There’s something about the Halloween Havoc pay-per-view that brings out the weird and wacky in WCW. Much like the Black Scorpion/Sid Vicious wackiness that we saw at the 1990 event, the 1995 edition of Halloween Havoc is chalk full of craziness. We had a monster truck battle, a guy falling off a roof and a man wrapped in toilet paper doing his best to appear to commit sexual assault on the behind of the world’s most famous professional wrestler.
And that was all just in the main event angle!
The war between WCW Champion Hulk Hogan and The Giant had been building for months, and finally came to a head here after the Giant assaulted Hogan after War Games at FALL BRAWL last month. The attack led to the Giant receiving a WCW Championship match in his WCW in-ring debut. But before the wrestling match, the two titans of wrestling had to have a monster truck battle on the roof of Cobo Hall, adjacent to the Joe Louis Arena where the event was held.
The Monster Truck battle didn’t end up the way Giant wanted it, losing to Hogan and then coaxing him to the side of the building. When the Hulkster broke a choke, Giant lost his balance and fell five stories TO HIS DOOM! Or was that all part of the Dungeon of Doom’s master plan? Because the Giant survived and was able to wrestle. He even managed to beat the champion by disqualification, leading to manager Jimmy Hart turning on Hogan and a major beatdown ensuing, including the YET-TAY coming down in rags and teaming up with the Giant to double bear hug Hogan.
As ridiculous as this all was, it would get even more so, when it was announced soon after that Jimmy Hart worked a clause into the contract that said if Hogan got disqualified, he lost the championship!
This was peak WCW.
Best Match: Sting and Ric Flair beat Arn Anderson and Brian Pillman by disqualification – This is mostly angle-driven, as it was the best story WCW had going, and EVERYONE knew what the outcome was going to be. Even Sting knew Flair was going to turn on him, but he still went through with the match. The Stinger came down to the ring alone, because Flair was “attacked backstage” and as he walked down to the ring, it was clear Sting saw what was coming, yet couldn’t get out of the way. Sure enough, Flair finally came to the ring in his street clothes and promptly turned on his partner, leading to a 3-on-1 beatdown on Sting. It’s one of my favorite moments of 1995, and the rare case where the predictability actually helped with the story telling.
Worst Match: Kurasawa defeated Road Warrior Hawk – Hawk was looking for revenge after Kurasawa injured him at the Clash of the Champions, but this match never came close to being interesting… or any good. Hawk at his best needed to be carried if he was working singles. And Hawk wasn’t at his best, nor was Kurasawa up to the task of carrying him. It was short, and it was still a waste of time.
Bitter Frenemies: Randy Savage didn’t trust Lex Luger from the moment Luger returned to WCW on the first Monday Nitro. Despite taming up in the War Games match at Fall Brawl, the tension grew between the two, leading to Sting making a deal: if Savage and Luger won their matches at Halloween Havoc, they would then have to wrestle each other later in the night. Luger’s association with Kevin Sullivan and the Dungeo of doom became very clear as the night progressed, ending with Luger attacking Savage after the main event and putting Hogan in the Torture Rack.
Ranking Halloween Havoc 1995
1 – Sting and Ric Flair beat Arn Anderson and Brian Pillman by disqualification
2 – WCW TV Championship: Johnny B. Badd defeated “Diamond” Dallas Page (c)
3 – WCW World Championship Match: The Giant beat Hulk Hogan (c) by disqualification
4 – “Macho Man” Randy Savage defeated Lex Luger
5 – Sabu defeated Mr. JL
6 – Lex Luger beat Meng by disqualification
7 – “Macho Man” Randy Savage defeated The Zodiac
8 – Kurasawa defeated Road Warrior Hawk
*DISCLAIMER* The Top 10 rankings are for discussion purposes only and in no way reflect an official or authoritative list. It is simply my opinion. If you disagree, let me know in the comments. New arrivals to the Top 10 are in bold.
1 – WWF Championship Match: Diesel (c) and Bret “Hitman” Hart battle to a draw – Royal Rumble 1995
2 – Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match: Shawn Michaels (c) defeated Razor Ramon – SummerSlam 1995
3 – WWF Championship Match: Diesel (c) defeated Shawn Michaels – WrestleMania XI
4 – WCW World Championship Match: Hulk Hogan (c) beat Vader by disqualification – SuperBrawl V
5 – Bret “Hitman” Hart defeated Hakushi – In Your House 1
6 – Sting and Ric Flair beat Arn Anderson and Brian Pillman by disqualification – Halloween Havoc 1995
7 – WCW TV Championship: Arn Anderson (c) defeated Johnny B. Badd – Clash of the Champions XXX
8 – ECW Tag Team Championship 2-out-of-3 Falls Double Dog Collar Match: The Pitbulls defeated Raven and Stevie Richards (c) – ECW Gangsta’s Paradise
9 – Arn Anderson defeated “Nature Boy” Ric Flair – Fall Brawl 1995
10 – Hulk Hogan and “Macho Man” Randy Savage defeated the Butcher and Kevin Sullivan – Clash of the Champions XXX
We’ll be back in three weeks for the 1995 Survivor Series! Stay Tuned!