Well, a lot of people have been telling me 'Well you know something Mean Gene ? I want to see MORE of your great reviews. Please review yet ANOTHER all-time classic wCw PPV.' So I said 'Well you know something Michael Cole (referring to the newbies, like Cole) ? I might just do that.' And here I am. Now why Halloween Havoc 95 ??? Well, like wCw right now (April of 2000), the WCW of this time, EZE and co. were entering a whole new era. With the nWo less than a year away, EZE needed something to bridge that gap. He needed another cool bad guy group. The result ... the Dungeon of Doom.
Sure the DoD really made its first appearance at Slamboree of 95 when the Man With No Name fought Kevin Sullivan and Kevin went to seek out his father, and later that night, we saw the first on-screen appearance of the Son of Ander, the Gaint !! And it really did pick up over the next few months. And it hit its climax when Kevin SHAVED the Golden whiskers of the Great One Hulk Hogan a month before. But that event shadowed the forthcoming Hollywood Hogan, as you will see later on in my review. Now, iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit's showtime FOLKS !! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!! - Live from Detroit, Michigan. Tony and Bobby are our beloved hosts for the night. - We find out that Ric Flair was attacked by the newly formed alliance of Arn Anderson and Brian Pillman. - WCW Television Champion Diamond Dallas Page (with the Diamond Doll Kimberly and Maxx Muscle) vs. challenger Johnny B. Badd (without the Multi-Talented Sable) : Oh no. I am NOT telling you the backstory. If you want it, go look at my lenthy Uncensored 96 review ! All you need to know is that DDP won the belt a month earlier at Fall Brawl and that DDP cost Johnny a shot at Sting's U.S. title belt on WCW Saturday Night (THAMUTHASHIP!!). After a one of the better matches between the two, Maxx costs DDP the match and gives Johnny his first taste of WCW gold IIRC.*1/2 - Macho Man Randy Savage vs. YES it's the Zodiac ! NO it's the Zodiac ! YES it's the Zodiac ! ... : OK. A month earlier, Lex Luger made one of the most memorable debuts in ANY federation's memory when he appeared on the initial edition of Monday Nitro (LIVE ON TNT!). Since Vader was AWOL (accoridng to Hulk, and we always believe him), Hulk neede a partner to team up along with Sting and Macho Man (with Jimmy Hart as their manager) at Fall Brawl to fight against Zodiac, Kamala, Meng and Avalanche in the War Games (the MOST DANGEROUS MATCH EVER). But you see, Hogan and Savage never really fully trusted Luger, but Stign convinced them that T-PAC was alright. They reluctantly teamed up together against the EVIL Dungeon of Doom. Despite the victory, Savage and Luger still did not get along. They decided to fight each other at Halloween Havoc, but they would each have to face a member of the Dungeon first AND beat them in order to fight themselves. So here is the first match of the 'Gauntlet'. This is an EXCITING 90 second HARDcore brawl (including an AWESOME fan run-in) which ends in Mach' dropping the elbow for the victory.***** - Road Warrior Hawk (without Animal, Rocko and Paul Ellering) vs. The FOREIGN Kurasawa (not the film maker, but with Sonny Onoo) : OK. The backstory is that at the August Clash of the Champions, Sting brought back Hawk from Japan (alone) to fight against Meng and Col. Robert Parker's new protege, Kurasawa. Sting and Hawk won, but not until Kurasawa broke Hawk's arm. This is Hawk's revenge match. After interferance on Parker's behalf, Kurasawa defeats Hawk in a typical Hawk brawl. I guess he lost because he did not have his INSPIRATION in life, Rocko by his side ... or at least Droz's stuff. ***1/2 - The Mysterious Mr. J.L. vs. Sabu (with the Sheik, not that FOREIGN CRIMINAL who framed Hacksaw Jim Duggan, the Iron Geek!!!) : Oh you didn't know ?? (Harharharhar) J.L. is ECW's Jerry Lynn and yes Sabu was in WCW (for like 2 months). Why did he leave ?? He COULDN'T PLAY WITH THE BIG BOYS !!!! Eitherway. This match introduced to America a new brand of fighting; lucha libre. DARN YOU SABU !!!!!!! -********************* For historical reasons only. The match itself wasn't this bad. Only a Rey Misterio Junior, Shawn Michaels, Edna Guerrera or Krispin Wah match is this bad. - Back inside THE DUNGEON (not Stu Hart's) where the MASTER tells Kevin not to worry as all will go as planned tonight !!! - The Total Package Lex Luger vs. The FACE OF TERROR Meng (with the TaskMaster) : What can you expect from two BIG monsters like these ?? They smartly get almost 20 minutes to tell us the fans a story (not of a Lovely Lady ...). Meng takes out THE GOLDEN SPIKE and nails Luger with it !!!! He covers the man with 4 % body fat and 1 .... 2 .... SULLIVAN BREAKS THE COUNT !!!!!! And Luger wins via D-Q !!! WOW !!!!!! This sure makes sense !!! ******. Kudos to WCW for giving these two PHEMOMENAL athletes enought time to wrestle one for the fans. TAKE THAT FAT FOLEY !! - Sting and Natural Relic Ric Flab vs. Double Ancient Arn Anderson and Flyin' Cryin' Whinnin' Brian Pillman : OK, up until Bash at the Beach of 95, Arn and Ric were friends, but then things started to go sour. They both lost in a handicap match to Vader at the Clash. And the two had gone seperate ways by Fall Brawl. There, with a bunch of 'young' wrestlers like Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Scotty Riggs, Brian Pillman, Dean Malenko, Booker T, Marcus Alexander Bagwell, and a whole plethora of wrestlers were sitting at ringside to view this so-called momentous match between the two former friends. In the end, Brian interfered and cost Ric the match. Over the next few weeks on Nitro, Arn and Brian would double-team Flair to a pulp. Flair would demand help from any wrestler he could find. He asked Macho Man Randy Savage, and he denied the offer due to their past feuds. Flair went to Sting, and Stinmg denied, for the same reason, but Flair got children with Sting facepaint who wanted to see the two team-up, and this forced Sting to agree. So the match was made. At Havoc, the two teams would face off. The match started off as a handicap match (due to Flair's injury). With the crowd chanting 'We Want Flair'(because they want to see him get beat up!). The two bad guys double team the Stinger and completly destory him until Flair runs out from the back and SNAPS ! He goes wild and takes out Arn and Brian. The match goes as a tag match. Sting gets beat up for a long time, until he gets the better of the two and tags Ric. The crowd goes bonkers. So what does Flair do ?? HE STINGS STING !!!!! Flair, Brian and Arn beats the heck out of the poor Stinger. Then, all three men hold up the four fingers. The Hossmen (as Dusty would call them) are back. {BTW, in later weeks, Krispin Wah would become the fourth member} -***** Bad bad match. - WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan vs. The Son of Ander, the Gaint in a MONSTER TRUCK MATCH : The Gaint made his first appearance taunting Hogan at Slamboree. Then at Bash at the Beach, the Gaint confronted Hogan and gave him his father's shirt. Then at the Clash, Hulk bravely entered the DUNGEON and confronted the Gaint, but was brutally attacked. It was decided that at Fall Brawl Hulk, Luger, Sting and Savage would fight Zodiac, Meng, Avalanche and Kamala. If the good guys would win, Hulk would get five minutes with Sullivan. Before the event, Hulk was outside and was received a Harley in honor for his TREMENDOUS charity work, but the Gaint (in his MONSTER TRUCK) ran over Hulk's prized Harley. This forced Hulk to challenge the Gaint to a MONSTER TRUCK MATCH !! Also during this time, Sullivan would sneak-attack Hogan and shave Hulk's mustache on Live TV. This caused Hulk to BURN the red and yellow, and he would don black from now on. This was the precursor of Hollywood Hogan. Oh yeah, a week earlier on Nitro, the Master promised some insurance to the DoD that Hogan will not leave Detroit the WCW Champ. What was it ?? It was a giant iceberg (which symbolizes Nitro that would SINK the WWF for the next 4 years) !!! And who (nN) was in it ?? THE YETI !!!! The match took place atop of the Cobo Hall. I do not know if this is a title match, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was. Hulk was a TRUE WCW Champ ! Not only does he face the same man TWICE in one evening, but put it on the line too !!! This was a fast and furious match-up which ends when Hulk pushes the Gaint's truck out of the circle. The two get out of the car and have a helluva fight !! But the action sadly turns into horror as Hulk goes to far in his new persona and accidently pushes the Gaint off of the ledge as the Gaint's falls and falls .... The match was *********, but the sadness is just too much. I don't think I can write anymore for tonight ... - OK, it has been a couple of hours, and I believe that I can write again. - Macho Man Randy Savage vs. The Total Package Lex Luger : I guess this is the main event, since the Gaint cannot wrestle Hogan for the title. After a few seconds of this match, Jimmy Hart comes to ringside. Lex has the match won, but Jimmy is distracting the referee and this gives Macho Man the win. ***** - What ?? Hulk is out. I'm sure he's getting ready to apologize.But what is that ?? The laughs ??? It's the theme music of the DoD !!!! .... - WCW World Champion The Immortal Hulk Hogan (Jimmy Hart) vs. challenger The Son Of Ander, the Gaint (with Kevin Sullivan) : HE'S ALIIIVE !! It's ALIIIIIIIIIIIVE !!!!!! Weird Science ... Plastic tubes and pots and pans ... ooops (Credit to Ed Ferrera ... why ? Because he is OK in my book). The Gaint wastes no time and in his debut match, not only does he get a WCW title shot, but he gets to wrestle the GREATEST WRESTLER ever in his FIRST MATCH EVER !! ONLY in WCW BRAHS !! Only in WCW !! I don't think I have ever seen the Gaint THIS good !! It must have been the re-incarnation ... Eitherway. This is one heck of a match. The finger pokes, the back rakes, the body slams, ... WOW ! I am breathless !! Hulk gives this Big man who will own the Show later on, the big boot and the BODYSLAM (like he did to his father), but Jimmy trips the referee before he could make the count. Jimmy KNOCKS Hulk out with the title belt !!!!!!!! Lex and Macho come down to help Hulk, BUT Lex turns on Macho and Hogan !!! Then, the MIGHTY YETI makes his PPV debut as he and the Gaint give Hulk the DOUBLE BEAR-HUG OF PAIN~~!!! The gyration is unbelievable !! I just cannot believe that T-PAC and Jimmy betrayed Hulkamania !! The Gaint wins by D-Q *********. The next night on Nitro, we found out that in the contract, if Hogan lost the match by D-Q, Hogan would lose the belt to the Gaint (in his FIRST MATCH EVER !!). The Gaint would be annuled by Nick Bockwinkle IIRC and it would be decided at the 60-man over the top rope battle royale at World War 3 the next month.