Spin the Wheel, Make The Deal. That was the gimmick going into this iconic match between two of the hardest hitting wrestlers of all time. It was the storyline months in development: Cactus Jack had just returned after Vader mauled him with a battery of injuries and a concussion to get his revenge. Vader, a merciless monster who delivers pain and punishment to all his vicitms, faced Cactus Jack, the one guy who would take Vader's assault and like the orphan Annie would ask for more. And if Vader wanted to brawl, no one could take Vader's offense and return it in spades quite like Cactus Jack. So, WCW billed the match as "Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal." The idea being that the actual stipulation of the match would be determined on Halloween Havoc by the spin of a big wheel. (If only wrestling could take the "Big Wheel" from The Price is Right. And of course, we'd have to make sure it goes all the way around.)
So, the wheel landed that night on a Texas Death Match. In other words, we are seeing a perfect setup for a classic encounter.
So, as a companion blog to 83 Weeks (which this week, 10/22/18, focused on Vader's WCW run), let's Do This!
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Credit: WWE Network
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WCW Halloween Havoc 1993
10/24/1993
Texas Death Match
WCW World Heavyweight Champion Big Van Vader (w/Harley Race) vs. Cactus Jack
Tony is dressed up like Jesse Ventura for Halloween. No DQ. Falls do not count. 30 second rest period. Falls count anywhere. Man must get to his feet before 10 count after a pinfall, or the match is over.
The iconic WCW theme of Big Van Vader plays Vader to the ring. Who's The Man? You are, Vader. And here comes Cactus Jack. And they're going at it on the entrance runway!!! Here we go!
Vader rips off his head gear early and eats a ringpost shot. Cactus is punching and BITING Vader early on here. Jack hits Vader with a camera (?) from a fan! STEEL CHAIR TO THE HEAD! Dang. BANG BANG! Both men roll into the ring. Vader just floors Cactus with a clothesline. Obviously, both men are playing up to their strengths. Vader with the ability to punch, strike, and maul his opponent. Cactus is going for the mauling, brawling, and (the usual) disregard for his own body. Jack suplexes Vader over the top rope to the runway! Jack is bleeding after a bunch of strikes by Vader earlier. Back suplex on the runway.
Jack now strikes Vader with his own series of punches. Jack catches Race coming in and decks him. He grabs the chair from Race, and he decks Vader with it a couple times. They're going at it around the graveyard at the entrance way. They fall through a hole. Cactus comes out. The referee refuses to go down to count Vader's shoulders down. And Cactus's face is looking like Two-Face at the moment with blood just pouring down the right side of the face. Vader is now coming out of the hole, and he's bleeding. BIG LARIAT by Jack! 3 Count. 30 second rest period. Vader gets up at 4. And Cactus hits him with... a cardboard cactus! Lol.
Vader drags a table by the entrance runway and falls back down. CACTUS DIVES OFF THE RUNWAY WITH THE ELBOW TO VADER ON THE CONCRETE! 3 count. 30 second rest period. Vader gets up, and Jack kicks at Vader from the runway. NOW VADER UNLOADS ON CACTUS! They continue to brawl as both men are a bloody mess. Jesse Ventura said that they weren't exactly good looking to start off. So they won't get any uglier. Lol. Cactus throws a table into the ring. (This is something you just don't see in WCW at this point. I've seen WarGames matches that weren't this intense. These guys are both bleeding/doing color. They're brawling all over the arena. This feels like a mix of New Japan and ECW right here, and it's really awesome to see.)
The referee turns the table over while Jack and Vader brawl in the corner. Vader just starts unloading with vicious shots on Jack. Vader gets sent right into the table for a 2 count. Jack just smacks Vader with the table. Both men go back out. SUNSET FLIP OFF THE APRON, BUT VADER BLOCKS THE ROLL. He tries to sit on Cactus, but Cactus moves out of the way. Vader is suplexed gut first on the rail. Vader misses a flip over the rail on Vader, which he appropriately no-sells. Jack gets sent back over the railing 7 feet down to concrete.
CHAIR to the face. Race has a damn taser!!!! Back in the ring, Vader slams JACK! VADER SAULT!!!! (That's right. That's a monster doing a moonsault off the top rope, folks!) 1-2-3! 30 second rest period. Jack gets up! Vader continues to devastate Jack with the big strikes. Jack is thrown on the runway. Jack fights back on the runway. He's got a big sleeper hold on Vader. He's on his back, and VADER JUST FALLS BACK CRUSHING JACK BETWEEN HIM AND THE RUNWAY! BIG steel chair shot to Jack now. God. This is brutal! DDT on the chair. Paramedics are checking on Cactus now. Vader throws them off. He pins Jack. 1-2-3. 30 second rest period. Jack is getting up. He and Vader are fighting during the rest period. DDT with both men smacking the chair coming down. The count is on. Race hits Jack with the taser in the back of the leg. Vader was on his feet and wins the match. (I guess the count didn't start until after the 30 second rest period. So, while Jack was up during the rest period, he was down as soon as it started. Race hits him with the taser, and Jack didn't get back to his feet before the ten count during regulation. I'm trying to help WCW explain this 25 years later... and almost 18 years after they've been out of business. Lol). Vader is a bloody mess.
AFTER THE MATCH, JACK HITS HARLEY WITH A DOUBLE ARM DDT!
Winner: Vader
Match Grade: A. Yeah. This was freaking awesome. Keep in mind that this is in 1993, a time period in which you saw wrestling clowns, men named after nuclear weapons, guys whose gimmicks were being gluttons, and Little Richard knockoffs. This was not a company, itself, that was known for this level of violence. But that's exactly what they delivered here. They didn't interfere with their wrestlers and instead gave them close to 15 minutes to just go out and put on a hell of a brawl. And that's what this was. It lived up to the expectations and then some of the wrestling fans. And it may be my favorite match of 1993.
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That's it for this edition of UnWrest Focus REWIND. Don't be too surprised if I do another Vader match from 1993 (especially this week). Until then or next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
This was a perfect brawl until the dumb finish. Instead of beating a dead horse, though, I’ll just say I was worn out after watching it. I didn’t get to see it when I was a kid, and when I got older, and my aunt had all the PPVs in her video store, I never went back and watched this. I wasn’t a “smart” fan yet. There’s so much from the mid-90s I never went back and watched because I just didn’t care enough. Lack of marquee talent will do that to you. Now, though, it’s the little things like seeing the rim of the back of the chair smash Vader’s face and knowing the full weight of Vader landed squarely on Jack’s crotchel area that make me appreciate what these athletes go through to entertain us.
ReplyDeleteIt truly is amazing that a match like that existed in 1993. It's been a couple days since I wrote this, and I still can't believe this was on TV for one of the two big promotions at the time.
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