Snickers Presents The Only Review Of Halloween Havoc 1998 That You'll Ever Need Presented By Snickers

Halloween Havoc - October 25th, 1998
MGM Grand Garden Arena
10,663 in attendance
Buyrate was 0.78. Year prior was 1.17, headlined by Hogan v Piper, Age in the Cage.

You know, it's probably a blessing that Havoc didn't do mega-numbers, due to the fact that it went a half & hour longer than what they told the cable-companies. So millions of screens went black and WCW had to reimburse all of those people, while showing the main event for free on Nitro.

One thing I can say right away, is the set is looks awesome. One of the best I've seen.

Nitro Girls do their Nitro Girl thing. Shawn's wife is rather attractive, although too tall for my tastes. I always thought Fyre was the best looking, personally.

We start off the PPV with an interview. Alrighty. Rick Steiner shows up and informs us he's the hound, in the pound, and he's gonna get down. Buff comes out wearing one of those driver-caps, but wearing it backwards like people did in the 90's. Those hats are cool, but when worn backward, man, they look SO stupid. Especially HHH's 'Harley Davidson' one. Buff is also wearing FuBu. Buff is also timeless. Buff is also going to be in Rick's corner, and would never, EVER turn on him. EVER. That's spelled E-V-E-R.

Raven vs. Chris Jericho [C] - WCW Television Championship
Huh, Tony just called Jericho's cover the “arrogant cover.” I thought that was solely a CAW reference. Speaking of CAW, this is easily my favorite Raven look, and I really wish he would have kept it. He really started looking weird as time moved on. They made Jericho look tough as all get out in this match. I mean, he kicks out of a catapult into the turnbuckle bolt followed by a clothesline. Then he kicks out of Raven's Evenflow. It's too bad this didn't get longer, because this was hard-hitting, fast, and extremely close. Great opener. Plus, we get the irony of Jericho almost losing to the Evenflow DDT, while his entrance music is a rip off of Pearl Jam's Evenflow. Raven taps out to the Liontamer at 7:49 | ****

You know, something I miss is the match re-caps that WCW would do, where they show the high-lights, and even the entrance of the winner. 

Hogan comes out for an interview in an nWo Nitro shirt. I imagine after the rating that show had, there were a lot of homeless folk around Atlanta that became nWo-ites. You know, the Bischoff/Hollywood Hogan relationship was awesome. Punk and Heyman need to act like that. We get a recap of Hogan beating up Horace, reminding me how stupid it was that Stevie Ray was in the nWo, and that Stevie Ray was one of those people who felt you could eat whatever you want while on anabolics. In the crowd, I see a Kenny's Krib Sting. Anyone else remember Kenny's Krib? Afterward, Hogan says he's gonna rip out Warrior's heart, and then bury it along with his soul in a toxic waste dump. That sounds very specific, and painful.
 
Disco Inferno vs. Juventud Guerrera
You know, props to Disco for getting over. Do you know how disheartening it must have been to get your big break, and then be told they want you to be the wrestling version of John Travolta from “Saturday Night Fever”? You'd be better off being the wrestling version of John Travolta from “Urban Cowboy.” Disco outsmarts Juvi, and points to his head, letting us know he's SMART. Disco gives us a little Macarena action, reminding me of the Macarena contests my middle school would hold at lunch. Not a bad match, really. They just didn't click very well.
Disco hits a jumping piledriver on Juvi for the pin at 9:39 | **1/2

Scott Steiner comes out. He tells us that Las Vegas is the city that never sleeps, which is fine for him, because he's been up for three days and 30 nights. I have to admit, that's a neat trick. 

Disco Inferno vs. Kidman [C] - Crusierweight Championship
Alright, why couldn't Disco just wait in the ring until Kidman came out? It would have been rather impressive if he wins the strap. Man alive, if there's one guy who looks nothing like he did, it's Kidman. And Barry Windham. Disco needs to work on his trash talk. Screaming things at Kidman such as "turn down the music" and "pip-squeak" just aren't working. He tries to powerbomb Kidman, and we all know what that leads to. Decent bout. 
Kidman hits the Shooting Star for the pin at 10:49 | ***

Scott Steiner & The Giant [C] vs. Rick Steiner & Buff Bagwell - WCW Tag-Team Championships Face Buff is No-Buys Buff. I want the top-hat. Giant is in first, and he works Rick over. It's great, because he goes to tag Steiner in, and Steiner tells the Giant 'one more! one more! break him!' then when Rick is toast, Scott comes in. It's great heel stuff, because he's completely avoiding one-on-one, and being a total ass. Brilliance. Tag to Buff, and turn from Buff. Thankfully that was fast. He's quickly back into heel Buff mode, further confirming my belief to be proud that I cheered for him in Tacoma, even if this was his THIRD heel turn to the nWo. Giant misses a drop kick, nailing Scott, giving Rick his opening. 
Bulldog to Scott gives Rick the pin, the titles, and singles match with his brother at 8:24 |  **

Scott Steiner walks away, seemingly reneging on his original deal! That no good-nik. So, Rick follows after him and pulls him into the ring. 

Rick Steiner vs. Scott Steiner
Some suplexes here and there before a very bizarre sequence; Some guy in a suit and a Bill Clinton mask jumps the rail, knocks out a few dudes, takes the slap-jack from Stevie Ray, then runs into the ring and knocks out Rick as well as the ref. He unmasks to reveal Buff Bagwell. Seriously, what the hell? We saw Buff earlier, so why on Earth did he need to disguise himself? And WHY did he need to be Bill Clinton? Was the Rick James mask lost? Then, if that wasn't odd enough, he proceeds to drag the ref around and use his hand to make 3 counts. Rick makes the comeback, puts down Scott with the Bulldog. His theme music is a pretty decent rip-off of “Welcome To The Jungle,” I might I add. Despite the weirdness, it was still entertaining.  Rick hits Scott with the Bulldog for the win at 5:10 | *** [match wasn't much, but I'm giving the whole ordeal 3 stars]

Scott Hall vs. Kevin Nash
Scott comes out apparently drunk. Once Nash hits the ring, though, he throws the drink he's been carrying into Kevin's face and reveals he's not drunk! Joke's on you, Kevin, he's only in a soma coma. Unfortunately, Hall is clearly on his way to that ESPN documentary at this point, and Nash is rich, so this match doesn't even come close to their matches in the WWE. The entire match is punch-punch-knee-knee-punch-punch. There was a decent amount of drama, but for their history and such, this needed to be mid-80's NWA violent. 
Nash walks out of the match after giving Hall two Jack-knife powerbombs at 14:19 | **

Bret Hart [C] vs. Sting - US Championship
Man, Bret's WCW music is absolutely terrible. This was when Sting had the goatee, so he looked like a character from Dick Tracy. He keeps doing this thing where he stomps Bret's hands, and that's something a heel should add to his moveset, because it's fantastically cheap. Man, Bret is actually a pretty decent heel. He's doing all sorts of awesome bad-guy stuff in this match, from faking injury, to using international objects and low blows. At one point, Bret has just dropped Sting neck-first on the guard-rail, but a female fan has all the words of encouragement for him, letting Stinger know "GET UP! YOU'RE SO SEXY!". It works. I email Mickie James x-rated drawings I do in Microsoft Paint all the time and she's always kicking ass. So, you know. Soon, the ref is knocked out and these two just don't give a shit. Running over the ref, suplexing each other on top of him, it’s good stuff. Soon, Stinger does the splash, but knocks himself out on the ringpost, resulting in him hanging over the ropes. Bret then commits murder by BASHING Sting in the head with the baseball bat repeatedly. Pretty awesome, actually, as it was done just right, not with a ball-peen hammer, and it didn't go on for 40 minutes. I remember this match being really bad, but on second viewing, it's not bad at all, just didn't live up to the hype. Honestly though, Bret as a heel is awesome, and I actually want to see the rematch between these two. Bret slaps Sting in the Sharpshooter, and the ref drops his hand 3 times to give Bret the win at 15:03 | ***1/4

Hollywood Hogan vs. Warrior - The Match WCW Paid $1 Million For
We get a shot of a tasteful sign that says "Bischoff is...A] retarded B] broke C] a gimp D] All of the Above." Well, the sign gives away the answer, as D is circled with heavy enthusiasm. I will say, Warrior's music is actually pretty bad-ass, and one has to wonder if Mac got his fascination with dusters from Warrior. I'm inclined to believe that he did. Seriously, this match honest to God looks like two guys are out there having their first match ever, not two guys who have a combined almost 30 years of experience. Haha, the log roll. This in no way can be considered one of the worst matches of all time, because it's damn entertaining, especially with Hogan throwing unlit flash paper at the Warrior. At least he took full credit for the stupid fireball ordeal. Scarier than burning oneself is leaving these two to call an audible mid-match. I'm shocked it didn't involve Truckasourus. Now they're going to cover Warrior in lighter fluid, as we're to REALLY believe that they're going to burn him alive in front of people. If I were Warrior, there's absolutely NO WAY I'd trust Hogan to NOT burn me alive. I'd be afraid after he dumped all the fluid on me that he'd wonder where the lighter was, so he could secure it, and then use the lighter in his hand to add extra light in aid of his search of the lighter that he's sure is around my body somewhere.
Horace Hogan hits Warrior with a chair to give Hogan the pin at 14:18 | * [but really, if we're talking how entertaining it is in its awfulness, then we're talking ****]

DDP vs. Goldberg [C] - WCW Championship
It's truly stunning that they screwed up Goldberg's run. I mean, it'd be so much harder to screw it up, than to not. This match is fantastic from the get go, which is all credit to DDP. I will give props to Goldberg though for doing the backflip when Dallas tried to sweep his legs out from underneath him. I know I may get some flack for over-rating, but anyone who thinks this isn't at least ***1/2 stars is crazy. The beginning is great with DDP refusing to be afraid, and doing everything he can to wear Goldberg down. Great moment with the missed Spear and Goldberg being weak from then on. DDP actually had Bill with the Diamond Cutter, but just couldn't cover in time. Again, great match. They also should have had a rematch where DDP beats him finally. He's easily the closest anyone has come at this point, and the match was awesome. DDP beating Goldberg would have been believable, and told a great story. Oh well. Nash winning ended up just fine. Goldberg with the Jackhammer at 10:28 | ****1/4

Showcase Showdown: You've got two matches that reach 4 stars, one of the greatest train-wrecks in wrestling history, and a solid under card. It's a fun show that gets a bad-rap, simply because of Hogan/Warrior, I believe, even though it's one of the most entertaining things on the card. If you don't feel like watching the whole show, then just snag Jericho/Raven, and DDP/Goldberg. However, if you've never seen Warrior/Hogan II, then by all means you need to see that too.  3 and a half head-butts out of 5.

Thanks as always to my editor, Steve Ferarri. We were both in the Vietnam War, where we both ended up dead, but then were brought back to life under a secret program called The Universal Soldiers. 

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