10 Most Infamous Matches In Wrestling History

5. The Chamber Of Horrors Match - WCW Halloween Havoc 1991

Chamber Of Horrors
WWE.com

The Chamber of Horrors was one of those unfortunate occurrences that WCW invited upon itself with eye-bleeding frequency.

The titular “Horrors” were the weapons and assorted halloween paraphernalia enclosed in the domed cage, but the name took on a pejorative irony almost immediately when Rick Steiner picked up a chainsaw, revved it up, and carefully put it back down. It was a neat visual metaphor for the four-on-four match. The action in it was nonexistent.

The objective of it was to place a member of the opposing team in the “chair of torture”, which realistically could have referred to any seat in the arena, so ghastly was the match as a viewing experience. Masked zombies popped out of caskets, only they just looked like generic luchadors. The eight men had to narrowly work around the confined environment which created scope for nothing other than kicks, punches and tame weapon shots. The novel “Refer-eye” camera caused nausea, and again, it was fitting, if unnecessary. There was already enough idiocy to make you sick.

The electrocution switch (of course) for said chair was accidentally switched into the "on" position midway through the match, and nothing happened. At the finish, a referee was captured fixing it before Cactus Jack saw teammate Abdullah the Butcher place Rick Steiner in the chair of torture. He didn't think to give it a second glance, as if electrocuting and ostensibly murdering your buddy is something you just leave to chance.

Steiner reversed Abdullah's attempt, put him in the chair, and that was it. Pyro was set off presumably to symbolise Abdullah's death. He came back to life within seconds.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!