4 moments that made Halloween Havoc great
Created in 1989, Halloween Havoc became an annual fall festival favorite for wrestling fans. The event was full of surprises, gimmicks, and goblins. The yearly show also featured a plethora of epic matches.
WCW stopped running the fall pay-per-view in 2000, right before Vince McMahon acquired the company. 20 years later, WWE picked the event back up, making it an annual show for its NXT brand. Through the years, this event has provided a ton of legendary moments.
This is our list of four moments that made Halloween Havoc great:
#4 - 1993 Halloween Havoc: Cactus Jack and Vader tear the house down in a Texas Death Match
One of the most diabolical of gimmick matches is the Texas Death Match. Similar to a 'last-man-standing' concept, the TX Death Match is the perfect style of contest for Halloween Havoc. These clashes have been known to go on for a long time, with one in the late 60s between Dory Funk and Mike DiBiase lasting over three hours.
When you think about the Texas Death Match, no one is more synonymous with this style of battle than Cactus Jack. At the 1993 edition of Havoc, Jack had the unfortunate task of facing the mammoth Vader in a Texas Death Match. After an intense back-and-forth battle, and some help from Harley Race, Vader was victorious.
#3 - "We're outta time!" 1998 Halloween Havoc
Heading into the 1998 Halloween Havoc event, WWE and WCW were deep into the Monday Night Wars. Both companies took the gloves off week after week, in an attempt to win the ratings battle.
Triple H, The Rock, and The Undertaker were holding it down for WWE, while WCW was represented by major stars like Hollywood Hogan, and Goldberg.
The event was stacked with a dozen huge bouts, which included everything any fan could ask for. With so many big matches scheduled, it was almost impossible to fit everything inside of the typical three-hour window.
There were two main event matches scheduled, but fans who paid the 30 bucks for the pay-per-view were unable to watch the final bout between Goldberg and DDP, due to time restraints. The clash was aired the following night on NITRO.
#2 - "Spin the wheel, make the deal" 1992 Halloween Havoc
Things were drastically changing for the wrestling industry in the early 1990s. The territories were dissolving nationwide, and WCW was starting to stand on its own, moving away from the partnership with the National Wrestling Alliance. Most of the top talents were either with WWF or WCW.
Top names like Sting, Barry Windham, and Ricky Steamboat led the charge for WCW in late 1992. With this being the fourth year for Havoc, the company created a new theme for the event, "spin the wheel, make the deal."
The wheel included several unique match options, such as the Coal Miners Glove Match, which is where the wheel landed for the main event. Sting ended up with the glove, defeating Jake Roberts in the gimmick match.
#1 - Ric Flair and Sting vs. The Great Muta and Terry Funk in the Thunderdome
1989 was a pivotal time in wrestling history. WWF was thriving from the success of WrestleMania, and WCW was holding its own with yearly events like Starrcade, and The Great American Bash. World Championship Wrestling officials created an event geared around the October holiday, Halloween Havoc.
Ric Flair and Sting are undoubtedly the biggest stars in WCW/NWA history. At the inaugural Halloween Havoc, they joined forces to face two other legends, Terry Funk and The Great Muta, inside the Thunderdome. The ominous structure was similar to what today's fans know as Hell in a Cell.
After nearly a half hour of classic action, Flair and Sting finally came out on top as winners of the first main event in Havoc history.