wrestling / Video Reviews
Leighty’s Retro Review: WCW Halloween Havoc ’93
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...-Written: 11.05.25
-Source: Peacock
-Fun fact, this was the first show I searched food when the WWE Network launched. I did so just for the Main Event and that’s the only match I have seen from this show. I assume I listened to the show through the scrambled lines back in 1993. Let’s get to it!
-Announce Team: Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura
-Oct 24, 1993
-Lakefront Arena, New Orleans, LA
-Attendance: 6000
-PPV Buys: 100,000
-Weird opening with kids trick or treating at Tony Schiavone’s house and he offers them some of his wife’s cookies if they come inside. He then unmasks to reveal he is some kind of demon.
-To the arena where Tony is dressed as Jesse Ventura and Jesse is dressed as a gynecologist. Certainly not a start for the children.
Harlem Heat and The Equalizer vs. The Shockmaster, Ice Train, and Charlie Norris
-Harlem Heat and Shockmaster go from closing the last show in War Games to this. Ice Train starts with Kole (Booker T) and it’s a rather slow start. Train with a side headlock and then he runs Kole over after getting shoved to the ropes. Another go and Kole buries a knee to the ribs. He drops an elbow and goes for a slam, but nothing doing. Slam by Train followed by a clothesline. Kole makes the tag to Kane (Stevie Ray). Train sends him into the top buckle and again. He hooks a wrist lock and takes the tag to Norris. He comes off the ropes with a strike to the arm. Kane goes to the eyes and Kole is back in the ring. Norris catches him coming in with an armbar. Shockmaster in to a solid pop from the crowd and he doesn’t trip coming through the ropes. He drops a leg on the arm and again. The gimmick with The Shockmaster is he is clumsy and an oak outside the ring, but not in the ring. Train back in and Kane kicks him from the apron which lets Kole hit a dropkick. Double Sidewalk Slam from Harlem Heat, but Train is out at two. Equalizer in for the first time and he just throws kicks before going to the eyes. Equalizer sets too early on a backdrop and gets slammed face first into the mat. Charlie Norris back in and he tries to run Equalizer over, but he just bounces off him. Shockmaster wants a go so Equalizer kicks him coming through the ropes. Shockmaster with a series of shoulder tackles and then a slam. Double back elbow to Equalizer as the crowd is way into Shockmaster. Heat with a double clothesline on Norris and Cole drops a knee for a two count. Slam, but Kole misses coming off the top. Hot tag to Shockmaster and he wrecked War Games in three minutes, so this should be no issue. He gets the bear hug and drops down in a modified World’s Strongest Slam for the pin at 9:48, while Equalizer and Kane just stand in the ring and watch.
Winners: Charlie Norris, The Shockmaster, and Ice Train via pin at 9:48
-Crowd was into most of this so good on them. Still wasn’t a fan and the ending looked screwy as the heels had to stand around and wait while the pin was happening. 1/2*
-Eric Bischoff (dressed as Colonel Custer) interviews Terry Taylor, who is the ref for Rude/Flair II.
”Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff (w/ The Assassin) vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat
-This was supposed to be Yoshi Kwan vs. Steamboat, but he is out and Wonderful takes his place. That would be an upgrade. Thunderous “Paula” chant. These two had a fun match at The Clash of The Champions a few months ago where Steamboat won The TV Title. Wonderful starts fast with a backdrop and a series of right hands. Chops from Steamboat. Right hands from Wonderful. Dragon gets sent head first into the buckle as Jesse wonders how much Steamboat has after a series of matches with Vader. Good point! They head to the floor and Wonderful gets a double axe and lands a right hand. He rams Dragon head first of the ramp and delivers a boot to the ribs. Weak slam on the ramp. Wonderful poses to the crowd and my man is drawing heat. Wonderful with an elbow and then a forearm as Dragon is selling the beating on the ramp. Dragon regroups and tries to dive back into the ring, but Wonderful steps away to let him crash to the mat. Belly-to-back suplex gets a two count. Jesse notes you get paid the same if you work 5 minutes or twenty. I would say Brock Lesnar was watching at home, but we know Brock wasn’t watching wrestling PPVs. Dragon gets a hammerlock and floats over into a bridge to add more pressure. He goes to a standing armbar and that goes for a bit. Wonderful breaks, but Dragon hits the rope three times to build speed and gets a cross-body for two. Dragon goes back to the arm and wraps it around the post. Shoulder first into the post as Jesse wants a DQ, but Tony notes it’s only if it’s head first into the post. I have that rule completely blocked from my memory. There had to be some slimy heel out there that was content having their head run into the post for a win. Dom would have done it! Dragon sends Wonderful into the railing and then gets in the face of the ref. Man, who pissed in Dragon’s Wheaties? Wonderful wants a time out, but Dragon goes right back to the arm and drops a series of elbow. He goes small joint manipulation as he splits the fingers and Jesse is losing his mind on commentary. At this point if Wonderful drilled him in the balls it would be justified. Clothesline from The Dragon and another as he is all kinds of fired up. Did he take something before this match? Chops from The Dragon and Wonderful crawls down the steps of the ramp to get away from this mad man. Dragon follows and sends Wonderful into the steps. Man, I am feeling bad for Wonderful here! The ref finally tries to stop Dragon from cheating and that lets Wonderful knock him off the apron. He goes crazy with right hands and throws Dragon over the railing into the fans. Good! Wonderful heads up top and drops an elbow that kind of hit as it looked like he wasn’t sure what move to do on the way down. They each go for a crossbody and it’s another awkward looking spot. Wonderful gets a roll-up with the ropes, but the ref catches him and kicks the legs so Dragon gets a roll-up for two. Wonderful spills out to the ramp and Dragon comes off the top with a chop to the head. There are some boos from The Dragon. Atomic Drop sends Wonderful back into the ring. Dragon off the top with another chop and this gets two. Double Chop gets two! Dragon sets too early on a backdrop and Wonderful runs his face into the mat. Piledriver, but Dragon backdrops his way out and into a pin for two. Wonderful bridges out and Dragon flips over. Catapult sends Wonderful into the buckle and he falls back into a roll-up for two. Belly-back-suplex! Dragon off the top with a cross-body, but The Assassin distracts the ref so it only gets two. Shoulder tackle from Steamboat gets two. Dragon pushes the ref away which causes him to miss Wonderful dumping Steamboat over the top. The Assassin loads his mask and knocks Dragon out with a head-butt and Wonderful gets the win via count-out at 18:35.
Winner: Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff via count-out at 18:35
-These two have great chemistry and crushed it here again. Kind of a cheap ending, but Dragon deserved it after being a jerk for most of the match. ***1/2
-Tony lets us know The Big Gold Belt is recognized as a World Title by the WCW International Committee.
WCW World Television Title: Lord Steven Regal (c) (w/ Sir William) vs. The British Bulldog
-I assume we will have stalling in this one to begin. Lockup and Regal is disgusted by the oil on Bulldog’s body. Another go and Regal gets a wrist lock. Bulldog rolls and spins his way into a reversal. Regal does the same and gets Bulldog down on the mat. He kips up and reverses to his own wrist lock. Regal tries to send across the ring, but Bulldog flips out and lands on his feet. A third go and Regal gets a trip, but Bulldog flips around and gets a break. Another cartwheel by the Bulldog blocks a trip into the ropes. Regal does one of his own, but turns around and gets caught with a Code Breaker of all things. I think it was supposed to be a monkey flip but it sure looked like a Code Breaker. Back to the arm work as they keep trading counters and reversals. Bulldog gets the final reversal of this sequence and gets a hammerlock. Regal goes to the ropes to get a break. Regal with a chinlock back to an arm-bar and then to a cravat. We are told 5 minutes have passed, but their timer is slow as I have 5:23. Bulldog fights to get a surfboard and Sir William distracts the ref which causes Bulldog to release. Regal goes to the ribs with a series of head-butts. Bulldog back with a kick to the chest and a cross-body for two. He runs into a knee which gets two for Regal. Regal Roll gets two which lets Jesse name drop Edouard Carpentier. THE FLYING FRENCHMAN! Regal starts stretching Bulldog and calls him a swine for good measure. Backdrop, but Bulldog counters with a sunset flip for two. Regal first to his feet and he kicks Bulldog in the face. Now the timer is right on as we reach 10 minutes. They didn’t announce the time in the opening so it’s kind of a given what’s going to happen here. Jesse starts talking about what happens if it’s a tie as it keeps the Championship with Regal. That’s what happens with the shorter time limit. Bulldog mounts a brief comeback but runs into a knee in the corner. Regal with a half nelson as he is putting this one in the deep freeze with three minutes to go. Tony then mentions the deep freeze seconds after I did. Bulldog tries to power Regal up but a punch to the ribs stops that. Regal back to the half nelson as he is content with a draw. We have two minutes to go! Bulldog gets Regal up on his shoulders again, but Regal gets to the ropes and uses them to land on the apron and deliver another shot to the ribs. Bulldog with a kip up and he gets a roll-up for two with 60 seconds to go. Bulldog starts rolling as he knows he is running out of time. Regal tries to roll to the floor. Sir William gets knocked off the apron as Bulldog gets the powerslam for two. Wow! With his best shot gone, Bulldog is left searching. He sticks a piledriver, but the bell sounds before we get a three count.
Time Limit Draw at 15:00
-Bulldog hung in there and this was a different kind of match as it was a lot of mat wrestling. I dug the story of Regal using the clock to his advantage and doing what could to save his title. Bulldog going all out in the final seconds worked and got the crowd into the match and they timed that ending beautifully. Boring at times, but well worked. **1/2
-Vader is out to Spin The Wheel and thankfully, it’s something good this year. TEXAS DEATH MATCH! I bet Jack/Vader could have made the Coal Miner’s Glove match work as well though.
WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: Dustin Rhodes (c) vs. “Stunning” Steve Austin
-They jockey for position to start and Austin SLAPS Dustin across the face and bails to the floor. He then yells at the crowd, “like one of you guys could do something about it.” Back in the ring Austin looks for a Boston Crab, but Dustin blocks and uses his legs to send Austin across the ring. Steve bails to the corner to slow things down again. Lockup and after a push off, Austin lands a back elbow. Austin lands a rabbit punch and then stomps the hand. Watching this and just kind of wild that three years later this is Goldust vs. Stone Cold. Austin flips out of a back suplex and hooks a side headlock. Right hand by Austin and back to the side headlock. Dustin shoves off and gets a dropkick before sending Austin into the top buckle. Austin misses a knee in the corner and spills to the floor in a sweet bump. Austin makes it back into the ring and Dustin goes right for the knee. Austin does his best to avoid, but Dustin gets hold and hits a knee-breaker. He drops an elbow and hooks a toe hold. He switches to a knee bar on the mat, but adds extra pressure to the ankle as well. The camera pans the crowd in a sign that things have slowed. Austin gets a thumb to the eyes and a low blow behind the ref’s back. Austin chokes with his boot in the corner, He pulls down the pad on his good knee and drops a knee on Dustin’s head for two. Dustin blocks going into the corner and sends Austin in, but can’t follow up. Slam from Austin and he continues to sell the knee. Austin lets Dustin pull him into the corner, where he uses the ropes to leverage up and drop a knee. That was pretty darn sweet! I don’t know if I’ve seen that since. Austin gets one slap too many as Dustin fires up and hits a backdrop followed by a clothesline for two. He calls for The Bulldog (the move, not Davey Boy), but Austin lifts him up and drops him balls first on the buckle. Nice! Austin elbows Dustin until he falls into The Tree of Woe. He rolls camera to taunt Dustin as the ref frees his legs. Knee from Austin as the crowd is getting into this one. Roll-uo from Dustin gets two. Small package gets two! Dustin punches his way out of the stun-gun and they trade pin attempts. Austin rolls to the floor and then back in he gets a roll-up with his feet on the ropes for the win, but apparently Patrick saw the feet on the ropes and continues the match. Austin thinks the match is over and looks for the belt, which lets Dustin get a roll-up for the win at 14:24.
Winner and Still WCW United States Heavyweight Champion: Dustin Rhodes via pin at 14:24
-Austin was jobbed there! There has been some weird endings on this show and when you get a bunch on one show it makes it even worse. **1/2
-Austin presents Dustin with the US Title after the match. Sure it was a belt shot to the head causing him to bleed, but he presented it to him.
-To the video where Bagwell and Scorpio upset The Nasty Boys for the Tag Titles the previous night on Saturday Night. Now we get the rematch!
WCW World Tag Team Championship: 2 Cold Scorpio (c) and Marcus Alexander Bagwell (c) (w/ Teddy Long) vs. The Nasty Boys (w/ Miss Hyatt)
-The Nasty Boys pose with the belts, so Bagwell and Scorpio take them away and use them as weapons. Bagwell then kisses Missy Hyatt in a spot that Hall and Sherri did three years later at Havoc 96. One of my favorite memories of Dusty on commentary was him reacting to the Hall/Sherri. Finally a bell and Sags starts with Bagwell. He takes him down and brings in Knobbs who drops an elbow. Double boot is missed and Bagwell gets a dropkick to both and Scorpio comes off the top onto both. That sends them to the floor and this crowd is on fire. This is already worlds better than Nasty/Horsemen from the previous month. Scorpio dives off Bagwell’s back, clears the ropes and lands on The Nasty Boys. Great! The Nasty Boys smartly slow things down and we end up with Knobbs and Bagwell being legal. Drop toe hold and Scorpio comes in off the blind tag with a splash. He gets a funky roll-up for a two count. Scorpio with a drop toe hold into an armbar. Double shoulder tackle gets a two count as Scorpio knocks Saggs off the apron for good measure. Stone Cold Bagwell with a Thesz Press for two. Sags in and gets caught with a double hip toss and double elbow for two. Scorpio back to the armbar. Sags punches his way out but Scorpio comes off the top (slight slip) with a clothesline. Dropkick and back to the armbar. That was a bit of a rough sequence, but was saved. Hammerlock and Bagwell in to stomp at the arm. Sags backs Bagwell into the corner and tags Knobbs. The Nasty Boys hit an assisted Stun-gun and Bagwell actually spills to the floor. Missy lays in a HARD SLAP to pay Bagwell back for the kiss. I mean, he kind of deserved it and that SLAP sounded great. Bagwell crawls after Missy, but gets dropped with a belly-to-back suplex on the floor. Sags lays forearms to the small of the back and hits a slam back in the ring. Leg drop gets two! Knobbs back in and he drops a series of elbow on the back and hooks a modified camel clutch. Sags back in with another elbow to the back and he grinds the point into the back. Cool! Bagwell shows some fire are he unloads with right hands, but Knobbs drills him from behind and switches off without a tag behind the ref’s back. Bear-hug, which makes sense due to the back work, but still not a fan. Bagwell punches his way out, but gets cut off again. Sags back in and hits a sick clothesline for two. Back to Knobbs and Bagwell avoids a backdrop and pulls Knobbs down by the back of his hair. Hot tag to Scorpio, but the ref didn’t see it. Bagwell avoids a splash in the corner and dives with a clothesline on Sags. Now the HOT TAG is official and this place is going crazy. Scorpio misses a spin wheel kick, but Knobbs has to sell it. One for Sags as well. That one hit at least. Scorpio hits a moonsault press off the top and goes for the pin. Sags drops an elbow to break, but Scorpio moves and Knobbs takes it. Missy on the apron and so is Long. They get separated by the ref and Teddy gets knocked down. The crowd is losing it as Bagwell runs Sags into Missy. Scorpio hits the 450, but Sags clocks him with his boot and Knobbs rolls over for the pin at 14:35.
Winners and New WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Nasty Boys via pin at 14:35
-Fun match with a hot start and hot finish. Dragged a little in the middle, but it worked the tag formula well and was just an enjoyable match. One of the better non weapon filled Nasty Boys matches. ***1/4
Sid Vicious (w/ Colonel Parker) vs. Sting
-These two met three years earlier at the 1990 edition of this show. This match was bailed as a battle to see who is The Franchise of WCW. Like anyone would get over being called The Franchise? Hey, Tony mentions they met before at this PPV. Sting ducks a clothesline and gets a slam. Sid bails to the apron and Sting drops him with another clothesline. Suplex back in the ring as Sid is a BUMP MACHINE. He takes a right hand on the floor and goes flying over the railing. It’s SID MICHAELS! Sting throws Sid back over the railing and he ends up getting caught on the railing. Sting punches him off and comes off the top with a clothesline for two back in the ring. Parker grabs Sting by the leg and gives Sid a chance to hit a choke slam. Yes, this is already better than their 1990 match. Sid fires Sting into the corner and then again. Sting collapses to his knees, but Sid picks him up and fires him back into the corner. Colonel gets a choke in on the apron. Sid stomps away as he targets the chest. Sidewalk Slam though Sid was kind of awkward with the way he applied the move. He pulls the ref away and Colonel chokes again. Sting gives chase, but Sid decks him from behind. Weak chair shot. Ugh! Oh Sid, you play softball. Swing that chair like you mean it. He drops Sting throat first on the railing and then slugs him down again. Back in the ring Sting starts firing away with kicks, but Sid lands one shot to stuff that rally. He gets a reverse chinlock and makes sure to bury a knee in the back. Loud “Sting” chant while we cut to a Sting fan who just repeats that Sid sucks. Sting feeds off the crowd and fires away with right hands, but runs into a powerslam for two. Awesome! We get a powerbomb chant as Sid has his fans out there. The man has a presence about him. Sting claps the ears to break a bear-hug, but rans into a boot to the gut. Back to the bear-hug. Sting fights his way out again and this time catches the boot. He throws right hands and drives Sid head first into the mat. Stinger Splash in the corner! Another one! Sid drops so Colonel jumps on the apron and Sting decks him. Colonel accidentally grabs Sid’s foot and holds it down as Sting gets a two count. Sid looks like he is about to deck Parker, but Sting rolls him up for the pin at 10:43.
Winner: Sting via pin at 10:43
-Silly ending to a really fun match with a hot crowd. Not a fan of how that ended at all though. **3/4
Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship: Rick Rude (c) vs. Ric Flair (w/Fifi)
-Rude won The Big Gold Belt from Flair the previous month in a really long match that was saved by the final 10 minutes. This is Flair’s rematch! So the deal is WCW doesn’t recognize Rude’s Title, but their International Committee made up of promoters from The UK, Germany, Asia, and Japan. Asia and Japan being separate is kind of weird. Couldn’t throw Mexico or Canada on that board? We have two refs as Randy Anderson is on the inside and Terry Taylor on the outside. Flair gets pyro after being introduced and if Rude doesn’t get any, Jesse is going to be pissed. Rude talks to Fifi, so Flair attacks and gets a backdrop. To the corner for some chops. Rude’s Halloween themed tights are pretty sick. Vertical suplex gets two. Running clothesline in the corner which is something I don’t recall Flair doing. Hogan definitely does it better. Flair goes for another, but Rude gets the knee up to block. He heads up top, which he did a lot of in their previous match, but misses a knee drop. Flair smells blood and goes right to a knee breaker and then the Figure-Four as the crowd pops. Rude fights off his back at one to avoid being counted down. He squirms enough to get to the bottom rope. Flair pulls him to the post and wraps the bad legs around it. Chop block back in the ring. Ric traps the leg and works a leg lock. Rude uses the tights to send Flair to the floor. He comes back in with a sunset flip, but Rude sits down and uses the ropes. Taylor stops that so it only gets two. Flair dives onto Rude and they spill to the floor and nearly onto Tony and Jesse. That looked like a rough landing for Rude. Flair throws chops and right hands before going back into the ring to break the count. He heads up top and comes off with a forearms to the floor. Woo! More chops! Flair breaks the count again and does a dance in the ring. Flair goes up top again and I assume this won’t end well. Sure enough Rude catches him on the way down with a right hand. Rude goes to use a chair, but Taylor pulls the chair away from him and Jesse is PISSED. Rude runs Flair head first into the railing which I thought was a DQ, but I gave up trying to remember the specific rules they have. Guillotine from Rude gets two. He hooks a reverse chinlock while sitting on Flair’s back. Rude sells the knee, but makes sure to swivel the hips at Fifi. Rude heads up top and lands a forearm smash, but hurt the knee on the way down so he doesn’t get the immediate cover. Flair is out at two, so Rude goes back to the modified Camel Clutch. Rude is bleeding from the shoulder and I assume it’s from the spill over the top to the floor. Rude goes to the eyes and we get a Flair Flip in the corner and he takes out the cameraman. Suplex back in the ring from Rude. He heads up top for a third time and hits another forearm smash. It gets two and another two and another two and another two. Both men are tied up in the ropes so they are forced to break. Heavy clothesline from Rude as sweat went flying on that one. Ugh, a bear-hug for the third straight match! Rude takes it to the mat and Flair has to keep lifting his shoulder up to avoided getting pinned. He grabs the ropes to force a break, so Rude drives a knee to the back. Rude just keep going for the count, but Flair keeps kicking out. Chop by Flair so Rude goes to the eyes. He misses a clothesline and Flair gets a sleeper. It’s not hooked well, so Rude runs him into the corner to break. Rude up for a fourth time and this one misses. Flair hits his own version of The Rude Awakening and it gets two. Backslide from Flair gets two. Suplex next, but Flair makes the mistake of heading up top and Rude gets the boots up to block. Flair stays on the offense though with a series of chops. The ref gets bumped as Flair is sent into the corner. Taylor heads into the ring and gets bumped by Rude. Of course! Rude goes to his tights for the brass knuckles he used last month, but Flair ducks out of the way. He hits a back suplex and can’t resist so he picks up the knuckles and he decks Rude. That seemingly gets a three count, but Anderson stopped Taylor and has disqualified Flair for using the knuckles at 19:55.
Winner and Still Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion: Rick Rude via DQ at 19:55
-I liked the match the previous month better and it helped that it had a proper finish. The ending to this one was dumb and helped nobody. This never picked up like the Fall Brawl match and then we get an ending that ticked off the crowd. **
-The crowd chants bullshit as we get another weak finish on this show, which is a shame as the matches have been good to really good.
-Tony and Jesse go over the rules of The Texas Death Match. Falls count anywhere and once a fall happens, there is a 30 second rest period and then the man pinned has 10 seconds to get to his feet. That 30 second rest period seems stupid.
Texas Death Match: Big Van Vader (w/ Harley Race) vs. Cactus Jack
-Vader is WCW World Champion for those keeping track though he hasn’t defended his Championship on PPV since May. They immediately start brawling on the ramp as it is on! Vader takes a wild swing, but hits the post. Jack throws a chair at Vader, but he just eats it and starts firing off right hands. Jack with his own series of right hands and he bites Vader in the face. A fan gives Jack a camera and he uses that to smash Vader. Another chair shot! I feel like I should be chanting some random letters from the alphabet or something. They actually head into the ring which shocks Jesse. Vader blocks a charge in the corner and rips Jack’s head off with a nasty clothesline. Boxing in the corner and there is some STANK on those punches. Another right sends Jack through the ropes and to the apron. Vader tries a suplex, but Jack has the rope hooked and then brings over with a suplex onto the ramp. Nice! Jack is bleeding from one of the punches he took. Another power display by Jack as he gets a belly-to-back on the ramp. Race tries to use a chair, but Jack punches him in the gut. That leaves a chair for Jack and Vader takes another shot, though he was able to get his hand up on this one. They brawl into the fog near the tombstones at the entrance. They roll off the ramp and in a nice touch disappear under a RIP Vader tombstone. Jack is pouring blood around his eye. Vader comes out of the grave with smoke behind him and is bleeding in an amazing visual. Jack gets a pin at 5:38 and we get a 30 second rest period. Again, not a fan of that but the fans get to count down. Vader gets up before 10, so Jack hits him with a wooden cactus from the entrance. That sends Vader to the floor and Jack comes off with the elbow for another pin at 6:48. We get another 30 second rest period as the crowd chants for Jack. Vader is able to get up well before the 10 count. Jack starts booting him in the face and some right hands. That apparently ticked off Vader as he fires back with heavy right hands. They are just beating the stuffing out of each other. Jack puts a table in the ring and this was insane stuff at the time. Vader goes back to the boxing in the corner as Jesse notes he and Tony are getting sprayed with blood. Vader gets sent into the table which gets Jack a two count. Jack throws the table at Vader which sends him retreating to the floor. Jack tries a sunset flip off the apron to the floor which is just nuts. Vader goes to sit down on Jack, but he moves out of the way. Jack drops Vader on the railing and charges, but Vader moves and Jack flips into the front row. Jesse notes he doesn’t even know if this can be called a match as it’s just a fight. True! Vader with a chair shot to the back of the head and this was a chair from the crowd. They cut to Harley Race who has a taser because sure. Back in the ring Vader gets a slam and heads all the way up and hits the moonsault. That gets the three at 11:59. Of course Jack was fine with Vader hitting a moonsault on him. Most sane people just do the spot and roll out of the way to give the visual of Vader doing a moonsault. After the 30 second rest period, Jack beats the 10 count. They end up back on the ramp as Race has another chair. Jack gets a sleeper and ends up on Vader’s back. We get the infamous spot where Vader just falls back and that had to suck so much. In Foley’s first book I believe he stated he was trying to get injured off that move. Chair shot to the head from Vader followed by a DDT on the chair. This is brutal and the crowd and announcers aren’t sure how to react. The trainers are out to check on Jack and we all know this wouldn’t be the last time that would happen with Foley in his career. Vader scares the trainers away and gets a pin at 14:55. Jack is up and hits a DDT during the rest period so I guess both men are being counted down. Race uses a taser on Jack and Vader gets up to beat the count and get the win at 15:57.
Winner: Big Van Vader via pin at 15:57
-Just an amazingly brutal match with a terrible ending. As I noted I wasn’t a fan of the rest period, but that doesn’t take away too much from the match. We just didn’t see stuff like this at the time. It’s still an amazing spectacle all this years later and holds up well. I just wish they had a better ending for it. ****1/2
-Jack sticks Race with a DDT on the ramp after the match. As always, I assume Harley insisted.
-Tony and Jesse wrap things up quickly. Thanks for reading!
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