Halloween Havoc (1991 TV Special) User Reviews

Good PPV Despite Some Dumb Gimmicks

[jeremycrimsonfox · 7/10 · 26 January 2020]

The third annual WCW Halloween Havoc took place in the UTC Center in Chattanooga, TN, with Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone commentating. In this, eleven matches were on the card, with four of them being title matches, one being the final round of a tournament to decide the first WCW Light Heavyweight Champion.

Basically, the PPV is more infamous for its starting match, the Chamber Of Horrors match. I saw this on a Best Of Halloween Havoc VHS I owned as a kid, and this match is insane. Here, two teams, each composed of four men (team one having El Gigante, the Steiner Brothers, and Sting, and with the other having Big Van Vader, Diamond Studd, Cactus Jack, and Abdullah The Butcher), the match has no rules, allowing the use of a kendo stick and even caskets (one having a masked man inside), and the only way to win is for someone to put a member of the opposing team in the Chair of Torture (which is basically an electric chair) and someone pulls the switch, electrocuting him. It was insane, and would be one of the crazy gimmick matches that WCW would be infamous for (and this was three years before Hulk Hogan joined the company).

As for the other matches, we have some stinkers (like Johnny B. Badd Vs. Jimmy Gavin, and a match involving Kevin Nash's horrible Oz gimmick, which YouTube videos list as one of the worst gimmicks WCW thought up), but it had some good matches (Steve Austin Vs. Dustin Rhodes for the WCW World Television Championship, as well as Lex Luger Vs. Ron Simmons for the main events in a two-out-of-three falls match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship). It's a good show, but the stupid gimmicks keep it from being legendary.

Chambers of Horror match sucks

[amanwhorocks · 5/10 · 10 July 2013]

1. El Gigante/The Steiner Brothers/Us Champ-Sting Vs. Big Van Vader/Diamond Studd/Cactus Jack/Abullah The Butcher - Well, what's that? Come on, that match sucks hard. Electric chair, really? Abdullah black man get burned. And by the way, the only look able moves were Top Rope DDT from Steiners and Cactus's over the rope. 5/10

2. Jimmy Garvin vs. Johnny B.Badd 4.5/10

3. TV Championship: Champ-Stunning Steve Austin Vs. Dustin Rhodes - Champ went to the ring first, ehm. Side Headlocks maybe for 100x times :/ But decent match. 6/10

4. Z-Man Vs. WCW Phantom (Rick Rude) 5.5/10

5. U.S. Tag Team Champs-The Patriots Vs. World Tag Team Champs: Arn Anderson/Larry Zbysko - Quite boring. 4.5/10

6.World Heavyweight Championship: Ron Simmons Vs Champ-Lex Luger 5.5/10

Hallowen Havoc 1991 Results and ratings

[joepublic · 4/10 · 15 February 2024]

Hugely entertaining for, mostly, the wrong reasons

*/***** Sting, El Gigante and The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) defeated Abdullah the Butcher, The Diamond Studd, Cactus Jack and Big Van Vader Chamber of Horrors match

/***** Big Josh and P. N. News defeated The Creatures (Creature 1 and Creature 2)

**/***** Bobby Eaton defeated Terrance Taylor (with Alexandra York)

*/***** Johnny B. Badd (with Teddy Long) defeated Jimmy Garvin (with Michael Hayes)

****/***** Steve Austin (c) (with Lady Blossom) vs. Dustin Rhodes ended in a time-limit draw for the WCW World Television Championship

/***** Bill Kazmaier defeated Oz by submission

/***** Van Hammer defeated Doug Somers

***/***** Brian Pillman defeated Richard Morton (with Alexandra York) Singles match for the inaugural WCW Light Heavyweight Championship

**/***** The Halloween Phantom defeated Tom Zenk

**/***** The Enforcers (Arn Anderson and Larry Zbyszko) (c) defeated The Patriots (Todd Champion and Firebreaker Chip) for the WCW World Tag Team Championship

***/***** Lex Luger (c) (with Harley Race) defeated Ron Simmons (with Dusty Rhodes) 2-1 in a Best out of Three falls match for the WCW World Title.

The strangest WCW PPV of the year, which includes the ludicrous Chamber of Horrors match, the Refer-Eye camera PPV airing, and Abdullah the Butcher wearing a suit in an opening segment that explains Barry Windham's absence. Terrifying on all counts.

The talent wasted in the Chamber of Horrors could almost be re-assembled into a quality PPV alone, Sting, The Steiners, Vader, Cactus Jack, Scott Hall, all wandering around in complete bemusement before Abbie gets "fried". The match is replete with Sting's US Title belt falling off during his entrance and the handle for the electric chair falling into the 'ON' position as the match goes on. The UK video release had the sense to cut matches involving PN News, Bill Kazmaire, and Van Hammer.

The positives - Rick Rude debuts and exudes much-needed heel charisma backed by a prime Paul E and a gorgeous Madusa, paving the way for the excellent Dangerous Alliance. The Enforcers are a fine combo, and they do their best with their green-as-grass opponents and get a face pop for doing so. Steve Austin and Dustin Rhodes have an entertaining and genuinely topsy-turvy battle with a perfectly timed end sequence. Pillman and Morton can't help but show their quality and the main event is decent BUT considering the push for Simmons, his back story, and the presence of Dusty Rhodes in his corner the result feels like a missed opportunity. We are also treated to peak Missy Hyatt.