Is it possible for a wrestling match to be "so bad it's good". Can there actually be a match that is so bad, so poorly put together, and so insane that it actually transcends bad and becomes good. If so, I think I found a match that is so bad it's good. And that match is the infamous Chamber of Horrors match from Halloween Havoc 1991. It is so unbelievably dumb that you can't help but watch in awe as this mess transpires. I could watch a match a Randy Orton-Sheamus match and completely forget it the next day. I watched this match once, and I still remember it in vivid detail. It's truly an insane match that could only happen in WCW.
The match is a 8-man tag match between Sting, the Steiner Brothers, and El Gigante (better known as Giant Gonzales) and Cactus Jack, Vader, The Diamond Studd (aka Scott Hall) and Abdullah the Butcher inside a giant steel cage (basically the Hell in a Cell). The fact that so many great wrestlers got roped into this nonsense is both sad and hilarious. The goal of the match is to wait for a smaller cage with an electric chair inside, put one of your opponents into the chair, and then have someone flip a switch on the cage wall to electrocute the opponent. I feel dumber just for typing that. The bookers must of been on all the drugs in the locker room to book something like this.
About 90% of this match is just brawling with weapons, and Foley and Abdullah both blade during this match. There are these coffins outside the ring that contain (I swear, I couldn't make this up if I tried) random dudes in masks who are easily beaten up. Everyone in the match is doing alright wrestling wise (El Gigante didn't do anything noticeably bad) but it's all just stuff happening. There is basically zero psychology in this match. Scott Steiner hits a powerbomb within the first minute of this match.
Nothing about this match makes sense. The switch for the electric chair keeps falling down on its own and referees have to keep climbing up and fixing it manually. At one point, the camera cuts to the switch, and everyone can very clearly see the switch is in the "ON" position, and it just stays on that shot for a while. Just remember everyone: Even in 1991, WCW sucked.
Towards the end of the match, a bunch of people with white faces come out with a strecther, so I guess the match is almost over. The finish to this match is Abdullah putting Rick Steiner in the chair, only for Steiner to belly-to-belly him into the chair. Cactus Jack, who has been hanging on the cage by the switch for a minute now waiting for Abdullah and Steiner to get into position, flips the switch and electrocutes his teammate, so Sting's team wins. Sparks and fireworks fly from the electric chair and it's all so ridiculous.
This match gave me a headache. It it so uncoordinated and messy, lacking in any kind of story, and just completely balls-to-the-walls insane. And yet, it's probably the most fun I've had watching wrestling in a long time. This is one of those matches that make you realize wrestling is super dumb, and that is completely OK. This match is full of laughs and I'd recommend watching it for yourself
The Verdict
This match is awful, but it's the good kind of awful. Nothing I've watched at this point has made me laugh as hard as this match did, and this is really the only match I don't regret watching, because it was so damn stupid, I couldn't take my eyes off of it. I'm putting this at the top, for simply comical reasons. It's so bad it's good, and I love it.
Rankings (Best to Worst)
- The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991
- Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede
- The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998
- Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII
- Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
That was fun. Hopefully whatever is next is just as fun...
Great...Kevin Sullivan.
Comments
Post a Comment