Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal! WCW Halloween Havoc 1992 Review

[@LurksQED]

About the NWA title match: The problem wasn't that the mustache was the source of Rude's power, it's that Chono broke his neck a month earlier and had no business returning to the ring this fast. You know that time Steve Austin broke his neck with a piledriver? Yeah, this was that. It's a shame, since the last Rude/Chono match before this was really good.

[@wazzer912]

That explains the excessive rest holds

[@bigitaly4554]

And Chono was still taking piledrivers 😳

[@nemopouncey3827]

everybody want's ric flair.

[@Menoman235]

@@KHLB516 tell that to Kurt Angle 💀

[@iangray1980]

@@KHLB516 sure you can lmao what

[@spoogtastic]

Whoever played that rib on Teddy Long, bravo. Great rib.

[@kevinramsey417]

The mini-movie was way better than the actual match. I mean, come on. Jake and Sting with laser eyes and Cheatum the Freaking Evil One-Eyed Freaking Dwarf! You can't beat that.

[@inakigiron]

They set the expectations too damn high!

[@honestreviewer7788]

they had me at one eyed midget

[@nemopouncey3827]

WCW discovered CGI. fascinating.

[@nemopouncey3827]

that's some DBZ mess.

[@nemopouncey3827]

bill watts is a madman.

[@Billy-ot8mk]

Jake and Sting shooting eyebeams at each other are hilarious.

[@whobitmyname]

Hilariously bad-ass and cool.

[@DasNordlicht91]

Cool enough for WCW/nWo Revenge to lift it for their intro, with Sting and Hollywood Hogan shooting lasers at each other.

[@nemopouncey3827]

that's some superhero b.s.

[@NcWcN1]

@@DasNordlicht91 IKR? Although I'm pretty sure that THQ/AKI did this bit totally coincidental.

[@crismartinez1642]

I was dying when they did that💀

[@tafua_a]

12:33 Remember that classic ECW review where you were confused as to why Elektra was dissing Paul Heyman for being a "man, man, man" after joining Lou E's Dangerous Alliance? Here's why.

[@thepassingstatic6268]

Dammit, that's some deep seeded lore right there

[@erikstorm8935]

Long term booking? xD

[@tafua_a]

@@erikstorm8935 It's ECW, the place that managed to unite chatroom nerds with jack-ass frat boys under one banner.

[@Adam-kn3tv]

​@@thepassingstatic6268seated

[@sunshineholmes3487]

It doesn't matter what company JR works for, he has always enjoyed his passive aggressive jabs at the competition.

[@erikstorm8935]

Didnt he go to work for WWF just the following year? LOL

[@HansGruberfan]

Jr made his debut with the war in April 1993.

[@juststatedtheobvious9633]

From what I've heard, nobody wanted to lose to Simmons, and that forced them to dig deep into the roster to make his reign look legitimate. So kudos to Foley and Barbarian, at least. And Vader, too.

[@denniswilliams6519]

A real one step forward two steps back scenario. Fuck anyone who didn't want to job to Simmons.

[@mattdoesthatLIVE]

A Prince of Darkness match is clearly where they cut off all the lights in the arena and do karaoke to their favorite Prince songs. then the crowd votes by applause.

[@TheMickery]

A Prince of Darkness match is an Ozzy on a Pole match, obviously.

[@devious_graves]

Wouldn't it be ozzy on a forklift Ala Judy Bagwell on a forklift? Or because Judy was a full figured woman that's the only thing that would hold her? 🤔

[@redbigun]

Bro.

[@kevin2400]

The prince of darkness match is where you pick an ozzy record of your choice and just headbang until the opponent can’t take it anymore

[@adamntcaponewholikesbigcoo1749]

@@kevin2400 Is Viagra on a pole also involved?

[@testshietchannel]

Well, duuuuuuh 🤷‍♀️

[@ThrashAD720]

The Rude vs. Chono match was The Finals of the 1992 G1 Climax for those wondering.

[@DoncoEntAgain]

That was a much better match, they actually tried in that one.

[@mcgannahanskyjellyfetti6854]

@@tomtanaka841 Thanks to Mr. Steve Austin, the guy who WHINED and BITCHED about Owen Hart who did that to him five years later...

[@TravJam317]

The "Prince of Darkness" match was Kevin Sullivan's version of a blindfold match. I remember he and Jimmy Garvin having one at the 88 Crockett Cup. So it could have definitely been worse than the Coal Miner's Glove match.

[@danc3488]

Yeahhhhh...Wrestlemania 7. Jake's blindfold match. Ooof....

[@DasNordlicht91]

I’m assuming “Prince of Darkness” would be some sort of fancy, spooky name for a Blindfold Match.

[@kurtvanderbogarde8402]

as done by Jimmy Garvin and Kevin Sullivan at the 1988 Crockett Cup

[@BigMExpress]

The Saturday Night match where Dustin and Barry win the unified titles is amazing.

[@benespinosa6725]

Lol Brian's impersonation of Bill watts was spot On awesome Review Brian

[@TheMKZero]

The sidebars being Sting and Roberts shooting eye lasers was already perfect, the obvious sidebar choice. But "The FreeHorse Express" line sealed it, new favorite classic review.

[@JohnTravolta62435]

The Bill Watts impression of killing off the LHW division had me dying hahaha

[@SteeleZack]

I never got the shoot reason for no mats outside the ring.

[@rickyrosay33977]

​@SteeleZack according to him mats are for pu**ies real men take drops on the ground

[@phantomdriver2010]

The way Cactus says "I'm not a manager" just cracks me up

[@tafua_a]

Evil Cactus Jack (aka Paul Bearer) be like: "I'm not a rassler"

[@maskedsonja5722]

You are just totally nailing my days of buying PWI magazine and reading about these events! Thank you so much, its interesting now seeing these cards from an older (not necessarily wiser lol) viewpoint.

[@JMFabiano]

Speaking of PWI....THE BARBARIAN, A WORLD TITLE CONTENDER?!!?

[@jayonnaise6105]

If nothing else, I have to admire the commitment in going with the "Coal Miner's Glove" match. Still can't fathom how it ended up on the wheel to begin with though hehe

[@fattiger6957]

Watts was a notorious old-school guy with all his weird rules he institutes when he took over WCW. Brian did say the match was popular with the old-school fans. Watts probably didn't realize that modern audience wouldn't care about such a match.

[@jayonnaise6105]

@@fattiger6957 That's pretty interesting. I wouldn't have thought that it was a somewhat established match with a history. On paper, it just sounds to me like the kind of thing they made up because they needed to fill the wheel

[@ilGardo01]

@@jayonnaise6105 don't remember if was Jim Cornette or Dutch Mantell, but either of them explained in their podcast that the origin of the coal miner's glove match is simply that in mining cities the glove used to be a common object in the same way in Texas the bullrope was common, hence the gimmick.

[@jayonnaise6105]

@@ilGardo01 Fair enough. That's more reason than I would have thought there'd be

[@PaleHorseShabuShabu]

One of my friend's parents bought this PPV. When the wheel was spun, my buddy's dad asked, "What the fuck is a coal miner's glove match?"

[@G33kCulture]

You really need to have a Jesse Ventura character on your show. Your impression of him is wicked good.

[@WrestlingWithWregret]

Thank you!

[@enigmaskull3495]

16:37 At least Cactus Jack admits to not having a manager’s license.

[@WildSide_Est2024]

Brian casually dropping a pitch perfect Jesse the Body impression at 3:30 is amazing.

[@rickyrosay33977]

That was such a random thing Jesse said

[@c71score]

My Dad was WAAAAY ahead of the curb. He always called generic/"Great Value" things "white label" because off-brand groceries used to come in a white label. Z-Man he always called a white label wrestler, Johnny Gunn white label Z-Man, and Douglas was white label Buddy Landel. Even at 10 years old, I couldn't root for the white label dorks and my Dad was over the moon because I was pulling for Arn Anderson. One of my all-time favorite wrestling moments was when Madusa jumped Paul E, then Vader and Harley both noped out right away. That was actually when I started to root for Vader and he eventually became my favorite wrest(and still all-time fav).

[@maxwhite4824]

Crazy timing. The same bump that ended Nikita Koloff's career in this PPV, just injured Adam Page last night.

[@BenGetItIn]

Koloff said he got a neck hernia during the match trying to lift Vader. It's in his Hannibal TV shoot.

[@ramseywilliams8843]

I was just looking to see if anyone else said this

[@donmerrittino9897]

My uncle (who was ahead of the curve at the time) used cable PPV and a VHS (remember those?) to record this PPV and give it to me as a gift. I can still remember the whole Coal Miner's Glove match

[@erikstorm8935]

Whats a VHS? Is it one of those things where you have to rewind and fast forward to get to where you want? Just kidding. I remember it. OH GOD IM GETTING OLD.

[@apersononyoutube1994]

Ah, Ron Simmons got the Kofi Kingston run of Big Win followed by fighting midcarders that everyone knows won't win the belt while also not main eventing anything. Excellent.

[@phildicks4721]

Biggest misuse of a talent. Ron Simmons had charisma, was gokd on the mic, and was damn good in the ring. It was like they only booked Ron winning the belt then afterwards was like, "Oh shit! What now!". I'm wondering though, if this was shortly before Watts got fired, and Ron became lost in the aftermath of the firing and treated as an afterthought by the booking comittee.

[@david-468]

@@phildicks4721it was that and that Ron was green and dangerous, just like Vader, sure they both had long careers but they took countless opponents careers with them

[@Merricat_likesu]

I think in TNA the first blindfold cage match between Dustin Rhodes and Bobby Roode was a “prince of darkness” match. The fact that the phrase “first blindfold cage match” exists is just baffling to me

[@chaospoet]

I thought it meant blind fold match as well. That was my first thought anyway.

[@kurtvanderbogarde8402]

Yes it's a blindfold match. Named after Kevin Sullivan. He had one with Jim Garvin at the 1988 Crocket Cup early in their feud.

[@kurtvanderbogarde8402]

@@chaospoet correct! Blindfold match just like Jake and Rick at WM7 but this was Kevin Sullivan vs Jm Garvin at Crockett Cup '88 before Sullivan started perving on Precious.

[@jonathanturbide2232]

The FreeHorse Express....that's gold Brian! 😀

[@KidGravityBeyond]

Sting had a bad time in terms of weird feuds and storylines until Vader got there.

[@thepolarphantasm2319]

He did get eye lasers out of it though

[@mrlaidback83]

Kinda like how The Undertaker was part of that lame ass feud against Money Inc until Mankind got there

[@richardtheconquerer]

@@mrlaidback83 that the Undertaker survived 1992-95 at all is a miracle and a testament to how over his character was on its own. He had some lame opponents then. Also helped his initial heel run for that first year was really good.

[@mrterp04]

5:07 great Bill Watts impression!

[@TheCeltic91]

Grizzly Smith showing up is a major yikes 😬

[@billblaski9523]

Why?

[@MissAlmostFine]

@@billblaski9523 He's a pedophile.

[@edgecrusher018]

@@billblaski9523he was an absolute fucking monster.

[@ericmonaco4509]

​@@edgecrusher018 And a Pedo

[@jayharv285]

​@@billblaski9523that's Jake Roberts father and he was a serious piece of shit. There's a dark side of the ring or I think a thing on him and man the story is just yikes

[@Crowbar11115]

The "Flying Nothing" line gets m every time.

[@kinggreatness2355]

6:35 Teddy Long , rocking the saints row, struggling with names. Priceless! 😆

[@jeremyc9593]

Struggling? He nailed it! Konsuke Sasaki and Mr. Chono.

[@vanderful2397]

I just love how people still remember Saints Rows. I know the remake is quite new, but most of the franchise was ps3/xbox360 era & people still talk about them. Great games! "As you wait a loose flagstone falls from the ceiling. It lands on your head and breaks your neck."

[@toptenguy1]

I do remember as a 13 year old kid being psyched about this triple main event! It might not have delivered in the ring, but I remember the build up being pretty solid!

[@chaospoet]

Agreed. I was 11 and the hype was real.

[@whobitmyname]

I remember my dad taping this on PPV for me back then, and the damn tape ran out just as Jake took the cobra to the face. I was so pissed. My guess for the Prince of Darkness match (if there had been any possibility they booked it) would be a hood match a-la Jake-Martel at Mania VII. What a main event that would have been.

[@wtfaiwpodcast]

Just looked it up. It seems that you're correct. Two guys in hoods. I'd like to see a tag team Prince of Darkness match. The clownshoes energy would be amazing.

[@whobitmyname]

@@wtfaiwpodcast Well, that'll be my W for today then! It just sounded like the kind of showy name they would give some basic stip match. Omigod imagine the hot tags, lmao.

[@freakshowfilmfestival3591]

@@whobitmyname Good guess. I feel like the coal miner's glove match is also a Jake thing. So it's like matches tailored to Jake.

[@BClarke]

Didn’t Kevin Sullivan and Jimmy Garvin have a series of Prince of Darkness hood matches a couple years before this?

[@whobitmyname]

@@BClarke dammit KZbin, find these matches!

[@adamcahn82]

The prince of darkness match ends with Vince coming out and saying “It was me Austin.” and Austin saying”What?”

[@toptenguy1]

A young Vince Russo was watching this and was THRILLED that the wheel landed on a "Something on a Pole" match!

[@BmanTheChamp]

"Bro, I'm telling you, that was the best match ever, bro!"

[@michaelsinger4638]

Never thought there’d be a PPV where Chono vs. Rude and Sting vs. Roberts would be the worst matches on the card.

[@martincann5052]

Clearly, the Prince of Darkness match would've involved a giant canister of green goo, of course.

[@VeritasAbsoluta]

And Alice Cooper

[@martincann5052]

@@VeritasAbsoluta Yes, with a bicycle.

[@JustJulyo]

How can only 1 person request this glorious ppv?

[@joshjohnson6891]

How the heck can Rick Rude be the man's man without that amazing mustache?!

[@negangrimes82]

He actually paid Del Wilkes for the gimmick rights.

[@jb888888888]

Wilkes claimed Brandi stole it, Brandi claimed he bought it off Wilkes. We will likely never which if either is true.

[@187alan]

Interesting fact: The Honky Tonk Man owned the Patriot gimmick. When talking briefly talking the Patriot reminded me of it.

[@Tatt2edBonez]

My first PPV I ever watched as a kid. Shoutout to those old school video stores back in the day.

[@erikstorm8935]

Especially those mom n pop ones. They had all sorts of wrestling hidden gems!

[@jeremyc9593]

Wow. I've always heard that the Watts era was a mess, but this was insane. Seems like all of the stories just reached dead ends.

[@B0110CK5]

"Spin the wheel Sting! Otherwise we'll feed Lex to Damien!" (hard-cut to Lex selling for Damien) " *OH!* "

[@tafua_a]

(Damien gently lays on Lex) Lex: *OOOOOOAAAAOOHHH!!!*

[@thomasmeyer6407]

I am really enjoying your early nineties WCW Reviews. Keep 'em coming!

[@wolvie667]

Most people might know Sasaki as Power Warrior in NJPW, the partner of Hawk in the Hell Raisers (version of LOD when Animal hurt his back and Sasaki replaced him)

[@johnscafide275]

Gotta mention The Blue Meanie next to the fan who threw the bottle at Vader @8:36

[@johnscafide275]

Nevermind. I continued watching.

[@jayb-clay2724]

Vader lookin like Diego meeting Derek Forreal in Blow for the first time shaking Madusa's hand 🤣🤣

[@Neufutur]

WCW's fever dream before 2001.

[@UndergroundSkat2000]

Love these throwback WCW reviews! I especially love ppvs in Philly always entertaining

[@TheAlan136]

Rick Rude without his mustache is like Andre without his black singlet or Ultimate Warrior without his face paint. It just doesn’t seem right.

[@anthonyteague1067]

Rude with body hair seems off as well. I'm not a queer but I liked rude smooth on tv lol 😆

[@phillipcollins1658]

The "Prince of Darkness" match was just Charlie Murphy as special guest referee.

[@riotd.r.8363]

This is my earliest memory of Jake Roberts. Not the best, but I was 5 so...

[@michaelmclaren1333]

Dr death Steve Williams was 31 here! Lmao the man would look 50 for 30 years lol

[@Wonderful_Productions]

The amount of legendary and infamous names (for better or worse) that appear on this PPV is insane!

[@Independentfellow]

This is a really good ppv! Before Hogan came and made everything about him, wcw had a solid roster.

[@violagreene4643]

You give the crowd an all-star tag team and expect them to boo them? Not gonna happen. Even as heels Anderson, Eaton, and Hayes always drew at least the respect of the fans who appreciated wrestling. Free Horse Express was guaranteed to be over.

[@michaelgriffith5747]

The most devastating move in all of pro wrestling... the flying nothing

[@jzwawa]

Forgive me if this was already said, but Brian said that they barely mentioned the relationship between Butch Reed & Ron Simmons. For those who don’t know, they were previously NWA/WCW Tag Team Champions as the team Doom. Just thought that was worth a mention 😊

[@davidberry8097]

Doom managed by Woman then later Teddy Long. Good old days.. I remember the Simmons Vs Reed feud after they split well, Teddy in the little cage above the ring and all in one match.

[@brutefarce1593]

Gonna thank you for the video before I even watch it... I know it's going to be good. Glad you're continuing to pump out the material... it's always a fun watch!

[@speedcola4378]

Jake Roberts is one of my favorites of all time, and boy is it painful to have to sit and watch his many many fails

[@solsticelacer]

The snake was like "gross, I don't want to eat your mustache Jake"

[@paulweston8408]

So glad to hear the feared Shinonomaki make a return during the Ron Simmons vs The Barbarian match. When I got cable around 1980 my favorite heel on Georgia Championship Wrestling was The Mongolian Stomper! To 14 year old me nobody was scarier than him. I used to practice his feared Shinonomaki on my friends whenever we would wrestle against each other. I knew wrestling was "fake" but know a lot of the holds really worked if you actually put pressure on when using it. It always made me sad that I never got my friend to pass out even if I gave maximum effort. That said: Kids, DON'T be an idiot like me. You can really hurt someone. If you wrestle with your friends, remember it's a WORK!!! DON'T ACTUALLY TRY AND HURT SOMEONE!

[@redbigun]

Is that spin the wheel, make the deal thing a Thunderdome reference?

[@tafua_a]

Ah, the Coal Miner's Glove match: the match so exciting that when people asked Sting what he thought about it, he answered by talking about a completely different match.

[@spanky9676]

Jake was probably so high, he thought he could actually shoot laser beams

[@silverback9572]

That’s Philadelphia for you, one of the most hardcore crowds

[@primusvsunicron1]

We need a spooky Halloween Havoc playlist

[@PaleHorseShabuShabu]

You can search through his videos and get every HH review pretty easily.

[@Nazzlover38]

The 'Prince of Darkness' match is where you have to throw your opponent through a mirror. Basically taking this from Carpenter's film of the same name.

[@timwright3218]

Fans recognized the STF because Eric Watts was also using it as his finisher at the time. It was just nice to see someone who knew what they were doing use the move.

[@stephengorney5613]

For 30 years I have wondered if the wheel was gimmicked to land on a specific match and if so WHY WHY WHY did they pick the WORST possible match

[@dkupke]

Blew the budget on the movie

[@fattiger6957]

Yeah, I could see that only working if the wheel was gimmicked. But if it was gimmicked, I would have expected them to pick a more exciting match.

[@jayharv285]

@@fattiger6957 it was gimmicked I believe because bill watts was a very old school guy who liked these weird stipulation matches so I can see how this wheel could be gimmicked

[@fattiger6957]

@@jayharv285 Then I guess the only explanation for the match they did choose was Bill Watts being out of touch with modern audiences.

[@jayharv285]

@@fattiger6957 he usually was out of touch.

[@CoalMinersGlove92]

Hey its me!! Ugh wish I could be attached to a better show but at least my match was fun. Bill Watts used to tell me I was his favorite gimmick.. lol

[@labeled1]

I LOLd at "Jacob the Snacob."

[@bad-people6510]

The joke is harmed a little by the fact that Doctor Death is the reason he changed his ring name to Austin in the first place.

[@FIXTREME]

"Tonight, it's going to be Mr. Ken Sooki Suhsake and Uh- Mr. Chono in a tag team match!"

[@claymathewselevator8121]

Speaking of Vlad the super fan I still want to see that documentary about him

[@anthonyteague1067]

I wanna know where his money comes from. I'm guessing ssi cause he seems mildly retarded.

[@ottagol1985]

So do I!

[@Thetoon25]

Prince of Darkness match = Blind-fold match (WrestleMania VII - Rick and Jake)

[@RC99_Productions]

Whenever I think of a "Prince Of Darkness Match", I am always remembered of that terrible one TNA did at Lockdown 2007 between Chris Harris and James Storm. They had an absolutely awful Prince Of Darkness Six Sides Of Steel Cage Match where the hoods/blindfolds kept coming off and, apparently, the ones that were ready to go before the show were so awful that Johnny Devine made new ones and those were the ones used in the match...... at least Harris and Storm had an amazing Texas Deathmatch a month later at Sacrifice.

[@francoisdesbiens2787]

The Prince of Darkness match is very simple: the loser of the match has to suck a green goo locked in a large container and become possessed by the Anti-God until the blow-off match at Starrcade. Couldn’t be simpler 👹🫙

[@JohnSmith-ry7wh]

Lol this was my first thought.

[@overmused]

Dustin and Barry Windham's feud is one of the first rivalries I can remember in wrestling. I was such a fan of the two of them and their break up angle ruined my lil heart.

[@nastyvandal]

Your Bill Watts impression LOOOOOOOOOOOOOL😂

[@beaupierrebondurant5651]

The high point of Jake's run in WCW was that attack on Sting.m

[@dbone3356]

I have been waiting for this for years. If I wasn't already subbed, I would be after this.

[@JDotWill]

The Horsemen & the Midnight Express were over like God in Philly. That’s why the first match got the reaction it did, because of Arn & Bobby

[@YellowLegoSpaceman]

A prince of darkness match probably consists of facing Finn Balor with Ozzy Osborne playing in the background

[@YellowLegoSpaceman]

Hey Z man you got some fraud trying to scam people here!

[@guillermosierracuellar9812]

Forget shutterspeed WCW mini movies were the beginning of sting's acting career

[@s0uthpaw7]

14:58 Ravishing Rick Rude chin loooock...

[@theshapeeternal_8388]

Whoa! I had rewind to hear that Jesse Ventura impression again! That was awesome!

[@bertdavis1037]

Dude. Your impression of Jesse Ventura is spot on!! Same as your Cap't Lou, lol.

[@mikejackson1003]

"Stings like 'cool, see you later!" 😂😂😂😂

[@cxgrosskreutz7213]

I remember hearing Dustin Rhodes talking about the Prince of Darkness Match years ago and appearently they had a black medieval mask/helmet (something like in the count of Monte Cristo) and in order to win, you would have to put your opponents head into the helmet and close it with a padlock.

[@UndergroundSkat2000]

I was expecting Brian to mention this was pre-Russo era WCW, coal miner glove "on a pole bro I swear to God bro"

[@jimmylarson7856]

Hat guy was at most Philly shows, wwf and WCW before and during ecw. He’s also at Halloween Havoc 89 in Philly

[@jknight1984]

Practically in the exact same spot too, regardless of event or arena. Thats meticulous planning to a tee.

[@bustersales6921]

Also, WHY IS THIS GUY MAKING THE BARBARIAN TITLE SHOT SEEM NORMAL!?!? This is literally the most talked about thing about this PPV

[@carlosmoreno914]

Dang it that's staying in my head "evil evil Grizzly Smith" 😅

[@johnlindsay4310]

It's funny that Shane Douglas got booed out of the building at the two Halloween Havocs in Philadelphia, only to then become an icon in ECW.

[@TheKZOShow]

It's funny looking at Rick Rude in WCW after his long and brilliant mullet was cut off. He just looks so different. He moves the same, has the same great look and all that but his long hair jus made him look so much different and so too did his moustache. Love his work and always have but my mind just can't figure it out when he's wrestling in the early 90's WCW XD

[@tokusatsunerd]

Judging from its name, I wouldn't be surprised if the "Prince of Darkness" match turned out to be a blindfold match.