wrestling / Video Reviews
Leighty’s Retro Review: WCW Halloween Havoc ’94
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...-Written: 12.29.25
-Source: Peacock
-Run Time: 2:43:14
-Fall Brawl was next, but I am not getting all these shows done before the library leaves Peacock. I made the choice to do this show because I at least wanted to get all 3 of the Hogan/Flair matches done and this seems like a good place to end as far as Peacock. I will go back and do WrestleMania X and SummerSlam as I have them on DVD. I may also get back to finishing my WrestleMania series as I stopped many years ago at Mania 31. I have some shows there to catch up on as well. Losing the library on Peacock sucks. Let’s just get to happier thoughts with this show.
-Announce Team: Tony Schiavone and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
-Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, MI
-Oct 23, 1994
-Attendance: 14,000
-PPV Buys 210,000
-T. Graham Brown sings the National Anthem! Muhammad Ali is in the crowd.
WCW World Television Title: Johnny B. Badd (c) vs. The Honky Tonk Man
-Badd won the TV Title the previous month from Steven Regal at Fall Brawl. This is Honky’s WCW PPV debut as he had worked some TV matches and was undefeated at this point. So I guess the idea is if you squint it’s Elvis vs. Little Richard. Heenan starts with Elvis references as Badd drops a leg on the arm. Honky crawls to the ropes to slow things down. We go again and HTM misses a right hand which leads to an atomic drop. Badd messes up the hair and a right hand to the body sends HTM to the floor. Sting is backstage on the Hotline with Mike Tenay and Tony mentions Sting doesn’t have a match tonight. That’s a weird decision. HTM lands an elbow to the jaw and drops a double axe to the stomach. He follows with a reverse chinlock as the camera pans the crowd. Slam by HTM as we get another shot of Ali in the front row. Badd with a sunset flip for two. HTM buries a knee to regain control and goes back to the reverse chinlock. Five minutes have passed and we are told this match only has a 10 minute time limit. So we know where this one is heading. To their credit the crowd is into this one even though not much is happening. HTM sets for Shake, Rattle, and Roll and it gets a big pop, but Badd backdrops out. He misses a charge in the corner and HTM covers with a foot on the ropes for two. Three minutes to go! HTM pitches Badd to the floor and Heenan calls out that strategy. He sends Badd into the apron after a double axe and goes back to a reverse chinlock. Man, this is some awful strategy. Badd should just stay there and deal with the minor discomfort of having his chin squeezed. Badd fights his way out and runs HTM into the buckle. Regal would have put this in the deep freeze a long time ago as we get to 60 seconds remaining. Knee-lift from Badd and HTM begs off. This is backwards like Badd is chasing the Title. Badd misses the Kiss that Don’t Miss and Honky gets a belly-to-back for two. He goes to a choke instead of a pin and they brawl on the mat as we get a draw at 10:02.
Time Limit Draw at 10:02
-The crowd was into this, but it was a weird match. HTM wrestled like he was the Champion trying to save his title and Badd was the aggressor in the final minutes. Honky didn’t last in WCW and probably for the best as he looked out of place here, much like the Rock N Roll Express did in 1996 nWo era WCW. *
-Badd celebrates and HTM comes back in and hits a weak atomic drop that Badd doesn’t sell. He goes for another punch, but HTM bails. That was weird.
-Recap of Hogan/Flair issues since August with the Masked Man angle being added as well. We also get “amateur video” of Ric Flair and Mr. T coming out of Michael Jordan’s restaurant together. Mr. T is the special ref for tonight’s Cage Match.
WCW World Tag Team Titles: Stars and Stripes (c) vs. Pretty Wonderful
-Stars and Stripes won the Tag Titles from Pretty Wonderful on Sept 25. They liked giving Bagwell Tag Titles reigns around this time of year. Patriot starts with Orndorff and we end up with all four men in the ring throwing bombs. Bagwell gets a slam on Roma and a clothesline sends him to the floor. Patriot off the top with a right hand to Wonderful. He tags out to Roma and The Patriot goes to work on the arm. Bagwell in off the top with a clubbing blow to the arm. We get a “USA” chant as Roma gets a slam. He runs up the ropes in the corner and walks the ropes before diving off with a forearm. Cool! He misses a clothes though and Bagwell gets a cross-body for two. Bagwell off the top with a sunset flip for two. Back to the arm but Roma lands a knee and tags out to Wonderful. He rushes in and Bagwell grabs him by the arm. They kind of mess up a spot, but Bagwell saves by getting a slam and then another one. Even Heenan and Tony note how impressive it was from Bagwell to change on the fly like that when the first move didn’t work. Roma in as Pretty Wonderful take control. They double Bagwell behind the ref’s back as Bobby tells us to turn off the set and go to bed early as Hogan is losing. Way to sell it to the fans! Patriot gets the tag and hits a running clothesline in the corner. That gets two. In talking about Hogan and Flair, Heenan notes: “They will never wrestle again.” See, this is why Cena had to be so adamant that he was retiring and why people keep questioning him. We then get a not icky conversation about Hogan’s tombstone engraving. Bagwell messes up running into the ropes as this match is kind of falling apart. Boogie Woogie Elbow from Wonderful gets a big pop. Can you imagine someone getting an elbow like that over with the crowd? Bagwell sets too early on a backdrop and gets punted in the chest. Heenan: “If Detroit had a kicker then would be in the Super Bowl.” I appreciate that Dan Campbell didn’t trust his kicker in the NFC Championship Game against my Niners. Heenan then tells Tony if he lives to be 300 the Lions won’t make the Super Bowl. Well, it’s 30 plus years and he is still correct. Only 270 years to go. Oh the match! Wonderful with a dropkick and Bagwell took that weird as well. What’s up with him tonight? Bagwell fights for a backslide, but is too close to Roma, who breaks it up. Wonderful runs into a boot in the corner and Bagwell gets a sleeper instead of making a tag. Roma breaks that up and everyone in the ring again. Patriot gets a slam on Roma as Bagwell lands a knee-lift on Wonderful. Clotheslines from Stars and Stripes. Bagwell gets the Perfect-Plex, though it didn’t look perfect. Roma off the top with an elbow and Wonderful rolls on top for the pin at 13:47 to a strong pop.
Winners and New WCW World Tag Team Champions: Pretty Wonderful via pin at 13:47
-Just a standard tag match which is fine. The crowd was entertained, though I am not sure what was up with Bagwell. **1/2
-Gene is backstage with Ric Flair and Sherri. Flair tells Hogan it comes to an end tonight and hits all the catchphrases. For those curious, he is sporting the famous butterfly robe. Sherri keeps yelling as Flair calls her The Queen. Maybe Flair should ask Macho Man about Sherri’s track record in career matches.
Dave Sullivan vs. Kevin Sullivan
-Dave Sullivan is a full fledged Hulk-a-maniac and Sullivan is not happy with it. Kevin jumps the bell, but gets sent to the floor. Oh, and Dave has magic boots from Hogan that were apparently the boots he wore to beat Andre at Mania III. Heenan doesn’t want to talk about that day and says it will never happen again. Tony: “I know it will never happen again.” Yeah, because Andre was dead at this point. Kevin takes it to the floor and throws Dave into the post. Kevin gets a boot up to block a charge in the corner. Tony wonders how you can do this to your brother. Kevin with a double stomp after shoving a Hogan bandana down Dave’s throat. He mocks Hogan by putting his hand to his ear and then hits another Double Stomp. Kevin up top, but Dave slams his down. Dave hits a big boot and then things get weird as Kevin holds up the Hogan bandana as a peace offering. Bobby and Tony aren’t falling for it, but Dave does and Kevin punches him in the face. They fight on the floor and Dave gets run into the post, but his momentum takes him into the ring and he ends up winning by count-out at 5:16.
Winner: Dave Sullivan via count-out at 5:16
-Not good, but it was short and the crowd was kind of into it. We’ve seen worse. 1/2*
-Recap of Dustin being a moron and asking Arn to be his partner and not seeing what was coming when Arn said he would be the Arn of old that would slap his grandma for 50 cents. I think Fifty likes Grandmas though! Sure enough, Arn turns on Dustin and joins The Stud Stable.
Arn Anderson (w/ Colonel Parker and Meng) vs. Dustin Rhodes
-Bell sounds and they aren’t immediately throwing punches at each other which is disappointing. Instead they lock-up and Arn gets to the corner to cause a break. We go again and Arn gets a side headlock. Dustin shoves off, but Arn gets a hip-toss which Dustin turns into a head scissors. Arn complains off a hair pull. We go again and Arn gets a hammerlock but Dustin gets a snap mare and Arn complains about a hair pull again. Dustin catches a boot and gets an atomic drop. That sends Arn into the corner and Dustin hits a clothesline as Arn bounces out. Dustin up top, but Arn trips him and goes up for a superplex. Dustin head-butts him down and comes off the top with a lariat for two. Arn knocks Dustin down and heads to the middle ropes, but Dustin gets a boot up. Arn blocks though and drops an elbow. They end up on the floor and Arn ends up punching the post as Dustin ducked out of the way. Hammerlock back in the ring from Dustin and he sends Arn shoulder first into the top rope. He hooks a short arm scissors as this grudge match is kind of boring. Well worked, but I want violence. Atomic Drop for Dustin, but he misses a lariat and takes a crazy bump over the ropes and clears the stairs into the aisle. Nice! Have I mentioned how much I hate that set-up with the stairs in the middle of the apron? Arn lands a punch to the gut and gets a two count and another one. Arn gets caught in a body scissors, but counters by putting Dustin under the bottom ropes and hitting a catapult. He runs Dustin’s face across the top rope and now we start going as they trade right hands. Both men down and they punch each other to a standing position. Dustin gets the advantage and hits a running boot to the side of the head. Now the lariat hits, but Arn is out at two. Right hand but he sets too early on a backdrop. Arn looks for the DDT, but Dustin grabs the ropes. Dustin drops an elbow for two and then hits a stung gun. He tries to break Arn’s arm, but Arn avoids and Dustin jams his knee. Piledriver is blocked but Arn gets a sunset flip with the ropes for two. Dustin counters back with his own roll-up for the pin at 9:51.
Winner: Dustin Rhodes via pin at 9:51
-I needed more GRUDGE in this Grudge Match. It started rolling in the last few minutes, but I wanted more. It was fine. **3/4
-Arn attacks after the match and plants Dustin with a DDT.
-Gene is backstage with Hulk Hogan, who has Jimmy Hart and Brutus with him. Gene question where Mr. T stands and Hogan says he trusts T to call it down the middle.
-Recap of Ricky Steamboat forfeiting The US Title to Steve Austin due to injury at Fall Barwl. “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan makes his debut and beats Austin in mere seconds to become US Champion.
WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan (c) vs. “Stunning” Steve Austin
-Austin attacks before the bell and Duggan’s flag falls on the mat. Austin stomps a mud hole in the corner and that will never get over. Duggan explodes out of the corner with a clothesline and another one. Slam, but Austin lands a boot to the chest. Duggan reverses a whip and gets a sleeper. Austin flips out of a slam and goes to work on Duggan’s knee with kicks. He stretches out the ham string and drops a series of knees. He looks for Hollywood and Vine, but Duggan kicks him into the corner and gets a roll-up. Austin goes to the eyes and goes right back to the leg. He goes to jump on the knee, but lands on his ass. Atomic Drop from Duggan and Austin bumps out to the floor and onto the steps. Again, I hate them there! Austin rolls back into the ring and offers a handshake. We know how that would end up for people years later. Duggan with another side headlock. Austin shoves off so Duggan runs him over with a shoulder tackle. Austin lands a kick to the stomach and comes off the middle ropes with a double axe handle. To the other corner and he hits another one. Austin tries one more time and the rule of three means it won’t work and sure enough Duggan catches him with a clothesline on the way down. Austin begs off in the corner and hides the ref so he can hit a mule kick to the balls. More mud hole stomping in the corner and Austin chokes with a boot. USA chant from the crowd to rally Duggan. Austin cuts him off with a choke on the ropes. Heenan: “Kick him right in his Happy Meal.” That made me laugh! Austin off the middle ropes with a forearm for two. He heads up top, but misses a splash. Seeing Austin come off the top is weird. Duggan sends Austin into the buckle and Austin starts bumping like Shawn Michaels. Backdrop sends Austin flying. Running clothesline leads to The Three Point Stance, but Austin backdrops him over the top for the DQ at 8:08.
Winner and Still US Champion: Jim Duggan via DQ at 8:08
-Crap ending as we have seen countless times where a backdrop over the top didn’t lead to a DQ. Austin was kind of screwed here. Match was okay and the hot crowd helped. **
-Gene plugs The Hotline and brings out Sting, who is sporting some razor shades and a tuxedo. No face paint and he notes he is here to see how is going to lead wrestling into the 90s. Funny enough it was the guy who just walked by him after losing the previous match.
-Recap of the long running Boss/Guardian Angel vs. Vader feud.
The Guardian Angel vs. Big Van Vader (w/ Harley Race)
-Vader acknowledges Ali and calls him the man. Cool! Harley gets attacked by The Angel before the match. We all know by this point that Race couldn’t help himself and likely demanded to take a beating before the match. Call it a HOSS FIGHT, MEAN GUY MATCH, or BIG MEATY MEN, SLAPPING MEAT! All applies here! Angel slaps Vader in the face and then gives him another one. Heenan: “Why would anyone do that?” Vader with a palm strike to the nose and then boxes Angel in the corner. He beats him down and the crowd pops. Short arm clothesline, but Vader holds Angel up so he can hit him with three more and the last one sends him over the top and to the floor. Cool! They fight on the floor and Angel reverses a whip and sends Vader into the railing. Harley Race gets punched again and slammed back in the ring. Harley is probably so happy! Well, not for long as Angel lifts Vader up and slams him on Race. Oh man, that looked brutal as he barely got Vader up and just dropped him on Race. Series of head-butts from Angel and he follows with a splash in the corner. Vader returns fire with jabs to the side of the head. Suplex is blocked and Angel gets one of his own. He hits a running bit boot, but it only wobbles Vader. He comes out of the corner with a right jab and then a forearm. Awesome! Vader off the middle ropes, but Angel catches him with a powerslam. Double awesome! Angel gets two off a diving head-butt from the middle ropes. Palm strike from Angel and he clotheslines Vader to the floor. Rough spot as Vader hits a clothesline that Angel wasn’t ready for, so it looked weird and Vader may have hurt his arm. Slam from Vader followed by a Vader Bomb for two. Angel gets the knees up to block a second one. He hits a splash for a two count. Spinebuster gets two! Boss Man Slam, but Race is up on the apron. Angel gives chase and Harley takes a suplex but that leaves Angel wide open for a splash and that gets Vader the pin at 8:17.
Winner: Big Van Vader via pin at 8:17
-Just a hard hitting war with two big dudes trading bombs. It wasn’t pretty, but that made it better. The stuff with Race may have been a little much, but kind of the story of the match as Angel was obsessed with Race from the start and it cost him in the end. ***1/2
-Gene brings out legendary boxer, Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns. I bet he is rooting for Hogan like every other Hitman out there.
Terry Funk and Bunkhouse Buck (w/ Colonel Parker and Meng) vs. The Nasty Boys
-The Nasty Boys turned face when they helped Dusty and Dustin at Fall Brawl in War Games and this match is an off shoot from that. Sags brings a pumpkin down with him and we know that’s going to get used and most likely on or by Terry Funk. All four start brawling and again, every Nasty Boys match at this point should be a street fight or tornado tag. Sadly, this one settles back into a regular tag match after some stalling by Funk and Buck. The Nasty boys are sporting their home alternate jersey as it’s orange and black for Halloween. As we wait for this to get going, Bobby Heenan does his impression of Beavis and Butthead and I don’t know what to do with that. Nearly three minutes into the match Funk and Sags get things going and Sags rubs his ass on Terry’s face. Then we get a pit stop as Funk is going all out. He calls Knobbs a son of a bitch and it makes me laugh. Funk and Buck do some CLUBBERING on Sags in the corner. Everyone back in the ring and Buck ends up in the corner and The Nasty Boys send Funk into him. Funk, crazy as ever, uses a chair to crack himself in the head and he does it about five times. He then tries to go into the crowd to fight someone. Funk is trying to steal the show here in a match that has very little happening otherwise. Funk gets knocked over the ropes in another funny bump and we go back to all four men brawling on the floor again. This is a bad match, but it’s entertaining. Funk with chops on Sags followed by a head-butt. Sags plants Buck and Funk face first on the mat to block a double backdrop. Knobbs gets the tag and everyone in the ring again. Clothesline to Funk! Buck trips Knobbs from the floor and loads his glove, but the ref stops it. Meng goes to help and accidentally decks Funk. The pumpkin gets brought into the ring and Sags piledrives Fink on the pumpkin to a big pop. That gets the pin at 7:56.
Winners: The Nasty Boys via pin at 7:56
-As a match this wasn’t good, but Terry Funk did all the work and made it at least entertaining. We will go with one star for the match and one star for Funk being a mad man. **
-Gene hosts a presentation in the ring as Bill Shaw and Eric Bischoff present Muhammad Ali with a check for his foundation and a plaque recognizing all his achievements. Cool moment! Ali gets a big reaction because, well, DUH.
Cage Match: Career vs. Career: WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Hulk Hogan (c) (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. Ric Flair (w/ Sherri)
-Mr. T is also the special ref for this one. Heenan is doing a heck of a job selling the high stakes of the match and how important this one is. Hogan poses with his superfan that we all know. The cage lowers from the ceiling and always wondered why it took the WWF years before they started doing that. They were still wasting time building the cage as late as 1999. Heenan is now telling is to stay focused and not leave the room after telling us to go to bed earlier. Hogan goes right after Flair and rakes the eyes. He throws right hands and tries to send Flair into the cage, but he blocks it. Hogan reverses a whip to the corner and gets Flair coming out with a backdrop. Hogan pounds away in the corner and even climbs the cage to stomp Flair in the head. Hogan even yells at Mr. T, which lets Flair get in a thumb to the eye. Chop! Hogan blocks being sent into the cage and sends Flair head first into the steel. Another toss into the cage and Flair flops down face first. Flair lands a punch to the gut and goes after the knee with a chop block. We get a cool visual of Sting watching and we can see the cage and match in his shades. Loud Hogan chant! Flair continues working over the knee and sends Hogan into the cage and there’s the Flair fans as they pop. Flair drops a knee to the head and lands a forearm to the ribs. Tony talks about the Horsemen hand sign and Heenan gets in a great line about holding up one finger when Hogan made his entrance. Hogan back and he runs Flair head first into the cage like a battering ram. He uses his shirt to choke and Flair climbs the ropes as Hogan argues with T again. Flair off the top with a double axe handle! Back to the knee followed by a delayed vertical suplex. Hogan doesn’t pop up first for a change and Flair gets a two count. Sherri bumps into a cameraman and stays in the zone as she yells for him to stay out of her way. She’s a pro! Flair with a chop and Hogan responds with his own. Flair goes to escape but Hogan meets him up there and runs him into the bar on top of the cage. He chokes Flair up there as well and Flair falls balls first onto the top rope. Hogan bites Flair on the head, but runs into a boot in the opposite corner. Flair goes for the figure four, but Hogan gets a small package for two. Chop and Hogan just stares him down. Another and Hogan gets the head shaking. He bends Flair’s fingers back and sends him into the corner just to hit another backdrop. Flair is fired into the cage and then Hogan does some cheese grater action. Belly-to-back suplex gets two. Flair tries to escape again and Hogan runs him head first into the cage, while Flair is upside down. Hogan with some heavy chops as they battle on the ropes and Flair falls on his balls again. The crowd goes crazy as Hogan plays to them. Side headlock, but Flair is close enough to grab the leg and hits a knee breaker. No we go to school as Flair drops a knee on the bad wheel. Another one and Hogan is hobbling around the ring. Flair removes the knee pad and bandage which brings T over and he does the Tommy Young spot with him as T shoves Flair on his ass. Heenan goes on a rant about hating Hogan and never wanting to see him again. Figure-Four and there’s the Flair fans again! Heenan yells for the bell to ring, but this isn’t Montreal. Hogan fires up and the crowd is losing it now. Hogan turns the hold and Flair quickly releases and goes back to the knee. Heenan: “the last thing you want to do is be beat with your own hold.” Again, this isn’t Montreal! Mr. T gets bumped so Flair hits a belly-to-back and Flair pulls T over to count. Hogan kicks out and Flair lands on T. He kicks him just because. Sherri climbs the cage and Jimmy tries to pull her down and takes off her dress. Sherri shoves Jimmy into a cameraman. Sting pulls Sherri off the cage (be careful jumping down Sting) and the mask man pops up from under the ring and blasts Sting with the pipe and hits Jimmy as well. Sherri climbs the cage and comes off the top with a double axe. Hogan turns his attention to her and Flair goes after the knee again. Sherri and Flair hand cuff T to the ropes. The Masked Man holds a pipe against the cage so Sherri and Flair can run Hogan into it. Heenan is calling the match over! Flair with a suplex, and now Hogan no sells. He hits a double clothesline on Sherri and Flair. Slam to Flair and one for Sherri as well. Flair with a chop, but Hogan with a clothesline. Sherri has taken more bumps than anyone in the previous tag match outside Terry Funk. She heads up and Hogan slams her down. This is just craziness as they are throwing everything at this one. Hogan and Flair battle on top and Flair gets knocked down. Big Boot to Sherri! Chop from Flair and it’s Hulk Up Time! Three punches from Hogan followed by a big boot. He drops the leg by T and the pin is made at 19:26 to a huge pop. Heenan is basically in tears after he just begged God not to let it end this way.
Winner and Still WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Hulk Hogan via pin at 19:26
-Just awesome! The crowd was red hot for all of it and credit to Heenan for throwing all the emotion he had into this one. Sherri was amazing as she worked harder and took more bumps than half the wrestlers on the card. Flair and Hogan just delivered a series of good matches and this was the best of the bunch. Both men bleeding would have sold things as well, but we would get lots of them bleeding many years down the line. ****1/2
-Hogan poses after the match and The Masked Man returns. Hogan catches him in the act this time and fires away with right hands. He lands a Popeye Punch and tears off the mask to reveal: Brutus Beefcake! Heenan: “The man has butchered a friendship.” Kevin Sullivan is out and so is the debuting John Tenta (Earthquake) and they beat the stuffing out of Hogan. Bringing in Tenta made sense as he and Hogan drew a ton of money together. My first WWF show was headlined by Hogan vs. Earthquake! Heenan keeps going on about Brutus being a butcher just to make sure we get the point. Earthquake splash to Hogan! Sting is back and decks Sullivan and comes off the top onto Tenta and Brutus. Well, you can’t say they didn’t throw everything they had at the Cage Match and this post match.
-The reports at the time were Mr. Perfect was supposed to be the masked man, but apparently they couldn’t agree on money. Having a friend turn on Hogan always works, but they had to rush Brutus into this spot and it just didn’t work as well as they wanted. At least they didn’t make us wait until the eventual match to find out who was under the mask.
-Tony, Heenan, and Gene wrap things up and Heenan is in tears in a wonderful touch. I love The Brain! -Thanks for reading!
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