was an "Alex Wright" chant, but I couldn't quite
make it out. Anyway, Berlyn went for his neckbreaker, but Brad grabbed the
top rope, blocking the move. Armstrong then covered Berlyn for a quick win.
Berlyn's bodyguard then beat down B.A., and Berlyn walked out with his head
held high. Huh?
Winner: Brad Armstrong
In the back, Ric Flair accepts the strap stip for later tonight against
DDP.
Match #5: WCW World TV Champion "Crippler" Chris Benoit vs. "Dog Faced
Gremlin" Rick Steiner. This one was pretty good, easily Steiners' best match
in years. Benoit once again proved why he belongs in that elite status. Very
good action, with suplexes flying back and forth. Match looked really stiff,
but then again it did involve Benoit (and Rick has been known to work hard
too). After a ref bump, Steiner brought a chair into the ring, but Benoit
blocked it and hit side suplex. Benoit placed the chair on top of The DFG and
went for his diving headbutt, but instead caught the chair in his face. Dean
Malenko ran out and grabbed the chair then. He looked ready to hit Steiner,
but pulled a swerve and KO'd Benoit. Rick got the pin to regain the belt.
Meanwhile, Malenko and Perry Saturn hugged in the aisle.
Winner: And for
the third time, WCW TV Champion, Rick Steiner.
Match #6: Bret "Hit Man" Hart vs. The Total Package (with Elizabeth). The
former Lex Luger used his power to dominate most of this match, and Bret was
still selling his knee injury from Nitro. Crowd came a live for a bit in this
one, but it didn't last long. Bret limped for most of the bout, and the
Package finally applied a half crab on "The Hitman." To the shock of
everyone, Bret tapped out. I never remember Bret submitting before last week
on Nitro to Sting, and now he does it again against TTP?
Winner: The Total Package by submission.
In the back, Goldberg was interviewed and promised to beat up Sid for us.
Yeah.
Madusa strutted out in a bikini top promoting the new WCW Cologne. She
said she didn't want to do this. She ended up dumping it on Heenan at ringside.
Match #7: WCW World Champion Sting vs. Hulk Hogan. Hogan's music played,
but he didn't come out. Finally, Sting's new music ("Seek and Destroy" by
Metallica) played, and out walked the champ. Eventually when Hogan's music
played again, he appeared -- but in street clothes. Hogan got in the ring,
said something to Sting, and laid down for him. Sting covered, one, two,
three. Hogan walked out and they cut to a video. Before anyone even thinks
about it: COMPLETE WORK!
Winner: And still WCW Champion, Sting.
Match #8: WCW United States Champion Sid Vicious vs. Bill Goldberg. Sid
walked out bandaged up, selling the attack from earlier. As Goldberg came
out, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash appeared and attacked the challenger. Goldberg
finally made it to the ring, and went head to head with Sid. The two men
brawled, and soon Sid was bleeding again. Pretty soon it got to be messy, and
it appears WCW is trying to push the envelope a bit. Time Warner has a policy
against lots of blood in matches, but it didn't seem to be in effect for this
one. However, things finally got so bad with Sid bleeding profusely that the
match was stopped. Goldberg was awarded the US title, and Rick Steiner ran
down to help Sid.
Winner: And for the second time, WCW United States Champion, Goldberg.
Sting came out and said he didn't want a night off, challenging anyone to
a title match later on.
Match #9: "Nature Boy" Ric Flair vs. "Diamond" Dallas Page (with
Kimberly) in a strap match. This one has been talked about all week long as
possibly "Flair's last match." Of course, it was supposedly Flair's last
match at Halloween Havoc 1994, too, so only time will tell. (Be sure to check
out the WCW News section for more info about Flair's future). If it is in
fact Flair's last bout, it's good to see he went out in the main event of a
PPV. Too bad they couldn't put him in there with someone better than DDP.
Page is another guy who will be retiring from the sport soon (and at his age,
he can't have much longer) so I don't understand why Flair didn't put over
someone younger (Goldberg for example) who the company can rely on for years
to come. This one was better than you'd expect from DDP and Flair at this
stage, but it was not classic. The two men brawled out into the audience,
then back to the ring. Page busted Flair open, as the two continued to brawl.
Dallas eventually hit the Diamond Cutter and Charles Robinson counted the
three, but didn't call for the bell. Just from their expressions, it looked
like a blown finish. David Flair ran in and attacked Page, but DDP took the
crowbar and nailed David and Ric with it. Ric was strangled by the strap, and
David and Robinson began to cry. Flair was put on a stretcher, and Tony and
Bobby sold that it could be "career ending." Before Flair could be put in the
ambulance, the Filthy Animals attacked him. They beat down Flair for several
minutes before tossing him in the life squad and driving off with him.
Winner: Dallas Page
Match #10: WCW World Champion Sting. vs. WCW United States Champion Bill
Goldberg. OK, hang with me on this one. I am not sure if this was a nontitle
match or what, but silly me, I assume when the champion of your promotion
wrestles in the main event of your third biggest PPV of the year, it's a
title match. Tony said it was a non-title bout. Anyway, Goldberg won the match
(and the title?) by pinning Sting.
