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October Classics: Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair - WCW Halloween Havoc '94

This is the blowoff to Hulk Hogan's feud with Ric Flair after Hogan's debut back in the spring/summer of '94. It has a cage, Mr. T as the referee, a mysterious masked Hogan attacker being unveiled. Overbooked, yes. Entertaining, also yes.



Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair (HH94 Part One) by mrbling



Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair (HH94 Part Two) by mrbling

Comments

  1. Yep, Flair put to pasture so Hogan can headline the company's biggest PPV event with his best friend and lifelong mid-carder. That WCW lasted another seven years after this is astounding.

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  2. Look at that role model Hogan beat up on a woman.

    Man, Sherri jumped off the top of the cage before it was in vogue!

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  3. "He has butchered a friendship!"

    No Bobby, he has butchered the main events for the next three months.

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  4. I find this time period to be very odd. The advertising for Starrcade went out right around this time and the two matches being advertised were Hogan vs. Vader and Flair vs. Sting.

    Apparently the Career vs. Career thing was added late. Beefcake was the second choice to be the masked man. The original choice was Curt Hennig.

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  5. Let's start an argument:


    WCW, 1994. After weeks of negotiations, WCW decides they cannot agree to all of Hulk Hogan's demands, and decide to move on without the Hulkster. The main sticking point is Hulk's insistence on complete creative control over not only his character, but some of his lesser friends also.


    Bad decision, good decision, or it doesn't matter?

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  6. Might lead to Dustin Rhodes and Steve Austin being WCW's top main eventers in the late 90's... so awesome decision would be the answer.

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  7. Terrible decision, Hulk brought a lot of eyeballs from WWF fans that they otherwise wouldn't have gotten at the time.

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  8. Maybe leads to Ric Flair vs. Steve Austin series for the title? Maybe Austin takes over as top heel and does a title run vs. Sting, Steamboat, Rhodes? I think WCW stays lower-status for a while, but I also don't think you HAVE to have Hogan signing in order to draw others. Guys were drawn from WWF to WCW due to Turner's big money and guaranteed contracts, not the almighty Hulk. Signing Hogan didn't make Turner rich. I think WCW gets an eventual influx of talent from Titan either way.

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  9. If only Beefcake wasn't brought into that main event role. I feel like Havoc should have been a tag match with Flair & Vader vs. Hogan & Sting. Then Starrcade could have been either the Hogan/Flair blowoff or even Hogan/Vader with Flair/Sting.

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  10. In the immediate sense, yes. Hogan brought true mainstream superstar status to WCW, but I think Turner's money eventually draws guys like Savage and company anyway

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  11. Hogan going definitely started the domino effect though, not sure any other guy leaving would have had the same pull to others.

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  12. I agree. I guess the extension to this is: once Savage and Luger jump to WCW in '95, do Nash & Hall still take the money and join WCW in '96? The nWo concept was independent of Hogan and, although it took his status to put it into the stratusphere, I do think it still does good business without Hulk in the company.

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  13. With no Hogan, you might not get so much dead weight, like Earthquake, Brutus, Kamala, and other retreads who were Hogan friends. Hopefully WCW builds its own stars while acquiring guys like Macho Man and Lex Luger in '95.

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  14. rip john tenta

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  15. If Hennig could work at that point, I think it would have been at least better than what we got. I'm assuming you get Hogan & Savage vs. Flair & Hennig at the next Clash or maybe SuperBrawl. Great continuity, even if they don't explicitly mention the WWF's history between Flair/Hennig/Savage.

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  16. Seriously, I could have dealt with Brutus as "Hulk's little buddy" a while longer, if it would have kept us from heel Beefcake headlining Starrcade.

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  17. Doubt that without Hogan, Bischoff would have had the clout to get Nitro on the air which means no Monday Night Wars and thus a HELL of a different wrestling world today.

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  18. In all honesty, I think if Dustin never left WCW he would have eventually turned on Dusty and joined the Horsemen in the Barry Windham role. Imagine a heel faction of Flair, Austin in the Tully role, and Arn & Dustin as the badass heel tag team running things. I don't think he runs into the same problems he encountered as Goldust, and I think he has a much more conventionally successful career as opposed to the spikes and drops he endured.

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  19. Gunther the Nasty LoserOctober 8, 2014 at 2:46 PM

    I always thought this show was kinda fun.

    Back in the day I used Scott's reviews as the guide to what to watch, and IIRC this one got a recommendation to avoid. Rec's to avoid meant I simply deferred watching, so when I finally did watch it, I remember enjoying it well enough.

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  20. Gunther the Nasty LoserOctober 8, 2014 at 2:47 PM

    "Let's start an argument:"

    Coke over Pepsi!

    Dark chocolate over milk chocolate!

    Gamma Ray over Helloween!

    Boobs over butts!

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  21. Maybe so. It's a great "what if" for sure. I think they can still land Savage in early '95 and get Luger later in the year. If you have Flair, Savage, Vader, Sting, Luger, maybe a main event-level Austin, Dustin you have enough firepower to secure the show? I mean, Ted was still going to have plenty of money to seek a Nitro-level show. I don't think the whole thing had to hinge on Hogan

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  22. I love this. Never thought about that. Dustin as a no-nonsense ass-kicker teaming with Arn is awesome.

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  23. This could have totally happened at Fall Brawl '94 too. Imagine if the teams just sort of turn on each other during War Games and a new Horsemen group of Flair/AA/Dustin/Austin forms before our eyes.

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  24. I don't know. I'm sure Dustin could have pulled it off but I loved him as a babyface. His work was tremendous in 93/94.

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  25. Not only that, but does the NWO become as "all-powerful" without Hulk's backstage power? Or does it get a proper blow-off, and go into the books as a successful angle that didn't help kill a company?

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  26. Of course, is there even an NWO?

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  27. True and quality wise, it's hard to believe 1995 could be that much worse for WCW than what we got under Hogan....

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  28. Neither, I'm off caffeine and both taste like shit in their caffeine-free versions.
    Slight edge to milk chocolate.
    No idea what the comparison is, so pass.
    I'm hardcore.

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  29. BTW, new 10th anniversary edition of "Death of WCW" is a good read, nice expansions on things like the insanity of 2000, more quotes (you never get tired of Jim Cornette railing on Russo) and more to show how bad it got but its lessons not quite learned (the last six pages are a rundown of only some of the stupid moves TNA has made).

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  30. I do, too. But I think the act was wearing thin by the end of '94. He didn't really have anyone left to feud with, even without Hogan there. I also think the Dusty/Dustin story would have made for some insane TV, because you know Dusty blades at some point to put over his kid. Imagine a War Games that ends with a bloody, defeated Dusty staring at his son joining forces with his greatest enemy.

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  31. 1. Pepsi all day
    2. Correct
    3. Neither
    4. HELL NO

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  32. Virgil's Gimmick TableOctober 8, 2014 at 3:23 PM

    Scott let the whole Hogan thing cloud his vision. Much like I'll probably look back fondly on most things besides Cena in 10 years. Havoc 94 was a fun show.

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  33. Virgil's Gimmick TableOctober 8, 2014 at 3:25 PM

    If I can lick milk chocolate off of some big titties while listening to Gamma Ray that'd be just fine.

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  34. Marvel over DC!

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  35. Fuck it. Can't stand it. I know Flair didn't want to do it, I know it only happened to get Flair out of the way for Hulkamania to run wild. It's awful. Hate.

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  36. Hogan and Friends (whichever ones he was supporting at the time) is why I cannot watch any WCW from his entry in 1994 to the end.


    Just too much anger and sadness.

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  37. I bet there's a certain former BOD writer who reviewed a bunch of Nitros in 2000 and will be glad to link us to the insanity.

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  38. You also could have got a Horseman in 95 consisting of Flair-Arn-Hennig-Vader. Although they probably plug a younger guy in Vader's place if they've already got Flair-Arn-Hennig; and one of the young guys on the roster that time?

    Jean Paul Levesque.

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  39. That's more a fact than an opinion. :)

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  40. Good points. I would like to think that, without Hogan's creative control and such, it gets a more appropriate story arc and blow-off. Nash and company would have done plenty of politicking, I'm sure, but I don't know that he had the same kind of stroke that Hogan did. (the veto power at least)

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  41. I think so. The nWo angle concept was not predicated on Hogan leading the group. If Bischoff and company supposedly lifted the idea from Japan and designed it around Nash and Hall, I think the original concept still takes off. Without Hogan's turn and star power, it doesn't have the same shock factor, but I think Nash, Hall, Bischoff, and whatever subsequent members could have talked enough and politicked enough to get it over

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  42. On a fucking role dude. The Dusty image is awesome

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  43. Man I wish they could have saved this till Starrcade. They could have still done the Beefcake turn, the idea behind that was fine, but just have Flair main event instead of Bruti. Then make the transition to Vader.

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  44. Adam "Colorado" CurryOctober 8, 2014 at 4:57 PM

    Pepsi, milk chocolate, no idea what you're talking about, butts.

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  45. Gunther the Nasty LoserOctober 8, 2014 at 5:06 PM

    Upvote for you, sir. I also prefer Gamma Ray to Helloween. I'm glad someone got the joke.

    Though I'd go with dark chocolate.

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  46. Gunther the Nasty LoserOctober 8, 2014 at 5:07 PM

    Lenny Vowels, knowin' the right side to be on

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  47. Gunther the Nasty LoserOctober 8, 2014 at 5:08 PM

    We are very opposite.

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  48. How many wcw main events in the hogan years were better than this? Not many I can think of?

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  49. Coke, milk chocolate, not sure, butt

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  50. Gunther the Nasty LoserOctober 8, 2014 at 6:10 PM

    Where de Wed thread

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  51. Not to defend Brutus as a main event, but Starrcade essentially a gimmick show at this point mostly tournaments and battle royals for 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1992. Only the 10th anniversary was spared.

    Starrcade 94 essentially was to setup Vader/Hogan for Supervised.

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  52. Coke, milk, I don't know what that is, boobs.

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  53. Flair should have won the title in August and retained here with a 60 minute draw, then waited for Steamboat's back to heel so they could feud again. Poor Ric.

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  54. I used to be a Pepsi guy but I can't stand it now. Too sweet.

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  55. I would have had Flair win the title here, with Beefcake causing the screwjob. As it stands, Beefcake's turn really didn't mean anything as Hulk never really lost anything (except his friend till the end, I guess). Hogan then beats Beefcake at Starrcade, while Vader murders Flair for the title in a double main event, getting revenge for his Starrcade 93 loss. Hogan can then spend 95 chasing Vader for the title.

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  56. Hogan drew so much money for WCW in 1994/1995. Nobody else
    did. Everyone knows that Starrcade 93 was a better show than Starrcade 94 but
    almost nobody bought it. They did 0.5 buyrates and Hogan shows did twice that.
    They’d probably have continued to lose 60 million a year without him. It was
    the turnaround in business that allowed Bischoff to stroll into Turner’s office
    and get primetime. A solid worker product wouldn’t have turned business around
    anywhere near quick enough. They’d have just been like TNA in 2012, getting
    good reviews but the same ratings.

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  57. I think as much of the nWo's appeal was the rebranding of the old guys. It was a long nostalgia trip. WCW's audience was always much older than WWE's, and without Hogan and the rest of the old bastards, I don't think it would have been anywhere near as successful.

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  58. Apparently they only added the career thing because tickets
    weren’t selling (and also because I presume Hogan wanted Flair out of the way).
    Fans had seen Hogan beat Flair already, Flair got a very cheap countout win in
    return, and he was booked like an idiot every week. NOBODY could think that
    Flair could beat Hogan at this point.

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  59. They really should have put Austin and Pillman in the Horsemen back in 93.

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  60. They only lost 60 million in 2000-01, NOT 1994.

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  61. You’re right. Numbers confused. 23 million, at least
    according to Scott’s For Want Of A Nail rant. Still not good or sustainable.

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