Legacy Review
Halloween Havoc '90
October 27, 1990 from the UIC Pavillion in Chicago, ILCommentary: Jim Ross and Paul E Dangerously
Sadly a complete version of this show has never been released. The WWE Network version is the same as the original home video release, with only the top 6 matches on it.
JR, Paul E and Tony are all decked out for Halloween. We start right off with a promo. Tommy Rich and Ricky Morton are out with Tony. There's what looks to be a piece of unfinished stage scaffolding behind them. Unfortunately the answer as to what that is will be much worse than typical WCW sloppiness. To really hammer the Halloween theme home, the ring ropes are all orange, the ring mat is red and, in a rare move for WCW, there's colored lighting in the arena.
"Wildfire" Tommy Rich and Ricky Morton def The Midnight Express (w/Jim Cornette) in 20:49- Morton is teaming with Rich because Robert Gibson was injured by the Freebirds just before this show. Schefter says it'll be 6-8 months out after reconstructive knee surgery. Paul E is asking the same question we all are: "Why Rich?". JR doesn't have an answer. Rich is probably the least impressive former NWA World Champion of all time. We've got 3 out of the 4 guys involved in the longest running feud in tag team history here, which is a bit sad because this would turn out to be the Midnights' last match. Lane and Cornette would leave WCW soon after this, giving Eaton a chance at a singles run. Morton and Eaton start. Eaton throws him around a bit until Morton turns the jets on. Rich gets a cheap shot in. The Chicago crowd, shockingly, is rooting for the heels. If Gibson was out there it'd probably be more 50/50. Eaton gets a blind tag to Lane, who gets a shot in on Morton. Morton posts his shoulder and falls outside. Eaton dives off the top all the way to the floor, misses but doesn't sell missing. Everyone wanders around a bit then keeps going like nothing happened. A bit of confusion there. Cornette gets his first racket shot in. A Cornette distraction allows the Midnights to double team. Morton gets slammed on the ramp, then Lane rocket launches Eaton off the top and onto Morton on the ramp! Eaton with a Diamond Cutter/Stunner/RKO/Gun Stun but it only gets 2. Another racket shot. Lane suckers Rich in, allowing Eaton to throw Morton over the top. Morton dodges an Eaton charge and Eaton posts himself. Morton with a flying headscissors on the floor! Lane still manages to keep Morton from tagging. Eaton hits the Alabama Jam but doesn't go for a cover. Morton starts no selling but still can't get a tag. The heels go for another rocket launcher, in the ring this time, but Morton gets his knees up and FINALLY gets a tag to Rich, who's in for the first time the whole match. Donnybrook! Rich goes up top but Cornette whacks him in the back with the racket. The Southern Boys run out, dressed up like Cornette to mock him, complete with cheap plastic tennis rackets. Rich grabs the real racket, nails Lane, and gets the 3. **3/4
There's an obvious clip here as JR throws it to replay but it really goes to Tony, later in the show. Tony is wearing lipstick as part of his Phantom costume. Sting is out with him. Sting says that Sid's "butt will overload with you know what" then corrects himself and says his "mouth will overload with you know what from his butt". I still blame Sid for that. It's promo botch spillover. Sid's Jedi Mind Trick. Sting is interrupted by
The Fabulous Freebirds (w/Little Richard Marley) def The Renegade Warriors in 17:28- The Renegade Warriors have nothing to do with the Renegade or the Ultimate Warrior. It's Chris and Mark Youngblood, who had started teaming together after their older brother Jay (the longtime tag partner of Ricky Steamboat in the late '70s and early '80s) passed away and had just come into WCW after a successful run in Puerto Rico's WWC. They're also the kind of white meat babyfaces that get eaten alive in Chicago. Marley is a jobber (under the name Rocky King) turned manager, which would be short lived and he'd soon be a referee. Marley is wearing Robert Gibson's tights and leaning on a crutch, celebrating the fact the Freebirds had just put him on the shelf. Hayes does his usual strutting at the start. Chris takes out both Freebirds with a double clothesline off the top rope. JR is losing his mind on Paul E over Gibson being hurt and Paul E is egging him on. Hayes wants a time out. Chris has a long headlock spot on Garvin. Chris rolls Garvin up, but Garvin pushes him off into the heel corner and Hayes clocks him with a left. Chris goes face in peril. There's several long chinlock spots, during all of which there's loud "DDT" chants from the crowd. JR says there's a "few" Freebird fans here. Chris backdrops out of a DDT attempt but can't tag. Eventually Hayes gets thrown over the top and Chris gets the "hot" tag with zero crowd reaction. Marley gets involved, and while he's got one Youngblood distracted Hayes nails the other with the DDT and gets the pin. The Freebirds didn't have too much to work with in this one. *1/2
Tony is out with three of the Four Horsemen: Flair, Arn Anderson, and Sid Vicious, all in title matches later. Barry Windham is conspicuous by his absence.
NWA United States Tag Team Championship: The Steiner Brothers (c) def The Nasty Boys in 15:24- We've got two hot, young teams here. The Steiners had been teaming in WCW just over a year, had already had a run with the world tag titles and were well on their way to becoming legends. The Nastys were having a cup of coffee in WCW before Vince saw them and scooped them up. Huge pop for the Steiners. The Steiners charge the ring and we are off and running quick. All four guys fight on the outside. Saggs gets posted, but recovers and turns around to give Scott a chair shot. Rick and Knobbs do something big in the ring judging by the crowd reaction but the cameras miss it. Must be using AXS TV guys. Saggs gets Scott up for a superplex but Scott slips out of it. He was supposed to land on the second rope but slips off. He gets back up and gives Saggs a belly to belly off the top. All four guys are still fighting, but finally Rick gets in the corner and there's some semblance of order. Scott gives Saggs a double underhook power bomb, then lifts him up and Rick does a Doomsday Device Bulldog off the top rope! Any wonder why the Steiners became legends? The ref tries to get Rick out, which allows Knobbs to nail Scott with a chair and take over for Saggs with no tag. Piss poor officiating. This guy must have taught Marty Asami. Scott goes face in peril. The Nastys work his back over, which had been previously hurt during the build to the match. The Nastys use more wrestling moves in this match than their entire WWF run. That hot head Rick keeps trying to run in, allowing the Nastys to swap with no tag. Bear hug! Scott belly to bellys out of it but can't get a tag. Rick runs in again and Steinerlines Knobbs, but Saggs throws him out. Spike piledriver on Scott. Rick runs in with a chair and nails Saggs with it in the head while the ref is conveniently distracted trying to get Knobbs out. Saggs is busted open. The heels still keep Scott in FIP status. Boston Crab. Camel Clutch. Scott dodges a corner charge and finally gets the hot tag to Rick. Steinerlines for everyone! Belly to belly! All four guys are in again. Both Steiners are thrown out. Rick sneaks up to the top and takes out both Nastys with a double Steinerline. Scott trips both Nastys from the floor, then posts Saggs, runs in, hits the Frankensteiner on Knobbs, and we're done. After the match the Nastys attack again. It's the Steiners so almost by default it was good, but the Nastys looked like a promising young brawler team here too. They should have gone with a tornado tag or hardcore match and kept the crazy fighting from the start and finish going on the whole match, instead of bogging it down in the middle with another long face in peril sequence after having two other tag matches before it with the same structure. That hurt the match a bit. ***
Rick's hurt and is going back to the locker room, but Scott stops off for a word with Tony. He's jumped by a guy with a concession tray and worker's outfit, fake beard and wig, who turns out to be Saggs. Impressive quick change.
NWA World Tag Team Championship: "Nature Boy" Ric Flair & Arn Anderson and Doom (c) (w/Theodore R Long) go to a double countout in 18:20- From the "giving Flair something to do between world title runs" files. Arn was also the reigning World Television Champion. Doom is one of the more underrated teams of all time, and was a great vehicle to get Ron Simmons started on the road that would lead to him being world champ in 1992. This is nominally a heel vs heel match, but unsurprisingly the crowd seems mostly behind the Horsemen, even though the way the match is booked Doom acts more like faces. Arn and Simmons start. Arn tries to wrestle but Simmons' power is too much. Arn goes out and regroups. Reed like an idiot tries to get in and distracts the ref, allowing Flair to get a knee in his back on a rope run. Arn gives him a suplex but Simmons no sells it and pops Arn again. The Horsemen try a double team. Flair gets the chops in. Simmons double clotheslines out of it. The Horsemen take a powder. Flair chases Long into the ring. Long slaps Flair! That man has a death wish playa. All four guys stand off, but they slowly back down and reset. Arn wants Reed. After he tags in Reed wants Flair. Flair struts and plays around with Reed like a cat with a ball of yarn, taunting Simmons the whole time. Reed punches out. Simmons and Arn come in and Doom gives the Horsemen stereo gorilla press slams. Flair begs off and gets the eye poke in. Flair hits some seriously wicked chops, even by Flair standards. The pops are like gunshots. Reed tries to come back but it's pretty obvious Flair is playing with him. Reed rolls off about a dozen punches in a row. Flair turns around to tag Arn, but Flair Flops instead! That was absolutely hilarious. Flair Flip! The cameraman was in that corner and he goes down too. Flair walks into Simmons. Simmons no sells a chop, and Flair backs up and begs off halfway up the entrance ramp. Flair manages to get back in the ring on his side and tags out. Anyone that wonders why I think Flair is the greatest of all time, just watch what he does in the middle section of this match. It is absolutely, flawlessly perfect. Flair suckers Reed in. While the ref is distracted Arn gets Simmons in a Boston Crab and Flair gives him the kneedrop to the back of the neck. World's Greatest Spinebuster! But Simmons has too much power and powers out at 2. Flair starts working the knee. Figure 4! Flair gets extra leverage from Arn. After a while Simmons manages to flip it over. Flair tags out. Arn keeps working the knee over Anderson style. Arn throws Simmons out and taunts Reed in to distract the ref so Flair can work Simmons over outside. Backfire. Simmons counters and sends Flair face first into the guardrail. Arn manages to prevent a tag. Simmons counters an Arn backdrop by planting him face first in the mat (which Arn sells wonderfully like a flopping fish) and gets the tag. Reed cleans house. Donnybrooking! Reed hits a shoulderblock off the top but Flair saves the pin. Arn plants Reed with a DDT but Simmons makes the save. All four guys are still fighting. They go outside and fight all the way into the crowd and everyone gets counted out. They were heading to something really special. Flair and Arn had their working boots on as only they could do it, and let Doom play to their strengths. It's still great, but not as great as it could have been with a decisive finish. This would lead to a street fight rematch at Starrcade. ****
Quick Stan Hansen promo. He's in the back with a small fall looking setup and holding a mini pumpkin. He shouts "LEX LUGER", but his mouth is so full of chewing tobacco it's hard to make out the rest of it. For all I know he's reciting the "Alas, poor Yorick" speech with the pumpkin. Which makes me think.....what would be better: Stan Hansen Hamlet, or elcor Hamlet? Not that either stands up to the original Klingon.
NWA United States Championship: Stan Hansen def "The Total Package" Lex Luger (c) in 9:30- Hometown pop for Luger. I know I've ragged on Luger a lot in these reviews for his crappy world title run in '91, but this is from a period when he was motivated and really good. This is quite the body contrast. Luger: body guy. Hansen: not so much. Hansen is possibly still to this day the biggest American wrestling star ever in Japan. He spent most of his career there, this is part of a short, less than a year run back on American shores with WCW. Hansen's so crazy he goes after commentary before the bell. Luger gets a hot start. Hansen takes a walk to ponder, then takes over with an eye poke. The fight spills outside multiple times. Lots of back and forth brawling. Luger dodges a corner dive, Hansen slowly flops over the top and down to the floor. Luger chases him. JR speculates that Luger is making a mistake by playing Hansen's brawling game instead of trying to wrestle. Hansen gets a snap suplex and exposes his knee for a kneedrop. A bulldog gets 2. Hansen pounds on Luger in the corner and pushes the ref away when he tries to stop him. Dan Spivey, Hansen's tag partner in Japan, comes to ringside and gets Hansen his cowbell. Hansen tries to nail Luger with it but Luger counters it with a backdrop. Luger signals for the torture rack, but goes off the ropes instead. Hansen nails him with a lariat outta nowhere and gets the 3! The crowd is stunned. Hansen ends Luger's record US title run at 523 days, a record that still stands today. Hansen's run would be little more than a blip, as Luger would win it back at Starrcade and hold it another 210 days before vacating it after winning the world title at Great American Bash '91. They were trying hard, but there wasn't much "there" there. *3/4
NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Sting (c) def Sid Vicious in 12:38- This is part of the long running Sting vs the Four Horsemen angle. Sid had joined the stable soon after Sting was kicked out for refusing to give up his title shot at Flair. I love how in this period Sid was announced as being "from anywhere he darn well pleases". Sid gets a bit of a pop. Highish pitched pop for Sting. Commentary speculates if the Black Scorpion has messed with Sting's head. Well, it's certainly messing with all of ours trying to figure out why anyone would come up with such an awful idea. Mid-ring big match staredown. Sting turns around to play to the crowd and Sid ambushes him. Sting no sells a slam. Sid stalls. Sting dodges a punch, Sid flies all the way over the top and out. Sting works the arm for a long while. I think it's deliberate that there's no action in the ring, as there's lots of shots of people in the crowd cheering for Sting. I'd call it a serious hard sell but, it's Sting. It's legit. Sid kips up! and hits a clothesline. Sid locks in his favorite rest hold, the Nerve Pinch of Extreme Clutching +3. Sid fights off a Sting comeback with a powerslam, then dodges a Stinger Splash. The crowd is starting to turn on Sid. Or they're realizing they're watching a Sid match. Sid pauses to pose in the ring. Sting sneaks up and hits a cross body off the top, but only gets 1. They fight up the ramp. Sid goes back to the ring. Sting runs halfway down the entrance ramp then dives over the top rope and into Sid! Sid goes out and Sting hits a plancha. Flair and Arn show up as Sid and Sting fight into the back. The camera stays on Flair and Arn. Sid comes back with someone in Sting's tights, with Sting's hair and facepaint, but the body is completely different. It doesn't take long to realize it's Barry Windham's lanky body. WindSting picks Sid up for a slam, but falls down and lets Sid pin him. Sid is announced as the new champion. But during the celebration the real Sting comes back in with a rope tied around his wrist. JR figures out it was Windham that was pinned. While pyro is going off Sting hits the Stinger Splash and gets a Paul Smackage to win. For realsies. After the match there's a replay shot of WindSting and real Sting crossing paths. The match was OK. The finish was sloppy overbooking even if it made a bit of sense within the Horsemen dynamic. **1/4
OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS: If you love tag wrestling like I do this is a decent show to watch, even if almost all the matches follow the same basic structure. Both tag title matches are worth checking out, especially the Doom/Horsemen match. The rest of the show has some notable historical moments, but nothing else I can really recommend. The Black Scorpion is always worth a laugh.
OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C
No comments:
Post a Comment