WCW Halloween Havoc 93'

RATING LEVELS:

Curt Hennig – A “GOAT” show, as Perfect as possible

Watch It – A consistently good show worth watching in its entirety

Watch It…With Remote in Hand – 3 or more above-average ratings

High Risk Maneuver – Mostly filler, inessential, but 1-2 good matches

DUDleyville – Zero redeeming qualities, chore to watch

HALLOWEEN HAVOC 93’ – October 1993

New Orleans, Louisiana

CHAMPIONSHIP BACKGROUNDS: Heading into tonight’s show, Vader is the WCW World Heavyweight Champion while Rick Rude is the reigning NWA World Championship. 2 Cold Scorpio and Marcus Bagwell are WCW’s Tag Team Champions, the TV Champion is Lord Steven Regal, and Dustin Rhodes is the United States Champion.

COMMENTATORS: Tony Schiavone & Jesse Ventura

The show starts with a super cheesy video of some kids trick-or-treating and ending up at Tony Schiavone's house. This segment was just the right level of ridiculousness for me to consider it one of the finer moments of WCW viewing I've experienced in the past 18 months. (4/5)

The actual show begins with a 6-man tag - Harlem Heat and The Equalizer vs. The Shockmaster, Charlie Norris, and Ice Train. If you would've polled every fan in attendance which participant in this match they believed would end up a multi-time World Champion, I think the vote would've gone to the ref. This match is terrible, hardly watchable, and has no place on a PPV card and, based on the commentary, I'm not sure that it is even part of any ongoing rivalry. Half-point for the Shockmaster appearance. (.5/5)

The second bout of the night is Ricky Steamboat vs. Paul Orndorff in a "grudge match" rematch from the last Clash of the Champions. Steamboat actually utilizes some borderline heel tactics, targeting Orndorff’s arm by running his shoulder into the post and whipping his injured limb into the steel. Seeing the Dragon get so frustrated, grabbing the ref at one point, is so rare that it actually means something when he does it. Despite Steamboat's rule-bending, Orndorff remains the obvious chickenshit villain, cowering in the corner, trying to retreat down the aisle, and antagonizing the fans at every opportunity. It is also worth noting that there is a moment when the two men connect with simultaneous crossbodies that looks like an awkward botch, but ends up adding violent realism to the contest, the kind of mis-timing that reminds the viewer that this ain’t ballet we’re watching. From there, we get to the third act, a thing of beauty – great near falls, great reversals, great manager work, the crowd on the edge of their seat the whole time…until the actual finish rears its ugly head, a cowardly booking decision that attempted to keep both guys hot, but actually deflated what was an excellent match. (3.5/5)

After a quick interview with journeyman Terry Taylor, next up was the Television Championship match between challenger The British Bulldog and champion Lord Steven Regal. Regal’s character work at the start is excellent, his expressions making it clear how disgusted he is by the greasy Bulldog. After a poorly executed monkey flip, the Bulldog won me back by locking in a rare surfboard on the champ, a spot that was even more uncommon then as it is today. In fact, showcasing Davey Boy's underrated agility, quickness, and mat wrestling make this one of his career highlights. The final stretch is even more physical than the first two-thirds and smartly worked. This is a hidden gem of a match that is worth checking out, especially for those, like myself, who were under the false impression that the Bulldog’s best years were behind him once he left the WWE. (4/5)    

From here, Vader spins the wheel to officially make his match with Cactus Jack a Texas Death Match. Definitely an improvement from where the needle landed last year.

“Stunning” Steve Austin vs. Dustin Rhodes for the United States Championship is next. Rhodes comes into this match on a bit of a cold streak in terms of PPV outings – he was the best part of a so/so War Games at Fall Brawl, had a bore of an Ironman match against Rick Rude at Beach Blast in July, wrestled in a forgettable tag bout at Slamboree, and began the year with a pretty boring match against Maxx Payne at SuperBrawl III. Thankfully, compared to the aforementioned Ironman match, Rhodes is able to wrestle a much quicker pace here thanks to his dance partner, who shows he can still work a singles match after months of tagging with Brian Pillman. To be sure, Austin does struggle to get the same heat from the crowd that Regal and Orndorff garnered, but he certainly tries hard. As the match goes on, they pull the crowd in through the appeal of sheer effort – their blows getting stiffer, Austin’s offense getting more and more desperate, and Rhodes valiantly trying to pull energy from his supporters. The convoluted finishing sequence keeps it from “must see” status, but this is definitely a welcome return to form for the Natural. (3/5)

Before our next match, we get a video recap of how Marcus Bagwell and 2 Cold Scorpio were able to capture the WCW Tag Team Championships from their opponents tonight, The Nasty Boys. The Nasties are accompanied by Missy Hyatt in an outfit that should probably get its own 5-out-of-5 score, while Bagwell and Scorpio are managed by future SmackDown General Manager, Teddy Long. During the opening minutes, a huge “Whoop! There It Is!” chant breaks out after Bagwell plants a kiss onto Hyatt - again, that probably deserves its own 5-out-of-5 score. Once the shenanigans wind down, you get a really nice tag spot by the babyfaces with the notoriously stiff Nastys actually selling for the fan favorites. What surprises me here is how the Nasty Boys, known most for their hardcore brawls, are actually quite capable of building a match with more straightforward transitions and traditional maneuvers, including some textbook suplexes. Bagwell, by the way, is excellent here as the sympathetic face-in-peril, specifically in one spot where Sags measures him and connects with a brutal clothesline. The finishing sequence is an absolute melee in the best sense of the word. A truly overachieving match and probably the best Bagwell performance of his career up to this point. (4/5)

The “Franchise Match” is next, pitting Sting vs. Sid Vicious. I gave their main event match at Halloween Havoc 90’ a score of 3-out-of-5, noting that I actually enjoyed the notorious “impostor Sting” finish despite how ridiculous it was, so I came into this with some confidence that they could put on a good bout. Sting is impressive in the early going, bodyslamming and suplexing Vicious, then dragging him out into the crowd in a brief segment that would be familiar to any fan of Attitude Era wrestling. When the tide turns, Sid actually gets some cheers for his devastating chokeslam, though the rest of his offense doesn't generate nearly as much interest. There are three-three-three confounding spots/stretches in this match that I didn’t enjoy: first, Sid hits Sting with a chair but does not get disqualified, then Sid locks in two weak-looking bearhugs, and finally, the finish, which makes Colonel Parker look like the dumbest manager in the history of wrestling. I really wanted to enjoy this match more, but unfortunately, despite a promising start, its greatness never materializes. (2.5/5)

Ric Flair vs. Rick Rude for the World Heavyweight Championship is next. I rated their match at Fall Brawl 93’ a very respectable (and arguably generous) 4-out-of-5, but I must admit to not expecting a repeat performance here as Rude’s work had been on a steady decline in the previous year. The first ten minutes are all Flair, with Rude just eating offense. This isn't a bad strategy either as Rude's selling was always one of his strong suits. What little offense Rude can muster is limited to rest holds and forearms, but what is even more unfortunate is just how many spots from their previous match are repeated here instead of delivering something new. Again, Flair locks in the Figure Four very early and, again, the highest “high spot” is Flair connecting with a crossbody to the outside. We also get Flair doing some more “finisher stealing,” just like last time. But, most of all, what this match lacked that their previous match had going for it was more suspense, a hotter crowd, the novelty of it being their first PPV encounter (and maybe their first match together ever?), and Rude still seeming somewhat motivated to use every trick he could think of to mask how limited he was. In this bout, Rude still tries hard, but the magician’s secrets have been exposed by now and even he seems resigned to just get through the match without crippling himself. Thankfully, Flair shines when he needs to and pulls this match up to a slightly above-average mark. (3/5)

Our main event is next – a Texas Death Match between Vader and Cactus Jack based on their lengthy feud, discussed in rather gory detail in Cactus’ first memoir, Have A Nice Day. Jack wastes no time starting things up, attacking Vader on the outside before the bell can even ring. The two brawl around the ring, both laying in stiff shots, including a chair shot that’ll make even the most bloodthirsty of fans cringe. Surprisingly, Jack also gets to show off a little bit of actual wrestling via a back and a snap suplex, impressive feats when your opponent is the Man They Call Vader. Unfortunately, the flow of the match is hurt by a lame stretch where they disappear under the stage as well as two 30-second rest periods, cooling the heat of the match right when it seems to be building into something unforgettably. To their credit, when the two do get back in the swing of things, it doesn’t take long for them to re-grab the audiences attention, thanks to the inclusion of a table, a chair, a Vadersault, and Jack taking some heinous looking bumps onto the arena floor. While the finish isn’t great and the 30-second rest periods hurt the momentum, this is still a fun match to watch if you’re into hardcore, vicious wrestling. (4/5)

After a string of really terrible shows, Halloween Havoc 93’ was a bit of a reprieve on my journey through WCW in the 90s. With an average match/segment score of 3.16-out-of-5, this is the first WCW pay-per-view of 1993 to score above a 3.0. The main reason is consistency and the relative strength of the undercard, which featured three arguably “hidden gems” in Orndorff/Steamboat, Regal/Bulldog, and the Nasty Boys vs. Bagwell & Scorpio. The biggest disappointment, like at Fall Brawl 93’, is undoubtedly Rude vs. Flair, a “should be” epic that reads like a dream match on paper but falls flat in delivery, largely due to a noticeable drop in Rude’s bumping ability as well as an ever-depleting offensive moveset. A healthier Rude and the elimination of the opening match entirely may have even made this one of the top WCW pay-per-views of all time from a statistics point of view.

FINAL RATING – Watch It…With Remote in Hand