As I read my brother, Matt Ward’s, piece on WCW Halloween
Havoc, I became immersed with an intoxicating sense of good ’ol pro wrestling
nostalgia. I sat there and said to
myself, “Bah gawd (you know you just read that in Jim Ross’ voice), Halloween
Havoc was a great pay per view concept.”
You’d be treated to a stage set with a Halloween motif (granted some
years the presentation in the N64 classic WCW vs. NWO Revenge looked better),
some cheesy yet very appropriate Halloween music, and even some backstage
interviewers dressed for the occasion. There were even instances through the
years when WCW would straight up terrify the audience as was the case with the
Hollywood Hogan vs. The Warrior main event from the 1998 installment of the
show…if you’ve seen it you know what I’m talking about.
Now before I continue, sure, WCW certainly had its faults
and plenty of them (after all, they’d still be in business today if they didn’t)
but at the same time you could always say two things about them: 1. They never
had a shortage of top tier talent on their roster and 2. As outlandish or flat
out ridiculous as their ideas may have been at times, they always made the
attempt to put forth cutting edge match concepts. As one looks at the long
history of Halloween Havoc, which ran from 1989 through 2000, there was no
shortage of the aforementioned talent or match concepts. The star-studded
events included such legendary performers as Sting, Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, The
Ultimate Warrior, Stunning Steve Austin, Diamond Dallas Page, Cactus Jack, and
the list goes on and on while the match gimmicks ranged from a “Spin the Wheel,
Make the Deal Match” to today’s focal point, “The Chamber of Horrors Match.”
Growing up in New Jersey, I didn’t have cable and therefore
didn’t watch pay per views live. As Matt had mentioned, this left us at the
mercy of our local Blockbuster or Easy Video to satiate our fix. Since WCW didn’t
reach its peak until the inception of the NWO, older WCW pay-per-views were a
bit more difficult to come by at these now archaic establishments (unless you
live in Alaska). I remember back around 2003, I was perusing the sports
entertainment selection offered by the Manahawkin, New Jersey Blockbuster Video as I
stumbled across the rare gem known as WCW Halloween Havoc 1991. This event
boasted the dreaded Chamber of Horrors Match, which despite its predominant
billing, occurred first on the telecast.
This bout pitted two teams of four against each other inside
of an ominous, weapon laden, steel cage. At this point you might be saying to
yourself, “This just sounds like War Games.” Well hold on because shit’s about
to get weird. Not only was there a random coffin in the cage that opened
halfway through the match to release a masked gimp-like individual who just
started attacking the competitors, but I haven’t yet shared with you how
victory would be achieved. After the combatants fought for a few minutes,
another mini-cage with an electric chair within it was lowered into the center
of the ring. The goal was to trap a member of the other team in the “chair of
torture,” while another member of your team flipped the massive, Dr.
Frankenstein-like “fatal lever” affixed to the side of the cage thereby “electrocuting”
the poor soul in the chair. Yes, all of what you just read is correct…tune in
to the WWE Network if you don’t believe me.
The combatants of this match were a who’s who in sports
entertainment so my guess is they were paid A LOT of money to engage in this
match. Team number one was comprised of El Gigante, The Steiner Brothers, and
Sting, while the members of team number two included Big Van Vader, Cactus
Jack, Abdullah The Butcher, and The Diamond Studd (a young Scott Hall). This
match met its conclusion as Abdullah The Butcher seemingly had Rick Steiner
trapped in the chair while Cactus Jack climbed the cage wall to the “fatal
lever” primed to electrocute him. Unbeknownst to the man from Truth or Consequences,
New Mexico, Rick Steiner got the upper hand on Abdullah The Butcher and
strapped him into the “chair of torture.” In what ended up a comical, yet awe
inspiring, spectacle, Cactus Jack pulled the lever which caused the lights to
go out in the arena as sparks illuminated the ring and engulfed the “chair of
torture,” while a bloodied Abdullah The Butcher gyrated in the chair. The
sparks were so abundant, they even set the ring apron on fire temporarily….like
I said this is 20 minutes of must see TV.
In case you’re curious of what the rest of the card was
composed of, here you go:
P.N. News & Big Josh def. The Creatures
Bobby Eaton def. Terrence Taylor w/ Alexandra York (Terri
Runnels)
Johnny B. Badd (Marc Mero) w/ Theodore Long def. Jimmy
Garvin w/ Michael P.S. Hayes
WCW World Television Championship
Stunning Steve Austin (c) w/ Lady Blossom vs. Dustin Rhodes
- Fought to a draw as they reached the time limit.
Bill Kazmaier def. Oz
-This was another must see moment of the event as Oz, who
hailed from the Emerald City, was none other than Kevin Nash with a bleach
blonde flat top squaring off with Bill Kazmaier of ESPN and World’s Stongest
Man fame.
Van Hammer def. Doug Somers
WCW Light Heavyweight Championship
Brian Pillman def. Richard Morton w/ Alexandra York
The WCW Phantom def. The Z-Man
-While The Phantom was not unmasked during this contest, he
did defeat The Z-Man with The Rude Awakening-I think you can figure this one
out.
WCW World Tag Team Championship
The Enforcers (Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko) (c) def.
The Patriots (Todd Champion & Firebreaker Chip)
Interview Segment
Eric Bischoff (dressed up as Count Dracula) interviewed Paul
E. Dangerously w/ Madusa as he revealed the WCW Phantom to be Ravishing Rick
Rude.
WCW World Heavyweight Championship
Lex Luger (c) w/ Harley Race & Mr. Hughes def. Ron
Simmons w/ Dusty Rhodes
-Prior to this match, highlights of Ron Simmons at his alma
mater, Florida State, completing football drills, lifting weights, and running
bleachers was shown. As I watched, all I could think of was how appropriate it
would have been if the song “Montage” from the movie Team America played in the background.
If you’re ever in the mood for a healthy dose of early 90’s
pro wrestling entertainment complete with a ref wearing a helmet called the “refer-eye
cam” (almost forgot that part), then you could certainly do worse than WCW
Halloween Havoc 1991 available on demand on the WWE Network.
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