Welcome back wrestling fans!
I knew I wanted to do something special for Halloween this month but had to move plans up by a week, given that next week will be another edition of Wrestling Roulette! So this week we'll be doing a special Halloween feature for the blog, I'll be formatting it very similar to how I'd do Wrestling Roulette where I review a whole bunch of matches instead of 2 like I usually do. I've already decided what we'll be watching for the week so there's no need to spin the wheel (and make the deal!) and I'll be reviewing them in order.
What is "them," you may be asking? It's a match from every single WCW Halloween Havoc event, of course! I went through CAGEMATCH and looked at every event, all the way from 1989 to 2000, and picked out one match that stood out to me. Some are historically significant in how well they are received now, some for the opposite reason, and some are on there because there was nothing else of note on the card! I tried to not pick the same wrestlers more than once and was kinda able to stick to that rule, but there will be some repeats on here just because the matches they had are worth viewing. For better or for worse.
Seriously, this might be the biggest mixed bag of match quality I've seen so far. I got whiplash from some of these matches it was so severe at times. A real case of "trick or treat" you could say? I'll show myself out.
While working on this review, I came to realize that reviewing 12 matches, even if I only give them a few paragraphs, is a lot to do for one week. So, with that in mind, this weeks post is going to feature matches from the first 6 Halloween Havoc's. Next week's will be Wrestling Roulette, as scheduled, and the week after will be part 2, featuring the remaining 6 Halloween Havoc matches. We'll return to our regularly scheduled bullshit for Watchlist 022.
Weekly Roundup
Here's how this week of wrestling looked for me;
DPW Carolina Classic 2023
The latest in the lineup of DPW's shows was wonderful, top to bottom. I've heard the DEADLOCK boys talk about how this show really feels like the turning point for the promotion and I get it now. This really feels like the launching point for DPW, an indie that's been doing really well up to this show but is on the cusp of taking off and turning into something really, really special. I mean, just look at the upcoming shows and cards and tell me this show wasn't where it all started. They've finally found their groove and are ready to start going now. Super excited for the next year of DPW as I get closer and closer to catching up. Super Battle, here I come!
Gustav Fristensky vs. Josef Smejkal - The oldest piece of wrestling footage available.
This was a super impulsive search this week. I sat down to work on this weeks review early having watched everything over the weekend and wanted to get it all wrapped up and out of the way when, all of a sudden, I'm down the black and white wrestling rabbit hole. If the internet is to be believed, this match is the oldest piece of wrestling footage available. There are older matches recorded, but this is allegedly as far back as any tape library goes.
I'm not too certain how ling this match actually went on for, the YouTube clip is only 8 minutes and about 6 of it are actual wrestling, but it's noticeably cut down from whatever its original broadcast length was. I can only assume it was a 45 minute or even hour long match, as most of them tended to go way back when, less high spots and near falls. There were also no ropes! Just a flat ring without any posts or anything, just straight grappling. The name of the game was "pin his shoulders in whatever way possible," and I like those kinds if matches a lot. There's a reason I love Timothy Thatcher, y'know.
I wish there was more footage of this match available, maybe even some audio as well but I know that's going to be almost impossible to find ever. But that doesn't mean I won't keep looking!
NWA Halloween Havoc 1989 - Sting & Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk & The Great Muta - Thunderdome Steel Cage Match
 |
| Keep in mind, this match happened in '89. This cage looks insane. WCW |
The first stop in this journey takes me all the way back to 1989, the very first Halloween Havoc event. During these years, WCW and NWA were still working together as WCW's official withdrawal from the NWA didn't happen until 1993. So, if we want to get technical, Halloween Havoc 1989 was produced by World Championship Wrestling but was under the National Wrestling Alliance banner. We clear? Good, lets move on.
The Thunderdome cage match is, in typical WCW fashion, overbooked and convoluted as hell (but years before Russo or any of those other insane bookers got the pencil). See, this is almost a traditional tag team match, where tags are still required and there's only one legs man. Where this one diverges, however, is pinfalls or submissions do not count. The only way to win is for the opposing teams "designated terminators," as they are known, to throw in the towel. Each team has their charge in the ring with them so they can throw the towel in at a moments notice at the special referee for this match, Bruno Sammartino! The 10 year champion and living legend makes an appearance for this show to make sure this fight is called down the middle.
The teams consist of Sting and Flair, with Four Horsemen stable mate Ole Anderson acting as terminator for the night. On the other side, Terry Funk and The Great Muta, sometime referred to as "The J-Tex Corporation" are joined by Muta's wingman, Gary Hart. It wasn't until the match started that I realized both men were staying inside the cage for this match., which kinda caught me off guard but if they're meant to be the deciding factor in the finish of the match, I guess they should stay close to the action.
And the action starts out early! When the cage is lowered, pyro goes off from the corners and a portion of the bat decor piece on the outside of the cage catches fire! Guys start climbing the cage in a panic to put the fire out and are mildly successful, but it's not until Muta climbs the cage and uses his green mist that the fire is put out. What a fucking stud.
Which reminds me, Terry fucking Funk man, nobody can ever say enough about this man. He had me fucking dying this entire match. Climbing the cage for no good reason, nearly falling on his ass, getting caught up in the bars, Terry is the fucking best. He does his "head first crawl" sell from a Flair knee drop outside the ring and then back in which I watched about 4 times because I couldn't get enough of it. Funk was the highlight of this match.
Which reminds me again! They said this was an "electrified steel cage" and they keps moving the goalpost about what part was electrified. First it was the whole cage, but when Terry started climbing it fine, Jim Ross decided it must be the top! Not long after that, Funk is hanging upside down from the inwards sloped roof while Sting is doing fucking Tarzan swings off the cage and neither of them are feeling even a tickle! So fuck it! Shits not electrified I guess!
The finish comes about when Flair has Funk in the figure four and Muta is down on the outside after Bruno rocked him with a punch after trying to interfere. For some reason Muta can't interfere, but Sting climbs to the top and hits 2 top rope splashes on Funk who's totally helpless in the leg lock and Bruno just stands there, totally cool with it. Hart starts to climb in to break it up but Ole is right behind him, clocking him with a right as Hart falls back through the ropes and the towel goes flying! It perfectly lands on the back of Bruno as Ole points it out, towel still in hand.
 |
| Stinger flies! WCW |
This match was so much fun. Nothing revolutionary but all four men put in a solid effort and I really liked this. Funk was cracking me up, Sting and Flair were a fantastic team, and Muta moves and acts like a real threat in the ring. Need to add more Muta to my watchlist. I'm happy we can start this off with a bang, because I know things aren't going to be this good for long.
NWA Halloween Havoc 1990 - The Steiner Brothers vs. The Nasty Boys
 |
| I couldn't get a show of everyone in the ring together, so this will have to do. WCW |
I remember watching this match a couple months back after listening to TLF talk about Havoc '90. I'll never pass up the opportunity to watch a good Steiner's match and I never thought I'd watch a Nasty Boys match I'd enjoy! When I was looking for what to watch for this show, it was this or the tag match of Doom and The Four Horsemen, but having watch a Flair match just before, I didn't want to repeat this early, knowing that would be inevitable as the years went on.
First off, this whole show is bleeding Halloween. The ring is orange, the ropes are orange and black, people are in costume, the set is themed, this entire show is Halloween. Such a cozy, great look. We don't get to look at the set design for very long however, as the Steiners and Nasty Boys start swinging before the bell even rings. The Steiners leave the belts on the stage and rush the ring and the fight quickly end up outside the ring.
Both teams are hitting each other with big, brutish power moves. Middle rope belly to bellies, a Tiger Bomb from Scotty, both teams are laying into each other and it makes every second of this match so fun and intense. For a good while, neither team has a chance to breathe, even when on the apron. The legal man (Scott for the middle of this match) gets their ass beaten in the ring, while their partner usually ends up brawling ringside pretty quickly.
Scott gets worked over and isolated in the ring for a good long time, with Rick desperate to get tagged in and help his brother out. At one point Rick surely could have done what Saggs did when he tagged in. The referee was distracted with Rick on the other side of the ring as Knobbs pulled Scott to their corner, letting Saggs tag in without the ref seeing. By the time the referee noticed the change, Saggs already had Scott in a hold. He confronts Saggs and then, very noticeably, looks to someone ringside to confirm he made the tag, and then just lets it slide! What are we doing here guys?! Someone fire this ref!
Anywhoo, when Rick does finally tag in, he's fighting off both Nasty Boys at once. It differs from your usual hot tag spot where he starts taking it to one or both guys who bump off everything he does until its just the two legal guys in the ring. No, the Nasty Boys stay in and keep coming back from each hit. A double clothesline only stuns them! These two teams are in top form and aren't ready to give the other guys an inch without them taking it.
The finish finally comes when Knobbs is all alone in the ring as Saggs gets pulled out by Scott, turning around into a lethal Steiner Line by Rick! Scott tags in and rips Knobbs back down to the canvas with a Frankensteiner for the three count. The celebration is short lived as Saggs gets back in and joins his brother in giving one final beating to the champions. Eventually, they take off down the ramp and leave the champions to lick their wounds.
 |
| Frankensteiner! Happy Halloween! WCW |
This match was so much fun. High energy, great action, two teams beating the tar out of each other and making the other guys really work for it. Im surprised to admit that I'll probably be checking out some more work from the Nasty Boys if they can keep having matches like this one. I'm sure its a "sum of their parts" situation given the fact they they're wrestling the fucking Steiners but I'm willing to give them a shot. I'll let you know later if I regret it!
WCW Halloween Havoc 1991 - Abdullah The Butcher, Big Van Vader, Cactus Jack & The Diamond Studd vs. El Gigante, Sting & The Steiner Brothers - Chamber Of Horrors Match
 |
| The horrors persist, but so does WCW! One in the same here. WCW |
Y'know, I knew doing a marathon of WCW matches would be really hit or miss, especially as the years went on, but somehow it totally slipped my mind that this match existed. God this was awful. I'm not even gonna bury the lead and try to be clever about this match. I haven't laughed at a match this bad in a long time, maybe not since Talk 'n Shop a Mania, but that was a "so bad its perfect" show and I'll stand by that until the day I die, that's my hill to die on. This crock of shit is irredeemable in every way. Its atrocious, its horrendous, its a blight on this great sport. And its not the only bad match on offer for the week!
There's clusterfucks, and then there's this match. The Chamber of Horrors takes the cage for the most cluttered, nonsensical, insane matches ever conceived. How many tabs of acid and bumps of the white stuff did the creative team take to decide it was a good idea to repurpose the Thunderdome cage (I don't have a problem with that part, honestly), put 8 big fuckin dudes inside it, put caskets inside it too, and then drop a caged electric chair smack in the middle of the ring?! Congratulations! You made a match that's already difficult to manoeuvre in, now completely impossible! I'm in awe of your incompetence.
My lovely fiance was in the kitchen whipping up a chicken soup to help nurse us back from "the illness" and asked "so where does this match rank as far as good or bad matches?"
I laughed.
Looking back at my notes for this match and I've wrote up half a page worth of stuff before the bell rings and the "action" starts. Let me lace you with some of them;
-Abdullah the Butcher in a suit (referring to the video before the match) is just not right.
-Chair of torture - renders a teammate "helpless."
You good, Abby? WCW -No music for the entrants. Just the same generic music for everyone.
-Cactus comes to the ring with an actual fucking chainsaw.
-Abby is just standing at the top of the ramp during his entrance. What is he doing up there.
- Sting comes to the ring and is the first guy to get his actual music. "Seek and Destroy" ripoff.
When shit finally gets underway, it's off the rails already. Rick Steiner tries to use Cactus Jack's chainsaw and either can't get it to work or has never used a chainsaw before so he abandons that idea quickly. Eventually the Steiners and Sting join the rest of their team in the ring and the fight it on! I'm trying really hard to be excited for anything.
They hype up the "Refer-eye" camera for this match, which might be the worst match possible to debut a first person perspective of a match, and its literally just a hockey helmet with a camera strapped to it. Cool they can do this so seamlessly in 1991, but it just looks so damn stupid. Cracked me up every time I saw it.
Remember those caskets I mentioned earlier, well apparently they aren't empty! At some point, a casket is opened and some guy in a mask is in there! He never gets unmasked, never revealed who it is, its just another body in this clusterfuck! Why?!
Not long after this and the second cage containing the "chair of torture" is lowered down, nearly crushing Cactus, and its sitting perfectly centre. Leaving maybe 3 or 4 feet of clearance on all sides for people to move. I have no idea how this was greenlit. I need names.
Keeping with the theme of "insane shit happening for no reason," a dozen dudes in white clothes (they look like orderlies from an asylum)with white face paint or powder, I have no idea which, come down the ramp with a big ass gurney and just kneel there... waiting. ???
Here's some more excerpts from my notes, for your reading pleasure;
-He's now handcuffed (referring to the mysterious masked man). Rick is beating the shit out of him.
-Why is there a referee in this match? Kayfabe - Someone is going to be electrocuted.
-Abdullah is having a nap on Sting against the cage.
-Steroid backs on full display.
The end mercifully comes when Cactus is positioned in the corner beside the big lever box, waiting for a member of the opposing team to be locked in the chair. Abdullah has Rick almost seated and locked in, but Rick "belly to belly" suplex's Abdullah into the chair. I give it quotes because they call it a belly to belly, but Rick just does a standing switch and Abby falls into the chair. Just tell him its a seat at a buffet and Abby will be in that chair in seconds. Cactus flips the switch and gives Abby a lethal shock to end the match, but the fun isn't over!
 |
| This is the perfect image to describe this match. WCW |
To the surprise of nobody, the levels of incompetence on display tonight are through the roof. Nobody took the 2 seconds of time to think what might happen when you set off fireworks and pyro on top of a canvas ring. Because that shit catches on fire in seconds! It's bad! Thankfully they stomp it out in time (has WCW never heard of a fire extinguisher for the love of god what is going on) and everyone is fine. That includes Abdullah! He just gets up out the chair and walks up the ramp! Sure he started attacking Cactus and all the orderlies on the ramp but that's not important. Why is Abby walking?! How is he alive?!
WHAT IS HAPPENING.
Watch this match with your buddies and have a good laugh. Its utter garbage and complete nonsense. Put that on WCW's gravestone.
WCW Halloween Havoc 1992 - Ricky Steamboat vs. Flyin' Brian
 |
| Let the graps begin. WCW |
A merciful reprieve from the last match comes to us in the form of Ricky Steamboat and Brian Pillman putting on a nice little exhibition at Havoc '92. This show had very little of note happening on it, I could have watched the Coal Miners Glove main event between Jake Roberts and Sting but I'll be honest, didn't really feel like it! Sure, not reviewing the main event or biggest match on the card might seem underwhelming to some, but where's the fun in reviewing only the matches that get top billing. Everyone knows those matches! Lets talk bout the lesser known ones!
I've always had a real soft spot for Pillman. I loved him during his Hart Foundation run in '97, even if he was a C player in the group, there was just something about him that captivated me. He's got a magnetic presence. I got his book for christmas a few years ago and, for someone who has struggled to read the same amount he did when he was a kid, Pillman's book was really good and kept me engaged. Reading about his time in WCW, especially his time being booked by "The Cowboy" Bill Watts was really interesting, and especially relevant during '92.
Watts had that old school mentality that he brought with him when he got the book in WCW. Over the top rope meant DQ, top rope moves were banned, and just about anything else that could be considered "exciting" in the every changing time of 90's wrestling weren't allowed. Pillman took particular exception to the banning of top rope moves, being a noticeable handicap to someone who's entire character was "I do the high flying moves really well." Pillman couldn't help but feel like the momentum and push he'd gotten prior to Watts coming in was over and done with, and he'd need to start looking elsewhere if he wanted to keep wrestling like he had been.
Before the match even starts, Jim Ross waits approximately 0.05 seconds before giving us Pillman's entire college football resume. I mean seriously Jim, we get that you love college 'ball, but do we really need to know every scrap of info about these dudes the second we see them? It gets to be a bit much.
I know I talked earlier about giving lesser known matches some love, but I don't have the real estate in this Halloween Special to give this match a detailed blow-by-blow analysis like I tend to. But I will cover a few things that really stood out to me.
Steamboat tricks Pillman early on after getting knocked off his feet. He starts to rise but see's that Pillman has his back to him, so he drops back down to his back and waits. Pillman comes to Steamboat to pick him up off the canvas but Steamboat was playing possum and pulls Pillman down face first into the canvas. It doesn't take a lot to make a match interesting, and Steamboat more than understands that. He's mastered it. I'm not talking out of school when I say Steamboat is just so damn good. Even in this 10 minute heatless match, he's still putting in a great effort. So damn slick in the ring.
Despite the Watts edict of no top rope moves, they do take to the skies a few times and don't get in trouble for it. I mean, unless you consider Pillman dropkicking Steamboat out of the sky when he attempts to fly at Pillman. Really nice.
The finish comes after Steamboat takes to the skies and sunset flips over Pillman for a pinning attempt. Pillman gets out and jack-knife's Steamboat for a pin of his own but Steamboat flips pillman out and covers him for a 3! A really nice pinning combo but would have looked a lot better if it wasn't done at half speed. Don't know what, or who, to attribute that to. Could just be human error or exhaustion. Who's to say.
 |
| I didn't change the speed of this clip at all. WCW |
There's really nothing wrong with this match at all, its perfectly fine and is a good showing for both guys. But does it do anything remarkable? No. Does it leave a lasting impression on you? Not really. Will I forget the entire card of Havoc '92 and, consequently, this match in its entirely by tomorrow? More than likely!
WCW Halloween Havoc 1993 - Vader vs. Cactus Jack - Texas Death
 |
| Ground and pound from the word go! WCW |
Here was a match I was really excited to watch. This was one I'd seen years ago when I was digging around trying to find some of Vader's best work and, being the newer fan I was, was a bit nervous to travel outside of WCW/WWF for matches. Little did I know an entire world of quality wrestling existed outside these promotions, who knew!
I had this on my list of matches and was really excited to see it again. I knew quality matches would be few and far between in this journey so I was going to take whatever break I could get. This was a shimmering beacon of hope. But, maybe its just my jaded eyes after what came before or maybe my standards have changed, but I don't hold this match in the "all timer" category like some people do. Let me get into why.
First off, this match is nowhere near bad, it's fantastic. When you have a stipulation that says "do whatever the fuck you want to each other, who cares," and have a guy like Cactus who practically lives by that motto going up against the monstrous Vader, magic is bound to happen. These two beat the absolute crap out of each other the entire time, there's no holding back here. There's a reason Foley always talked so highly about Vader, they were wrestling soul mates.
WCW's version of a Texas Death match, however, not so good. You have the expected rules of "anything goes" and falls counting anywhere, but its the process by which a pinfall counts and you win the match that really, really bothered me for this one. So, lets go over one of the earliest falls in this match as an example.
Cactus jumps Vader at the start of the match and they start brawling around the ring, there's chair shots and stage fighting as the pair work their way towards the prop gravestones at the top of the ramp with both of them fighting into the grave marked for Vader. There's a big hole in the stage in front of that one specifically so they brawl down there and into the fog. When they both emerge, they're bloody and swinging, with Vader connecting with a lariat to score a pinfall.
When a pinfall is counted, a 30 second rest period is started, with Gary Michael Cappetta, the ring announcer, letting the audience know every single time the rest period starts. They count down when the timer reaches 10 seconds, and from there it's last man standing rules. If they can't get up before the referee's 10 count, they lose. Now, explain to me why a 30 second rest period is necessary when you are already counting to 10 for the fall to actually count? No referee counts 10 actual seconds, they take at least 30 seconds to make the count. And this happens every single time, with GMC making sure to tell the crowd "the 30 second rest period has ended" so does that mean he's done? He has to get up after another count? Its convoluted and took me out of the drama of the fall every single time, just do a 10 count and get it over with. I mean, Cactus gets up during the 30 second rest period one time, so what's even the point if the wrestlers wont take the chance to actually rest? Not good.
But, fear not! The rest of the match is great! How can it not be? At one point in the match, Vader finds himself in the crowd on the other side of the barricade. Cactus just runs at the barricade and throws himself over it, landing head first and barely kicking Vader as he goes up and over, who doesn't react at all. Vader grabs Cactus and drops him back over the barricade, grabbing a chair and swinging at the back of Cactus with the chair still wide open! The leg of the chair nearly stabs Cactus, narrowly missing him as Vader brings it down.
Vader connects with his often-missed Moonsault for 3! He did it! My joy for the Vader-sault was robbed when GMC came over the speakers to announce the rest period, reminding me of the convoluted, unnecessary rules. Thanks WCW.
Back on the ramp now, Cactus is clinging to the back of Vader as he lumbers up the ramp, finally falling backwards and literally crushing Cactus beneath his massive frame. The sound of the impact was unreal. Vader keeps the pressure on with a chair shot and a DDT on the chair. This is the fall where Cactus gets up before the 30 second rest period. Fuckin why guys.
The finish comes about when there's a double down on the ramp and Harley Race is standing beside the ramp near a prone Cactus Jack. Earlier in the match, Harley brought out a literal taser and gave it a little test fire, making sure the thing works of course! Naturally, the sound of electricity acring is loud as shit and is very noticeable, considering they chose to use the camera shot that is looking directly at Harley using the taser. Commentary has to act like they have no idea what he had in his hand, of course, but the taser makes another appearance for the finish here. With both men struggling to their feet, Cactus makes it up first but goes unnoticed by the referee. Harley is quick to act, "tasing" Cactus in the leg and he falls back down, clutching his leg as Vader gets to his feet before the 10, winning the match. I use quotes because, again, the camera clearly catches Harley giving the taser a quick shot before he touches Cactus, then hitting him with the end of the taser with nothing going through it. Sure, he probably didn't want to actually shock Cactus, but they could have used a better camera angle. Amateur hour.
 |
| Vader survives to war. WCW |
I've seen better Texas Death matches and I've seen worse, this one was really good but I think gets talked about too often as "one of the best" when I just don't see it that way. I can understand why it should be, given the guys involved, but there's a few things here that just irk me enough that I can't consider it an all time great Texas Death match.
WCW Halloween Havoc 1994 - Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair - Steel Cage Match
 |
| What an impressive "cage" this is. WCW |
Here we are folks, the Hulk Hogan era of WCW! For better or for worse, the Hulkster has made his way to Ted Turner's land of opportunity and is ready to bring Hulkamania with him. Going into this match, I saw a lot of people saying this is the best Hogan and Flair match, which isn't saying a lot considering how little these two giants of the industry crossed paths. CAGEMATCH tells me every single one of the WWF matches were house/dark matches or ended by DQ or count out. They wrestled 38 times. Not counting the 1 match they had on RAW in '02 I suppose, Hogan went over int aht match of course, brother. But if these two have only had about 10 broadcasted matches in their careers together and this is the best they have to offer, I dread to think what their other matches looked like.
Let's not waste any more time here folks, lets get into this one. The stipulation for this match is a steel cage, career vs. career match for the WCW world heavyweight title, with Mr. T acting as the special guest referee. I'm sure he can be impartial in this one, Wrestlemania 1 never happened anyways. Sensational Sherri is here with Flair tonight in his black and white butterfly robe, while Hogan comes to the ring with Brutus Beefcake and Jimmy Hart, a couple of legendary hangers-on. Should also be noted that Hogan's "American Made" theme song is atrocious. Just an egregious ripoff of Real American. This is as WCW as it gets.
They climb in and the cage is lowe- wait that's the cage?! This shit is small! Like, unbelievably small! I know Hogan is a big guy but he should not be the same height as the cage! Build this shit huge guys, make it a real cage! Not off to a great start here, I'll be honest.
And it doesn't get much better, if I can be honest. I've said it before and I'll keep saying it when I come across a Hogan match I just can't get behind. I didn't grow up in the Hulk Hogan era, I was born 2 month before Hogan turned heel so I never got to experience Hulkamania like a lot of people did, so he never resonated with me like people who grew up in this era did. I can accept and more than understand why Hogan was a box office monster, how nobody in wrestling will never, ever replicate the kind of business Hogan was able to create. Or why he's draw sell out arena's and do the most basic shit possible and still have people screaming and jumping for a leg drop.
With all that said, you'll have to forgive me for not being blown away when Hogan and Flair do a fairly pedestrian punch/kick type match with the only "high spots" being the odd suplex. Couple that with Mr. T not seeming to understand that a cage match means "anything goes" when Hogan attempts to choke Flair with his torn up t-shirt, taking it from Hogan and holding onto it while he wanders around the cage, this match really doesn't set my ass on fire, friends.
They try and add some story to the match as Flair decides that he's going to destroy Hogan's left leg for a while but, of course, Hogan Hulks up out of the figure four before all hell breaks loose. Mr. T gets knocked down and Sherri starts to climb the cage but Jimmy Hart is able to grab her dress and yank it off her, leaving nothing but her stockings and corset behind! Somebody needs to check on Heenan at the commentary desk, I think he was starting to overheat.
She starts to climb again but this time Sting, who was sitting ringside, interferes and pulls her down, but a masked man attacks Sting and Hart with a lead pipe! Sherri is finally able to get over the cage now and dives onto Hogan! The masked man is in the ring now and both of them seize on Hogan but he takes both them down. Sherri makes multiple attempts to get out of the cage or at the very least, away from Hogan, but he keeps attacking her! Man on woman violence, brother?
The finish comes about when Sherri gets the boot from Hogan and sent down for the final time. Flair tries to chop Hogan but he Hulk's up! He sends Flair into the ropes and, with Flair rebounding back towards hard cam, "eats" a big boot from Hogan which didn't look that good at all. Hard cam big boots are not it, dude. A leg drop to Flair as Mr. T finally regains consciousness (oh yeah, he got handcuffed somewhere along the line too, for whatever reason) and counts the 3! Hooray!
 |
| "Brother! Count the 3 dude!" WCW |
Like I said gang, I didn't grow up in the Hogan era, so this type of match just doesn't resonate with me like it would someone 10 to 20 years older than me. Maybe if I just gave in and let the story and the feelings take over me, I'd like it more, but that's not happening with this match. I'll report back when I watch a Hogan match I really love.
What a mixed bag this week was! Insane Halloween Havoc whiplash, a fantastic DPW card, and the oldest piece of wrestling footage available! You get it all at the Wrestling Vault! As always, if there's anything you want to send my way or feedback you want to give, the email is cliffmorganwstl@gmail.com
Remember! Next week is Wrestling Roulette and the week after will be part 2 of my Halloween Special! Our regular reviews resume the following week!
Until next time, happy Halloween friends!
Cliff Morgan
No comments:
Post a Comment