25 Years Later : A Look Back At WCW’s Disastrous Halloween Havoc 1998

One of the biggest draws for WCW Halloween Havoc 1998 was a rematch of the WWE WrestleMania 6 main event, as the still-newly-arrived Warrior squared off with Hollywood Hogan. There were no titles on the line this time, but between the novelty of Warrior in WCW and the name value each man still carried with casual fans, this was a dream match.

Hardcore fans may have read the tea leaves and predicted the match wouldn’t be a classic. After all, Hogan, and all the more so Warrior were each limited in the ring and past their physical primes. To make matters worse, while they’d had Pat Patterson to plot out a match that accentuated their strengths, hid their weaknesses, and worked the live audience into a fervor for their 1990 collision, eight years later, they were ostensibly on their own.

The result was a plodding, unentertaining match that became incredibly awkward when Hogan first visibly struggled to light a piece of flash of paper, then inadvertently threw a fireball in his own face. An underwhelming plan-B finish saw Horace Hogan help his uncle win, at least putting this all-time-terrible match out of its misery.

Running Out Of Time For Goldberg Vs. DDP And The Consequences

For as bad as Hollywood Hogan vs. Warrior was, WCW did have a more promising main event. Goldberg and Diamond Dallas Page were both hugely over as babyfaces at the time, and fans were genuinely excited for a first-time one-on-one bout between them for the world title.

The problem here wasn’t match quality, as Goldberg vs. DDP was not only the match of the night but widely considered the best match Goldberg ever had. Rather, the longer-than-normal run time for this PPV and miscommunications resulted in a high volume of PPV feeds cutting off just as the match got underway. Not only was this creative disaster for WCW not getting show to thousands of paying customers its best material and the main event match, but there were financial ramifications as well.

The broadcast problems led WCW to reimbursing fans who’d paid for Halloween Havoc and not been able to see the last match of the PPV as it happened. From there, the company went so far as to actually air the match as part of the following night’s Nitro—a boon for fans who hadn’t paid for the PPV in the first place, but nonetheless a debacle that cost the company money and devalued their own PPV product.

Forgettable Dream Matches

In addition to the more iconic debacles at the top end of the card for Halloween Havoc 1998, there’s also the reality that WCW really had assembled a dream card, highlighted by multiple matches fans had been craving for some time or never realistically thought they’d get to see. Unfortunately, the card delivered well below expectations.

Steiner vs. Steiner

A first-time PPV collision between Rick and Scott Steiner sounded great. However, they worked one on one directly after working a tag team match opposite each other, and both men appeared gassed going into their match, resulting in a lousy five-minute bout.

Outsider vs, Outsider

In another instance of a tag team exploding, Kevin Nash vs. Scott Hall got fifteen minutes, but it felt like more of a story than a match. Nash dominated the back half of the contest as WCW played into an angle that blurred the lines between kayfabe and reality, with Hall not performing at his best due to issue related to alcohol abuse. The match ended uncomfortably with Nash powerbombing his friend twice, then walking out.

Bret Hart vs. Sting

A match between Bret Hart and Sting might have redeemed this show to a degree. However, for as talented and over as both men were, they put on about as forgettable a version of a match as one could imagine from them. It all culminated anticlimactically in Hart hitting Sting with a bat to incapacitate him, then winning with a Sharpshooter applied to The Icon’s unconscious body.

In many ways, Halloween Havoc 1998 was emblematic of WCW in decline. They lacked the structure to set up their talents for the best matches they might have been capable of. Hollywood Hogan vs. Warrior was the ultimate all sizzle, no steak dream match, in which two marquee stars engaged in an absolute farce. Finally, mismanagement issues resulted in a creative, customer satisfaction, and financial mess in the main event not airing for a large portion of the paying audience. So it is that what might have been an all-time great wrestling event became more of a cautionary tale that fans still remember for all the wrong reasons 25 years later.