Deep Thoughts: The Firefly Fun House Match

Johnny Legacy's Deep Thoughts

The Firefly Fun House Match

"We're really glad that you're our friend, and this is a friendship that will never ever end....."

 

The news of Bray Wyatt passing away this past week stunned us all. While I never counted Bray among my absolute top end favorites, I was always a fan and tried to stand by him even at the points when it seemed like almost no one else would because I saw the creative genius he possessed and loved it. In tribute to his memory, I wanted to do a deep dive review and analysis of what I consider to be his masterpiece: the Firefly Fun House match against John Cena at the COVID-era Wrestlemania 36.

Before getting into the match, some background information is necessary. Following a rebranding from Husky Harris to Bray Wyatt leading to a hugely successful run in early, pre-WWE Network NXT, Bray and the Wyatt Family (Luke Harper and Erick Rowan) debuted on the main roster not long after Wrestlemania 29 in 2013. Going into the big anniversary Wrestlemania 30, Bray got a match with none other than John Cena. This was hugely significant as this was the first time since Wrestlemania 20 a decade earlier that Cena would not be in either the main event or a sub-main event world title match. Many of us hoped, even expected, that this would be a massive career-shaping win for Bray as he continued to work his way up the card. Unfortunately, it was not to be. On a night when pretty much everything else was done right (I will defend Brock breaking the Streak until the day I die and maybe after), the Bray/Cena showdown turned into another instance of LOL Cena Wins and Bray became more grist for the John Cena Heel Credibility Destroying Machine. It's no exaggeration to say it took Bray years to recover. Understanding that night is the key to understanding most of what takes place in the Firefly Fun House Match.

Fast forward six years. Bray's character evolved several times, culminating with the introduction of the Firefly Fun House and the Fiend in 2019, partially inspired by Matt Hardy's, er, WONDERFUL Broken Universe that Bray guest starred in when Hardy tried to bring it to WWE. Bray taking a dip in the Lake of Reincarnation is what created the Fiend in the first place. During that time, true to Bray's career, there were lots of ups and downs. On one hand Bray's had two world title runs: a WWE Championship reign as mostly the original Bray Wyatt character from February to April 2017, losing to Randy Orton at Wrestlemania 33; and a Universal title run as the Fiend from October 2019 to February 2020. He'd get a second short Universal run later in 2020. On the other side, because he was constantly creatively zigging when everyone else was zagging his characters and ideas were extremely polarizing. Everyone either loved it or hated it. WWE's booking treatment of him with late era Vince and his notorious short attention span also left a lot to be desired. He would have benefited greatly from the steadier, long term focused hand of Triple H in control in those years.

 

After losing the Universal title to (blech) Goldberg in February 2020 at Sweet Saudi Money right before everything was shut down, Bray again turned his attention to Cena for a Wrestlemania match. But this time, things would be different. Very very different. By this point Cena was most definitely part time, working only a very short match with the Undertaker and having a spectacular Doctor of Thuganomics promo segment with Elias the past two WMs. The build quickly became about Bray's loss to Cena at WM 30 and taking issue with Cena's professed belief that it was time for WWE to "look to the future". Cena said that he didn't think that Bray was good enough to be part of WWE's future, and said "this match is going to accomplish what should have happened six years ago: ending the existence of the most overhyped, overvalued, overprivileged WWE superstar".

The match begins with Cena's entrance into the empty Performance Center where the rest of WM 36 was taking place. A bemused looking Cena starts to say "Welcome to Wrestle...." but is cut off by a video of "Welcome to Wrestlemania" voices of the past. The film dies, and suddenly we're in the Firefly Fun House! YAYYYYYYYYYYYYY! Bray waves hi. He talks about another world that exists beyond our comprehension, a world where our darkest urges aren't kept secret, where gods, monsters, angels and demons all live together (awwwwwww). "Who are we really?". We're about to take a look at who John Cena really is, and he will face his most dangerous opponent left: himself. Welcome to the Firefly Fun House! Bray leaves (Abandon All Hope Ye Who EXIT Here) and the stage is set. After some more video distortion we zoom out from the door to see Cena is in the House. After getting a little freaked out by Abby the Witch, Ramblin' Rabbit pops up and directs Cena out the door to find Bray. Along with a warning to be careful. Cena exits into a black void. Nothing but darkness and freaky sounds....until Cena is confronted by Mr. McBossMan! The Vince McMahon in horns puppet. The Boss asks Cena if he has enough RUTHLESS AGGRESSION to reach for the stars, to excel beyond his wildest dreams? "Show me, or you're FIRRRRRRRRRRRRRED!".

Cut to Bray in the ring, interspersed with clips of Smackdown Six era Kurt Angle. Bray recreates Angle's promo in real time with the video, issuing a challenge to anyone in that locker room to come down here and face BRAY WYATT. And here's......OVW John Cena! In the same orange and blue gear he debuted on TV in. He comes out in front of the Smackdown fist, nice touch. Bray asks the same question Angle did, "What makes you think you've got what it takes to hang with Bray Wyatt?". Intense Cena's answer? "RUTHLESS AGGRESSION!" Swing and a miss. Bray laughs. "RUTHLESS AGGRESSION!" Another miss. Bray says he's living Cena's worst failure right now. He can see why Cena almost got fired. "RUTHLESS AGGRESSION!" Another miss. And another. Bray asks Cena if this is what he really wants to do with his life and we get glimpses of Cena as a WWF fan kid. Cena charges but Bray disappears. Cena chases.

It's Saturday Night's Main Event! Going back in time. Bray is behind the old blue car steel cage. He gives a very '80s style promo saying what little talent you have doesn't matter, it's all about the muscles! A very '80s WWF attitude at times. And that's what his tag parter JOHNNY LARGEMEAT is all about, muscles! Some good double meaning here with Bray wearing his "You can't hurt it!" Fiend workout shirt, as his weight and lack of a classic "wrestling body" was always an issue with Vince, while Cena always had "the look" even if his talent was questioned at times. Cena comes in as Largemeat, pumping iron like crazy. Largemeat drops a bunch of cliches because that's all the promo he has. Pump that iron! He goes into overdrive and Abby gets googly eyed. Once he can't take any more he drops the weights, and has pumped so much iron he can't lift his arms to do anything! Mr. McBossMan from commentary: "Dammit, keep your hands up!". Bray goes full Hogan: "Whatcha gonna do brother, when you realize egomania has been running wild on YOU", pointing to Cena. Maybe being nothing but muscle won't get you anywhere after all, and there are other pathways to success if people like Cena didn't keep getting in the way.

Bray tosses Cena out of shot, and once again he's in front of the Smackdown fist, but this time as Doctor of Thuganomics Cena! The Word Life intro plays intercut with Fun House characters. Cena looks momentarily confused but quickly falls into character. He gets in the ring with Bray and rhyme promos, but this time none of his lines hit with the crowd. The "unlike Husky Harris, it's a weight I can manage" line gets a "awww" from the kids and a sad face from Bray. He says Bray's been a disappointment and he's blown every chance he's had. Bray says how dare John Cena talk to him about chances. He's had to fight for every chance he's gotten. Cena, he's the golden goose!. Everything given to him on a platter. But he's a bully. A horrible person. He'll give anything for fame. Bray says it's his last chance and gives him the floor. Cena throws deez nuts and tries to attack. Bray appears behind him and takes him out.

DAH! Wyatt Family Bray is back! "I was the color red in a world full of black and white. I had the whole world in my hands". Cena was supposed to be a man of the people. Why didn't he listen? Cut to a clip of the crowd at WM 30 singing "He's got the whole world in his hands" during their match. It was supposed to be a prophecy fulfilled, but turned into Bray's grandest failure. But now, it's time to rewrite the story. RUN. Cut back to the ring and Cena attacks. Bray cuts him off and dances with him, literally. Sister Abigail setup. Cena pulls away before it hits. Bray says "That's not enough to end it, Superman. But this is" and hands Cena a chair. In their WM 30 match Cena was faced with the temptation of using a chair in the match, and ultimately decided against it. "Six years ago you made the wrong choice, cowboy. Fix it!". This time Cena swings! Bray disappears! Bray finally gets Cena to expose the dark side he's been hiding for so long.

Monday Night Nitro intro! Bray is in the ring as NWO Eric Bischoff, once again recreating a promo. He introduces NWO John Cena! He's in full Hollywood Hogan mode. On the surface this is nothing more than a cool moment to see Cena as an NWO member. Maybe a little "what could have been" historical curio. But there's a much deeper meaning at work here. In fact it's the crux of this entire match. Cena has become Hollywood Hogan. While appearing to be the coolest guy in the room, he's really nothing more than a strutting egomaniac holding the entire company hostage while holding down all the younger talent trying to break out he supposedly supports. Mr. McBossMan drops his legendary "This is such good shit!" line from commentary. After a bit of strutting and too sweeting in the ring Cena drops out of character and attacks Bray! All of Cena's demons come out in clips from his past. He turns back into present day Cena. But he's punching out Huskus the Pig! He's doing nothing but harmlessly attacking Bray's past, while the present is waiting for revenge. The Fiend comes from behind! Cena almost looks like he accepts his fate before he turns around into the Mandible Claw. Sister Abigail setup. Cena's promo from the match build is replayed, its true meaning now laid bare. "This match is going to accomplish what should have happened six years ago: ending the existence of the most overhyped, overvalued, overprivileged WWE superstar". It turns out Cena wasn't talking about Bray. He was talking about himself. Sister Abigail hits. More Claw. Sweater Bray counts 3 and it's over. Revenge taken. Cena disappears as the Fiend stands tall.

LET ME IN.

Titus shock face. "I don't know what I just saw". Genius, man. Pure unadulterated genius. *****

 

THANK YOU BRAY

Survivor Series '98

Legacy Review

Survivor Series '98

November 15, 1998 from the Kiel Center in St. Louis, MO

Commentary: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

After multiple controversial finishes in WWF Championship matches over the fall resulting in a vacant title, the focus of this show is the "Deadly Game" tournament to crown a new WWF Champion. Structurally it's exactly the same as the Wrestlemania 4 tournament for the vacant title: a 14 man bracket with two wrestlers getting a bye straight to the second round. Since they were two of the wrestlers involved in the controversial matches it's the Undertaker and Kane getting the bye before facing each other to kick the second round off. What, you didn't expect Mr. McMahon to give Austin a bye did you? Silly person. This is also the one year anniversary of the infamous Montreal Screwjob and don't think WWF is going to let you forget that.

Vince is ringside to open the show with a brand new WWF Championship belt (still the modified Winged Eagle but now with a classic black strap and finally updated with the scratch logo). He's still nursing a broken ankle so the Stooges help him out of his wheelchair. He promises a new champion will be crowned tonight, then handles the introductions for the first match himself.

First Round: WWF Hardcore Champion Mankind def a mystery opponent in :30- Mankind is back on Vince's side and has gone corporate again, wearing a tux and completely clean shaven under the mask. You almost need a chart to keep track of who was and wasn't on Vince's side at any given point in these years. The Hardcore title was created earlier in the month and awarded directly to Mankind by Vince as part of getting him back on board. With the corporate backing Mankind is generally considered to be Vince's choice to win the tournament, and therefore the favorite. After Mankind comes out there's an HBK chant. Were there rumors that Shawn was going to possibly come back here? I don't remember. Vince takes his time buttering up the mystery opponent. Someone who came to WWF in 1990 (Shawn fits). A historic win/loss record. A trailblazing athlete. Stayed for 6 years before seeking out new competition in "dubya C dubya" (not Shawn then). Been sidelined the past two years due to injury and anxious to make a comeback. And here he is......DUANE GILL! Gill had been a jobber in WWF in the early '90s, and was now making his return to give the corporate backed Mankind an easy opening round win. Mankind jumps Gill on the apron and flips him back in the ring. Double underhook DDT, Mankind wraps up a cradle and it's over. Lawler: "Was that a real match?". NR

 

First Round: Al Snow (w/Head) def Jeff Jarrett (w/Debra) in 3:31- Oh joy, Debra's here. Is there anyone who actually thought she was hot? She's still going by Debra McMichael in a nod to her WCW run even though she and Mongo had divorced in real life earlier in the year. Snow's got Mr. Socko wrapped around Head's forehead. More on that later. Jump start on the floor. Snow does a leaping cannonball off the steps. Back in Jarrett struggles to lift Snow up, then hits him with a hot shot. Snow does the Flair flip in the corner! He ducks a Jarrett clothesline and hits his own. Neckbreaker over the rope. Jarrett dodges a legdrop off the top rope. Dropkick for 2. Snow crucifix for 2. Cradle exchanges for near falls. Snow turns an attempted spinebuster into a DDT for 2. Atomic drop and both guys collide. Debra gets on the apron and picks Head up. Snow goes over and grabs Jarrett's guitar. Jarrett takes Head. Snow swings the guitar but Jarrett ducks and hits Snow with Head. But apparently not very well, because Snow gets Head back, waffles Jarrett with it, and gets the pin. OK for the time they got. Also we got through a whole Jarrett match without the guitar being broken. *1/4

 

First Round: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin def The Big Boss Man by DQ in 3:20- Boss Man returned from WCW a couple of months prior as Vince's private security goon. Commentary wonders if he's here to win the match or to just hurt Austin to hurt his chances later. Third straight jump start and again on the floor. Boss Man gets run into the steps. We cut to a shot of Vince watching in the back and miss Austin's Thesz Press. Elbow drop for 2. Boss Man hits a blatant low blow and goes into slow beatdown mode. Austin fights out of a chinlock and hits a clothesline. Boss Man counters a backdrop, hits his rope splash and slide punch for 2. Austin goes into corner beatdown mode and stomps a mudhole. Boss Man goes to the floor, gets his nightstick, and whacks Austin with it, drawing a DQ. He continues to beat Austin down with it after the bell. Guess that answers our question. 1/2*

Michael Cole is in the back with a very happy Vince. Cole says Austin has come back from worse beatdowns than this. Vince smiles and says "The night is young".

 

First Round: WWF European Champion X-Pac and Steven Regal double countout in 8:10- He's a maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan! Such a maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan! This is Regal's initial cup of coffee in WWF with his "real man" gimmick, a run that wouldn't last long due to real life addiction issues he was having at the time. Natural feud here as Regal objected to an American holding the European title. First match tonight with no jump start. Instead Pac gives Regal a crotch chop to pop the crowd. Pac does his flippy maneuvering into a hook kick. Regal takes an upside down bump in the corner. Side suplex and legdrops from Pac. Regal dodges in the corner and hits a European uppercut. He puts on a partial Regal Stretch. After a bit of back and forth counters Regal slingshots Pac into the mat. He puts on some more wear down holds to keep Pac grounded. Gutwrench suplex for 2. Headscissors. Pac counters out into a sort of cloverleaf. He gets back up with kicks and forearms before crashing in the corner again. Regal sets him up top and hits a double underhook superplex! Cover for 2 and back to grounding Pac. A shoulderblock collision wobblelegs both guys. Pac hits the spinning heel kick for 2. He dropkicks Regal into position and does the bronco buster. Suplex. He goes up top. Regal hits the ropes, crotching Pac and sending him down to the floor. Regal follows. Pac hits a suplex on the floor. He starts pounding away on Regal and the bell rings for a double countout. Vince isn't happy. He sends Slaughter out to order overtime. Slaughter tells Fink to announce a 5 minute sudden death overtime. Regal gets back in and the bell rings, but Pac just walks out apparently hurt. The original decision stands, I guess. That whole postmatch bit was a bit of a mess. Solid match though. With more time and a definitive finish it could have been good. **1/4

Vince is furious that Austin is now going to get a bye into the semifinals.

 

First Round: WWF Intercontinental Champion Ken Shamrock def Goldust in 5:56- JR points out that Shamrock has already won two tournaments this year: King of the Ring and the tournament for the vacant IC title. Shamrock comes out firing. He "ducks" a Goldust flying clothesline. That didn't look right, and must not have been because they turn around, do it again, and this time Goldust hits it. Clothesline out of the corner from Shamrock. High knees and Russian leg sweep for 2. Goldust has a comeback flurry. Shamrock dodges in the corner. Goldust blocks a suplex and hits his own. Shamrock blocks a monkey flip in the corner but runs into a drop toe hold. Goldust tries a powerbomb but Shamrock counters for 2. Bulldog from Goldust. He goes for the Shattered Dreams nut kick but the ref blocks it. Shamrock hits a horrible hurricanrana off the second rope. Belly to belly suplex, ankle lock and it's over. This was all kinds of rough with both guys rarely on the same page. 1/4*

Cole is outside Austin's locker room. He says Austin has refused medial attention and, unsurprisingly, plans to keep going tonight.

 

First Round: The Rock def Triple HThe Big Boss Man in :03- Nice pop for Rock as he continues to get more and more popular. JR makes a point of saying Rock is another guy Vince absolutely positively does not want to see win the championship. Triple H was scheduled to come back from his knee injury tonight, but was apparently sniffing around or was being approached by WCW so Vince was holding him back until that was settled. Imagine how that would have changed things. Trips' DX intro plays but Stooges Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco come out instead mocking his entrance. They announce that Trips didn't show up tonight and therefore won't wrestle. They also say there will not be a forfeit, as Vince has rounded up a last second replacement: the Big Boss Man! JR is furious because he'd already been eliminated. More making up the rules on the fly. The second Boss Man hits the ring Rock Paul Smackages him and gets the pin! He gets the hell out of town while the Stooges are furious. The crowd loves it. NR

 

Quarterfinals: The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) def Kane in 7:16- The slow burn double turn between these two is now pretty much complete, with Kane maybe not an all out face but at least a sympathetic tweener, while Taker and Paul Bearer have reunited to start moving Taker more and more to the dark side. Taker jumps before the bell and as usual both guys exchange haymakers. Kane hits a big boot and 360 clotheslines Taker to the floor. Taker drops Kane on the barricade. Back in Taker wraps the arm in the usual old school setup, but nails Kane with a kick instead. Kane hits a powerslam but misses an elbow drop. Taker gets a boot up in the corner and clips Kane's knee. Some knee work follows that has no bearing on the rest of the match. Buckle shot exchange. Kane starts no selling punches. Whip reversal and corner clothesline from Kane. Clothesline off the top rope for 2. Taker ducks a clothesline and goozles. Kane goozle responds, wins the battle and hits his choke slam. Bearer gets on the apron to distract. Taker scoops Kane from behind, hits the Tombstone, Bearer grabs Kane's foot for good measure, and it's over. These two still haven't come close to equaling their good first match at Wrestlemania 14 despite numerous attempts since. 3/4*

 

Quarterfinals: Mankind def Al Snow (w/Head) in 3:55- Jump start while TV was showing a replay of their first matches with Snow doing the jumping. Mankind does a Bret bump and Snow hits a clothesline. He dropkicks Mankind to the floor. Mankind gets a chair. Snow cuts him off and uses it. Mankind dodges and Snow whacks the post. Snow tries coming off the barricade but Mankind catches him and drops him face first on the chair! We split screen with the back again and the Stooges are sucking up to Vince about how brilliant it was to steal Socko to get Mankind's head where they wanted it. So that's how Socko ended up as Head's headband! Snow hits an enzuguri. He gets Head and takes a swing but misses. Mankind hits a back suplex. He picks Head up. There's Socko! Mankind takes him back, then punches Head for stealing him! Snow attacks from behind. Mankind hits a counter clothesline. Snow spinebuster for 2. Mankind hits the double underhook DDT. Socko is on! Mandible Claw! That finishes it. Mankind and Socko are reunited and it feels so good. *

 

Quarterfinals: The Rock def Ken Shamrock in 8:20- The longtime rivalry renewed, but with reversed heel/face roles. Rock slugs away at the start for early control. Shamrock hits kicks in the corner. Suplex with floatover for 2. Corner clothesline. Rock pops out with his own clothesline. They go to the floor. Rock gives Shamrock an announce table shot, then steals JR's drink, takes a swig, and spits some at Shamrock! Shamrock whips Rock into the steps and slams him on the floor. Back in Shamrock hits a heel kick. Russian leg sweep for 2. Series of knee strikes from Shamrock. Boss Man makes his way out. Rock fights out of a chinlock. Hurricanrana from Shamrock. Arm takedown and the ankle lock is on! Rock fights and manages to get to the ropes. Double clothesline. Rock slowly drapes an arm over for 2. Spinny DDT. Boss Man gets on the apron. Rock uses the distraction to give Shamrock a low blow. People's Elbow! To a massive crowd reaction. Shamrock kicks out! Great reaction, everybody in the crowd thought that was it. Rock cinches up for the Rock Bottom but Shamrock fights free. Belly to belly suplex. Boss Man is up again and tosses his nightstick in. He was aiming for Shamrock, but Rock intercepts it! He whacks Shamrock with it, and covers for the pin! Another Boss Man mission fails as Rock outsmarts him again. Death, taxes, Rock beats Shamrock. **1/2

The final four are who you'd expect: Austin, Rock, Mankind and Taker, and at this point it really looks like it could go in any direction.

 

WWF Women's Championship: Sable def Jacqueline (c) (w/Marc Mero) in 3:14- The women's title, not seen since Alundra Blayze left with it to WCW, was revived in September with a brand new belt. Jacqueline defeated Sable to win it and they've been feuding ever since with Mero in the middle. Shane McMahon is reffing this match. As punishment for re-signing Austin after Vince fired him, Vince busted Shane down to a "lowly" referee, getting the bottom of all the assignments tonight. Jacqueline has a big mess of blonde hair woven into her own as an extension. I'm pretty sure that's Sable's hair she had cut earlier in the feud. Mero annoys Sable after the bell and Jacqueline attacks from behind. Sable responds with a hip toss and big kick. She hits a TKO! Mero pulls her off the pin. They argue on the floor. Sable grabs him and Sable bombs him on the floor! Again Jacqueline gets Sable from behind. She hits a corner kick back in. Sable backdrops out of a powerbomb. Jacqueline goes for her tornado DDT finisher but Sable counters out of it. Sable bomb! That gets the pin and the title! Huge pop for Sable's win. The match was what you'd expect. Thankfully commentary treated it like a proper match instead of Lawler drooling and shouting "PUPPIES!" all over it. 1/2*

 

Semifinals: Mankind def "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in 10:27- Austin's favoring his left arm from Boss Man's attack as he comes in. That doesn't stop him from jumping all over Mankind as soon as he gets in the ring though. He pulls Mankind's jacket off. And his shoes! Shoe shot from Austin! The Stooges wheel Vince out to ringside. While that's going on Mankind uses a buckle shot to take over and hits some throat shots. Running corner knee. He gives Austin a shoe shot receipt. Austin's back with a Thesz Press! Elbow drop. He hooks up for the Stunner! Mankind squeaks out and runs halfway to Kansas City. The Stooges stop him, try to calm him down and get him back in the ring. Austin breaks the conference up. He tries to piledrive Mankind in the aisle but Mankind backdrops out. Austin gets tossed over the barricade. He clotheslines Mankind back over it to ringside. Stair shot tradeoff. Mankind covers for 2. He grounds Austin for a bit while we get a quick shot of Vince doing some baseball style play calling. Slugfest. Double clothesline. More slugging. Austin stomps a mudhole in the corner. He goes outside to give Mankind a post shot but Mankind pulls Austin into the post. Mankind gets a chair. Austin kicks it back in his face. Mankind dodges Austin's rope splash. Double underhook DDT on the chair! Austin JUST kicks out! Mankind goes for a piledriver on the chair. Austin backdrops out. Stunner on the chair! Cover. Vince is up and pulls ref Mike Chioda out of the ring! The ankle's healed, it's a Rusev Day miracle. Vince punches Chioda's lights out. The fight continues in the ring with Mankind's dress pants falling down. Fortunately he has his Mankind gear on underneath. Mandible Claw! Austin low blows out! Stunner! Shane McMahon slides in, still in his ref gear. 1....2.....Shane stops counting! He laughs and flips Austin off! Shane's turned! WHAT A SWERVE. Yes, there's some sarcasm there. Shocked the crowd though. Mankind takes Austin out with a clothesline. Brisco comes in and gives Austin as much of a chairshot as he could. Mankind covers and Shane counts the pin. Mankind advances to the final and Austin is out. **3/4

Vince and co. make haste to the back. After he recovers Austin follows. Vince's gang are already in their limo and leaving, so Austin commandeers someone's Ford Explorer and follows. This is the point where all the Austin/Vince stuff, while still good and certainly doing gangbusters business, started to get a bit silly as Vince threw the whole rule book out the window and started resorting to taking Austin out by any means necessary. Plus Russo's constant need for SWERVES. I have a feeling we're not done with that theme tonight.

 

Semifinals: The Rock def The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) by DQ in 8:24- Hey, a jump start. That's unique tonight. Rock pounds away until Taker dodges in the corner. They fumble a bit getting in position and Taker hits some apron elbows. Back and forth on the floor. Rock sells the hell out of a Taker headbutt and teases flopping over the barricade into the first row. Back in Rock gets a boot up in the corner and hits a clothesline. Taker responds with a back elbow and does some chokes. Rock gets tied up in the ropes and Taker pounds away on him. Rock gets free and backdrops Taker to the floor. Another drink shot from Rock. Taker goes over the barricade and both guys take barricade shots. Bearer hits Rock with his shoe. Who uses a shoe, honestly? Rock dodges a corner elbow. Slugfest. Rock hits a Samoan drop. Hey guess what, Boss Man's coming out. I'm sure you're as shocked as I am. Rock hits a DDT. Setup slam and here comes the People's Elbow. No, Boss Man tries to trip Rock (badly)! Taker drops Rock. Then drops Boss Man for good measure. Goozle. Kane runs in! He choke slams Rock! That's a DQ on Taker. Kane gets his revenge for being eliminated earlier. He and Taker brawl through the crowd back to the back. The final is now set and we are now guaranteed a first time WWF Champion between the Rock and Mankind. *1/2

 

Triple Threat Match for the WWF Tag Team Championship: The New Age Outlaws (c) def The Headbangers and D'Lo Brown & Mark Henry in 10:10- Quick start with Brown and Gunn. I refuse to call it a jump start just for variety. After some back and forth Brown hits a spinning heel kick. Mosh squashes Brown in the corner, visibly repositions him, then hits a springboard dive to the apron. Everyone runs in as things break down. Brown powerbombs Dogg. More guys keep running in and out and breaking up pins. Is anyone tagging? This is a mess. Now it's Brown and Mosh going at it and more cover break ups happening. Oh, commentary mentions that there's three guys legal in the ring at one time since it's a triple threat match. That explains some of it. Guess they're trying something different. It's not working but that explains it. Henry puts a bear hug on Dogg. Mosh chop blocks him. Dogg stays in peril a long time. After he gets tossed out Brown and Mosh go at it again with Brown hitting a hurricanrana. Dogg and Brown collide and Mosh gets a Russian leg sweep for 2. Dogg tries to fight back but Henry kills him with a clothesline. Mosh counters a Brown powerbomb into a roll up for 2. More Dogg in peril stuff follows. Finally Brown and Mosh take each other out and Dogg tags Gunn. Gunn runs wild until Brown plants him with a spinebuster. Ref Tim White takes forever to start the count for no apparent reason, and Gunn kicks out. More awful timing. Gunn hits Mosh with the fameasser. Henry goes for a splash but Gunn dodges it. The splash hits Mosh and Henry covers for 2. Gunn piledrives Mosh and that gets the pin. Clearly trying out having three guys legal at any one time in a triple threat tag match didn't work, this was a Godawful mess from start to finish. DUD

 

Tournament Final for the Vacant WWF Championship: The Rock def Mankind in 17:17- During entrances we cut to the back and see that both Vince and Shane McMahon have returned to the arena (how hard can a limo do a 180 turn?) and are telling Boss Man they want to take care of this one themselves. Boss Man leaves. NO jump start! LOCKUP! Both guys are cautious early on. JR says we'll be with this one to its conclusion. Lawler: "You *will* see all of this PPV!". Nice little shot at WCW's recent Halloween Havoc incident where the show ran long and the TV feed was cut off in the middle of the main event. Rock gets the early edge and hits a clothesline for 2. They go out and brawl in the aisle a bit. Back in Mankind grounds Rock with a chinlock. While that's going on Vince and Shane make their way out to the ring. Rock back suplexes out and they go to the floor again. Rock suplexes Mankind on the floor, then stalks the McMahons. Mankind tries to jump but Rock was ready for him. They brawl into the crowd. Funny bit where Rock tries to use a trash can and it comes apart and falls out of his hands. The second try works. Mankind gets backdropped back over the barricade. Now Rock kills some time with a chinlock while the McMahons do some planning between themselves. Knee to the gut from Mankind. Cactus Clothesline! It's chair time. Mankind hits Rock with it. He picks up the steps. Rock hits them with the chair! Chair headshot to Mankind. Rock rolls him in and covers for 2. Mankind gets a sneaky style (copyright Rocky Romero) low blow. Rock gets set up on the floor. Cactus Elbow! Rock gets draped over the announce table and JR has a fit. Mankind legdrops Rock off the table! It completely missed but still works. Cover for 2. Slugfest. Rock gets backdropped back out to the floor but Mankind quickly gets him back in. Rock DDT. Again Mankind tosses Rock out. He sets up on the second rope. Rock dodges and Mankind crashes through the Spanish announce table! Savinovich managed to stay upright this time. Setup slam back in. Elbow pad off. People's Elbow! Mankind kicks out! Double underhook DDT! No cover. Instead, Mankind pulls Socko out. Claw! Rock stays in it a while and Hebner does the arm drops. Rock fights back up. Rock Bottom! Both guys are down. Rock drapes his arm over for 2. Sharpshooter! Vince calls for the bell and it rings! Rock wins his first ever WWF Championship! Huge pop. Vince gets in the ring with the belt. He and Rock look at each other........and hug! The crowd starts getting what's going on and turns. WHAT A SWERVE. It turns out all of Vince's hatred of the Rock, all of Boss Man's apparent bumbling in Rock's matches tonight, it was all a RUSE. Getting Mankind corporate again was also only a means to his Rock ends. And there was no way they were getting out of the night without referencing Montreal. Even with all the swerviness this was the best match of the night, which is admittedly a very low bar. ***1/4

Vince gets a mic to gloat. "Vince McMahon didn't screw the people, the people screwed the people!". He calls the people "as gullible as Mankind". Double turn complete. He also brags about screwing Austin, then cements Rock's turn by telling the fans that Rock hates them. Mankind is confused, he never submitted so why did he lose? Vince says let me explain by Rock hitting you from behind with the belt. Rock Bottom. Shane officially declares Rock to be the Corporate Champion. Austin's back! He charges the ring! Rock tries to stomp him down while the McMahons get the hell out of town. Stunner! Austin tosses Rock out. Stunner to Mankind because he's still Austin. Austin gives Rock a few more shots on his way out. I think it's pretty clear the Wrestlemania main event has been penciled in. The question is, how do we get there? Well for one, Rock and Mankind are far from done with each other.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- This has always been a very divisive show. Clearly the wrestling quality is nothing to write home about, which is always a risk with a large one night tournament. It would have helped if the tournament matches had some more match and wrestling style variety. Outside maybe Regal/Pac they were all the heavy brawling, lots of fighting on the floor style that was prevalent during this era. Like much of the Attitude Era, it's much more about the story than the wrestling. In that this show mostly succeeds, though like I noted on the Austin side it was starting to get a bit on the silly side. It's also not at all a standalone show, in order to fully appreciate all the storytelling done here you need to be familiar with most of what's been going on in WWF the past at least 6 months. It'd be like jumping into the MCU at like Age of Ultron without having seen anything prior, and like the MCU at that point there's still a lot to come.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C-

Halloween Havoc '96

Legacy Review

Halloween Havoc '96

October 27, 1996 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas

Commentary: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Dusty Rhodes

Think the Slim Jim Battle Royale at Summerslam was over the top? Think again. This is Halloween Havoc presented by Slim Jim at the peak of the Slim Jim/Randy Savage partnership and they are EVERYWHERE. The ring posts are even dressed up like Slim Jims.

WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Dean Malenko def Rey Mysterio Jr (c) in 18:32- Mike Tenay joins the booth for this one. Malenko has one of Mysterio's masks that he stole on weekly TV. He jumps Mysterio to start but we don't see it because the camera was on the crowd. Back suplex from Malenko for 2. He hits a spinebuster and goes for an early cloverleaf. Mysterio escapes. Long counter run, Malenko catches a moonsault, Mysterio pushes him into the corner, more counters, and Mysterio hits a drop toe hold that plants Malenko right on his nose. Springboard into a flying headscissors. Malenko powders and Mysterio does the 619 spin that he did for dive teases back then. Malenko gets the mask he stole. Mysterio springboard dropkicks him off the apron. Somersault senton! Mysterio reclaims the mask and swaps masks midmatch in the ring, managing to keep his face away from the cameras. Probably best not to ask what the mask smells like on the inside, lord knows what Malenko did with it. Spinny cradle from Mysterio for 2. Malenko counters another spin into a side suplex, then throws Mysterio on the top rope. He hooks on a single leg crab, then transitions into a bow and arrow type stretch. They go up top and Malenko hits a back superplex for 2. Head scissors. Mysterio rolls and gets a foot on the rope. Big Malenko delayed suplex for 2. Mysterio agiles his way into a small package. Malenko pops back up and hits an immediate basement dropkick. Camel clutch from Malenko. Tiltawhirl backbreaker. They go to the floor and Malenko runs Mysterio's back into the apron. Back in Malenko hooks on a sleeper, with a quick grounding and grapevine. After arm drops Malenko throws Mysterio back into the mat and puts the sleeper back on. More arm drops. Malenko kills Mysterio's momentum with a knee to the gut. Hammerlock suplex for 2. Both guys end up on the apron around the corner, both climb up, and both punch sending them both falling down to the floor! Mysterio tries to get something going on the floor but Malenko gives him a quick low blow to cut it off. Back in Mysterio counters another tiltawhirl for 2. Springboard senton and magistral cradle for 2. Mysterio tries for a poisonrana but Malenko blocks it. Standing switches, counters, and Mysterio works into a Euro clutch for 2. Malenko hits a huge clothesline in response. Another straight suplex for 2. Mysterio uses speed and momentum to get Malenko down to the floor. Springboard corkscrew to the floor! Back in Mysterio hits the hurricanrana with a cradle for a long 2. Another springboard....into a Malenko powerbomb! Mysterio kicks out! They both go up top again. Malenko sets up for the super gutbuster. Mysterio fights out. He goes for a hurricanrana but Malenko shoves him off. Back up again. Malenko gets Mysterio with a gutwrench powerbomb off the top! That gets the pin and Malenko the title back! Pretty decent pop for that win too, starting a trend we'd see tonight of heels getting cheered. You can't go wrong with these two. ****

 

Diamond Dallas Page def Eddie Guerrero in 13:44- This is billed as the "Battle for the Ring". Guerrero defeated DDP at the last Clash in August to supposedly win DDP's Battlebowl ring. DDP subsequently claimed that he lost the ring and has no idea where it is and isn't sure he was ever given a ring in the first place anyway. Increasingly obvious NWO ref Nick Patrick is assigned this match, wearing a neck brace and wincing in pain the whole match from something that happened on Nitro I can't remember. He does a hell of a job selling it though. DDP spits at Guerrero and Guerrero charges in. Backfist slap from DDP. Takedown from Guerrero and they brawl on the mat, rolling out to the floor. Guerrero gets run into the barricade. DDP goes into some arm work back in. Guerrero gets a hiptoss and armdrag. He tiltawhirl counters into a headlock. The headlock goes on for a while, but is never dull thanks to DDP's constant escape attempts only for Guerrero to get him back into it. Eventually DDP locks in a facelock. Guerrero bridges up and snap mares out. He dropkicks DDP into his rope pose, then punches him to the floor. Guerrero teases a dive and a plancha but sees DDP ready to counter and lands on his feet, then hits a chop and whips DDP into the guardrail. Slingshot senton back in. DDP pushes Guerrero into the corner and crotches him on the top rope. Patrick did not like that at all. Guerrero falls to the floor. DDP double ax handle off the apron. He goes for a leverage pin back in and Patrick catches it. Huge faceplant backdrop from DDP. Gutwrench gutbuster for 2. He hooks on an abdominal stretch and tries for rope leverage but Patrick is all over it. Guerrero hiptosses out. DDP hits a jawbreaker. Guerrero tries a tiltawhirl but DDP work it into a slam for 2. DDP gets upset at the count and shoves Patrick. Patrick shoves back! Guerrero covers DDP off it for 2! Nice. DDP and Patrick argue some more, with DDP backing off into the corner and finally offering a handshake that Patrick takes. Slugfest. Guerrero does a casual eye poke. DDP low bridges him to the floor. He goes for a gutwrench back in but Guerrero rolls into a roll up for 2. Lots of rapid fire cradle counters for near falls follow. Huge DDP clothesline to a pretty good pop. Are we in Vegas or Philly? Arrogant slow cover for 2. He goes for the faceplant again but Guerrero counters with a dropkick. DDP does the huge punt kick miss and Lebron flop. Guerrero hits some punches and a European uppercut. Mounted punches and another uppercut. DDP is selling like a madman. He goes to the floor. Guerrero crossbody off the top to the floor! Cover back in and DDP gets a foot on the rope. He snaps Guerrero over the top rope. Flapjack for 2. Powerbomb for 2. DDP pulls Guerrero up, hits the worst looking Diamond Cutter ever, and gets the pin. Pretty flat finish. Apparently Guerrero got hurt late in the match, probably on the crossbody to the floor, and they rushed the finish so he could get looked at. Shame, they were going damn good up to that point. DDP's improvement the past year has been incredible. We're also slowly starting to see some of the more heelish characteristics that would become synonymous with Eddie. Oh look, DDP found the ring! Probably right where he left it. It's always the last place you look. ***

Tenay and Savage host one of the worst prize drawings on a wrestling show ever. Not THE worst, that will always be the house giveaway at In Your House 1. Hey wrestling fans! Log onto Compuserve on that newfangled internet thing and you can hear the LIVE AUDIO of the PPV through RealAudio! As a teenager in the '90s that was there on the internet almost from the start this brings back so many memories. Wonder how much buffering you had to sit through for it to work. Next we go to Ted DiBiase, who's MC'ing at the separate NWO entrance area that's been set up in the crowd. He gets some words from the Giant, who then goes through the crowd for his match. Everyone in the group will do that tonight. The NWO, men of the people.

 

The Giant def Jeff Jarrett (w/Ric Flair) by DQ in 9:55- Giant has the US title belt, but it's a belt that he stole from actual champ Flair (who's on the shelf with a shoulder injury), not one he won. Jarrett has made the first of his many Monday Night Wars era promotion jumps, and for some reason WCW decided to bring him in as a face after he spent his whole initial WWF run as a heel. Being contrarian, I guess. Pairing him up with Flair didn't help any, at least here, he gets nothing from the Vegas crowd. DiBiase offered him a spot in the NWO on his debut and Jarrett refused, deciding to back up the Horsemen instead, so he's now an NWO target. Jarrett and Giant go nose to chest after the bell. Giant shoves. Jarrett hits him with a forearm and struts. Speed run and Jarrett gets another shot in. Giant is getting annoyed. Jarrett puts on a headlock. Bad move. Giant tosses him clear across the ring. Reset and Jarrett does some more dodging. Giant tosses him again. The crowd is starting to get behind Giant. I think we might be in Philly. Or Canada. Jarrett ducks a clothesline and hooks on a sleeper. Giant backs him into the corner but Jarrett gets it back on. Another backing and Giant gets free. Jarrett hits mounted punches. Giant looks wobbly....until Jarrett runs into a big boot. Cover and foot on rope. Elbow drop to Jarrett's back. And another to Jarrett's beltline. Backbreaker and stretch. Flair gets on the mic to distract Giant. Slow slugfest. Jarrett tries coming off the second rope. Giant catches him and hits another backbreaker. After some more back softening up Giant puts on a bear hug. Jarrett bites out. Slide under and dropkicks from Jarrett. He tries to slam Giant and it goes how you'd expect. Long 2 count for Giant on that. Jarrett gets a boot up in the corner. Double ax handle off the second rope and Giant is wobbelegged. Crossbody off the top! Giant's down! Jarrett gets a 2 count out of it. He goes for the figure four. Giant pushes out and sends Jarrett to the floor. Jarrett dodges and Giant runs into the Slim Jim post. Figure four on the floor! Giant goozles to get out! Flair comes from behind and low blows Giant, drawing the cheap DQ. Afterward the Horsemen all run in to back Jarrett up. Giant doesn't push the issue and leaves. Weak ass finish but Jarrett, a natural heel, did a very nice job of playing the bouncy babyface foil for Giant whether or not the crowd was behind him. **1/2

 

Syxx def Chris Jericho in 9:49- Syxx (Sean Waltman, the former 1-2-3 Kid and future X-Pac in WWF) finally made his contract shenanigans delayed debut on Nitro just after Fall Brawl as the sixth member of the NWO, hence the name. Wonder what his name would have been if he'd been the fourth man as originally planned. He swings a kick and strikes a martial arts pose after the bell. Jericho gets a takedown as they feel each other out. Hammerlock exchange. A long speed/dodge run ends in a stalemate. We see some Dungeon of Doom members have taken some ringside seats. Jericho gets a series of armdrags, followed by a big corner chop and corner clothesline. He goes up top. Syxx dropkicks him to the floor! Senton plancha from Syxx. He stomps all over Jericho's face back in. Chops and corner kicks. Jericho blocks a swing kick but gets hit by the other foot. Dodge in the corner and Syxx crashes into the top turnbuckle. Jericho comes back with punches and a backdrop. A back kick sends Syxx to the floor. Jericho crossbody off the top to the floor! Back elbow off the top back in for 2. Syxx lifts Jericho up in the corner and drops him face first on the top turnbuckle. He tries coming off the top. Jericho dropkicks him in midair! He covers but Nick Patrick is slow to start the count because of that damn hurt neck. Faceplant and Lionsault, followed by a Euro clutch. Again Patrick is slow off the mark and Syxx kicks out. The crowd starts to boo the obvious biased officiating, about the first time all night they've had a "normal" reaction. After some more dodges Jericho hits a crossbody off the top and there's yet another slow count. Syxx hits a spin kick and covers. Patrick is down in an instant and counts a quick 3. Jericho gets pissed at Patrick, who bails and helps Syxx back to the back. Just an OK match even before all the Patrick BS started up. **1/4

 

"The Total Package" Lex Luger def Arn Anderson in 12:22- This is fallout from War Games, where Luger and Arn were pissed at each other for losing. Sting is brought up but nowhere to be found as he's still on his "I'm pissed off at everyone" sabbatical. They jaw for a bit before Arn jumps and works Luger over. After a bit Luger decides he's done enough selling and hits a press slam, then 360 clotheslines Arn to the floor. Double ax handle off the apron. Luger runs Arn's back into the Slim Jim post. Powerslam back in. The DOD contingent in the crowd is openly rooting for Luger. Luger works over Arn's back, setting him up for the Torture Rack. Arn gets a back elbow in the corner. Luger crotches him over the top turnbuckle and Arn falls down into a tree of woe type position. Luger gives him some more back shots. Arn hits the World's Greatest Spinebuster outta nowhere and both guys are down. Arn shoves Luger down to the floor. He rams Luger's back around into almost every available object. Back in it's Arn's turn to do some back softening up. Abdominal stretch in the corner with middle rope leverage that the ref eventually catches. Luger blocks a DDT. Arn shoves Luger into the ref. They go to the floor. Arn gets a chair but Luger dodges the shot. He slingshots Arn into the post. Suplex on the floor. Luger gets the chair and works Arn over with it. Back in with a recovered ref Luger calls for the Rack, hooks it on, and Arn submits. Pretty dull match. *1/2

Luger refuses to let the Rack go after the bell. When he finally does Arn is clearly hurt. Flair and Jarrett run out to check on him. It's not directly related to the injury angle but this would turn out to be the last PPV singles match of Arn Anderson's great career, one that should get him into the Hall of Fame on his own, not just as part of the Horsemen. After that Mean Gene is still out negotiating a new contract so Lee Marshall does the Hotline shill, telling us there's exclusive news on Sting.

 

Chris Benoit and Steve "Mongo" McMichael (w/Woman and Debra) def The Faces of Fear (w/Jimmy Hart) in 9:23- Somehow the Horsemen/Dungeon of Doom feud continues despite the NWO sucking almost all the oxygen out of the room. Tony mentions that Flair and Jarrett left with Arn in an ambulance, which will be important later. Meng and Mongo start with Meng swinging a kick and Mongo quickly backing up. Shoulderblock standoff. Meng no sells a clothesline. HUGE Mongo tackle and Meng goes down! That was legit full speed. Both sides tag and Barbarian comes out aggressive on Benoit. Benoit maneuvers into hitting a northern lights suplex for 2. Clothesline from Barbarian. Benoit fights off a Boston crab and both sides swap again. Mongo wants a football snap. Meng wants to have a sumo exchange. Mongo accepts those terms, and quickly gets beaten back by Meng's superior hand technique. Mongo hits chop block tackles to Meng's legs. Superkick from Meng and Mongo goes down. The FOF work Mongo over a bit. Mongo hits Meng with a dropkick. Meng swats away a second one. Mongo dodges a senton (before Meng even left his feet) and tags. Benoit comes out firing chops. Barbarian PLANTS Benoit with a huge powerbomb! Big crowd reaction for that. Benoit goes Horseman in peril. He fights off a Barbarian superplex but gets crotched. Barbarian goes back up and belly to belly superplexes Benoit all the way across the ring! Cover for 2. The FOF hit a dual headbutt off the top rope. Mongo breaks the pin up. Suplex/top rope big splash FOF double team. Mongo pulls Benoit out. Debra gets him his briefcase and he whacks Meng with it! Benoit hits the headbutt off the top and gets the pin. Way better than it had any right to be, everyone here had their working boots on. **3/4

An enraged FOF attack the Horsemen after the bell, quickly backed up by the DOD members that were in the crowd once they know that Horsemen backup isn't coming as they're on the way to the hospital with Arn. Kevin Sullivan corners Woman and takes his shirt off. Uh, I don't want to know what he's thinking about doing and I'm pretty sure it would be against Turner's "family TV" guidelines. Oh, he just turns around and kicks Benoit. Good, no one needed to see that.

 

WCW World Tag Team Championship: The Outsiders def Harlem Heat (c) (w/Col. Robert Parker and Sister Sherri) in 13:07- The very pro-Outsiders crowd chants "Diesel" and "Ramon". Hall and Booker start with Booker getting the toothpick flip. Lots of caution. The crowd gets distracted by something. Commentary first says it's NWO related then realize it's just someone doing something stupid and move on. Booker armdrags out of a lockup. Arm wringer and hook kick. "Come on sucka!". Speed run and Hall gets hiptossed over the top to the floor. Ray hops down and gets a shot in. Tag and Hall spits on Ray. Nash tags in and gives the crowd a quick Diesel pose. Forearms to Ray. Corner knees and elbows. Ray gets a back elbow counter and clothesline then pounds Nash down in the corner. Sherri gets an eye rake in. Booker scissors kick for 2. Nash side suplex on Ray. Hall bulldog off the second rope for 2. Booker flying forearm for 2. Nash whacks Booker from behind on the apron and Hall hits a clothesline for 2. Nash big boot. Snake eyes. Hall hits a choke slam. He catches Booker trying a crossbody and hits the fallaway slam. Sherri gets on the apron. She slaps Hall! Hall kisses Sherri! Parker is furious. To be fair so is Sherri. Booker kicks Hall down. Hall puts on a sleeper. Booker escapes and puts his own on to a good deal of boos from the crowd. Hall crotches him on the top rope to get out. Midring collision. Tag to Ray. He press slams Hall into Nash. DONNYBROOK! The Harlem Hangover hits! For some reason Parker gets in the ring. Nash cuts him off, steals his cane, nails Ray with it, and drapes Hall over for the pin! The Outsiders finally win the tag titles that, in my opinion, they should have won months ago when the NWO first formed. Good match, Harlem Heat's best in a long while. ***1/4

 

WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Hollywood Hogan (c) (w/Ted DiBiase) def "Macho Man" Randy Savage in 18:37- Hogan comes in through the NWO entrance they've been using all night and takes a minute to promote his current movies. He's wearing an absolutely ridiculous spiky haired wig that I think is from one of those movies. Savage's music starts before Buffer is done with his Hogan intro and they have to rewind it and start over. Savage's monster truck comes out to say hi for no reason whatsoever. A big show is made of the Giant getting tossed out before the match starts. Hogan, to the shock of no one, goes into epic stall mode. He's still got his sunglasses on. Finally Hogan grabs a headlock. Hit the ropes, shoulderblock, and Hogan bails to the floor again. More stall. Very slowly Hogan reaches out and knucklelocks with Savage, using it to get a shot in and goes into slow beatdown mode. With the sunglasses still on. Savage ducks a clothesline and fires back. Double ax handle off the top. THE SUNGLASSES ARE OFF! Savage puts them on! Hogan begs off. Savage says nah. THE WIG IS OFF! Now Hogan looks normal. Savage puts the wig on! Now Hogan's pissed. Savage punches him down to the floor. Hogan walks and Savage chases. He stuffs the wig in Hogan's mouth! Chairshot to Hogan's head. The ref blocks another and Hogan takes the opening to attack. Savage's shoulder is run into the post and Hogan crotches him on the guardrail. Chairshot from Hogan. Elizabeth makes her way out. They've basically been playing a copy of their old WWF feud, with Elizabeth caught in the middle of the two. Hogan yells at her and Savage rolls him up for 2. Hogan's tights get pulled down and his thong tan lines get exposed for all the world to see. Savage clotheslines him to the floor. Hogan begs off again and hides behind Elizabeth. Well that should look familiar to Savage. Back in Savage slams Hogan. A knee to the back sends Hogan out again. Hogan drags Savage out and then they repeat the exact same thing they just did- Hogan runs around and hides behind Elizabeth. This time Hogan throws Elizabeth into Savage and attacks. Big boot back in. Elizabeth runs in, checks on Savage, and shields him from Hogan. Hogan drags her into the corner and gives her a quiet dressing down. He goes for the legdrop. Savage dodges! Elizabeth blocks a Hogan punch and steals the knucks that he got from DiBiase. The ref gets clotheslined. DiBiase takes the knucks back. Nick Patrick is out to the groans of everyone. We all know how this is going to end. Savage elbow! Patrick comes in, counts....and stops at 2 because his neck hurts. Savage shoves him down and pulls the neck brace off. Hogan tries to use the knucks again but Savage takes them. He waffles Hogan! Savage goes up top to finish it off. DiBiase drags him down. Giant is back out. He choke slams Savage on the floor, drags him in, drapes Hogan on top, and an unquestioning Patrick counts 3. Don't bother trying to find any kitchen sinks in the MGM Grand, they were all used in this match. The wig stuff was amusing though. 3/4*

Giant brings in a bucket of ice water and dumps it on Hogan to wake him up.. Hogan takes a mic to brag to the crowd, but not long after he starts bagpipe music starts playing. I think we all know what this means. Here comes "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, last seen disrobing Goldust after the Hollywood Backlot Brawl at Wrestlemania 12, making his shock WCW debut. Normally you let the shock be the ending and save the rest for Nitro, right? Nope, not tonight. Piper has a mic with him. He and Hogan proceed to eat up nearly 10 minutes of PPV time rambling and stepping on each other's promos so bad that neither of them can finish a train of thought before being interrupted and sidetracked. It goes on so long that the show goes off air with Piper literally mid-sentence. The rivalry that gave birth to Wrestlemania is being renewed over a decade later, with maybe a tenth of the heat and impact.

The best way I can sum up a lot of the WCW main event moves in this era is this: Hogan had zero interest in working with new guys or trying to make new stars. He only wanted to work with guys that, in his mind, he could "draw money with", which of course meant a rotating cavalcade of the barely motivated or physically past it old guard cashing a paycheck and having one awful PPV main event after another.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Put a good main event on this show and you'd be talking about a borderline great PPV. That will be a recurring theme for most of the shows of the NWO era, at least the ones Hogan deigned to wrestle on.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B-

Judgment Day '98: In Your House

Legacy Review

Judgment Day: In Your House

October 18, 1998 from the Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, IL

Commentary: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

The fall '98 peak of Austin/McMahon continues, with the weeks between the last PPV and this one providing one of the most iconic and famous run of episodes in the history of Raw. Among the legendary segments from these episodes were Austin filling Vince's car with cement and Vince's trip to the hospital with Austin whacking him on the head with a bedpan (several times during taping to get just the ring DING), which also saw the debut of no less a legend himself, Mr. Socko. Truly must see TV every week as WCW continued to be left further and further behind. Following the controversial finish of the WWF Title match at Breakdown between Austin, the Undertaker and Kane, and Vince's later frustration with Taker and Kane not playing ball just how he wanted, a match has been set up for the vacant title tonight between just Taker and Kane. Austin's role? He's the special guest referee, and per Vince's edict if he doesn't raise the hand of a new not him champion tonight and "humble himself", he will be FIRED.

Al Snow (w/Head) def "Marvelous" Marc Mero (w/Jacqueline) in 7:12- Probably no one on the roster better suited for a show open pop right now than Snow. Before the match Jeff Jarrett, who'd had some recent issues with Snow, makes his way down and tries to convince the ref to replace Mero in the match with him. Mero's not interested and instead jumps a distracted Snow from behind. Jarrett takes his leave to have it out with Snow another day. Speed/duck run and Snow hits a powerslam, followed by a series of clotheslines. Mero responds with short jabs to the body and a flying back elbow. He turns his back on Snow and decides to stalk Head. Snow rolls him up for 2. Mero responds with a clothesline. Long series of dodges with Snow doing a fake out and hitting a DDT. Snow hits the moonsault! Jacqueline (who is also currently the revived WWF Women's champion) distracts, allowing Mero to hit a low blow and DDT. Cover for 2. Both Mero and Jacqueline choke Snow on the ropes. Kneelift from Mero. He hits his own moonsault for 2. Snow traps Mero's arms and pummels him with headbutts. Another Mero clothesline counter. Snow hits an enzuguri and a spinebuster. He goes up top again. Jacqueline pulls Mero out of the landing zone and Snow plants himself with another moonsault. Mero magistral cradle for 2. Samoan drop. He goes up top. Snow dodges the Marvelocity! He covers but Mero gets a foot on the rope. Mero goes for the TKO. Snow counters into the Snow Plow! That gets the pin! Decentish match with a pretty nice stretch run. *3/4

Earlier tonight, Austin arrived at the arena and naturally headed to the wrestler's locker room. The Stooges cut him off and instead shepherd him into the referee's changing closet. Austin physically tosses Mike Chioda out for some privacy.

 

LOD 2000 def The Disciples of Apocalypse in 5:04- This is a six man match, with Paul Ellering getting in the ring with the DOA and Droz joining LOD. In fact, right now Droz was more a regular member of LOD while Hawk was more an "alternate" following a layoff. This is during the controversial angle where Hawk's real life issues with pain killer addiction was brought on screen. The angle would lead to Droz being revealed as Hawk's pusher and Hawk getting tossed off the Titantron on Raw before it was all quietly ended because everyone hated it. Hawk definitely looks pudgier than ever in this match. Both he and Animal have full heads of hair too, a very strange look for them. Droz makes up for it with just a small patch of hair on the top of his head with a braid coming out of it. Not much of a Chicago pop for LOD either, even at home they were wearing thin as age continued to take its toll. Even with everything going on this is yet another LOD/DOA match so you know what to expect and I'm not getting deep into it. Both Animal and Hawk get runs before DOA get Droz LOD in peril. Ellering only tags in when its safe. Droz gets a hot tag to Hawk, who tosses Ellering out, kicking off the DONNYBROOK. Hawk and Animal hit the DoomsdayDevestation Device on one of the DOA twins, but Droz runs in and takes the pin for himself, which Hawk is none to pleased about. 3/4*

 

WWF Light Heavyweight Championship: Christian (w/Gangrel) def Taka Michinoku (c) (w/Yamaguchi-San) in 8:35- Following his WWF debut at Breakdown distracting his on-screen brother Edge, Christian is making his in-ring debut tonight. The feud between the brothers is Edge wants nothing to do with Gangrel, while Christian is obviously close with him. He gets the Brood entrance for this match. In fact this is heel vs heel as Taka is still a member of Kaientai. Christian leaves his puffy shirt on to wrestle in. Taka goes in dodge mode early. He hits a spinning heel kick and clotheslines Christian 360 to the floor. Taka springboard dive! He's pretty clearly playing the face role in this match though the crowd never connects with it. We get a shot of Edge hanging out up by one of the mid-level entrances watching the match. Knee off the top from Taka back in for 2. Christian hits a reverse DDT. The crowd chants for Edge. Christian hits a couple of rolling suplexes and a falcon arrow for 2. He low bridges Taka to the floor. Springboard plancha from Christian! Powerbomb back in for 2. Taka dodges a splash off the top rope. A dropkick counter from Taka sends Christian back out. Baseball slide. Taka asai moonsault! He tries to get the crowd fired up after that but they're still having nothing of it. Taka hits some chops in the corner back in. Christian tries to backdrop him over the corner but Taka lands on the apron, goes up top, and hits a crossbody. Christian rolls through it for 2. Taka roll up for 2. Basement dropkick for 2. Christian gets a Russian leg sweep for 2. Taka flips out of a powerbomb and hits a tornado DDT. He calls for the Michinoku Driver but really takes his time about it. Christian counters into a small package and gets the pin and wins a title in his first televised WWF match! Edge continues to watch impassively as the emotionless Christian takes the belt and leaves arm in arm with Gangrel. Taka's "inaugural" (first after the WWF got the belt back and revived the division) title reign ends at 315 days. In a sign of how serious WWF took this title, a month later Christian would drop it to....Gillberg. It's not on the level of Edge's first PPV singles match against Owen Hart at Breakdown but still a decent debut for Christian. **1/2

 

Goldust def Val Venus (w/Terri Runnels) in 12:05- Venus boinking his wife Terri caused Dustin Runnels to snap so bad he became Goldust again. Goldust uses mic tricks to interrupt Venus' usual prematch promo then jumps him in the ring. Venus responds with a big boot followed by some ground and pound, then tosses Goldust out. Goldust reverses a whip into the barricade and drops Venus on the steps. They go back in just so Venus can toss Goldust out again. Venus dive off the top to the floor! More floor ground and pound follows. Back in Venus tries coming off the top again but Goldust catches him with a gut shot. Inverted atomic drop from Goldust. Slingshot back suplex and clothesline for 2. Goldust does a bit of arm work, then hits Venus with a very Mr. Perfect-like neck snap. Venus dodges in the corner and Goldust posts his shoulder. Venus is immediately all over it. After some arm pounding Venus puts on a short arm scissors. Goldust gets up and we have a forearm exchange. Venus clothesline for 2 and he goes back on the arm. The ref does arm drops on the good arm. The glove on the arm Venus has been working has come off and we can see Goldust is still wearing his wedding ring. Goldust crossbody for 2. Venus pounds him with elbows to the back of the neck, then snaps Goldust's arm over the top rope. Russian leg sweep for 2. Powerslam from Venus. No cover. He goes up top. Goldust meets him and hits a superplex for 2. Venus dodges an elbow drop off the second rope and hooks on a sleeper. Goldust backs him into the corner and hooks on his own sleeper. Venus back suplexes out. Comeback flurry from Goldust. Bulldog! Terri gets on the apron and screams at Goldust that he ruined her life. Venus tries to ambush. Goldust dodges and Venus *just* hits the brakes to stop from hitting Terri. Goldust kicks Venus right in his moneymaker! Cover and Goldust gets the pin! Terri is shocked and furious. Not too shabby. This whole Russo trash TV angle would really go off the rails after this (saying something considering how it started), with Terri faking pregnancy to get out of her relationship with Venus. **3/4

After winning the Intercontinental title in a legendary Ladder Match against the Rock at Summerslam, Triple H had to vacate the title due to a legitimate knee injury. A one night, 8 man tournament was held on Raw to determine a new champion (minus Rock, who already had bigger plans being laid for him), won by Ken Shamrock for his first title win in WWF. Earlier tonight on Heat Trips presented the IC title belt to Shamrock. As he was leaving however, Shamrock snapped as he was wont to do and attacked Trips in his car, "reinjuring" Trips' knee and putting him back on the shelf for a while, which also continued Shamrock's slow burn heel turn.

 

WWF European Championship: X-Pac (w/Chyna) def D'Lo Brown (c) in 14:37- These two have been trading the European title back and forth the past couple of months, with Brown most recently taking it back on Raw with help from former Nation stablemate Mark Henry. Former as in The Nation was no longer a going concern, but Brown and Henry were still buddies. There's also this whole angle of Henry having a sexual harassment lawsuit out on Chyna, which I won't get into in detail other than it leads to Henry's famous Sexual Chocolate gimmick. Brown's announced European hometown tonight is Milan, Italy. He's got some extra strut and head waggle tonight. Clearly he's happy about getting his beloved title back. Lockup! Brown hits a shoulderblock and celebrates. After another lockup Brown gets a cheap shot in the corner. He tugs Pac's arm and hair pulls him down. Pac bounces back up and hits a swing kick. Speed run, lots of counters and Brown hits a clothesline for 2. Corner chops from Brown. Pac dodges an avalanche. I should note, at this point Brown's chest protector has become such a regular part of his ring gear no one does anything with it anymore. Pac hits a flurry of corner kicks. He goes for the bronco buster. Brown puts a boot up while Pac is in midair and it goes right into his nads! Big time chinlock from Brown. After arm drops Brown cuts off a Pac comeback with a heel kick. Ligerbomb! Slow cover for 2. Pac fights off a superplex. He hits a crossbody off the top but Brown rolls through it for 2. Pac kicks Brown right in the face in the corner. Going the other way Brown dodges and Pac crashes in the corner. Brown elbow off the second rope for 2. Backbreaker for 2. He hooks on a good old fashioned Texas cloverleaf. Pac fights out but Brown cuts him off again with the ol' eye poke. Setup slam. Brown goes up top, but instead of the frog splash he goes for a swanton. Pac dodges! Spinning heel kick from Pac. Flying clothesline. Dropkick. The bronco buster hits this time. Chyna gets a punch in. Pac covers for 2. Ref bump! Pac hits a Saito suplex. Here comes Mark Henry. He gets Chyna's attention. While she's distracted Brown gets the belt and waffles Pac with it. Henry deadlifts Chioda back in. Pac kicks out! Another Brown Ligerbomb for 2. He comes off the top rope again.....RIGHT INTO THE X-FACTOR! Pac covers for the pin and gets the title back! Fantastic finish, and a really good match. All the hours these two have spent wrestling each other have clearly paid dividends. ***1/2

Michael Cole is in the back and reports on a rumor, repeat RUMOR, from WWF.com that Paul Bearer has been seen going into the Undertaker's locker room. Frigging online dirt sheets, they'll never stop publishing unverified crap.

 

WWF Tag Team Championship: The Headbangers def The New Age Outlaws (c) by DQ in 14:00- The Headbangers turned heel to set this up, and to fulfill Russo's monthly heel turn quota, smashing a boombox over Road Dogg's head to do it. The Chicago crowd is pretty bonkers for the Outlaws. The Hadbangers jump them during their usual prematch promo. The Outlaws take over pretty quick and double team Mosh before things settle in with Mosh and Gunn. Both Gunn and Dogg work Mosh over. Mosh eyepokes Gunn and tags but Thrasher walks into a hiptoss. The 'Bangers work Dogg into a Mosh ambush and Dogg goes Outlaw in peril. After a bit Dogg back suplexes Thrasher and both sides tag. Gunn goes nuts on the hot tag run until Thrasher pulls the top rope down on him and sending him crashing to the floor. Gunn takes a couple of shots into the steps and is now in peril. Lots of double team work from the heels. Gunn gets a flying headscissors for some breathing space. Commentary continues to butter Gunn up something fierce in anticipation of his expected singles breakout coming soon to a ring near you. Thrasher cuts the tag off. More FIP stuff follows with double teams and ref working. Gunn and Thrasher do the sleeper/arm drops/comeback/counter sleeper/back suplex sequence we've already seen once tonight. On the back end of a double team Gunn plucks Mosh out of midair and slams him. The tag is cut off again. Double team flapjack from the heels. Dogg finally has enough, pulls a fresh boombox out of....somewhere, and whacks Mosh with it for a cheap DQ. The match was fine basic tag formula stuff with the 'Bangers working the heel end of it admittedly better than expected, but I'm not sure about that booking. **

Back to Cole, who has seen with his own two eyes Paul Bearer going into Kane's dressing room. Take that, WWF.com hacks. Mankind is here. And Mr. Socko! Mankind and Socko discuss brutality, with Mankind saying Socko hasn't seen true brutality. Socko's response? "I've watched Ken Shamrock's interviews and they are brutal!". Debate point to Socko. Mankind asks to see Socko's underwear (the sick freak) and reveals that he's in black tonight. Mandible Claw black. Have a nice day!

 

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Ken Shamrock (c) def Mankind in 14:36- Lockup, corner break and Shamrock hits a couple of hammy kicks. Leg sweep and Shamrock starts going to work on the leg. Then Shamrock does an arm takedown and starts picking that apart. Mankind fights back with knees and a back elbow. Slam and legdrop for 2. He goes for a chinlock but Shamrock takes the arm and counters into a hammerlock. Series of knees to Mankind's face. Mankind does a double leg takedown that's almost a full spinebuster. A roll around brawl follows with Shamrock continuing to outwrestle Mankind on the mat. Shamrock hits a hurricanrana. Mankind gets the Mandible Claw on! Shamrock quickly escapes and bails all the way to the floor. More Shamrock knees to the head back in. Mankind puts on a rear naked choke. He tries to put the Claw on again but Shamrock blocks it, turns over and does some ground and pound. They go outside and Mankind takes an announce table shot. Shamrock gets whipped into the steps. Mankind gets a chair but Chioda tries to take it away. Shamrock kicks the chair into Mankind's face! Chairshot to Mankind's head! Clothesline from Shamrock back in and he covers for 2. He starts working on the Claw hand to try to take it away. Mankind bites out! JR: "Not exactly a technical counter there but it works". Shamrock dodges in the corner and hits a belly to belly suplex. He goes for the ankle lock but Mankind kicks him away. Double underhook DDT! Both guys are down. Mankind gets Shamrock down in the corner and hits the running knee. Then he puts Shamrock in the tree of woe and drops a running elbow in his face. Apron legdrop from Mankind. Cactus Clothesline! Cactus elbow! Shamrock powerslams Mankind on the floor! Mankind's leg landed on the steps. They get back in. Ankle lock! Mankind gets to the ropes. Shamrock puts it on again! Mankind fights and fights but has no way out, so he does the only thing he can think of.....he puts the Mandible Claw on himself! Mankind passes out! Chioda calls it. Per Fink, "The winner of this match, as the result of the Mandible Claw....". That sets Shamrock off. Mankind knew he'd lost so he denied Shamrock the satisfaction of winning with his own hold. Brilliant. Shamrock snaps and the usual ref violence ensues. While that's going on Mankind gets Socko out. Socko Claw on Shamrock! Good stuff. ***

Cole tries to get a word with Vince but is stopped in his tracks by the freshly WWF returned Big Boss Man, Vince's newest Stooge/personal security.

 

Mark Henry def The Rock in 5:06- This is very much a placeholder match for Rock, pretty much wrapping up the Nation before moving him on to newer and bigger things. Before the match Henry has a "poem" for Chyna. The Genius he is not. Pretty good Rock pop for Chicago, famously one of the first cities to turn on him during the Rocky Maivia disaster. Jump start by Rock, knocking Henry around for a bit. Rock suplexes him! After a brawl on the floor Rock hits a clothesline back in to continue the onslaught. Henry hits a back elbow and elbow drop for 2. After some more back and forth Henry hits a legdrop for 2. Rock goes into corner beatdown mode and hits a DDT for 2. He slams Henry! Pose! Elbow pad off! People's Elbow! D'Lo Brown comes out. Rock cuts him off and Henry takes the opening. Big splash! Henry covers, Brown grabs Rock's foot and Henry gets the pin! Brown and Henry get the hell out of town while Rock looks almost amused they pulled that on him. Rock's former Nation subordinates get the last laugh. I don't agree with the booking decision, but in the context of despite everything they still wanted to keep Rock heel for a bit longer it makes a little more sense. It also showed how far Rock had come that he was able to get a halfway decent match out of still green as hell Henry. **1/4

 

Vacant WWF Championship: The Undertaker and Kane no contest in 17:39- Kane and Taker come out first and have a discussion and handshake before Austin makes his entrance. Austin gives some instructions, then flips them both the double bird and says ring the bell. Taker jumps Kane from behind. Old school hits. Kane does the usual Taker corner toss and beat down. Powerslam. Taker gets a boot up in the corner, hits a clothesline and covers. Austin counts one......thinks.....thinks......what's after one? Taker is none too pleased. Kane gets Taker down and covers. Austin fast counts and Taker just kicks out! Serious Austin mind games. Kane 360 clotheslines Taker out. Taker drags Kane out and they brawl on the floor. Austin offers Taker a TV cable to choke Kane with! Taker refuses. Kane dodges a Taker chairshot. Back in Taker hits a suplex. Kane sits up and hits a clothesline. Taker comes off the ropes and Kane "blocks" whatever he was supposed to be doing. Big time frak up there. There's an audible "You fucked up" chant from somewhere in the crowd. They turn 90 degrees, go for it again, and mess it up *again*, slightly less bad this time. It ends with Taker kicking Kane's leg out of his leg and going to work on it. After a while of that Kane hits a side suplex and elbow drop. Taker ducks a big boot, sweeps the leg and goes to work on it again. The match really starts to drag here with the Chicago crowd getting restless and some "BORING" chants floating around. While standing in the corner Taker switches gears to a smother. Austin doesn't seem interested in seeing if Kane wants to submit or goes out and Taker glares at him. Kane catches Taker trying an avalanche and spinebusters him. Clothesline and now Kane goes into beatdown mode, leg work completely forgotten. After some corner whip reversals Taker gets run into Austin! Kane chokeslams Austin! The brothers team up to beat Austin down. JR says they're trying to get a new ref in, which is a pretty logical cover. Taker low blows Kane. Kane chokeslam! Paul Bearer is out with a chair. He tells Kane that he wants to hit Taker. I think everyone can see what's coming here. Yup, Bearer whacks Kane as soon as his back is turned. No effect. If you shoot him you'll only make him mad. Taker chairshot on Kane. Bearer offers Taker a quick classic pose before leaving. Taker covers. Austin doesn't budge. Other than to flip Taker a middle finger. Well, he counted to one. Stunner on Taker! Austin chairshot on Taker! Both Taker and Kane are down. Austin gets between them, counts 3 on both of them, and calls for the bell! He gets a mic and declares himself the winner! Classic "phone it in before the big angle hits" match. *1/4

Austin calls Vince out, daring Vince to fire him. No response. Austin says OK, I'll come find you. The camera goes with him backstage. Bruce Pritchard is at Gorilla and directs Austin toward Vince. No luck anywhere. One door Austin opens has Owen Hart inside on a completely legitimate phone call to his family, having no idea Austin was going to be barging in with a live camera. Austin goes back into the arena, gets the mic and calls for Vince again. Now we hear Vince's voice: "Raise this damn thing!". The Titantron screen goes up. Vince is behind it inside in his own private secure box! Well not completely secure, someone in the crowd throws a shirt or a towel or something right on his head. Vince seems reluctant to go through with his promise. At least until the crowd starts chanting "asshole", which sets Vince off. "Stone Cold!......SCREW YOU, YOU'RE FIRED!". Austin asks for clarification. "SCREW YOU, YOU'RE FIRED!". More stuff is thrown at and inside the Vince Mine. Austin says that's fine, he'll start hunting season early. Play my music one more time. The beers come out, Austin salutes the crowd, and we're done. It's not a bad angle at all, it's a very logical progression of the story. The problem is it's on completely the wrong show. All of this should have been done on Raw, leading to Austin's big return on PPV, not the other way around.

Spoiler: Austin didn't stay fired. The next night on Raw would provide yet another all time classic Austin/Vince moment: Austin kidnapping Vince, holding him hostage at gunpoint in the ring to get his job back, then firing what turned out to be a toy gun with "BANG 3:16" inside it. But it turned out it wasn't necessary, because earlier that day a McMahon had reinstated and re-signed Austin to a brand new deal.....SHANE McMahon. As far as the still vacant WWF Title, that would finally be settled the next month at Survivor Series in a Wrestlemania 4 style 14 man one night tournament dubbed "Deadly Game".

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- WWF's mostly strong second half of '98 continues with back to back solid B PPVs after a wonderful Summerslam, but this one would have been better if the main event had been up to the level of previous ones this year. Again, the angle was good and the right thing for the overall story, it just should have been on regular TV instead of PPV. Thankfully, the undercard is as good as you'll see on any Attitude Era B PPV.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C