Hall’s WCW Halloween Havoc 1995 Review

Halloween Havoc 1995
Date: October 29, 1995
Location: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Attendance: 13,000
Commentators: Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone

Now stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but Hulk Hogan is going to fight a monster. In this case it’s the Giant, who has only been around for a few months and is making his in-ring debut against Hogan for the World Title. There’s also something about monster trucks and a giant mummy but I’m sure it’ll be fine. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan, though it’s quite a bit over the top, as you might have guessed. In addition, they’re having a sumo monster truck match. As you do.

As silly as the show might be, the Halloween Havoc set is awesome as always, with the fake tombstones being a great touch.

We look at the monster trucks, as driven by Hogan and the Giant, driving at each other on the roof of the Cobo Hall (next door). This is one of those shows that is so bizarre out of context and isn’t much better with it.

Ric Flair has been attacked before a tag match where he was set to team with Sting against Arn Anderson and Brian Pillman. Uh oh.

We recap Johnny B. Badd vs. Diamond Dallas Page for the TV Title. Badd had earned a US Title shot but didn’t show up, with Brian Pillman getting the shot instead. Badd showed up at the end, saying he had a flat tire. Then Page showed up, with his hired muscle (Maxx Muscle) letting it slip that he knew Badd had FOUR flat tires. Badd realized Page was behind it and knocked him cold, setting up the match.

TV Title: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Johnny B. Badd

Page, with Maxx Muscle and Kimberly, is defending and stole Badd’s Badd Blaster confetti gun. Hold on though as Badd comes to the ring but then comes through the crowd to jump Page from behind (as Page did to him on Nitro). Badd starts fast by taking it outside and sending Page into Muscle before knocking him out into the crowd. For some reason, Badd finds a bucket in the crowd and puts it over Page’s head to ram him into the post.

Back in and Badd works on an armbar, including putting it back on to cut off a comeback bid. Page fights up and drops Badd face first onto the turnbuckle for the needed break. Badd is sent into the corner and Page hits a belly to back suplex, leaving Kimberly to very reluctantly give it a 10 (Tye Dillinger was looking on). The Pancake (set up like a piledriver but sent forward into a faceplant) sets up a chinlock on Badd and we slow down a bit.

Page slams him down for two and yells at the referee for the kickout, earning himself quite the tongue lashing. The chinlock goes on again, followed by a hard clothesline for two more. Badd’s sunset flip gets the same but Page gives him a powerslam for another near fall. We’re already back in the chinlock but this time Badd fights up faster, only to get elbowed in the head.

Muscle offers a distraction so Page can use some tape to choke away. The chinlock goes on again (I think we get the point now) so Badd fights up (again) with a belly to back suplex and some atomic drops. Badd slugs away and grabs a headscissors, followed by the top rope ax handle. Kimberly gives THAT a ten but the referee only gives it a two and a sitout powerbomb gives Badd the same.

Page is back up with the Diamond Dream (running spinning DDT) but the Diamond Cutter is blocked. Badd sends him outside so Muscle helps Page up, with Badd throwing what would eventually become the 619 to send them backwards. A big flip dive sets up a slingshot spinning splash for two on Page, who is dropkicked into Muscle for two. Badd is knocked outside where he posts Muscle, who comes back and clotheslines Page by mistake to give Badd the pin and the title at 17:03.

Rating: B-. It took some time to get going and the chinlocks felt like they were mainly there to fill in time, but Badd’s comeback made up for some of the problems. Badd winning the title is a good thing to see as he was getting better and better around this time. Giving him a shot like this was a smart move and had it not been for the WWF signing him away, he could have become a bigger deal in WCW.

Commentary previews the monster truck match, because this is a thing that is happening.

Zodiac vs. Randy Savage

If Savage wins here and Lex Luger wins later, Savage and Luger get to have a match tonight (no it isn’t set coming in, because WCW liked to tease you that way). Zodiac (better known as Brutus Beefcake in one of his MANY characters) is part of the Dungeon Of Doom (and comes out to what would be both Loch Ness and Rey Mysterio’s theme music) and this is part of the Dungeon vs. Hogan N Pals. For no apparent reason, Zodiac is on the middle rope to yell at the fans at the bell, allowing Savage to (legally) jump him from behind.

A fan runs in and gets stopped by the referee so the fight heads outside while security takes him away. Back in and Zodiac misses a middle rope splash as the fan is taken out. Savage drops the elbow for the win at 1:30. Well that was simple, possibly because Savage was wrestling with a detached tricep.

Gene Okerlund says Jimmy Hart was talking to someone he used to manage elsewhere, so call his hotline and find out. With that out of the way, Johnny B. Badd comes in and talks about how he never gave up. He’ll keep the title as long as he wants so Gene wants to go to dinner with him. And Gene will sing Tutti Frutti.

More monster truck chat.

We recap Kurasawa (better known as Manabu Nakanishi in New Japan) vs. Hawk. Kurasawa injured Hawk’s arm at Clash Of The Champions and now it’s time for revenge.

Kurasawa vs. Road Warrior Hawk

Colonel Robert Parker is here with Kurasawa. Hawk starts fast with a flying shoulder and his neckbreaker drops Kurasawa again. Fist drops and chops have Kurasawa in more trouble but Hawk misses a charge into the post. That goes absolutely nowhere as Hawk is right back up with a release tilt-a-whirl slam, followed by a powerbomb.

Parker’s distraction lets Kurasawa gets in a slam but he misses a top rope elbow. Hawk clotheslines him to the floor and take out Parker, but Kurasawa gets in a posting. Back in and Kurasawa hits something like a Samoan drop, followed by…well by a Samoan drop with his feet on the ropes (and Parker assisting) for the pin at 3:13.

Rating: C. I remember being bored by Kurasawa as a kid and it was no different watching it later. He’s just a generic heel and nothing else, which isn’t going to make me care to watch him face Hawk. At the same time, Hawk more or less dominated here and then slipped on a banana peel for the ending, which was more confusing than anything else. I’m not sure what was going on here, but Hawk was getting in a bunch of stuff before the surprise loss.

Hawk poses like he won anyway.

Randy Savage and Gene Okerlund insult each others’ facial hair (Gene: “How did we get into this?”) before Gene says he wants to get away from what Savage is doing. Instead he wants to talk about the monster trucks, but Savage says he’s interested in the World Title situation.

Mr. JL vs. Sabu

Sabu, coming out to what would become La Parka’s music, is here with the Sheik (Detroit legend and Sabu’s uncle). JL (Jerry Lynn in a mask) jumps him to start fast and Sabu is knocked outside. Sabu fights up and hits an Asai moonsault onto JL and Sheik, the latter of whom would break his leg on the landing, which would not be revealed for a good while and would pretty much finally end his career.

A missed charge sends Sabu crashing onto the floor as commentary talks about the Sheik and mostly ignores the match itself. Back in and Sabu jumps to the top and misses a moonsault, though JL’s version connects for two. A sitout powerbomb gives JL two so he goes up top, where Sabu grabs a super victory roll for two. Sabu goes up again, where JBL gives him a springboard dropkick to the floor. Back in and Sabu knocks him down, setting up the Arabian press for the pin at 3:26.

Rating: C+. To say this was all over the place is an understatement. They were both trying to get in every single spot they could manage in a limited amount of time, but they also had no flow or story to the match whatsoever. It’s an entertaining match and I had fun watching it, but the bigger thing was this was totally insane for 1995. Sabu was incredibly influential to say the least and JL could hang with anyone, though a little more breathing room would have been nice.

Post match the Sheik throws the fireball (his trademark) at JL.

Commentary recaps the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan.

The Master (head of the Dungeon Of Doom) and Kevin Sullivan are here, with the Master talking about how the milky way is ready to destroy Hulkamania. In China, it’s the start of another day and there will be a total eclipse of the sun because the Giant, the Yeti and Sullivan will destroy Hogan. Sullivan talks about how Hogan can do nothing about the monster trucks and lightning does not strike twice in this universe. This is soundly booed.

Hulk Hogan, now in black and minus the mustache (for a WEIRD look) presents a fan from Alabama with a Harley-Davidson after winning a sweepstakes. He’s also getting a bunch of merchandise and some stuff for the motorcycle. Hogan is ready to beat up the Giant tonight.

Say it with me: commentary talks about the monster trucks.

Meng vs. Lex Luger

Taskmaster (Kevin Sullivan) is here with Meng and if Luger wins, he faces Randy Savage later tonight. There are also questions about whether Luger is part of the Dungeon Of Doom, which he denies (a recurring theme in Luger’s career). Luger starts fast and hammers on Meng, including a stomp to the ribs. A catapult sends Meng into the corner but he grabs a small package of all things for two.

Back up and Luger clotheslines him to the floor before starting in on the (right) arm. Meng shrugs that off and rakes the eyes before hitting a shoulder breaker to drop Luger again. Some choking in the corner has Luger in more trouble as Heenan is worried about the Yeti being around. A piledriver plants Luger for two as Heenan suggests we don’t leave our sofa. Who buys a pay per view and then leaves in the middle?

The chinlock goes on for a good while until Meng suplexes him for two more. This lets commentary talk about Heenan meeting a Japanese businessman who would turn out to be Sonny Onoo, which would set up the rather weird Starrcade 1995. Luger backdrops him over the top but that’s not a DQ because reasons, so Luger suplexes him back inside. Some clotheslines get pretty much no reaction so Luger does even more, followed by a powerslam. Meng loads up his Golden Spike and hits Luger in the throat…but Sullivan comes in to (weakly) kick Luger for the DQ at 13:14.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see here, as Luger’s offense was the same boring stuff he always did, followed by the screwy storyline finish. That’s not something that works most of the time and it certainly didn’t again here. And this means we get to see more of Luger later on, because we’re just lucky that way.

The Giant nearly rips Gene Okerlund’s arm out of socket and promises to beat Hulk Hogan twice. Giant was really not good at the talking thing yet and sounded like he was doing a parody of a wrestling promo.

Arn Anderson/Flyin Brian vs. Sting/Ric Flair

There is no Flair to start and I don’t see this going well. The idea is that Anderson and Pillman have been going after Flair, who asked Sting to help him. Sting didn’t trust him and warned Flair not to turn on him, but then agreed to help him anyway. Flair did everything but wink and smile at the camera, as there was a grand total of zero doubt that he wasn’t going to turn on Sting, who has promised to kill Flair if he does it.

So it’s a handicap match to start with Sting knocking Anderson down to start and scaring Pillman off as well. The fans want Flair but have to settle for Sting bulldogging Anderson and then chopping both of them out to the floor. They do it again and Sting follows them for a clothesline each. Pillman gets back inside and gets gorilla pressed, leaving Anderson hesitant to get inside. Sting sends Anderson into the corner to crotch Pillman and then send him flying into the barricade for a crash. Back up and Anderson sends Sting head first into Pillman to take over for the first time.

Cue Flair in street clothes with a bandage around his head to chase after Anderson, but he doesn’t make any contact. Pillman chops away at Sting in the corner and it’s back to Anderson for the chinlock. Sting gets the knees up to cut Anderson off but it’s still not enough for the tag. Instead Pillman distracts Flair and gets him into a chase around the ring.

Back in and the abdominal stretch goes on before Pillman comes in to slap on a half crab. Pillman and Anderson take turns cranking on the legs as Sting and Flair are screaming for each other to make the tag. Sting fights out again but Pillman cuts off the tag again as the beating continues. The seated abdominal stretch goes on and Sting manages a double noggin knocker out of the corner.

Even Heenan is begging Sting to make the tag and Sting gets up for the tag….and Flair punches him in the face. Sting tries to go after Flair but gets beaten down, with Schiavone being disgusted and Heenan loving it. It’s a DQ, presumably on Anderson and Pillman, at 17:05. Heenan: “I mean I’ve double crossed people, but this is a ten.”

Rating: B. This is a shining example of a match where you know what you’re going to get and it’s all about the ride getting there. Flair turning on Sting is a tale as old as time in WCW and it still works no matter what. The fans were buying into what was going on here though and seeing Sting get screwed over again means not only are the Horsemen back, but Sting is going to want some serious revenge.

The fans fill the ring with trash and Flair and company talk to Gene Okerlund. Flair says the first thing you learn is you don’t mess with any of them (as a Coke cup is thrown at them, landing between Anderson and Flair’s arm). Anderson says be careful what you wish for because now you have it.

Sting has to be helped out as Heenan says they suckered him in too.

Lex Luger is worried about Sting but now he’s ready to face Randy Savage again. And he wants the World Title.

Commentary hypes up the monster truck match again. My goodness just do it already.

We recap the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan in the monster truck match, which might as well be the real main event. So the Giant started stalking Hogan and revealed that he was Andre The Giant’s son, as well as part of the Dungeon Of Doom. Giant then crushed Hogan’s motorcycle with a monster truck and damaged Hogan’s neck. Naturally Hogan cared more about the motorcycle, setting up the double matches here.

Then Giant beat him down a few more times and sent Hogan over the edge. He started wearing black, got his mustache shaved off by the Dungeon, and watched a mummy explode out of a block of ice. Naturally, this leads into monster trucks. Again: WCW WAS WEIRD!

Eric Bischoff has replaced Schiavone on commentary because he actually cares about this stuff. We also have one of the people who helped design Hogan’s truck so commentary gets to ask him a variety of questions.

We go to the roof of Cobo Hall, where Hogan and Giant are told the rules. In short, they’re in a 100ft wide circle and the trucks are welded together. You win by pushing the other truck outside of the circle. They get in the trucks and we pause for the welding of the trucks together. There are also two explosive charges randomly placed in the circle which could blow up.

They start going and we have cameras inside of the trucks so we see them, uh, driving. Giant starts pushing Hogan’s truck but Hogan shoves him back. I’m not sure what there is to say here as it’s just two trucks stuck together shoving each other. Hogan is pushed halfway out but all four wheels have to go through the circle. One of the charges goes off as Hogan fights back into the middle of the circle. Then they circle each other a bit more and Hogan finally shoves him out for the win. This took about five minutes and….I have no idea who wanted to see this other than Bischoff.

Post, uh, match, Giant gets out of the truck and starts a fight. They wind up on the edge of the building and Hogan breaks a choke, sending Giant down five stories into the river (or the parking lot). As a kid, this terrified me, but for some reason my mom wasn’t overly worried.

Commentary panics and Bischoff leaves to find out what happened.

Lex Luger vs. Randy Savage

And with that apparent death out of the way, we’re ready to go back to the ring, with Heenan going on a rant about how this is all Hogan’s fault. Anyway, these two have had issues since Luger showed up so it’s time for them to fight. Savage, with his bad arm taped up, sends Luger into the corner to start but gets dropped by a quick clothesline.

Cue Jimmy Hart (who had been on the roof with Hogan) to ringside as Luger stomps away in the corner. Heenan: “This is going to be on the front page of every newspaper in the world tomorrow.” No Bobby, it won’t be. Savage tries to fight back but Luger goes after the arm to cut that off as commentary keeps talking about Hogan and Giant. Luger sends him outside but gets rammed into various things to give Savage a breather. Hart talks to the referee but Luger is rammed into him, allowing Savage to drop the big elbow for the pin, with trunks, at 5:26.

Rating: C. It was better than the Meng match, mainly just due to the issues between the two of them. Savage could do some comebacks and make you think that he was on the verge of death in between. The Hart stuff is the latest in the whole “WHOSE SIDE ARE THEY ON” deal which of course all revolves around Hulk Hogan, as is the entire point of the company at the moment.

Heenan storms off to find out what happened with the Giant. Then he’s back in about thirty seconds, ranting about how no one can find out what is going on.

We look at the monster truck ordeal, plus the aftermath, again.

Heenan is still ranting about how he needs information about what happened. Heenan: “THE REASON THEY’RE NOT TELLING US SOMETHING IS BECAUSE IT’S BAD!” Schiavone: “Could be.” Heenan’s over the top reactions are great but Schiavone being all casual about how Giant could have DIED is even better.

And now, to the ring.

WCW World Title: Hulk Hogan vs. The Giant

Hogan, with Jimmy Hart, comes out first as there is no Giant due to, you know, possible death. Hold on though as Hogan says that wasn’t supposed to go down (“I didn’t want the Giant to take the plunge brother.”) and he apologizes. And never mind because here is the Giant (giving us one of my all time favorite wrestling visuals, as Hogan turns his head to the camera and looks shocked), who is totally fine with the explanation for how he survived (and doesn’t have a scratch on him, or how he’s dry after possibly fallen into a river). Heenan: “Oh Hogan…..I hope he throws you…..oh.”

Hogan takes off the bandanna to reveal Taskmaster paint on his forehead as he starts slugging away at Giant. Some of the shots stagger Giant but the slam is easily blocked. Heenan: “EAT HIM UP LIKE YOU WOULD VILLAGERS!” Giant chokes away in the corner as Heenan references Andre without actually saying his name. The test of strength has Hogan in more trouble as he shouts HE’S TOO STRONG.

Hogan fights up so Giant kicks him in the ribs, setting up…something that doesn’t go right. A slam cuts Hogan down again as Schiavone can’t remember how tall Hogan is. Hogan avoids the big leg and hammers away, including in the corner. A clothesline sends Giant over the top and that wakes the fans up. Back in and Hogan has to break out of a choke so Giant settles for a backbreaker. The bearhug goes on so Hogan slugs out, only to get bearhugged again. Schiavone all but flat out says this is Hogan vs. Andre again, somehow managing to not mock Heenan.

Hogan fights out and hits a chokeslam for two, meaning it’s time for the Hulk Up (Heenan: “I give up. I give up!”). The comeback is on as Heenan says he saw this “12” years ago and Hogan hits the slam into the legdrop. Hart hits the referee with the belt though, followed by a belt shot to Hogan (ignore Giant sticking his head up to see where things were).

The bearhug goes on again and the Taskmaster gets in to help with the beating. Hart calls out someone from the back so here are Luger and Savage, with Hart decking Savage and Luger stomping him down. Cue the Yeti (who is indeed a 7’2 mummy) for the infamous double, uh, vibrating hug, to Hogan. Schiavone gets in a line that sums up WCW for the rest of its history: “What in the world is going on and who is on whose side?” Luger racks Hogan and Savage and Giant is announced as the winner via DQ at 14:31.

Rating: D+. For his first match that mattered, the Giant did what he could here. While there were a few instances that didn’t work, a lot of this saw him doing exactly what he should have done. The problem is everything else, as it’s more of the wacky storyline involving a bunch of people turning on each other. The ending was all kinds of screwy and somehow it was only going to get worse.

Michael Buffer makes it clear that the title does not change hands on a DQ…except in this case, with a special clause in the contract (written up by Hart) being revealed the next night, saying that in fact it could. This was such a mess that the title was put on the line in November’s World War 3 battle royal.

Anyway, the villains celebrate and leave Hogan and Savage destroyed. Heenan stands and applauds, saying it couldn’t happen to two nicer guys. Schiavone promises updates and the credits roll.

 

Results
Johnny B. Badd b. Diamond Dallas Page – Clothesline from Maxx Muscle
Randy Savage b. Zodiac – Top rope elbow
Kurasawa b. Road Warrior Hawk – Samoan drop with feet on the ropes and assist from Parker
Sabu b. Mr. JL – Arabian press
Lex Luger b. Meng via DQ when Kevin Sullivan interfered
Sting/Ric Flair b. Arn Anderson/Flyin Brian via DQ when Anderson and Pillman double teamed Sting
Randy Savage b. Lex Luger – Flying elbow
Hulk Hogan b. The Giant via DQ when Jimmy Hart attacked the referee

 

Head over to my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com with thousands of reviews from around the world and throughout wrestling history.

3.5

The final score: review Bad

The 411

The biggest problem here is...well where do you begin really? Ah yes: having a MONSTER TRUCK FIGHT be the real main event of the show. Nothing else got anywhere near the attention, with even the World Title match feeling like nothing compared to the truck thing. It got the most talk from commentary and in the backstage interviews, with people who had nothing to do with it being asked for their thoughts. You already have the World Title match between the two, so what was the point of the whole thing? Ah yes: the company’s boss thought it was cool. That’s before Giant was KNOCKED OFF A ROOF and nothing was explained, other than “oh well, guess he’s fine”, but then a big boot and legdrop have him dead to rites. Then you had the big turn as everyone but Savage turns their back on Hogan, plus a freaking mummy invading to attack Hogan before disappearing (for the most part). What in the world are you supposed to say about a main event like that? In addition to that, you have the rest of the card, which, aside from the Sting/Flair stuff, was pretty dreadful, with a bunch of short matches which didn’t get anywhere and a really lame Savage vs. Luger match. There’s a reason this is such a dead time for the company and it’s no surprise that they were on the verge of blowing the whole thing up for the NWO next year. Awful show, save for Sting and Flair’s match and maybe the opener if you’re feeling really generous.