October 29th, 2000 | MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada | Attendance: 7,582
Oh man, this has potential to be a train wreck. It’s well documented that WCW was having serious problems by this time. Things only got worse heading into this PPV as a large portion of the roster was cut, TV shows (namely WCW Saturday Night, which had run for over twenty years) were cancelled and, to top it all off, Vince Russo even won the WCW World Title. He had to relinquish it due to injury without ever allowing for a proper payoff but I doubt one was planned anyway. It was the 12th and final Halloween Havoc Pay-Per-View.
They start with Pamela Paulshock talking to the fans in the lobby and asking for their picks on the horrible sounding main event. Their opening video package isn’t as bad as it normally is. Commentary is Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden and Stevie Ray.
WCW World Tag Team Championship
Mark Jindrak and Sean O’Haire (c) vs. Boogie Nights vs. The Filthy Animals w/ Konnan
The Filthy Animals are represented by Rey Mysterio and Billy Kidman, while Boogie Nights are Alex Wright and Disco Inferno. Bald Alex Wright is a strange look. Three guys were legal at a time during this triangle match. Kidman and Wright teamed up to work over Jindrak, which made sense as you’d want to take out the champions. For the most part, they moved things along at a quick pace. Some of the later WCW shows saw guys work fast but botch a fair amount, which happily wasn’t the case here. There were several near falls and some pretty good spots throughout. The champions did their sweet double hip toss from the floor to the ring on Kidman. I remember them doing that horribly to Sting. Wright, Kidman and Rey all ended up doing different dives outside. Boogie Nights nearly won but taunted too much. That set the stage for the Seanton Bomb from O’Hair, retaining the belts.
Winners and Still WCW World Tag Team Champions: Mark Jindrak and Sean O’Haire in 10:04
A really fun opening contest. They fit a fair amount into ten minutes and allowed everyone to shine. I also appreciate that they were mostly crisp with the work being done. It’s WCW in 2000, so I doubt something will top this on the show. ***¼
The champions and Alex Wright only, for some reason, put the boots to the Filthy Animals until the Wall or Sgt. AWOL or whatever his name was at the time makes the save.
WCW Hardcore Championship
Reno (c) vs. Sgt. AWOL
Reno being bald but having a ponytail was such an odd look. AWOL stayed in the ring and set up a table, but he went through it pretty quickly. Like most WCW hardcore matches, they just wailed away on each other with weapons. However, it was more entertaining than normal. Reno had a garbage can put on his head and AWOL kicked the shit out of it. It looked pretty rad. They fought up the ramp and Reno set two tables up, only to get a backdrop through both of them. Since the event is brought to you by that weird WCW Backstage Assault game, they fought in the back. The finish came back at ringside when Reno hit the Roll of the Dice on a table.
Winner and Still WCW Hardcore Champion: Reno in 10:55
Pretty enjoyable hardcore. I’ve usually liked WWE ones but the WCW hardcore division left something to be desired. Here, it was mostly entertaining though I do think it dragged on a bit too long for what they were doing. **¼
Chuck Palumbo and Shawn Stasiak run out to beat up Sgt. AWOL. That causes Chavo and Lash LeRoux to make the save. I think they were Lt. Loco and Corporal Cajun. Man, that stable had no chance.
In typical WCW fashion, there are some rapid fire backstage segments. None of it seemed important enough to discuss.
Chuck Palumbo and Shawn Stasiak vs. Corporal Cajun and Lt. Loco
Why didn’t they just stay out the post-match stuff from the last match? Nothing about this interested me or the crowd. They chanted “boring” for a bit. Chavo nearly died on a spot that saw Palumbo drop him on the ropes. Stasiak and Palumbo argued over who would go on to have the worse singles run. Stasiak would win for those unaware. The heels dominated for the most part and while they were booed at times, the crowd really seemed to not give a damn. Their arguing and dissension led to the loss when Stasiak fell to a tornado DDT from Loco.
Winners: Corporal Cajun and Lt. Loco in 9:21
This was a late addition to the card and everyone could have done without it. It was lifeless, heatless and only gets any points because it told somewhat of a story with the Palumbo and Stasiak issues.½*
Konnan and Tygress vs. Shane Douglas and Torrie Wilson
Oh my, Torrie was dressed as Wonder Woman. Tygress started alone and kicked Douglas low. This led to her and Torrie doing some truly bad wrestling. It’s a stretch to call it that. Konnan, who took a beating earlier apparently, showed up to save Tygress. Konnan didn’t sell any effects of an earlier assault. Douglas punched Tygress, prompting Schiavone to say that it’s wrong and everyone in WCW knows it. If that’s why case, why book a match where that is legal? Tygress did her bronco buster (as Mark Madden screamed FACE FULL OF SNUFF) but Torrie pulled the referee in the way. That probably should have been a DQ. Konnan and Tygress somehow hit Douglas with a double Snuff Buster and earned the win.
Winners: Konnan and Tygress in 8:21
This was pretty terrible in every single way. Konnan and Douglas phoned it in, while Tygress and Torrie had no business wrestling. The only redeeming quality was Torrie as Wonder Woman, keeping it from DUD status. ¼*
DNA Match
Buff Bagwell vs. David Flair
Apparently, a DNA match is a First Blood match. I think. Basically, Miss Hancock, David’s girlfriend, was pregnant and he wasn’t the dad. He needed Buff’s DNA to see if he was the dad. Or something like that. Buff didn’t take David seriously for most of the match and it cost him at times. Madden said that maybe David is maturing into his dad. He’s said some dumb things before but that may top it. Buff nailed him with a chair, busting David open. The referee saw it but ignored it until after Buff hit the Blockbuster.
Winner: Buff Bagwell in 5:40
Of course. There has to be at least one DUD on every WCW 2000 show it seems. This was all kinds of bad. Buff didn’t seem to care and David was always terrible. DUD
Lex Luger shows up to raise Buff Bagwell’s hand before clotheslining him. SWERVE BRO! Even Schiavone asks “how many times is Luger gonna turn on people?” He sends Buff into the post, causing him to bleed and allowing David to steal his DNA, rendering the entire match pointless.
Three Round Kickboxing
Ernest Miller w/ Ms. Jones vs. Mike Sanders w/ Chuck Palumbo and Shawn Stasiak
How many times can you showcase the Natural Born Thrillers in one show? Cat stole the show with a straight up “boy I’m gonna whoop your ass” before the match. He had a clear advantage here but somehow doesn’t win in the first round. Madden spent the match hyping Sanders as the valiant underdog, while the other commentators kind of laugh at Sanders. In the third round, Miller nailed a cartwheel kick that nearly knocked out Sanders. Shane Douglas showed up to try and rally Sanders but he had no chance. Shane got a chain and laid out Miller behind the referee’s back, which nearly kept him down for a knockout. He laid out Sanders in sudden death twice but fought Douglas outside and got counted out.
Winner via countout: Mike Sanders
This was poorly booked, executed in even worse fashion and all around trash. Late WCW is really making me consider giving out negative stars. For now, it gets my lowest score. DUD
“That 70’s Guy” Mike Awesome vs. Vampiro
Look, I understand That 70’s Show was a popular show at the time. I really liked it. But to make a character based on it and use a talented big man like Mike Awesome is so disappointing. Vampiro came out with a damn samurai sword for some reason. Vampiro apparently had a World Title shot the following night and Vampiro goaded him into putting it on the line. Vampiro bumped like a novice throughout this. Awesome clipped himself on a dive and Vampiro did something right by safely catching him. They did some sloppy fighting in the crowd for a bit. Vampiro hit an ugly top rope belly to belly. He seemed to be very unsafe as he just looked completely careless. He also did a move off the top that I don’t even know what to call. A table was brought in, which the referee allowed and the commentators were completely confused about. Outside, an Awesome Bomb hit for two. Who made this Falls Count Anywhere? A top rope Awesome Bomb finished it inside.
Winner: Mike Awesome in 9:49
Holy crap. What the hell was that? This might be the worst three match stretch in wrestling history, with this somehow managing to be the worst. Yes, they were worse than a mixed tag with two women who were green and a poorly booked kickboxing match. This was truly one of the worst matches I can recall. DUD
WCW Canadian Championship
Lance Storm (c) and Jim Duggan w/ Major Gunns vs. Gen. Rection
You know, you can’t really make a guy a serious contender if his name is Gen. Hugh E. Rection. Storm was so hot coming into WCW and winning three belts. Now, they’d stuck him with Jim Duggan and placed him in a feud with the Misfits in Action. Wow. Stevie, Tony and then Rection all either talked through or interrupted the Canadian National Anthem. Rection used the crowd to try and overcome the numbers disadvantage. After his hot start, the heels took advantage of Rection and it lasts far too long. How did WCW manage to put on, like ten match cards that somehow all went on for too long? Major Gunns turned on Team Canada somewhat by attacking Elix Skipper, who ran down to help. Rection barely nailed a moonsault on Duggan and won.
Winner and New WCW United States Champion: Gen. Rection in 10:06
I feel like WCW ran the handicap or tag matches for singles titles angle very often. This lasted too long, was bad outside of Lance Storm’s work and had a mostly dead crowd outside of typical patriotic chants. Even Schiavone looked bored afterwards. ¼*
Jeff Jarrett vs. Sting
This couldn’t be as bad as the previous few matches right? Sting got an advantage early on until someone dressed as old school surfer Sting appeared in the aisle. I thought the fake Sting angle died with the nWo. Sting left the ring to brawl with him and took him out. The fight moved to the crowd where a second surfer Sting showed up. He looked horrendous. Sting kicked his ass and a THIRD fake Sting showed up. What the hell am I watching? The Wolfpac music hit and Wolfpac Sting showed up. Oh what the fuck? It finally caught up to Sting and allowed Jarrett to get in the driver’s seat. Sting rallied and applied the Scorpion Death Lock only for a fifth Sting to come up through the ring and pull him under. No worries, Sting came back up seconds later and dumped out the new Sting, who was covered in blood. The lights went out and a SIXTH Sting showed up, only to get his ass kicked too. Sting #5 made it back in and hit Sting with a guitar, but he no sold it and laid him out. Finally, Jarrett got his own guitar, with tons of shards in the ring and the referee felt that didn’t warrant a DQ.
Winner: Jeff Jarrett in 14:39
Why? Seriously, just why? This screams Vince Russo. So much overbooking nonsense. Six Stings was too way too much, it went on for the entire match and Jarrett came off looking like a complete joke. At least it was more entertaining than the last few matches in a train wreck kind of way. ½*
WCW World Heavyweight Championship
Booker T (c) vs. Scott Steiner w/ Midajah
WCW was still paying Michael Buffer too much money to do shitty introductions. Steiner attacked a production guy backstage because he was upset about not being in the main event. Booker tried to get the crowd into it early but there was next to no heat for this one. Steiner jawed with fans, even going over the railing. He hit Booker with a chair, but no DQ was called. Steiner put Booker through a table and was in firm control. So much so that he did his trademark pushups. Booker did the babyface rally but Steiner kicked out of his finish. Steiner used a pipe on Booker, but no DQ was called. He hung Charles Robinson in the tree of woe and guess what? No DQ. More referees showed up until one finally called for the DQ.
Winner via disqualification: Booker T in 13:27
So Scott Steiner didn’t want to become World Champion? They were sluggish for most of the match and this had no flow to it at all. And of course, in classic WCW fashion, the finish was extremely blah.¾*
Goldberg vs. Kronik
So it’s a handicap match and, a storyline was in place that said Goldberg’s next loss would result in him getting fired. Kronik showed up and wanted a forfeit. At the perfect time, doctors showed up in the back to clear Goldberg. He showed up and Kronik double teamed him a bit. Never fear, Goldberg quickly rallied and speared Adams through a table. He pinned him but also had to pin Clarke, who full nelson slammed him. Again, never fear. Goldberg speared him and won via Jackhammer.
Winner: Goldberg in 3:24
Okay, so we’re just going to end the PPV with a squash match? The new streak reached 14-0 and it did so in dreadful fashion. ¼*
Overall: 1.5/10; Horrible. Oh my goodness. WCW 2000 again brings me one of the worst Pay-Per-Views of all time. Seriously, this is abysmal. It’s like WCW was purposely putting on the worst possible shows. Think about this. The first two matches combined for five and a half stars. The next nine managed two and a half and I might have been generous. Never watch this show. It is absolutely dire. My next “Random Network Review” is scheduled to be Clash of the Champions XXVII!
