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Halloween Havoc

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Halloween Havoc
Halloween Havoc logo since 2024
PromotionsWorld Championship Wrestling (1989–2000)
WWE (2020–present)
BrandsWCW/nWo (1998)
NXT (2020–present)
First event1989
Signature matchesSpin the Wheel, Make the Deal (1992–1993, 2020–present)

Halloween Havoc is a professional wrestling event currently produced by WWE. Since 2020, it has been held annually for the company's developmental brand, NXT. As the name implies, it is a Halloween-themed show held in October.

It was originally produced as an annual pay-per-view (PPV) event by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1989 until 2000. The first two events were held when WCW was still affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) before WCW split from the NWA in January 1991. The final five events under WCW (1996–2000) were held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada.

WWE—at that time still known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF)—purchased the assets of WCW in March 2001. Nineteen years later, Halloween Havoc was revived as an annual event for WWE's NXT brand in 2020. The 2020, 2021, and 2023 editions were held as special episodes of NXT's weekly television program, with the latter broadcast as a two-week event. The 2022 edition aired via WWE's livestreaming platforms, with the 2024 event to also air via this medium, subsequently returning to a singular night.

History

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In 1989, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) scheduled a Halloween-themed pay-per-view (PPV) event for October 28, 1989, at the Philadelphia Civic Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The event was aptly named Halloween Havoc.[1] A second Halloween Havoc was scheduled for the following year, thus establishing Halloween Havoc as an annual PPV for WCW. This second event was also the final Halloween Havoc produced by WCW under the NWA banner as WCW split from the NWA in January 1991.[2]

The 2000 event was the final Halloween Havoc produced by WCW, as in March 2001, WCW was acquired by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF); the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2002 ("WWE" became an orphaned initialism in 2011).[3] After 19 years since the acquisition of WCW, WWE revived Halloween Havoc for their developmental brand, NXT. Both the 2020 and 2021 events were held as television special episodes of the NXT television program, which aired on the USA Network.[4][5] The 2022 event, however, was held as a livestreaming event, airing on Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network in international markets.[6] The event returned to being a television special in 2023, but was expanded to a two-part special of NXT on the USA Network.[7] It then returned to livestreaming in 2024 and to one night.[8]

The 1994 and 1995 events were both held at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan[9][10] before becoming a main stay at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada from 1996 to 2000.[11][12][13][14] From the event's revival in 2020 to 2023, it was held at NXT's home venue, the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.[4][5][6] The 2024 event marks the first time that NXT Halloween Havoc would take place outside of the WWE Performance Center.[8]

In 2014, all WCW PPVs, including Halloween Havoc, were made available on WWE's streaming service, the WWE Network.[15] Since March 2021, they are also available on Peacock in the United States as the American version of the WWE Network merged under Peacock at that time.[16]

Events

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WCW/nWo co-branded event NXT-branded event
# Event Date City Venue Main event(s) Ref
National Wrestling Alliance: World Championship Wrestling
1 Halloween Havoc (1989) October 28, 1989 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia Civic Center Ric Flair and Sting vs. The Great Muta and Terry Funk in a Thunderdome match with Bruno Sammartino as special guest referee [1]
2 Halloween Havoc (1990) October 27, 1990 Chicago, Illinois UIC Pavilion Sting (c) vs. Sid Vicious for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship [2]
World Championship Wrestling
3 Halloween Havoc (1991) October 27, 1991 Chattanooga, Tennessee UTC Arena Lex Luger (c) vs. Ron Simmons in a two-out-of-three falls match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship [17]
4 Halloween Havoc (1992) October 25, 1992 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia Civic Center Sting vs. Jake Roberts in a Coal Miner's Glove match [18]
5 Halloween Havoc (1993) October 24, 1993 New Orleans, Louisiana Lakefront Arena Big Van Vader vs. Cactus Jack in a Texas Death match [19]
6 Halloween Havoc (1994) October 23, 1994 Detroit, Michigan Joe Louis Arena Hulk Hogan (c) vs. Ric Flair in a Steel Cage match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship with Mr. T as special guest referee [9]
7 Halloween Havoc (1995) October 29, 1995 Hulk Hogan (c) vs. The Giant for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship [10]
8 Halloween Havoc (1996) October 27, 1996 Las Vegas, Nevada MGM Grand Garden Arena Hollywood Hogan (c) vs. Randy Savage for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship [11]
9 Halloween Havoc (1997) October 26, 1997 Roddy Piper vs. Hollywood Hogan in a Steel Cage match [12]
10 Halloween Havoc (1998) October 25, 1998 Goldberg (c) vs. Diamond Dallas Page for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship [13]
11 Halloween Havoc (1999) October 24, 1999 Sting (c) vs. Goldberg for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship [14]
12 Halloween Havoc (2000) October 29, 2000 Goldberg vs. KroniK (Brian Adams and Bryan Clark) in a Handicap elimination match [3]
WWE: NXT
13 NXT Halloween Havoc (2020) October 28, 2020 Orlando, Florida WWE Performance Center[a] Io Shirai (c) vs. Candice LeRae in a Tables, Ladders, and Scares match for the NXT Women's Championship [4]
14 NXT Halloween Havoc (2021) October 26, 2021 Tommaso Ciampa (c) vs. Bron Breakker for the NXT Championship [5]
15 NXT Halloween Havoc (2022) October 22, 2022 Bron Breakker (c) vs. Ilja Dragunov vs. JD McDonagh for the NXT Championship [6]
16 NXT Halloween Havoc (2023) October 24, 2023 Becky Lynch (c) vs. Lyra Valkyria for the NXT Women's Championship [20]
October 31, 2023 Ilja Dragunov (c) vs. Carmelo Hayes for the NXT Championship [21]
17 NXT Halloween Havoc (2024) October 27, 2024 Hershey, Pennsylvania Giant Center TBD [8]
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

Notes

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  1. ^ The main arena of the WWE Performance Center was known as the Capitol Wrestling Center from October 2020 to September 2021.

References

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  • Stone Cold Steve Austin and Jim Ross (2003). The Stone Cold Truth. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-7720-0.
  1. ^ a b "2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts: Halloween Havoc 1989". Wrestling's Historical Cards. Kappa Publishing. 2007. p. 134.
  2. ^ a b "2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts: Halloween Havoc 1990". Wrestling's Historical Cards. Kappa Publishing. 2007. p. 135.
  3. ^ a b "2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts: Halloween Havoc 2000". Wrestling's Historical Cards. Kappa Publishing. 2007. p. 153.
  4. ^ a b c "NXT Halloween Havoc to take place Oct. 28". WWE. October 4, 2020. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c Guzzo, Gisberto (October 5, 2021). "NXT Announces Halloween Havoc For 10/26; Tommaso Ciampa Set To Defend NXT Championship". Fightful. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c Defelice, Robert; Tessier, Colin (September 20, 2022). "Solo Sikoa Forced To Relinquish NXT North American Title, Ladder Match Set For Halloween Havoc". Fightful. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
  7. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (September 30, 2023). "NXT Halloween Havoc Set For October 24 And October 31". Fightful. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  8. ^ a b c "WWE Announces NXT No Mercy on Sunday, September 1 & NXT Halloween". WWE. Retrieved 2024-07-15.
  9. ^ a b "2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts: Halloween Havoc 1994". Wrestling's Historical Cards. Kappa Publishing. 2007. p. 141.
  10. ^ a b "2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts: Halloween Havoc 1995". Wrestling's Historical Cards. Kappa Publishing. 2007. p. 142.
  11. ^ a b "2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts: Halloween Havoc 1996". Wrestling's Historical Cards. Kappa Publishing. 2007. p. 144.
  12. ^ a b "2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts: Halloween Havoc 1997". Wrestling's Historical Cards. Kappa Publishing. 2007. pp. 146–147.
  13. ^ a b "2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts: Halloween Havoc 1998". Wrestling's Historical Cards. Kappa Publishing. 2007. pp. 148–149.
  14. ^ a b "2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts: Halloween Havoc 1999". Wrestling's Historical Cards. Kappa Publishing. 2007. p. 151.
  15. ^ "Every pay-per-view available on WWE Network". WWE. February 4, 2014. Archived from the original on February 5, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
  16. ^ Spangler, Todd (January 25, 2021). "NBCU's Peacock Pins WWE Network Exclusive U.S. Streaming Rights". Variety. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  17. ^ "2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts: Halloween Havoc 1991". Wrestling's Historical Cards. Kappa Publishing. 2007. p. 136.
  18. ^ "2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts: Halloween Havoc 1992". Wrestling's Historical Cards. Kappa Publishing. 2007. p. 138.
  19. ^ "2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts: Halloween Havoc 1993". Wrestling's Historical Cards. Kappa Publishing. 2007. p. 139.
  20. ^ Moore, John (October 24, 2023). "NXT TV results (10/24): Moore's review of Becky Lynch vs. Lyra Valkyria for the NXT Women's Title, Tony D'Angelo and Stacks vs. Andre Chase and Duke Hudson for the NXT Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
  21. ^ Moore, John (October 31, 2023). "NXT TV results (10/31): Moore's review of Ilja Dragunov vs. Carmelo Hayes for the NXT Championship, Dominik Mysterio vs. Nathan Frazer for the NXT North American Title, Bron Breakker vs. Mr. Stone". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
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