83 Weeks - Halloween Havoc 1993 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Halloween Havoc 1993 

Halloween Havoc 1993 took place on October 24 that year at the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana before a reported attendance estimate of 6,000 fans. Of that, Meltzer reported 3,000 paid in an arena set up for 8,500, bringing in an estimated $30,000. Ouch. The show did a .5 buyrate with an estimated 100,000 paying for the pay per view on TV.

For the second year in a row, the event’s tagline was Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal.

What can you say about the decision to bring this gimmick back?

Why has it remained so popular until this very day?

Before we get to the Halloween excitement, let’s go back in time and talk about some of the events leading up to the show.

News:

A considerable bit of talent turmoil hit the World Wrestling Federation this past weekend, including the first time in more than a decade that a champion left the promotion before losing his belt. Intercontinental champion Shawn Michaels (Michael Hickenbottom), 28, considered by many as the best worker in the country, quit the company early last week, before a match could take place where he would lose his title. While this was not confirmed, at press time it was believed that there would be a 20-man tournament for the vacant title held on 9/27 at the television tapings in New Haven, CT.

Do you know if there were any talks with Shawn or talks about bringing him into WCW in late 93?

After Havoc, most of the big names immediately left for a European swing from 10/26 to 11/7. Meltzer wrote, “so nothing major is going to be happening until the Clash.” The next newsletter begins with the Sid Vicious/Arn Anderson stabbing story.

WCW is due to embark on its second England tour starting 10/26 and going through 10/30 before heading to Germany. No sooner was it officially announced then the WWF, which said it wouldn't be returning to England until February of 1994, suddenly announce they will tour England in October.

For the past month or so, they've been hyping the WWF tour on television, but never mention any dates, arenas and only hint at possible match-ups on the face-to-face segments. With the supposed tour less than three weeks away, the supposed dates still haven't been released, and they just keep hyping what seems to be a non-existent tour. Is it a coincidence they are pushing a non-existent tour at the same time WCW is scheduled to return? Considering the fact that the brisk early ticket sales for the WCW dates have slowed down rapidly once the WWF made its announcement and many people are holding back on buying tickets as a result of them thinking both groups are appearing simultaneously, I think not. It looks like another maneuver by WWF to foil WCW in Europe. If there is no tour, wouldn't that be illegal? And we all know that nobody in Titan Sports would do anything illegal, don't we?

Aside from the Observer calling that one wrong…

Was the WWF trying to sabotage your European tour by lying?

On 10/22, WCW ran a free fairgrounds show in Phoenix which only drew about 2,000 (WCW was paid $25,000 for the show). Some "B" shows this week drew worse than horrible with a card in Richlands, VA drawing less than 100 and one in Johnson City, TN drawing right at 100.

Another report in the Observer described it as a desperation period again coming off the smallest Omni crowd in history and the lowest-rated weekend in the history of wrestling on TBS.   The 10/3 card at the Omni in Atlanta drew just 800 paid fans and $8,000, which is believed to be the smallest crowd in the nearly 20 years it has housed pro wrestling. It was so bad that at the door, scalpers (if that's even the correct terminology) were unloading ringside seats for $1. This came just three days after WCW had to cancel a television taping in Anderson, SC because there were no fans, even in a town that was heavily papered. Depending upon which source one wants to believe, there were anywhere between 40 and 210 fans in the 3,900-seat arena when the decision was made to cancel the show, with the crew, truck and all the wrestlers already there and basically outnumbering the audience. The fiasco was blamed on bucking a major fair in town, but in reality the product has reached the depths where it has virtually no interest as far as a paid house show product. Now it has become difficult for the promotion to even draw a papered crowd in some cities. Reportedly this fiasco cost the company in the $50,000 range. The taping was re-scheduled for 10/13 in Gainesville, GA and it's being advertised that the first 1,800 fans who come to Gainesville will get into the show free.

Is this news just pushing you further into the belief that the house show business wasn’t for WCW?

Ole Anderson's son Bryan Rogowski, using the name Bryan Anderson, made his debut on 9/28 in Kennesaw, GA losing to Buddy Lee Parker. Rogowski was a Georgia high school state champion in amateur wrestling. It never really went anywhere as he ended up going to Smokey Mountain Wrestling and retired from the business in 1995. After retiring, Rogowski got his law degree from Georgia State University?

Remember anything about Ole’s son getting into the business?

Bret Hart was on Jim Ross' radio show 10/9 reiterating his remarks regarding drug use in WCW and Ric Flair. It turned into a cheap shot since they kept phoning the Jacksonville Coliseum (where WCW was that night) to get a hold of Flair to give the impression that Flair wouldn't defend himself against the remarks knowing full well WCW wouldn't allow of one of its wrestlers to appear on the rival promotions' broadcast. Hart's remarks did cause a lot of heat in the WCW dressing room, although comments I heard were people laughing off the remarks about Flair. The comments that got people hot were the ones about the company's wrestlers being all drug abusers.

“What about the other federations, are they the minor leagues?," Hart replied: "I would say so. I don't mean that in a nasty way. There's the WCW, which is probably the only other form of wrestling next to the World Wrestling Federation, but I couldn't hold them close to the World Wrestling Federation when it comes to actual production and wrestling. They have some good wrestlers. A lot of times the wrestlers are interchangeable, but I don't think they have as good a product. I hate to bring it up, as far as even the drug testing, for example, the WCW, their drug testing must be pretty shoddy because you can tell by looking at the guys in the WCW that they're all obviously drug abusers. There's no hiding that.”

I know it’s a crazy concept to hear Bret Hart burying people in a shoot interview. Do you remember hearing about this back then and there being any reaction in the locker room?

Gene Okerlund starts on television on 11/1. The new WWF Magazine came out with no story or even mention of the "Now It's Our Turn" segment. They had a brief item of Gene Okerlund leaving, trying to claim it was their decision. The idea of someone leaving the organization because of a bigger money offer elsewhere seems hard to acknowledge. The story said that Okerlund had become one of the most visible characters in the WWF but the company had decided it was time to move in a new direction and that Okerlund's contract wasn't renewed.

How important was getting Gene Okerlund to WCW?

A story on the NWA/WCW court-fight which originally appeared in the Charlotte Observer on 10/1, went national on the Knight-Ridder wires the next day. Right now there is no news on the case other than some of the NWA promoters are talking of raising funds to sue over the validity of the document signed by Seiji Sakaguchi giving WCW rights to use the NWA title belt and name.

According to Tony Schiavone on the WCW hotline... the title that Rick Rude now holds will no longer be recognized as a world title, but that Ric Flair and Rude will wrestle simply for the physical belt with two referees, and that the only world champion in WCW will be Vader, which seemingly eliminates the need for a unification match. This decision comes on the heels of a television show where Flair and Rude both in interviews proclaimed the title that apparently isn't going to exist in a few weeks as the undisputed and only world championship in the entire sport. Their match was being pushed on television as being the first time in history that a world title match will be rematched on the very next PPV, which doesn't say much for how much respect they have for anyone's memory.

Was this due to the NWA’s lawsuit over using the world title? What can you say about the NWA’s legal beef here?

It was also announced on the hotline that WCW will reintroduce the light heavyweight title belt that Bill Watts dumped in three weeks.

The belt never made its return but we did get the cruiserweight title eventually. Did you see the decision to dump the belt by Watts as a big mistake?

On 9/29 at Center Stage, they taped the Saturday shows for 10/9 and 10/16.

For 10/9, Ric Flair beat Aichi Kwan in a good match with Fifi at ringside. Steve Regal kept the TV title going to a 15:00 draw with Arn Anderson in a not good match. And in a WCW title match, Vader was disqualified for clotheslining the ref against Rick Steamboat in a very good match. After the match Kwan attacked Steamboat and Vader was about to jump off the top rope on him when Cactus Jack comes out with a shovel and knocks Vader off the top rope.

On the 10/16 show, Johnny B. Badd beat Paul Orndorff via DQ; Rick Rude came out with the belt and talked about the match with Flair on the PPV saying the question is will Fifi "go with Flair, or come with me," which qualifies as one of the better double entendres of recent memory. After Nasty Boys beat Sam Houston & Pez Whatley, they were challenged by Marcus Bagwell & Too Cold Scorpio. Scorpio pinned Nobbs in the impromptu brawl with Bagwell counting the pin. Sting beat Bobby Eaton in a match much worse than it sounds. The Hollywood Blonds were back as a team in Brian Pillman's television return after missing six weeks with an ankle sprain. Cactus Jack beat Kwan in a falls count anywhere match and the main event was a return Vader-Steamboat lumberjack match for the title. It was another good match, although told it was not as good as the previous week, with Vader winning via pinfall when Sid Vicious powerslammed Steamboat behind the refs back.

Let’s get to the event itself.

HALLOWEEN HAVOC '93

• Thumbs up 161 (70.0%)
• Thumbs down 43 (18.7%)
• In the middle 26 (11.3%)

The show opens with cinematic footage of several kids out trick-or-treating. It’s getting late, one of them says - and Halloween Havoc is about to come on - so they should go home. But Matt wants to see something really scary. So, they ring the doorbell of a large, spooky house. Answering the door is TONY SCHIAVONE. One of the kids asks why he’s not at the pay-per-view and he answers that he has a helicopter waiting to pick him up. He invites the children inside and as he closes the door, reveals a sinister grin! Inside, Matt demands to be shown something scary - or they’re leaving. Tony tears his head off and transforms into a monster. It’s our show open to Halloween Havoc 93, as we fade into the arena!

This was awesome. It was a quality production and Tony showed off some of his acting skills, too. Can you tell us about the decision to shoot this unique open, what you thought about it, and what others in the back thought?

One of the great parts of this wonderful event is seeing all of the wrestlers and other stars dressed in costume. Let’s start with Eric’s threads...

WERE YOU DRESSED AS A CONFEDERATE SOLDIER? Was that your idea? :)

Then we go to our commentators. Tony Schiavone is dressed up as Jesse Ventura!! It’s great. He comments that he’s never been in “that” house before, seen in the open, adding a little kayfabe that it must actually have been a monster. Jesse is a horror movie doctor with some kind of mask on. He says he’s Bourbon Street’s number one gynecologist! Several women behind him bust out laughing.

Did you like Tony dressed up as Jesse?

Is this low-key one of the best commentary pairings ever? (Tony/Jesse)

1. Ice Train & Shock Master & Charlie Norris beat Harlem Heat & The Equalizer in 9:45 when Master pinned one member of Heat with a bearhug falling into a powerslam-type move. For the second PPV in a row, the other member of Heat was standing there right in front of the finish trying to figure out how not to break up the bearhug with no face keeping him from doing so. Much was fine, actually much better than it looked to be on paper (but it looked scary on paper), except when Equalizer was in. Post-match brawl with Shock Master and Equalizer was awful. *

This was the worst rated match by readers of the Observer and it wasn’t even close. What did you think?

Was there a push plan here for Shock Master?

2. Paul Orndorff (replacing Yoshi Kwan who blew out his knee about 11 days before the show) beat Rick Steamboat via count out in 18:35. First in a series of really good matches with lame finishes. The Assassin (Jody Hamilton) was Orndorff's manager with no interview explaining it nor reason given. Good action throughout with a lot of nice near falls toward the end. Finally Steamboat hit the crossbody but Assassin distracted the ref, and by the time he turned around, Orndorff kicked out. Steamboat got several more near falls after shoulder blocks. Steamboat threw the ref out of the way, but missed a charge at Orndorff and sailed to the floor. Assassin then loaded his mask and head-butted Steamboat, who was counted out of the ring. ***½

Why was the Assassin with Paul Orndorff? Did you enjoy this match?

Were there plans for Yoshi Kwan had he not been injured?

3. Lord Steven Regal and Davey Boy Smith went to a 15:00 draw so Regal retains the WCW TV title. They worked European style early which was really good as Smith did a lot more and lot of different maneuvers than he usually does. He's actually quite agile for his weight but in a lot of matches never shows it. Regal was great doing the mat wrestling although fans in this country really don't comprehend what he's doing. The finish was supposed to be Smith doing a powerslam at the bell, however the timekeeper told them they had ten seconds left when Smith picked Regal up for the move, but then announced 20 seconds left over the house mic so Regal had to kick out. They improvised the piledriver at the bell near fall. **¾

This was messed up. How did the timekeeper screw this one up, or was it someone else’s fault?

Did you like it?

Time for Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal! The devious choices on the wheel include:

• Russian Chain Match
• Dog Collar Match
• I Quit Match
• Coal Miner’s Glove Match
  Lumberjack/Belts Match
• Barbed-Wire Match
• Cage Match
• Prince of Darkness Match (Blindfold)
• Texas Death Match
• First Blood Match
• Texas Bullrope Match
• Spinner’s Choice

Vader spins the wheel and lands on Texas Death Match. It’s basically like a Last Man Standing match - but you have to pin your opponent to begin the 10 count to reach their feet.

Was this gimmicked or legit?

4. Dustin Rhodes retained the U.S. title pinning Steve Austin in 14:23. The graphic listed Austin as being managed by Rob Parker, but Parker wasn't with him and the graphic was about two weeks ahead. By normal standards this was a good match, but heat was lacking and these two had a tons better PPV match more than a year ago. After several near falls, Austin got a pin with his feet on the ropes. Ref Nick Patrick ordered the match to continue as Austin went to look for the belt, and Rhodes schoolboyed him for the pin. After the match Austin hit Rhodes with the title belt and Rhodes juiced. **¾

I love watching old matches with these two as their characters before the WWE. Did you like watching Dustin and Austin work here? What did you think of the match?

5. Nasty Boys regained the WCW tag titles beating Marcus Bagwell & Too Cold Scorpio in 14:36. Scorpio stood out with his acrobatics and flying moves, including a move where he dive off Bagwell's back into a tope on both Nasty Boys. Early in the match Bagwell kissed Missy Hyatt. Hyatt then slapped Bagwell when they got him in trouble. Bagwell did a great job selling for seven minutes until making the hot tag. Scorpio got a near fall with a moonsault block. At this point both Hyatt and Teddy Long started getting tangled up on the apron with Saggs and Bagwell. Bagwell rammed Saggs and Missy's head together and Scorpio hit the Scorpio splash on Nobbs. Saggs took off his boot and hit Scorpio with it and rolled Nobbs on top for the pin. This was a very good match, but have you noticed that every Nasty Boys victory has the exact same finish? ***½

Is that the finish to every Nasty Boys match?

What did you think of the Missy Hyatt/Nasty Boys pairing? Did it work?

6. Sting pinned Sid Vicious in 10:41 to remain the franchise. Okay, what title means anything if you've already got two different world champions, a Battle Bowl champion upcoming, and two other singles titles yet the franchise match involves two wrestlers with no titles. This was much better than their '91 Havoc main event and a lot better than expected. Vicious sold a lot early and they brawled into the crowd. After Sting was distracted by Parker, Vicious gave him a choke slam to gain the advantage. Vicious took control and used a chair shot and dropped Sting throat first on the guard rail. Fans were chanting at this point "Sid, Sid" which the announcers said on the air were chants for Sting. Vicious slowed it down with long bearhugs. Sting came back with two Stinger splashes. At this point Parker, while not looking, grabbed two legs which he "thought" were Sting's but were actually one leg of each. He held onto the Sid leg harder and Sting had Sid pinned but he kicked out. As Sid and Parker argued, Sting came up from behind with a rolling reverse cradle. **¾

Did the match deliver for you?

What did you think of the feud between these two?

7. Rick Rude retained the now-officially re-recognized world heavyweight title beating Ric Flair via DQ in 19:22. This match had two referees, one of which was Terry Taylor, whose referee stint was supposed to equate his babyface turn although I don't think most people "got it." Earlier in the show Taylor did an interview pretty much saying he's changing his ways. Earlier in the show an announcement was made that the international promoters of WCW recognized Rude's title as a world heavyweight title so that the title is now valid once again. This must make the fans at home think this company lacks any long-term thought process not to mention how this rescinding a title validation's and then giving it back so easily makes all the titles in the promotion look bogus. This was a lot better than last month's match, very good with Flair doing very little of his normal routine, but with the worst finish thus far in the show. Flair started fast and got the figure four on in 2:00 but Rude made the ropes. Flair continued to work over the leg until Rude whipped him to the floor. Rude continued selling the long for a long period of time making the earlier damage seem realistic. After a double bump over the top, Flair came off the top rope to the floor with a punch/clothesline. Flair tried it a second time but Rude caught him with a punch and took control. Once in the ring, Rude came off the top but his "knee buckled" and he sold it, but still maintained the advantage using his patented several minute camel clutch. Flair made a comeback and hit the Rude Awakening in 16:50 for a near fall. Flair came off the top but Rude got his feet in Flair's face. Flair came back with chops. Then we had two ref bumps, Rude pulled out an object but Flair back suplexed him and the object went flying. A TBS still photographer at ringside, not realizing what was going on, grabbed the object which ostensibly ruined an already bad finish. The photographer had to give the object back to Flair so he could use it and get caught by ref Randy Anderson for the DQ. After the match Rude tried to kidnap Fifi but Flair tackled him on the ramp and went for the figure four but it was broken up by officials. ***1/4

Did you enjoy the contest?

Why have two world titles? Do you think having two world belts hurt the United States title?

Going into the event, these two had a pretty good feud that began on Flair for the Gold with Rude looking at Fifi but her not really being interested. Were Rude and Flair happy with this angle?

Rick Rude is wearing tights that are event specific, with a Jack o Lantern on the back and Flair and Fifi on the front. They look so cool. They were for sale by a collector on e-Bay recently.  Did he pay for these himself or was it something the company paid for?

We spun the wheel. Now let’s finish the deal. It’s time for the TEXAS DEATH MATCH. We see the rules as Tony and Jesse explain the rules: They used old-style death match rules which means falls don't count and it continues until one man can't answer the bell after a 30 second rest period. They also added a falls count anywhere stipulation to the old death match rules. To modern fans, it’s a Last Man Standing match with pins.

8. Vader won a Texas death match from Cactus Jack in 15:59. Tony Schiavone opened the match repeating the Cactus Jack angle about losing his memory, etc. that had all been recanted months earlier. Don't they follow their own television? (Jack said he faked it to get into Vader’s head). This was an incredible match marred by an incredibly bad finish. Harley Race shot Jack with a stun gun so he couldn't get up from the ten count. What's next, a straight edge razor, a switch blade, and finally a .44 magnum? This was the most brutal of their three matches, which is saying a lot, and probably the best PPV match either has had, which is saying even more. Both men took brutal head-on chair shots without blocking. Both were covered in blood. Jack was opened up by Vader's continual punches around the eye and it looked to be hardway. They were suplexing one another on the ramp and floor. At one point they brawled onto the stage made up to look like a graveyard and underneath a tombstone going down stairs. Vader came up bloody. Jack hit him with a stiff clothesline and got the first fall on the ramp at 5:39. Jack did an elbow drop off the ramp to the floor and got a second fall pin in :28. They got back in the ring and Jack threw Vader into a table for a near fall. Jack tried a sunset flip off the apron onto the floor but Vader didn't go over, tried to sit on Jack, but Jack moved. Jack then dropped Vader onto the guard rail and over. Jack tried a flip splash over the guard rail but Vader moved. Vader then threw Jack back over the rail and hit him with a chair shot. They got back in the ring and Vader took the third fall with a moonsault in 4:33. Vader crushed Jack on the ramp to start the fourth fall and swung a chair like a baseball bat to the head and got another pin with a DDT on a chair in 2:16. Jack immediately got up and DDT'd Vader on a chair to score a pin but during the rest period, Race shot Jack with the stun gun. Jack got right up after losing and gave Race a double-arm DDT on the ramp, but Race got up too quickly and walked away. If you didn't buy this PPV, you really owe it to yourself to get a tape to see this match. ****3/4

Almost a five star match! What did you think?

Around this time, Vader was working house show main events against Davey Boy Smith. Did you ever consider putting the world title on Davey Boy?

How did the DDT on Race not kill him?

Meltzer had this to say about the main event…

“The Vader-Cactus Jack main event exemplified what is beginning to turn into a dangerous trend in this business. Not disturbing to fans because many love matches such as this. It's disturbing because the element of risk and injury is being flirted with much too closely when matches get as stiff and legitimately brutal as this and other recent matches have turned out to be. I was actually planning on writing this before the Havoc show, with the main emphasis being on the plight of the All Japan women's wrestling promotion in 1993 and the daredevil tactics of Sabu, but Jack and Vader then put on a match that was one of the best of the year, and in many ways defines the problem.”

BEST MATCH POLL

• Vader vs. Cactus Jack 176
• Nasty Boys vs. Scorpio & Bagwell 17
• Rick Steamboat vs. Paul Orndorff 11
• Davey Boy Smith vs. Steve Regal 6

WORST MATCH POLL

• Harlem Heat & Equalizer vs. Train & Norris & Shockmaster 190
• Sting vs. Sid Vicious 7

Overall, what did you think of Halloween Havoc 93?

Questions!

PenderJ asks..#83Weeks How was Sid to work with as a talent? We’ve all heard the softball stories, but was he as difficult as a lot of people say?

Ray asks...Was Vader and Cactus Jack a precursor to the styles ECW and WWE would later adopt? #AskEric

Taylor wants to know...How did foley and Vader feel about the finish of such a tough match being from the stun gun? #AskEric

Jon asks...what if anything was missing from keeping Rude on top of the card as champion?#askeric

BadJokesGaming asks...Why was Mick Foley never considered for a world title run? A Heel Cactus jack holding the belt while sting chased him just sounds like money to me #AskEric

Jeff wants to know...Why was the spin the wheel make the deal dropped after this event

We got a lot of questions about the opening skit with the Schiavone!

Arturo asks...Who came up that Halloween skit with Tony Schiavone turning into a monster? Did The Twilight Zone movie play a huge part in it? #AskEric

Kevin asks...I watched this Ppv when I was 8, the @tonyschiavone24  skit still stands out to me. Still think it’s one of the best ppv intros. Any background on filming the skit, who’s idea was it/ who produced it, how was tony selected? #askeric

Tony Bibler asks...#askeric Have any of those kids been seen since doing that skit with Tony Schiavone?

Matthew said he would have loved to see Lois do a cameo in that skit. Tony did reference her though! When asked “What’s that smell?” he answered “It’s my wife.” before clarifying she was baking! :)

Greg asks...Did Flair have heat with Rude after his postmatch....um antics

Ryan asks...is this the most underrated WCW PPV of all time? Almost every match was above average, and had a solid build. It's in my personal Top 5 for sure.

Aaron asks...This was my first wcw ppv when I was 5, I feel like 93 WCW is super underrated, Would Davey Boy have had a run as champ if his run had been longer

Jeremy Priest asks..With nxt bringing back havoc and the wheel, do you think they will do it correctly, or do you think they will destroy it? I love nxt so I'm hoping they will do it correctly since hhh respects tradition. #AskEric

Rajiv asks...@tonyschiavone24 said on his podcast that he spoke less on this show because in the past he was told he didn’t have to talk about everything and to let the action speak for itself. Do you like this approach or should the play by play announcer call it as he sees it? #AskEric

Rajiv also asks...What exactly was your role during this time? Were you leading or just overseeing the lay of the land? Also, what advice do you have for anyone that is rising the ranks of their company and about to take on a leadership role they may not have much experience in? #AskEric

The Fifth Horseman asks...#AskEric Gagne said he suggested building two "world" champs to unify. Eric has hinted Greg has lied/embellished about many things but is the Int'ntl World belt part of Greg's suggestion? No harm in building off another's idea.