It’s time to look at the 1996 edition of one of my favorite PPV series: WCW Halloween Havoc 1996! We have a big World title bout between Hollywood Hogan and Randy Savage as well the Outsiders challenging for the World Tag Team titles.
Let’s dive in!
Mid-Tier
The Giant vs. Jeff Jarrett wasn’t too bad. Jarrett worked well with a very green Giant and while 1996 ECW has kind of soured me on PPV matches ending in DQ, they made it work.
Andre’s son was totally about to splatter Double J.
Syxx’s bout against Chris Jericho definitely would’ve floated over into exotic-tier territory if the Cruiserweight or TV championships were on the line.
It does lead to referee Nick Patrick’s heel turn, so that’s a plus.
Without it, this is a pretty good match but I wanted more of this match.
After that Arn Anderson took on Flexy Lexy in another decent match. As a Nitro main, I’m certain this would’ve been exotic-tier. Luger really kept pace with Arn who was great here.
Now, the Benoit and Mongo vs. The Faces of Fear went a little long but it had its moments when it was a good old rough matchup.
While he was totally green at this point, putting Steve McMichael against some rough customers was a great idea. It’s just sometimes, McMichael’s offense was a little too clumsy.
That said, everyone else was on it in their role. Benoit could mix it up the Tongan terrors and the terrors had the most straight forward style when in tag action.
Harlem Heat’s unsuccessful Tag Team title defense against The Outsiders was a really strong showdown. It even had a good placement on the card.
This match would’ve been the clincher for a Souled Out showdown where it’s WCW vs. nWo. In this case, it was a clean sweep for the bad guys.
The finish of the match was pretty good as well. It added to the “win at all costs” attitude of the new World order as did the Syxx vs. Jericho match.
Exotic-Tier
The Cruiserweight Championship opener saw Rey Mysterio challenge Dean Malenko in a ridiculously dope match. It was a straight-up competitive and had enough excitement to open the PPV.
Eddie Guerrero taking on Diamond Dallas Page was another exciting match. It didn’t have the length of Dean vs. Rey Rey but it had a strong pace that would keep you involved.
Just my kind of match, folks.
I enjoyed Hollywood Hogan vs. Randy Savage. They faced off before, tagged together, they know each other. It also helps that it had a story going in just by being the upper tier of the WCW vs. nWo feud.
This was a good, drama-filled match. WCW needed at least one major win and also it needed to hold on to the World Championship. Hogan has proven that he could win and defend WCW gold.
If Hogan retained that belt with the new World order behind him, WCW would have a hard time getting it back going forward. Team WCW was running low on heavy hitters.
This time, it wasn’t even nWo involvement that caused Savage and WCW the title. On the rewatch, I didn’t expect The Giant to interfere and cause Hulk to retain.
It wasn’t an athletic wrestling clinic but it was a big match that worked as a strong main event.
WCW Halloween Havoc 1996 Verdict: Mid-Tier (7.5/10)
The Atlanta-based company really delivered a strong PPV. It dropped three really good—at the minimum—and a few that could’ve easily been exotic-tier.
WCW Halloween Havoc 1996 was a very good PPV all-round. There was something for everyone and the mid-tier stuff kept the pace rolling at a strong speed.
The match of the night goes to Dean Malenko vs. Rey Mysterio while Harlem Heat vs. The Outsiders contributed heavily to the depiction of the nWo’s domination in the company.
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