WCW Halloween Havoc 1991- UTC Arena

I really loved the spirit of this show, when they kept it really light and fun. There was a haunted house backdrop that some of the matches used for entrances. They also had a lot of Styrofoam graves up, with stupid epitaphs, such as “Keith, we all called him Ken.” The punchline must have been hidden under JR’s hat…or his sagging waistline. On to the action.

1 Abdullah the Butcher/ Cactus Jack/ Diamond Studd/ Vader v. Sting/ El Gigante/ Steiner Brothers (Chamber of Horrors)- 3

1st thing is 1st: 5 matches were cut from the tape I watched and I didn’t like it. Besides that, this was a match of such design cancer that has to be seen, because it will never be done again. The cage itself was massive and had litters of foreign objects laying around. Then, from the top, another smaller cage, this one with an electric chair in the middle would float down. The object was to get an opponent into it then pull the switch to juice them. Basically playing a county sheriff inside a wrestling ring. The match itself featured little to no moves at all, but there was some brawling. There was a lot of brawling, but most everybody was throwing real shots. At one point, a random masked wrestler popped from inside a casket, but then got slammed on top of it by Scott, much like he would slam many a cocktail at night, or his droopy “freaks” on long road trips. Cactus was basically the only person bumping plus Sting and Vader would plant the seeds for their awesome feud down the line by basically seeking each other out to pummel on. Abby eventually got put in the chair, as Cactus waited near the switch forever, and looking quite ridiculous doing it. Not as ridiculous as he looked hanging out with a clown, or kissing McMahon’s ass, but still quite ridiculous. After the match, a gaggle of white face painted jobbers who were titled “Ghouls” played Tina Turner to Abby and Cactus as they turned them into potato salad down the aisle.

2 Jimmy Garvin v. Johnny B. Badd- 5

The crowd was really hyped up for this match, and rightfully so. Garvin primped and posed around the ring, but got right down to business with the nastiness, in the form of a flying forearm. Badd was bumping all over the place and Michaels Hayes stood on the outside, trying not to look like he had an experiment with a man in the late 70’s even though it’s all over his face. The finish was pretty good, and both guys looked really crisp.

3 Dustin Rhodes v. Steve Austin- 6

The first few minutes they went through the paces; running the ropes, armdrags, hiplocks, arm bars, all the basics and they made them look good. Then Austin threw Rhodes outside the ring and pummeled his face in, like Andrew Dice Clay did in the movie “Brainsmashers”. Rhodes was cut after that, and then Austin was. Lady Blossom was at ringside, and I was sure by looking at her that she blossomed quite early. The match went to a 15 minute draw (the angle they always used for the TV title) and featured great near falls and wonderful psych by both men. A sign of good things to come for them later in their careers.

4 Tom Zenk v. Halloween Phantom (Rick Rude)- 2

The Phantom was in the most basic ring attire ever; black shirt, black pants and half white/ half black mask. He must’ve felt like Quentin Tarantino, or Bill Cosby for you older fans. Rude was briefly stiff and that was the match. His moustache rivals any thing Tom Selleck ever had on his putrid face and that’s cool with me.

5 The Patriots v. The Enforcers- 3

Anderson and Zybyszko tried to keep these two youngsters in line, but It just wasn’t happening. The match featured very little tag teaming, and mostly just them switching the advantage a few times before a lackluster ending. Firebreaker Chip has to go down as one of the all time lamest names for a wrestler.

6 Lex Luger v. Ron Simmons(2 of 3 Falls)- 6

The psychology of this match soared it to a good rating. Simmons won the first round early, with dominance. Then, Luger come back and worked over him slowly for almost the entire 2nd round, w/ his wonderfully cast manager Harley Race, helping him get thrown over the top rope and get a DQ for that round. Then, Luger scammed his way to a win with an UGLY piledriver. I don’t mean UGLY as in stiff, I mean UGLY as in Sapphire naked coming towards you. REALLY UGLY. But, overall a very commendable match, possibly some of their best each.