Backstage: A split-screen shows Big Van Vader & Cactus Jack preparing for their Texas Death Match. Vader aggressively boxes with Harley Race providing him targets, while in the other locker room, Jack is rocking and talking to himself.

Match #7 for the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship – Special Enforcer Terry Taylor: WCW International World Heavyweight Champion ‘Ravishing’ Rick Rude vs. ‘Nature Boy’ Ric Flair w/Fifi
Randy Anderson will call it inside of the ring. Flair goes to work right away with some chops and a back body drop. Flair pounds away in the corner, Irish whip and a delayed vertical suplex. Rude kicks out at 1. More chops from Flair, another Irish whip and he follows with a clothesline. Measured rights from Flair, another Irish whip but this time he runs into a knee. Rude heads for the top but Flair moves away from the knee drop. Flair lifts him for a knee to knee slam and he puts the Figure Four on early. Flair lays back on it as Rude reaches for the ropes.

He finally gets there forcing a break. Flair drags Rude to the ring post and wraps it around a few times. Flair returns to the ring and takes Rude down by the knee. Again and again he slams the knee to the canvass and grabs an ankle lock. Rude tries to break it with the hair, but Flair simply gets up and elbows the knee once again. Finally Rude uses the hair to dump Flair through the middle rope. Up to the apron Flair shoulders the midsection. He tries a sunset flip but Rude hangs on  Taylor breaks it off and Flair rolls him over for two. Big chop by Flair, to the ropes and there is a crossbody that sends both men over the top rope.

Rude hits a chair on the way down. Flair is up first and he lifts Rude for a chop and a right. Another chop and Flair returns to the ring. Flair goes all the way to the top and dives to the floor with a forearm. He breaks the count and chops Rude, hanging him on the railing. Flair goes back to the top rope, he tries another forearm but Rude catches him with a shot to the gut. Rude grabs a chair and Taylor takes it away from him. Flair tries to send Rude into the rail but he blocks it and returns the favor. Flair collapses to the floor and is slow to the apron. Rude slingshots Flair over the top rope. Back breaker by Rude and he hooks the leg for 1. Rude locks in a reverse chin lock and sits on Flair’s back. Rude staggers over to Fifi and gyrates in her face.

The champ heads for the top rope and lands an elbow, but his knee is damaged. Rude is slow to cover and Flair kicks out. Rude goes back to the camel clutch-like reverse chin lock. Flair gets up to a crawling position but Rude sits down on him hard. Flair pulls himself up but is knocked down by a right. Rude rakes the eyes and sends Flair flying up over the turnbuckle, Rude clotheslines Flair on the apron. From the apron, Rude with a vertical suplex back into the ring. Rude slowly works his way to the top turnbuckle and hits him again with the elbow. He hooks the leg but Flair refuses to be pinned. They’re tied up in the ropes and Terry Taylor lets Anderson know.

They exchange shots until Rude goes to the eyes. Irish whip and a big clothesline by Rude. A cover but Flair has more fight left. Rude goes to the bearhug, sinking all the way to the mat but he still can’t pick up the pin. Rude drives Flair face first into the apron. He hooks the leg and Flair continues to kick out. They both stagger up, to the ropes, Flair ducks a clothesline and jumps on Rude’s back for a sleeper. Rude falls into the turnbuckle to break it and Flair collapses. Rude slow to the top rope, Flair ducks him and hits Rude with his own finish, The Rude Awakening. He’s too slow to cover and Rude kicks out. To the ropes and Flair hooks Rude for a backslide, Rude kicks out at two.

Vertical suplex by Flair, he positions Rude and heads for the top. Rude gets his boot up and Flair goes down. Flair is up first and delivers strikes in the corner. Rude reverses the Irish whip sending Flair into Randy Anderson. The champ decks Flair with a clothesline  and goes for a cover but there’s no ref. Taylor checks on Anderson, but he’s out. He enters the ring just in time for Flair to throw Rude into him. Rude pulls a foreign object out of his trunks but Flair ducks it and delivers a belly to back suplex. Everyone is down. Flair is up first and he grabs the foreign object. He nails Rude with it, Taylor rolls over to make the pin. Flair thinks he’s won, but Randy Anderson cuts him off. He saw the use of the foreign object and calls for a DQ.
Winner and STILL WCW International World Heavyweight Champion: Rick Rude (Disqualification)

• After The Bell: Flair takes the belt and walks around the ring but Rude picks up Fifi and walks toward the back. Flair ambushes Rude and locks in the Figure Four on the entrance ramp. The referees break it up, Rude grabs his belt and retreats.
• EA’s Take: Rude really knew how to sell, but I still cringe when Rude sells his neck/back knowing that his in ring career will be over soon due to a neck injury. I expected Terry Taylor to play a more devious role in this match, but overall it was good pacing and storytelling. You can’t expect anything less from these guys.

Match #8 – Texas Death Match: Big Van Vader w/Harley Race vs. Cactus Jack
Falls don’t matter in this match but if a fall occurs there will be a 30 second rest period. the winner will be determined when one man can’t get to his feet after a 10 count. These two waste no time and a brawl ensues on the entrance ramp. Jack with a Thesz press and rights. Vader rolls him over and takes his shots. Down to the floor and there’s a headbutt from Vader. He goes for a left, Jack ducks and Vader hits the post. Jack grabs a chair and rams him, but it’s Vader who is quick with the strikes after. Jack fights back and bites Vader on the face.

A fan hands Jack a foreign object and he obliges. It’s Jack’s turn with the chair and he clubs him on the head. “Bang Bang”. He rolls Vader into the ring, he rushes the corner but Vader gets his boot up. He clubs Jack with a clothesline and lifts him to the corner, treating him like a boxing target. Vader knocks Jack to the ramp. He tries to suplex him back into the ring, but Jack blocks it. Vader is suplexed to the ramp and he appears to be busted open. Jack with a belly to back suplex on the hard surface. He stays on him, but here comes Harley Race with a chair. Jack sees him and gives him a shot to the midsection.

Jack strikes him and Race rolls down. Jack takes the chair and lays it across Vader’s head and back. They brawl near the graveyard set up and roll off the ramp. No one can see them in the “grave” and Jack is the first one out. Jack is cut open now, and Vader slowly emerges. Jack rushes him with a clothesline and pins him on the ramp. He gets 3 prompting a 30 second rest period. Jack grabs a prop from the entrance area and knocks Vader to the floor. Jack drops an elbow and pins him again. Another 30 second rest period ensues. Jack pounds away but Vader pulls him off the ramp. Headbutt by the big man, but Jack comes back, driving his head into the ramp. Jack grabs a table and throws it into the ring.

He sets it up across the ropes and they brawl in the corner. Jack with an Irish whip into the table, he goes for a pin but only gets two. He throws the table into Vader and the big guy rolls out of the ring. Jack tries a sunset flip on the floor, Vader blocks it, he tries to sit down but Jack moves. Jack hangs him over the guard rail, but Vader ultimately pulls him over and into the crowd. Vader with a back drop back to ringside. Vader grabs a chair and clubs him on the back of the head. Harley Race gets the cameras away from him as he appears to have a taser. Scoop slam by Vader and he goes up for a moonsault and he lands it. 1-2-3 and Vader gets a fall.

Jack is up but Vader goes to work fast with lefts and rights. He dumps Jack onto the ramp, Race has a chair but Jack jumps on Vader’s back. Vader falls backwards to break it. He grabs a chair and Jack gets a huge shot on the head. He puts the chair down and DDTs Jack on top of it. The medical team is out to check on Jack and Vader runs them off. Vader makes a cover and gets it, prompting another 30 second rest period. Jack pops up quickly and DDTs Vader on the chair before the rest period is over, both men are down and slow to get up. The count is on, Jack is up but the ref’s back is turned and Race uses the taser on him. Jack goes down and Vader beats the 10 count.
Winner: Big Van Vader

• EA”s Take: If falls don’t count, much like a last man standing match, I don’t get the point of the 30 second rest period stipulation should a fall occur. Why would someone realistically go for a pin? Wouldn’t it be better to leave them laying and try a 10 count? Oh well, this was a fantastic WCW rivalry pre-Nitro era and they brutalized one another as you would expect with the participants. Feuding Sting and especially Vader are what really helps Cactus Jack begin to build the foundation for what’s to come.

EA’s Finisher: Schiavone as Jesse Ventura for Halloween cracked me up every time I saw it. I loved this show, there honestly were no duds at all here. The closest thing would probably be the opening 6-Man Tag, but that’s just because it was thrown together standard fare with some undercard guys. However, it wasn’t inherently “bad”. While WCW has been hit or miss on all events, let alone Halloween Havoc, this is certainly one of the better overall efforts that gets lost in the “everything WCW did sucked” narrative.

Top Three To Watch
1 – Ric Flair vs. Rick Rude
2 – Davey Boy Smith vs. Lord Steven Regal
3 – 2 Cold Scorpio & Marcus Bagwell vs. The Nasty Boys

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