WCW Halloween Havoc 1992: Part One!

WCW Halloween Havoc 1992 Countdown Show Review!

-We have the WCW Halloween Havoc control center countdown show. These are fun because half the time the card they announce ends up being changed. But that’s WCW for you. Of course this is the debut of the spin the wheel, make the deal for the blow off of the Sting vs Jake Roberts feud. That means we get the mini-movie for it. Ah yes, the first of three classic mini-movies. Sting arrives at Jakes biker bar, filled with bikers chanting “Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal”, someone dressed up like Hannibal Lector, and Medusa dressed up for a night of S & M fun. Everyone “oooohs” as Sting enters. After some spiffy dialog, written probably by the same writers who brought us the “Lost in Cleveland” skits half a year later. Oh yes, and Cheetum the midget makes his tv debut. Jakes goes over the concept, even noting there’s a “Mystery Match” on the wheel. What the hell was that going to be? Did they have a separate wheel? Sting spins the wheel as the chanting continues….and then him and Jake go face to face and SHOOT LASER EYES AT EACH OTHER. Five stars, it reached four with the terrible Sting acting and someone thinking Jake Roberts needs a script.

-Bill Watts explains why it’s a “Lights Out” match, and I’ll say this, Watts makes everything sound credible. In the background you can hear Gary Michael Capetta announcing a match. I’ll look up later what that was. In one of the best debates ever, Bruno Sammartino and Michael Hayes debate who will have the advantage. This is awesome.

- 18 minutes till show time. And we’re about to look at the Ron Simmons vs Barbarian show down. There’s the usual Ron training video and recap of show he won the title. Now that is a great moment and yes, they show the one guy balling his eyes out because well, it was an awesome moment. Eric talks about how Barbarian has perfected the “Power Kick”, later called the “Kick of Fear”. That is the most laid back kick call Eric’s done. Next video is the Barbarian-Cactus Jack training. Barbarian pulls a car and has a ton of guys slam him! Yeah, Buddy Lee Parker! Barbarian practices kicking out, he gets a board broken over his back, then Barbarian destroys a pumpkin with the POWER KICK. The pumpkin, btw, has Ron written on it, eyes, and a frown face, just to push it over the edge into campy. This is followed by a promo by Cactus and Barbarian. Honestly, WCW tried their hardest to get Barbarian over for this, but it didn’t stick, even when I was 10 and watching the build. Bruno and Hayes comment again, which isn’t a bad thing, Bruno giving his analysis is a nice touch. Hayes proclaims the Power Kick will “kick Ron Simmons ass”. Ron Simmons gives a promo and says Barbarian “came out of the word work” yeah, it was that sudden. I still wish Butch Reed had stuck around long enough to get this build and title shot, instead of flaking out of the rotating Cactus/Barbarian/Spivey/Atlas stable.
-Finally, a run down: Sting vs Jake Roberts, Ron Simmons vs The Barbarian, Rick Rude vs Masa Chono in a “Don’t show up the Main Event” Match…and that’s it? Come on, where is the entire card.

-Clips are show of the Rude vs Chono match from Tokyo, which I’ve heard is a billion times better than the match I’m going to see soon. Rude says he’s going to surprised Chono with the Rude Awakening…well…he just spoiled it, didn’t he!

-Seven minutes left, I can’t wait! I need to go to the phone and call my local cable company

-They replay the mini-movie…its always worth a repeat. Spin that wheel leather clad harlot Medusa!

Now it’s time for the show:

WCW Halloween Havoc 1992

The show starts out with more Barbarian training footage and Bruno talking, I just kinda saw this! They announce Steve Austin will replace Terry Gordy in the tag title match against Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes. Can’t be a early 1990s WCW PPV without a few card changes. Rick Rude apparently has to wrestle twice, once against Chono for the NWA Title and again for the US Title. If you know this show, you know that won’t hold up.

Match One: Arn Anderson/Bobby Eaton/Michael Hayes vs Z-Man/Johnny Gunn/Shane Douglas: We’re in Philly, so you can probably guess which team gets cheered and which teams gets treated like the Dynamic Dudes at Havoc 1989. No wonder it took Shane a steady string of swear to get over in this town. This is during the blink and you miss it period of Hayes managing Anderson and Eaton. Faces get their dropkick on and receive a loud chorus of boos. Z-Man and Johnny Gunn were the newest jobber tag team, and they had a great ZZ Top rip of theme. Zenk and Gunn work over Anderson’s arm for about three seconds. Arn gets a great take down on Zenk and tag in Eaton. HUGE pops for Bobby’s right hand and the neckbreaker. Another big pop for Hayes just being tagged in. Not a great day to be the Z-Man. Jesse is even forced to acknowledge the fan support for the heels. Shane is tagged in, and its either boos or silence. Hayes out, Eaton in, and he gets arm dragged. Eaton with a right hand, but gets back body dropped by Douglas, who then follows up with a headscissors right out of 1970 and a leg drag take down. Jesse calls Shane a “right wing republican” , I’m sure there’s a story behind that. Heels tag in and out, Arm gets a big time pop for escaping a Z-Man sleeper, and Hayes comes in. Jesse says “Z-Man realizes he’s in the big time”….uh, he’s been there for a few years no. Hayes comes back with a neckbreaker and tag in Eaton. Blind tag to Anderson, who kills Zenk with a clothesline and then plays to the fans! Jesse chalks it up to the fans liking the veterans. What we have here is the Pretty Boy Face Team trying to work a normal structure and get their stuff in on the heels, and they keep getting cut off. Not just because, on paper, they are so outmatched it’s silly, but because Arn, Bobby and Hayes, realize that the face offense is losing the crowd. Z-Man gets a “hot” tag and Douglas is in. He punches a bit, goes to suplex Arn, but Bobby clips him for a giant pop. Beautiful. I think this is the official heat segment. Top rope knee drop by Bobby and Arn soaks in some more cheers. Triple team is cheered like mad. Bobby keeps Shane in the figure four for a while so his team can cheat and cheat and cheat. Douglas finally tags in Johnny Gunn and it’s a pier six brawl! Zenk nails on Hayes and Gunn gets in a Lou Thez press for the win, and the faces parade around like idiots as the crowd boos like mad. What a fun match, just for the crowd.

1 for 1

Match Two: Brian Pillman vs Ricky Steamboat: Yes, it’s freshly heel turned Brian Pillman. Well, he turned in July, but he also spent the middle of the year with injuries, Brad Armstrong, and the Light Heavyweight Title. This feud would morph into The Hollywood Blondes vs Shane Douglas/Ricky Steamboat during early 1993. I have no idea how Douglas got involved. This should be wonderful. Pillman starts out with the chops and Steamboat responds. Brian tries to chuck Ricky out, but he skins the cat and gets a roll up for 2. You’d think Brian would know better, but I guess when you turn heel you forget how you wrestled as a face. Ricky controls with an armbar. Armdrags and armbar by Pillman…I’m kidding, it’s Ricky, and that’s his first armdrag of the match. Ricky controls Brian on the mat, hammerlock, armbar, ect. Brian fights his way out but gets chopped and body dropped. And slammed, but takes a headbutt and a clothesline by Pillman. JR and Jesse note that this is a rare match where Steamboat isn’t the fastest. Ricky gets a neck hang for a moment and clothesline Brian. Jesse says Ricky’s stronger here, so he’s using those rare strength moves on Pillman. Brian fakes a knee injury to take control, hitting a concerned Dragon with a clothesline. Ricky’s back on offense a minute later with chops, but Brian gets a headscissors take over, and goes to choking on the ropes. Backslide by the Dragon for two, but Pillman gets back in control. Dragon gets set up top for a superplex, but Ricky reverses and sends Brian down. High cross body attempt is met with a dropkick. The cover gets 2. Ricky gets a back suplex and the ten count is on! Pillman with a sleeper. Jesse makes it a bit more interesting by commenting on the mechanics and effectiveness in relation to how Ricky’s body is bent. Steamboat gets out of it and then catches Pillman coming off the top, and they do the Flair slam spot. Back in, Brian catches him going through the ropes and chops away. They’re doing that very hard. They go outside, then back in, and this time Ricky catches Brian trying to attack him and leg sweeps him. Backbreaker by Steamboat and he goes up top and sticks a sunset flip for two, Brian rolls through and cradles him for two, Steamboat reverses that and gets the pin. The finish was like the middle of every Malenko-Guerrero pinning sequence, but this was 1992, it was cool, A very unfocused match, perhaps Brian wasn’t sure how to wrestle Steamboat as a heel, and there didn’t seem to a be a bunch of heat behind this. You get the idea that they have better in them. But this was ok. I’m not hard to please.

2 for 2

Match Three: United States Title: Nikita Koloff vs Big Van Vader: So Rude threatens legal action against WCW and gets Vader to wrestle this match for him. Koloff is also on his way out and his, well, fucked. I’m not even sure what Nikita did, but I’m sure Cowboy Bill isn’t happy. Koloff pounds Vader back for a bout two seconds, then gets turned around into the corner and pounded on with the Vader forearms and punches. Splash by Vader and huge clothesline. Koloff does a slight Jannetty flip sell, so he’s not too hurt, yet. Vader with more forearms and tosses Nikita outside. He comes back, nails some forearms and just kinda pounces on Vader. Chinlock time! Vader stands him up, pounds away, but misses a splash and cradled for 1. Cross body by Nikita gets two. The fight goes outside and Nikita hits the guard rail. Vader drops him harshly on the guard rail and then cracks Koloff with a cheer, and I think the fans are solidly behind Vader. Koloff is very very slow getting back in. He tries a sunset flip but faster just sits down on him. I guess it is a squash. Another clothesline by Vader turns Koloff inside out, this time a bit more legit. Vader no sells some punches and just pop Koloff in the nose. Chokeslam drop Nikita on his side, close to breaking his arm under him. Splash of the second rope by Vader, but Koloff kicks out to a mix reaction. Vader hooks on a chin lock. Attendance must have been low or this because the audience is almost totally in darkness It’s like ECW 2006 lighting. Koloff tries to back suplex out of it, but Vader decides not to and they just crumble down. Sloppy suplex just about drops Vader on his head. Nikita gets his first real comeback, hitting a flying shoulder block for two. Vader takes a slam and it gets two. Nikita gives him the Russian Sickle, sending Vader to the floor. He doesn’t follow up and the match just dies. Koloff finally goes outside to get him, and stupidly charges into the post and hurts his arm. Nikita comes back in and gets nails with the Vader Attack. Powerbomb by Vader and that’s it. Either his selling his awesome, or Koloff really messed his arm up big time, and the powerbomb probably didn’t help as he really jammed his arms bad on it. Not a good match, but interesting.

2 for 3

and let's cut off here for now