Dr. K's Waiting Room

The Build-Up:
In 1996, wrestling icon Hulk Hogan shocked the world in 1996 by turning his back on the fans and disrupting World Championship Wrestling (WCW) with the New World Order (nWo). Despite being no fan of Hogan, “Macho Man” Randy Savage eventually joined the super team and led the charge against “Diamond” Dallas Page, who famously rejected the group. Savage quickly made things personal, revealing DDP’s marriage to his manager, Kimberly, and trading victories in increasingly volatile matches. DDP even humiliated Savage by impersonating La Parka on WCW Monday Nitro, drawing the ire of Hogan and culminating in this grudge match.

The Match:
This match was one of many where DDP was sporting his iconic taped-up ribs, which were injured by Savage in the build-up. It always makes me laugh seeing wrestlers wrap a flimsy bit of bandaging around their abdomen when they have “broken ribs”. I’m not a medical doctor but I question how that would help, but it’s a great reminder that DDP has a weak spot, if nothing else. Regardless, DDP was moving pretty spry at the start of the match, in which the only way to win was for one of the competitors to knock the other out or fail to answer a ten count (so, it’s essentially a Last Man Standing match). Savage started by leading DDP outside for a slugfest by the barricades but, when Savage targeted his injured ribs, DDP ferociously rammed the Macho Man’s head off the barricade, ripped off his shirt, and stomped his ribs. However, Savage regained control in the ring, dropping DDP’s midsection on the ropes and laying in the boots and fists in a corner. When Savage wasted time posing, DDP manhandled him into the corner and beat him to the canvas with a flurry, resulting in a double clothesline spot. DDP kept the pressure on with a swinging neckbreaker, but the Macho Man avoided the Diamond Cutter and fled outside, where DDP aggravated his injury with a springboard body splash. Savage turned the tide by dropping DDP’s throat across the top rope and landing a diving axehandle from the top to the outside. Savage then took the fight into the crowd, only to be tossed into (and slammed through) the fake tombstones and coffins set up around the entrance way.

As Savage staggered down the aisle, DDP laid in some forearm shots before being whipped into the barricade and chucked into the steel steps. With DDP writhing in the ring, the Macho Man stole a cameraman’s camera and went to smack it into Page’s midsection, but DDP kicked the camera back into Savage’s face. However, Miss Elizabeth smashed a serving tray over the referee’s head to interrupt the ten count and choked Page with an extension cord, prompting his wife, Kimberly, to drag Miss Elizabeth away as Nick Patrick raced out to take over as the referee. DDP clobbered Savage with strikes, an inverted atomic drop, and a modified piledriver but didn’t get all of the Diamond Cutter as the Macho Man grabbed the ropes. Although Savage dropped his patented diving elbow, Page got up at six so Savage landed another one to DDP’s ribs. Incredibly, DDP stumbled up right before the ten count and hit the Diamond Cutter, but the referee was slow to start his count thanks to being blindsided, which was enough for the Macho Man to get up at eight. As DDP went for another Diamond Cutter, Savage countered with a mule kick to the groin that sent Page tumbling outside, where “Sting” cracked Page’s ribs with a baseball bat. This kept DDP down for the ten count and gave Savage the victory, with DDP being stretchered out. This was an okay match but surprisingly toothless considering its colourful name. I would’ve liked to see more weapon shots and plunder used, especially around the entrance way, to heighten the animosity between the two, which was otherwise conveyed pretty well.

The Aftermath:
This marked the end of Diamond Dallas Page’s feud with the Macho Man. Shortly after Halloween Havoc, it was revealed that “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan had cost DDP the match by masquerading as Sting, leading to a match between the two on Nitro that ended with Page getting beaten down by the nWo. DDP and Savage were lumped into the 60-Man “World War 3” match at the following World War 3 event, though neither managed to win to earn a title shot, and both went their separate ways by the 1997 Starrcade. At that event, Savage won a six-man tag team match and DDP bested Curt Hennig to become the WCW United States Heavyweight Champion, which he held for about four months. DDP and Savage only fought one more time after this match, in a steel cage match on an 1998 episode of Nitro, which ended in a typical WCW clusterfuck as representatives from the nWo black-and-white and Wolfpac interfered and caused it to end in a no contest.

My Rating:

Pretty Good

Did you enjoy the clash between DDP and Randy Savage at Halloween Havoc? Who was your pick to win at the time? Do you agree that the match needed more plunder? Who did you think was dressed as Sting at the end? Were you a fan of the nWo storyline? What are some of your favourite Halloween Havoc matches and moments? Whatever you think about this Las Vegas Sudden Death match, leave a like and a comment below, check out my other wrestling reviews, and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other Halloween Havoc matches you’d like to see me cover.