wrestling / TV Reports
Leighty’s Retro Review: WCW Halloween Havoc ’91
Image Credit: WWE/Peacock
Loading...– For WCW Halloween Havoc ’91, we are nearing the end of 1991 and I am looking forward to it because I know what’s coming in 1992. When we last saw a WCW PPV the fans were revolting because Ric Flair had left the company. Lex Luger is finally World Champion and they immediately turned him heel and this is his first big time Title defense. Let’s get to it!
– WCW Halloween Havoc ’91
-Announce Team: Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone
-Oct 27,1991
-UTC Arena, Chattanooga, TN
-Attendance: 8900
-PPV Buys: 120,000 (Lowest since WrestleWar 89 and 40,000 lower than the previous year)
-Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone welcome us to the show and take us to earlier in the day, where Eric Bischoff was getting interviews with wrestlers as they arrived in the parking lot. Cactus and Abdullah arrive together and terrorize Bischoff, which is pretty funny. Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham arrive in a convertible, and Barry gets jumped by Arn Anderson and Larry Zbyszko, who break his hand with a car door. Barry is out of The Chamber of Horrors. Halloween Havoc parking lot crowled, so NXT one could walk!
-Man, that stage set-up for this show looks awful. Uniontown Area High School has better backdrops for its yearly musical. They have Turner Broadcasting behind them and can’t get better than this?
Chamber of Horrors Match: El Gigante, Rick Steiner, Scott Steiner, Sting vs. Vader, The Diamond Studd, Cactus Jack (w/ a chainsaw), Abdullah The Butcher
-So, this match had all kinds of issues with the lineup, as apparently Windham was supposed to be on Team Studd, though he drove in with Dustin. Oz, and One Man Gang were also supposed to be on that team but were replaced by Cactus and Vader. Abdullah replaced Windham. This is the Thunderdome cage from Havoc 1989 with caskets in a few corners on the floor. You win by putting an opponent in an electric chair that will drop down at some point in the match and you pull the lever to fry them. As a 10 year old that sounded cool, but at 43 this sounds like a bad fever dream. Jack, Sting, Butcher, and Rick Steiner fight on the ramp outside the cage. El Gigante and Vader battle in the ring. Sting enters the cage with a kendo stick and starts teeing off on people as we see a camera from the ref’s perspective. A masked man comes out of one of the caskets and Scott slams him on said casket. Studd and Sting do battle in a preview of 1996. Vader wants some of Sting and call it a hunch but they would probably have great chemistry. Clothesline sends Vader to the floor. Rick Steiner is hanging on the cage for some reason and decides to just drop down. Sting with a slingshot cross-body on Vader. The Chair of Torture (inside a cage) drops from the ceiling with dramatic music. All I can think of as Ross talks about the Chair of Torture is the Chair of Cheer. “You didn’t say anything about the Chair of Cheer.” Vader puts Rick in the Chair, but he fights back and a clothesline sends Vader to the floor. Sting lifts the wooden lid off the casket and just throws it at Jack’s head. Cool! We have eight people dressed like orderlies with white face paint heading down and it seems they are here to take away whoever ends up in the Chair. Jack is bleeding and is taking all the weapon shots because it’s Mick Foley! Jack and Sting fight while hanging on the cage. Stings runs him into the cage and Jack teases falling down. Can you imagine if he took a crazy fall off a structure like this? Abdullah is bleeding which means it’s a day that ends in Y. Scott Steiner chokes Studd with a chain. Man, I hate the nWo on nWo violence! Ross: “Man this one is hard to call and we apologize.” We understand what you are saying JR! Vader with a slam on Rick on the floor. Funny enough 7 of the 8 in this match ended up in the WWE Hall of Fame. Sting may be bleeding as well. Jack climbs for the switch as Rick Steiner punches Studd in the balls. The big issue here is the chair and cage take up nearly all the ring space so everyone has to fight on the floor. I mean, it’s a spectacle but doesn’t mean it’s any good. Jack back to the switch as Rick is in the chair being held down by Abdullah. Rick fights back and hits a kind of belly to belly to put Abdullah in the chair and Jack pulls the switch not knowing. That ends it at 12:35 as we get much better pyro and explosion than AEW gave us for their exploding ring match, so it has that going for it.
Winners: Team Sting via ELECTROCUTION at 12:35
-I mean everyone should see this match at least once. I will say I would take this over the scaffold match we got at The Great American Bash. With that said this was hard to follow and when the way to win is attempted murder, it’s probably not going to be any good. Credit to Sting and Foley for putting in some solid work though. 1/2*
-Jack check on Abdullah after but he comes to life and beats up all the orderlies to get his heat back.
-Eric and Missy are backstage dressed up since it’s Halloween and are standing in front of a set-up that you would see at a 6th Grade Halloween Dance. The Young Pistols want a match for The US Tag Titles and lean a bit heel here.
The Creatures vs. PN News and Bog Josh
-News spits some bars but not candy ones as you would except since it’s Halloween. We see Christine Valver in the front row as she was the WCW Magazine PN News Rap contest winner. I’d take a free trip a wrestling show, so I can’t even hate on the prize. So it’s Joey Maggs and Johnny Rich under the masks as The Creatures. Creature 1 starts with Josh and Creature 2 gets the tag in and throws forearms. The crowd is actually into this one. News in and he gets a splash in the corner. Josh with an atomic drop that sends Creature into Josh for another splash. Dropkick from News! Creature tags in his brother, offspring, whatever Creature and News flattens him with a belly bump. Josh gets the tag of comes off the top with a forearm to the original Creature and then tosses the second Creature with a nice German Suplex. Creature 1 goes to the eyes, but Josh pounds him in the corner and gets a backdrop. News back in with a headbutt and then a suplex. Josh back in and gets a belly to belly suplex this time. Creature 1 gets a back rake and a headbutt to the gut, but it seems Josh doesn’t want anything to do with selling for this mess, so he just hits a powerbomb and throws some chops. Northern Exposure (Earthquake Splash) followed by News coming off the top with a splash (TSUNAMI) finishes this at 5:16.
Winners: PN News and Big Josh via pin at 5:16
-Better than the opener obviously and bless the crowd for being into this match. It still sucked but was at least a match. Josh looked annoyed to be out there and took out his frustration on the Creatures. Better days would be ahead for Josh. *
Beautiful Bobby Eaton vs. Terrence Taylor (w/ Alexandra York)
-For some reason Anderson calls for the bell before Taylor’s music stops and before he gets out of his outerwear. That leads to about 40 seconds before any contact is made. Taylor with a few shoves as he tries to get Bobby angry and Tony is right there to note that Bobby has a quick temper. They jockey for position and nothing happening, so Taylor lays the bad mouth on Eaton to continue the mind games. He gets an arm-drag and more trash talk, but Bobby is keeping his cool so far. Lockup and another arm-drag and again, Taylor talks trash and lands a slap to the face. Taylor tries another one, but Bobby blocks, gets two of his own and then a clothesline that sends Taylor to the floor. Back in the ring we get a lock-up and Taylor lands a right hand, but then walks into a better right hand from Eaton. Another lockup and Taylor sends Eaton to the floor. Whip to the railing, but Eaton sends Taylor into the front row with a backdrop and hits another right hand. Taylor heads back in the ring and begs off in the corner. He tries a kick, but Bobby catches his boot and lands another right hand for two. Hammerlock to slow things down a bit and Taylor taps to end the match, but this is 1991 and tap-outs don’t exist so we continue. Eaton with a hip-toss and he transitions back into a hammerlock. Taylor gets free with a jawbreaker and the fights heads to the ramp. Atomic Drop and a slam by Eaton! He heads up top and drops a knee/splash in a cool spot! Right hand sends Eaton back into the ring where he begs off and pulls Eaton to the floor by the trunks. Eaton gets back to the apron, but Taylor runs into him which sends Bobby crashing into the railing. Bret would go on and use that bump. Taylor checks the computer with York and all I was doing with computers at this time was playing Oregon Trail or Carmen San Diego. Love Carmen San Diego! Back in the ring Taylor drops a knee for a two count. Bobby fights back with right hands, but charges and gets tossed through the ropes and onto the ramp. Taylor breaks out a GUTWRENCH SIT-OUT POWERBOMB ON THE RAMP! Sweet! Back in the ring Taylor comes off top and that gets a two count. The crowd is starting to rock with them! Taylor hooks a reverse chinlock and the crowd gets into it even more as they are cheering on Eaton. Taylor sends Eaton to the floor and seems willing to take the count-out victory and I don’t blame him. Eaton fights back on the apron and comes off the top with a sunset flip for two and the crowd bough that one. Taylor up first and he drops a leg for two. Taylor goes back to a modified Camel Clutch as the crowd starts rumbling again for Bobby to make the comeback. Bobby is able to escape and elbow his way out, but Taylor catches him with a sleeper. Bobby uses the jawbreaker this time, but tries a splash and Taylor gets the knees up. Taylor off the middle ropes with a Vader Bomb, but Bobby gets the knees up to block. I like that Bobby keeps using the counters that Taylor used first. Shows he is resourceful and learning on the fly. Backdrop from Eaton! He gets the mounted punches in the corner. Bobby blocks an inverted atomic drop and gets a suplex for two. Swinging neckbreaker as Taylor set too early on a backdrop. Bobby heads up top, but Taylor hits the ropes to knock him off balance. Taylor heads up and tries a superplex, but Bobby lands a right hand and then hits The Alabama Jam for the pin at 16:39.
Winner: “Beautiful” Bobby Eaton via pin at 16:39
-These two men were cooking out there and I greatly enjoyed this one. The crowd got into it and it was just a fun match between two skilled pro-wrestlers. ***3/4
Jimmy “Jam” Garvin (w/ Michael Hayes) vs. Johnny B. Badd (w/ Teddy Long)
-BAD STREET! The Birds are out wearing Braves caps and doing the tomahawk chop and screw both of them. Braves were just fresh off beating my Pirates for the first time in The NLCS. Still bitter and 92 Halloween Havoc will be even worse if The Braves are mentioned again. Francisco Cabrera made me cry! Hayes has his arm in a sling, but continues to play to the redneck crowd who are supporting a racial stereotype baseball team. We are much classier in Pittsburgh with our Pirate mascot! The crowd starts the tomahawk chant and that shit haunted my nightmares for years, but then I get to high school and we are The Red Raiders and there I was partaking in the same chant. Life man! Badd lands a left hand to the ribs as this one gets going. Hayes is obviously great at cheerleading and gets the crowd into this one early. Garvin throws Badd to the floor and that should be a DQ. Hayes punches Badd in the face as well as they are cheating just like the Braves did in 91 and 92. Back in the ring Garvin gets a powerslam and runs the ropes a few times before hitting a running forearm. Probably had an illegal substance on him like the Braves pitching staff. Back in the ring Hayes gets a standing armbar. Badd goes to the eyes and lands another body punch. Leaping clothesline as the crowd chants for the DDT. Badd buries a knee in the back and gets a reverse chinlock. Long throws a towel in the ring and Badd uses it to choke which is fine. Birds cheated first. Backdrop followed by a boot in the corner. Badd comes off the top with a sunset flip that nearly went wrong, but they kind of covered and it gets two. Top Rope Elbow gets two! Slam and Badd is up top again. He gets caught with a left hand to the gut on the way down. Badd misses an elbow in the corner and takes a bump over the top to the floor. Back in they collide either on purpose or they messed something up. Garvin hits the DDT but Long has the ref. Garvin goes over to protest and turns into a left hand for the pin at 8:27. Garvin had his foot on the rope but Long pushed it off. Oh well, no replay in wrestling so The Birds and the Braves fans in the crowd can cry somewhere else. I had to sit through an umpire squeezing The Pirates in Game 7 in 1992 so The Birds can deal with a tiny mistake by the ref.
Winner: Johnny B. Badd via pin at 8:27
-This was okay but had some rough spots. Crowd was into it though. Badd was still pretty green, but he was getting out there and learning on the fly and it would pay off down the road. **
-Missy stumbles across Bobby Eaton, who is carrying a pumpkin, and she wants the inside scoop of the Phantom’s identity. Eaton blows her off.
WCW World Television Title: “Stunning” Steve Austin (c) (w/ Lady Blossom) vs. “The Natural” Dustin Rhodes
-JR notes if he was starting a franchise and had a pick, he would start with Steve Austin. Pff, like that would work out for anyone. Lady Blossom’s side boob has Tony pause to say “hello,” before continuing his thought. Dustin backs Austin into the corner, but offers a clean break. Austin with a hammerlock that is reversed. Another go and Austin trips the leg, but Dustin counters into a half crab that forces Austin to the ropes to break. We go again and Austin gets a shoulder tackle and now Dustin needs a few seconds to regroup. Dustin catches Austin with a clothesline followed by a dropkick for two. He takes Steve to the mat with a side headlock and get two, but Austin counters with a head scissors. Grandma Rhodes is in the crowd as JR says, “Hook Em Horns,” which is pretty wild. They start trading counters and pin attempts before Dustin sends Austin over the top with a clothesline. Judgment call by the ref as he doesn’t call for a disqualification. Back in Austin gets a belly to back suplex for two. Dustin lands a boot and goes for the bulldog, but Austin blocks. Dustin goes back to the side headlock and takes it to the mat. The timer is on point as we are told 10 minutes are left in this one. The slow down of the action gives JR and Tony time to drool over Lady Blossom and the crowd whistles at her as well. Austin is able to get up and shove off, but Dustin catches him with a cross-body for two and then back to the side headlock. Austin goes right back to the head scissors. Dustin goes for another cross-body, but Austin ducks them time and Dustin splats on the mat and bounces to the floor. Austin follows out and unloads with some right hands. Dustin is bleeding from the punches because he is a Rhodes and bleeding is in his DNA. Dustin staggers around the ring selling the blood loss, so Austin comes off the top with a double axe. Dustin lands a right hand, but Austin goes to the eyes. Gut-wrench suplex gets two and now Austin goes to the chinlock. The slowly move so that Austin can use the ropes to cheat as we hit the ten minute mark. The ref catches Austin the second time and forces the break. Dustin lands a right hand as Austin was yelling at the ref. He tries a monkey flip out of the corner, but Austin blocks and gets a clothesline for two. Four minutes to go! Small Package and they reverse it a few times with each man getting a two count. Lariat from Dustin gets two as they are picking up the pace knowing the time is running out. Austin could put it in the deep freeze, but wants the win so Dustin doesn’t get another shot. Lady Blossom gets in a few slaps, but Austin misses and ends up bouncing off the ropes. Dustin with an atomic drop and a lariat for two as Austin gets his feet on the ropes. He sends Austin to the floor which seems suspect considering we only have two minutes to go. Austin gets sent into the post and now he is bleeding. Back in the ring a Powerslam gets two! Ground and pound from Dustin as he works on the cut. Bionic Elbow gets two! 60 seconds to go and the crowd is freaking out. He fires off punches in the corner as the crowd counts along and we have 30 seconds to go. Austin eats a series of right hands and a double axe gets two. Dustin off top with a clothesline, but Austin kicks out at two and the bell rings at 15:00.
Time Limit Draw at 15:00
-This was solid, but was a little boring in the middle. Dustin was still learning and the chinlock was just there to waste time as they knew they were going 15 minutes. The drama was pretty good down the stretch though. Not sure the match really needed double juice, but it’s fine. ***
Oz vs. Bill Kazmaier
-The Oz gimmick is toned down now as Big Kev no longer has to wear the mask to the ring and Sullivan isn’t with him. Reminder this was supposed to be Bill vs. Cactus with Oz in the Chamber, but for whatever reason they switched. I assume they wanted Foley in the Chamber to bump and take a beating. JR starts preparing us for this one to be a stinker as he notes both guys are like .250 hitting baseball players, but they hit a lot of homers. Man, I would be thrilled if my Pirates were full on players hitting .250. Test of Strength and Oz breaks Kaz down after some kicks to the gut. Kaz fires back up and then stomps the hands of Oz. They fumble around the ring a bit to get in position and Kaz ends up getting a hip-toss. He avoids a charge in the corner and gets a belly to back suplex for two. Kaz skins the cat and hits a clothesline. Knee to the face and The Torture Rack finishes at 3:58.
Winner: Bill Kazmaier via pin at 3:58
-Not sure why Kaz is using the finisher of the World Champion, but here we are. This wasn’t good as both men were green and its was a clash of styles. It was short at least. 1/2*
Van Hammer vs. Doug Summers
-They actually have production guys out with jackhammers as Hammer makes his entrance. Where were those guys for Goldberg some 7 years later? Summers trips coming off the ropes and Hammer hits a rough clothesline followed by a Powerslam. Summers trips again going into the corner. Elbow and then a leg drop from Hammer. He gets the crowd going and finishes with the slingshot suplex at 1:10. Summers actually kicked out at three as I assume he was annoyed that Hammer nearly dropped him on his head.
Winner: Van Hammer via pin at 1:10
-This was shorter than the previous match but somehow worse. DUD
WCW Light Heavyweight Championship: Flyin’ Brian vs. Richard Morton (w/ Alexandra York)
-This is the finals of a rather weak tournament but the whole idea was to build the division around Pillman so sorry, SPOILERS. That Championship Belt looks like what the TV Title became a few years later. Nick Patrick is wearing the hockey helmet with the camera so we can see things from his view. Morton lands a strike first and then bails to the floor to stall. Yes, this division should be all about stalling. Back in the ring Pillman gets a slam and a spin kick which sends Morton back to the floor. The ref cam lets us see the empty seats on the other side of the ring and in the upper decks. Morton continues to stall before backing Pillman into a corner and landing more right hands. Pillman avoids a charge in the corner and gets a cross-body for two. JR starts talking about football and notes the Bengals are 0 for the season. I need to check that now as we wait for this one to get going. Yep, Bengals had lost earlier in the day to The Oilers 35-3 which made them 0-8. They would win the next week against Cleveland. Nothing has really happened in the match as they are keeping this one mat based. Pillman gets a roll-up for two, but Morton is up first and gets a clothesline for two. He goes to the arm as to slow this one down. Which is kind of hard to do, but he’s doing it. Ricky continues to work the wrist lock as we take a pan of the crowd. Pillman finally escapes and gets a clothesline, but Morton goes to the eyes. Belly to back suplex gets two. He goes to a choke and releases on four. Peacock actually threw me off while watching as apparently there was an internet issue at my office. Even my internet provider was bored. Pillman gets an enziguiri once I get things back on track. Backdrop from Pillman! Morton cuts him off again but gets too cocky and Pillman starts unloading with chops. They collide in the middle of the ring and take ridiculous bumps to the floor. Pillman ends up getting run shoulder first into the post. No matter though as he shakes that off and comes off the top with a cross-body for the pin and Championship at 12:45.
Winner and Inaugural WCW Light Heavyweight Champion: Brian Pillman via pin at 12:45
-Just very boring and the opposite of what you would expect from this division. I get what Morton was trying as he kept cutting off Pillman’s comebacks, but it made for a chore to get through. The ending was weird too as Pillman gets his damaged shoulder posted, but goes right to the top and gets the win. *1/2
The Z-Man vs. The WCW Halloween Havoc Phantom
-I love me some Phantom of The Opera and they could have given this man a better mask. Tony makes me smile by referencing Christine. Phantom attacks before the bell and gets a slam that would bring down a chandelier. He scratches the back and I can hear Z-Man croaking like a frog. Gut-buster follows as Zenk is Down Once More. Phantom sets too early on a backdrop and eats a boot to the chest. Dropkick from Zenk, but Phantom shakes it off and we have reached the Point of No Return as Phantom hits a move Tony calls “The Rude Awakening” for the pin at 1:26. Never heard of it!
Winner: The WCW Halloween Havoc Phantom via pin at 1:26
-Total SQUASH as it should have been. Tony giving away the answer was kind of cool as they announcers didn’t have to pretend to be stupid on this one. SQUASH
-Starrcade: Battle Bowl: Lethal Lottery commercial!
WCW World Tag Team Championship: The Enforcers (Larry Zbyszko and Arn Anderson) (c) vs. The Patriots (Firebreaker Chip and Todd Champion)
-The Patriots are the US Tag Team Champions and we have about 8 months or so until those titles are deactivated. Larry and Chip start us out and this crowd is scary quiet at the moment. Chip outwrestles Larry to start which frustrates The Legend. Tag made to Arn and now the crowd wakes up. He mocks Champion on the apron and then gets a waist lock take down on Chip, but he scrambles out and Arn ends up on the floor. Arn complains about the baby oil on Chip. Does he think he is Andre? Champion in and comes off the middle ropes with a double ax to the arm. Arn uses the tights to back Champion against the ropes and lands a knee to the gut. He stomps Champion down and sling shots him back in from the apron. Arn drops a knee and stomps away again. He tries another sling shot, but Champion counters and Arn goes flying over the top to the floor. Probably should be a DQ, but guess not. Arn tries a piledriver on the floor, but Chip backdrops out. Back in the ring Larry is in and gets run over with a double clothesline. Larry bails to the floor and calls a time-out. Do we have a Larry vs. Michael Hayes match anywhere? Just curious if they tried to out stall each other. Larry forces Todd to chase and gets a blind tag to Arn. Champions gets caught from behind and dumped to the floor. Larry sends him into the railing and then Arn lands a shot to the ribs back in the ring. Arn drops another knee to the chest. Larry back in and he gets a slam for two. Swinging neckbreaker gets two! Arn back in and Champion starts to rally with right hands. Atomic Drop but Arn made another blind tag. Larry comes off the middle rope with a double ax to the back of the head. Cool! Ugly looking back breaker gets two. Champion is able to get Larry down and the lukewarm at best tag to Chip is made. Slam by Chip on Anderson gets two as Larry makes the save. Things break down and Arn hits a spinebuster on Chip for the pin at 9:51.
Winners and Still WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Enforcers via pin at 9:51
-The crowd had no use for this match and it was disjointed and ugly overall. Just not good. 1/2*
-Eric Bischoff brings out Paul E Dangerously and Madusa. Paul E goes on a rant about being too controversial and having his spot on TV as a host taken away. He declares war on WCW and still has a manager’s license. He is going after our heroes and that starts with Sting. His first step was to bring in Madusa and he told her to find the man that can eliminate Sting for good. He brings out The WCW Halloween Phantom and he will help Paul E bankrupt WCW. He hypes up The Phantom as Madusa helps takes off his mask and it’s Ravishing Rick Rude. Sweet! One of the few memorable reveals that lived up to the hype and we all know where this is leading.
2 out of 3 Falls: WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Lex Luger (c) (w/ Harley Race and Mr. Hughes) vs. Ron Simmons (w/ Dusty Rhodes)
-Luger’s theme still slaps! Nick Patrick sends Hughes to the back, but Race and Dusty can stay at ringside. Ron just stares Luger down and doesn’t even look at the belt. Ron is decked out in Florida State colors for this one. Ross brings up Florida State is ranked #1 in the Nation currently. They would not finish there as Luger’s college, Miami ended up finishing undefeated and #1 in one poll. Washington also went undefeated and we had split National Champions. Slow start as neither man wants to lose the first fall. About three minutes in, Ron makes the first mistake as he tries a dropkick, but Luger holds onto the ropes. Luger pounds away with a double ax to the back and then another. Another forearm to the back as this is a Big E Special with muscles and big chests slapping meat. Luger sets early on a backdrop and Simmons slams him face first on the mat. He lands a clothesline and then a power slam! Spinebuster gets three at 4:54 to put Ron up 1-0. Dusty and Race hit the ring as there is a 60 second rest period. Ron complains about Luger having something in his tights. Yeah, I will leave that one alone. Dusty tells him they are going to take it home.
-Second Fall: Luger is still selling the affects of the spinebuster. Ron goes right for the back with a suplex and then a backdrop. Luger goes to the eyes to create space and is still selling the back. He rushes in the corner, but gets caught with an elbow and Ron hits a running bulldog for two! Luger rolls under the ropes to force a break. He catches Ron coming in with a shoulder to the ribs. Ron counters a slam with a small package for two. Luger sends Ron to the floor, but the back is still gone and Ron gets a sunset flip from the apron for two. Clothesline but a second one is side stepped and Ron crashes to the floor. Luger lands a boot to the head and rakes the eyes with his boot for good measure. He runs the eyes across the top rope as Dusty yells at the ref. Luger drops an elbow for two. Race yells as well as they just have to compete with each other. Luger with a powerslam, but he is still selling the back and only gets two. Luger cuts off a charge in the corner with a clothesline and that gets two. Snap suplex gets two! I like the little touch of Luger’s back causing him such problems that he can’t execute a proper cover. The crowd starts rallying behind Ron as Luger hooks a chinlock and makes sure to use the ropes to his advantage. Ron starts to feed off the fans and forces a break. Luger misses a charge in the corner and Simmons gets a roll-up for a close two. Luger tries sa hip-toss but it gets blocked and Simmons gets a backslide for two. Running shoulder block, but Race grabs the leg on a second try. Dusty decks Harley for fun to pop the crowd. Luger charges at Ron and ends up getting dumped to the floor and the ref calls it a DQ at 16:40. Boo! We have seen so many people dumped tonight with no DQ and then this weak crap with Luger leaping at Simmons. I know the idea was Race held Ron so he wouldn’t go over as well, but I am not a fan of that.
-Third Fall: Luger is selling like he has been wrestling an hour but he also uses it to sucker Ron in and lands a right hand. Luger is bleeding over his eye and it looks like a real cut the way it is flowing. Simmons fires up and pounds away with rights in the corner. Simmons blocks an atomic drop and gets a clothesline for two. Whip to the corner and Ron gets a backdrop for two. Ron right back to the cover for another two count. Luger lands a desperate shot to the ribs. Ron with an Inverted Atomic Drop when he could have hit the Spinebuster again. They battle up top and Ron hits a superplex for two. Another powerslam but no cover. Ron comes off the middle ropes with a shoulder but the momentum takes Luger to the floor. Luger gets sent into the railing, but avoids a charge and Ron hits the post. Ouch! Back in the ring Luger hits the piledriver and gets the pin at 21:59. I believe JR called it The Attitude Adjustment which kind of blew my mind.
Winner and Still WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Lex Luger via pin at 21:59
-That third fall got pretty good and had the crowd rolling with them. The way the second fall was decided left a sour taste in my mouth but perhaps that was the point. Overall a decent match but nothing more. **1/2
-Thanks for reading!
