Scariest of All-Time: Abdullah the Butcher

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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At 360 pounds and hailing from Sudan, Abdullah the Butcher was one of the scariest wrestlers to step into the ring. Much like yesterday's entry, Bruiser Brody, 'Abby' had a forehead that looked like a road map. He spilled gallons of blood through his career and even more flowed from the heads of his opponents, thanks to his handy fork.

I first remember Abdullah the Butcher in the Apter mags. It was later that I saw him wrestle on World Class Championship Wrestling, the AWA, and eventually WCW. His feud with Brody was legendary. I even had the Remco action figure of the Butcher and remember using fake blood during his matches, most notably against Carlos Colon, who was included in the two-pack.

Probably the best memory of Abby (for me) was at Halloween Havoc 1991 where he got 'fried' during the Chamber of Horrors match. Despite some negative press he's received in recent years, the Butcher was one of the most intimidating and scary wrestlers of all-time. Getting to see him get inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011 was an enjoyable moment for me too.

Boo Blog: Halloween Havoc: King of WCW PPV

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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My mind is blown as I write this blog. On the Halloween Havoc 97 episode of What Happened When with Tony Schiavone, he made the statement that Halloween Havoc was a bigger event for WCW than Starrcade. I found this hard to believe. For more than 30 years I've compared Starrcade to the WWE's WrestleMania event. Havoc I would have ranked third or fourth, putting it more in line with Royal Rumble or Survivor Series.

But boy was I wrong. I hopped online and did some research, pulling buy rate numbers that had been listed on several websites, so I'm not comparing apples to oranges, at least I don't think I am. Of the 12 years that Halloween Havoc and Starrcade ran, Havoc actually won the buy rate battle. Six times fans chose Havoc over Starrcade. Five times Starrcade won and in 1990 it was a tie. That was an interesting year because Ric Flair was no longer champion or challenger at either event. I know he was technically in the main event at Starrcade as the Black Scorpion, but you get my point. 

The biggest difference in events was in 1997 (assuming I've done my math right). Starrcade that year earned a 1.90 to Halloween Havoc's 1.10. The difference: Hulk Hogan vs. Roddy Piper was the main event of Havoc, while Starrcade saw the much-anticipated return of Sting as he faced Hogan. 

When Havoc debuted in 1989, the event had a 1.77 to Starrcade's 1.30. Not only was the event new, but that was the year they tweaked Starrcade for the first time and went with the Iron Man and Iron Team Tournament. Those were the only matches on the card, featuring Sting, Flair, Lex Luger, The Great Muta, The Road Warriors, The Steiner Brothers, Doom and The Wild Samons. I actually loved the concept, but in my 1-2-3 cents it probably hurt the company's biggest event of the year. 

There could be a few things that hurt Starrcade with the fans. WWF in 1987 introduced Survivor Series on the same night (Thanksgiving). This lead to Crockett Promotions to moving its event to December the following year after five years of happening on Thanksgiving night. The two years the event went without Flair, they changed it to Battle Bowl: Lethal Lottery. That was an idea that sounded good but was poorly executed.

While Havoc didn't necessarily dominate Starrcade in any particular year, as I just sit and think of the past events for each, the Havoc main events stand out more to me. I credit that to the silliness tied in with the event, but they could get away with that because of the Halloween theme. Between Spin the Wheel Make the Deal in '92, Southern Fried Abby in '91 and the "death by Monster Truck" by the Giant followed up by the debut of the Yeti in '95 it's hard to deny the pay per view's impact on the business.

It's still hard for me to consider that Halloween Havoc was more over than Starrcade. But I get it. It just took nearly two decades for it to finally sink in and accept. This further leads to my desire to see Halloween Havoc as a WWE event.

Boo Blog: Piper scares Hogan and me

Roddy Piper's WCW debut
Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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In 1996 the Monday Night Wars were in full effect. Despite the fact that they were losing, I was all in with the WWF. Of course, I was a wrestling fan and watched both companies. But when I had to choose, I always went with Vince McMahon and company. But on a Sunday night in October 1996 I was listening to the Halloween Havoc pay per view. Back then you could hear, but not see PPV via 'scramble vision' on cable. It's probably highly unethical, but I was a poor 24-year-old saving up for a wedding.

Hulk Hogan had just beaten "Macho Man" Randy Savage in the main event. As a newly turned heel, Hogan celebrated in the ring with other nWo members. Hollywood Hogan taunted the crowd and sang his own praises. Then all the sudden the familiar bagpipes hit. My attention was immediately focused on the TV as the image scrambled in and out. But there was no doubt "Rowdy" Roddy Piper was the latest WWF Superstar to defect to WCW.

Piper confronts Hogan
Courtesy: WWE

Hogan of course sold the arrival like a champ. He looked as if Piper had just risen from the dead and had come to Halloween Havoc to haunt Hogan. The rivalry from 11 years prior was about to get a second life. Piper ripped Hogan to shreds on the mic and the two engaged in a year long feud that culminated at the following Havoc, with Piper winning in a non-title cage match. 

As I mentioned, I was all-in for WWF so Piper's arrival shocked me. I don't recall this one being spoiled by the internet. But the move also really disappointed me. I loved Hot Rod and just months earlier he had battled Goldust at WrestleMania 12. I figured when he had stopped appearing he was on another one of his sabbaticals from the company and would eventually be back. Eventually he was, but he spent a big chunk of his career with WCW.

Retire the Hell in a Cell PPV this year

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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If you've been keeping up with the blogs and podcasts here from My 1-2-3 Cents you've heard Chad and I both talk about the overuse of the Hell in a Cell matchup with the specialty pay per view. The 2016 show will feature three HIAC matches, plus the one from WrestleMania 32. 

At one time HIAC was a special match that fans anticipated. Now it's an expectation and no only do fans expect at least a couple of these matches in October each year, they also expect to be wowed each time the Superstars step into the cage. Don't get me wrong, I like the Hell in a Cell match. I was in the crowd at the very first one in 1997. 

But it's just not so special anymore. I have no doubt at this year's show all six competitors, including Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks (the first women to compete in the structure), will do an amazing job. I'm not sold that all three rivalries need to be settled in HIAC. I just hope no one gets hurt trying to one-up the other as the show goes on.

Chamber of Horrors
Courtesy: WWE

Here's what I'd like to see in October 2017: the return of Halloween Havoc (I blogged about it earlier this month). Include two HIAC matches there. One would be a "serious" match and one with more of a campy feel with the Chamber of Horrors theme. That match from Havoc '91 featured several "instruments of torture" the wrestlers used on one another during the battle. It was hokey as hell but lots of fun. 

Halloween Havoc 2017 can feature other ghosts and ghouls like the previous events did. Maybe Gangrel can return for a spot match. Kevin Throne, Ariel and the return of The Creatures (two masked wrestlers) could all be a part of the show. Just no Monster Truck matches. 

Boo Blog: The Creatures

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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I'm watching Halloween Havoc '91 for a part of Monday's podcast (there's an interview guest too with Chikara Pro's Kobald). One of the matches I'd forgotten about was the second contest on the card, rapper PN News and Big Josh (later Doink the Clown) vs. The Creatures. 

The Creatures were two guys wearing green masks and green tights. It was the first and only time this team would be on WCW television. Until today I had no idea who the men under the masks were. Turns out the late "Jumpin'" Joey Maggs and Johnny Rich (Tommy Rich's cousin) were the Creatures. 

The Creatures

The match was clearly set up to put over the good guys and include a Halloween gimmick not a part of the regular roster. News scored the pin with Big Josh standing on his back. I don't recall this duo doing anything after Halloween Havoc either. News left in early 1992 and Josh eventually went to WWE and became Doink.

Maggs had bounced around different promotions through his career. I remember him best from reading about him in the Apter magazines. He retired from wrestling in 1998 and sadly died a decade ago at the age of 37. 

So the Creatures may not go down in wrestling history for anything other than a quick hit (if even) at Halloween Havoc. But I felt the need to recognize this spooky duo in time for the holiday.

Boo Blog: Bring back Halloween Havoc

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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A few years ago I did a blog a day on a Halloween related topic in the month of October. While I have no intention of carrying on with that project, I am going to write about some Halloween themes this month.

In 1989 when WCW introduced the world to Halloween Havoc I was a big fan. Even though I was a huge WWF fan, I still was a wrestling fan in general and when the competition offered something different I took notice.

Deep-fried Abby
Courtesy: WWE

The main event that year was Sting and Ric Flair against the Great Muta and Terry Funk in a Thunderdome match. Two years later we got the classic Chamber of Horrors match where Abdullah the Butcher was placed in an electric chair and zapped.  

Fast forward now some 25 years and WCW no longer exists. WWE is providing two pay per view specials per month because of the new brand split. The company brought back the old Clash of Champions for the most recent Raw event. I'm in favor of bringing back the Halloween Havoc moniker and going back to some of those cheesy, campy matches from the past.

The Wyatt Family
Courtesy: WWE

If you're a regular reader, you know I'm not crazy about the gimmick matches, but a Chamber of Horrors match or two under the Halloween Havoc name could be good for nostalgia purposes. It seems the Wyatt Family would be the perfect group to lead a team into battle in this type of matchup. 

I was disappointed after WWE bought WCW 15 years ago that Halloween Havoc wasn't one of the events brought over. Great American Bash may have been one of the few events that made the cut. What's old is new, so I say bring back Halloween Havoc. I know it's too late this year, but I'd love to see it happen in 2017.

Boo: What the Truck?!?

Monster Truck Sumo Match
Halloween Havoc '95
Photo courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

Let's face it, through the years, wrestling as a whole has probably had more misses than hits.  But when the hits are good, they're awesome.  When they stink, they're probably a WCW idea.  I'm kidding, the WWF/WWE has had its fair share of goose eggs too.  But for this blog, I'm picking on WCW's Sumo Monster Truck match at Halloween Havoc 1995.

Hulk Hogan was the WCW world heavyweight champion and was flirting with the dark side.  He had abandoned the yellow and red and was sporting a black bandanna and tights.  He was challenged in this "match" by The Giant.  The two monster trucks in the challenge were welded together to add to the suspense of it all.

Timber! The Giant falls

I never been one for NASCAR, Monster Trucks, or any other competition of the sort, so to me this was quite a poor and a time waster.  Giant drove the Dungeon of Doom's "Monster", while Hogan drove a yellow truck that sported his trademark "pythons" on either side.  Hogan eventually forced the Giant and his truck out of the circle, but the future Big Show sought revenge against the champion.  The two fought on the roof for a couple of minutes before the Giant tumbled over the side.  Hogan tried to save the fallen monster, even running for help.  The reaction of the commentary team was priceless, with Bobby Heenan (I think he said it), "What do we do now?" Eric Bischoff of course over sold the whole thing, which made me cringe.  In all honesty, it was Heenan's wit during the entire showdown that even made this watchable for me.

Hogan vs. Giant
Giant wins by DQ

This of course is where you have to suspend reality.  Had the Giant really fallen off the roof, would the show have continued?  Keep in mind this is pre-Owen Hart, and a different company, so there's no telling what would have actually happened.  But perhaps the silliest part of the night came when the Giant actually made it to the ring to wrestle and defeat Hogan (by disqualification) in the main event.  Hogan's manager Jimmy Hart turned heel, hitting both the referee and Hogan with the championship belt.  Blah.

Boo: Spinning Again

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

Halloween Havoc 93 returned with the Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal contest.  This time, Vader and Cactus Jack were squaring off.  The show kicked off with a cheesy skit involving some kids and Tony Schiavanoe.  Then they went into the arena with Eric Bischoff in touting the wheel, and then cut to Schiavanoe dressed like Jessie Ventura.  Jess was dressed as "the best gynecologist on Burbon Street."

Opening match featured Harlem Heat & the Equalizer vs. Ice Train, Charlie Norris, and Shockmaster.  Wow, what a combo.  Harlem Heat members were Kole and Kane, no Booker T or Stevie Ray at that point.  Shockmaster's team wins.

"Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff (with the Assassin) and Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat had a pretty good match.  I don't recall if the two ever met up when they were in the WWF.  Orndorff won this one by countout after Assassin knocked out the Dragon with a loaded mask.

The two Brits, Lord Steven Regal and the British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith, battled to a time limit draw for the WCW TV championship.

Wheel of Misfortune

This year's wheel for the Spin the Wheel looked more like something out of a cheesy Hollywood western.  There were a pair of longhorns at the top, arrows on the wheel.  Then it started sparkling when it was spun by Vader.  This year, it landed on the Texas Death Match.

"The Natural" Dustin Rhodes beat "Stunning" Steve Austin in a U.S. title defense.  Another great prelude to the Goldust vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin matches in the WWF in the years to come.  The Nasty Boys with Missy Hyatt won the tag team titles back from Too Cold Scorpio and Marcus Alexander Bagwell.

He's got the wrong foot!

A rematch from Havoc '90, Sid battled Sting.  Sid had spent the last couple of years in the WWF and was back with WCW.  This time, Col. Robert Parker was his manager.  This match was to "determine who is the franchise of WCW."  Duh, I think we knew that before the bell even sounded.  Of course Sting won.  It was such a hokey finish with Parker "accidentally" grabbing Sid's leg, which lead to Sting pinning the big man.

Cool tights!

Ric Flair lost his bid to capture the NWA heavyweight title from "Ravishing" Rick Rude by disqualification.  Terry Taylor was the special guest enforcer for the match.  Double ref bump, Rude tried to cheat with brass knucks but lost them, Flair got DQed for using them.  This was back when WCW was recognizing the NWA title as a "world title" too.  I must say Rude's "Halloween" tights were epic.

Shocking!

Vader and Jack battled it out in a brutal Texas Death Match.  Vader was the WCW Champion at the time, but the belt was not on the line. Since there were no disqualifications, Harley Race got involved too.  Lots of chair shots and a battle into the "graveyard" set.  Both men ended up bloodied and battered. Race ended up using a taser on Cactus, who couldn't respond to the 10 count and lost the match.  This was another crappy finish in my opinion.

With the exception of the 6 man opener, this was a pretty good event.  The Sid-Sting match was kinda lame, especially the finish.  The Texas Death match was good, but I hated the finish.  Half the matches on the card were title matches, something we don't see much of these days.  And personally, I missed Jim Ross calling Havoc like he had on the previous four.  He had just left the company for WWF.

Boo: Spin the Wheel...

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

Wow, what a difference a couple of years make in terms of a WCW pay per view.  Halloween Havoc 1992 had a lot of old faces from WWF in the event.  The show opened with Tony Schiavone and Bruno Sammartino running down the matches.  Then Jesse Ventura and Jim Ross were doing the play by play.  I had forgotten Jesse was a part of WCW so early on.

I should also note that this was a definite transition year for WCW.  Of course Ric Flair had been gone from the company for more than a year at this point.  But he'd be returning soon from the WWF.  Secondly, Lex Luger was out of the picture.  It was a little odd missing these two WCW mainstays.

Sting of course was, and is considered the poster boy for WCW.  This PPV was centered around he and Jake "the Snake" Roberts' Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal match.  And once again, this was another cheesy gimmick by WCW.  The set for the wheel spinning reeked of low quality.  It was like a goofy 70's game show meets B Horror film.  Plus Sting's reaction to it all seemed exaggerated.  Anyway, Sting had to spin a wheel that looked like a big buzzsaw blade.  There were 12 options, and where ever the wheel stopped, that was the type of match the two would have.

Where's Vanna?

The wheel stopped on Coal Miner's Glove match.  I think prior to this event, I had no idea what a Coal Miner's glove match entailed.  I wonder if this was planned, or if it was a legit spin.  They had all kinds of props on standby depending on where the wheel would land.  A pole was put up with a coal miner's glove on the top.  Allegedly the glove was lined in steel.  And we're reminded again, this match is not sanctioned by WCW.  Does that really matter?  Nah.  But it's all good.

That's going to leave a mark

Pretty basic match between the two.  Jake hit a DDT, which I will still argue was the best in the business.  Sting did a pretty cool jump and spin on the pole.  He climbed for the glove, as Cactus Jack brought Jake's cobra to the ring.  But the cobra bit Jake in the face, helping Sting get the win.  Good Lord, it was a lame way to end the match.  The damn glove was never even a factor in the match.  The snake biting was pretty silly.  The WWF did something similar a year earlier with Roberts' cobra biting Randy Savage.

Ron Simmons vs. the Barbarian

The WCW World title match was Ron Simmons defending against The Barbarian, in my opinion was pretty weak.  No offense to the Barbarian, but I would have never picture him as a contender, much less on one of the biggest PPVs of the year for the company.  A Ron Simmons-Cactus Jack match would have probably been a better draw.  In my opinion, this was just another way to undermine Simmons' title reign.  Weak opponents=weak champion...

Other Notes:

I love Jesse Ventura and JR together doing commentary.  Again, I'd never seen any Halloween Havocs before (except for '91) so these two together was a real treat.

Ricky Steamboat and Brian Pillman had an outstanding match.  Steamboat pinned Pillman, who was slowly turning heel at the time.

Big Van Vader completely dominated Nikita Koloff.  Vader was defending the U.S. for Rick Rude.

"Stunning" Steve Austin teamed up with Dr. Death Steve Williams as a sub for Terry Gordy against Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham.  Match ended in a draw.  It's fun watching these guys in the pre Stone Cold and Goldust.

Paul E. Dangerously fired Madusa from the Dangerous Alliance.  She then proceeded to kick his ass on the stage.

Rude vs. Chono (From WWE)

Despite that firing, Madusa joined Rick Rude as he beat Masahiro Chono by disqualification in a match for the NWA title.  Each man got to pick a referee for the match.  Rude picked Harley Race (Vader's manager) and Chono had Kensuke Saski.  Let me just say, I really, really miss the Ravishing One.   Rest in Peace.

I watched a condensed version of the PPV, but I will say many of the matches were pretty long.  Some over 20 minutes, the tag match went 30.  These guys were able to tell great stories, Rude-Chono and Pillman-Steamboat come to mind immediately.  There wasn't a whole lot of gimmicky, cheesiness on this event like previous Havocs.  (Of course the Spin the Wheel is the exception here)  The undercard definitely outshined the two "main events" of the evening.

Boo: Southern Fried Butcher

Torture!

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

By the time Halloween Havoc '91 rolled around, WCW was without it's longest running wrestler.  Ric Flair had left the company that summer and moved to the WWF.  Lex Luger was now carrying the banner for WCW and defending the world title against Ron Simmons.  This was actually the only Halloween Havoc I ever watched.  I think my roommate in college had recorded it for us to see.

The show opened up with video of Barry Windham being injured by the Enforcers (Arn Anderson and Larry Zybysko).  That forced Windham off the pay per view.

Sting vs. Jack

The first match of the night, the Chamber of Horrors.  It was a giant cage, much like Thunder Dome from two years earlier.  There were all kinds of "Instruments of Torture" in the cage.  Random people popped out of caskets.  There were handcuffs on the cage.  Kendo sticks.  All kinds of gimmicks. The whole goal in the match was to put an opponent into the Chamber of Horrors Chair of Torture and pull the "fatal level."  There were no pins, no submissions.  Just a lot of brawling.

The two teams: Diamond Studd (Scott Hall), Big Van Vader, Abdullah the Butcher, and Cactus Jack
battled Sting, the Steiner Brothers, and El Gigante.  The match also featured a first, the "Refer-eye Cam."  The ref wore a camera on his head for the match that the director took throughout.  Actually a pretty cool concept.  Not crazy about the name though.

Stick a fork in him...

As you can image, this wasn't a pretty match.  There were several times were a guy was placed in the chair, but no one was there to throw the switch and "shock" the opponent.  Jack and Abby juiced early on in the match, no shock there either.  But the shock did come when Rick Steiner belly to bellied Abby into the chair and an unaware Jack pulled the switch.  Lots of sparks flew and the lights were turned down.  The Butcher looked like a guy on death row who had just been put into the chair.  His reaction was priceless as he sat unconcscious, bleeding and sweating all over the place.  When Abby came to he attacked Cactus and all the guys brought to ringside to help him with a stretcher.

Probably the highlight of this pay per view was the WCW Halloween Phantom.  He had been teased as being a part of the show.  Remember, this was pre-Internet, so we didn't really know who was under the mask.  I was surprised to see it was "Ravishing" Rick Rude, returning to WCW after spending about 3 and a half years in WWF.  He had been "suspended" by WWF for making comments about the Big Bossman's mother and fans hadn't seen nor heard from him in almost a year.

Wait for it...

Rude may have been one of the most under appreciated guys in the business.  While he had a brief run as Intercontinental champion in WWF, he was largely overlooked.  I think it was because back then Vince focused more on the faces, as it was Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, and Randy Savage with the belt during Rude's stint with WWF.

Anyway, Rude beat the Z-Man, Tom Zenk at the show.  The fans were sitting on their hands as he came to the ring.  Once he got into the ring and started attacking, it was pretty clear it was Rude. He even ended the match with the Rude Awakening. Of course Tony Schiavone even called the move that.

Rude awakening...

I'm not sure why, but for some reason they waited until after the tag team title match to unmask Rude along with Paul E. Dangerously and Madusa.  This was the night the foundation was laid for the Dangerous Alliance.  Rude declared war on WCW U.S. Champion Sting.  He vowed to win the title, and sure enough, eventually he did.

After the announcement, Schiavone called it the biggest thing to happen to WCW all year.  While I think it was ONE of the biggest things to happen, I'd say the company stripping Ric Flair of the title and not resigning him was the biggest game changer that year.

Other notes:

• The set for this show looked more like a high school drama club built it.  And that's not a knock on high school drama clubs.  But come on, by this time WCW was under the Turner banner and you'd think some dough could be spent on a better set.
• "Stunning" Steve Austin defended against Dustin Rhodes.  The two went to a 15 minute time limit draw. Who knew within a few years both men would have radically different personas in the WWF
• Lex Luger beat Ron Simmons in the title match.  It was best two out of three falls.  One of the falls Luger won was by disqualification.  This match helped to propel Simmons, and about nine months later, he'd actually win the title.
• One Man Gang, Barry Windham, and Oz (Kevin Nash) were all supposed to be on Diamond Studd's team in the cage.  Gang left WCW, Windham turned face and got hurt, and I'm not sure what happened to Oz.

So this pay per view was memorable for me because of the frying of Abby and the debut of Rude.  Other than that, a lot of it seemed like something you'd see on free TV.

Boo: Double Vision

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

By the time the second installment of Halloween Havoc rolled around, a lot had changed in WCW. At the 1989 pay per view, Sting and Ric Flair teamed up as the company's top two baby faces.  Flair was the champ.  But it didn't take long for him to turn on Sting and drop the WCW title to the Stinger.

Flair was sidetracked in a tag team title feud with Arn Anderson, challenging Teddy Long's team of Doom.  Sting was set to defend against Anderson and Flair's fellow Horsemen  member Sid Vicious.  Sting was also being tormented by The Black Scorpion while this match was being set up.

The show started off with good ol' JR and Paul E. Dangerously dressed in costume.  The opening contest was an upset victory for Ricky Morton and Tommy Rich over the Midnight Express.  The Southern Boys did run interference and helped the faces win.

Look out Sting!

Next was an extremely cheesy vignette with Sting and Black Scorpion.  JR and Paul E. oversold this skit, with Paul being borderline annoying.  It's the one with the female fan and Scorpion disappearing and reappearing.  Lame sauce.

Renegade Warriors, Chris and Mark Youngblood made their WCW PPV debut on this show against Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin, the Freebirds.  Little Richard Marley was in their corner.  (He was once Rocky King)  The Birds won this one with some help from LRM.

An interview with the Horsemen minus Barry Windham... interesting.  Of course if you've seen this show you know why that is.  We'll get to it, be patient.  Love classic Flair and AA.  Woooo!

Third match, and it's the third tag team matchup.  The Nasty Boys challenging for the U.S. tag team titles.  Remember when there were enough tag teams to have two different titles.  This is another moment, I don't remember the Nastys being in WCW PRIOR to their WWF run.  I knew they wrestled in the AWA.  I thought they jumped from there to the WWF.  Anyway, the Steiners retain with a sloppy Frankensteiner, but that move is still really awesome.  Scott Steiner was so much better in my opinion before he became "Big Poppa Pump." Right after the match Scott was attacked during an interview by the Nasties who were dressed like concessionaires.  How did they change so quick?

Fourth match is ANOTHER tag team match.  This one is the world tag team title match.  Horsemen vs. Doom.  Anderson was the TV champ then, forgot that too.  Interesting they sidelined Flair for a tag team title feud.  SmackDown! General Manager Teddy Long is accompanying Doom for this one.  This match quickly went from wrestling to fighting and ended in a double count out.  This of course took us to Starrcade for the St. Louis Street Fight between the two teams.  Although Flair would be "hurt" and replaced by Barry Windham that night.

Stan Hansen and his mouth full of tobacco threaten Lex Luger.  Dude, he's as bad as Skinner.  Gross.  Hansen was a man of his words that night and beat Luger.  Back then I knew little of Hansen and was disappointed that he won the title.  I do recall his run as AWA world champion, so I knew who he was.  Yes, I will admit it, I was a Lex Luger fan back then.  Ref bump and a cow bell from Dan Spivey helped Hansen here, although he pinned Lex cleanly.  Luger ended up regaining the belt two months later at Starrcade.

Title match is set to begin, with Missy Hyatt joining the broadcast team.  I just realized I'm watching this on a DVD where some of the matches are cut, so ignore the comments about all the tag team matches.  There were several singles matches, most of which I question why there were on PPV, and understand why WWE left them on the cutting room floor.  No offense Brad Armstrong, J.W. Strong, or Moondog Rex.

Sid is pretty much a brawler, nothing too exciting out of this match.  Actually a weak main event in terms of wrestling. Sting did a good job.  I always liked the Beach Bum version of the character more than any other.  The action spilled out of the ring several times.  Flair and Anderson distracted the ref as Sting and Sid fight to the back.  Then they return and Sid pins Sting when Sting can't bodyslam the big man.  Sid is even introduced as champ.  But the celebration is cut short when the real Sting returns to the ring with ropes tied around him.

Sting splashes Sid and pins him.  But before all that, WCW did a fireworks display and dropped a bunch of orange and black balloons.  I think it was premature because it all happened BEFORE Sting one.  Of course it was revealed that the Sting who was pinned was actually Sid's fellow Horsemen Barry Windham.  It was an extremely sloppy execution.

Barry "Sting" Windham

They never really said it was Barry that night, JR speculated that it was.  With all the Black Scorpion hype and the tag line "Terror Rules the Ring" I didn't find anything other than Sid's performance and the lame finish terrifying.

Other notes from the show, Kevin Nash was a part of the pay per view.  He was kind of like Glenn Jacobs searching for the right gimmick.  At Halloween Havoc he was "Steel" and one half of the Master Blasters.  It's one of many gimmicks he played before finding success in the WWF as Diesel.

Fire up the grill, we're having Southern Fried Butcher at the 1991 installment of the show.  That review is coming up soon.

Boo: It's Electric

Thunderdome!

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

For the first time ever, I've sat down and watched Halloween Havoc 1989.  With the exception of HH '91, I don't think I've ever seen any of these WCW classics.  I did watch some of them on "scramble vision" in the late 90's.

The inaugural event was in Philadelphia.  Jim Ross and Bob Caudle did the play by play for the night.  JR did a nice job giving histories on each man in the ring.  It was good hearing some of his stuff from 'back in the day'.   I forgot that Mr. John Laurinaitis wrestled on the show.  He and Shane Douglas attempted to win the tag team titles from the Fabulous Freebirds.  Who would have thought that Michael Hayes and Johnny Ace would be two of the WWE's top guys backstage some 21 years later?

Muta vs. Sting

The main event of the night touted the first "Thunderdome" matchup.  It was an electrified steel cage match pitting Sting and Ric Flair (rivals becoming buddies) against Terry Funk and the Great Muta.  In a pre match interview, Funk referred to the structure as a 10,000 Watt Boogie.  Bruno Sammartino was the guest referee for the match.

No pinfalls counted in the match.  Ole Anderson was outside the ring for the faces, Gary Hart was outside for the heels.  So one of them had to throw in the white towel for his team.  Before the match even started, part of the cage caught fire.  Muta even climbed up and used his green mist to put out the flames.  It almost seems like an early version of the Hell in a Cell, only a bit more shocking.  The managers were also inside this structure.

Flair measures up Funk

For those who don't remember the history, Flair and Funk had been feuding since Funk attacked Nature Boy after winning the world title back from Ricky Steamboat.  Muta and Sting had a separate program going on.  It's crazy watching how young Sting and Muta are in this match, heck even Funk is in pretty good shape.  And Natch is 40 years old here and looks fantastic too.

The guys know that the top of the cage is electric, what's the point of climbing up there?  Who wants to get shocked like that?  You can't win the match by escaping, so what's the point.  Heck, Bob Caudle just basically asked the same question.  It's good to see Funk was "middle age and crazy" 20+ years ago.

Look close, the towel is in mid air.

There would have been a great shot of Flair chopping Funk, but the camera blocked by a prop on the cage.  The match had a screwy ending.  Flair locked Funk in the figure four and Sting did a couple of top rope splashes on Funk.  Hart refused to throw in the towel.  He and Anderson ended up in the ring, Bruno's back was turned, and Ole punched Hart hard enough to make the towel fly out of his hand.  It handed on Bruno's back, who then called the match.  Disappointing finish, and a somewhat awkward match at times.  I think that's because it was a new concept, but all four men did a great job telling a story.

Other observations: five of the eight matches on the card were either tag team or 6 man tag team matches.  Very interesting.  I think those days are far behind us.

Brian Pillman put up a good fight against Lex Luger.  I always supported Pillman, even during his babyface days.  I really wanted him to win the U.S. title that night, as he was certainly the underdog in this contest.

Why was the Cuban Assassin vs. Tommy Rich on pay per view?  Seems like a WCW Saturday Night match to me.

I enjoyed the 6 man tag between the Samoans and the Midnight Express and Dr. Death Steve Williams.

I've just started watching Havoc '90.  Look for My 1-2-3 Cents on that soon.

Trick or Treat

Boo!

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

Since it's October, I've decided to embark on a new blogging mission, and I've summoned Chad to help me.  He'll be throwing some posts into the mix soon.  The plan is a blog a day about something wrestling and Halloween related.  We'll look at gimmicks, matches, and pay per views that we've deemed scary, spooky, and just plain silly.

I've borrowed several copies of Halloween Havoc from the early years.  I'll be writing about some of the matches and performers on those shows.  I have only ever seen one of the pay per views (1991), so I'll be watching the first several years to come up with a few posts.

The Halloween Phantom (from WWE)

Remember the WCW Halloween Phantom from 91?  I'll talk about him in an upcoming blog.  If you do know who he is, don't ruin the surprise for those who might not.  He was brought in to WCW to help destroy Sting.

It won't be all scary or creepy memories either.  I'm counting on my Chikara Pro pro Chad to write about some of the crazy costumes in wrestling.  Chikara has plenty of them to chose from, I'm sure he'll share some of his favorites throughout the month.

But we also want to hear from you.  Are there wrestlers you want to know more about?  I may try to do a tie in with My 1-2-3 Cents on  YouTube too.  So post your suggestions here, or better yet like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.  Boo, boo, boo! You know it.