WCW Halloween Havoc 95'

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 95' - October 1995

Detroit, Michigan

COMMENTATORS: Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Hulk Hogan is the reigning WCW World Champion, Sting is the United States Champion, Diamond Dallas Page is the TV Champion, and Harlem Heat were the recognized WCW World Tag Team Champions at the time, though they do not compete on this show.

Halloween Havoc 95's opening contest is for the TV Championship - recently crowned champ Diamond Dallas Page defending against Johnny B. Badd. Before the match, we get a recap video highlighting the build for this match, a nice bonus that gives needed context. The match itself is damn good too. Page really gives his 1000% best, bumping like crazy and throwing character work into every second of the match. There are some hiccups, the finish is sloppy, and after the whooping that Badd takes I was never really convinced by his comeback, but these things don't detract too much from a highly engaging and action-packed contest. (4/5)

Macho Man vs. The Zodiac is next. Within the first minute, a deranged fan (?) tries to get into the ring and needs to be taken out by security. The crowd goes bonkers watching the unscripted action while Zodiac performs the worst second-rope something I've ever seen. Savage makes quick work of his opponent, arguably the worst performer of that decade, which is a real blessing. I'm going to give this one a point for being fast and featuring a run-in no one expected. (1/5)

Next up is a "revenge match" pitting Road Warrior Hawk against Kurosawa based on Kurosawa "breaking" the arm of Hawk at Great American Bash (I think?). This is a "nothing match" in that nothing interesting happens, but nothing atrocious happens either. Its completely forgettable. Not recommended viewing for anyone, even the biggest Road Warriors fan, though I will give this one a half-point for its finish, which at least establishes that Kurosawa is a heel worth fearing. (0.5/5)

Randy Savage is in the back and he shares his thoughts on a variety of topics, including Lex Luger and the Monster Truck match coming up later in tonight's show. Wacky.

Next up is the PPV debuts of the masked J.L (aka Jerry Lynn) taking on Sabu, who is accompanied to the ring by the legendary, original Sheik. The match starts off with a sloppy spot, but to make up for it, Sabu nails a wild springboard moonsault. From there, this is a total spotfest, both guys pulling out high-impact offense that wasn't typical for WCW in 1995. Still, what comes across most in this match is the sloppiness: the way Sabu haphazardly hits a somersault legdrop but crushes J.L's head with his backside, the way J.L constantly has to position himself for each spot instead of organically finding himself there, the botched victory roll from the top rope, even the lack of build or reasoning behind the Sheik throwing a fireball at a beaten opponent. While I still found this entertaining as a showcase for Sabu, it is a match devoid of logic, pacing, or a real story. (2.5/5)

We get two pretty silly segments next - first, some ominous words out of The Taskmaster, followed by Hulk Hogan rewarding the winner of the Halloween Havoc Harley contest. The winner and his unimpressed fiancee look anything but excited - I'm almost wondering if they were told, prior to this, that they actually hadn't won anything because they do not smile at any point. Network nugget of awkwardness!

Lex Luger vs. Meng is our next contest. Schiavone reminds fans that Meng holds a victory over Luger early on so I guess we're supposed to care. Pretty rudimentary action to start, with Luger attacking Meng's arm on the outside. At one point, Meng "hits" an elbow to Luger's face that comes up short by a good 5-6 inches but is still sold by the Total Package. Meng's offense is decent, a shoulderbreaker here and a piledriver there, but the audience just isn't biting, staying quiet the whole match. The "heat" segment of the match is fairly prolonged, which keeps Meng looking strong but doesn't make the match better as much as it makes the match longer. After Luger calls for the Torture Rack, Meng puts his golden thumb-cover on and connects with his patented Asiatic Spike. Before Meng can get the victory, though, Sullivan breaks the count and causes a DQ, giving Luger the win. This was part of of the "Is Luger in the Dungeon or not?" storyline which, while admittedly absurd, at least added intrigue to the Luger character and kept his name hovering around the main event. (1.5/5)

The Giant is backstage with "Mean" Gene and even back in 95' it is surprising how confident and articulate he was. While it is not a great promo or anything, it is still much clearer and better-delivered than one might expect from a rookie.

Brian Pillman and Arn Anderson arrive next to take on Ric Flair and Sting. Flair doesn't show at first, though, which leads to some loud "We Want Flair" chants. Sting holds his own for a little while, including a cool spot where he hoists Pillman up in a press slam while staring down The Enforcer outside the ring. When Anderson takes the upperhand, Flair arrives in street clothes looking to get involved while Sting gets tossed out of the ring. The crowd goes wild for the Nature Boy, but Flair can't seem to make it into the match as every time Sting tries to make the tag, he gets cut off by the heels. This goes on for almost a painful amount of time - all the while, Flair never does get his hands on Anderson or Pillman. The "milking" of the hot tag is so flawless that it makes the Flair heel turn even better than it might have been if Flair had rushed into the ring and turned on the Stinger immediately. In terms of wrestling action, there are plenty of matches just as good or better than this one - but when it comes to drama, it is hard to envision a more dramatic one than this. After the match, Flair cuts a classic promo with help from Anderson who tells the fans to "be careful what they wish for" because the Horsemen are back. Great storyline execution here and definitely one of the better matches/segments on this entire show. (4.5/5)

Lex Luger is in the back and I'll admit to being a bit of a mark for 90s-era Lex Luger promos. They are just insane. This is followed by a recap of the Giant/Hogan feud. Throughout the night, these segments have really helped the "watchability" of this show. (3/5)

The Monster Truck Battle is next. This is pure, 100% Wrestlecrap and is deserving of its reputation as one of the worst ideas WCW ever had - but it's also kind of too boring to enjoy even as "so bad - it's good" level garbage. The twist ending, where the Giant ends up stumbling off the roof, is the only reason to watch this segment and the only reason I’m going to give it a point. (1/5)

Lex Luger arrives next for his grudge match against Randy Savage. On commentary, Tony announces that he's not sure we'll even have a World Championship match due to what has happened to the Giant. Luger extends a hand in friendship to start the match, which Macho does not accept.  Jimmy Hart shows up dressed in black, presumably to make sure this match between Hulkamaniacs does not fly off the rails. In classic 90s WCW fashion, the announce team spends just as much time talking about what is happening in the ring as whatever Hogan is up to. The finish and lead-up to the finish make little sense (Why would Luger try to cheat? Why is Hart there again?). This is a disappointment of a match considering just how much bigger the first clash of these two genuine main event talents should have been. (2/5)

Tony Schiavone announces that Michael Buffer is going to go ahead and make the ring announcements, even though it is unclear whether The Giant will actually be competing (or is even alive).

Hulk Hogan's promo before the match is a thing of beauty and comes off as arguably more sincere than any of his roles on film. Equally great is his facial expressions as The Giant shows up, completely unscathed from falling off the roof of Cobo Hall. When Hogan's bandana comes off, it is revealed that he is sporting face-paint similar to Kevin Sullivan, a nice and bizarre touch. Unfortunately, all these smoke and mirrors are not enough to help the boring, one-dimensional in-ring action. The Giant is green as goose shit, at one point Hogan has to take the big man's hand and place it on his own neck to get a chokehold going. After Hogan clotheslines the big man over the top rope, there's a noticeable stretch of minutes before anything else interesting happens (a backbreaker from the Giant ends the lull). At least in the Vader matches, you had some stiff offense out of the heel - this match is a G-rated "brawl" featuring that devolves into one of the most homoerotic bearhugs I've seen in 25 years of wrestling viewing. The "Hulk Up" segment is predictable, but Jimmy Hart's heel turn (done off camera) that makes the finish special and also one of the most convoluted endings one could imagine. Savage and Luger turn up to help Hogan, but Luger ends up attacking Savage and turning heel too. This is followed by the arrival of the Yeti, who, along with The Giant, lock in a "double bear hug" that looks more like a weird clothed sex act. Luger then applies the Torture Rack on Hogan, solidifying his transformation into villainy. The clusterfuck ending makes absolutely no sense, leaving me to question whether to give this a 5 for its Wrestlecrappiness or a 0 for its actual crappiness. I’ll go with a 3.5 just because this is unlike any other match I’ve ever seen. (3.5/5)

With an average match/segment score of 2.4-out-of-5, Halloween Havoc 95’ is a watchable car crash. Parts of it actually very, very good – the Badd/DDP and Horsemen reunion are exceptional. Unfortunately, there is also a lot of “fat” on this card – Hawk/Kurosawa, Zodiac/Savage, and Luger/Meng are subpar, in one case by design but in the other two by execution. Savage/Luger is also underwhelming, a potential “dream match” that is never achieved. Still, there is something charming about the “high points” of this show, even the ridiculous main event and its absurdly overbooked finish.  

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver