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Even the Flair-Steamboat matches are relatively simple in their structure. Its not like they were pulling off innovative moves. Its just that the stories were told were very effective and the matches were perfectly worked. And its not like Flair fully moved into Hogan-territory of "same match", at least until the mid-90s when no one WCW gave a shit at all. .
As for Hart, agreed. There are a few things that stand out to me about his abilities in the ring, and that is one of them.
One thing I've found in going back to watch old stuff like this is that it reminds of you all the stuff that the current products don't have. The variety to matches structures and finishes stand out somewhat. The lack of managers. Things like that. I don't know whether I watch old stuff because I miss some of the old aspects that have disappeared, or whether watching the old stuff lowers my perception of the current product.
They get pops. That's the simple arguement for trademark spots and even "five moves of doom" sequences. The average fan pops for them.Comment
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The Flarir/Steamboat matches were great because they not only told a great story within the match, but there was also a greater story being told with all three matches. Match to match psychology at a level that has only been matched at that level by the All Japan heyday, Bryan Danielson's ROH Title run, and the KENTA/Nakajima series of matches in 2008/2009.Comment
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That aspect, too. Definitely. I don't think its been done better than the way All Japan built upon things through the early and mid 90s.
I love those Flair-Steamboat matches, so when I call them simple, I don't want anyone to think that's meant as a slight. I think they are the absolute pinnacle of the traditional, athletic NWA in-ring style.Comment
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In Your House 4: Great White North
Winnipeg, MB
October 22, 1995
-I have to admit that I'm amused by the video cover before I even start. The show takes place in Winnipeg, gets a suitable sub-title, and they use American and Great Britain flags on the cover. Nice.
-we kick off a pay per view out of Winnipeg with some “up-and-coming” Canadian singer doing a shite job of the Canadian national anthem. Great start. She must not have come up very far, because I don't believe I've ever heard of her before.
-the commentary is once again McMahon (fuck you again), Jerry Lawler, and Jim Ross. Tolerable, I suppose.
-we get an explanation from Gorilla Monsoon that HBK is unable to defend the Intercontinental championship, so he will be forced to forfeit it to Dean Douglas, who then has to defend it. Interesting. This was due to Michaels getting his shit kicked in by a bunch of guys outside a bar.
-the first match on the card is Fatu (who is apparently a funky colorful Samoan dancing machine) and Hunter Hearst Helmsley. I have a feeling one of these two is going to catch on... but I'm just not certain which. The future Mr. Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley is undefeated in the WWF and he remains that way after a decent match. It feels like a slightly-longer TV match but that seems to be a running theme for the In Your House pay per views.
-Lawler goes ringside after the match to interview Helmsley. “The King” is apparently taking some hyperbole lessons from Mike Tenay, as he proclaims the match “the greatest thing he's ever seen”. One of the Godwinn's attempts to sneak up to slop Trips, but Hunter jobs to no one, not even the pig slop pale.
-the WWF tag team belts are on the line next, as the champions The Smoking Guns face the combination of Razor Ramon and the 1-2-3 Kid. Apparently the relationship problems between those two on the last IYH pay per view have been resolved. Or maybe not. Decent match leads to a Razor's Edge that should mean the match is over, but Kid wants in, so he gets tagged, goes for the pin, and gets reversed. Kid is pissed and ends up attacking both Billy and Bart, then seemingly wanting to steal the belts. “The Bad Guy” does not approve of such evil acts. Seems The Kid is turning to the dark side...
-at some point through these viewings, before I reach that beautiful point where Vinnie Mac no longer does commentary on the PPVs, I should keep track of how many times during one show that Vince Fucking McMahon proclaims a near fall to be a full three count then declares himself wrong. Unfortunately, I am lazy and counting seems like a lot of work. Over under is 20 and I'm taking the over.
-the return of Marty Jannetty! The debut of Goldust! We have a classic match, folks! Well, it wasn't Jannetty's first match back but its still a “moment”. Goldust is in full force, though the pseud-homesexual elements don't seem to be there as much they later will be. The match is watchable before Goldust takes the win.
-okay, so I make a point of not looking at the cards ahead of time if I can avoid it. The next match is a perfect example of why. Crocker spoiled it for me, and the prospect of watching a “match” between Yokozuna and King Mabel is a little soul-crushing to consider. Don't get me wrong – I actually like Yoko's work from his world champion period in the E, as he was one of the better huge, round workers I can think of. But by 1995, its not the same Yokozuna as he's bigger, more limited, and his limitations are part of why his tag match with Owen works. Mabel, so far as I can recall, never had a good period, under any of the various names he worked under. Thus, the prospect of watching the two of them work a match of any length is a painful consideration. I suppose I could just skip it but that seems... dishonest. I expect an abomination and what the fuck am I going to have to say about it? I don't get paid enough for this. Or anything at all, for that matter. But since I'm not actually properly reviewing the matches and don't really have to write anything of real substance, I suppose I can just watch this horror-show and ramble on with a bunch of text, saying whatever about anything, and it probably seem like I had a lot to say about this particular match when I pretty much said nothing at all. Oh, and two very large men engaged in a form of combat for several minutes in an fashion lacking in entertainment value, nobody wins (figuratively and literally), God killed a kitten, etc etc.
-after that horror-show of a match, we got a non-match. Shawn Michaels can't compete so he has to vacate the Intercontinental title, with Dean Douglas being awarded it as he was apparently scheduled to face HBK. They take their time with it but its very effective at putting over the IC title and how much it means to HBK. Simple but smart booking. Douglas celebrates like he legitimately won the title, which generates some heel heat. Again, simple yet effective. After HBK leaves the scene, Razor comes out and we actually get a match for the Intercontinental belt. After a pretty good match, Razor wins in somewhat controversial fashion as both men were down on the mat when the pinfall was counted.
-we get a small angle before the main event, with Bret Hart coming out to a good pop (its in Canada, after all) and chasing Lawler away, then taking his spot in the commentary booth. Then Dox Hendrix tries to interview Diesel as he's on his way out for the match
-the main event is Diesel putting the WWF World Heavyweight championship on the line against The British Bulldog. Even knowing that Davey Boy Smith is better in the ring at this point than Sycho Sid, I'm not expecting a great deal out of this match. Yet I end up enjoying it. The challenger controls much of the action and spends a ton of time working on the legs of the champion. Its relatively slow and not as power-based as you might expect, but it makes for a decent match. There is no decisive finish as Bulldog goads Bret Hart into getting involved, which leads to brawling between Hart and Diesel. Which makes sense, as The Hitman is scheduled to face the WWF champion at Survivor Series. They really sell the brawl, bringing down a mess of people to try to break them up.
-I end up feeling this pay per view is quite similar to the previous one. Its a solid enough show overall. The one low point is a shitty match but its short and really no worse than you would expect out of those two. Everything else up the semi main and main event feel like longer TV matches but none are poor. The last two matches are both good, with Diesel and Bulldog particularly surprising me. That said, neither are really oustanding either. The main event is not really better than the tag team main event of In Your House 3. I feel like I should be watch one or two “major” WWF pay per views from this period but from what I can recall of SS '95 and such, these IYH shows definitely fit exactly what they were intended to be as “secondary” pay per views.
Results
Hunter Hearst Helmsley d. Fatu
The Smokings Guns © d. 1-2-3 Kid & Razor – WWF World Tag Team championships
Goldust d. Marty Jannetty
Yokozuna & King Mabel draw
Dean Douglas d. Shawn Michaels by forfeit – WWF Intercontinetnal championship
Razor Ramon d. Dean Douglas © - WWF Intercontinental championship
The British Bulldog d. Diesel © by Disqualification – WWF World Heavyweight championship
Recommended:
None
Comment
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All I remember well from this period is how badly they botched Shane Douglas.
It's easy to point to the gimmick, but the whole Dean Douglas thing had some potential because Douglas was at the absolute peak of his career (and a generation later, Matt Striker proved that the teacher gimmick could be really, really awesome if done correctly). He was on fire, and in my opinion was the best heel in the business during his first ECW run. He had morphed from his high flying smiling babyface work into a slower, more heel oriented style, and he was peaking from a charisma and character standpoint. The WWF gave him a bad haircut, and bad pastel colored attire (I feel like everybody during this period wore those awful pastel colors) which was unflattering for his body type. He delivered his promos well, even though some of the material was super lame. But 'The Franchise' pretending to be a teacher just never worked. I always though that 'The Franchise' done in the WWF exactly as it was done in ECW (minus some bad language) would have been an easy main event heel. Turns out he made the wrong enemies and it wouldn't have mattered anyway.
I believe Douglas's final WWF appearance was as a manager for "Nature Boy" Buddy Landell. I know that sounds bizarre, but it really happened. Douglas was hurt, and Landell took his spot on the house show run, with Douglas as the manager. I distinctly recall one PPV match, which I believe was against Razor Ramon. Maybe it was on an IYH and will get reviewed here.Comment
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wwe.com recently posted some vids on the In Your House Series....some good stuff in there
inferno match, buried alive match, caribbean strap match. should be some interesting write ups from papa in the near future hahaComment
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They did make a bit of an effort with him, as he's in there mixing it up with the likes Razor Ramon. Not that he was gonna go over Kliq members clean or anything, but pretty much no one was. He could talk, he could work, the gimmick wasn't quite as dumb as it sounded, and he seemed to get some heel heat. I'm watching Survivor Series 1995 as I type this (just cuz - no review of this one) and he seemed to generate at least some heat.
I have a slightly different theory on why he didn't make it in the E. Its that light blue doublet he wears. He can constantly see... little Shane. The crotchal reason isn't typically wear I place my eyes during a match, but its kinda hard when its right there constantly. I realize it happens sometimes with some ring gear, but the light blue just makes it worse and I really don't need to be able to tell whether or not a guy is circumcised...
Motherfuckers be copying my shit.wwe.com recently posted some vids on the In Your House Series....some good stuff in there
inferno match, buried alive match, caribbean strap match. should be some interesting write ups from papa in the near future haha
Yeah, there are some good matches later on. Some real interesting stuff. Unfortunately, there is some early chaff to get through. And that's what I'm working through right now.
Read about that one once but don't recall what show it was. Definitely haven't gotten there yet.Comment
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that was In Your House 8 - "Beware of Dog" in 1996. the power in the arena and PPV feed went out due to a thunderstorm before the second match (Savio Vega - Stone Cold in a strap match). the power in the arena and PPV feed remained out for that match and the following 3 matches but they continued with the little light they had for the people in attendance. The power in the arena and the PPV feed came back on right before the main event of Shawn Michaels - British Bulldog. 2 days later they re-did the 4 matches in between the opener and main event that were wrestled in the dark.Comment
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-before we even kick off with the painfully-outdated looking cartoon graphic for the show, I gotta say I love the “Seasons Beatings” name. Its always tickles me. That said, I've seen it used many times before. Was the WWF first with it? I have my doubts.
-the show kicks off with Sycho Sid and The 1-2-3 Kid taking on Razor Ramon and Marty Jannetty. Poor Razor... I sense an impending loss in his future. The Kid being part of the Million Dollar Corporation is heartbreaking. Why, Kid? He's gone over to the dark side completely... if only John Cena had been around to teach him to rise above the hate. Also, Goldust is at ringside to leer in a golden manner at the oozing machismo of Razor. “The Bad Guy” ends up spending a good portion of the match on the ring apron while Jannetty plays the babyface in peril... shocking. The good guys end up taking the win, and then Razor goes for a Razor's Edge on The Kid but is interrupted. Decent opener for two random teams.
-the following segment is “The King” presenting a gold record to Jeff Jarrett, the country singer. I wanna make some smarky, snarky comment about “what the fuck is this shit?”... but its fucking 1995 in the WWF. So fuck it. It went too long but otherwise, whatever.
-Shane Douglas up next. Wait, nope. Hurt back, so he's out. He introduces his new student who will take his place in the match... Buddy Landell. He must be pushing 40 at this point and looks it. Okay, he's only about 35. Age is irrelevant as he jobs to Ahmed Johnson in about 20 seconds. I gotta hand it to Ahmed... He is quite possibly the most oiled-up looking man I ever had my eyes slide across. After the match, Lawler interviews him and makes fun of him with goofball insults straight off the playground, leading to Jarrett smashing his gold record over Ahmed's head. Poor decision... Fake gold records for fictitious albums are not easy to come back.
-we great another great segment, as Todd Pettengill finds Razor Ramon backstage and hands him a letter at the bequest of Goldust. Razor reads the letter and romance is clearly in the air. An aroused “Bad Guy” goes seeking his amorous admirer for the kind of after-hours adventures the WWF could only show in the Attitude Era.
-and our next match is an Arkansas Hog Pen match. Fuck you, 1995. Its between Hunter Hearst Helmsely and Henry Godwinn. We all know Triple H ain't losing here, as he sure as shit ain't jobbing to pigshit. Hank slops some poor slob at ringside – I have a feeling that might violate some work and safety regulations in the fine state of Pennsylvania. The match starts. Then it ends. In between, Trips does indeed to get slopped... though it really just looks more like he gets some salad with dressing mushed on his face. I spend much of the match marveling at the amount of space taken up by the hog pen they have set up along the path to the ring. That was a whole bunch of good seats that got wasted... for this pigshit. Maybe I'm underselling it and this was the culmination of an awesome feud, but neither Trips nor Hank seem to get a real big reaction here. Hillbilly Jim our guest referee got the biggest pop. The crowd does pop when Trips get dropped into the shit/mud/whateverthefuckitreallywas after the match, so what the fuck do I know? Well, I do know that was not particularly entertaining to me in 2012.
-we get a recap of Bret Hart winning the Word title at Survivor Series with a small package, a match which I watched the other day. Great match. One of Nash's best ever. We then see Diesel turning heel. He definitely seems a more interesting character as a heel than a babyface.
-Diesel is facing Owen Hart tonight. Diesel has turned heel... I think... but Owen is a heel here and is taking credit for putting HBK out with an eye injury, so this seems like heel versus heel. Whatever. Diesel goes hard in the early going, unleashing some heavy-looking big man offense and pushing the pace. It reminds me of the early-going of his match against Sid at IYH1 and I dig it. It doesn't last long, though. The match goes less than five minutes, with Owen controlling a portion in the middle before Diesel delivers a powerbomb yet decides not to pin Owen. The big guy ends up getting disqualified for shoving the ref.
-we get a long segment with Ted DiBiase in the ring as Savio Vega and Santa Claus hand out presents. “The Million Dollar Man” tries to buy Vega, who believes in magic and Santa and can't be bought. Thankfully for this segment, Santa is a whore who most certainly can be bought and he ends up attacking Vega with DiBiase. Can't quite make out who is dressed as Santa after the beard and hat come off, though I have to admit my efforts were feeble.
-now we get hype for the coming match between Mabel and The Undertaker. Its a casket match. Here's a certain 5-star classic. Taker is in his “Phantom of the Opera” mask phase. I just wish it didn't coincide with his “wrestling Mabel” phase. I expect the saving grace here is that there's no way Mabel can go very long. I hope. I pray. After endless pre-match, it finally gets underway. We get 'Taker's trademark “sit up no sell” spot within the first thirty seconds. Five minutes in, he is put into the casket but gets his arm up just before it closes. Taker wins. It ends. I throw up and try to scrub this from my memory with a wire brush.
I described this match to someone recently as a “bleeding distended anus of a match” and I cannot think of a more eloquent way to describe it. Seriously, though... fuck you, 1995.
-the main event is Bret Hart defending the WWF world title against The British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith. I have a feeling this doesn't quite live up to the SummerSlam 1992 main event. We get promos from both men before the match. The SS classic is brought up repeatedly in the lead-up to the match. The first half of the match is all Bulldog. He messes Bret's shit up and gets him bloody. Vince, maestro of the microphone, keeps calling for the ref to stop the match. Shockingly, our champion battles back. They trade pin attempts and after Bret takes an Irish whip and gets his legs up to block Bulldog charging into the corner, Hart wraps up the Bulldog's arms with his legs and rolls him up for the win. Its a unique pin, not quite the really cool standing crucifix roll he attempted against Hakushi but pretty damned cool. Gotta hand it to Hart – he found different ways to end matches through this period.
-it is shows like this which make me glad I'm actually grading shit. It would be really difficult in this case. Its not a good pay per view. Its also not really a terrible one. The WWF/E has done worse, and WCW certainly. TNA probably even has. The biggest issue is that it doesn't feel like a pay per view at all. I've mentioned that being the case at times with some of the earlier In Your House shows, but its the case throughout here. At only two hours, the length also kinda makes it seem more like a hyped TV show. Rather than being a big “event” feel like we have come to expect from most PPVs, its very much like a Saturday Night Main Event. It doesn't help that its much more about angles than wrestling. Two of the matches on the card weren't even really matches. Two were gimmick matches – one was okay in that regard and one was five minutes of awful. The opening tag match was okay and the main event was solid. But it was nothing really beyond that.
Results
Razor Ramon & Marty Jannetty d. Sycho Sid & The 1-2-3 Kid
Ahmed Johnson d. Buddy Landel
Hunter Hearst Helmsley d. Henry Godwinn
Owen Hart d. Diesel by Disqualification
The Undertaker d. King Mabel – Casket Match
Bret Hart © d. the British Bulldog – WWF World Heavyweight title
Recommended:
The British Bulldog versus Bret HartComment
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In Your House 6: Rage In The Cage
February 18, 1996
Louisville, Kentucky
-after how disappointing In Your House 5 was, I can only hope that this one is better. I have to admit that I did sneak a peak at the card and it does indeed look promising...
-we start with Todd Pettengill in front of the live crowd, doing the “Free for All” pre show. This is not a good start. Our commentary team is Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler. Not good either.
-we get a recap of Diesel's turn toward “the dark side” as he slowly turns heels. Then a promo from our champion Hart. The copy of the event I watched then had a dark match between Jake “The Snake” Roberts and Tatanka. The more Todd Pettengill. Fuck Todd Pettengill.
-the show finally begins with a “crybaby match” between Razor Ramon and The 1-2-3 Kid. The stipulation is goofy but the match is good. Good enough that it would probably be the best match on the card on most of the previous In Your House pay per views. I'm by an authoritative source that the goofy stipulation makes sense in the context of the feud. 1-2-3 Kid gets a face-full of baby powder when interference from DiBiase backfires, which results in the Kid getting diapered and powdered a bit more. Something tells me its not the only time in his adult life that Sean Waltman has worn a diaper. After Razor leaves, Kid takes it up another level by pretending he soiled himself. This is slightly amusing but still feels deserving of a “Fuck you, 1995”... except its not 1995 anymore.
-next up his Hunter Hearst Helmsley against Duke “The Dumper” Droese. I presume this feud had much the same basis as Trip's previous. Perhaps not, as they mention Trips cut Droese's hair. The match starts. Then it ends. I'll leave it at that.
Okay, I guess I have to say that the match wasn't terrible. Like many of the undercard matches from the IYH series so far, it really just feels like a slightly longer TV match.
-next up is The British Bulldog against Yokozuna. After dumping Jim Cornette in dramatic fashion, Yokozuna has turned face (I think...) and even cuts a promo backstage before the match. He isn't terrible on the mic and sounds notably un-Japanese. Most of the action is Yoko and he seems relatively motivated. Given that the Bulldog isn't far removed from being in main events, having him get smashed by Yoko seems like they are building the big guy up. There is no finish to the match as Cornette comes in with his tennis racket swinging. “Vader Time” keeps Yokozuna from destroying Cornette. The attack on poor Yoko goes on for awhile
-before our semi main event, we get a lengthy recap of Shawn Michaels coming back from a beating at the hands of 9 thugs, then collapsing, then getting attacked by Owen. The entrance for HBK takes almost as long, as he spends awhile stripping... err dancing, I guess... on the house set, then swinging down, stripping some more. The match starts slow, with Michaels going outside to glad-hand with the fans a few minutes in. Owen tries the same thing moments later but no one wants to high-five him, so HBK hits him with a top-rope cross-body to the outside instead. Owens takes control after a time and begins to inflict some damage onto the resilient Michaels (I know he's resilient and full of heart cuz they keep telling me this).
The match is quite frankly outstanding. Its not the best of either man's career, but its some really good work by both. Michaels does some of his great selling and makes some of Owen's offense look very formidable. Michaels ends up getting the win with a Sweet Chin Music. He celebrates for 10 minutes by dancing in the ring with a kid. No idea who she is, but her fashion sense stinks. Even by 1996 standards.
-main event time? No. Roddy Piper time. Hollywood star and interim WWF President while Gorilla Monsoon is out. He announces HBK as the #1 contender for WrestleMania, where he will face whoever hold the belt. Then he addresses the Vader-Yokozuna situation, which leads to a face-to-face with Jim Cornette and “power lawyer” Clarence Mason.
-now, finally, is the main event. Bret Hart vs Diesel for the WWF World Heavyweight title in a steel cage. Sounds good to me. Alright, sounds okay. The introductions and start of the match happen faster than just HBK's entrance from the previous match. Its a solid cage match until The Undertaker rips through the canvas to pull Nash down, which allows Hart to escape. Eh... Nash then escapes from the hole in the ring with his pants ripped, leaving me believe he escaped a raping at the hands of Mean Mark. Evil indeed. Up to the finish, it still felt a step below the prior Hart-Diesel matches I've seen of late. With the always-hokey ring emergence bit as the finish, it definitely takes a step down. Not a bad main event but hardly fantastic either.
-first In Your House outside of 1995 is the first one that feels like an actual overall quality event. Shocking. The worst match on this card – Triple H and “Dumper” Droese – is still watchable. Yokozuna and The British Bulldog was better than I expected, as Yoko gets put over pretty hard given that he's facing a guy who in the world title picture just a few months before. Some of the angles get a bit lengthy but none were really that painful, and the Kid in a diaper was at least short. And HBK-Owen has to be one of the better WWF matches for 1996. Its not a great event but it is good as a whole. This is the first In Your House PPV that I would say is worth checking out in its entirety.
Results
Razor Ramon d. The 1-2-3 Kid
Hunter Hearst Helmseley d. Duke Droese
Yokozuna d. The Britsh Bulldog by disqualification
Shawn Michaels d. Owen Hart
Bret Hart © d. Diesel for the WWF World Heavyweight championship
Recommended:
Owen Hart vs Shawn Michaels
Razor Ramon vs The 1-2-3 KidComment
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Ah, there it is, the final Shane Douglas appearance I was talking aboit. IYH 5, managing Buddy Landell.
Bp, did they refer to Landell as "Nature Boy"?Comment
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