Leighty’s Retro Review: WCW Halloween Havoc 1997

-Our look back twenty-five continues with this show. Halloween Havoc was an amazing name for a show and I love that it has returned with the NXT shows. It always had a big time feel and the Halloween theme only added to what made the even special. Let’s get to it!

-Announce Team: Tony Schiavone, Dusty Rhodes, and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
-Location: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, NV
-Date: Oct 26, 1997
-Attendance: 12,457
-PPV Buys: 405,000 (2nd most for WCW in 1997)

Yuji Nagata (w/ Sonny Onoo) vs. Ultimo Dragon

-Mike Teeny has joined the broadcast booth and will be here for the next three matches.  Yuji catches a kick and tries a go behind, but Dragon gets to the ropes.  Yuji pulls him off and gets a side headlock.  Dragon gets a running shoulder block and a heel trip.  Nagata back with a waist lock into a release German Suplex and this crowd is pissed.  Hot crowd!  Dragon back with rapid fire kicks to pop the crowd.  Dragon charges again, but gets caught with a reverse chinlock that is transitioned into a neck crank.  Tenay mentions this is the second meeting between these two with the first coming when Nagata was early in his career.  Nagata fires away with his own kicks and gets a Camel Clutch.  He drops Dragon on his head for a two count.  He muscles Dragon over with a suplex for another two count.  Nagata stomps Dragon in the face and clowns him a bit as he poses over his body.  Nasty kick to the chest and Dragon tells him to bring it on, so Nagata hits him again.  Dragon wants it again and this time catches the leg and gets a Dragon Screw Legwhip.  Dragon sends Nagata to the floor and tries to spring out, but Nagata catches him with a kick on the way down.  Raven and his Flock walk down through the crowd and to their seats.  As the camera was focused on him, Dragon turned the tide and gets the Asai Moonsault.  Back in the ring Nagata blocks a handspring elbow with a well placed knee to the back.  Nice!  They fight up top and Dragon gets a sunset flip into a powerbomb for two.  Sweet!  Slam from Dragon and he comes off the top with a moonsault for two.  This crowd is popping for everything.  Chops from Dragon in the corner and they head back up top again.  Nagata lands an elbow and drops Dragon’s arm across the steel support off the turnbuckle.  Heavy kicks from Nagata as he works the arm.  He plants Dragon arm first on the mat and gets a sweet overhead release belly to belly suplex.  This match is rocking!  Nagata goes to The Nagata Lock which focuses on the knee which is weird considering all the work on the arm.  Dragon gets to the ropes to break and then reverses a hold into The Dragon Sleeper.  Nagata forces a break, but gets caught with an enziguiri.  They trade blows in the middle of the ring from their knees.  Rapid fire kicks again from Dragon as he continues to sell the elbow.  They head back up and Dragon snaps off a top rope rana.  He goes back to The Dragon Sleeper, but has nothing behind it due to the arm and Nagata reverses into an armbar and Dragon immediately taps at 9:54. 

Winner: Yuji Nagata via pin at 9:54
-This was great as they went all out for 10 minutes.  Nagata found an opening as he damaged the arm and it ended up costing Dragon.  ***3/4

-Sonny and Nagata get in some shots after the match and Nagata collects a bonus from Sonny for finally getting revenge for Sonny against Dragon. 

-Back to the internet table where Mark Madden is interviewing Disco Inferno.  Jackie storms in and attacks Disco.  They face each other later on. 

Gedo vs. Chris Jericho

-“Break the Walls Down” is dubbed in over Jericho’s WCW music again.  These are old rivals from WAR from what I have read over the years.  Tenay covers that for us just as I finish typing.  Jericho offers a clean break in the corner so Gedo slaps him in the face.  Jericho comes back with a dropkick and Gedo bails to the floor to regroup.  Back in the ring Jericho gets a whip into the corner and catches Gedo with a back elbow.  Delayed vertical suplex from Jericho gets two after he takes a few minutes to showboat for the crowd.  Chops from Jericho followed by a shoulder tackle.  Gedo tries to throw Jericho to the floor, but Jericho skins the cat.  Gedo greets him with a clothesline to send him over the top to the floor.  Back in the ring Jericho gets a boot up in the corner, but runs into a powerslam that gets two for Gedo.  He covers again and Jericho kicks out easily.  Sleeper hold, but Jericho gets Gedo on his back and drops backwards to break.  Lariat from Jericho.  He plants Gedo with a powerbomb, but instead of releasing picks him up again for another one for two.  Jericho preps for a superplex after a slap to the face but opts for a super rana from the top and it goes horribly as they crash and burn.  That was awful and thankfully, they are both back up on their feet.  Jericho tries to spring to the floor and gets kicked on the way down.  Back in the ring Gedo goes after the knee and drops Jericho off his shoulders right on the knee.  Gedo up, but Jericho swats him away and finishes with The Lion Tamer at 7:19. 

Winner: Chris Jericho via submission at 7:19
-Solid match that was hurt by the botched Top Rope Frankensteiner.  Finish came out of nowhere as well.  This was okay.  **1/2

-Gene is backstage with Debra.  Mongo barges in and runs her down.  He wants the diamond ring and credit cards back.  Mongo faces a mystery opponent chosen by Debra later in the show. 

WCW Cruiserweight Championship vs. Rey’s Mask: Eddie Guerrero (c) vs. Rey Mysterio Jr

-Here we go!  Eddie is the ultimate dick heel coming into this one and Rey is rocking his famous Phantom gear.  This match is rather famous and let’s see how it holds up.  The crowd immediately starts a loud “Eddie Sucks” chant.  Eddie talks shit to start and takes a wild swing that misses.  Rey goes for a quebrada, but gets caught so he turns it into an arm drag.  They start flying all over the place and Eddie ends up on the floor.  Rey looks to fly, but tries a fake and lands on the apron, so Eddie just pulls him off by the legs and tosses him into the stairs.  He hits a sweet slingshot senton back in the ring and the crowd is pissed.  Rey back with a perfectly placed dropkick, but he tries a handspring and gets caught with a belly to back suplex.  Tenay tells us Rey is 8-0 in matches where his mask is on the line.  Sick looking tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets two for Eddie.  Eddie tears at the mask to be a bigger dick.  He hooks an abdominal stretch and tears at the mask again.  He lifts Rey up and drops him back first on his knee and that gets two.  Eddie tries to hold Rey’s shoulders down and gets two.  Another try and again a two count.  Rey fights off his back and gets to his feet, springs to the ropes and backflips into a DDT.  THAT IS INSANE!  Dropkick sends Eddie to the floor, but Eddie is one step ahead as he rushes back into the ring and dropkicks Rey off the apron.  He heads back out and sends Rey into the security rail.  Back in Eddie goes to a camel clutch and tears at the mask.  Eddie releases and gets a Gory Special.  Rey turns it into an arm drag, but Eddie is right back on him with a basement dropkick to the neck.  Nasty!  He drops Rey with a shoulder breaker and hooks a modified bow and arrow on the mat.  Tenay is just spouting off all kinds of history and Heenan wants him to tell him something he doesn’t know.  I appreciate the history which is helping the story of this match and the importance of the stakes.  They battle in the corner as Rey fires back with right hands and chops.  Eddie cuts him off again and tosses him to The Tree of Woe.  Eddie with a dropkick, but Rey lifts himself up and Eddie slides balls first into the ring post.  Good thing for him it was padded by Slim Jim.  Rey off the top over the post onto Eddie.  He fires him back inside where Eddie tries another tilt-a-whirl, but Rey lands on his feet and snaps off a rana for two.  The crowd is rocking with them now!  Rey gets a version of what would become the 6-1-9 and turns it into a head scissors that sends Eddie to the floor.  REY SOMERSAULTS OVER THE TOP ONTO EDDIE AND TURNS THAT INTO A RANA!  UNREAL!  Back in the ring Rey gets a corkscrew moonsault followed by a slam and tries a split legged moonsault, but Eddie blocks with his knees.  Eddie powerbombs the piss out of Rey, but it only gets two.  “Eddie Sucks.”  That powerbomb was awesome!  Eddie charges and gets alley-ooped into the top buckle.  Spinwheel kick from Rey and he sets for the springboard rana, but Eddie catches him on the way down with a backbreaker.  Frogsplash is missed, but Eddie sets Rey up top.  He gets an elbow and looks for a top rope Razor’s Edge, but Rey turns it into a rana on the way down and hooks the legs for the pin and title at 13:51. 

Winner and New WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Rey Mysterio via pin at 13:51
-I mean, what can you say about this one?  It’s still awesome and they do things that still haven’t been done twenty-five years later.  Both men spent years trying to match this and that’s an insanely high bar to reach.  Still awesome and the 1997 Match of the Year for WCW.  *****

-Gene plugs the hotline!

-Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan are backstage.  Bischoff breaks the news that Hogan isn’t wrestling tonight unless WCW can provide a legal contract that Sting won’t be in the building. 

Steve McMichael vs. Alex Wright (w/ Debra)

-The announcers are more focused on Hogan threatening to no-show to show you how much this match means.  The crowd is into it though as they get on Alex Wright’s case.  Wright works the arm, but Mongo reverses and gets a slam for two.  Wright bails to the floor as the announcers continue talking about Hogan.  Someone holds up an APW sign and for a second I thought it was a time traveler with an AEW sign.  Wright goes back to the arm and stomps Mongo down.  That goes on for a bit as all we hear about is Hogan, Sting, and Piper.  Mongo reverses and drops an elbow.  He drops some knees on the arm, but gets caught with a shot to the ribs.  European uppercuts from Wright to regain control.  Side headlock from Alex.  Mongo shoves off and the collide in the middle of the ring.  Another go and Wright gets a shoulder block and lays in more kicks.  Another side headlock and Mongo escapes and gets a hiptoss.  Scoop slam from Mongo and another.  Wright bumps like crazy off a shot into the turnbuckle.  Mongo gets caught with a boot in the corner and Wrights hits a heel kick.  The botch something so Mongo just hits a knee.  Tombstone, but Debra distracts the ref.  Goldberg (still a newbie) is here and spears Mongo and hits a Jackhammer while the ref has to pretend to not hear or see.  Goldberg deadlifts Wright and puts him on top of Mongo for the pin at 6:32. 

Winner: Alex Wright via pin at 6:32
-Bad match that really only served to make Goldberg look impressive and that worked at least.  3/4*

-Debra gives Goldberg Mongo’s Super Bowl Ring and then he destroys Alex Wright.  The fans are already getting into Goldberg’s act and it’s only been a month or so.  Weird to see him acting like a heel, but the crowd pop showed where this was heading. 

-Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth are backstage in the nWo and he is talking about Hogan/Piper as well.  He gets to the point as DDP is a marked man and he is going to get him tonight. 

Disco Inferno vs. Jacquelyn

-Disco is the TV Champion, but the title isn’t on the line as this is non sanctioned.  Explanation is that WCW Championship Committee and Nevada State Athletic Commission wouldn’t sanction a male vs. female Title Match.  The crowd is into this one and they are rewarded for their enthusiasm with lots of stalling from Disco.  Schiavone rightly points out that Disco is in a no win situation as he shouldn’t hit a woman which begs the question: Why book the match?  Loud Disco Sucks chant from the crowd as he continues to run away and hide behind the ref.  Disco: “This is absurd.”  I agree!  Tony and Dusty continue on about Hogan threatening to walk out and Heenan mentions that if Hogan takes his boots off he won’t put them back on.  We are 3:30 into this one and nothing has happened other than the crowd entertaining themselves.  The crowd is getting annoyed now, so Jackie chases after and gets a shoulder block into a sunset flip for two.  Disco hits a drop toehold out of instinct and regrets doing it and bails to the floor again.  Jackie grabs hold and Disco protects himself with an arm drag and bails to the floor again.  Jackie gives chase as they run around the ring a bit.  Finally back in the ring Jackie catches Disco with a boot and starts throwing hammer fists to the back of his head to pop the crowd.  Disco bails again and says he is leaving.  Jackie chases him down the aisle and blasts him from behind.  Disco runs away some more, but gets caught as Jackie throws more right hands.  They collide in the middle of the ring and Disco tries another hiptoss, but Jackie lands on her feet.  She posts Disco’s balls in the corner and gets a suplex on the floor.  Back in the ring she pounds away on the back of the head again.  She hits a shoulder block and a clothesline.  She floats over and sticks Disco with a nice DDT.  Jackie heads up top and comes off with a crossbody, but Disco rolls over and gets a two count.  He argues with the ref and Jackie gets a roll-up for the pin at 9:41. 

Winner: Jacquelyn via pin at 9:41
-Lots of stalling, but that was the story of the match.  Disco didn’t want to be in this match and didn’t want to hit a woman so he did all he could to stay away from her.  The few things he did do were all basically in defense and she gets the win to make the crowd happy.  Not a good match for obvious reasons, but the crowd enjoyed it.  *1/2

WCW United States Title: Curt Hennig (c) vs. Ric Flair

-Schiavone goes on a rant against Hennig for walking out wearing Ric Flair’s robe and in nice continuity, Heenan defends him.  Flair sprints to the ring and the fight is on.  He blitzes Curt to start and sends him to the floor as the crowd Woos.  Hennig tries to regroup, but Flair attacks from behind in the aisle and lands more right hands.  Back in the ring Flair goes to the knee and wraps it around the ring post.  Again, it kind of loses the impact with the Slim Jim padding.  Back in the ring Flair starts firing off chops in the corner.  He lets loose with more right hands and more chops.  Flair puts the robe on and Hennig takes a crazy bump off a chop.  Hennig gets sent into the corner, but bounces out with a clothesline.  He gets the neck-snap and goes after Flair’s knee.  Hennig wraps Flair’s leg around the padded post as Tony and Dusty go on a massive rant about Hogan and the nWo.  Heenan tries to get things on track and they just shout him down.  Heenan finally gives in and goes on his own rant against Hogan.  Dusty finally notes they are taking away from the match in the ring.  You think?  They trade right hands, but Curt ducks a clothesline and gets a forearm to the head for two.  Hennig goes after the head (remember Curt slammed a cage door on it last month) and Flair sells it like death.  Flair Flop in the corner, but instead of running the ropes, Flair falls to the floor.  Hennig goes back to the knee and then heads back in to break the ref’s count.  I appreciate when guys remember to do that.  Flair gets sent head first into the security railing as the announcers wonder if Flair came back too soon.  Right hands from Hennig back in the ring and Flair starts to fight back with chops.  He wins the exchange and gets a backdrop, but runs into a sleeper.  Belly to back breaks, but Hennig keeps the advantage.  He tries to blast Flair with a chair, but he moves out of the way and unloads with right hands.  Flair struts and sends Hennig into the railing.  More chops!  Flair catapults Hennig into the ring post and even Schiavone has to bring up that the posts are padded though Dusty notes it doesn’t help that much.  Flair goes to the eyes so Hennig bails to the floor again and grabs The US Title as he is leaving.  Flair jumps him from behind and drops a knee to the face in the aisle.  Back in the ring and now Hennig starts throwing bombs.  He connects with a knee-lift and tries a Perfect-plex on the belt, but Flair counters with a suplex.  More chops and now Flair grabs the belt.  He ties Hennig in the Tree of Woe and wraps the US Title around his face and stomps which causes a DQ.  Flair doesn’t care though as he decks the ref and stomps on Hennig some more. 

Winner and Still US Champion: Curt Hennig via DQ at 13:57
-This was solid with them just fighting each other because it was a personal match.  Flair was more concerned with revenge which makes the ending make sense.  **1/2

-WCW officials are able to pull Flair off as nWo B Team members help Hennig to the back. 

-Back to the WCW Internet area where Randy Savage is being interviewed by Mark Madden. 

-Gene is with JJ Dillon to get to the bottom of Hogan’s threat to walk out.  Dillon announces the match will take place as advertised and that brings out Eric Bischoff.  He tells JJ he has no stroke to make this match happen.  Dillon presents Eric with a notarized document giving Hogan what he wanted and apparently that is still not good enough for Eric.  Bischoff says if Sting shows up tonight the nWo gets Nitro. 

Scott Hall (w/ Syxx) vs. Lex Luger

-Larry Zbyszko is the special ref for this one which keeps the Larry/Hall feud going. Hall throws his toothpick in Larry’s face and then gets decked by Luger before the bell. Hall backs Luger in the corner and Larry forces a break. Lockup again and now Luger backs Hall into the corner where Larry forces a break. He also yells at Syxx on the floor as well. Another lockup and Hall gets a side headlock. Luger powers his way out, but Hall pulls the hair and gets the hold locked on again. Luger escapes and we are at a stand still. They go again and Hall works the arm and shoulder. Luger reverses and gets a hammerlock, but Hall gets to the ropes to break. Hall flexes and wants a test of strength which seems pretty stupid on the surface, but as expected he was just suckering Luger in and lands a kick to the guy. He bends both of Luger’s arms behind his back and works that for a bit. Luger nearly turns it, but Hall retains the hold. Another try and this time Luger reverses and as others have pointed out it looks really dumb as Hall is holding Luger’s wrists. All he had to do was let get to escape. Luger gets the punches in the corner, but Hall brings him out with an atomic drop and hits a lariat. He chokes Luger off the middle rope as Larry gets to five, but Hall breaks. Syxx tries to get involved, but Larry catches him to stop anything from happening. Corner clothesline from Hall gets two. Very deliberate count from Larry. SOS Slam gets another deliberate two count though it was consistent. Sleeper from Hall as I guess Hall is trying something other than a pin. That goes on for a bit as Larry checks the arm. Luger powers up and gets a belly to back suplex to break and leave both men down. Hall drags himself over and gets a two count. He sends Luger to the floor and knocks him off the apron with a knee as he tries to get back in the ring. Luger gets rammed into the top buckle and Hall works him over with punches on the apron. Larry pulls Hall off as Luger was in the ropes and that leads to a shoving match. Larry gets a backdrop that sends Hall over the top to the floor. Bischoff is out and Larry decks him. Both men back in the ring and Luger starts throwing forearms and hits a running lariat. He abuses Hall’s balls with atomic drops and follows with the forearm. Bischoff gets Larry’s attention which lets Syxx land a head kick. Outsider’s Edge finishes at 12:39 even with Larry hesitating to finish the count.

-Larry wants to see the replay and of course they show Syxx getting head kick, so the match is restarted.

-Larry threatens to count Hall out so he rushes to the ring and gets caught with The Torture Rack and Larry calls for the bell, but Syxx intereferes right at the same time. I have no clue the actal result of this one as we get no announcement. Cagematch and IWD have Luger as the winner. Wikipedia has a no contest. I think it ends up being a Luger win as Larry called for the bell before Syxx attacked, so we will go with that.

Winner: Lex Luger via submission at 12:49
-This match was all about Larry and Hall which didn’t do much for Luger. It picked up towards the end but then we got the silliness with Larry asking for a replay and then not knowing the actual result. *1/2

-Syxx hits the ring and gets caught in a choke sleeper, but Hall saves. He beats Larry down enough so Eric can get a one footed pin counted by Hall so the nWo can get their heat back.

-Word War 3 commercial!

Las Vegas Death Match: Randy Savage (w/ Elizabeth) vs. Diamond Dallas Page

-This is the blow-off to the feud of the year in WCW. They have been tormenting each other for over seven months at this point as are 1-1 against each other in PPV singles matches. Death Match rules which means you need to knock your opponent down for a 10 count to get the win and anything goes. Savage stalls on the floor until Page comes out after him and the brawl is on.  Page still has his ribs tapped up.  Savage goes to the eyes with a thumb and starts firing kicks at the ribs.  Page blocks being sent into the railing and fires Savage into it.  He rips off Savage’s shirts and tosses him to the ground with it.  He makes the mistake of rolling Savage back into the ring first and Savage goes right back to the ribs.  He drops Page throat first on the top rope and starts firing off punches in the corner.  He stomps Page in the corner and uses his boot to choke and thankfully, the ref doesn’t try to stop him.  Page is up at four and unloads with rights and lefts in the corner to pop the crowd.  Savage is a pile of mush in the corner, but is up at two so Page punts him in the chest.  Double clothesline leaves both men down and the ref starts his count.  Page up first and he gets a swinging neck breaker.  He looks for a Diamond Cutter, but Savage quickly bails to the floor.  Page slingshots to the floor with a crossbody and fires Savage back into the railing.  Page gets caught on the apron and dropped throat first on the top rope.  Savage off the top with a double axe to the ribs which also sends Page crashing into the security rail.  We are only five minutes into this one and they are selling this one like the fight it is which is nice to see.  They brawl into the crowd right next to Raven and his flock.  I know we got a DDP/Raven feud, but I would have liked to see Savage/Raven.  I don’t recall a match between the two, but perhaps I am wrong.  They fight through the crowd and spill out by the entrance way.  Savage pitched into one the tombstones serving as staging.  Sure it’s basically styrofoam, but it looks ok.  Savage gets slammed through a styrofoam casket and gets something shattered over his head that has Dusty cracking up.  Heavy clothesline from Page, but Savage is back up.  Page just beats him all the way down the aisle, but Savage reverses a whip and Page goes into the railing.  Page gets sent into the steps as he takes the bump with his back.  Apparently, not good enough as Savage fires him head first into the displaced stairs.  Savage tosses Page back into the ring and then beats up a cameraman and still his camera.  He goes to use it, but Page kicks it back in Savage’s face.  According to Tony that camera was worth over $100,000.  Liz takes out the ref with a glass platter and starts choking DDP with a camera cord.  Out comes Kimberly and we get a cat fight which gets a big reaction.  I am sucker for Liz and still a smoke show during this time!  Nick Patrick is out as the ref and starts his count, but both men beat the count.  Page fires up and gets an atomic drop followed by a flapjack. Diamond Cutter is blocked as Page grabs the top rope.  Savage drags himself up top and falls off with his elbow drop right to the ribs.  Amazing selling by Savage as he looked like he was going to fall backwards off the ropes and basically fell on Page vs. jumping off like he normally would.  Savage uses the ropes to get up, but Page gets up at six.  Savage gets a slam and heads back up again.  This time it’s a much better looking elbow and again, right to the damaged ribs.  Savage is awesome!  Savage is up at five as the crowd cheers on Page.  He staggers to his feet at 9 and gets caught with a knee to the back.  Patrick gets bumped off a slam, but gets up rather easily.  Page avoids the slam and gets a Diamond Cutter which leaves both men down.  They each get up at 8 and Savage counters a Diamond Cutter with a mule kick to the balls that sends Page to the floor.  Sting (Hogan in disguise) is out and he waffles Page in the ribs with a bat.  Even the announcers aren’t buying this Fake Sting.  Patrick starts the count again and Savage is up at 8 and Page is counted out at 18:08. 

Winner: “Macho Man” Randy Savage via KO at 18:08
-This was wonderful as it was an intense, hate filled brawl that was sold by both men like a legit fight.  The finish had the expected nWo run in, but whatever.  Savage is great and his chemistry with Page was spectacular.  ****

-Savage kicks at Page as he takes his leave and the announcers pick up on the fact that it was Hogan who was pretending to be Sting.  Page gets taken out on a stretcher.  Savage makes sure to beat on Page as they wheel him out on the stretcher. 

Steel Cage Match: “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan vs. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper

-This the massive Thunder Cage that goes around the outside a bit.  It looks the old WWF Blue-Bar Cage and not the chain link one that hooks around the ring.  Piper is out with the WCW World Title even though Hogan is currently the Champion.  Hogan tries to run, but there isn’t anywhere to go so he climbs the cage.  Piper whips him with his belt and bites Hogan on the ass.  He takes a bit out of his back and then his forehead.  Hogan bails back in the ring and begs off.  Piper goes Three Stooges with an eye pole and gets an atomic drop.  Schiavone points out there is no ref in the ring or in the cage.  Which reminds me that I am not sure how one wins this match.  No way there are climbing up and over this huge structure.  They fight back on the floor and they ram each other into the steel bars.  Well, I guess you can win with escape as Hogan looks for the door, but both men end up going out.  I mean, Hogan got out first so if you can win that way, he should be declared the winner.  Hogan slams the door into Piper over and over with about half the shots making contact.  Piper gets dropped balls first on the railing and Hogan has had enough as he takes a walk.  Sting (not really) is out and points his bat at Hogan which gets him backtracking.  Piper drags Hogan back to the cage and slams the door on his back.  They head back in the ring and Hogan stumbles backwards to the floor.  Piper out after him and he fires off some right hands.  Hogan gets in a shot and sends Piper into the cage.  Hogan starts climbing and Piper heads up to meet him.  They fight up there as someone dressed like Sting heads down and stands by the other Sting.  Hogan fires Piper back into the ring and starts whipping him with his weight belt.  He chokes Piper in the corner as this crowd is dead considering the star power in the ring.  He slaps Piper around a bit and tells him, “I can do this all night long.”  So that’s where Captain America came up with that line!  Hogan actually climbs all the way up the cage, but “Sting” stops him.  That one is definitely a fake Sting.  Piper goes up and yes, this isn’t great, but credit to them for fighting on top of this thing.  I mean, one wrong slip and that fall is going to suck.  More Stings head down as they continue to fight on top of the cage.  Piper gets choked out by the top of the cage and gets pulled back to the inside.  He rallies with right hands as they head back to the ring.  Back in the ring Piper chokes Hogan with his shirt, so Hogan grabs the World Title and blasts Piper in the head.  Hogan rag dolls Piper’s head off the mat and drops the leg drop.  He calls for the ref and gets another leg drop which gets two.  Hogan calls for someone and here comes Savage.  He is a mad man and climbs to the top and comes off with a double axe that clips Hogan as Piper moved.  GOOD LORD!  I have no clue how Savage didn’t blow out both knees on that landing.  He just crumbled in a heap as he hit the mat. My knees are hurting just watching what he did. Piper gets the sleeper and Hogan is out at 13:37. 

Winner: “Rowdy” Roddy Piper via KO at 13:37
-Weird decision to go with this type of cage, but I assume they wanted something they could climb easily. This would have worked better with the classic mesh cage as a 10-12 minute hate filled, old school match. Instead they wanted the spectacle of fighting on the floor and fighting on the cage. I am curious if what Shawn/Taker did at Hell in a Cell influenced or changed anything they wanted to do originally. The Savage leap off the top of the cage was insane and I know it messed up his knees, but it amazes me he walked after it. Not a good match but I like both guys and they have enough star power and charisma to entertain me. *

-Savage attacks Hogan as Bischoff and a bogus Sting enter the cage.  Hogan and Savage handcuff Piper to the cage and beat on him as the crowd chants for Sting.  I just noticed Hogan bladed at some point as he has a little bit of blood on his head.  Hogan puts a Sting mask on and starts whipping Piper as a “fan” actually climbs over the cage.  He gets tackled by one of the fake Stings as the ref lets the wrestlers know what is happening.  Hogan and Savage beat up the fan as security pours into the ring.  I still don’t know if it was a legit fan or just a plant to make it look like Hogan and Savage were beating up a fan.  It does look kind of rough as the ref and security try to subdue him.  The show goes off the air with the fan being drug out by security while a beaten Piper remains handcuffed to the cage. I believe the fan was a plant and I am sure there is an official answer out there somewhere.

-Thanks for reading!