NWA Halloween Havoc 1989

NWA Halloween Havoc 89
“Settling the Score”
Philadelphia, PA
Civic Center
October 28, 1989

Here we go with another amazing 89 PPV! Once again Jim Ross & Bob Caudle are on commentary, and what a great team they are. This PPV is in Philly and even in 89 it was an arena full of smark fans (before that was even a term!) cheering the heels and booing the babyfaces. The NWA continues with amazing entrance ways and production values. Unfortunately my copy is from WWE 24/7 so the entrances and music are all cut. Weak.

1.Tom Zenk pinned Mike Rotunda when the momentum of a reverse crossbody off the middle turnbuckle put Zenk on top for the win

The Z Man is now also being called Tom Zenk, thank goodness! The crowd is HILARIOUS, booing everything Zenk does and cheering Rotunda, who seems to be enjoying it. The hot atmosphere added to a hot match, as these two brought their working boots with them. Rotunda put Zenk to the test, but the Z Man picked up a fluke pin with a roll through, earning a chorus of boos for his efforts. Ha!

2. The Samoan Swat Team & the Samoan Savage (w/ Sir Oliver Humperdink) defeated Midnight Express & Steve Williams (w/ Jim Cornette) when Savage pinned Lane after hitting a running headbutt from behind which knocked Lane into Cornette

The SST dumped Paul E. Dangerously after the Clash and that troll Oliver Humperdink becomes their manager for no reason. I can’t stand the ugly sight of him. The good guys are over big time, especially Williams, whom the Philly fans clearly identify with. This match is STIFF – just a brutal smash fest. All six guys dish out power moves and big hits, going back and forth. When Dr. Death makes the big tag the roof blows off the building and he goes nuts. Unfortunately there’s a miscommunication with the Midnights and Cornette, leading to the Samoans getting the win. What a great battle!

3. Tommy Rich pinned the Cuban Assassin with the Thesz Press after avoiding a reverse crossbody off the middle turnbuckle

Really? Why the hell is this match on PPV? As you can tell I’m no fan of either wrestler. I read through my mail while this snorefest was going on. Ross again pushes Rich to the moon, but I don’t buy it.

4. NWA Tag Team Champions The Freebirds defeated the Dynamic Dudes (w/ Jim Cornette) when Garvin pinned Douglas

HAHAHAHA! The Philly fans are the greatest! The Dudes were booed as bad as John Cena at One Night Stand. The crowd chanted things like “Dudes Suck” and booed their every move. The Freebirds ate it up, and you could tell Hayes and Garvin loved every minute of it. The Freebirds dominated the entire match, and the roof blew off the building once again when the Freebirds won! This was just awesome! I love these Philly fans. No wonder ECW did so well in that city.

5. Doom (w/ Woman) defeated Rick & Scott Steiner at 15:32 when Reed pinned Rick after Woman put a foreign object in Doom 2’s mask and he headbutted Steiner

Robin Green transformed into the evil seductress Woman, and promised to find a team to destroy the Steiners. This was the debut of Doom, two big muscular, masked black guys (Ron Simmons and Butch Reed under the masks). The crowd is nuts for the Steiners and this is a hard hitting war, filled with sick suplexes, wrestling, and brawling. Doom win under nefarious means in their debut. Have I mentioned yet how hot Woman was in 89? Good match!

6. NWA US Champion Lex Luger pinned Brian Pillman at 16:49 with a Hot Shot after avoiding a missile dropkick

Wow! What an awesome match! Luger defends the US title against the hottest young rising star in the NWA. The crowd is hilariously behind Luger, but warm up to Pillman as the match progresses. This is just excellent in every way, from psychology to the physicality. Ross is just insane on these cards hyping the athletic background of their wrestlers. Here he goes on endlessly about Pillman’s football and high school background. I guess he was instructed to make wrestling seem like a legit sport. It’s funny to here him spout off stats about things like high school track and field records. Anyway, Luger narrowly escapes with his belt and hands Pillman his first loss. Awesome match!

7. The Road Warriors (w/ Paul Ellering) defeated The Skyscrapers (w/ Teddy Long) via disqualification at 11:37 when Long hit Ellering with Norman’s giant key, then threw it to Spivey who used it as a weapon; moments later, as Vicious & Spivey double teamed Road Warrior Animal, Road Warrior Hawk hit Spivey with the clothesline off the top and cleared the ring with the key

This match had the crowd on their feet – these four monsters going toe to toe! The crowd went ballistic for the Warriors, and a lot of the smarks were still cheering Sid and Spivey. Sid uses this insane helicopter slam on Hawk that just looks awesome! The Skyscrapers were presented as slightly more invincible as the match wore on. This match predictably ends in a DQ, which makes sense given how hot these two teams were at this time.

8. NWA World Champion Ric Flair & Sting (w/ Ole Anderson) defeated Terry Funk & NWA TV Champion the Great Muta (w/ Gary Hart) in a Thunderdome match at 23:46 after Anderson punched Hart inside the ring, sending Hart’s towel up into the air, as Flair had Funk in the figure-4; Bruno Sammartino was the guest referee for the bout; pre-match stipulations stated the match could only end when one of the designated terminators – Anderson and Hart – threw in the towel for their team; late in the contest, Flair locked Funk in the figure-4, with Sting then twice hitting a splash off the top before Muta attacked Sammartino, with Sammartino then knocking Muta to the floor

Despite how hot this feud was, this was a really odd match. The Thunderdome was a large cage that looked very similar to the one used at Halloween Havoc 91. It had hilarious Halloween decorations all over it, like cobwebs, tree branches, plastic skeletons, etc. It had a supposed electrified top, but why would you want to climb out if only the “terminators” could end the match? Maybe if the action was too brutal? Bruno Sammartino makes his NWA debut here after having a huge falling out with Vince in like 88, a grudge that’s still held today. He’s pretty useless in this match, and the wrestlers seem to ignore him through all of it. He did get a nice pop from the Philly crowd. Despite the promised mayhem, this starts as a regular tag team match, then completely falls apart as all four wrestlers start going at it. Still, there’s some dumb moments like Flair standing on the apron while Sting gets beaten up by both Muta and Funk. For some reason Muta tries climbing the cage and electrifies his hand. Why? That’s the last time the electricity comes into play. Funk and Sting climb the cage and fight it out near the top. Sting grabs a rope and swings repeatedly into Funk. That’s a pretty cool spot! Funk tears off some of the decorations to use as weapons. This match is just a mess as there’s no flow or psychology, and again, you can totally tell where ECW copied their style from, especially their tornado tag matches. Ross keeps hinting that Ole Anderson can’t be trusted. I have no idea when he returned, but the storyline is pretty good. The match is also stupid because the terminators have no role and there’s no drama or suspense about throwing in a towel, a fact that Jim Ross keeps mentioning. The ending is a big schmozz as Bruno knocks out Muta while Flair has Funk in the figure four. Ole Anderson punches Gary Hart, causing his towel to go flying. Bruno turns around and sees the towel and calls for the bell. What a weak finish. This match was fun to watch, but man, it could have been so much better. Still, this was another great 89 NWA PPV event!