Event: WCW Halloween Havoc '89
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Announced Attendance: 7,300

Just to explain the match, this is a tag team match under normal tag rules inside of a Thunderdome. The Thunderdome is like a normal steel cage, but it allows for room outside the ring and it slopes at the top to make it really hard to climb out of. And its electrified. The thing was so damn big that when it was lowered it clipped a light, creating a fire, which Muta put out when he sprayed mist on it (I couldn't make that up). Also of note, Bruno "I don't like gimmick matches" Sammartino is the guest referee, and the only way to lose is if the person from your corner (who is also inside the Thunderdome, outside the ring, and are called "Terminators") throws in the towel. Gary Hart is outside representing Muta and Funk while Ole Anderson is outside the ring representing Sting and Flair.

Now that we got that out of the way, onto the match, where Flair and Funk start as the legal men. Tie-up to start, Irish whip by Flair but Funk shoulderblocks him down. Funk gets Flair into the corner but Flair throws Funk into Sting to gives him a punch to the head. Muta comes in the ring as Sting does as well and both sides stand off. Sammartino gets things back in order, tie-up between Flair and Funk and Funk hits a scoop slam. Punch to the stomach by Flair and a chop, and now it is Flair with the scoop slams and he dumps Funk over the top rope to the floor. Funk gets back on the apron and Flair snaps his neck over the top turnbuckle before tagging in Sting. Punches by Sting and he throws Funk out of the ring. Sting picks up Funk and rams him head-first into the cage. Sting slides Funk into the ring and kicks him in the corner, double Irish whip to Funk with Flair and they hit a double lariat. Flair stays in and he throws Funk around the ring before chopping him in the chest. Knee drop by Funk and he punches Muta off the apron. Muta comes into the ring and kicks Flair into the corner, but Sting holds Muta so that Flair can chop him. Sting throws Muta out of the ring, leaving Flair and Funk again, punches by Flair and he chops Funk before tagging in Sting. Dropkick by Sting and Funk tags in Muta, Muta and Sting go at it, Irish whip by Sting and he hits the military press slam as he throws Muta into Funk. Sting picks up Muta and hits a vertical suplex before tagging in Flair. Snapmare by Flair and Flair punches Muta repeatedly in the head. Atomic drop by Flair and he chops Muta in the corner. Snapmare by Flair and he hits a knee drop before tagging in Sting. Sting picks up Muta and throws him out of the ring before going out after him, ramming Muta in to the cage. Sting then picks up Muta and repeatedly drives him into the cage before rolling him back into the ring. Punches by Muta and Funk punches Sting as well from the apron, snapmare by Muta and he nails the Flash Elbow. Leg drop by Muta, he picks up Sting and throws him out of the ring. Funk goes over to work over Sting, while Flair comes in the ring to get Muta. Muta rakes Flair in the eyes while Funk stomps on Sting outside the ring and chokes him with his boot. Muta and Flair go outside the ring as well, punches by Flair to Muta but Funk comes over and Funk throws Flair into the cage. Muta and Sting get back in the ring, and Muta hits a vertical suplex. Funk strolls in the ring and both he and Muta hit a series of elbow drops to Sting. Flair comes in the ring and throws Muta out of the ring, then Flair punches on Funk in the corner. Vertical suplex by Flair to Funk, while Sting drops Muta with the face crusher. Face crusher by Sting onto Funk and both Muta and Funk rolls out of the ring.

Sting grabs Muta and brings him back into the ring before tagging in Flair. Atomic drop by Flair to Muta, then Sting applies the Scorpion Deathlock but Funk quickly breaks it up. Funk punches on Sting in the corner while Muta recovers, but Sammartino is having trouble keeping the rules enforced as he can't get Funk back. Flair runs in to get Funk as Sting gets knocked out of the ring, and back in the ring Muta chokes Sting with shin. Funk and Flair climb a bit up the cage with Flair ramming Funk into it, while in the ring Sting has the better of Muta. Muta starts climbing the cage and Sting goes out after him, but Muta reaches too high and gets shocked by the electric cage. On the other side Flair is elbowing Funk in the head while Muta and Sting finally get back into the ring. Muta picks up Sting while Flair chops Funk as they are near the top of the cage wall, and Funk appears to have his leg caught as Flair pounds on him. In the ring, Sting hits a military press slam onto Muta. Flair gets back into the ring as Sting kicks Muta to the floor, as Funk finally gets himself free from the cage. Muta climbs under the ring while Sting goes after Funk. Muta re-emerges and throws Flair into the cage, and they exchange chops. Flair brings Muta back into the ring and hits a backdrop suplex. Flair applies the figure four to Muta but Muta gets out of it. Flair throws Muta out of the ring but Muta returns and kicks Flair in the back of the head while he is watching Sting and Funk still battling on the cage. Muta applies the Muta Lock onto Flair as we see that Funk somehow managed to tie Sting to the cage. Ole Anderson goes up to free him, while in the ring Muta and Funk give Flair an assisted piledriver. Funk picks up Flair so Muta can kick him as they take turns kicking him. Sting gets himself free, Sting climbs a bit higher and jumps from the cage into the ring with a crossbody onto Funk. Sting chops on Muta and knocks him out of the ring. Muta climbs up high on the cage to get away from Sting, but Sting goes out after him as in the ring Flair kicks on Funk's leg. Knee breaker by Flair and he drops a knee onto Funk's leg. Muta gets back in the ring and hits a jumping back kick onto Sting. Rib breaker by Muta, he goes up to the top turnbuckle but Sting knocks Muta and Muta is straddled on the top turnbuckle before falling to the floor. Flair puts Funk in the figure four as Sting comes off the top turnbuckle with a diving body press. Sting goes up top and gives Funk a second one, Muta gets back in the ring and chops Sammartino, but Sammartino punches him out of the ring. Gary Hart comes in the ring, but Ole Anderson does as well. Anderson punches Hart, causing Hart to fly back and throw his towel in the process. Sammartino sees the towel, and calls for the bell! Your winners: Ric Flair and Sting

Match Thoughts: This match was a mixture of good, bad, and just odd. The good part - it really came across as a heated brawl and I love me some crazy Southern wrestling brawling. Funk is crazy of course and the crowd was really into everything that Sting in particular was doing. I also liked that Sammartino gave up on enforcing the tag rules, the two teams were both just out of the control and it was best to just let them go at it. While I am sure the Thunderdome brought them some Buys I think they overdid it a bit, for example Funk and Muta were constantly climbing up high on the cage but a. it would have been hard to escape because it was curved at the top, b. it was supposedly electrified at the top, and c. you couldn't win by escape anyway so getting out would have accomplished nothing. I know Funk is crazy but he spent 95% of the last half of the match climbing around the top of the cage while Sting or Flair chased him. The ending was also strangely done as in essence all Anderson did was punch Hart to make him drop his towel which isn't really the same as a throw-in. Flair and Sting obviously had the match in hand, but usually it is the bad guys that win by nefarious means like that, not the good guys. Overall I enjoyed it, it was a bit illogical at times but they did a good brawl so I can't complain about it too loudly. Score: 6.5

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