WCW HALLOWEEN HAVOC - October 25, 1992

Meanwhile, here is what has been happening since Bash '92 back on July 12.

At a television taping on 8/2/92, Sting was attacked by a Jake Roberts, who appeared from the crowd; Roberts attacked Sting with a chair, which led to Sting being pulled from a title match against WCW World Heavyweight Champion Big Van Vader; that same night, a drawing was held to determine who would received the shot, won by Ron Simmons; Simmons would go on to defeat Vader that night and become your NEW WCW World Heavyweight Champion.

On the 7/25/92 edition of WCW Worldwide, a match between Nikita Koloff and WCW United States Champion Rick Rude turned into a wild brawl that led to a locker room attack on Koloff by several heels.

At Clash of the Champions XX on 9/2/92, Ricky Steamboat defeated Steve Austin to win the WCW Television Championship.

The WCW United States Tag Team Championship was retired at the end of July, with Dick Slater & The Barbarian as the final champions.

During the 10/3/92 edition of WCW Saturday Night, Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes defeated Terry Gordy & Steve Williams to win the WCW/NWA World Tag Team Championships. It was at this point that Windham and Rhodes began to have on-screen issues, hinting at a future break up.

During Clash of the Champions XX, Brad Armstrong was stripped of the WCW Light Heavyweight Championship due to injury. Brian Pillman confronted Armstrong on-screen and accused him of ducking Pillman, then slapping Armstrong. This led to a feud between the two and a heel turn for Pillman.

Rick Steiner went down with a pectoral injury, leading to Scott Steiner recruiting Marcus Alexander Bagwell to be his partner for a match with Brian Pillman & Steve Austin on the 10/10/92 episode of WCW Worldwide. Steiner would later turn on Bagwell and leave him before the match ended, hinting toward a heel turn. 

Scott Steiner would go on to defeat Ricky Steamboat and become NEW WCW Television Champion during the 10/17/92 episode of WCW Worldwide. The title switch was a behind-the-scenes effort to keep Steiner from jumping to the WWF with Rick. Scott's final appearance on WCW TV would be a match with Steve Austin on the 10/17/92 episode of WCW Saturday Night.

Shane Douglas made his return to WCW after a 2 year absence.

On 8/12/92, Masahiro Chono defeated Rick Rude in the finals of the G1 Climax tournament to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. This was the title that was vacated when Ric Flair left WCW in 1991.

LIVE! from the Civic Center in Philadelphia, PA. Your hosts are Tony Schiavone & Bruno Sammartino, who sure is glad not to be working for that other circus "league". They run down the card, highlighting The Barbarian's training with Cactus Jack. Tony tells us that Terry Gordy is not at the show and has been replaced with Steve Austin in the tag title match, while we get video of the issues between the champs Windham & Rhodes. They throw to Missy Hyatt who is backstage in front of Rick Rude's dressing room where shady stuff has been going down. She throws to our commentary crew of Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura. Ross showing up as himself for Halloween scares Jess.

Match #1: Shane Douglas/The Z-Man/Johnny Gunn vs. Bobby Eaton/Michael Hayes/Arn Anderson.

The faces come to the ring with "Not Sharp Dressed Man (Not at All)" and a chorus of boos from the Philly crowd. Gunn and Arn start it off. The crowd enjoys Arn getting in some knees in the corner. The faces clear the ring and the crowd hates them. Back in the ring, the faces work on Arn's arm before he tags out to Eaton who slugs Z-Man in the face, much to the delight of the crowd. Hayes tagged in and Z-Man gets in a hiptoss. Douglas tagged in and the crowd doesn't really react to him all that much. Just you wait, Philly! Eaton tagged in but Douglas takes him down with a headscissors an tags in Z-Man. Arn gets the tag from Eaton but gets caught in a sleeper. Arn gets a back suplex to break that and tags in Hayes. Hayes gets a swinging neckbreaker for 2 then tags in Eaton. Arn sneaks in a blind tag an levels Z-Man with a clothesline to the cheers of the Philly phans. Ventura makes note of the reactions for the heels. Hayes is in now but falls to a suplex from Z-Man who tags in Douglas. Eaton gets in a cheap shot clip from behind and the Flyers fans dig it. Arn starts to work the leg of Douglas and tags in Eaton who knee drops the leg from the top, which is now legal. This crowd is totally marking out for the heels and it's awesome. Not chanting witty things, not distracting from the match, just sitting there cheering loudly for their favorites. Douglas and Arn collide and both are down. Hayes gets the tag, while Gunn gets the "hot tag" for the faces. Now everyone is in as Gunn hits a Thesz press on Hayes. 1....2.....3! BOO! (11:02) ***

WINNERS: Shane Douglas/The Z-Man/Johnny Gunn. Solid opener if unspectacular. I have to admit that the crowd getting hot for the heels jumped this up about half a star.

Missy Hyatt is outside Rude's dressing room and runs into Harley Race who refuses to admit her. Bruno, very astute, suggests that something is going down.

Match #2: Ricky Steamboat vs. Brian Pillman.

Pillman comes down with a chip on his shoulder as he recently turned heel. The fans come back to the babyface side for Steamboat. Pillman with chops in the corner, but Steamboat takes him down with a series of shoulder blocks and some quick 2 counts. Pillman slams Steamboat and turns his back, so Steamboat plays possum an grabs an armbar. Pillman escapes but Steamboat hits a dropkick and an armdrag. Steamboat knees the arm a few times but Pillman comes back with forearms. Steamboat with a back bodydrop and a slam, but Pillman with a thumb to the eye to halt that. Philly crowd with a "Brian sucks" chant. Just you wait, Philly! Steamboat with a chop and then Pillman drops to his knee on a whip attempt. He hits Steamboat with a sucker punch as the crowd now gets a "Cincinnati sucks" chant. Pillman gets a headscissors for a 2 count. Steamboat comes back with a backslide and some choking. Pillman puts Steamboat on top and tries for a superplex, but Steamboat blocks and drops Pillman face first to the mat. Steamboat comes off with a crossbody but it meets Pillman's dropkick. Pillman reverses a whip into a sleeper. Steamboat breaks it up by ducking into the corner. Pillman goes up top but Steamboat catches him and slams him to the mat. We catch a glimpse of Hawaiian Shirt Guy in the front row. Pillman with chops, Steamboat chops back and Pillman begs off. A corner charge from Steamboat meets knees an Pillman comes off the middle rope with a bulldog that gets 2. Steamboat to the top with a sunset flip for 2. Pillman rolls him up for 2, but Steamboat reverses for the 1....2....3! (10:25) ***1/2

WINNER: Ricky Steamboat. Another good match here as this show starts off in solid fashion. I may have gone with putting Pillman over here to give the heel turn momentum, but he was about to be transitioned into a tag team with Steve Austin here, so I won't complain too much.

Holla, playas! Teddy Long is in the dressing room of the NWA World Heayweight Champion, Masahiro Chono. Kensuke Sasaki is also there as Hiro Matsuda announces that Sasaki is the Chono-assigned referee for the title match. No word on Rude's choice at this point. Long throws to Tony Schiavone who is with Bill Watts, who tells us that Harley Race is Rude's choice. He also lets us know that Terry Gordy has been suspended due to breach of contract and Steve Williams has selected Steve Austin as his partner for the tag title match later on. Watts states that Rude and Paul E. Dangerously have gotten their lawyers involved and Rude will not be wrestling twice as scheduled. Big Van Vader has been given permission to defend the US title against Nikita Koloff. The stips remain the same, with no DQ (I wouldn't want to live in a world with no Dairy Queen) and Madusa barred from ringside.

Match #3: Nikita Koloff vs. Big Van Vader (w/ Harley Race) (c) - No Disqualification Match - WCW United States Championship.

Rude leads Vader and Race down to the ring but senior official Ole Anderson steps in and bars both Rude and Race from ringside. Koloff backs Vader into the corner with fists but Vader fights back and then splashes Koloff in the corner. Vader tosses Koloff to the floor but he comes right back in and takes Vader down for a 2 count. We hit the reverse chinlock which Vader clubs out of. Vader misses another splash in the corner an Koloff rolls him up for 2. Vader rolls to the floor to gather himself but Koloff follows him out. Vader whips Koloff into the guardrail then drops him throat first on the rail. Vader grabs a chair and nails Koloff in the back with it. Ventura calls out a fan for nailing Koloff with a beer. Koloff sunset flips back in but Vader sits on him. Koloff tries to fight back but Vader keeps hammering on him then hits a urange-looking move. He climbs to the middle rope and hits a big splash. Cover...1....2...kick out! Vader slaps on the reverse chinlock to slow it down. They mess up some spot and Koloff hits a weak suplex to come back. Koloff mounts Vader in the corner for some punches then hits a flying shoulderblock coming off the ropes for a 2 count. A big body slam gets another 2. Koloff clotheslines Vader over the top rope and to the floor. They brawl on the floor where Koloff runs himself into the post as Vader ducks a move. Back in the ring, Vader drops an elbow and then hits the power bomb! Cover....1....2.....3! (11:35) ***

WINNER: Big Van Vader, as Rick Rude remains US champ. Good power match here. Koloff would disappear from the wrestling world after this, never to wrestle again. It was reported that Vader stiffed Koloff on a clothesline that herniated a disk in his neck and then he also injured his back on a slam attempt. He became a born-again Christian one year later and started his own ministry. He was briefly seen in TNA back in 2003, but nothing really came of that.

Teddy Long is backstage with the challengers in the tag team title match, Steve Williams and Steve Austin. Long asks Williams if he is confident with Austin as his partner. Williams seems confident, but you should still never put a mic in front of Doc.

Missy is with the champs. She asks if they can put their differences aside. Windham does the talking and says that there are no issues.

Match #4: Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes (c) vs. Steve Williams & Steve Austin (sub. Terry Gordy) - WCW/NWA World Tag Team Championship.

Rhodes and Williams start us off. Shoulderblocks from Rhodes don't get him anywhere. They get down into three-point stances and Doc puts Rhodes down as the fans cheer the heels once again. Rhodes comes back with a clothesline and tags in Windham. Windham gets a dropkick and an armbar to take over. Rhodes tagged in and Doc hits him with an elbow to the eye, then they trade wristlocks. Chants begin a "We Want Flair" chant. Austin tagged in and Rhodes tags in Windham. Austin takes charge with the head to the buckle and a dropkick. Austin gets ping-ponged in the face corner and gets knocked to the floor. Back in the ring, Rhodes tagged in and he applies the side headlock. They each counter some stuff in a tight sequence, and Rhodes gets an elbow on a charging Austin for a 2 count. An Austin monkey flip out of the corner is blocked and Rhodes gets a lariat for 2. Windham tagged in and he gets a suplex on Austin. Williams tagged in and he gets some shoulders to the gut in the corner. They slug each other and Windham misses a dive and hits the floor. Back in the ring, the heels trade off and Austin hits a suplex for a 2 count. Double team in the corner and Williams is tagged in. Windham grabs a sleeper but Williams rams him into the corner to break and gets a 2 count. Austin comes in and grabs a hammerlock which is rolled into a pin attempt. Double teaming in the heel corner as Williams tags back in. He hits Windham with a power slam coming off the ropes then applies a sleeper on the mat. Windham makes his feet and hits the jawbreaker to escape. Austin in and he sets Windham on the top, but Windham knocks him off an hits a pretty flying lariat for a 2 count. Rhodes tagged in and he cleans house on the heels. Bulldog to Austin, cover...1...2...Williams breaks it up. Williams then hits a clothesline on Rhodes to help Austin take over. Williams hits an avalanche in the corner and then applies a Boston crab. We're in Philly, we couldn't get a Philly crab? Austin tagged in and he gets an over-the-shoulder backbreaker on Rhodes. Rhodes reverses into a pinning attempt but it only gets 2. Williams in and he boots Rhodes down to the mat. Rhodes tries a comeback but Doc takes him down and tags in Austin. They slug each other back and forth until Austin catches him with a surprise quick right, and then panders to the crowd who are clearly into it. Austin applies a chinlock for a bit until Rhodes fights back. Williams tagged in and he gets a double underhook suplex for 2. We get the "5 minutes remaining" announcement. Austin in and he gets a half-crab as Rhodes reaches for his partner, With the referee's back turned, the heels toss Rhodes over the top rope. Windham gets clotheslined by Williams as Austin makes the cover..1...2....3?? The crowd goes crazy but the referee continues the match as if nothing happened. Rhodes hits a tombstone piledriver on Austin and is slow to recover. The countdown is on, and time runs out. (30:00) ****

WINNERS: Draw. Windham & Rhodes retain the titles. This was a hell of a tag match. There were not many slow spots in the match. You kind of knew we were getting a draw with the 5 minute announcement. Of course, Windham and Rhodes were doing the slow burn break-up angle here.

Tony is at the podium with Vader, Race and Paul E. who claims that the substitution was all his idea and takes credit for Rude's success, until he is interrupted by Madusa. Paul has had enough of her and yells that she is nothing but a woman and that the reason she was hired was the other hooker he had in mind was busy. He fires her and Madusa kicks his ass, as the Philly crowd goes nuts. This was good stuff.

 Now we get the Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal moment. Sting comes out as the Wheel gets pyro for it's entrance. Matches listed on the Wheel include: Cage, Barbed Wire, I Quit, Dog Collar, Russian Chain, Spinner's Choice, Texas Bullrope, First Blood, Prince of Darkness, and Lumberjack. And which one does the Wheel give us? Anyone? Anyone? ...Bueller? It lands on Coal Miner's Glove. Because WCW.

Match #5: Masahiro Chono (w/ Hiro Matsuda) (c) vs. Rick Rude (w/ Madusa) - NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Guest Referees Chosen by the Participants: Kensuke Sasaki and Harley Race.

Rude would like for all us flabby, out of shape, inner city sweathogs to let him take his robe off and show us what the next NWA World Heavyweight Champion looks like. A coin toss takes place to determine which guest referee will be in the ring, with the other on the outside. The coin toss goes Rude's way and Race will man the inside. Rude kicks it off by laying in with forearms and stomps. Chono gets a hiptoss coming off the ropes.Side headlock for Rude as a huge "We Want Flair" chant starts up. Chono gets a back suplex to break. They trade hammerlocks and then Rude backs him to the corner to break. A body slam for Rude and then he gets some elbows for a 2 count. Rear chinlock for Rude as the crowd starts to get a little restless with the Flair woooooo's. Chono gets in some kicks to the lower back and Rude bails to the floor. Sasaki comes over to make Rude get back in and Chono obliges by suplexing him in. Chono tries for the Boston crab and gets it. Rude makes the ropes for the break but Chono pulls him off and applies a rear chinlock. Chono kicks the back but Rude comes back with a jawbreaker. Chono attempts a sunset flip but Rude blocks it and poses. Swinging neckbreaker for Rude gets a 2 count. We go to the rear chinlock from Rude. Chono tries to power out as we now get a "Boring" chant from Philly. Harsh crowd. This is actual wrestling. Chono tries to go for the STF but Rude is blocking the crossface part of the hold. They stop that spot and get to their feet as Rude hits the piledriver! Cover...1.....2....foot on the rope! Rude goes to the top and they appear to mess up a double axhandle spot, with Ross covering by saying Chono backed away. Rude goes back to the side headlock. Chono elbows out but Rude gets the sleeper. Not the hold to go for with this crowd already having turned on this match. While they hold that note, something breaks out in the crowd and their attention is completely gone now. The distraction causes Rude to keep the sleeper on a little longer. Rude drops the hold and goes to the top for a dropkick that looks like it barely hit. Chono accidentally kicks Race out of the ring and then throws Rude over the top rope. Rude gets back in and hits the Rude Awakening, which wakes up the crowd, but there is no referee to count as Sasaki is checking on Race. Chono gets the STF, Sasaki gets in to call for the bell and that's it! (22:23) *1/2

WINNER: Race is calling for the disqualification due to Chono tossing Rude over the top rope. Race and Sasaki get into a shoving match leading to Sasaki and Chono clearing the ring. Rick Rude is the winner by DQ. This match was not as bad as some would lead you to believe. That is not an endorsement, however. It was not a good match, as they botched a couple of moves in some key spots and they lost the crowd from the get-go. Philly appeared to have no interest in seeing this one.

We get video footage of Cactus Jack training The Barbarian for his big match by breaking cinder blocks over his back with a sledgehammer.

Match #6: Ron Simmons (c) vs. The Barbarian (w/ Cactus Jack) - WCW World Heavyweight Championship.

Ross tells us that Burt Reynolds is a big Simmons fan and is watching this match at home. Yeah, while he's passed out, AMIRITE? They hit a few stalemates with some lock ups, until Barbarian takes Simmons down with a shoulderblock. They try to shoulderblock each other to no avail. Then they try to clothesline each other. Nothing. Simmons opts to go airborne with a flying shoulderblock, putting Barbarian down and to the floor. Back in the ring, Barbarian backs him to the corner and hits some knees. Simmons reverses positions with him and pummels Barbarian down until he bails to the floor for some advice from Cactus. Back in the ring, Barbarian hits an elbow and tosses Simmons to the floor. With the referee distracted by Cactus, Barbarian rams Simmons into the post. Barbarian clubs the chest with a forearm. In the ring, Simmons gets a sunset flip but Barbarian rolls out. Barbarian gets a Cobra Clutch-looking hold as the crowd tries to get behind Simmons, but apathy appears to be winning. Simmons finally gets to his feet and breaks by ramming Barbarian back-first into the corner. Barbarian with a slam and then goes to the top. He misses a flying elbow drop and Simmons comes back with a sidewalk slam. Cover...1...2....kick out! Cactus is on the apron and Simmons puts him down. Barbarian kicks Simmons in the head from behind, goes to the top and hits the diving headbutt! 1...2.....shoulder up! Barbarian with a clothesline that gets 2. Barbarian comes off the ropes for another clothesline but Simmons gets a power slam...1....2....3! (12:41) **

WINNER: And STILL WCW World Heavyweight Champion, Ron Simmons. The match was okay, with some slow spots in the beginning portion. It got a little better near the end as they each started to hit some power moves. Crowd was dead for most of it.

Tony and Bruno comment on the last match after which they bring in Erik F'n Watts! The Erik Watts Era has begun. He congratulates Simmons on the win and Ron tells him that he has a long way to go but he has what it takes. Bruno refers to Cactus as a maniac as I wonder what difference he sees between WCW and the WWF in 1992.

Match #7: Sting vs. Jake Roberts - Coal Miner's Glove Match.

Jake goes to the pole right away but Sting pulls him down and slams him a couple of times. Jake knees Sting but Sting hits him with a right hand. Sting whiffs on a dropkick and Jake goes to work on the back with knees. Jake tosses him over the top to the floor which is not a DQ because of the "lights out" stip. Sting takes the shoulder to the post a couple of time and goes back in for the glove. Jake manages to pull him down and hits him with a back suplex. Sting gets a hammerlock and stomps the arm. Jake hiptosses Sting over the top and to the apron, then climbs the pole. Sting crotches him on the top turnbuckle to halt that. Sting goes to work the arm as Jesse wonders what if they win the match without the use of the glove.They roll outside and brawl on the floor, including Jake hitting Sting with a chair to the back. In the ring, Jake chokes out Sting with his wrist tape. Jake either hits the knee lift or doesn't as we get yet another botch tonight. Sting misses a Stinger splash in the corner and Jake hits the short-arm clothesline. DDT is signaled and he hits it! Jake climbs the pole as the crowd wakes up. Sting does a flashy move to beat him to the pole, starts climbing and grabs the glove as Cactus has run down and handed Jake his snake bag. Sting hits Jake from behind with the glove which causes the snake to accidentally bite Jake in the face. Sting covers...1...2....3! (10:34) *

WINNER: Sting. Horrible stip, bad match, dumb finish.

Tony and Bruno comment on the last match, with Bruno thinking that the feud would be over but it appears to be only beginning. Unfortunately for Jake, about two weeks later he checked himself into the Betty Ford Center and was subsequently gone from WCW by mid-November.

FINAL PARTING SHOTS: The show started strong with good in-ring action through the tag title match. Then the show fell off a cliff. The NWA title match, while not as bad as some say it is, was a disappointment; the WCW title match was a case of the challenger not being main event material and the main event was a farce of epic proportions beginning with the choice of match and ending with the dumbest finish possible.

UP NEXT: WWF SATURDAY NIGHT'S MAIN EVENT 11/14/92