[1996-10-27-WCW-Halloween Havoc] Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage / Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper

[Charles (Loss)]

Talk about it here.

[flyonthewall2983]

Two things I remember most was Hogan's wig, and Piper coming out. That was the hugest time I ever marked for anything, when the bagpipes started. The match ended on quite a downer, with the NWO triumphant again. Until, out of nowhere that music starts. It took me 5 seconds before I realized who they were for.

[El-P]

Good Hollywood Hogan match as far as I remember. He could be so much fun with a guy he had good chemistry with (as opposed to that godawful Giant match as Hogg Wild).

[Charles (Loss)]

I'll rewatch when the time comes, but my memories of this are the exact opposite:

 

* This was pushed for weeks as a heated and very personal rivalry and was wrestled as an undercard comedy match between the Sting wig, overbooked finish, etc.

* This match only has the last few minutes, but I don't think Hogan took but maybe 2-3 bumps the entire match, if that.

 

That said, Hollywod Hogan was an awesome and fresh enough gimmick that it really didn't matter. I'm not sure Hogan gets enough credit for the reinvention he pulled off at this time. Most of your name wrestlers in history had one really big run on top that they're remembered for. Hogan did it twice in two different environments with two different gimmicks. The second would have been as successful without the history of the first, but it's still quite the accomplishment that a wrestler that established could reinvent himself and make it work the way he did.

 

You want an awesome Hogan match from '96, I think you have to talk about War Games, which I'll get to, that I think is an overlooked great match, and probably a low-end US MOTYC.

[Charles (Loss)]

Aside from my War Games comment, I stand by the rest of what I said.

 

The Hogan/Piper stuff is fun, but goes a little long.

[Tim Evans]

The ending to the match was disappointing. Did they really need to have Giant come down? Dibiase and Nick Patrick were enough I thought. Plus it made Savage look weak again. No wonder he joined the NWO a couple months later.

 

As for the Hogan/Piper thing, it was good for 5 minutes till Piper started to ramble.

[flyonthewall2983]

Who is it that comes in behind Piper? There was some dude in a white shirt following him out.

[y2stump]

Complete shit match, Hogan stalling for the first 7 minutes took the wind out of the match before it started. The overbooked finish was a staple for wcw main events. Piper coming out was a nice surprise but went too long, so long they ended the ppv while they were still cutting promos.

[El-P]

I still love this match. After all the nWo guys got babyface reactions all night, Hogan shows everyone how it's done. He works the crowd into a frenzy by just stalling, it's a thing of beauty. And yes, they do some ga-ga, but it works with the Hollywood Hogan character. What did you expect ? A blood match ? And it's not like they didn't bash themselves with chair shots afterward. I enjoy the dog & pony show finish too. Hogan and Patrick were the two biggest heel there. Liz again played her role right, although she was wearing an awful, 80's looking dress.

Piper showing up and explicitely refer to Wrestlemanie was the sign Bischoff was going for broke and was more interested in showing up to Vince rather than developping his own talent and company. Piper was efficient was a last ride, but he would quickly overstay its welcome, as it was already the case here. Segment was good at first but went too long with too much rambling.

[PeteF3]

Didn't care for this, as good as Nick Patrick was, and I have no real desire to check out the match in full. Kudos to Nick and Hogan for turning the crowd against them, though. But the finish is overbooked to shit and this is yet another example of a WCW star getting emasculated, as had happened to Savage for most of '96, with him not getting a ghost of a chance of revenge as promised on Nitro. In some ways it's as bad as Booker's job to Triple H at WrestleMania. And man, am I not looking forward to seeing Roddy Piper again. It was a nice shock at the time, and he looked good in the spring, but I just don't like a WWF stalwart being the big conquering hero who finally faces down Hogan with a story based entirely on a WWF past. But, Bischoff gonna Bisch.

 

Hogan seems like he's actually trying to move Piper along, but when Piper says he's shooting I don't think it's a scripted faux-shooty comment. Neither is Hogan when he says, "Let's dispense the backstory." He succeeds in getting Piper to get to the point, but the segment sort of peters out instead of building to a big climax making you want to see more.

[soup23]

This looked rough and overbooked for the story that was coming in. I didn't exactly want to run out and watch the match in full. Overall, Savage and Hogan is a feud that more times than not missed the mark for me. The visual of Piper coming out was pretty neat. I am unsure if he meant to say NWA or meant NWO but he was pretty unhinged overall. This was clearly a play on nostalgia with the roles reversed but as of now, it is still working and entertaining.

[tim]

The match didn't look good at all from what was here. Piper coming out was a cool moment and he was entertaining on the mic. Feels like a really big deal.