This Day in Wrestling History (October 28)

25 years ago, NWA presented WCW Halloween Havoc (WWE Network link) from the Philadelphia Civic Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. About 7,300 were in attendance, with 175,000 homes watching on PPV.

• Tom Zenk defeated Mike Rotunda.
• The Samoan Swat Team (Samu, Fatu and The Samoan Savage) defeated The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane) and Steve Williams.
• Tommy Rich defeated The Cuban Assassin.
• The Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin and Michael Hayes) defeated The Dynamic Dudes (Shane Douglas and Johnny Ace) to retain the NWA World Tag Team Championship.
• Doom (Ron Simmons and Butch Reed) defeated The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott).
• Lex Luger defeated Brian Pillman to retain the NWA United States Championship.
• The Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal) defeated The Skyscrapers (Sid Vicious and Dan Spivey) by disqualification.
• Ric Flair and Sting (with Ole Anderson) defeated The Great Muta and Terry Funk (with Gary Hart) in a Thunderdome cage match. The cage (part of which actually caught fire pre-match) was decorated in the spirit of the holiday and electrified to prevent outsiders from entering and competitors from leaving. The match could only end when one of the managers threw in the towel on their team's behalf. Anderson nailed Hart, causing Hart's towel to fly into the ring, causing special referee Bruno Sammartino to end the match.

14 years ago today, Genichiro Tenryu defeated Toshiaki Kawada to win the vacant All Japan Triple Crown Championship.

11 years ago, Low Ki, one of the central figures of Ring of Honor, leaves the company over creative and financial differences. He would have an on-and-off relationship with the company from 2004 to 2006.

9 years ago today, WWE signs Oleg Prudius following a visit to WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. Prudius was accompanied by TNA minority owner Jerry Jarrett, and this gets Jerry in some serious hot water-so serious, his minority stake would be bought out and it would estrange his relationship with his son Jeff. In a bit of trivia, WWE signed Prudius, who would go to have a little success with the company as Vladimir Kozlov, without seeing him in the ring.  In a bit of shrewd movement, Jerry purposefully went to WWE headquarters to get himself out of TNA, saying he was tired of the personal stress and aggravation with dealing with the company post-Carter family takeover.

8 years ago today following an event in Racine, Wisconsin, WWE announces that ECW house shows would be suspended indefinitely, as they would be combined with the Smackdown events going forward. The ECW house shows would never return.

7 years ago today, WWE presented Cyber Sunday (WWE Network link) from the Verizon Center in Washington, DC. 10,094 were in attendance, with 194,000 homes watching on PPV. That's down from 228,000 for the 2006 edition. The hook of the show of course was that every match and stipulation on the show would be decided by a fan vote.

• In a preshow dark match, Jesse and Festus defeated Deuce and Domino.
• Rey Mysterio defeated Finlay in a stretcher match. The stretcher match won the fan vote with 40%, followed by no disqualification at 36% and a shillelagh on a pole match with 24%.
• CM Punk defeated The Miz to retain the ECW Championship. The Miz won the title shot with 39% of the vote. Other challengers were John Morrison (33%) and Big Daddy V (28%).
• Mr. Kennedy defeated Jeff Hardy. The two were forced to face one another as they did not win the vote to challenge Randy Orton for the WWE Championship.
• Kane defeated WWE United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter by countout. Kane was the fans' choice with 67% of the vote. Other challengers were The Great Khali (24%) and Mark Henry (9%).
• Shawn Michaels defeated WWE Champion Randy Orton by disqualification . Michaels won the title shot with 59% of the vote. Jeff Hardy got 31%, and Mr. Kennedy got 10%.
• Triple H defeated Umaga in a Street Fight. Street fight was the stipulation of choice with 57%, followed by steel cage with 26% and first blood match with 17%.
• Mickie James won a Divas Halloween Costume Contest. She won with 21% of the vote. The rest of the top five were Kelly Kelly (17%), Torrie Wilson (15%), Melina (12%), and Maria (12%). Other participants (in order of finish) were Layla, Jillian Hall, Victoria, Brooke Adams, and Michelle McCool.
• Batista defeated The Undertaker to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. Stone Cold Steve Austin was the overwhelming choice for special referee with 79%. Other options were Mick Foley (11%) and John "Bradshaw" Layfield (10%).

2 years ago today, WWE presented Hell in a Cell (WWE Network link) from the Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. About 10,000 were in attendance, with 199,000 homes watching on PPV. That's up a bit from the 2011 edition, which had 180,000 buys.

• Randy Orton defeated Alberto Del Rio.
• Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes & Damien Sandow) defeated Team Hell No (Kane & Daniel Bryan) by disqualification in a WWE Tag Team Championship Match.
• Kofi Kingston defeated The Miz to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
• Antonio Cesaro defeated Justin Gabriel to retain the WWE United States Championship.
• Exciting Tandem (Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara) defeated The Prime Time Players (Darren Young & Titus O'Neil).
• The Big Show defeated Sheamus to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
• Eve Torres defeated Layla & Kaitlyn in a triple threat match to retain the WWE Divas Championship.
• CM Punk defeated Ryback in a Hell In A Cell match to retain the WWE Championship. The loss was the first for Ryback since he joined the main roster in April.