WCW Halloween Havoc 99'

WCW Halloween Havoc 99'

Las Vegas, Nevada - October 1999

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into the show, Sting is the WCW World Champion, the WCW World Tag Team Champions are Konnan and Rey Mysterio Jr., the Television Title is held by Chris Benoit, Disco Inferno is the Cruiserweight Champion, and Sid is the United States Heavyweight Champion.

COMMENTATORS: Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan

Halloween Havoc 99' is a historically important show, at least to crazy wrestling fans, as its the first PPV written under the watch of Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara, aka the "Powers That Be," who had come over from the WWE a week or so after Fall Brawl. Their "Crash TV" fingerprints are all over this show, every match containing at least one, usually questionable, element of surprise...

Disco Inferno defends the Cruiserweight Championship against Lash Leroux in the opener. Unsurprisingly, the Las Vegas crowd gets behind Inferno early on - not only does he look incredible, but by this point, years of being the "annoying doofus" had made him lovable. Leroux, meanwhile, botches at least two moves and had spent his rookie year in mostly unimpressive losing efforts. With Inferno the smoother, more familiar worker, its no surprise that he's cheered more than booed here. Inferno eventually picks up the win with his finisher and the "swerve" follows soon after as Leroux attacks Inferno in the post-match, dropping him onto the Cruiserweight Championship. I'd qualify this as a "double turn," but its not a well-executed one as it would've been much more effective to have Leroux actually increase his heelishness as the match wore on. (1/5)

The WCW World Tag Team Championships are on the line in a 3-team Falls Count Anywhere match next. The story here is that, after winning the titles on Nitro a week or so prior with Konnan, Rey Mysterio was injured and thus, The Powers That Be demanded a 3-way for the vacated titles between The Filthy Animals' Kidman & Konnan, The First Family (Knobbs and Morrus), and the former champions, Harlem Heat. With so many guys in one match and WCW's notoriously shoddy cameramen on the job this one is an absolute mess, nearly impossible to watch and completely impossible to enjoy. There are maybe two (?) decent spots - one of which being a great moment when Morrus drops Kidman chest-first from the press slam positon onto the top of a steel chair. The finish is disputed as Harlem Heat pin Knobbs backstage while, moments later, Kidman pins Morrus in the ring (though the cameras don't actually capture that moment). I'm not sure if the timing was right or wrong, but it doesn't really matter as the match has no real suspense anyway. Another match not worth watching. (1/5)

Ric Flair arrives with a crowbar (and his son, David) backstage...

In the ring, Diamond Dallas Page and his wife Kimberly cut a promo against "Nature Boy." Despite how cringeworthy this one starts, with Kimberly talking about how Flair spanked her 14 times on the butt, DDP actually comes within inches of making it work by the end. Page and Flair's match tonight is now a strap match too, which is classic Russo in that it was an out-of-left-field idea that he probably thought of on the ride to the show and fast-tracked instead of building up to it and giving time for fans to actually, y'know, give the company money to see it.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Perry Saturn is next. As far workrate goes, this match smokes the previous two, with Guerrero doing the heavy lifting from a storytelling perspective and Saturn throwing out his usual dazzling array of offense. Unfortunately, the bizarro booking continues as Ric Flair runs down the aisle and causes a DQ by attacking Guerrero. Now, storyline-wise, this absolutely makes perfect sense because Flair was feuding with the Filthy Animals (who had attacked him on Nitro and taken his Rolex, his robe, his money, etc.), but in this match (and the previous contest), the Animals not only get face pops, but the matches seem to be structured to keep them in the babyface role. Flair, meanwhile, is also a babyface because (a) he's Ric friggin' Flair and (b) he's also involved in a feud with DDP, who, as miscast as he may have been, had worked hard to get the Jersey Triad gimmick over as villains. Kidman tries to make the save, but Flair strikes him down too as the crowd applauses. The wrestling on display is good, but the finish makes sure to render it meaningless. (2/5)

Backstage, Goldberg is seen beating the snot out of someone before getting pulled off. Who was the unlucky victim? Noneother than Sid, the guy he's facing later tonight. Sid's forehead is bleeding severely, but he still wants to go. 

Buff Bagwell makes his way down the aisle and cuts a promo that includes a couple lines about the Powers That Be, referring to them as "two writers from New York" who have come to "save WCW." When people talk about how stupid WCW's "worked shoot" promos were, these are the segments they're talking about as Bagwell's comments likely went over the head of 90% of the audience and the other 10% certainly didn't think they were "revolutionary" enough to start buying WCW products in record numbers (as the ratings, merch sales, and PPV buys would show over the next few months). Jeff Jarrett runs down with a guitar in hand and proceeds to brawl with Buff around the ring before Lex Luger shows up to save Bagwell. Luger tries to hit Jarrett with a guitar but Double J sneaks away and Luger clubs Buff by accident. Note - the guitar doesn't break, meaning that Bagwell probably got a legit concussion. 

Backstage we go (again) to see Sid refuse to get stitches for the massive wound in his head. Sure, why not?

Berlyn takes on Brad Armstrong next. I took WCW's bookers to task for the way they handled Berlyn's match against Jim Duggan at the previous month's Fall Brawl show and I'll do it again now - What is the goal here? If the goal is to get Berlyn over as a killer, why is he having trouble beating a 45-year old jobber-to-the-stars like Duggan and a never-was like "BA"? To his credit, Alex Wright does at least wrestle like more of a heel in this outing, his strikes packing more punch, and aside from a little too much flash in the opening minutes, his timing noticeably slower, his offense more deliberate. The Russo-ness comes in the awkward finish as Armstrong gets a surprise pinfall when Berlyn...uh...decides not to kick out? After dominating the match, it makes so little sense that Berlyn would lose by a straight pinfall - not even a roll-up or a fluke pin in some sort of cool counter - but it is what it is. Berlyn's bodyguard, who I don't believe had been given the name The Wall yet, comes in and takes Armstrong down with one shot. Berlyn then adds insult to injury by applying a choke. Again, this reeks of Russo in that there must've been some idea as to why Armstrong should win this match, but that idea probably had more to do with surprising the audience than it did with actually building towards a pay-off that would get the workers over. Berlyn comes out of this looking completely ineffective. Armstrong, despite winning, got no offense in so he didn't impress anyone either. If The Wall was supposed to get more heat or infamy, there were a dozen better ways to do it than him just hitting Armstrong with one clothesline. (1.5/5)

Backstage, Ric Flair cuts a dynamite promo against the Filthy Animals. The match with DDP seems like an afterthought, though. Still, its the most entertaining 2 minutes of this show yet so I'm awarding it a point. (+1)

Next up - the Television Champion Chris Benoit defending the strap against the former TV Champ, Rick Steiner. So, for those keeping score at home, Benoit defeated Steiner for the title on an episode of Nitro in September and was in the midst of his 3rd TV Title reign. Many critics hate Steiner's work from this time, but I actually give him some credit for getting good heel heat and putting on highly physical matches. Unfortunately, some of his high impact offense was often separated by lifeless submissions and telling stretches where he looks to be completely out of breath. That being said, aside from some "no selling" early on, this is one of his better outings and Benoit is wise and talented enough to make this feel like a real fight by putting movement and emotion into every little thing he does - whether its trying to escape a grapevine or flying into the steps. Steiner brings him up for a powerbomb and Benoit botches what looked to be a sunset flip attempt, but his speed and intensity makes the mess-up work in the context of the bout. Some "boring" cat calls can be heard as Steiner continues to dominate. Throwing some more hope spots into this match and letting Benoit get more licks in would've probably popped the audience more rather than making this all about the Gremlin's callousness and Benoit's never-give-up spirit. After two suplexes, the "boring" chants are even more audible. Benoit finally gets some offense with a DDT and a shoulder tackle, but the crowd doesn't really wake up until he starts getting some chops in. Benoit connects with a trio of german suplexes. A solid ref bump spot and you can hear the air leave the building as they work to what everyone can now predict will probably be some sort of screwy finish. The biggest pop of the match happens when Benoit calls for his flying headbutt, but Steiner throws the chair up and Benoit eats it hard in the face! Malenko runs down...and whacks Benoit, turning heel in the process. Malenko then hugs Perry Saturn in the aisleway, rejoining The Revolution. Did I mention that Vince Russo booked this show? Average match with a below average finish. (2/5)

Bret Hart is backstage. I love the Calgary Hitmen logo. Hart cuts a promo on Lex Luger and I'm as confused as ever about why WCW felt like attaching these two at the hip. Their match is next...

Lex Luger makes his way down the aisle with Miss Elizabeth. Luger was being built up in a way not dissimilar to the way he was originally brought into WWE as a narcissitic egomaniac, posing in the ring for a good minute or two before Bret Hart makes his way down the aisle, limping from the basebal bat attack he suffered on Nitro. A fan holding an "Owen" jersey is shown in the crowd (Owen had passed in May of that year in a freak accident). Bret goes right on the attak and controls early, the Hitman getting some crowd approval for his efforts but definitely not as over as he could've been/should've been. Countless others have said it, but from Bret's bizarre debut at Starrcade to his mismanaged heel/face switches after that, the Hitman was, as Del Amitri might put it, "the right guy in the wrong situation" for almost his entire WCW tenure. While his execution is still excellent from a technical perspective, this match, like the previous one, comes across as rather cold because, despite screwing Hart in his title match against Sting, title match screwjobs had become so commonplace in WCW over the previous few years that this sort of attack doesn't really register as a grudge-worthy. To make an analogy, if every time you went to Dunkin Donuts, a random guy in front of you got the last jelly, you're anger towards the random guy in front of you would morph into anger for Dunkin Donuts. That's where WCW was now. Screwing someone out of the title had become such a regular occurrence that you really couldn't fault a heel or a babyface for doing it. Hart's damaged knee ends up costing him the match and Luger gets the clean win because, again, this is WCW and it seems they actively wanted to make Bret Hart a non-star. And to think there are conspiracy theorists who believe Hart was sent to WCW to "sabotage" it from the inside! Haha! If anything, McMahon was the one in cahoots with WCW to sabotage Bret's career. Another sub-average match. (2/5)

Madusa comes out with the Nitro cologne and "shoots" on the Powers That Be, calling "bullshit" on what they are making her do. She poursthe cologne on Bobby Heenan. I'm going to give this a point just because its a pretty insane angle they went for here. (+1)

Hulk Hogan's music plays but the challenger doesn't walk out as Tony and Bobby speculate that he's playing mind games with his opponent, the WCW World Champion, Sting. The Stinger walks out looking unfazed and Hogan's entrance theme is played again. The Hulkster finally shows up but is wearing what I believe are intended to be "street clothes" but most people button their sleeveless shirts when they walk the street. Hogan proceeds to lie down in the ring and let Sting pin him. Oh my f'n god. They cut very quickly to the Sid/Goldberg promo video before Tony and Bobby can even make any comment about the match. The crowd boos mercilessly. Just insanely stupid. (0/5)


The United States Championship match is next - Sid defending the strap against Goldberg, who is not quite at peak-level of overness but is still easily the most over babyface they have on the roster. As Goldberg makes his entrance, the Outsiders attack him. This allows Sid, who is still sporting quite a bit of blood on his face, to take control in the entrance way for a brief spell. Goldberg fights back, though, and sends Sid into the guardrail. To his credit, Sid bumps and sells for the former Atlanta Falcon with a fair amount of gusto. I was under the assumption that the blood on Sid's face was fake, but it seems real (and really dangerous) as he continues to bleed profusely throughout the match. I'm not exactly sure why they opted to have Sid actually do a blade job in a backstage segment but whatever. On commentary, Tony and Bobby talk up how brave and impressive Sid is - essentially working to turn him babyface because Russo had no patience to do these sorts of turns organically over time? Goldberg is merciless here, just going after the gash in Sid's head with clubbering blows. Finally the ref stops the match for blood loss. Sid gets back up and wants the match re-started. Rick Steiner shows up and now the fans don't know how to react to Sid. Another non-finish. I got my answer as to why they didn't just fake the blood earlier as they wanted to make it as believable as possible that he couldn't continue the match and opted to just have him lose a couple pints. This was above-average in that it is one of the weirder matches, from beginning to end, I've ever seen. (3/5)

Ric Flair's date night with Kimberly is partially re-aired, but for whatever reason, they don't play the actual spanking scene despite that being the most notable part of the segment.

Sting makes his way back down the aisle and lets the fans know that he didn't come to Las Vegas for a night off, which gets him cheered. He lays down an open challenge to whoever has the guts to face him tonight. Very babyface-ish action to take. I guess he's not a heel anymore either. How many pseudo-turns have we got tonight?

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Ric Flair in a strap match is next. The clusterfuck nature of the previous 30 minutes has basically killed all the heat for this match as the reactions they get are mild until they fight in the stands. They make their way back towards the ring and Flair forces himself onto Kimberly. This allows Page to get the upper hand and in case you didn't see enough blood in the Sid match, Flair gigs himself too. Brawls don't need to be filled with huge spots or innovative striking, but this match lacks anything to make it stand out, Flair relying on "getting color" and signature chest chops to stretch the match rather than actually building any sort of story or suspense. Page, legendary for his meticulous approach to laying out matches, obviously did nothing of the sort here. Flair goes after Page's knee - another telling sign that Flair was calling this (and turned it into a standard Flair match) and didn't really care about building the match around the stipulation. Page hits the Diamond Cutter, but they seem to botch the finish - or it was Russo's booking? Page covers Flair and it seems like Naitch is meant to kick-out (he sort of does at 2.99) but Charles Robinson calls for the bell because Flair didn't really get a shoulder up or anything. David Flair comes in and gets struck by Kimberly's crowbar. Page then grabs the crowbar and beats Flair with it too. I can't believe the non-finish for Sting/Hogan wasn't the most bizarre match ending of the night. (1.5/5)

Ric Flair is put onto a stretcher as Tony and Bobby talk up how the match he just had may have ended his career. The tone doesn't really work after what we saw with Sid earlier. As Flair is put into the ambulance, the Filthy Animals show up and beat him down again. They hijack the ambulance and drive off into the Las Vegas night.

Main event time - Sting returns to the ring for the third time tonight and lays down an open challenge. Unsurprisingly, Goldberg shows up. Schiavone repeats multiple times that this is not a title match. Charles Robinson runs down the aisle to officiate, not looking too bad considering he just took a Diamond Cutter ten minutes earlier (and move that Bobby and Tony theorized ended the career of Ric Flair). Goldberg controls early, but Sting is able to mount some offense and even hits him with a great-looking splash from the top rope. Sting hits Goldberg with a spear, but Goldberg no-sells it. Goldberg goes for a spear in the corner but Sting sidesteps and Goldberg hits the post. The crowd pops huge as Sting hits multiple Stinger Splashes! Sting run the ropes, but Goldberg leap frogs him and hits him with a Spear! Jackhammer! This one is done. When people write about this match (which is rarely), they harp on the fact that this match runs under 5 minutes as evidence that its a "burial" of Sting, but the Stinger actually gets a fair amount of offense in and, momentarily, looks like he's on the brink of victory. Goldberg's finishing moves are, deservedly, protected, though, so once he hits them, the match should and does end. What doesn't make a lick of sense is that Goldberg is awarded the WCW World Championship. Tony says, "I guess he's the World Champion...and he's also the United States Champion as well," barely hiding how dumb he thinks all of this was. Sting hits Charles Robinson with his patented reverse DDT and Heenan jokes, "Why not?" as if to say, "What other BS can we put onto this show." I actually enjoyed this match, despite its brevity, but the booking and production around it is just so stupid. (2/5)



With a Kwang Score of just 1.8-out-of-5, if you watch a random 30 second clip of this show, you will most likely be (a) not entertained and (b) totally confused. Still, there is an odd charm to watching a 3-hour trainwreck and there are specific moments that are thought-provoking in a way that scripted, safely produced pro-wrestling television almost never is these days. The Sting/Hogan angle is awful, for example, but its also undoubtedly interesting to watch as it happens. Unfortunately, the astonishing number of "swerves" and not-so-subtle winks to the audience (in a misguided effort to appeal to "smart" wrestling fans) is not balanced out by actual good wrestling - something that Vince Russo has always downplayed when he's discussed the success of the WWE in 98' (where you might have had Sable and Val Venis and The Godfather pushing the envelope with their characters but you could also count on Austin, Foley, The Rock, Triple H, and Taker to put on convincingly serious and dramatic matches). Wrestling-wise, only Goldberg/Sid will keep your attention for its full run time, but if you're a fan of "So Bad - It's Good" wrestling shows, this one has enough bizarre booking and ludicrous "moments" to lend it a certain appeal.

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver