A Brief History of the WWE: Random Thoughts on the "In Your House" PPV Series

[Warner2BruceTD]

You know, I didn't see the Outlaws form and never went back to actually look it up. According to Wiki, it happened on Shotgun Saturday Night. I thought nothing of note happened on Shotgun.

The show was pushed hard at first and they ran major angles on it, but that lasted about as along as it took for the first couple of ratings to come in.

After that, it got weird. Like, really weird. The Headbangers were doing an alter ego gimmick as wrestling nuns, and Vince started using 'edgy' language like 'damn' & 'hell'.

 

[Bigpapa42]

View attachment 1271


In Your House 3
September 24, 1995
Saginaw, Michigan​

-the show kicks off with the Sunday Night Slam. WTF? This is apparently some kind of pre-show. It recaps a couple of the feuds, spending a lot of time on Dean Douglas' feud with Razor Ramon. Holy hell, Douglas actually looks young. He somehow looks younger and less beat up than he did in ECW immediately before. Weird... The recap also teaches me (unfortunately) that Douglas' light blue doublet is a bit... revealing in the junk area. A treat for the ladies, I guess.

-did Diesel and Michaels really go by “Two Dudes with Attitudes”? Did they do some “naming contest” and have the name picked by a 9-year old or something? I need an explanation here...

-Todd Pettengill blows. That is all.

-the main event is a tag match between Diesel and Shawn Michaels versus Owen Hart and Yokozuna. All three belts are on the line. Interesting. I smell a swerve of some type coming.

-we finally get to the pay per view proper. It kicks off with another In Your House theme, this one rather Motown. Fitting as it takes place in Saginaw, Michigan. Does Saginaw have any connection to Motown? These are the kind of things I need to know.

-three man commentary team. Consists of Vince McMahon (fuck you, Vinnnie Mac), Jerry Lawler, and Jim Ross. This could be tolerable if VKM keeps his trap shut. My expectations of that actually are minimal.

-the show kicks off with Savio Vega. He's taking on Waylon Mercy. You might be asking “who the fuck is Waylon Mercy?” Under the circumstances, its an understandable question. Its Dan Spivey at the end of his career. He has an “interesting look” - shoulder-length black hair despite a receding hairline, a wife-beater, and white pants that might be shiny. The highlight of this match is Vince McMahon contradicting himself on commentary “A cover... we have one... two... three... no we don't... yes we do... no we don't.” Make up your fucking mind, Vince. Mid-match, we cut to Dox Hendrix, who doesn't have a seizure this time as he reports something of note – no Owen Hart. I spent much of the match trying to determine if Mercy's pants actually are shiny, but the video I'm watching isn't quite clear enough. Savio Vega wins. A super-duper-megastar is born.

-a bit of “research” and I learn that Spivey's character was based off of Robert DeNiro in Cape Fear. Interesting. Okay, I fucking wiki'd it. While the WWF was doing something as “edgy” as this, Raven was rolling in ECW. Just sayin.

-next up is Sycho Sid taking on the monster known as Henry Godwinn. I guess it didn't take long for Sid to fall off after his feud with Diesel. I quite enjoy Ross playing the straight man to Lawler's antics through the match. So I can say I enjoyed something about it. The match isn't good. Its not that terrible. It just kinda... is. Other than the fact that it goes almost 8 minutes and has some afters (Bam Bam coming out and DiBiase getting slopped), it would have been a fine but forgettable TV match.

-we get another segment with Cornette and Gorilla Monsoon (the reigning WWE authority figure). Hart can be replaced with another wrestler of Cornette's choice. Oh my... who will Jim Cornette pick?

-Bam Bam Bigelow faces The British Bulldog. Bigelow is wearing his trademark pajamas, while Bulldog comes out in what I can only describe as a fringed shawl-like cape. It looks very much like my aunt's severely outdated window treatments from when I was a kid and I am not kidding. Even before they lock up, this match reeks of awesome. Its not awesome but its solid. This one feels moreso like a PPV match in comparison to the first two. The Bulldog takes the big W.

-Bob Backlund comes out next. He cuts a promo that basically consists of him using big words that are just strung together. Jesus, its Brick Tamland almost 15 years early. “LOUD NOISES” Backlund introduces Dean Douglas, who then introduces Razor Ramon. Surreal sequence. The match is pretty solid, best of the night so far. After the ref bumps, 1-2-3 Kid comes in and tries to count for Razor, but Ramon ends up tossing him out of the ring and then getting rolled up by Douglas. There is a showdown afterward between Razor and the Kid, their relationship irreparably damaged. The drama...

-we get some hype for the Bret Hart match. He's taking on the kleptomaniac pirate Jean-Pierre Lafitte. Awesome gimmick for a guy with a legit eye-patch. I feel like they are stereotyping here... though I'm not quite sure how. The match is trademark Bret Hart, having to battle for the win. He makes Lafitte look dangerous before getting the Sharp-Shooter. Solid Bret Hart match against the pirate.

-after teasing Sycho Sid as Yokozuna's partner, it turns out to be the British Bulldog in his second match of the night. The match is fun. Not fantastic but solid and entertaining. It feels more like a relatively-modern, exciting TV main event to me than a pay per view main event, and if you took away the “all titles on the line” stipulation, would be that much closer. Michaels does some nice working selling in the match but they don't really go for the “babyface in peril” dynamic with him like they could have. Not a ton of teamwork. Owen Hart appears and gets pinned by Diesel, somehow making the Two Dudes with Attitudes the new tag team champions. Apparently the ref was slightly retarded as he clearly saw enough of Owen to recognize him as not being one of the wrestlers in the match, and its not like Bulldog was in the same gear or something. I do believe this later got reversed.

-In Your House 3 ends up feeling like a solid overall event based on the standard of the first couple. Not quite the PPV standard we're used to, but it feels to me like the “worst” here is a bit above the first two. Yet the “best” doesn't quite stand out to me as much. Hart vs Lafitte is good, but while its might be the match of Lafitte's career, its really just average for Hart when you consider his whole body of work. The dark match between them on the previous pay per view at least had the really cool standing crucifix into a rolling pin by Hart as a standout unique moment. This one lacks anything memorable. Same with the main event – good, fun match but nothing stand-out or near to must-see.

-I cannot be the only one who finds it interesting slash odd that they kept the original tag team main event line-up on the VHS cover for the Colosseum Video release.

Results
Savio Vega d. Waylon Mercy
Sycho Sid d. Henry Godwinn
The British Bulldog d. Bam Bam Bigelow
Dean Douglas d. Razor Ramon
Bret Hart d. Jean-Pierre Lafitte
Diesel & HBK d. Yokozuna & The British Bulldog


Recommended
Nada​

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

I remember the Hart match being very good, but i've only seen it once, and it could just be selective memory and/or assuming it was good because it was Hart.

 

[Bigpapa42]

I remember the Hart match being very good, but i've only seen it once, and it could just be selective memory and/or assuming it was good because it was Hart.

No, its a quality match. But it just seems typical to me for Hart in that period. It doesn't really stand out that much above what you saw him do on nearly any show through that time. I wouldn't say its not worth checking out, just that its probably not worth seeking out.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

So like ***3/4

Did you like this one better, or Hakushi? I know Hakushi had the Lawler nonsense.

 

[Bigpapa42]

So like ***3/4

Did you like this one better, or Hakushi? I know Hakushi had the Lawler nonsense.

Eh, I'd say 3 to 3 1/2 star range. Which is pretty typical of what Hart did through much of his WWE career. Not everything but he was so fucking capable and consistent in the ring.

I prefer the Hakushi match. Then the dark match between Hart and Lafitte on IYH2, then this one. The Hakushi match just seems to have a nicer pace of movement, and the springboard moonsault to the outside gives it a memorable moment. I really only like the IYH2 Hart-Lafitte match because of the crucifix rolled in a pin.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Yeah, I like how Bret was very creative in his WWE finishes, relative to other WWE guys. The current "5 moves of doom" model that everybody employs (especially the babyfaces) these days in the WWE hurts my suspension of disbelief, because you spend the entire match waiting for the sequence of moves that ends every match.

 

[Bigpapa42]

Yeah, I like how Bret was very creative in his WWE finishes, relative to other WWE guys. The current "5 moves of doom" model that everybody employs (especially the babyfaces) these days in the WWE hurts my suspension of disbelief, because you spend the entire match waiting for the sequence of moves that ends every match.

The sheer variety that Hart presents is pretty amazing. He manages to work a different style with almost any opponent, doesn't tend to do the same match over again when its the same opponent (the two matches Lafitte were both different enough), and manages to make every opponent look credible. He's Flair-like in that regard but Flair seemed a bit more overtly reliant on his certain spots in each match, at least by the late 80s and on.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Flair packed it in at some point and started doing the same match over and over. It was a great match though fwiw.

Hart's finishes in particular during this era were very creative.

 

[EmpireWF]

I remember in that Flair Highspots Shoot years back, he said he would always do the same spots (the flops, the top rope begging off bump, etc.) because people paid to see him do those things.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

I remember in that Flair Highspots Shoot years back, he said he would always do the same spots (the flops, the top rope begging off bump, etc.) because people paid to see him do those things.

Hard to argue with that. Similar to Hogan from 1985-1991 doing the same shit every night. That's what the people wanted.

This is a great thread, btw.

 

[Bigpapa42]

Flair packed it in at some point and started doing the same match over and over. It was a great match though fwiw.

Hart's finishes in particular during this era were very creative.

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.

I remember in that Flair Highspots Shoot years back, he said he would always do the same spots (the flops, the top rope begging off bump, etc.) because people paid to see him do those things.

They get pops. That's the simple arguement for trademark spots and even "five moves of doom" sequences. The average fan pops for them.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

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.

 

[Bigpapa42]

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.

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.

 

[Bigpapa42]

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
​

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

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.

 

[CrimsonGhost56]

wwe.com recently posted some vids on the In Your House Series....some good stuff in there

http://www.wwe.com/videos/playlists/in-your-house

inferno match, buried alive match, caribbean strap match. should be some interesting write ups from papa in the near future haha

 

[EmpireWF]

should be some interesting write ups from papa in the near future haha

How about the IYH where a bad weather storm blew out the power in the arena causing the PPV to go dark. I believe they still wrestled in the dark for the live crowd and did a do-over days later to avoid giving refunds.

 

[Bigpapa42]

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.

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...

wwe.com recently posted some vids on the In Your House Series....some good stuff in there

http://www.wwe.com/videos/playlists/in-your-house

inferno match, buried alive match, caribbean strap match. should be some interesting write ups from papa in the near future haha

Motherfuckers be copying my shit.

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.

How about the IYH where a bad weather storm blew out the power in the arena causing the PPV to go dark. I believe they still wrestled in the dark for the live crowd and did a do-over days later to avoid giving refunds.

Read about that one once but don't recall what show it was. Definitely haven't gotten there yet.

 

[CrimsonGhost56]

How about the IYH where a bad weather storm blew out the power in the arena causing the PPV to go dark. I believe they still wrestled in the dark for the live crowd and did a do-over days later to avoid giving refunds.

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.