Sage Cortez
The inaugural Halloween Havoc is here, and there’s a big cage main event! This show was not too hyped up, and there wasn’t a big fan expectation heading into the show either. Due to the departures of some wrestlers, the talent on offer for this PPV in comparison to the others wasn’t so great either. No Ricky Steamboat, no Samoan Swat Team, no Eddie Gilbert, no Terry Gordy, that stuff adds up. An infusion of talent was certainly needed, but right now, it’s time to focus on Halloween Havoc. Philadelphia was a bit of a strange choice, but there’s usually a hot crowd in that city. This show was no different if I’m remembering it right.
– October 28th, 1989, from the Civic Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The introduction to this show was certainly modern looking at the time, but now it appears a bit cheap. Still like it! A bit strangely, the combatants in the first match are already in the ring. Jim Ross and Bob Caudle are on commentary, in an arena that has a lot of empty seats. Gordon Solie is in the back to tell us which people he’ll be talking to before their matches, and the names he listed sound pretty good. After more hype regarding THUNDERDOME, we’re headed to the back where Chris Cruise lists everyone he’ll talk to. I don’t think this is necessary. After that, to the ring we go!
Mike Rotunda vs. The Z-Man
Pre-Match Thoughts: I hope this is a better match for Zenk than his debut match at Clash 8. He definitely needs a better performance if he’s going to endear himself to the fans. Rotunda on the other hand basically doesn’t do shit now and is just treading water. Given that, you’d think Zenk will win. Zenk was also booed ruthlessly before the match started.
Match Review: Rotunda takes Zenk down with a waistlock, but they go back to square one immediately. Zenk knocks Rotunda down with a shoulderblock, and follows with another for good measure. Slow pace early on as per usual with Rotunda. Rotunda stalls by leaving the ring, and the “Syracuse sucks” chants seem prevalent here. Zenk grabs hold with a headlock, then Rotunda takes him down with a hip toss. Zenk comes back with a dropkick after a missed elbow drop, and Zenk is really getting on my nerves with this white-meat babyface act. This isn’t 1981 anymore. Rotunda gets back in the ring and thumbs Zenk in the eye, then throws that clown out of the ring. Zenk comes back in with a sunset flip that gets 2, and Rotunda goes back to stalling. When he gets back in Zenk puts a wristlock on Rotunda, who appears to be turning his hair style into an afro. Good for him. Zenk takes Rotunda down with a hammerlock, but Rotunda reaches the ropes. Really not feeling this. Rotunda puts Zenk in a head-scissors, and cheats by grabbing the ropes. There’s a guy in the front row wearing an Indians cap who is full blown marking for Rotunda. After Rotunda gets caught cheating, he leaves the ring again. I do not know why. Zenk puts a headlock on him for a bit, and the crowd seems to be actively disliking this match as well. Rotunda throws Zenk out of the ring as Zenk runs at full speed, the first high spot we’ve had in the match. Rotunda sends Zenk into the apron as well, then waits for him to climb back up to the apron so he can drop him throat-first on the top rope. Rotunda continues to keep Zenk out of the ring, which merely serves to make the match more boring and annoy me greater. Rotunda suplexes Zenk back into the ring for 2, then he goes to the abdominal stretch. Rotunda then goes to a chinlock, as if we needed to see more terrible wear down holds. Zenk gets out and is clotheslined, then Rotunda picks him up for a dropkick that misses. The Z-Man sends Rotunda into the corner for a back elbow, then Rotunda tries a springboard cross body after another whip. Zenk reverses it into a cover of his own, and wins the match at 13:26 to a chorus of boos.
My Thoughts: This is really not the kind of match you want starting a PPV. I can’t say that they worked hard or any of those false platitudes because they didn’t do shit. It was a bad match where one or both guys just didn’t care at all about their performance. Maybe there’s a reason for that and maybe not, but I didn’t enjoy the match at all. It should not have went down like that, that was far too boring for public consumption. 1/4* as it did have that toss out of the ring.
In the back, we have Chris Cruise with BRUNO SAMMARTINO. THE LIVING LEGEND. He’s the referee for THUNDERDOME, and his role is to keep Ole Anderson and Gary Hart out of the cage. In addition to that, he has to determine when one team’s designated quitter has thrown in the towel.
The Samoan Swat Team & the Samoan Savage (w/Sir Oliver Humperdink) vs. The Midnight Express & “Dr. Death” Steve Williams (w/Jim Cornette)
Pre-Match Thoughts: That’s right, the Swat Team came back from their vacation and have Oliver Humperdink managing them. The Samoan Savage is otherwise known as Tama of the Islanders. Everyone knows that guy. The Express were very much over in Philadelphia, only a certain kind of babyface fits in that category. The Samoans had an interesting entrance where they carried torches halfway to the ring. I don’t like that the Express and Samoans kept facing each other on these shows.
Match Review: The Samoans stalled for a while before getting to wrestling, including teasing a brawl outside the ring. Lane and the Savage will start the match, and he backdrops the Savage. He clotheslines him over the top as well, which I assume was perfectly legal. Another six man brawl gets teased with Doc doing a lot of instigating, then Eaton tags in. The Express hits the Savage with a double back elbow, but Savage slams Eaton and gets out of there. Samu tags in and misses an elbow drop, then another brrawl is teased. Samu chops Eaton very hard, a bit Flair-like in fact. He misses a splash in the corner, so Doc tags in and deals with all three of these guys. He hits Fatu with a FOOTBALL TACKLE, and the crowd pops huge for the guy clearing the ring. Fatu and Doc are in there when things normalize, and Fatu rakes his eyes. Doc clotheslines him anyway, then Samu rushes in and gets DESTROYED with a shoulderblock. Lane tags in to deal with Fatu now, kicking him a lot and putting him in a headlock. Fatu hits him with a big clothesline, so Samu tags in and kicks him in the face. He follows that with a dropkick, but Lane tags out quickly. Doc is in there now and I don’t expect the heels to keep dominating the match. Samu hits Doc with big chops, then gets clotheslined hard in the corner. Doc runs him into Eaton’s fist, then takes Samu down for a leg drop. Eaton switches in, tags Samu with a running clothesline, and covers for a count of 2. Samu reaches his corner so he can get some advice, but Eaton elbow drops him and tags out. Fatu tags in and is taken down with a drop toe-hold, but he catches Lane on a cross body and powerslams him. He misses the elbow drop, so Eaton tags in and puts him in an armbar. Fatu rakes Eaton’s eyes and tags the Savage back in, and Eaton goes for a bulldog only for the Savage to crotch him in the corner. Man, that was a great counter. Savage throws Eaton out of the ring, and the SST atomic drops him onto the railing. Ouch. Fatu then hip tosses Eaton on the concrete, which sounded absolutely terrible. Eaton tries to sunset flip the Savage when he’s in the ring, but the Samoans break the cover and Fatu makes a tag in. He and the Savage hit Eaton with a double clothesline, and a diving headbutt by Fatu gets 2. He puts a nerve hold on Eaton, who rams Fatu’s face into the mat when he gets out of it. Samoans have hard heads, so Fatu clotheslines Eaton pretty much immediately. Samu tags in now, drops the leg, and follows with another headbutt. The Savage tags in and bites Eaton’s arm, then plants him with a side slam for 2. Fatu goes to a nerve hold, and then Eaton gets hit with a double headbutt. Match is petering out a little now. Savage heads up to the second rope, but eats knees on his reverse splash attempt and finally Eaton makes the tag out.
Doc flies in with a double axehandle from the top, then drills the Savage with a clothesline. He press slams Fatu and bodyslams Samu, then throws the Savage onto the both of them to a HUGE ovation. A powerslam on the Savage gets 2, and Lane tags in for a botched swinging neckbreaker. Samu and Fatu rush in there in a disjointed bit, and Lane hits the Savage with an enziguri. Cornette clocks Humperdink with the TENNIS RACKET, and the Savage knocks Lane into Cornette, knocking him off the apron, and Lane’s face into the tennis racket. The Savage covers Lane, and gets the victory for his team at 18:22.
My Thoughts: The way the Midnight Express takes these losses even though they’re really over annoys the shit out of me. Obviously, the finish was supposed to tease the Express and Cornette splitting up. It did nothing positive for the SST, so take that into consideration when evaluating the booking. I suppose it’s just fine in that sense. The match was good, had some really nice spots, but it also had some strange instances where the wrestlers didn’t quite come together, botched spots, or know what to do. That being said, it didn’t get boring nor did the action stop, so I’ll give it **3/4. Definitely entertaining for the time allotted and I can’t figure out why Dr. Death wasn’t given a much bigger push. It makes sense why he’d leave with not having received one. He was really over, he had the power moves, and he could put together a match. What more did they want, a talker? Lex Luger wasn’t always a great talker.
In the back we have Gordon Solie with Terry Funk and Gary Hart. Terry appears to have tanned and looks ripped, which is a strange look for him. It’s time for the J in J-Tex to be at ringside, whatever that means. I don’t quite know!
The Cuban Assassin vs. Tommy Rich
Pre-Match Thoughts: Can’t believe this match is on PPV, it’s certainly not befitting of that distinction. Rich looks so terrible, and I don’t think anybody wanted to watch him anymore. It’s like a joke. I also expect that this match will be heavily shit on by the audience.
Match Review: The commie attacks Rich to get the match started off, and he throws Rich into the buckle a few times. Rich ducks under a clothesline and gives the Assassin a few bodyslams, then knocks him out of the ring. All of that was to no reaction whatsoever. Rich’s trunks look like they have cum stains on them, don’t know what that’s about. Assassin tries a cross body from the second rope that gets 2, and Rich quickly goes to an arm drag. Rich gets thrown out to the apron, but he comes in with a botched sunset flip for 2. The boos have begun. An arm drag follows that, but Assassin comes back with some chops. He misses a rush to the corner and Rich gives him another arm drag. Assassin gets out of it and picks Rich up for a bodyslam, but misses the elbow drop. Back to the arm drag again for Rich, and these guys fight over a wristlock. Having a really hard time making it through this match. Assassin hits Rich with a knee that knocks him to the apron, where he chokes Rich with the bottom rope. Assassin goes for a piledriver, but we’re not allowed to have something good here, as Rich backdrops him. Assassin comes back with a knee lift for 2, and gives Rich a suplex. He heads up top for the first time, but Rich crotches him and knocks him down to the floor. This is so bad. Rich follows that with a back elbow, and the Assassin misses a cross body. Rich capitalizes with a THESZ PRESS, it gets the win for him at 8:27.
My Thoughts: Man, this actively sucked. The crowd could not given less of a shit about this match, and frankly, I don’t think there was a way to get people to care. No matter where on the card you put this match, the crowd would have shit on it. It was simply a sloppy play on pro wrestling. Really tough match to get through and far too long as well. DUD. This is the prototype for all DUD’s. I think the thing that bothered me the most was that Rich wasn’t even given a decent heel to work with, he was given a guy who couldn’t do anything. If he faced someone with talent, they could have worked a much better match.
The Dynamic Dudes (w/Jim Cornette) vs. The Fabulous Freebirds for the NWA Tag Team Championships
Pre-Match Thoughts: Before the match, the Freebirds were with Gordon Solie and Garvin cut the same promo he always cuts. I think everyone knows full well that the Dudes aren’t winning this match, nor were they ever given the impetus to make people think they could. Before this show, for quite a while the Midnight Express and Cornette had teased breaking up because of how Cornette was supposedly prioritizing another team over them. The Freebirds have annoyed me a fair bit, but I must be honest, they’re far better tag team champions than the Dudes would have been. Did I ever mention that the Dudes theme was a Beach Boys cover of another song in which the Beach Boys sounded like the Beastie Boys? That’s exactly what it was, yes. The Freebirds got a full blown babyface reaction. You know what else is a problem with this match? It’s the fourth most important tag match on the show, and the champions are in it.
Match Review: Hayes and Douglas are going to start the bout, and Hayes takes the young man down with an arm drag. Hayes sunset flips Douglas, who rolls through and gets 2 on his cover. Hayes and Douglas then botch a spot to the point of nothing happening, and Douglas does a swinging neckbreaker after they repeat. Garvin and Ace tag in, and trade punches with Ace getting the better of it and taking Garvin down with a dropkick. An Ace arm drag follows that, and in comes Douglas. The crowd chants for the Freebirds, and Garvin gets out of the armbar only to be backdropped. Hayes tags in, and Douglas flips through a wristlock in order to put his own on. Ace tags in with an elbow from the top, and has a wristlock on which he gets booed during. Man, these guys are getting shit on by the crowd. It’s almost sad. Douglas makes a blind tag and powerslams Hayes, and Ace follows with an elbow drop. The Dudes follow with a double dropkick to Garvin, and get booed even louder. Hayes misses a big boot and falls on his back, then Ace makes a blind tag and this time smashes Hayes’ face into the mat for 2. He puts Garvin in a headlock, and backdrops Hayes when he rushes in. He follows that with a headlock takeover and head-scissors combo, which the crowd boos very loudly. This match is hilarious. Ace has Garvin in a headlock and gets chants pointed in his direction about him sucking, then Ace cradles Garvin up for 2. Hayes punches Ace in the face to a huge pop, and Garvin follows that with a back suplex. Garvin knees Ace in the face to knock him out of the ring, and Hayes hits Ace to make sure he can’t get back in the ring. The crowd dynamic here is so weird, bordering on unprecedented to that date. Hayes tags in legally, and when Ace fights out of the corner, he gets booed. Haha. Garvin makes a tag in so Ace can’t do the same, then he backdrops Ace. Garvin tags in Hayes, then Hayes clotheslines Ace in the corner and plays to the crowd which is going crazy for these guys. Ace blocks the DDT, and both guys make tags out.
Douglas backdrops Garvin, and dropkicks him a few times as well. Hayes rushes in and the same happens to him, then the Freebirds are given a double clothesline by Ace. A double high knee knocks Hayes out of the ring, and the Dudes go for a DOUBLE BACK SUPLEX. Hayes trips Ace and Garvin falls on top of Douglas, which gets 3 and the biggest babyface pop of all-time after 11:30!
My Thoughts: This was absolutely hilarious, it was impossible to hate this match. The crowd just completely rejected the Dynamic Dudes on all levels. This is what happens when companies push lame babyfaces. It’s hard to cheer them, and once the idea gets in people’s heads that the guy or guys is/are lame, that’s game over. It just spirals out of control from there. Now, I haven’t watched any NWA/WCW stuff from this point to about WrestleWar ’92. So, if the crowd’s going to shit on the Dynamic Dudes going forward, this match is a large reason why. I always find dynamics like that interesting and as we see in modern wrestling, we have the same issue with certain people. The customer is always right, as they say. **1/4 for the match as they did botch a lot of moves, which can be explained by Douglas having a broken arm.
Doom (w/Woman) vs. The Steiner Brothers
Pre-Match Thoughts: Hell yes, it’s finally time for the Steiners to get revenge on Doom. Nobody knew anything about Doom or what to expect, unless you could recognize Ron Simmons voice from the skit where he attacked Scott Steiner. Doom should win because new teams that there are plans for should never lose their first match. That’s my take on it. The Steiners shouldn’t lose because they’re the fucking Steiners. The Steiners cut a promo before the match, which Scott stuttered through like usual. That’s why everyone likes him, though. Nothing he said made the slightest bit of sense. Rick’s typical promo style never fails to make me laugh. He vowed that Woman wouldn’t distract him this time and if she tried, he’d take her out. Whoa. I’m not sure that’s okay! BAH GAWD, DOOM ARE TWO MASKED BLACK MEN. WHO COULD THEY BE? It’s going to be on me to tell who’s who, but that’s not a problem. At least with the clear videos on WWE Network.
If people don’t read my articles outside of the PPV ones, I can sum up the feud here shortly and simply. Read my articles outside of the PPV ones. Just kidding. Woman was previously a nerd who showed up to watch Rick Steiner’s matches. Eventually it turned out that she was greedy and ran up his credit card. She tried to divide the Steiners, but of course that didn’t quite work. Instead, she had a gang of thugs attack Scott Steiner in a park. The Steiners want REVENGE.
Match Review: The Steiners attack Doom early on, but Doom takes control only to be thrown into each other. Then, the Steiners give them two of the most severe GERMAN SUPLEXES that I’ve ever seen. Scott heads out to throw Simmons into the rail, then the Steiners hit them with STEINERLINES to send them back over the top right after they got in the ring. Reed has been hitting the weight room very seriously before being given this gimmick, he’s enormous. Simmons will get in there with Scott Steiner, and Scott throws him into the corner and clotheslines him from behind. He follows that with a knee drop for 2, and Rick tags in. He treats Simmons like a jobber, and WRECKS him with a STEINERLINE. He hits Reed with one too, and Doom has to take a break. Kevin Sullivan was supposed to be part of this group, but he got thrown out of the picture, as Jim Ross reminds me to mention. Rick puts Reed in a chinlock, but Reed gives him an inverted atomic drop. Simmons tags in after a big boot, then Rick suplexes him. Scott tags in, and flies off the second rope with a STEINERLINE for 2. He puts a chinlock on Simmons, then tags out and Rick is given a stunner to break his hammerlock. Damn. Reed tags in, drops a fist on Rick Steiner, and wrecks him with a clothesline. Some of the offense in this match is brutal. He drops Rick face-first on the top rope for a 2 count, then there’s a fight going on in the crowd. Scott tags in out of nowhere, and drops Reed with a front suplex for 2. Simmons tags back in, misses a clothesline, and gets killed with another German suplex. Scott puts a chinlock on him, then gets hit from behind as he runs the ropes. Good job. Simmons then hits Scott with some really stiff shots as if he’s getting a receipt on Scott, and Reed tags in with a double axehandle from the second rope. He kicks Scott out of the ring for punishment from Simmons, who drops Scott onto the railing. Reed goes out and does the same, then tags in his partner for a double back elbow to the jaw. Simmons covers for 2, then puts his own chinlock on Scott. Scott elbows his way out of it, then takes a knee to the gut and Reed heads back in. He throws Scott out for his partner to choke away, but Rick heads over and kicks Simmons in the head. Now, Reed throws Scott over the top, which should be a DQ but for Rick’s involvement drawing the official away. Scott tries to sunset flip his way back in, and Rick hits Reed to make sure Scott takes him over for 2. Reed comes back with a swinging neckbreaker for 2, then Simmons heads back in again for a powerslam. It gets a count of 2, and Doom follows with a double slam for another 2 count. Simmons looks like he’s been taking his vitamins. Rick made the tag in, but of course the referee didn’t spot it. So, Doom follows with a SPIKE PILEDRIVER on Scott for the closest of 2 counts. Simmons puts a chinlock on Scott for a few seconds, and Scott kicks him in the head. Can Scott tag out? YES!
Rick comes in with a high backdrop on Reed, and he follows that with another set of STEINERLINES. Scott takes Simmons over with the FRANKENSTEINER, and Rick follows that with a powerslam on Reed. The referee is no longer in the ring to count, so Woman gets up on the apron as Rick gives Reed a back suplex. Rick wants to deal with Woman, but his attentions are taken away and she puts something in the mask of Reed. He headbutts Rick with the LOADED MASK, and gets the victory for Doom at 15:32!
My Thoughts: This match had a great start to it, with all kinds of crazy suplexes and stiff shit being thrown by both teams. It settled down a bit in the middle, but fortunately the end was as good as the beginning. I also dig the finish. If you’re going to run a thing where one of the Steiners gets attacked and beaten up by a bunch of guys, you damn sure better follow up when it’s time for the Steiners to have a match with those guys. I thought it was well done. One problem I’ve found with the Steiners over the years was that the heels they faced weren’t great at getting heat on them with their control segments. That’s in part because they didn’t have offense that was anywhere near as cool as that of the Steiners, the Steiners expended a lot of energy at the beginning of the match, and because it’s very hard to keep up with the Steiners. *** for this one, I did enjoy it a lot, even though it may have been too long. Also turns out Woman wasn’t such a nerd after all!
“Flyin'” Brian Pillman vs. Lex Luger for the NWA United States Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: This match was properly built up for the PPV, no doubt it will deliver given the talents on display here. Lex Luger was ON at this point of his career. His promo was really good, too. HE’S THE CHAMPION OF THE 90’S. For a few years there, it easily could have been that way. Pillman had the cheerleaders entrance once again, I have absolutely no idea what that brought to his act. For some reason, there was a clearly piped in Luger chant. He did get a big pop, but I don’t know what the point of that chant was.
Match Review: Pillman looks very small compared to Luger, which just serves to get over Pillman’s underdog status. These two lock up, with nothing coming from it. They do it again with the same result, and the third time, Luger rams Pillman into the buckle. He slams Pillman after that, and slaps Pillman on his way up. He tries to throw Pillman out of the ring, but Pillman runs back in the league and tackles Luger, then chops him. He backdrops Luger and hits him with a dropkick, which sends him to the floor. Pillman follows with a baseball slide, and more chops. He goes for Air Pillman after sending Luger back in, but Luger ducks out of there. Pillman chases him around the ring now, and Luger attacks when Pillman makes a mistake and gets back in the ring too quickly. Pillman evades a charge, then runs to the other corner for a springboard cross body that gets 2. Wow. Pillman follows with an arm drag, then holds the wristlock as Jim Ross hypes up Starrcade. Never seen that, weird format but looking forward to it. Luger gets out and clobbers Pillman’s back, then Pillman flips through a hip toss and dropkicks him. Pillman does his own hip toss, then arm drags Luger down to the canvas. The athleticism on display in this match is crazy for the time period. Luger gets up and shoulderblocks the young challenge, who flies back to his feet and takes Luger down with another hip toss. After another dropkick, there’s another arm drag. Pillman keeps the wristlock on him, and the crowd seems to be turning on the match even though it’s REALLY good. Pillman tries a crucifix, wwhich gets a 2 count, then fires off another arm drag. Luger gets up and runs right into Pillman’s boots, then Flyin’ Brian heads up top for a big splash that completely misses. Luger plants Pillman with a big flapjack, then drops him throat-first on the top rope. Luger was a working machine in those days. He drills Pillman with a running clothesline, then does so again. He does it from behind as well, which pretty much makes Luger look like the best thing going. Way better than the Ultimate Warrior. Luger picks Pillman up for a delayed suplex, then signals for the finish. That being said, he only got a 2 count. Luger drops the elbow on Pillman a few times, then dumps him to the outside by pulling the trunks. I’m always amazed by how dangerous that bump looks, but it doesn’t hurt the wrestlers. Pillman goes for a sunset flip from the apron that gets 2, then Luger tries another clothesline and tumbles over the top at full speed. Pillman drags Luger back in, and goes for 10 punches in the corner only for Luger to run out of it with an inverted atomic drop. He sets Pillman up in the corner, and there’s a superplex…or not! Pillman pushes Luger away, and sunset flips him from the top for 2. Pillman follows with a flying back elbow, and gives him a backdrop. Now it’s time for AIR PILLMAN, and he hits him only for Luger to put his foot on the ropes. DAMN. Pillman gives Luger a neckbreaker, and it’s time to go up top! He flies off with a missile dropkick that Luger evades, then Luger drops the poor guy on the top rope with a HOTSHOT. He covers, and that’s a victory for the Total Package at 16:49!
My Thoughts: This was simply a great match. Both guys worked unbelievably hard and the action was fast throughout. Had a lot of close counts at the end and a lot of huge spots, so you could easily buy into Pillman winning the match. Luger was just red hot during 1989, having great matches pretty regularly. Very impressive stuff once again, I’d give this **** and a recommendation. I think there’s three big Luger matches you have to watch from ’89 if you want to see what this guy really brought to the table. This one, Luger/Windham from Chi-Town Rumble, and Luger/Steamboat from the Bash. While all three matches featured Luger facing a great opponent, there’s really no doubt in my mind that right at that moment in time Lex Luger was a great wrestler. I believe that he would have been the next challenger for Ric Flair (and eventually would have been put over) had Turner not re-signed Arn Anderson, which caused things to head in a different direction. Looking forward to digging into the WON issues that explain some of these booking calls. Luger brought everything to the table to the point that it was very hard to get fans to boo him. In this match, they sure didn’t boo him, but at least they didn’t boo Pillman either. I believe the company pushed Pillman backwards because Ric Flair was one of his backers and Flair was removed from his booking post a few months down the road. No backer, no push. Too bad, as he had everything to make it to the top except size. Still looking forward to seeing more as his career is a major blind spot for me.
The Skyscrapers (w/Teddy Long) vs. The Road Warriors (w/Paul Ellering)
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is a sick fucking match. How can this crowd possibly go against either team? They’re both awesome in their own way. So awesome in fact that I would have paid PPV prices to watch this match. It would have drawn me into watching this show, there’s no doubt about it. The Road Warriors had a promo before this thing started, and Hawk did a great job explaining how skyscrapers were built, and how people are the ones that tear skyscrapers down. Hell of a line. The Skyscrapers entered to “China White,” which is a hell of a song. Super fitting for the team, about as good as it gets in terms of matching real music to wrestlers. Look at this awesome custom TitanTron:
Match Review: These teams are unreal levels of over. Hawk and Sid get in each other’s faces, BAH GAWD I WANT TO SEE THAT FIGHT. Animal and Spivey start the match, because they know what clash the crowd is going to pop the loudest for. Animal nails Spivey with a pair of clotheslines, but Spivey can’t bump over the top on them, sadly. Too big. Hawk comes in with a double axehandle from the top, and works a wristlock on Spivey for a bit. Hawk and Spivey collide with each other a few times, then Hawk destroys him with a flying shoulderblock. Sid tags in now, and the crowd pops for this clash of titans. Sid swing a clothesline at Hawk that would have killed him if it hit him, then Hawk hits Sid with his own that doesn’t knock him down. They lock up again, and Sid misses a flying splash in the corner so Hawk can tag out. They drill Sid with a double back elbow, but he gets right back up. Sid and Animal collide a few times, then Animal takes him out with a flying shoulderblock. The way this match is structured makes it so fun. Hawk tags in once again and wants a test of strength with Sid, so they power into each other until Hawk takes Sid down with a monkey flip. He follows with a clothesline, and tags in Animal. Spivey grabs hold of Animal and tags in too, only for Animal to destroy him with a clothesline. After an elbow to the head, Animal tags out. Spivey tags out too, and Sid takes Hawk down with a headlock. Hawk reverses to a head-scissors, which Sid KIPS OUT OF and clotheslines him after. That’s an athlete right there, brother. He picks Hawk up for something big, and it’s that HELICOPTER SLAM. I’d never let that guy do a move like that to me, it’s super dangerous, and he does it in a way that makes him look amazing. He threw Hawk like he was absolutely nothing at all. I can watch that spot 10 times. I DID watch that spot 10 times. Spivey tags in now, how can he top that? He plants Hawk with a sidewalk slam for 2, and Hawk comes back with a clothesline that doesn’t even hurt Spivey. Spivey hits Hawk with a baseball slide to send him out of the ring, so Sid drops Hawk on the rail. Back in Hawk goes for a suplex by Spivey, which gets a 2 count. Spivey tags in sid, and they hit Hawk with a clothesline from Spivey and knee from Sid in the corner. Sid takes Hawk down with a clothesline as well, then he chokes him to kill some time. After ramming Hawk into Spivey’s boot, Spivey tags in and clotheslines Hawk. Hawk finally gets some offense in with a suplex, but Sid puts him in a front face-lock after tagging in. Hawk picks Sid up and tags out, but there was a distraction. Don’t like that exact spot being used twice on this show. Spivey splashes Hawk in the corner once, then runs into a boot the second time and gets clotheslined.
Animal makes the tag in, and it’s time for him to hit Spivey with a dropkick. He follows that with the flying shoulder, and Sid comes in for them to brawl with each other. All four are in the ring, and Animal gives Sid a powerslam! Long runs in the ring and hits Ellering with the GOLD KEY on the way, then he tosses it to Spivey. Spivey hits Hawk with it, so the match gets thrown out with a DQ at 11:37. Spivey throws Hawk hard into the post and clocks Animal with the key, then they clobber Animal repeatedly with it. Hawk climbs up to the top rope, and he flies in with a huge clothesline to Spivey. Now he has the key, hits Sid and Spivey with it, and that clears the Skyscrapers from the ring to a huge pop.
My Thoughts: This is a hell of a match to assign a rating to. The finish was bad, but it was good booking in that you can draw people in with the match but absolutely not have either team lose. I’m pretty sure this match actually did draw people in, there’s no way it didn’t. All four guys did a really good job of keeping the match what it needed to be. They hit each other extremely hard, kept the action moving, and everyone hit their big spots. That helicopter spot of Sid’s is one of the most insane things you’ll see in a wrestling ring, it looks so sick and I can’t believe a big guy like Hawk could take the move. **3/4 for this one, and if you like power matches with guys who are super intimidating but aren’t great wrestlers, this one’s for you. I love matches like this one, it speaks to something in me when I see a match that’s like it. It’s because they’re all great performers, and deep down people just really want to see great performers get in there and beat the shit out of each other without those guys feuding over something stupid. A program over who’s the biggest and baddest does sell. Sadly, they didn’t do another one of these monster matches again.
The Great Muta (NWA TV Champion) & Terry Funk (w/Gary Hart and the Dragon Master) vs. Sting & Ric Flair (NWA Champion, w/Ole Anderson) in THUNDERDOME with Bruno Sammartino as the special referee
Pre-Match Thoughts: The concept of this match having an electrified cage makes it sound more interesting than it actually is, and it makes you think there’s going to be a lot of blood in the match even though Jim Herd said that the NWA is going to be a family show. The electricity is merely at the top of the cage so nobody can climb out of it. Before the match, Ole Anderson says there’s NO WAY he’s going to throw in the towel. Flair goes on a great rant to sell the match, funny considering the match was already sold. Sting looked crazy when he was talking. The only way to win this match, is for the designated towel thrower (Ole or Gary Hart) to quit on behalf of their team. The Dragon Master must be the J in J-Tex, not that I even care. This cage was amazing, one of the best things I’ve seen. Using the opening to “War Pigs” as a theme played while the cage was lowered was a hell of an idea. For some reason, there are Halloween decorations all over the thing. That I don’t understand.
Match Review: Terry teased climbing up the cage at the start of the match, and some of the decorations caught on fire due to the ELECTRICITY. AMAZING. This thing is Hell in a Cell without a roof. Funk and Flair start the match off, and Flair beats his chest in with some chops. Anything goes even though the wrestlers are respecting tag team rules. Funk comes back with a bodyslam, but Flair goes back to the chops and his own bodyslam. After another, he throws Funk over the top rope and out to the floor. I don’t know how well the fans could see this match as the bars of the cage were very thick. Sting tags in, throws Funk out again, and it’s time to fight on the floor. He torpedo’s Funk’s head into the bars, and Flair tags back in for a double back elbow. After he drops a knee, he slaps Muta for good measure. Muta rushes in to get after Flair, who winds up chopping him very hard and sends Muta out of the ring. Sting tags in for a dropkick, and Muta tags in as well. Good reference to Ultimate Warrior not being as good as Sting, by the way. Sting press slams Muta onto Funk for the first big ovation of the match, then he suplexes the TV champion. Flair tags in again, and hits the young man with a lot of punches to the top of the head. After an inverted atomic drop, by Flair, he follows with another knee drop and back out he goes. Sting throws Muta out of the ring and into the fence, then rams him into it repeatedly. Funk comes over so he and Flair can brawl on the floor, as Muta and Sting climb back into the ring with Muta in control. Muta hits Sting with a big elbow drop, then drops the leg too. He throws Sting out to the floor in a reversal of fortunes, and something happens that we aren’t able to see. Funk chokes Sting with his boot, as Muta and Flair join them on the floor. Funk throws Flair into the fence a few times, and Muta suplexes Sting back inside the ring. Funk and Sting hit him with repeated elbow drops, and Flair comes in to throw Muta over the top. Flair suplexes Funk, as Sting hits Muta with a running face smash into the canvas. His offense is getting much greater cheers than that of the champion. Flair tags in and I don’t know why he even needed to, and he hits Muta with an atomic drop that sends him into a Sting clothesline. Sting goes for the SCORPION DEATHLOCK, but of course Funk runs in and breaks it up. All four guys are engaged in combat now, as Sting gets thrown out of the ring again. Funk sends him back in, as he and Flair fight on the apron. Now Flair and Funk climb up the fence for Flair to ram his face into it, as Sting suplexes Muta. Muta tries to climb up the cage, as does Sting, and Muta gets electrocuted. Oh no! We need a split screen for this, surprised nobody in the production truck thought of doing that. After a whole bunch of nothing, Muta and Sting wind up back in the ring as Funk climbs so far up the cage it exposes the gimmick. He hangs from the top of the cage, and Flair grabs hold of a rope to try a Tarzan spot that doesn’t quite work. Sting press slams Muta, and given how long he held Muta up, I don’t think he was too happy about that spot turning out the way it did.
Muta crawls under the ring after that, and again Funk exposes the gimmick by not showing effects of being electrocuted. Muta whips Flair into the fence, and they trade chops while Sting and Funk fight at the top of this thing. Flair also gives Muta a back suplex, as Sting does a Tarzan spot where he kicks Funk multiple times. Flair locks in the figure-four on Muta, but breaks it after a little bit. This match is really weird. Muta gets thrown out of the ring yet again, and Muta attacks him from behind with a kick to the head. Sting basically crotches himself on the fence, so Funk ties him up now. Muta has Flair locked up in the MUTA LOCk, and Ole has to go over to Sting to untie him from the cage. Funk and Muta then try to finish Flair off with a SPIKE PILEDRIVER, and Sting has been UNTIED. He does a flying bodypress from the cage back into the rig onto Funk, so Muta wants to get out of there. He climbs to the top and doesn’t get electrocuted, who knows what he plans to do. Flair uses a shin-breaker on Funk, then Muta hits Sting with a karate kick. Muta gives Sting a backbreaker, and it’s time to head up top. He gets crotched somehow and we don’t get to see it, then Flair gives Funk a back suplex and locks him in the FIGURE-FOUR. Sting heads up top and splashes Funk as he’s caught in the hold, and Funk seems to want Hart to throw in the towel. He won’t, though. Muta decides to hit Bruno with a chop, but Bruno tags him and knocks him out of the ring. That spot came out of nowhere. Then, Ole hits Gary Hart and the towel flies into the ring, so I guess Flair and Sting win the match after 23:46. After a wrap-up from Caudle and Ross, that’s the end of the show!
My Thoughts: Perhaps surprisingly, I don’t think this match was that great at all. I’m not even sure it was good. It seemed to suffer from a lack of planned spots, which is what the wrestlers need to do for a match like this. Other than Sting’s Tarzan-like antics, it was lacking excitement as well. They also didn’t deliver any blood that the match promised and repeatedly ruing the “electrified” gimmick by having guys climb up to the top and not get hurt. During the match you could even see that the cage wasn’t plugged in anymore. Another problem with the match was bad production. I’m sure Ole said something when Muta had Flair locked up in a finisher, but the camera never showed it. This was less than advertised for sure, but the thing is, they knew that there was going to be a match to blow off the Flair/Funk feud just a few weeks later. Sting and Muta is in need of something similar. As stated, the match was a bit disappointing. **1/2. The gimmick actually did harm to the match rather than enhance it, and the finish was extremely weak for this kind of match. There was also too much going on but not enough important happening, if that makes sense. That’s why these guys were singles wrestlers.
That was a lot of fun, even though the filler matches at the beginning nearly killed the show dead for me. Perhaps a bit unusually for the NWA, everything I liked was in the middle of the card. The tag matches here were a hell of a lot of fun and the Luger-Pillman match was excellent. Another great performance by Luger. I also thought that for the most part, fans got what they paid for. One other thing I didn’t mention, was that on the basis of the crowd reactions in the main event, you can see why they’d push Sting as the top babyface, seeing he got bigger reactions than the current top babyface. I have reviewed this show once before on a different website, but my review of the show no longer exists so I had to redo it. My opinions certainly changed from the first time, I do know that much. Next up, it’s going to be WWF matches up to Survivor Series, then Clash 9 where Flair and Funk face each other one last time in an I QUIT MATCH.
Wrestling Time: 1:59:29. I’m always amazed at how the NWA packed so much wrestling into their PPV window. That’s nearly 2 hours!
Best: Lex Luger vs. Brian Pillman. Loved it, even if it took the crowd a while to get into it.
Worst: Tommy Rich vs. The Cuban Assassin. Nothing can come close to how bad this was, the only reason I didn’t dip into negative stars for it was because they didn’t mess anything up, it wasn’t super boring, and it wasn’t offensive.
Card Rating: 7/10. This wasn’t up to the NWA’s usual high standards, but they delivered an entertaining show with good wrestling for the most part.
