WCW/nWo: Halloween Havoc
October 25, 1998
Las Vegas, NV
MGM Grand Garden Arena

The current WCW champs are as follows:
WCW World Champion: Bill Goldberg (7/6/1998)
WCW U.S. Champion: Bret Hart (8/13/1998)
WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Giant & Scott Hall (7/20/1998)
WCW World Television Champion: Chris Jericho (8/10/1998)
WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Billy Kidman (9/14/1998)

SIDE NOTE: This is PDRwrestling’s 2000th post! That’s INSANE. Thanks for everybody and their support over the years.

Your hosts are Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and Bobby Heenan.

This is the first time we’ve seen the Nitro Girls kick off a PPV. So, yeah. NITRO GIRLS~! Tony announces some added bouts for the show: Raven will meet Chris Jericho for the TV belt, Wrath takes on Meng (which I thought was already decided), Disco Inferno will wrestle Juventud Guerrera with the winner facing Kidman later in the night for the Cruiserweight title. Most WCW PPVs in 1998 were 9-10 match shows, but tonight we’re getting TWELVE matches. Unless these extra 2-3 matches are kept short, WCW might have a problem on their hands with certain PPV providers.

Gene Okerlund brings out Rick Steiner to talk about his brother Scott. Rick says it’s not brother versus brother, Scott is just another opponent who will get taught a lesson. Tonight, it’s the hound in the pound, and he’s going to get down. Is he Junkyard Dog now? Buff Bagwell appears because he’s definitely not an nWo guy anymore since Scott Steiner called his mom a whore or whatever. He’s wearing a FUBU jersey which means he may or may not have gone shopping with Kevin Nash. Buff offers his services to watch Rick’s back tonight. The crowd already smells the bullshit. Rick admits he doesn’t know if he can trust Bagwell. Look in his eyes, Rick. Buff is a man you can trust! Because he went to the Steve Borden School of Babyfaces, Rick is totally cool with Bagwell being in his corner, and we’ve got a handshake deal. The crowd is naturally pissed and confused.

• WCW World Television Championship: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Raven

Raven is “off a step” and suffering a “losing streak” these days. And yet, he’s getting a TV title shot. Kanyon is conspicuous by his absence. Raven says he wasn’t told ahead of time that he was wrestling tonight, so he decides to walk out. Jericho picks up the mic and says all the Jericholics came here to see him wrestle because Jericho equals buy rates, butts in seats, and ROCK N ROLL. He really wants to wrestle such an icon like Raven who was the leader of the biggest gang of morons in pro wrestling. Fair enough. Jericho thinks he could whoop Raven’s butt in about two minutes and calls him a loser. Man, they are really trying hard here to put this idea over. Raven storms the ring and gets walloped. C’MON BABY gets two. They go to the floor where Raven turns the steps over and drops Jericho stomach-first on the steps. He then runs up the steps and leaps off to dropkick Jericho further down ringside. Back inside, Jericho hotshots Raven to take back control. As Raven rolls to the apron, Jericho hits his famous springboard dropkick. To the floor again, Jericho dives off the apron and misses to whack his head on the guardrail. OUCH. Raven smashes Jericho’s face off the steps, but then gets his whip reversed into the guardrail. Jericho takes the match back inside the ring. Raven chokes Jericho with his flannel shirt and finds a sleeperhold, but Jericho counters with a back suplex. A running back senton connects. Jericho exposes a turnbuckle and they play around with the whips into the corner. Raven blocks a hurracanrana with a powerbomb and catapults Jericho into the exposed buckle. A running clothesline by Raven gets a nearfall. Can’t tell if they screwed up a kick from Jericho or not, but Raven quickly grabs Jericho and delivers a belly to belly suplex for two. They exchange waistlocks possibly going for a German suplex, but Jericho rolls through and finds the LIONTAMER. Raven makes the ropes and pulls Jericho into the EVENFLOW DDT for 1-2-NO! Oh boy. Jericho low blows Raven and German suplexes him with a bridge for two. KANYON appears on the apron and crashes into Jericho. Raven tries for another Evenflow DDT, but Jericho scoops the legs and applies the LIONTAMER for the immediate tapout. (7:49) Good effort here from both guys, but the booking was a little confusing. Are they trying to babyface Raven? They still don’t seem to be sure what to do with Chris Jericho. I know, let’s have him work against Bobby Duncum’s son. That’ll put the butts in the seats! **½

Hollywood Hogan and Eric Bischoff interrupt the program. Hogan is wearing an nWo Monday Nitro muscle shirt. He talks about “crucifying” his own nephew Horace. Now we all know how insane he is. Because when you question Hollywood Hogan, you get beat up real bad – and that’s how it’s going to be 4 LIFE, brudda.

• Wrath vs. Meng

So sad what they have done to Meng. They put some effort into him over the past few months, but now he’s here to job to Wrath, who is about to get his push ruined by getting jobbed to another big guy in a few weeks. These two fight on the floor to start as Wrath gives Meng a cannonball splash from the apron. Meng starts NO-SELLING Wrath’s offense, but does go down with a flying clothesline. A jumping shoulderblock puts Meng down again. He wants the Meltdown, but Meng rolls away and kicks him down for two. Meng hits a backbreaker for another two-count. We get some clubbing blows from Meng. A back suplex from Meng gets two. The crowd couldn’t care less. Wrath avoids the Tongan Death Grip and delivers a uranage slam for 1-2-NO! Time for the MELTDOWN and Wrath gets the three-count. (4:23) Moving on. ¾*

We waste time at the WCW.com table. Lee Marshall is talking to Billy Kidman about who he might want to face tonight – Juventud or Disco.

• Juventud Guerrera vs. Disco Inferno

The winner faces Billy Kidman over the cruiserweight title later in the show. Being that Juventud is trying to keep Disco out of the cruiserweight division by trying to expose Disco’s true weight, Disco is clearly pissed and starts off aggressive. Juventud tries a tilt-a-whirl headscissors, but Disco blocks with a side slam. Guerrera chops back and gets the tilt-a-whirl headscissors he wanted. They flub a rocker dropper spot, but Juventud delivers on the second try. Guerrera monkey flips Disco over the top rope to the floor and then when Disco stands up, he rolls back in between the ropes and headscissors Disco back down the aisle. INCREDIBLE! Back in, Disco hits an inverted atomic drop followed by a clothesline. Disco slams Juventud and hits the flying forearm drop for two. Juventud snaps Disco’s head off the top rope and attempts a springboard move, but Disco sees it coming and escapes to the floor. Juventud takes him out with a pescado. Back in, after some back and forth counters, Guerrera finds a headscissors. It’s Juvi Driver time, but Disco counters. He wants a reverse suplex, but Guerrera flips out only to get thrown into a hotshot to set up a swinging neckbreaker from Disco. Slow cover, but Disco still gets a nearfall. Disco punches away a sunset flip and starts up the Macarena, but Juventud rolls him up anyway for two. Disco puts Juventud in a GIANT SWING and dizzies himself to collapse into Guerrera’s balls – where the Juvi Juice lives. Disco delivers a vertical suplex and takes forever going up top. Juventud kips up and crotches Disco for a Super Frankensteiner. Juventud heads up top and delivers a spinning body attack for a nearfall. The wheelbarrow bulldog from Juvi gets another two-count. He tries another move on Disco by climbing the shoulders, but Disco avoids all that and plants Juventud with a SWEET PILEDRIVER for the win. (9:39) Good match! I think they could have had something with Disco as a heel cruiserweight champion since he’s not the prototypical cruiserweight wrestler. ***

NITRO GIRLS~! It’s a little more TV-14 than it usually is on Nitro. Of course, our nerd commentators still talk about wrestling until Heenan tells them to shut up.

Scott Steiner comes out to talk how he’s in town and he’s ready to pound. Hmm. Big Poppa Pump is your hook-up – HOLLA IF YOU HEAR HIM. Talk turns to Buff Bagwell. He calls Buff and his brother Rick a couple of losers. Scott has a better idea – he wants to turn this match into a tag and his partner will be the Giant – for the WCW world tag titles. JJ Dillon comes out and confirms that this will be a tag titles match. If Scott and the Giant lose, then Rick gets a singles match with his brother. Scott says HELL YEAH because there’s no way they will lose.

• Fit Finley vs. Alex Wright

Davey Boy Smith was supposed to be Wright’s opponent, but got changed the day of the event as he’s officially done with WCW. I guess it’s up to these two to find out who the BEST European wrestler is in WCW. Wright should have made his own Euro title like Ted DiBiase and the Million Dollar belt. Lots of Finley brawling to start. Wright comes back with his forearms and hangs Finley out to dry. Crowd starts to chant “boring” which doesn’t seem fair. Finley hits a short-arm clothesline and catapults Wright into the ropes only for Wright to fall backwards onto Finley’s knees. OUCH. He throws Wright over the top rope (not a DQ anymore!) and backs Wright into the apron. This gets Wright all angry, but Finley drops him on the guardrail. Back inside, they trade shots and wind up flipping over the top rope to the floor. It looks so safe and dangerous at the same time. Back in, Finley sidesteps a missile dropkick, but misses a corner charge. As he staggers back, Wright grabs Finley for a REVERSE NECKBREAKER for the win. (5:09) The Dancing Fools are 2-0 tonight! Match had no heat whatsoever, but I didn’t hate it. *

We go back to Lee Marshall at the WCW.com and he’s talking to Ernest Miller. Lee tries to convince Miller that he’s not the greatest and not the real deal. You’re wasting your time, Lee.

• Perry Saturn vs. Lodi

This is another match that got changed the day of the show. Originally, Eddie Guerrero was supposed to face Saturn, but missed his flight. The match at least makes some sense considering Lodi is pissed the Flock is dead. Saturn has a new look heading to the ring – a Saturn-ized Army beret and a chain mesh vest. He’s also wearing full tights tonight. Lodi gets very distracted when a ringside crew member grabbed his signs and he goes after them. I’m guessing there’s a stop sign in one of the signs. Saturn runs through his offense and hits Lodi with the DEATH VALLEY DRIVER for the win. (3:50) I was kind of disappointed there wasn’t a payoff for the signs bit. ½*

NITRO GIRLS~!

• WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Billy Kidman (c) vs. Disco Inferno

It starts off with headlocks and Kidman stays one step ahead of Disco. As Kidman gets sent to the apron, he shoots back in with the shoelace headscissors. He then stomps a mudhole and walks it dry on Disco that looks like crap. Disco drop toeholds Kidman onto the bottom rope and then hits a swinging neckbreaker for two. A hard whip into the corner for Kidman works the back. Disco pulls the top rope down on Kidman to send him sailing out to the floor, but Kidman comes back with a tornado bulldog using the apron. Back inside, Kidman misses a flying splash. Disco applies a chinlock to slow down the pace. DISCO SUCKS! Kidman fights up and hits the rebound clothesline. As Kidman runs the ropes, Disco launches him for a crash and burn. Disco dances and the crowd gives him crap for it. There’s a back suplex for two. Disco snaps Kidman’s neck off the top rope. He slams Kidman and heads up to the middle rope for the flying forearm, but misses. Disco walks into a BK Bomb for two. Kidman runs into a back elbow in the corner, but catches Disco with a powerslam for two. He whiffs on a dropkick allowing Disco to hit the PILEDRIVER, but Disco is too winded to roll over and cover Kidman. Slow cover gets 1-2-NO! Disco starts complaining to the ref which allows Kidman to catch his breath. Kidman slips away from a vertical suplex and tries the Tornado Bulldog, but Disco counters with a back suplex! NICE. Gourdbuster by Disco gets two. He tries for another Piledriver and wastes time with the AYYY MACARENA~! As he lifts up Kidman, we get YOU CAN’T POWERBOMB KIDMAN instead. Kidman drags Disco over to a corner and hits the SHOOTING STAR PRESS for the win. (10:49) Another good showing from Disco. No real heat from the crowd outside of the high spots. Disco abandons his quest for the Cruiserweight title after this and decides he wants to see what it’s like to join the nWo Wolfpac over the next few months. **½

• WCW World Tag Team Championship: The Giant & Scott Steiner (c) vs. Rick Steiner & Buff Bagwell

Looks like Giant is smoking cigarettes again. I guess the patch didn’t take. Giant holds the tag belts over ref Charles Robinson’s head for the lulz. Scott of course won’t start this match as Giant dominates Rick. Tony brings up Chucky and seems concerned for Rick – if you can BELIEVE that. Scott tags in when Rick is down and puts the boots to him. He dumps out Rick so that the Giant can jump him on the floor. Back inside, Scott pounds on Rick for a while. Rick comes back with an atomic drop and ten-count corner punches on him. He hits an elbow drop off the ropes and now Buff wants a tag. Rick tags him in and of course Buff turns on Rick. I think the crowd boos the lack of creativity more than the turn itself. Only our esteemed commentators were fooled. Buff does his bicep pose and walks out leaving Rick all alone. Now Scott shows off his genetic freakiness. Scott straight up field goal kicks Rick in the balls. The crowd starts chanting for Goldberg as the beatdown continues. In comes the Giant to do giant things. Giant gives Rick a Russian legsweep and keeps lifting him up off the mat to stop the pinfall. Tag to Scott, Rick fights back on him until Scott low blows him again. Scott tags the Giant and holds up Rick for a MISSILE DROPKICK FROM THE GIANT, but Rick moves and Scott gets wiped out. Rick gives Giant THREE Steinerlines and a STEINER BULLDOG gets the pinfall for the tag titles. (8:24) That missile dropkick is still a pretty dope spot – even if he doesn’t really need to be doing that. *½

• No DQ Match: Rick Steiner vs. Scott Steiner

Giant apologizes to Scott as they start to walk out, but Rick brings Scott back to the ring. Giant tries to intercept Rick, but gets punched away. He’s done. He can’t hang anymore. Rick dumps Scott on the steps. In the ring, Scott begs off and Rick looks to the crowd for a pop. Rick punches Scott and then delivers a Steinerline. He catches Scott charging in the corner and brings up a boot to block. Rick lifts him up and runs Scott into the corner. Oh, but there’s the dreaded low blow. It gets the best of us! Scott delivers an overhead suplex and catches Rick with a hard clothesline. Bossman straddle catches Rick, but he catches Scott trying a leapfrog and gets powerslammed. A belly to belly suplex on Scott gets two. Somebody in a suit and a Bill Clinton mask jumps the rail. Stevie Ray shows up at ringside and hands the guy a slapjack. Naturally, it’s Buff Bagwell. He wallops Rick and ref Charles Robinson with the slapjack, which had it been a real slapjack, Robinson would probably be dead. Scott covers Rick and Buff uses Robinson’s hand to count the pinfall, but Rick still kicks out. I guess he’s not smart enough to fast count him. Scott gives Rick a SUPER FRANKENSTEINER and again Rick kicks out. Buff dumps out Robinson. Rick fights off a double-team and drops Buff’s neck on the top rope to take him out. The STEINER BULLDOG to Scott connects. Conveniently, ref Nick Patrick slides in and counts the pinfall. (4:46) Rick celebrates holding up both tag belts. *

• Kevin Nash vs. Scott Hall

Hall throws a clear alcoholic beverage in Nash’s eyes to start. It’s a dick move and it allows Hall to throw those wonderful punches of his. He takes Nash to the floor for some ringside violence. With Nash down and getting medical attention, Hall cuts a promo asking Nash how the world looks through foggy eyes. He then tells Nash to leave because he’s through messing with him, but of course Nash rolls back in the ring. Hall lays in more punches and slams the big man. He calls for the Outsider’s Edge, but Nash shoves him into the corner. There’s more punches, but it’s effective storytelling. Nash tells him to “bring it on”. He whips Hall from corner to corner to corner and hits a Side Slam. They trade shots on their knees and fight up to their feet. Nash buries a knee and punches Hall down. Now he wants the Jackknife, but Hall retreats to the floor. Back in, they lock up and Nash shoves Hall to the mat. Hall tries to pound the shoulder and twists the arm, but Nash pulls him into a short-arm clothesline. Nash starts smashing on the back and lands the Bossman straddle. How about one more. Ref Mickey Jay asks Hall if he wants to continue. Nash hits the knees and the elbow in the corner. He’s running out of moves here. Over to another corner, Nash asks Hall if he wants another drink while he’s driving in those knees. He brings Hall to the center of the ring and keeps beating him up. Hall is out on his feet. His punches have no power. Nash lays in the Big Boot and DOWN COMES THE STRAPS. Time for the JACKKNIFE POWERBOMB. He lays Hall out with one more, gives him a crotch chop, and heads for the exit sign because he doesn’t want to pin his friend. (14:19) This was going fine until Nash stopped working within the confines of the story and started hamming it up for the Las Vegas crowd. Even though they were digging him, he wasn’t supposed to be enjoying beating up his alcoholic friend this much. It made him look like a jerk instead of showing any conflicted feelings about what he felt he had to do here. It was a strange match. *½

• WCW U.S. Heavyweight Championship: Bret Hart (c) vs. Sting

Sting has a goatee tonight and I think this is the last time we’ll see that. Bret avoids Sting to start. When he turns his back on Sting, that’s when Sting strikes and brings him into the ring for a Sting beatdown. The ten-count corner punch is followed by a running clothesline. Sting WOOs in Bret’s face and then gives him an inverted atomic drop for two. Bret fires back and runs Sting’s eyes over the top rope. A DDT lands on Sting for two. Isn’t this supposed to be a grudge match? There’s no strong reactions from either man here. They are just going through the motions. No heat for the match either. Bret delivers a running bulldog and a Russian Legsweep. He flies off the middle rope, but Sting avoids the dive and applies the SCORPION DEATHLOCK. Bret immediately gets in the ropes. Again, no feeling he’s going to keep the hold applied up to the five count. Bret feigns a knee injury because of course he would. He pulls out some taped knucks, but Sting gets it away from him and gets a low blow for his trouble. Bret delivers a backbreaker and the flying vertical elbow gets two. They go to the floor for some ringside violence and jawing with the fans. Back in, Bret beats on Sting while he’s on the apron. Sting accidentally elbows ref Billy Silverman away and then Bret legdrops him for fun. Here comes Sting with a comeback. Bret blocks a Stinger Splash and elbow drops Sting. Over to the corner, Sting crotches Bret and delivers a superplex. Wow, they could have broken Billy Silverman’s ankles as Bret landed on him. They fight up to their feet and Sting tries another Stinger Splash, but he overshot Bret and his head collides with the top of the ringpost. With Sting already KO’ed and draped on the top rope, Bret finds Sting’s baseball bat and whacks him in the neck and shoulders. He pops Sting in the face as Sting crumbles back in the ring. Bret drives the bat into Sting’s throat from the middle rope and gets rid of the bat. Bret wakes up the referee and then applies the SHARPSHOOTER for the KO. (15:04) Sting ends up doing a stretcher job. This is the last we’ll see of Sting for several months. Not much here to like, folks. *

• The Warrior vs. Hollywood Hogan

Hollywood Hogan wears the big white boa tonight. No Michael Buffer for this one. Hogan talks smack and then gets punched down. Hogan pounds Warrior down and twists the arm, but Warrior returns the favor and catches Hogan with a shoulder tackle. Warrior wants a test of strength so Hogan beats him into the corner instead. Okay, now it’s time for the TEST OF STRENGTH. The advantage goes back and forth as you can imagine. They do a criss-cross spot just like they did at WrestleMania VI. Hogan winds up slamming Warrior, but then Warrior NO-SELLS and slams Hogan. Warrior clotheslines Hogan to the floor and follows after him for some ringside violence. Back inside, as Hogan is running the ropes, he steps over Warrior and runs into ref Nick Patrick. Oh boy. Just like we saw in the last match, Hogan knee drops the ref to make it worse. Hogan starts calling out the nWo troops. Giant comes out and boots Hogan down by mistake. Whoops. Warrior clotheslines Giant out of the ring, punches Stevie Ray down, and nails Vincent as well. Warrior looks to see who else is coming out before covering Hogan despite no ref. Hogan catches Warrior from behind and delivers a back suplex. Slow count from Nick Patrick gets two. Hogan starts dropping knees and hammering Warrior before taking off his weightlifting belt to whip him. Warrior avoids a pair of elbow drops and then rolls around the ring to knock Hogan down. Yeah, that actually happened. Hogan avoids a Warrior Splash and starts punching back. Warrior punches Hogan down and takes off the weightlifting belt to whip Hogan. Warrior wraps the belt around his fist and nails Hogan one good time to bust him open. While the ref pushes Warrior back, Hogan retreats to a corner and the fire ball spot gets messed up. Now Warrior starts telling Hogan what they’ll do next since the moment is gone. Warrior comes off the top with a double sledge followed by another. Hogan low blows Warrior, clotheslines him down, and hits the LEGDROP. He misses a second one. Hey look, it’s HORACE HOGAN! Eric Bischoff is over by the big pumpkin. Time to WOYAH UP! He runs through his comeback while Eric Bischoff grabs Nick Patrick and shields his eyes from Horace walloping Warrior with a chairshot. As Bischoff lets go of Nick Patrick, Hogan covers Warrior and gets the three-count. (14:20) Hogan tells his nephew that he passed the test and embraces him. Horace then pours lighter fluid on Warrior as head of security Doug Dellinger and some other security guy come out to try and stop them. Dellinger gets the lighter fluid away from Horace, but they need to get Warrior out of the ring. I honestly think I’ve seen worse matches, but none this high profile. CRAP

• WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Goldberg (c) vs. Diamond Dallas Page

DDP is JACKED for this match. He gets up in Goldberg’s face and gets shoved down after a couple tie-ups. On the time that he doesn’t get shoved down, they tumble out to the floor still tied up. Back in, Goldberg shrugs off a heel trip and takes DDP down in a cross armbreaker. Page goes for a random DIAMOND CUTTER and gets shoved off to the floor. After some regrouping, DDP goes after the arm. Goldberg comes back with a shoulderblock, but Page snaps off a quick hotshot and hits a swinging neckbreaker. DDP keeps up with the fast moves with a Russian legsweep for two. He continues to hold onto Goldberg with a front headlock. Goldberg knees out of that and hits that spinning neckbreaker he does. He follows up with a hiptoss and a side slam for two. He applies another cross armbreaker, but Page makes the ropes. Another side slam attempt is countered into a tilt-a-whirl headscissors! Reverse kick sends DDP back into the corner, but he leaps up to avoid a SPEAR, sending Goldberg shoulder-first into the ringpost. Back in, Page hits a flying clothesline for two. Goldberg is favoring his shoulder quite a lot here. Hiptoss is countered by Page into the DDT. Page motions for the DIAMOND CUTTER, but turns around into a SPEAR! Too bad Goldberg used his sore shoulder to pull that off. He tries for the JACKHAMMER, but he can’t lift Page up. He gets him up, but DDP flips out and turns Goldberg around into the DIAMOND CUTTER. Biggest pop of the night, hands down. Slow cover gets 1-2-NO! Page tries a suplex, but Goldberg kicks away and uses the momentum to lift DDP up despite the sore shoulder into the JACKHAMMER for 1-2-3. (10:30) Many call it Goldberg’s best match and for good reason. He did a great job selling the shoulder and had you believing Page had a shot at beating him because of it. DDP should get a ton of kudos for carrying him to a solid ten minutes as well. ***¼

Final Thoughts: Goldberg and DDP is worth a watch, but it’s not worth sitting through the other three hours to get to it. There’s a few solid matches on the undercard that I like, but the undercard is still lacking with great talent at this point without guys like Chris Benoit, Booker T, or Rey Mysterio due to injuries and has been for months. Switching gears, Hogan and Warrior was a once-in-a-lifetime match at WrestleMania VI. It was the right time for the right arena in the right city with the right people behind the scenes booking the match and getting them prepared. This is not that at all. And with that said, I’m giving Halloween Havoc 1998 a thumbs down.