WWF vs WCW: Hate the Game

In a dark room of candles, Vampiro starts narrating the opening video: “We have arrived, the day of All Hallow’s Eve is upon us; and fear grips your body as–”

But the feed cuts away to Raven, down in the boiler room: “Fear will drive weak men to bravery and courage, or it will make the most powerful fall to the depths. Tonight, the fear rises at Halloween Havoc – fear for your life, fear for your career, fear for your power. Those who have everything, will leave with nothing. And those, like me, who have nothing to lose, will gain it all. This isn’t times for dreary Draculas or frightful Frankensteins. Only the true monsters will reveal themselves… at Halloween Havoc.”

Spooky skeletons and ghastly ghouls, fear rises in your mortal soul as WCW presents Halloween Havoc! Fireworks go off around the stage as Mike Tenay, Scott Hudson, and Arn Anderson welcome everyone to the show, and we quickly go to our inaugural contest!

With the WCW World Tag Team championships on the line, the crafty veteran team of Lance Storm and Chavo Guerrero Jr. set about to take the titles away from the young Natural Born Thrillers team of Mark Jindrak and Sean O’Haire. Jindrak and O’Haire control the bout early on with their explosive offense, but those maneuvers are countered by Guerrero and Storm with their experience edge. The match never really goes into a formula, as the lead goes back and forth between the teams, and this bout could have gone on all night. The challengers seem to have a plan in mind as Chavo takes referee Mark Johnson’s attention away from the action while Storm lines up O’Haire with the X Divison championship, but another man has other plans…

Who’s that in the sky? It’s Rey Mysterio Jr.!

He leaps into the ring with a springboard dropkick and takes Storm out, pulling him out of the ring. When Guerrero rushes in, Jindrak catches him with a superkick! The fans behind him, he puts Chavo up on the top rope, then charges forward and leaps straight up to the ropes before delivering a super hurricanrana! He makes the cover, and this match is over. As the Thrillers celebrate retaining their titles, Lance Storm has been run off by Mysterio. The camera gets a good look at him, and Rey’s eyes have a different look to them; but it looks like he’s come back for revenge on those who put him out of action for the past month!

Our next bout is another tag team bout featuring veterans taking on young stars, but the dynamic is all different! The Problem Solvers have been poking the bear on Curt Hennig, Sting, and “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair for some time now, and tonight the legendary trio are out to show that they are still on top of wrestling. Arn Anderson cannot keep himself unbiased as his best friend takes on his estranged nephew, but Sting winds up being caught in the wrong place as he misses a Stinger Splash on Diamond. The Problem Solvers try to solve “The Franchise of WCW” with tandem offense, and some outright cheating as well. But the fans don’t love “The Stinger” because he gives up all the time, and he fights back to make the tag to Ric Flair! “The Nature Boy” charges in with chops to everyone, and he tackles Simon to the outside of the ring. “The Stinger” comes back into the fray and pulls Disqo back, hitting a Scorpion Deathdrop in the center of the ring in order to score the victory! However, the celebration is cut short, as on the outside, Simon Diamond holds Ric’s arm around the turnbuckle post while C.W. Anderson hits the arm and shoulder with a steel chair! Sting and Hennig regroup and chase them backstage, but the damage has already been done!

Up in the skybox above the arena, Jimmy Snuka Jr. is getting a lecture from his father about how he’s been acting lately. All the previous times when Jr. seemed to be hesitant about the winnings from the Gluttony match a few years ago are a distant memory as he stands here in a fine suit with a fully catered table of exotic dishes. Snuka preaches to his son about being humble and thankful for what he has received, but Jr. only gives the smallest of acknowledgment. The lecture is cut short, however, as he greets a guest…

The elder Snuka doesn’t look very pleased as Sonny, introduced as one of Jr.’s best childhood friends from back on the island, comes into the room. The two talk over father Snuka until he finally quiets down and sits behind them.

On the entrance ramp, “Mean” Gene and Jeremy address the crowd while standing in front of the giant wheel which will determine the match that Goldberg will face Jeff Jarrett in tonight. Some of the options are a regular singles bout, a steel cage match (which is hanging above the ring, just in case this is chosen), a hardcore match, a dog collar match, one that Gene says is “a fan favorite on this wheel” a coal miner’s glove match, a strap match, and a guitar on a pole match. But as Jarrett and Goldberg come to the stage and Goldberg throws the level, it is the final option which comes up, which is called a “Trick or Street Fight” match! Will Goldberg pick up his next win, or will the crafty “Chosen One” send him to an early retirement? We will find out later tonight!

“Above Average” Mike Sanders joins us in the ring, He says that he is here with a surprise for Fratelli, and wants them to come to the ring to get it. When the blood brothers Vito and Reno approach the ring, Sanders tells them that he has held them personally responsible for his exodus earlier this year, saying that it was when Reno failed to take Vito out at Sin that started the fail of “his” Thrillers. With that in mind, he says since they harmed him personally, he has dug into their history and found something personal to them.

From behind, two men attack Fratelli, viciously laying into them with bats! Vito and Reno had no time to react, and Sanders laughs at their misfortune, the camera overhearing him tell the two that “They want their revenge, just as badly as I do!” WCW Security hit the ring to separate this, but it seems this gang war has only just begun!

“The Franchise” Shane Douglas strides cockily to the ring with the dangerous Madusa at his side, taking a microphone and telling them to cut his music. He gives a short promo about how Palumbo needs to check his head about getting involved in another match with him, and get his ***** checked out because who knows what kind of disease that spawn of Dick Flair gave her last year! While he may have been trying to demoralize the couple, his words only seem to have made them angrier, and Chuck storms the ring and lays into “The Franchise” with youthful reckless abandon! Douglas uses a cheap eye rake to take the advantage back, but Palumbo will not be denied! However, when he backs up to sight in his Jungle Kick, Madusa grabs his ankle, drawing his attention. Stacy shoos her away, but the damage has already been done, as Chuck’s kick finds nothing but air, and Shane locks him up to hit The Franchiser! Who needs a clean pinfall? Not “The Franchise,” as he and Madusa gloat about this win all the way up the ramp.

We head back to the trainer’s room, where Ric Flair’s arm is getting checked out. Sting and Curt Hennig are there to see how his arm is following that vicious attack, but “The Nature Boy” says he will not take this lying down! “C.W. might be family, but that blood is gonna be all over the place til I’m done with him!”

Following a check-in with The WCW Worldwide Panel, it’s time for the Fear gauntlet. Mike lays out how this will go, as Dark Eden have laid out the rules for the three matches. First, he must take on Kidman in a match that Billy chose to be his specialty, a ladder match. Secondly, Kanyon plans to defeat Raven in his own match, as he takes him on in a Raven’s Rules hardcore bout. If Raven gets past both of them, the cage will come down from the ceiling and he will face Vampiro in a Chamber of Horrors match! Raven beats the system in his own way though, coming through the crowd and smashing Kdiman with the Raven Effect right away! He easily climbs the ladder and gets the kendo stick that was hanging above the ring, signifying the beginning of the Raven’s Rules match. Kanyon puts up a lot more of a fight than Billy did, taking Raven on in a full matchup. Raven again comes out on top, as Kanyon falls to a series of hits from a steel chair, before the Raven Effect. As the cage comes down, Tenay explains that there’s no electric chairs here; this cage takes up space over the ring, almost touching the barricade, and that there are weapons hanging from each wall of the cage. This battle is a brutal brawl, with both men wearing crimson masks. Raven slips out of the Nail in the Coffin and hits the Raven Effect, but a large, masked man enters the ring!

Commentary cannot identify him as he enters the ring and roughly lariats Raven! He wakes up Vampiro, who is excited to see him, and he covers Raven. The masked man glares at Mark Johnson until he counts the three, meaning Vampiro has defeated Raven!

As the cage rises back to the ceiling, the lights go out. When the spotlight comes back onto the ring, Dark Eden have taken to the ring. They stand over Raven’s fallen body, and a man wearing a large hooded robe stands in their center. Hudson says that this must be the master that Raven has said about lately, and the man takes off his hood to reveal…

Well, probably only west coast independent wrestling fans (and maybe some people from the future) will recognize him, but we hear the name of “Master Syndrome” when he orders the masked man to “take him away” as he gestures at Raven. The man throws Raven over his shoulder, carrying him like a small child, as Dark Eden take him away!

We go from that odd scene to the backstage area, where Chris Lovey stands by with The Problem Solvers. Each of them get a chance to speak, with Disqo saying that while he lost the match, the plan worked perfectly. C.W. says simply that if he had wanted to have family look after him, he would have claimed himself as an Anderson from the moment he stepped into WCW; now, maybe Ric will get the point through his thick skull. Simon closes, saying that Ric needs to take his two fellow geriatrics and leave the ring to them; “Simon says no one wants to see washed up, past their prime wrestlers taking attention away from young studs like us. Simon has a problem – and if Ric takes that bum arm that we gave him and think he can come back at us, then we will solve the problem.”

The Trick or Street Fight match comes next, as boxes are all around the ringside area. Commentary explain that some of those boxes will contain delicious candy and others will have weapons that can be used on your opponent. Through all the boxes, there are various tricks and treats for the fans to have in the match, but in the end, “The Chosen One” misses his guitar shot and gets speared nearly out of his boots! The Jackhammer follows, and “Da Man” has moved to 158-0!

“The Total Package” wants to take the WCW United States Heavyweight championship away from his former partner Buff Bagwell next. Luger brings everything he has to the bout, utilizing a series of clotheslines, power slams, and wanting to lock in the Torture Rack, but the youth advantage that Bagwell has (he’s only 31 compared to Luger’s 43 years old) lets him stay in the bout. The champion in the end is able to stun Lex with a swinging neckbreaker, before climbing to the ropes and hitting him with the Buff Blockbuster! Despite Tenay and Hudson saying earlier that they wouldn’t be surprised to see “Buff Daddy” resorting to underhanded tactics, he ends up retaining his title completely on his own!

Our main event is next, the sixty minute iron man match for the WCW World Heavyweight championship. Champion “Big Poppa Pump” took an early lead following a series of suplexes, while Booker T would come back with a well timed small package. At one point, Steiner pulled ahead by getting three unanswered falls; but again, Booker T fought through the adversity and by the 45 minute mark, was able to tie things up at 5-5. Both men seem exhausted, but the challenger looks like he has more gas in the tank left. But with only ten minutes remaining, Scott locks in the Steiner Recliner! Booker is forced to tap out to it, giving himself only eight minutes to try and score two falls. Scott is surprised though as Booker breaks free of a belly to belly suplex and hits a Book End! He ties it up again, with three minutes left! Scott is looking desperate to get ahead, as his win here would send Booker to the back of the line again. He turns to Jenna, asking for his steel pipe, but when she slides it to him, he’s too tired to quickly pick it up and use it – and when he tries, Booker dodges, before landing a Scissor Kick! The pipe goes flying, and Booker scrambles to try and get the cover. Jenna climbs onto the apron, but Booker is able to push her back down! When he makes the pin, Nick Patrick is able to count one… two… but the bell sounds right at the three! The final tally is 6-6… it’s another heartbreaking draw! The PPV goes off the air with Booker looking frustrated, but Steiner is angry; he’s yelling at Jenna, saying if she’d not messed up, he’d have won this!

There was a lot of confusion during the Worldwide Live Post-Show. They are all blown away by the match, with Tony proclaiming it as “one of the damndest things I’ve seen in all my years in this sport.” They all are left wondering where this leaves Booker T, and what this means for the World Heavyweight champion? Will Eric Bischoff step in and make a decision here, or will this be like what happened back at SuperBrawl: Revenge, where Booker was forced to fight for another shot? These questions will hopefully have answers next Friday on Nitro. They also discuss the assault on Ric Flair that was perpetrated by the Problem Solvers, saying that it looked like Simon and Anderson wanted to send a message to Flair that he needed to stop this, but all they did was awaken a sleeping beast! The Panel also muse how Buff Bagwell retained his US title, in a surprisingly clean victory over “The Total Package.” After talking about everything else that’s happened, Tony urges fans to join us again for a pay-per-view event (which is completely different than the pay-per-view episodes of Nitro, somehow) on Veteran’s Day, November 11th, as WCW Mayhem will be live from the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa!

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Show Notes

• Sonny Siaki debuts as Jimmy Snuka Jr.’s childhood friend; as he spent some time in NWA: Wildside, his Cocky gimmick is rated Very Good.
  

• Da Baldies debuted, with Street Thug gimmicks. DeVito’s rates as Average, but Da Angel came off as Very Good.

• Rellik as a Demon (Brute) gets an initial gimmick rating of Above Average, with his turn a complete success – even though there was no indication given that he previously was Johnny the Bull.

• Revealing himself as Vampiro’s master, Syndrome’s Handler gimmick gets an initial rating of Very Good. I went with that instead of something like Preacher or Occult because my fans aren’t into riskier gimmicks.
• Goldberg and Jarrett’s match was riddled with neither guy selling enough.
  
• The Iron Man match really dragged in the middle with a noticeable lack of flow. Scott Steiner was visibly tiring by the end. And it really could have used someone with more psychology to call it.
  
• Scott Steiner was annoyed at doing another draw finish, but was told in no uncertain terms to “do as you’re told this time.” Scott has had a banner year in WCW, so this hasn’t hampered him much, but one can bet this negative incident will hold out longer than the positives will.

• Getting better at gimmick: Syndrome (already)

• Booker T was given some encouragement after the show, while Ric Flair and Buff Bagwell were complemented on their good performances. Booker and Bagwell seemed pleased, while Flair was pleased with being called out positively.

• Scott Steiner: “Mike Sanders is more like ‘Under Average’, ya shoulda’ just let him rot at Wildside.”

• Curt Hennig: “Reno can’t sell anything worth a damn, you should shelve him until he can learn how to work.”

• PPV Buyrate: 0.09, worldwide TV Rating: 1.05

• Scott Hall had a prank pulled on him by Vince McMahon, replacing his tea with beer. The locker room seemed to find it pretty funny, but Scott was not amused. The rest of the Clique thought it was hilarious, though.

• Josh Mathews debuted, his gimmick is Clean Cut. It rates as Average.

• William Regal interfered in the match between Test and D’Lo.

• The Rock seems to be getting a little stale. He and Scott Hall just didn’t click in the ring against one another. 

• Scott Hall was drunk and on drugs during his match with The Rock. One could say that it was Vince’s prank earlier in the night that sent him on a downward spiral through the evening, but that’s not a story to be told here.

• Getting better at gimmick: D’Lo Brown

• Christopher Nowinski asked for and received a full pay raise, now bringing his contract to $3,990.

• Scott Hall was given a hefty fine for wrestling “with his demons” during SmackDown. He was unhappy with this. Meanwhile, Eddie Guerrero once again showed positive for steroids, and was given another slap on the wrist, as his personality grows worse yet again.

  
  

Eric Bischoff is in the center of the ring as we open the show, saying that we have a lot of ground to discuss and only a short time to handle it before we get into the WCW action that everyone loves.

“So last Sunday, for the second time this year, we saw a draw finish between Scott Steiner and Booker T. Now back at SuperBrawl when that happened, Booker went to the back of the line and had to earn his shot again. But that was with Ric Flair running the show, not Eric Bischoff. I don’t have a problem with Booker, and I’m not letting my emotions dictate what happens to our World’s championship. So with this in mind, where I see no winner for that match, as the owner/operator of World Championship Wrestling… 

“I hereby declare the World Heavyweight championship held up!”

“Oh my!” shouts Scott Hudson on commentary, as a loud murmur echoes throughout the audience. Eric starts to say that he needs to be given the title by Scott Steiner tonight, but he may not have to wait long as Scott is on his way out to the ring! There’s no music, just a very large, very angry “Big Poppa Pump” charging onto the scene! He gets in Bischoff’s face, and the microphone hears him calling this “a bunch of bull****!”

He grabs the microphone away and starts giving his version of what happened, that “I can’t help it that Booker can’t get it done, you better rescind that announcement before I take the largest arm in the world and stick it up your ass so far I mess up your old man hair!”

Eric looks steadfast, begging off of Steiner but not seeming to change his mind. Booker slides into the ring with his own microphone, telling Scott that “If you say Booker T can’t beat Scott Steiner, I say Scott Steiner can’t beat Booker T! I had you to the mat right at the end of that match, and all Eric needs ta’ do is allow that one last second and hand me the title!”

Bischoff now has to try and get in between the two, calling on security to hold them apart, as he is able to pick up the championship and leave the ring. On his way back, he can be heard telling the camera that he’ll make his second announcement later tonight.

Later that evening…

“Everyone both out here in the audience and watching from the locker room has to be wondering what I plan on doing now that I vacated the World championship. And despite
some previous establishments who vacated a title, I did so with big things in mind. The great mind of Eric Bischoff, which has brought you such things as World War 3 and the Wrath match, has created another match for the ages, and this one won’t be showing up elsewhere anytime soon.

“Over the next few weeks, I will be holding some big time qualifying matches for a match that will take place on December 23rd at Starrcade. Fifteen men will compete in a mostly over-the-top-rope battle royal, where people will enter the ring every two minutes until only two remain. From there, whoever can pin or make the other submit will become the new World Heavyweight champion! I’m calling it the ‘Gauntlet for the Gold’, and all those men will feel like they’ve won a gauntlet by the time they have won. 

“Five of these qualifying bouts will take place next Sunday night on Veteran’s Day at WCW Mayhem, and I am pleased to announce the first one. Now, not all of these qualifying matches will feature an extra stipulation, but I feel it is only fitting that this one has one. Since we’ve seen Booker T and Scott Steiner have a draw in a regular match, and we saw them wrestle to a draw in an Iron Man match, then let’s throw all the potential draws out the window, and let’s see them go at it one more time, to determine which of them enters the Gauntlet for the Gold, in a Last Man Standing match!”

After the crowd pop in excitement for that, Eric once again reminds everyone when and where Mayhem will take place (November 11 at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa) before the show closes for this episode. 

Show Notes

• Erica Harley has gotten a lot of heat due to her poor attitude; she was given a slap on the wrist and her personality got worse.

• Trish Stratus set up a waffle bar for everyone backstage, improving the mood.

• Edge brought in pizza for the entire locker room which made everyone happy.

• Steve Austin has been passing on microphone tips to Rhyno.

• Billy Gunn’s gimmick is getting stale.

• Spike Dudley sustained a torn ACL, many felt it was Rosey’s mistake that caused it and he’s catching heat because of it.

• Lita complained about losing her match until she was assured she would be protected.

• Austin and Nash’s match suffered because neither man sold very well for one another.

• Getting better at gimmick: Rico Constantino, Tommy Dreamer

• Post show, Vince McMahon complimented Triple H and positively pointed out Kevin Nash for their performances and gave Shawn Michaels a hug. Triple H was very happy, Shawn and Nash seemed pleased.

• The Rock: “Albert looks like he could become a star, he is worth a good push.”

• The Big Show: “X-Pac is becoming a better worker, he’s worth getting behind more.”

• Kevin Nash: “Hardcore Holly couldn’t sell water to a dehydrated plant, you should get rid of him.”

• N/A

The 2001 WWF Survivor Series will emanate live on November 18, 2001, from the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina!

Survivor Series match: The Band (Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Sycho Sid, X-Pac, and Justin Credible) vs. Triple H, Shawn Michaels, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and two unknown partners

WCW Mayhem will be held November 11, 2001, live from the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa!

• WCW’s official books show a loss of $935,315 in October, taking them to negative figures again of -$387,947. Meanwhile, the WWF’s books showed a profit of 2,001,437, taking them to $72,565,899.

• Word has come back on the torn ACL that Spike Dudley sustained at Rebellion. He initially was going to be out for nearly six months, but after a successful, low risk surgery, he will now may be back in time for the Royal Rumble.

• The Verizon Wireless Arena opens in Manchester, New Hampshire.

• WCW tried to distribute some anti-WWF signs at Halloween Havoc, but it backfired on them as the fans drowned it out with pro-WWF chants.

• Halloween Havoc has risen in importance to Above Average.

• While working in AJPW, Chavo Guerrero has moved to the Kanto region; brother Hector is now living in Guadalajara, Mexico.

• Daffney has changed her mailing address to a home in Delaware.

• XPW co-owner Veronica Caine has relocated to Spain, as she’s been doing more work with wXw and ICW (Eur) than XPW over the past few months.

• Jenna Jameson’s WCW contract was allowed to run out; she leaves on good terms and could be invited back any time.
  

• Air Paris suffered a Grade II AC Joint Separation during a match on Wildside TV, he will miss a month of action. With his developmental contract running out soon, there is debate whether or not WCW will keep him on, despite rumors that they had a potential midcard storyline in mind for him.

• Ratings: WWF RAW (16.82); WWF SmackDown! (12.01); WCW Friday Nitro (0.02, 2.78); WWF Jakked (0.08); WWF Rebellion (0.26, only on Canal Digital and Sky Box Office); WWF HeAt (0.89)