Halloween Havoc 1998

Halloween Havoc 1998 Review



Here we have the first WCW PPV I've ever reviewed. The only match I've seen from this event before is the Goldberg/DDP match. But believe me, I have heard some very bad things. This is the infamous show that cut out just as the main event was starting, due to going over the time limit of the PPV. Probably one of the reasons why WCW went down.



I have to admit that the stage setup does look amazing, apart from the Snickers sign that kind of ruins it.


The Nitro Girls come out to start the show off with some dancing.


Rick Steiner comes out to talk how his brother is a dick. Buff Bagwell interrupts to tell Rick that he has his back. I smell a betrayal.


Raven is pissed that he wasn't told that he wasn't in this match and tries to leave, but Jericho manages to convince him to come back for the bout.


Chris Jericho vs Raven
TV Title is on the line. Jericho was still in his great heel run here. Jericho looked like he took a bad bump into the railing towards the start of the match. Even though this was an unscheduled match, the fans were really into it, probably because both guys were great characters. A great opening match to hype the crowd up for the rest of the show. ***1/2


Eric Bischoff and Hollywood Hogan come out for a heel promo.



Meng vs Wrath
Two big guys going at it here. Wrath looks a lot like Adam Bomb. There's no video package so I have no idea why these two seem to be feuding. It's a pretty slow match, but it only lasts about five minutes so it doesn't feel tedious. *



Billy Kidman is backstage talking about facing an unknown opponent. There are way too many talking sections for a PPV.



Disco Inferno vs Juventud Guerrera
The winner of this match goes on to face Billy Kidman for the Cruiserweight Title later tonight. I like Inferno more than I like Fandango that's for sure. Juventud was unmasked by this point. Inferno didn't seem used to Juventud's style, but he got the hang of it as the match went on. Good back and forth high-flying match that had a couple of good nearfalls. ***1/4



The Nitro Girls are back again. No wonder this show went over the time limit.



Jesus more talking as Scott Steiner comes out for a promo. The Giant comes out to join him. They make an unscheduled Tag Titles match. What's with all the improptu Title matches?



Fit Finlay vs Alex Wright
Seeing Finlay with spiked up hair is weird. This started off pretty stiffly with the European uppercuts. The fans quickly start with 'boring' chants. This wasn't a bad match for the time that it lasted, but it never got a chance to go anywhere. *1/2



I'm not gonna mention all of these talking sections because there are way too many.



Lodi vs Saturn
Here we have yet another impromptu match. What's scary is that this is before Vince Russo even arrived. Lodi's gimmick seems to be bringing his own signs, and Saturn's seems to be his attire. Just a squash match here at Lodi got practically no offense. 1/4*



The Nitro Girls return again.



Billy Kidman vs Disco Inferno
Cruiserweight Title is on the line. I was hoping that this match would bring the show back up to speed again, and it certainly did that, as this one was given plenty of time and these guys used that to their advantage. Disco Inferno looked very impressive in this one, as he put up a great fight despite already having fought earlier. Best match of the night so far. ***1/2



Scott Steiner & The Giant vs Rick Steiner & Buff Bagwell
Tag Titles are on the line, and if Scott and The Giant lose, Scott must face Rick for fifteen minutes. What kind of nickname is the dogfaced gremlin? Can Spielberg sue for that? Anyway my psychic abilities were correct as Bagwell turned on Rick about two minutes into the match. This was pretty dull but it had an exciting finish. *3/4



Rick Steiner vs Scott Steiner
The crowd loves seeing Scott being beaten up by Rick. I have to admit that I enjoy watching that too. This didn't last very long as Buff Bagwell came out to interrupt things, but for some reason it didn't end in a disqualification. *



Scott Hall vs Kevin Nash
Why can't anyway wrestling just stay friends? Scott turned on Nash and the Wolf Pac to join the nWo. The video package tried to make this look like an epic storyline, but it didn't really work. Boring match here, but the fans were into which shows the star power of these guys at the time. Next month these two would become friends once again to screw Goldberg out of the Title. Dull stuff. *



Bret Hart vs Sting
The US Title is on the line. Here we have the sharpshooter vs the scorpion deathlock. I prefer the sharpshooter myself, but I'm biased due to Bret being my favourite wrestler. Hart's stalling at the beginning was annoying. A solid match here but it's definitely not something you should go out of your way to see. Bret seemed so unmotivated, and reading his book it's not hard to see why. **1/4



Hollywood Hogan vs The Ultimate Warrior
Their match at Wrestlemania VI match was considered as one of the most iconic wrestling matches of the 90s, and is also one of the best booked matches ever. This one is just about the complete opposite of all that. I think this match was just made so that Hogan could get his win back. This one couldn't even go five minutes without a ref bump and an nWo run in. The fireball botch was just awful. A very sloppy, terrible match here that deserves all the ridicule it receives. DUD



Goldberg vs Diamond Dallas Page
World Title on the line. This one is mainly remembered because it wasn't shown live due to the PPV going over the time limit, which is a shame because it should also be known as Goldberg's best match ever. These two brought the best out of each other here, and had a very memorable match that is definitely the match of the night. This only lasted about ten minutes, but what a great ten minutes it was. A great face vs face match here. ***3/4



6/10. This is what I call a mixed bag PPV. There were a few great matches like the World, Cruiserweight and TV Title matches, but there were too many filler matches and some bad ones and one very bad one. All in all I did enjoy watching it.