October 1995 WCW Show Reviews (2/2)
Hulk Hogan and The Giant with monster trucks and a Yeti, Ric Flair convinces Sting to be his partner, and Halloween Havoc 1995! Follow along as I go show by show!
Continued from Part One.
October 15, 1995 WCW Main Event
WCW World TV Title Diamond Dallas Page v Dick Slater. Decent heel vs heel match. Dusty’s funny. DDP wins with a roll up after Sherri distracts Slater. Slater’s older but you still see glimpses of how good he was.
October 16, 1995 WCW Nitro #7
Announcers open. Sting and Flair haven't teamed since 1990. Clips from Pro. Cut out the little stingers part. Emphasize the threat.
WCW World TV Title Diamond Dallas Page v Johnny B Badd. Crowd’s hot for Badd. DDP takes him out before the match and takes the Badd Blaster. Will face at Havoc. Good heat for DDP.
Eddie Guerrero v Chris Benoit. Very good match. Lots of hype for The Canadian Crippler. This is at different level. Eddie hits a huge dive. Benoit takes over. Sick hammerlock northern lights suplex. Eddie’s spring into the Tornado DDT! Eddie sells the arm well the whole time. Devastating power bomb!!! Guerrero’s bad arm costs him and Benoit wins with a dragon suplex. Bischoff referenced the Cruiserweight Title again.
Gene brings out Giant and Taskmaster. Hogan chants. Taskmaster knew he was evil. Giant gonna try to push him off the roof. Ok…
Havoc main hype is about monster trucks
Disco dances
Meng v Hacksaw Duggan. Fun slobberknocker. Meng has a cape now. Meng wins with a kick and the spike.
Darkside Hogan promo. Black version of his logo now. Calling his fans Manialoids?! Evil within Hogan is real. Don Corleone hulk hogan. What a mad man. Ripping Vince again. Son of Andre. Jimmy Hart worried. WATCH THIS.
Arn Anderson & Brian Pillman v Ric Flair & Sting. No Sting to start. Flair and Pillman exchange. Flair fights off them both to a big pop. We Want Sting chants. Figure 4 on Arn. Figure 4 on Pillman. Spinebuster. Sting finally out to a HUGE pop. He wants the tag and gets it! This crowd LOVES Sting. Arn and Pillman bail and get counted out. Good TV. Recommended.
Gene talks to Flair and Sting after. Sting says no one thinks he can trust Flair. Watched close. Flair showed guts. Heart. Thinks Flair is on the right side. Mongo can’t believe it. Sting comes off bit too trusting here.
Next Week: Luger & Sting v Heat, Benoit & Malenko v Eddie & Wright, Hogan
Mongo’s great on commentary. Really good hour of TV again.
October 21, 1995 WCW Worldwide
Mr Wonderful squash
Tony & Bobby talk Havoc
Arn Anderson & Brian Pillman squash
Lex Luger interview with Gene. Redemption vs Meng. Will rack Macho again
Havoc Control Center: Havoc weekend this Sunday night. Darkside Hogan promo. He knows about Yeti. He knows about what Master is up to.
DUNGEON OF DOOM: Master promises Yeti at Havoc
Alex Wright squash
Johnny B. Badd interview on DDP
Giant promo on his own. Eliminate hulkamania. Doing a weird voice
WCW World Tag Team Titles American Males v Blue Bloods. Good basic tag with Regal reacting to every little thing. Males win. Blue Bloods never really got their run.
October 21, 1995 WCW Pro
WCW TV Title Diamond Dallas Page v Alex Wright. Not much chemistry. Clumsy match. DDP wins.
Cobra v Kurasawa. Short win for Kurasawa. He sticks around and armbars Dave Sullivan and a jobber. The original Penta.
Hacksaw Duggan squash.
Taskmaster squash. Giant choke slam on outside. Not letting him do much at all
DOD: Yeti
Harlem Heat v Nasty Boys. Decent match. Back at it again. Parker helps Sherri. Double countout.
Man of Question video on Savage. Only job is to eliminate him.
Ric Flair and Sting interview. Flair hyped and happy. Only one Stinger. Wild about being at his side. Sting says Flair has not proven himself yet.
October 21, 1995 WCW Saturday Night
Ric Flair and Sting is the big story
WCW World Tag Team Champs American Males v State Patrol. Sherri and Col. Parker looking on. Males showcase.
Hawk and Kurasawa promos
Lex Luger v Rip Rogers. squash. Post match interview. Havoc double header. Macho’s paranoia will be his undoing. Luger’s mic work has been good in return.
VK Wallstreet v Jim Duggan. Decent. VK is the CEO and Chairman of the Board. Almost all Duggan. Big Bubba holds his foot down for the pin. Duggan KOs VK with the taped fist. Actually liking this little underneath feud with the vets.
Shark & Taskmaster squash. Show the Yeti Dungeon of Doom promo.
Eddie Guerrero v Alex Wright. Good match again here from these two. Tony’s pushing Benoit and Guerrero from Nitro as a classic match. It’s the first time I can recall them putting over match quality. Goes to a ten minute time limit draw. Interesting that they’re still kinda protecting Wright sometimes but not doing a lot with him.
Randy Savage v Man of Question. They actually paid off all the vignettes. Man of Question is Hugh Morrus. DOD comes out. MoQ misses the moonsault and Savage hits the elbow to win a solid match. Post-match interview. Savage still thinks Lex is with the DOD.
Hawk squash.
Meng squash.
Scott Norton squash.
Johnny B Badd anti smoking ad
Darkside Hulk Hogan promo. He’s UNHINGED. Hogan will have surprise on Nitro
Mr Wonderful v Johnny B Badd. Badd hits Orndorff into his mirror and it breaks. Orndorff freaks out looking for Gary Spivey to get a new mirror. Funny.
Dean Malenko squash. They call this a standby match.
Arn Anderson promo. Pillman’s nursing an injury. Convinced Flair is what he says. Scene is set for Havoc. Flashes the four fingers. Soon will be at three and then at four. Hmmmm. Very cool that Arn’s the one rebuilding the Horsemen. Also he’s hinting all along that he wants the old Flair back.
October 22, 1995 WCW Main Event
VK Wallstreet v Sgt Craig Pittman. This gets ten minutes and it’s not good. Maybe they wanted to get Pittman some ring time. Wallstreet seems tired. Big Bubba is taping his fist and hits Pittman. VK wins. I can best describe this as quality bad wrestling.
October 23, 1995 WCW Prime
Man of Question squash. Dusty does a Halloween moo.
October 23, 1995 WCW Nitro #8 - Huntsville, AL
Randy Savage v Kurasawa. Ok. Savage comes in with the injured elbow. Kurasawa goes after the arm. Savage wins.
Announcers hyping up that Hogan and Giant here. Lights go out. The Master is live on his throne. Insurance policy. Big ice cube thing. The Yeti. Taskmaster and Giant cut bizarre promo. The rare white bengal tiger is Hogan. Giant will take his last life. VERY GOOFY!
Gene brings out Darkside Hogan in his neckbrace. This is the first interview on the ramp which would become a Nitro staple. Hogan fears no evil. Carries hulkamaniacs on his back. Hogan with an OJ line saying everyone knows what a man with black gloves and black rag on his head is capable of. Does a throat slit gesture incase you didn’t get it! INSANE. Takes off the neckbrace. Sting and Savage, his so-called friends bailing out on him. Thinks Sting is wearing his colors and growing out a fu manchu! Calls himself The Bad Guy again and claims he’ll beat Luger, Sting and Savage one-by-one. Pure insanity.
WCWSN: Males v Heat, Luger v Shark
Eddie Guerrero & Mr. JL v Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko. Good match that struggled for reaction early but got over by the end. The ice cube with Yeti inside is still there. Mr. JL (Jerry Lynn) replaced an injured Alex Wright in this one. Scott Norton and Shark are brawling in the back. Benoit’s offense pops the crowd. Eddie has a great hot tag. Wright trips up Malenko and Mr. JL gets the pin! Pillman then takes out Eddie with a DDT on the concrete.
Sting & Lex Luger v Harlem Heat. Decent main. Sting is indeed wearing red and yellow with a goatee. Sting and Luger come out together and Luger’s being a good guy. Harlem Heat bring the intensity again on live TV. Sting’s darker hair coming through. Sherri’s looking at a photo of Col. Parker. Sting gets the win for the team. Giant attacks Luger and Sting. Savage comes in. Hogan gets a huge pop for his confrontation with The Giant. He no sells, hulks up and staggers The Giant. The Dungeon runs in for a big brawl. The Yeti comes out of his ice cube as the show ends. The fans were into Hogan and Giant. You have to strip away a lot of nonsense but Hogan vs a big guy works.
Overall a solid show heading into Halloween Havoc. The bad stuff is so bad you need to see it at least.
October 28, 1995 WCW Worldwide
Johnny B Badd v Sgt Craig Pittman. Not good. Pittman is very limited. Badd wins.
October 28, 1995 WCW Pro
Mark Starr v Chris Benoit. Competitive match. Starr gets some suplexes of his own. Benoit wins with bridging dragon suplex.
Arn Anderson & Brian Pillman squash
Havoc Control Center: Darkside Hogan battle plan. Hang on maniacs. Don’t let anyone sneak up behind him!! lapsed hogan. black bag to dispose of his black gloves. my god more oj murder references
Disco Inferno squash. Teddy Long looks on.
Alex Wright & Eddie Guerrero squash. Doomsday dropkick!!!
Lex Luger v Zodiac. Actually ok. The Butcher is probably better doing shtick. Savage out. Lex wins with a rollup. Savage and Luger argue. Luger doesn’t want help. Wants redemption versus Meng. Savage says he’ll help him. Worried about Luger and Meng. Good off the cuff stuff.
Arn Anderson & Brian Pillman interview. Don’t care what people think. End of Flair and Sting is near. Loose Cannon. Rebirth of Horsemen will steal the spotlight at Havoc. Arn asks Flair if he knows who he is. Evil wins out at Havoc. Warns Sting. Money always wins. Very good promo.
October 28, 1995 WCW Saturday Night
Tony and Dusty hype up Havoc
Mr Wonderful squash
Eddie Guerrero v Joey Maggs. Eddie showcase. Brainbuster. Frog splash. Tony still calls it jackknife. Eddie wants Malenko again
Mr JL v Barry Houston. Fun JL showcase. Houston with a dive!! JL with one. Houston looked good here. JL wins with sitout power bomb.
VK Wallstreet squash.
WCW World Tag Team Titles American Males v Harlem Heat. Good match. Males wearing bad outfits. Dusty wants to wear them next week. Males bring good energy. Heat get the belts back! Post-match interview. Minor setback. Booker on fire. Will defend versus anyone.
Hawk squash.
The Renegade squash.
Randy Savage interview. Wants to get thing done with Luger. Thinking kind of guy will go nuts and crazy at same time. Funny.
Ric Flair & Sting v State Patrol. Squash. Sting and Flair ready. Post-match interview. Flair says Sting put him back on the map. Talks about the loss to Hogan in Detroit last year. This will be his triumphant return to walk the aisle with Sting. Pillman’s a punk. Sting will carry him back to the top. Very good babyface promo. Sting puts over Flair’s heart. Recommended.
Lex Luger v Shark. Decent. Gets about ten minutes. Lex working hard. Meng takes out Shark and Luger wins. Taskmaster acts like Luger is with him. Dusty is screaming that Luger might be the “yucker.” Gene interviews Lex. He disposed of Shark as exhibit 1. Exhibit 2 will be Meng. He’s felt Macho’s best and he’s gonna rack Savage. Good promo.
Darkside Hulk Hogan promo in the Dungeon. Calls Sting, Savage, Luger all vultures. He’s unhinged again.
October 29, 1995 WCW Main Event - Live
Mr. Wonderful v The Renegade. So much for Renegade. Paul beats him quick with two piledrivers and gets cheered.
VK Wallstreet v Sgt Craig Pittman. Slightly better than the last one. Bubba sneaks out with the taped fist to nail Pittman. Duggan lays out VK. Pittman wins. Bobby Heenan shown in the crowd eating sushi with Sonny Onoo.
October 29, 1995 WCW Halloween Havoc - Detroit, MI
Spooky opening of Hogan crossing over to the Darkside. Very silly. Go out to the Monster Trucks. Apparently Arn and Pillman attacked Flair before the show.
WCW World Television Title Diamond Dallas Page (c) vs. Johnny B. Badd. Good opener. Diamond Doll is upset with Page. A ‘fake’ Badd distracts DDP and Johnny comes out of the crowd. Start hot but slow it way down. DDP uses some good simple heel tricks to get the crowd engaged. Badd picks it up and Doll gives him a 10. Badd’s offense looks great and looks like it hurts. They get a great nearfall from Badd dropkicking DDP into Max Muscle. Another miscue and Badd wins the TV Title to a big pop! It took a bit to get going but once it did, it was good. Diamond Doll is happy about Badd winning.
Randy Savage vs. Zodiac. Ok. Was supposed to be Kamala. Savage gets a big pop. A fan tries to run in and Peewee Anderson manhandles him very impressively. Macho wins it quick.
Johnny B. Badd interview. Good babyface promo. Dreams do come true. Gene wants to go out for Greek food.
Road Warrior Hawk vs. Kurasawa. Pretty good because they kept it short and intense. Hawk looking for revenge for arm injury. Kurasawa uses the ropes for the win.
Randy Savage interview. Waiting on Luger to win. Interested in Hogan/Giant. Hogan was one who drew the line in the sand
Sabu vs. Mr. JL. The Sheik with Sabu in Detroit. Good little all offense match. Sabu takes out Sheik by accident and injures him. They need to get rid of the ring steps if people are doing dives. Sabu wins. Sheik throws fire at JL after.
The Master and Taskmaster are here live. Moon and the stars. Giant will destroy Hulkamania. Crowd turns on this.
Hulk Hogan presents Harley winners.
WW3 promo. 3 ring battle royal. One giant in each ring. Winner gets a title shot. Another new concept introduced in 1995.
Lex Luger vs. Meng. Ok. Black gear and white boots is Luger’s best look. Meng doesn’t do too much. Luger doesn’t get any offense or a comeback. Meng hits the golden spike and Sullivan lightly kicks Meng for the DQ. Sullivan wants Luger and Savage to fight. Continues the idea that Luger is in cahoots with the Dungeon of Doom.
The Giant with Gene talking monster trucks. Going to push him off the roof and then take the title. The overacting is crazy. I do like The Giant, though.
Ric Flair & Sting vs. Arn Anderson & Flyin' Brian. Pillman has his edge now. Sting out on his own in some inverse Wolfpac looking red and black. Sting going it alone. Loud We Want Flair chants from the start. Sting taking care of both on his own. Most heat for a match so far. Pillman takes a huge bump on the rail. Flair races out in street clothes to go after Arn but the ref stops him. Awesome. Flair’s head is bandaged up. Arn and Pillman work over Sting and tease the hot tag a few times. This is very well done. Flair finally gets the tag, hits the ropes and decks Sting! Great reaction. Match is thrown out. Sting’s reaction and fight to go after Flair is AWESOME. He said he’d kill him if he turned on him and he meant it. Gene gets a word from Flair. NOW WE GO TO SCHOOL! Four fingers are up. You don’t jump on Double A or Brian Pillman. You never mess around with the Nature Boy. You don’t breathe unless the Horsemen want you to! Arn says be careful what you wish for. Deal with it. Reunited Horsemen style. Gene is so disappointed. Recommended.
Tony and Bobby speculate on how far this plan goes back.
Lex Luger with Tenay on facing Savage. Perplexing situation. Not 100% but going after Savage. The big boys. Goal is to get at World Title. Another good Lex promo. At his best unscripted talking like an athlete.
Monster Truck Sumo Match. Truck has to be pushed out of the circle. Hogan wins. Giant goes after Hogan. Trying to push him off the building. Giant falls off. Hogan runs for help. Show the water. Bischoff and Heenan speechless.
Randy Savage vs. Lex Luger. Decent brawl. Luger offers a handshake but Savage hits him. Fans side with Savage and boo Luger. Jimmy Hart out. Luger gets extra aggressive. Macho cheapshots him. Luger gets sent into Jimmy Hart. Macho hits elbow and wins. Lex has lost more than I thought coming back.
Heenan screaming at Tony about not getting an update on Giant. He's so good. Added so much to these shows. He's upset because he goes back with Giant's 'father'!!
WCW World Heavyweight Title Hulk Hogan (c) vs. The Giant. Quite liked the match before all the nonsense. Hogan’s in Darkside mode. Gets on the mic and apologies for a terrible accident. Giant comes out acting like he’s risen from the dead. Hogan with The Taskmaster paint on his head is very funny. He tries the slam and fails. The crowd is into this. Giant misses a legdrop and Hogan hulks up. This is a pro Hogan crowd. Giant finally takes a bump over the top to the outside and the place goes crazy. Hogan working really hard here. Selling big. Hogan runs into a choke slam and if Giant had just won there it would have been perfect. Hogan hulks up, slams Giant and hits the legdrop. Jimmy Hart takes out the ref and nails Hogan with the belt! BETRAYAL! Luger and Savage run in. The Yeti comes in!! Luger takes out Savage. Giant and Yeti double bearhug Hogan in a hilarious looking spot. Luger racks Hogan and then Savage. Big heat from the crowd. Buffer announces Giant won via DQ and the belt cannot change hands on a DQ. You can see a lot of similarities to nWo booking in this.
Overall it was a better card on paper. The set was cool. There’s an ongoing bit of Heenan working with a Japanese business man. It was pretty easy and fun watch. The bad stuff is very silly.
October 30, 1995 WCW Prime
Taskmaster squash
October 30, 1995 WCW Nitro #9 - Dayton, OH
Announcers open up talking about Hogan and Giant. "Footage on the way." They loved doing that. Savage out injured. Eddie in his place tonight.
Eddie Guerrero vs. Sgt. Craig Pittman. Solid match which is a great achievement for Eddie based on Pittman’s other recent matches. Eddie wins with a roll up. Starting to get over.
The Shark vs. Scott Norton. Fun power match. Heenan’s off having sushi again. Double countout.
Tony shows what happens with Flair turning on Sting. Brings out the Horsemen to boos. Pillman starts off talking about the carnage. One step closer to four. Arn has told people to be careful what they wish for. Puts over Sting for being tough. Pillman and Flair fake acting out the tag which is funny. Three and soon will be four. Flair on fire. Feels good. We're back. Told Sting what he wanted to hear. Will be in town next week if he has a problem. No real explanation of any details. This is a great Horsemen vibe though
WCWSN: Benoit v Wright, Arn & Flair, Harlem Heat v Blue Bloods
Nitro interactive next week. Fans get to call and vote for a match
Sabu vs. Disco Inferno. Decent quick match. Sabu wins. Uses the table post match. Disco moves. Table doesn’t break.
Lex Luger & Meng vs. American Males. Solid. Big discussion on when Luger and Jimmy Hart were in cahoots. People still cheer Lex’s power moves and I think they wanted him to be a face. Lex racks Bagwell for the win. The rack is over.
Mongo silly strings Heenan in a funny moment. Havoc footage Giant/Hogan finish with Yeti. Luger racking Hogan.
Tony back with The Giant wearing the World Title. Luger. Taskmaster. Jimmy Hart. World wants to know why. Will tell the world next week. Taskmaster warned Hogan evil was living in his home. Hogan was his past. Giant and Luger his future. Lex gloats about Hogan and Savage in a pathetic heap. Giant says he'll defend the title next week on Nitro against anyone. His belt. Not giving it up. Taskmaster told him so. Much better top heel act without Dungeon goofiness. Jimmy doing victory lap.
Ok post-Havoc show but mostly pushing towards next week.
Hope you enjoyed going through the shows! Next, I’ll share a full recap of the month, my overall thoughts, and my “best of” picks with links. Stay tuned!