October 29th – On This Day In Wrestling History
Our full On This Day In Wrestling History section can be found here.
1985 – Before going up against Ric Flair at Starrcade, Dusty Rhodes delivered his instantly iconic ‘Hard Times’ promo which is frequently held up as one of the best in the history of wrestling.
1988 – In New Orleans, Louisiana, The Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal) defeat The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane) to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship.
1995 – WCW Halloween Havoc took place in the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. During the Zodiac (Brutus Beefcake) vs. Randy Savage match, a female fan got into the ring and tried to attack Savage but was restrained and ejected by the referee. The main event featured the in-ring debut of the Giant (Paul Wight/The Big Show) going against Hulk Hogan for the second time that show.
Earlier, they faced off in a ‘Monster Truck Sumo’ match which ended when Hogan ‘accidentally’ knocked the Giant off of the roof of Cobo Hall (seriously…). In the actual match, Jimmy Hart (managing Hogan) hit the referee causing Hogan to lose by disqualification, and per a pre-match stipulation, The Giant, in his IN RING DEBUT, became WCW champion. Following the match the Yeti (dressed like a Mummy) came into the ring and put a double bear hug on Hogan with the Giant.
2000 -In what would be voted by Wrestling Observer Newsletter readers as ‘the worst major show of 2000’, the 12th (and final) WCW Halloween Havoc PPV was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. One of the matches saw Jeff Jarrett pin Sting after various interference from five (FIVE) other people dressed as Sting against the actual Sting.
Elsewhere on the card Buff Bagwell faced David Flair in a ‘First Blood DNA’ match to see who was the father of Stacy Keibler’s unborn child which was won by Bagwell after busting Flair open. After the match Lex Luger attacked Bagwell, causing him to also bleed which allowed Flair to steal a DNA sample from Buff.
2005 – Chikara/NEXT Monster Mash is held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The opening match sees Jervis Cottonbelly lose to Ghostface from the Scream movies by disqualification and following this Darkness Crabtree hit a Stunner on the Grim Reaper for the pin and the win. The main event is Dracula, The Mummy and The Wolfman vs. Jason, Freddy Krueger and Leatherface. The match ended after Dracula slammed Jason, allowing the Mummy to hit a shooting star press and get the cover.
2007 – On Monday Night Raw Kelly Kelly wins a 10-woman Halloween Battle Royal and later Hornswoggle beats Jonathon Coachman with Mick Foley as the special guest referee. The main event saw Triple H lose in a handicap match to the team of Randy Orton and Umaga after interference from Shawn Michaels.
2018 – Aboard Chris Jericho’s ‘Rock And Wrestling Rager At Sea’ cruise, a high-wattage six-man tag team match took place dubbed as ‘Bullet Club vs. Alpha Club’. In the match, Cody, Marty Scurll and Kenny Omega (Bullet Club) defeated Chris Jericho and The Young Bucks (Alpha Club).
2020 – On NXT UK, Walter successfully defended the brand’s title belt against Ilja Dragunov in a match which went over 25 minutes.
Notable Wrestling Birthdays:
- Paul Orndorff (1949)