Jim
Cornette is a man I have a lot of respect
for. Sure, his backstage antics aren't
always the most politically correct,
and obviously he could stand to take
a few anger management classes, but
as far as his knowledge of professional
wrestling and its history, there are
few that can touch him.
One
of my favorite Cornette theories is
the idea that anything in wrestling
can be repeated after a seven year grace
period. The logic behind this, as I've
probably stated before, is that there
would be enough turnover in the wrestling
fanbase that what would be old hat to
some fans would actually be new to most
fans. Plus, if something has drawn in
the past, logic would state that with
a fresh set of characters, it could
well draw again.
That
would appear to be the logic in what
WCW did at Halloween Havoc 2000. Of
course, logic and WCW didn't really
co-exist well at the time...
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Ah
yes, Halloween Havoc 2000, I
remember it well. You probably
don't, but then again, you don't
run a site that chronicles all
the WORST in wrestling, so you're
forgiven. Anyhoo, it is pretty
much one of the worst PPVs of
all time, and it wouldn't be
out of the question, in fact,
to induct the whole damn show.
Just
look at some of the stupidity
on display here.
We
had a horrific kickboxing match
between Ernest the Cat Miller
and Mike Sanders; a Canadian
Hacksaw Jim Duggan; and more
nonsensical twists and turns
than Lombard Street in San Francisco.
And
that's just for starters, kids
- this was a looooong night
o' crap. |
| For
instance, there was also a DNA
match, featuring David Flair
against Buff Bagwell, part of
an ongoing storyline to find
out who was the father of Stacy
Keibler's child.
Remember
that angle? No? Well, then consider
yourself lucky, Sparky. See,
this was a DNA match, because
Flair was going to beat blood
out of Bagwell. Once being in
posession of said blood, Flair
would thus be able to run a
DNA test to determine Stacy's
child's true paternity.
This
despite the fact that the baby
hadn't been born yet.
And,
of course, with this being Vince
Russo's handiwork, the baby
was never born.
Actually,
scratch that. With it being
Russo, I am actually somewhat
surprised the baby wasn't born,
with said baby actually being
a midget in a baby outfit who
attacked Flair and then beat
Booker T to win the world title
in the same show. Because, you
see, that would garner a headline
in USA Today ("Infant
Wins Wrestling Title!"),
much like the David Arquette
title swap did, and we all know
what a success that was.
See,
it's not hard to think like
Vince Russo.
You
just need a big ol' bowl of
burning hemp wafting into your
nostrils.
WARNING:
Neither WrestleCrap.com nor
RD Reynolds condone substance
abuse. In fact, RD Reynolds
has never even smoked a cigarette.
If you have a substance abuse
problem, please seek assistance
immediately.
If
you don't, you might end up
thinking like Vince Russo, and
that's very bad. |

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So
anyway, sure, we could have
inducted this whole mess. But
at the end of day, there was
one match, one angle, that was
far more craptacular than everything
else combined.
And
for that, we shall single it
out.
The
fiasco in question was a Sting
vs. Jeff Jarrett match. No doubt
you're thinking, "these
two should actually put on a
decent bout." And you'd
be right.
Except,
of course, for the fact that
they were involved in a wacky
storyline that had Jarrett dressing
up as Sting on a weekly basis,
with old Double J claiming that
Sting no longer had any passion
for the business.
Well,
he was stuck in WCW since 1988...can
you blame the guy? |
| Anyway,
the two have their match, and
about two minutes in, a bogus
Sting comes wandering down the
aisle.
Sound
familiar? Why yes, this
IS the very same thing that
took place in 1990, at the very
same PPV no less!
Hold
onto your hats, kiddies - it's
the return of the Halloween
Havoc Hoax!
Sure
enough, down comes Sting, circa
1989 Sting, to be exact, and
to be even more exact, that
would be Halloween Havoc 89
Sting, according to Tony Schiavone,
who apparently kept track of
what tights and facepaint Sting
wore in every match of the past
twelve years. Guess a guy has
to have a hobby.
Unlike
in 1990, 2000 Sting wiped out
this impostor with the death
drop, as the commentators argued
over whether or not Sting could
be counted out for fighting
himself. Don't ask me, I'm just
telling you what they said.
But
hey, it was quick and it was
over, so I guess it wasn't so
bad. |

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Except,
of course, that it was so bad.
You
see, after Jarrett and Sting
fought a bit more, a 1990 Sting
showed up, wearing the never
fashionable Sgt. Pepper jacket.
Seriously,
even Paul McCartney couldn't
pull that look off, so expecting
a makeup wearing Steve Armstrong
to do it is asking a bit much.
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| New
Sting polished this joker off
too, using the old Killer Bees
ear smack.
Sadly, an impostor B. Brian
Blair didn't make an appearance.
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No,
instead next we got WOLFPACK
Sting, something I had tried
really, really hard to forget.
The red facepaint makes him
look like an angry crab, not
a Scorpion. In retrospect, it's
really too bad he didn't wear
that originally, because I would
have paid top dollar to hear
him come out to "Man Called
Crab."
Anyway,
you know the drill by now, and
soon enough Wolfpack Sting was
obliterated and we're back to
Jarrett-Sting, with Sting getting
the upperhand.
Of
course, that can't work, so
we get... |
| ...Trenchcoat
Sting, who drags 2000 Sting
down into the ring. That guy
doesn't last long, and just
as Sting is about to end my
misery be getting back into
the ring and winning the match,
the lights go out and down from
the rafters comes... |
 |
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...Crow
Sting (sadly without that vulture/buzzard/crow
critter he used to cart around).
Weird
- I always though Crow Sting
was the same as Trenchcoat Sting.
In fact, I'm sure they are.
I think what happened was that
Russo just got to a point, realized
that there were no further Sting
variations, and said, "Screw
that, I need one more run-in,
preferably with a a bald guy!"
And
sure enough, 2005 Sting pummels
Crow Sting, so much that he
knocks his wig off. I don't
remember Bald Sting, but apparently
he's from the future according
to the commentators (and again, I am not making this
up).
I
guess, come 2020 or so, Steve
Borden, bereft of hair, will
be making his big comeback.
BUY
YOUR TICKETS NOW! |
So what was the big payoff
to all this, you ask? How
did it all affect the finale?
It
didn't.
See,
Jarrett just hit Sting over
the head with his guitar and
got the pin. So having all
these ghosts of Stinger past
meant nothing, nada, zilch.
Which
kind of begs the question...why
did we need all those Stings
out there in the first place?
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Note
to all future wrestling promoters from
your old pal RD Reynolds...if you're
going to recycle something, at least
try to do it better.
And
oh yeah, one more thing.
Don't
recycle WrestleCrap.
Stevie Ray: "This Sting's the worst
of all of them...his hair is off, Tony!
This Sting's gotta be 70 years old!"
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