Random Network Reviews: WCW Halloween Havoc 1997

WCW Halloween Havoc 1997
October 26th, 1997 | MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada | Attendance: 12,457

For one specific reason, this is one of the more memorable WCW Pay-Per-Views ever. It has a match that has been called the best in company history. More on that later though. This also features a bit of a double main event, with a Steel Cage and Last Man Standing match featuring some of the bigger names at the time. This was the ninth of twelve Halloween Havoc events.

After a typical WCW opening video package, the pyro shoots off set to the “Marvelous” Marc Mero theme. The commentary trio of Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Dusty Rhodes introduce the show. Mike Tenay joins the booth for the first three matches.

Yuji Nagata w/ Sonny Oono def. Ultimo Dragon in 9:54
Oono used to have Dragon as his client but they had a falling out. Nagata is his latest “gun for hire”. They go right into the action, with Dragon using his speed and Nagata having to combat that with power. Tenay noted Nagata’s knowledge of submissions and he tries to wear down Dragon, throwing in some vicious kicks in between. Raven’s Flock shows up in the audience. Though a plancha led to him getting kicked, Dragon successfully nails an Asai moonsault. Dragon comes close a few times on a powerbomb and moonsault. In an awesome move, Nagata blocks a super rana by dropping Dragon’s arm onto the steel part of the turnbuckle. Tenay excellently adds to this by saying Dragon has some bone chips in his elbow. They trade signature submissions but Dragon’s arm is unable to hold the dragon sleeper. Dragon hits the super rana only for Nagata to easily escape the dragon sleeper. He applies the armbar and Dragon must tap. Strong opener. Got the right amount of time and I loved the story of Dragon’s arm injury coming into play. He did a good job selling it too. ***½

At the WCWwrestling.com table, Disco Inferno gets interviewed until his opponent for tonight, Jacqueline, shows up. She says she should be interviewed and jumps the table to attack.

Chris Jericho def. Gedo in 7:18
This is an unadvertised match. These two had a feud in WAR in 1995. Gedo, for those unaware, went on to become the booker of NJPW. Their knowledge of one another allows Jericho to frustrate Gedo early. Jericho skins the cat before getting clotheslined outside. Tenay describes Gedo as a 70’s Southern style brawler. Gedo takes control for a bit until Jericho hits a double powerbomb for two. They botch the Jericho spike (super rana) and both guys look dizzy. Gedo targets the knee but Jericho avoids a missile dropkick. He slaps on the Liontamer and Gedo submits. Some good stuff here. It was a more physical match than a lot of what we get from the cruiserweights at the time. The finish wasn’t great and I think that had to do with the missed spike spot. **¾

Mean Gene interviews Debra to try and find out who her mystery opponent for Mongo is. She refuses to reveal it and Mongo interrupts. He demands his diamond ring and credit cards back but she claims to have earned them by putting up with him and his family. Gene thinks this should be settled in court, not in the ring.

WCW Cruiserweight Championship Mask vs. Title Match: Rey Mysterio Jr. def. Eddie Guerrero (c) in 13:51
I love Eddie’s LWO theme. Not wanting to lost his mask, Rey gets off to a hot start until Eddie yanks him from the apron to the floor. Aggressive Eddie continues for the new short while. Again, Rey uses quickness but gets stopped when Eddie counters with power. Eddie rips at Rey’s mask while wearing him down. All of Eddie’s offense looks great. Rey blows everyone’s mind with a sick springboard moonsault DDT. Wow. Again though, Eddie is a step ahead and dropkicks him off the apron. The focus is on Rey’s back while taking time to go after the mask. Eddie’s backbreakers look vicious and makes simple things like the Gory special or a bow and arrow stretch better. Eddie misses a baseball slide and hits the ring post. The door is open for Rey who goes into aerial offense, including a great diving rana outside. A corkscrew moonsault inside gets two but Eddie comes back with a BRUTAL powerbomb. The champion is frustrated. Rey’s springboard rana attempt is countered into another backbreaker. Eddie looks to win with a super splash mountain but Rey counters into an awesome rana for the win. One of the best WCW matches ever and one of the best matches of the decade period. Eddie executed his game plan perfectly but Rey was a great resilient babyface foil. They do slip a bit on some moves but everything works and moves at a crazy pace. ****¾

Gene is out to shill the WCW Hotline. [phone]! Backstage, Hogan and Bischoff cut a promo in black and white. They cut too early because we see them awkwardly standing around before getting into character. They make note of Hogan having an unsafe working environment and say Hogan won’t compete tonight unless WCW can sign a contract that guarantees Sting won’t be in the building. In typical Hogan fashion, it lasts too long.

Alex Wright w/ Debra def. Steve McMichael in 6:32
Seriously? I love DAS WUNDERKIND but he isn’t the kind of guy that was expected after Debra’s hype. Tony literally just says, “Oh, it’s Alex Wright.” It gets no reaction but at least he does his dance. Schiavone tries to say that the Steel Cage in the main event should keep Sting out. Does he fail to realize Sting comes from the ceiling most of the time? Nothing happens in this match. It’s Wright trying to wrestle Mongo but getting overpowered. Mongo hits a tombstone and Goldberg runs in. He hops the ropes and Mongo CLEARLY sees him, but acts like he didn’t so Goldberg can sneak behind him. Spear, Jackhammer, spit, repeat. Wright crawls on Mongo and the referee counts three. Goldberg takes the Super Bowl ring. Was that all he wanted? Match was trash but WCW had the balls to rematch it at the next PPV. DUD

Goldberg also stops to beat up Alex Wright, complete with Jackhammer. I forgot to mention, but Mongo’s sell of the spear was atrocious.

Similar to the Hogan/Bischoff promo, we get one from Macho Man and Liz. Savage cuts down DDP and shills Slim Jim with SNAP INTO IT on the back of his jacket.

Non-Title Match: Jacqueline def. WCW Television Champion Disco Inferno in 9:41
WCW officials and the Las Vegas Athletic Commission decided a man and woman can’t compete for a title so this is non-title. Disco spends the first few minutes avoiding Jackie. Rope breaks, stalling and literal chasing around the ring. Dusty says, “It’s hard for me to watch this thing.” No kidding. At least the crowd is rabid whenever she gets her hands on him. This match is surprisingly over. Disco teases walking out but Jackie drags him back. Disco complains to the ref after a near fall, so she rolls him up for two. I won’t give it negative stars or the DUD rating because the crowd was hot and Jackie brought a lot of effort. This wasn’t good though. ¼*

WCW United States Championship: Curt Hennig (c) def. Ric Flair via disqualification in 13:58
This is a month after Hennig turned on the Horsemen and slammed Flair’s head in the War Games cage door. To add insult to injury, Hennig shows up in a Flair robe. Flair charges to the ring with no robe and goes right at Hennig. I LOVE IT! Flair beats him all around the ring and takes back his robe. Hennig connects with a clothesline and takes over, focusing on Flair’s leg. Unfortunately, Hennig’s heat segment is rather dull and the match only picks back up when Flair fires back. Hennig tries to smash Flair’s head between a chair and the ring post, but Flair avoids it. Nice callback to War Games. Flair goes on the offensive outside. Hennig goes to walk out with his title, but for some reason, it’s the Cruiserweight Title. What happened to the US Title? Flair brings him back inside and sets him up in the tree of Joey Lawrence. He wraps the title around Hennig’s face and stomps it, resulting in the DQ. A solid match with the right amount of animosity. Hennig on offense was surprisingly lame but Flair brought it and Hennig did bump very well. This clearly set up a rematch, which was a fine route to go. **¾

Mean Gene brings out JJ Dillon to discuss Hogan’s demands. Dillon says Hogan will compete tonight and Bischoff comes out to argue. Dillon shows a contract signed by Sting saying that he will not be there tonight. Bischoff tries to weasel out of it, but fails. He says that if Sting shows up, the nWo wants Nitro.

Lex Luger def. Scott Hall w/ Syxx in 14:35
Larry Zbyszko is the special referee for this. He has the “Marvelous” Marc Mero theme. Hall throws the toothpick at Larry to start. Hall and Luger work a slow start with Hall realizing he’s overpowered and going to cheap shots. Hall tries wearing Luger down with rest holds and a sleeper. Syxx shouts at Larry constantly at ringside. Luger breaks free but keeps taking a beating. Hall and Larry get in a shoving match that sees Larry backdrop him over the top. Shouldn’t that be a DQ by WCW standards? Eric Bischoff comes out but gets knocked off the apron by Larry. Luger goes into his offense but a Bischoff distraction allows Syxx to kick him. Hall hits the Outsider’s Edge and Larry reluctantly makes the slow three count. However, Larry asks for the replay and they continue the match. Hall argues so Larry shoves him into the Torture Rack. Hall submits. Normally I’d complain about the extra stuff going on but that actually saved a painfully boring affair. Neither guy was bringing it at this point. *½

Syxx attacks but Larry chokes him out with a guillotine. Hall attacks and allows Bischoff to place his foot on Larry and pin him.

Las Vegas Death Match: Randy Savage w/ Elizabeth def. Diamond Dallas Page in 18:09
No rules in this except you can beat your opponent until they can’t answer a ten count. So a Last Man Standing match. DDP has taped ribs because he nearly always did. They play into the bitter rivalry stuff with some brawling in and out of the ring. DDP busts out a plancha, which is a bad idea considering his ribs. The fight moves into the crowd by Raven’s Flock. By the entrance, Page hits Savage with a piece of the set and Dusty loses his mind. “HE WOBBLE-LEGGED HIM! DID HE WOBBLE-LEG HIM? HUH? I LIKE DIS! HE WOBBLE-LEGGED HIM! HE PICKED UP THE WAITRESS TRAY AND BUSTED HIM WITH IT! OH MAN!” By the ring, DDP gets thrown into the guardrail and steps but gets up before ten. Savage tries to use a camera but DDP blocks it with his feet. Liz gets involved, choking DDP with a cable. Kimberly runs out and pulls Liz to the back. Dusty goes Joey Styles with a loud “CATFIGHT!” call. DDP rallies until Savage holds the rope to block the Diamond Cutter. Savage hits the elbow on DDP’s ribs, but he gets up just before ten. We get out second ref bump right before the Diamond Cutter. Nick Patrick is up quickly so I didn’t see the point of the bump. Savage counters a Diamond Cutter with a low blow before a fake Sting arrives and hits DDP with a bat. That keeps DDP down for the screwy finish. Mostly a fun match outside of the lame finish. The fake Sting stuff was beyond played out here and nobody bought it anymore. These two usually had good matches though, which is what we had here. ***¼

DDP does a stretcher job and Savage attacks him during it. They note that the fake Sting was wearing Hogan’s boots.

Non-Title Steel Cage Match: Roddy Piper def. “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan in 13:37
Piper has possession of Hogan’s title. This is one strange looking cage. It’s big enough for them to walk around the ring like Hell in a Cell, but has no roof. Hogan wants to run immediately, but Piper catches him and whips him. They brawl in and out of the ring. Hogan goes to walk but gets stopped by Sting pointing a bat at him. It doesn’t look like the real Sting to be honest. Piper takes Hogan back inside and they scale the cage. A second Sting shows up because why not? Hogan whips Piper with his weight belt for a bit. Hogan climbs over but “Sting” is under him to stop it. Piper and Hogan fight atop the cage as, you guessed it, a third Sting comes out. FOUR AND FIVE come in through the crowd. Goodness. They plod through offense inside while Savage runs in past the Stings. He leaps off the high ass cage with a hideous and dangerous axe handle that barely hits Hogan by mistake. Piper applies the sleeper and Hogan passes out. A ridiculous cage match. They just did a lot of climbing and hanging out, while we were treated to Sting after Sting arriving with no real payoff. -*¼

Piper fights off Savage as Eric Bischoff and a Sting enter the cage. Hogan removes a Sting’s mask and it’s a black guy. A loud “We want Sting” chant breaks out when the nWo handcuffs Piper to the cage. Hogan puts a Sting mask on and whips Piper. A “fan” in a Sting mask climbs the cage to help but gets stopped by the fake Sting. The camera watched him the entire time, so he’s totally a plant. Commentary acts like this is real but nobody with a brain should buy into this. Security finally breaks things up. Yes, even on the nights where the face wins the main event, the nWo closed out on top.

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

One of the better WCW Pay-Per-Views I can recall from this era. It still suffered from the same issues (fun undercard with a bad main event) but had more positives. For one, you can’t miss Guerrero/Mysterio. It is required viewing. Nagata/Dragon and DDP/Savage were both strong matches. Gedo/Jericho is alright too. There are a few stinkers (Mongo/Wright, Disco/Jackie and Hogan/Piper) but the good manages to outweigh the bad on this particular night.