We’re halfway through September and that means Halloween isn’t too far off. It’s my favorite holiday and reminds me of one of my favorite PPV events of the year WCW Halloween Havoc.
Mind you, the events haven’t always been the best but the themed shows and occasional wildness really endeared the show to me.
One thing that always stood out was the sole appearance of the Chamber of Horrors match. On paper, it seemed like the most over-the-top cage match that WCW could’ve devised—and that’s not even including the triple-tier cage matches which were unnecessary.
In execution, the Chamber of Horrors match was definitely a mess but could it have worked?
A Refresher on a One-Shot Cage Match
The premise for this match was simple: put your popular, likable babyfaces in the ring with the company’s wildest, scariest heels. If a team member is strapped into the electric chair that comes down from the ceiling and the switch is flipped, that team loses the match.
Oh, don’t forget the wooden coffins at ringside and it all had to happen at Halloween Havoc 1991.
This match was like a Halloween-themed War Games. While going through early 90s WCW a few years ago, I came across this match and became a bit obsessed with it. I loved that WCW pretty much put its horror monsters like Abdullah the Butcher and Cactus Jack in it. Also, just the concept fascinated me.
Then we get to the “in execution” part where everything was going wrong. First of all, the chair—surrounded by a smaller cage—landed in the middle of the ring and basically obstructed ring traffic.
Also, the cap wasn’t all the way on Abby’s head and the power switch was…loose. If anything Abdullah the Butcher should’ve been given a stay of execution for the chair not working properly.
While I’m in the middle on fireworks and pyro being a part of the match, I did like the chair sparking up as an extra touch.
Salvaging the Chamber of Horrors Match
While the concept was super cheesy, I could see this match working in modern-day entertainment-focused companies like WWE and IMPACT. Hell, All Elite Wrestling could probably make this work.
The main problems I felt with the match were the production and the placement of the electric chair.
It’s just a fact that an idea like this is a little over a decade ahead of the capabilities of onscreen wrestling production in the early 90s. WCW had the money to make it better but something just wasn’t right here. It just looked so hokey.
A cage like the Elimination Chamber with an electric chair is what I could’ve seen the Chamber of Horrors grown into.
Also, companies like WWE and AEW have the bread to produce a high-quality update to this match. Of course, it’s unnecessary since both companies have their own team battle or multi-person super cage matches.
IMPACT in 2022 could do this match a service with a couple of storylines that the company needs to be tied up around Halloween.
Were you a fan of this match or did you hate it? Could you see it returning in today’s wrestling climate where fans are more accepting of throwing their disbelief towards gimmicks and unrealistic moves in the dumpster? Let us know down below.
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