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

[Bigpapa42]

View attachment 1289
In Your House 5: Seasons Beatings
December 15, 1995
Hershey, Pennsylvania​

-before we even kick off with the painfully-outdated looking cartoon graphic for the show, I gotta say I love the “Seasons Beatings” name.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 Hart​

 

[Bigpapa42]

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 Kid

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

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"?

 

[Bigpapa42]

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"?

I actually don't think they did. I may have missed it if they did. I was kinda focused on the "jesus, Landell looks old" aspect of the random appearance.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

I actually don't think they did. I may have missed it if they did. I was kinda focused on the "jesus, Landell looks old" aspect of the random appearance.

I think Landell was on Superstars once or twice leading up to this, and he wore the robe and even flashed a horseman sign for some reason which was odd. I mean, he always did the gimmick, but he never went that far with it.

 

[Bigpapa42]

View attachment 1303
In Your House 7: Good Friends, Better Enemies
April 28, 1996
Omaha, Nebraska​

-we are back and rolling. Sorry, been distracted by the on-going European championships.

-the 7th iteration of In Your House has a reasonable looking card, headlined by a strong main event. Unfortunately, the Ultimate Warrior is also on the card. Fuck.

-the version I have kicks off with the Free For All pre-show. Dox Hendrix is in front the live Nebraska crowd, running down the card. Then we get to a dark match.

-the undercard match is The 1-2-3 Kid taking on “Wild Man” Marc Mero. Sable is accompanying Mero to the ring and my interest level in this match goes up several cup sizes. Triple H gets involved in the match as he introduced Sable at WM, which I straight up forgot until I watched WM prior to this one. The match itself is pretty solid, ending in a DQ when Trips gets directly involved. Not a bad match. Not PPV caliber but it would have made a pretty decent TV match. I tend to forget how well Waltman could work.

-we are then treated to a backstage interview with the Ultimate Warrior which is typical intense nonsense from the man I adored as a Little Warrior. Don't judge me, I was a fucking kid. After the promo, Marlena and Goldust appear, giving the Warrior a face-full of cigar smoke and then gold dust, which apparent combine to turn the Warrior into an ape. I don't know is going on here so I'm just going to move along.

-we reach the event itself, and the commentary is Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler. Which probably means that at some point while watching this, I will be fighting the urge to stab myself in the ears with something really sharp. Luckily for both you and I, my self control is strong and I will use something dull for the ear-stabbing.

-our opening match is The British Bulldog (with Owen Hart, Jim Cornette, and Clarence Mason) facing Jake Roberts (with snake). Lawler actually makes a good point about how everyone that Roberts faces is afraid of snakes. Instead of a match, we get a comedy segment (I think its supposed to be comedy) where Cornette faints from seeing the snake and Jake has to take the snake to the back, so he comes back out with a really oiled up big man, the incomparable Ahmed Johnson. Why does he always look like he's ready for an oil wrestling match? Has there ever been a more greased-up wrestler than Ahmed Johnson in 1995 and 1996? We get a tag team match. The first bit is relatively watchable, as Roberts does his thing, but things kinda tank from there. My interest wanes. Meh match.

-now we get Goldust against the Ultimate Warrior. The thought of this one makes me cringe. Warrior chases the IC champion out of the ring and we don't really have a match at all. Warrior grabs Goldust's robe and sits in his chair in the center of the ring, smoking Marlena's cigar. Finally Goldust returns and they share a moment, then Warrior clotheslines Goldust out of the chair, andt hen the champ gets counted out. Wikipedia says it was a seven and a half minute match. Seven minutes and fifteen seconds of nothing, with fifteen seconds of action... I bet Warrior still gassed. You can't even consider this one a match. I'm not at all disappointing by that fact, considering it was the Ultimate Warrior involved.

-its Vader time! He will face Razor Ramon is what could be a solid match. It turns out to be just that – solid. Not outstanding and not amongst the best of either man, but hard-fought and a tough win for Vader. Afterward, Vader is told he will face Yokozuna on the next In Your House. So I have that to look forward to.

-Godwinns. Bodydonnas. Mother of gawd. Upon realization that Sunny is involved, my interest goes up. Significantly. I loved Sunny back in the day and unlike the Ultimate Warrior, I feel no shame for that. The match... is a match. Standard tag fare. Heels win cheap to retain the belts.

-finally we get to the main event. Well, we get a lengthy recap of the whole story sequence going back a couple of years. But we're getting close. I know this is Diesel's final match in the WWF, so not much question on how it ends.

The match is good. Really good. Great? Maybe. Diesel looks like a monster and Michaels sells his ass off, showing great resilience as he gets shit stomped for awhile. He blasts the challenger with a fire extinguisher to gain the advantage. In a crowning moment of awesome, Diesel takes the artificial leg from Mad Dog Vachon and attempts to use it as a weapon, but HBK gives him a nasty-looking low-blow and then wins with Sweet Chin Music.

-according to Wikipedia, there were three dark matches – Savio Vega over Steve Austin, Triple H over Marc Mero, and The Undertaker over Mankind. Considering how much of a one-match card this really was, any of those would have made this potentially a much stronger PPV.

-it intrigues me that Diesel's very last match in the WWF was one of his best. He takes a lot of flack – and rightfully so – for having a pretty terrible world title reign. Yet he was a very capable big man who could put on a solid match. With a good opponent and some motivation, he was as good as almost any other big man out there. Not on the level of The Undertaker at his best, but maybe not that far from 'Taker on his average night. Six weeks after this pay per view, Nash would debut on WCW Nitro to join Scott Hall. He and Hall had those lucrative, guaranteed contracts and I don't think he's ever been motivated since. Its a shame in a way.

-this is pretty much a pure one-match card. There is the main event and the rest. Of the rest, only Razor versus Vader really even feels like a PPV-caliber match. Two of the matches are more angles than matches, and one of those wasn't actually a match at all. Nothing about it was particularly painful to watch or offensive to my sensibilities, but its was all rather forgettable outside of the main event.

Results
Owen Hart & The British Bulldog d. Jake Roberts & Ahmed Johnson

The Ultimate Warrior d. Goldust

Vader d. Razor Ramon

The Bodydonnas © d. The Godwinns for the WWF Tag Team championships

Shawn Michaels d. Diesel in a No Holds Barred Match for the WWE World Heavyweight championship

Recommended
Diesel versus Shawn Michaels

 

[EmpireWF]

Hell yeah the Shawn/Diesel main event was awesome. I'd say #2 on Nash's best matches ever list...

#1 - Bret vs. Diesel - Survivor Series 1995
#2 - HBK vs. Diesel - Good Friends, Better Enemies
#3 - Taker vs. Diesel - WM 12

Any other matches worth mentioning?

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Hell yeah the Shawn/Diesel main event was awesome. I'd say #2 on Nash's best matches ever list...

#1 - Bret vs. Diesel - Survivor Series 1995
#2 - HBK vs. Diesel - Good Friends, Better Enemies
#3 - Taker vs. Diesel - WM 12

Any other matches worth mentioning?

 

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[Bigpapa42]

View attachment 1312
In Your House 8: Beware of Dog
May 26, 1996 & May 28, 1996
Florence, South Carolina & North Charleston, South Carolina​

-now that Euro 2012 is winding down, I was hoping to get back into the swing of things with this. Intended to have this one up late last week. But life decided to fuck with me a bit so there was a delay. It happens.

-you may notice there are two different dates listed for In Your House 8, and two different locations. Its not a goofy gimmick pay per view but the WWF making up for a power outage in the May 26th event after just two matches. What I don't know is how the copy of the event I have presents it. So just rolling with it here.

-we kick off directly into the Free For All. The Godwinns taking on the Smoking Guns, with Sunny as the Godwinn's new co-manager. But Sunny betrays the Godwinns and the Guns win the belts back. Pretty crap match, to be honest.

-before the show kicks off, we get some feud recaps. WWF champion Shawn Michaels is feuding with The British Bulldog – hence the PPV subtitle – and it centers around Smith's wife, Diana Smith. Bret's sister has accused HBK of harassing her. Of lusting after her. Saucy. We also have Goldust and The Undertaker in a Casket Match for the Intercontinental championship... Whaaa? Taker is already feuding with Mankind to boot.

-the pay per view kicks off properly. We do get Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler in the commentary booth. Again. Fuck.

-the show starts out with Marc Mero versus Triple H. You know, I never really felt like Mero was deserving of the “Wild Man” nickname. Not that its an amazing nickname, but it is a solid one. It still amazes me sometimes that Mero was apparently picked as a likely top star when he joined the WWF. Just never saw it. Maybe there are some Mero marks out there who can tell me all about how great he was.

As for the for the match with Triple H, its solid. It feels like a pay per view caliber match moreso than much of what the previous IYH events have had. It would probably be the second (maybe third) best match on the IYH7 card. Mero wins.

-we get a backstage interview with Camp Cornette about Bulldog's title match. Cornette has gotten a manager license for Owen Hart, so he joins the contingent at ringside for Bulldog. That's kinda awesome.

The world title match is up next. Interesting card placement. But it delivers. Its obviously not on the level of HBK versus Diesel from IYH 7 but still a quality match. It would not have made a fantastic main event but it certainly would not have been entirely poor. Highlight of the match for me is Owen Hart being mouthy at ringside, yelling at Michaels that “he's a loser”. The match ends with some controversy over who won and who is the champion, as HBK delivered a suplex into a bridging pin but both men had their shoulders down. Gorilla Monsoon declares it a draw. Decently creative finish.

-we now switch to In Your House 8: Beware of Dog 2, which is the second night. Its already an improvement, as the commentary team is now Jim Ross and Curt Hennig. Fuck yeah.

-the Caribbean strap match between Savio Vega and Steve Austin is next. They show footage from the match from the match that took place in the powerless arena two nights before. That would be weird to sit through.

The match has some interesting stipulations. If Austin wins, Vega must be the driver for DiBiase. If Vega wins, DiBiase will leave the WWF. The match is a solid brawl and uses the applicable strap match psycology. That might seem obvious, but it doesn't always happen. The match goes a full 20 minutes, too. Vega wins and DiBiase is gone.

This match brings up a pet peeve of mine. Which I feel like sharing. Austin is just a WWF midcarder at this point. But its clear that he's more than solid in the ring. He is a good worker. You can see pieces of the “Stone Cold” persona coming through but even just in terms of what was definitely already there – the look, the size, the ability in the ring – he looked like he could go far. I've seen him called an “unlikely superstar” and such a number of times. That's bullshit. Unintended I would buy, but unintentional or unlikely overlooks all the pieces that Austin had. He may have ended up being tossed away by WCW, but he won every belt but the world title in his four years there. And while he didn't quite get pushed like Foley out of gates, he was given a chance in the E. Hardly “just another guy”.

-the lack of transitions between matches on the “part 2” of the event is a bit jarring. As a viewer, you don't always realize how much such things are expected until they aren't there. The result is that it seems kind bush league.

-the match order here is all messed up. The world title match is second match on the card, and the semi main event is Vader versus Yokozuna. The match isn't bad. Its not great, either, but Vader can work, Yokozuna seems kinda motivated, and its kept relatively short (under 10 minutes). Cornette is involved plenty, too, as he used to manage Yoko and now manages Vader. The big man goes over. Okay, I mean Vader.

-without any real transition, we move into the main event. Its a casket match between Goldust and The Undertake for the WWF Intercontinental championship. This one seems a bit odd and not just because the casket is gold. While I love that the IC used to get much more respect, The Undertaker was going after the world title not that long ago and I don't know that there was that much of a feud between these two, as Taker is already feuding with Mankind.

The match is solid. Fairly standard fare for a casket match, with Goldust getting to look fairly strong to allow the Taker's signature spots. After a Tombstone, Taker is about to put Goldust in the casket and the Intercontinental title, but when the casket is opened, Mankind comes out and drags Taker in. Goldust wins. That has to be the biggest win in the entire career of Dustin Rhodes aka Goldust.

-overall, its a solid event. A bit off-kilter at times with the two shows making up one event aspect, and especially with the lesser production quality of the second part. There's nothing outstanding here but at the same time, its all pretty decent. Its one of the most solid overall events thus far out of the In Your House series. That said, the only match I'm going to recommend here is the Austin-Vega strap match, which is good but not fantastic. Its just interesting to see a pair of midcarders get a 20-minute brawl, and to see Austin in the WWF before the Stone Cold gimmick came about.


Results
Marc Mero d. Triple H
Shawn Michaels draws The Britsh Bulldog
Savio Vega d. Steve Austin in a Caribbean Strap Match
Vader d. Yokozuna
Goldust (c) d. The Undertaker in a Casket Match for the WWF Intercontinental championship

Recommended
Steve Austin vs Savio Vega – Caribbean Strap Match

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

-I believe Mero was the center of one of the early WWF/WCW pissing match contract warz, so because of that they felt the need to push him hard right out of the gate. His WCW rep was that of a guy more talented than his gimmick, but I don't think anybody ever saw him as a future star or anything.

-Austin was almost immediately considered a future star when he was a rookie in Texas. He ended up in WCW something like one year into his career, and again, was seen almost immediately as a future star. He was progressing nicely in that regard, until Hogan and crew showed up, which coincided with some injury problems. So he ended up pushed down the card, to the point he was firmly planted in the lower mid card and asked to do TV jobs on the B-shows. He famously refused to job for Renegade at a WCW Saturday Night taping, and that was pretty much it for him.

When he got to ECW, most felt WCW made a big mistake, and Heyman pushed him like a gigantic superstar..."Superstar" Steve Austin. If you want to see glipses of Stone Cold, watch those promos. This was clearly a grooming/trasition period. Heyman used him to put over Whipwreck and a others, and off to WWF he went.

Proving Vince is just as dumb as he is smart, he stripped him down, gave him the Ringmaster gimmick, attached him to a manager and wouldn't let him talk. I remember at the time, people felt this was really dumb. And they were obviously right.

 

[Bigpapa42]

Yeah, good call on the Mero contract. I've also read a few times that McMahon was a Mero mark, so that probably played a role. The guy had some talent and charisma, but more like a quality midcard guy than a top star. This match might be his best I've seen, either in his WCW or WWF runs. There is a nice simple little story between Trips and Mero here and I probably could have gotten away with recommending that match too.

Austin won rookie of the year from one of the main dirtsheets. He was moved along pretty quickly in WCW. I've seen his ECW stuff and its definitely the Stone Cold character coming through. Not saying anyone could have looked at him and predicted he would be as big as Hogan ever was. But whenever I read comments about him being an "unlikely star" and simply "in the right place at the right time", it makes me wonder. I've read it a few times, though typically not from fans.

 

[Bigpapa42]

View attachment 1333​

In Your House 9: International Incident
July 21, 1996
Vancouver, British Columbia​

-and we're off again. To Vancouver, British Columbia for an... International Incident!

-our commentary team is Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler, and Jim Ross. Man, Ross must have loved calling these shows with Vince and Lawler, as he always seemed to take a backseat to Vinnie. And Ross had to recognize that Vince sucked ass at commentary.

-the Free-for-All dark match is Savio Vega facing Justin “Hawk” Bradshaw. The future JBL is barely recognizable with long blond hair and some facial hair. He looks kinda like a bigger version of James Storm with less facial hair. Fucked up. He wins.

-after some promo videos for the various on-going feuds, we get an in-ring debate between Jim Cornette and Jose Lothario. After Cornette threatens Lothario and swings with his tennis racket, he gets laid out. Vader appears, then Michaels arrives with the best slide into the ring I think I've ever seen (or at least specifically noticed).

-before Free-for-All ends, we get an interview with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Ah, the era of Austin has begun. This is just following his King of the Ring 1996 win where he had the seminal “Austin 3:16” promo. Not the last promo, as Camp Cornette has a long one where he makes a “money back guarantee” of a win. Then another hype video. WTF? Finally we get to the end of the FFA and into the pay per view properly

-the first match features Sunny, Sunny's breastages, and some schmucks in the ring. Bodydonnas. Smoking Gunns. Tag belts aren't even on the line. Now I'm a fan of tag team wrestling, and I love a fun manager like Sunny. So in theory, I should enjoy this match. But fuck theory. The match just doesn't offer anything that appeals besides Sunny. Neither team really stands out as having good teamwork. The in-ring highlight is probably a couple hard Irish whips. The Bodydonnas win. Very meh.

-another interesting locker room promo from Camp Cornette, where the manager accuses Jose Lothario of pulling a switchblade earlier in the ring.

-Mankind is facing Henry Godwinnn instead of Jake Roberts, as “The Snake” was hospitalized or something. The match is okay but mostly forgettable. At around six minutes, it feels like a filler or TV match at best. As one might expect, its not going to make any of “best ever” lists for a certain Mick Foley.

-Steve Austin is now “Stone Cold” and he is up against Marc Mero. Austin has most of the mannerisms we recognize, as well a lot of the signature spots already. The match is solid. Not quite as good as Mero against Hunter from IYH8, but not far off. This would have to be up there with Mero's best work that I've seen.

Probably the funniest part of the match is the commentary during the entrances. Ross talks up Austin hard, claiming he's going to be a star. Then Vince points out that Mero will, too. Sure Vince. You keep working on that one.

-we get a “musical look at The Undertaker”, which is really just a hype video for the Dead Man. Decent work. The WWE always did have a handle on putting together a dramatic video. Not so much music, though.

-the match between Goldust and The Undertaker starts slow. Taker dominates the early going, and threatens to use the heavy steel steps on Goldust, but Marlena throws herself in front of Goldie... Had the steps been picked up and used as a weapon in the E before this? Taker tries a quick roll up on Goldust at one point – that seemed... odd. After a Tombstone, Taker goes for the pin properly and is interrupted by Mankind emerging through the ring, then pulls Taker down. Several minutes later, Taker comes out the other side of the ring and he brawls with Mankind.

Maybe its because I was in my mid-teens by this point, but the “emerging through the ring” spots have never been a favorite of mine. They just seem hokey to me.

-the main event is a six man tag – the “Camp Cornette” trio of Vader, Owen Hart, and British Bulldog against “The People's Posse”, which is Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson, and Sycho Sid. The third man on HBK's team was apparently supposed to be the Ultimate Warrior. Sid or Warrior...? Push.

The match goes about 25 minutes before Vader eventually hits a Vader Bomb on Michaels and pins the champ. The babyfaces then do a beatdown on Camp Cornette, culminating in a really nice dive by Michaels to the outside onto Vader. The match builds the rivalry between Vader and Michaels, which lead into the SummerSlam match between the two. A match which effectively killed off the possibility of Vader becoming a dominant monster heel for the company.

I actually quite enjoyed this match. My enjoyment probably exceeds the actual quality, and I'm a bit surprised as the make-up of the six wrestlers involved is a mix of guys I like and some I really don't. We even get the fun of a fan trying to jump in. Fun or not, I'm not sure it makes for a real solid PPV main event. It sets up the SS main event, but would have been a great TV main event or pretty good PPV semi-main event.

-not a bad show. Not great, either. Despite enjoying the main event, I'm not really recommending anything on this one. The main event is more fun than good, and neither Taker-Goldust or Austin-Mero matches are really anything special. Both, especially Austin-Mero, are solid matches, but that's not really the point of making a “check this out” recommendation.

Results
The Bodydonnas d. The Smoking Gunns
Mankind d. Henry Godwinn
Stone Cold Steve Austin d. Marc Mero
The Undertaker d. Goldust
Camp Cornette d. The People's Posse

Recommended
None

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

-I believe Mero was the center of one of the early WWF/WCW pissing match contract warz, so because of that they felt the need to push him hard right out of the gate. His WCW rep was that of a guy more talented than his gimmick, but I don't think anybody ever saw him as a future star or anything.

-Austin was almost immediately considered a future star when he was a rookie in Texas. He ended up in WCW something like one year into his career, and again, was seen almost immediately as a future star. He was progressing nicely in that regard, until Hogan and crew showed up, which coincided with some injury problems. So he ended up pushed down the card, to the point he was firmly planted in the lower mid card and asked to do TV jobs on the B-shows. He famously refused to job for Renegade at a WCW Saturday Night taping, and that was pretty much it for him.

When he got to ECW, most felt WCW made a big mistake, and Heyman pushed him like a gigantic superstar..."Superstar" Steve Austin. If you want to see glipses of Stone Cold, watch those promos. This was clearly a grooming/trasition period. Heyman used him to put over Whipwreck and a others, and off to WWF he went.

Proving Vince is just as dumb as he is smart, he stripped him down, gave him the Ringmaster gimmick, attached him to a manager and wouldn't let him talk. I remember at the time, people felt this was really dumb. And they were obviously right.

RE: Stone Cold...

If the Ringmaster gimmick is never given to him...he probably never becomes Stone Cold...if you recall, the Ringmaster gimmick developed into a bit of an "iceman" gimmick within six months and it was right around the IYH: Beware of Dog match that he really sheds the Ringmaster gimmick and continues his development...Dibiase leaves and in his next promo, Austin tells Michael Hayes that he meant to lose the match to get rid of Dibiase...the next PPV was King of the Ring and BOOM...ol boy is a star. Couple that bad gimmick with a lot of frustration by Austin and it fueled the fire for him to become Stone Cold within 6 months.

People always hate on the Ringmaster gimmick, but those people fail to realize he was "The Ringmaster" in its goofiest form for like two months, then four months later he was Stone Cold Steve Austin...and over that four months, basically evolved...it wasn't like it was a year or two of Ringmaster gimmick...

RE: Mero...

Like you said, he was one of the guys that the WWE spent money on...while WCW was taking Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Ted Dibiase, and eventually others (after taking Hogan, Savage, Jimmy Hart, et al)...the WWE ended up with Mero, Austin, HHH, Pillman, Foley...basically, lots of WCW castaways...IIRC, Mero was one of the "gets" in that, they had to pay big money for him so he was immediately pushed to the moon. This was when Jim Ross was really on his game. He saw stardom in the young guys that WCW casted away...they didn't look like the stars Vince usually wanted, but Austin, H's, Foley, and obvious stars that JR got in like The Rock basically handed Vince billions.

 

[Bigpapa42]

View attachment 1355
In Your House 10: Mind Games
September 22, 1996
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania​

-we jump right into the show, with Jim Ross introducing the rest of the commentary team – Vince McMahon and Mr. Perfect. Marty Jannetty is already in the ring and his opponent, Savio Vega, soon arrives. WE're halfway through match – which is interrupted by a Bradshaw promo overlay – before they identify that this is actually the Free-For-All preshow. Which makes much more sense than this being the PPV proper. Savio wins and is then attacked by Bradshaw.

-after a hype video, we kick off the pay per view proper. The man graphic is a very basic animated laughing skull wearing the Mankind mask. Maybe that was cutting edge in 1996 but it looks like something my 5-year old nephew would make on MS Paint today.

-the show kicks off with an impromptu match between Justin Bradshaw and Savio Vega, based off of what happened on the Free-For-All. Its a Caribbean Strap Match. Vega wins right as Bradshaw looks like he's about to. Decent match and the strap stipulation makes some sense as its being pushed as Vega's specialty. He has now beaten Austin and JBL in it, so I guess so.

-notable is that before the match starts, there is a group of “local wrestlers” who are in the front row and forcibly removed. Hello ECW. I spotted Tommy Dreamer and Sandman. There is no further mention of them afterward.

-we cut backstage where Savio Vega is being assaulted at the far end of a hallway. Its Razor and Diesel! Its Razor and Diesel! OMG they're back. Or fake versions of them are. Great story idea, WWF. There is no way this fails!

-we go back to the match. Which is Jim Cornette against Jose Lothario. A non-wrestler against a 62-year old retired wrestler. So why exactly did the WWF fall behind WCW again? Lothario wins in a minute and let's move along.

-after a couple of segments, we get a couple more. Brian Pillman insults the fans, then brings out Owen Hart to talk about Bret. Owen ends up bringing out Steve Austin, proclaiming that Bret fears Austin. Good promo from Stone Cold. He is pretty close to the Stone Cold we know and love at this point, at least based on his promo work.

-next up is Owen Hart and the British Bulldog taking on The Smoking Gunns for the tag titles. Smoking Gunns means Sunny. I'm enticed. After a fairly solid match, the Hart-Bulldog pair win the belts when Sunny's attempted distraction backfires. Sunny freaks out after the match ends, which supersedes the celebration of the new champions. The match isn't great by any means, but its a step up from the entirely forgettable tag division matches that have populated some of the recent shows I have watched.

-we follow up with Jerry Lawler versus Mark Henry. The feud here is simply that Lawler made fun of Henry during his debut segment, and he mocks here again before the match for being green. Which he is, so Lawler is actually kinda right. Henry basically just uses his power here, as that seems to be all he really has just yet. He wins, then destroys a few folks after the match, including Triple H.

-our semi main event tonight is a “Last Curtain” match between Goldust and The Undertaker. Its a solid match but its one I've seen now in several different formats over the past few shows. Other than Goldust throwing gold dust into Taker's eyes to gain an advantage for awhile, there just isn't much here that's different. Taker wins and ends the feud.

-our main event is one that I'm looking forward to and I don't know that I've ever actually seen it before. Shawn “Magic Mike” Michaels defending the WWF World title against Mankind. Paul Bearer and the Taker's urn give Mankind power at this point in his career. Both guys are near their peak and they deliver in the ring. The match is a physical brawl and includes some nice spots, like HBK suplexing Mankind's knee into the steel ring steps, which leads to Michaels' working over the knee. Both guy sell their asses off here, which really makes things work. Late in the match they both go through the Spanish announcer's table.

Sadly, we don't really get a finish, as Vader interferes and that leads to a disqualification. After Michaels fights off Vader, Mankind attacks and gives him the claw, but Undertaker jumps out of the casket that's been at ringside, attacking Mankind. Fun sequence but an actual finish to what was a pretty damned great match would have been my preference. Someone mentioned the Foley picked out this match as one of his favorite WWE matches and I can understand why.

-overall, this is a reasonably solid show. It would be below average without the main event, but Michaels and Foley really deliver. The rest of the show is really just okay but there is nothing that's really poor. Even Henry and Lawler isn't that terrible (its almost more of angle than a proper match), and the “match” between Lothario and Cornette is very short so its kinda inoffensive as well. Maybe I was just in a good mood while watching it...?

-the main event gets a strong recommendation. One of the strongest thus far. Nothing else does.

Results
Savio Vega d. Justin Bradshaw in a Caribbean Strap Match
Jose Lothario d. Jim Cornette
Owen Hart & British Bulldog d. The Smoking Gunns (c) for the WWF World Tag Team titles
Mark Henry d. Jerry Lawler
The Undertaker d. Goldust
Shawn Michaels (c) d. Mankind via Disqualification for the WWF World Heavyweight title

Recommended
Shawn Michaels vs Mankind

 

[Bigpapa42]

View attachment 1362
In Your House 11: Buried Alive
October 20, 1996
Indianapolis, Indianapolis​

-we start out with a hype video for the match between The Undertaker and Mankind. I'm going to wager a guess that its a Buried Alive match? When we cut to the arena, they are playing O Fortuna. Fucking awesome.

-once again our commentary team is Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler, and Jim Ross. Vince and Ross get into a violent shoot fight over Ross' lack of a microphone. It would seem Jim Ross hasn't had his daily dose of BBQ sauce as he doesn't seem to be in a good mood.

-we start off with the Austin versus Triple H. More awesome. In between his microphone cutting out, Ross identifies both men as future WWF champion. Good call, Jim. Near the end of the match, Lawler calls out McMahon for his horrid commentary habits of calling out the pin attempts. That was fantastic – gonna be tough to top that as moment of the show.

The match itself is good. Not great but good. Its more technical in the early going that I expected. Hennig comes down to ringside after awhile, gets into it with Austin at ringside, then leaves with Triple H's lady-friend. This leads to more ringside shenanigans, and Austin finally wins after a Stone Cold Stunner. They got 15 minutes and deliver a quality opener.

-we get a quick promo from the Smoking Gunns, highlighting Billy Gunn's obsession with Sunny and his desire to win the belts back so she will return to the team. Aww, a cowboy in love. How sweet...

-the tag title match turns out to be fairly solid. Again, not great. But its better than a lot of the tag division I've seen on these events so far. Thank you Owen and Bulldog. The champions retain and its more problems between Billy and Bart.

-Jim Ross gets into the ring to complain about his microphone and hype the return of Bret Hart. So the microphone thing is just a work. It was kinda fun, as I've never seen Ross be so consistently unprofessional. Damn.

-next we have Marc Mero defending the Intercontinental championship against Goldust. Curt Hennig comes down for commentary now that Ross has left. The match is rather forgettable. Nothing terrible by any means but nothing special either.

-our next match is a “battle of the power bombs”. Vader versus Sycho Sid. Interesting. Winner becomes the number one contender for the WWF World title. I hold hopes that this one is fairly short. Shawn Michaels comes out to watch the match and do commentary. His long flowing locks of hair might be the most feminine hair I've ever noticed on a WWF star. The match is not the train-wreck I feared it might be. Guess I shouldn't underestimate Vader. Sid wins... with a choke-slam. The end came really quick and Vader seemed to be in control of things. Don't like the psychology of that.

-we get an interview backstage that is Dox Hendrix trying to interview Sycho Sid, but its interrupted by Jim Ross. He asks if Sid will do whatever it takes to win the title. Sid, in some indirect and nonsensical ways, says he will.

-if I wasn't lazy, I might research it to see if this is the first “Buried Alive” match the WWF ever did. Seems possible. The match itself is pretty much what you would expect out of these two – good, violent, and Taker seems to take undue pleasure in brutalizing Mick Foley. While its a good match, there is a “seem it before” feel to it for me. This would be not too long after their SummerSlam Boiler Room Brawl, which felt a bit more violent than this one. It lacks a “holy shit” moment like the obvious one from their Hell in a Cell. I also don't love the basic psychology of a “buried alive” match. I find this one seeming a bit mediocre in that context, but its hard to be sure without watching other matches between the two.

Taker wins but he is then attacked by The Executioner (Terry Gordy in an executioner mask), who helps Foley out of the grave and they throw Taker in. Foley, Terry, and Bearer start to bury The Undertaker. They are joined by other heels, including Bradshaw and Triple H. There is an irony in seeing Triple H literally learn to bury someone this early in his WWF career. The sequence is long and literally hard to watch – the strobing lights would be seizure-inducing for someone with epilepsy. Before show ends, The Undertaker's gloved hand punches through the dirt.

-”Buried Alive” is an entirely forgettable event. Not a bad one, as none of the matches are bad, let alone terrible. But nothing stands out. The main event is good but seems below other matches between the two. Austin-Helmsley is solid and interesting but again, they've done better. I might be selling Taker-Mankind short but I don't feel there's anything quite worth recommending here.


Results
Steve Austin d. Hunter Hearst Helmsley
Owen Hart & the British Bulldog d. The Smokings Gunns for the WWF Tag Team championships
Marc Mero (c) d. Goldust for the WWF Intercontinental championship
Sycho Sid d. Vader
The Undertaker d. Mankind in a Buried Alive match

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

The Austin-H's match at Buried Alive was a good one.

 

[Bigpapa42]

View attachment 1366​

In Your House 12: It's Time
December 15, 1996
West Palm Beach, Florida​

-I have to point out that "It's Time" is Vader's catch phrase and he isn't even on the show. I do not have high expectations here. We kick off directly into the Free-for-All... its Dox Hendrix shouting the card at the fans. Interesting way to start the show.

-then we cut quickly to Jim Ross who details an altercation that morning between champion Sycho Sid, Shawn Michaels, and Bret Hart. They show part of it, but not all of it.

-out first match is a dark match featuring Rocky Miavia. Who the fuck be this? He's wrestling Salvatore Sincere. OK seriously, who the fuck is this? A good portion of the match is a promo from Paul Bear, Mankind, and The Executioner. The match ends in a disqualification. Eh.

-we get some preview videos before the pay per view kicks off properly with Leif Cassidy versus Flash Funk. Apparently Funk is a pimp and he has a couple of dancing girls with him and they not only dance down to the ring, but spend some time dancing in the ring before the match starts. If 2 Cold Funk came out to “Somebody Call My Momma”, I would be quite confused. Nice to see that absolutely nothing about Brodus Clay is original.

The match is solid. Not spectacular, but a decent opener. I do end up wanting to throat-punch Vince as he goes into pure overkill on “1! 2! No!” mode near the finish. Fuck you, Vince McMahon.

-tag belts are up next. Owen and Bulldog will face Diesel and Razor Ramon. Or the fake versions of them. Fuck this. Fake Diesel is Glen Jacobs, aka Kane, while Razor is Rick Bogner. The match is interrupted by Pierroth and Cibernito from AAA coming down to ringside as hype for the Royal Rumble. Then Stone Cold comes down, as he's been feuding with The British Bulldog. Add in Jim Ross being a heel a commentary, as he is the man who brought in the Fakes, and this is basically a shit show. We do get some actual wrestling, the champions retain, then Austin shows up again to attack Bulldog.

-Ahmed Johnson comes out next for an interview with Vince, coming back from a layoff (kidney problems, I believe) and feuding with Farooq and the Nation of Domination. NoD is pretty white at this point. The promo skills of Ahmed are pretty near non-existent. So this was fun.

-Hunter Hearst Helmsley (who shall henceforth be simply Triple H or Trips because even my fingers are lazy) will put his Intercontinental title on the line against Marc Mero. We get another solid match between the two. Goldust gets involved and lays out both, with only Mero making it back into the ring in time, so he wins by count-out. No title change.

-replay of the shenanigans from that morning and then a promo from Sid. Gibberish. But its intense gibberish.

-we have an “Armageddon Match” between The Undertaker and Terry Gordy, who is wearing an executioner's mask and going by “The Executioner”. Despite the fancy name, the match basically seems to be a Last Man Standing affair. Mankind gets involved soon enough and its basically 2 against 1 but being a zombie mortician, Undertaker holds his own. They wreck the stage set (such as it was) and security comes out to grab Mankind, apparently “macing” him before he gets put in a straight-jacket. The match goes into the backstage area. Taker and Terry come back out and the Executioner gets executed. Eh. Not one of Taker's better matches, even from this period.

-we get another replay of the “incident” from that morning while Hart cuts a locker room promo, which is interrupted by HBK's music. Michaels comes down to the ring to do commentary for the match. It adds an interesting dynamic to the match but it gets be too much at times with four guys at the commentary table.

The match is what you would probably expect out of these two. Pretty good by Sid standards but really just average for Hart. The challenger controls the early going, then it changes up a bit, until Steve Austin attacks Hart at ringside and injures Hart's knee before being chased off by Owen and Bulldog. It becomes a matter of time, with Bret kicking out of a big chokeslam. Then it goes outside and HBK gets involved, leading to Hart getting power-bombed and then pinned.

-its a below average In Your House. The opener is okay, Mero vs Trips isn't bad but note quite as good as the same match-up from a few shows ago, and the main event isn't great. Not terrible but hardly high up on the scale of Bret Hart matches. Nothing worth recommending here unless you having a burning desire to see every decent Sid match or really want to see Terry Gordy in the WWF.

Results
Flash Funk d. Leaf Cassidy
Owen Hart & The British Bulldog (c) d. Fake Diesel and Fake Razor for the WWF Tag Team Championships
Marc Mero d. Hunter Hearst Helmsley (c) via Count Out
The Undertaker d. The Executioner
Sycho Sid (c) d. Bret Hart for the WWF World Heavyweight championship

 

[Bigpapa42]

View attachment 1379
In Your House 13: Final Four
February 16, 1997
Chattanooga, Tennessee​

-pretty happy to be reaching 1997 in this project. Although there were some obvious “Attitude Era” pieces and elements present through 1996, its '97 and '98 that were moreso my “heyday” as a fan. It all just feels more familiar... which is kinda odd, since I've rewatched a lot of '96 stuff before...

-no pre show. Thankfully. We move right into the pay per view proper, with a promo about the four-way main event to crown a new world champion.

-the commentary team is Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler. Wait, no Vincent Kennedy McMahon? Holy fuck, yes! Happy Papa!

-the first match is Marc Mero vs Leaf Cassidy. Ah, the awesome debut gimmick of Al Snow. The most interesting aspect of this match up is that Sable is clearly entering her slutty phase, wearing a black latex outfit and sunglasses, getting involved in the action several times and even slapping Snow. Mero triumphs. Its actually a decent match. Not a fantastic opener but reasonable.

-we get a replay from the announcement that Shawn Michaels is vacating the world title due to a knee injury. He talks about having lost his smile. Its not his best promo. Its pretty honest but he meanders. The lead in to the promo was just odd, as Honky Tonk Man makes an appearance, they cut to the footage. When they come back, Flash Funk is making his lengthy dancing entrance. No idea why Honky Tonk man came out or where the fuck he went...

-Flash Funk is part of a six-man tag. He's on the same team as Goldust and Bart Gunn. The trio is taking on the Nation of Domination. The entrances take a ton of time and I have a feeling the match will be shorter than the combined entrances length. The match is messy but not terrible. Nothing better than what you could expect on TV, really, except for the long entrances.

-a backstage interview with Stone Cold Steve Austin, who bitches about a conspiracy against him in the WWF. Hmmm... this seems like it could seem lead somewhere, Steve...

-Hunter Hearst Helmsley takes on Rocky Maivia next for the WWF Intercontinental championship. My God, they both look so young. Dunno if its the novelty of them being both early in their WWF careers but I quite enjoy it. Its not a fantastic match and definitely not the best they had against each other by a long measure. But it does bode for well for the top level talent they will both become. Rocky wins with a bridging suplex after Goldust comes out and distracts Helmsley. After the match, a very muscular and dark-haired woman grabs Marlene at ringside. Hello Chyna.

-the tag belts are up next and the duo of Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon are getting a shot. They start out in the ring, so that's a bad sign. I have a soft spot for Furnas & LaFon cuz of their fantastic work in Japan through the early 90s. The match is also damned solid. The tension between Bulldog and Owen plays a major role, and the champs lose when Owen uses his Slammy award to attack one of the challengers right in front of the ref. Its a far cry from the best of what Furnas & LaFon did in Japan but its better than some of the tag team work on the recent In Your House shows.

-main event time. Its Bret Hart versus The Undertaker versus Steve Austin versus Vader in a Final Four match. The winner will be the new world champion after Michaels vacated the belt due to a knee injury. The four cross over a pair of feuds (Austin-Hart and Vader-Taker) and the final four in the controversial '97 Royal Rumble finish. Its a basic four-way elimination match with the added twist of a top-rope elimination counting. Vader gets bloody early when he tries to use a chair on Taker and it gets booted back into his face. They make liberal use of chairs and the stairs, fight out into the crowd a bit, and Vader gets even bloodier. To the point he's leaving blood smears at times. This feels like pure “Attitude Era”.

The first elimination is Austin. Hart delivers a top-rope suplex to Vader and gets the shart-shooter but Taker stop it. Austin then comes back out to attack Hart. Vader is eliminated by The Undertaker when he goes up for a Vader Bomb but gets a low-blow instead, toppling over the top rope. The Hitman gets Taker over the top rope to win it.

-this was the fourth world title reign for Bret Hart. It would last all of a day. He would lose the belt to Psycho Sid the next day on Raw. Fucking Sid. But it would set up Hart versus Austin in the epic WrestleMania match a month later.

-I have to admit that I enjoyed this one more than I expected. More than the line up would suggest for sure. Maybe I was just in a good mood while watching it. Or maybe it really helped that much that VMK was not on commentary...? It was definitely the first In Your House pay per view I've watched so far where, at the end of the 2 hour event, I wished it was longer – not just a match or two, but the show as a whole. I wanted more. It was definitely the first show which really felt like the Attitude Era was in full swing. Not quite as much as a year later, when DX would be in full swing, the Austin-McMahon would rage, The Rock would run The Nation with Owen Hart by his side, Val Venis would get his pee-pee chopped off, Sable would wear a painted-on bikini...

Results:
Marc Mero d. Leaf Cassidy
The Nation of Domination d. Bart Gunn, Goldust & Flash Funk
Rocky Maivia (c) d. Hunter Hearst Helmsley for the WWF Intercontinental championship
Furnas & LaFon d. Owen Hart & British Bulldog (c) via disqualification for the WWF Tag Team championships
Bret Hart d. Steve Austin, Vader & The Undertaker in a Final Four Match for WWF World Heavyweight championship

Recommended:
Final Four main event

 

[Bigpapa42]

In Your House 14: Revenge of the Taker

May 20, 1997
Rochester, New York​

-halfway! Woohoo!

-serious drop in video quality between this one and every other In Your House I've watched so far. Guess I can't complain too much – it could still be 1997 and I could still be having to pay $25 or whatever it was to watch these live.

-the show kicks off with the Legion of Doom. Sweet. Always an LOD mark. I realized Vince is back on commentary and any joy I felt for the start of this one is leeched out of me. Ignoring this travesty... the Legion of Doom have recently debuted, I believe, and are going for the tag team belts here. They are facing the tag champs Owen Hart and the British Bulldog. Love that trademark LOD physicality. Its a decent match but doesn't really stand out as anything special. The LOD win the match and the belts, but its announced they didn't pin the legal member of the tag team champions, so the match continues. When the action gets rolling, Bret runs in and interferes, causing a disqualification that allows the champs to keep the belts. I didn't enjoy this as much as I expected, given the two teams involved. Not a bad match but seemed pretty meh.

-we get a backstage segment with Sunny and Brian Pillman hyping a WWF hotline. They dry hump each other and Sunny strips naked. That's how I choose to remember the segment.

-the Nation of Domination comes out next with a pair of rappers rapping them out to the ring. White rappers. Its... uh... not awesome. Then a promo from Rocky Maivia, who shows a fair bit of the intensity we know from The Rock. The match is Savio Vega versus Rocky for the Intercontinental championship. The whole Nation is ringside for the match and there were a lot of them at this point. The match is basically waiting for them to interfere and they do, which ends up with Rocky losing via countout. Then he's gang-thumped by the Nation until Ahmed Johnson makes the save. I can't help but wonder if The Rock looks back on this moment as a career low point...

-there is a backstage interview of Sable and the injured Marc Mero by Dox Hendrix. This leads to something happening in the men's room. The something is apparently Owen Hart and The British Bulldog attacking Steve Austin. The Attitude Era... where a guy can't even take a dump in peace...

-we get Jesse James (aka Road Dogg) singing his way out to the ring. Then Honky Tonk Man comes out and introduces his protege... Rockabilly. The man previously known as Billy Gunn. Its a battle of the Outlaws! Given that its early 1997, that's not as exciting of a prospect as it might seem. The fans don't seem to care that much and they action doesn't really give them any reason to. James wins with a roll-up and I can't help but notice how much he looks like Jarrett in this get-up.

-Austin is recovering from the men's room attack and Gorilla Monsoon is rearranging the match-order, putting the Austin-Hart match on last. I wonder if Austin has managed to finish his “business” in the bathroom yet? Need to get that taken care of before you climb into the ring...

-so the semi main event is the world title match between The Undertaker and Mankind. We get an interesting hype video first. I feel like I've seen this match-up so many times, but a quick check says its only the second one on the In Your House series. I've been watching other Attitude Era stuff in the last while and there are a few others. Not really meant as a complaint as Taker and Foley tend to deliver the goods. The Undertaker really seems to enjoy physically destroying Mick Foley, with their infamous Hell in a Cell match the most notable example.

Late in the match, after a ref bump, Mankind brings the steps into the ring but Taker dropkicks them into his face and they basically land on Foley. Then he delivers a chair-shot, though it doesn't seem to be unprotected. Then Mankind goes through the Spanish announcer's table, basically face-first. So once again Taker just psychically destroys Foley through the match. Taker wins after delivering a Tombstone. After the match, we get a fireball right in Paul Bearer's face. Which is just plain rude. The match is good. Not their best but worth watching and therefore worth a recommendation.

-we get a short backstage interview with Hart before the main event. That short pre-match interview is a dead art. The match gets underway, and about five minutes in, the pictures goes to static and comes back with Spanish commentary. It only lasts a couple of minutes but I preferred it... despite not understanding any Spanish.

-the match is what you expect from these two, meaning its very good. Austin mostly brawls while Hart mixes brawling with some technical wrestling. The end is a bit disappointing, as the British Bulldog comes in and smokes Austin with a chair, which obviously results in a disqualification. Austin gets a bit of payback afterward but its still a disappointing finish. I presume the booking worked with the storyline, but this is the danger of only watching the pay per view events...

-overall, I enjoyed the event. The first half is nothing fantastic but nothing awful, either. The last two matches are both quite solid.

Results
The Legion of Doom d. Owen Hart & The British Bulldog
Savio Vega d. Rock Maivia (c) via Countout for the WWF Intercontinental championship
Jesse James d. Rockabilly
The Undertaker (c) d. Mankind for the WWF World Heavyweight championship
Stone Cold Steve Austin d. Bret Hart via Disqualification

Recommended:
Mankind versus The Undertaker
Steve Austin versus Bret Hart

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Was this the time when Road Dogg was singing "With My Baby Tonight?" on his way to the ring...

SPEND MY DAY WORKIN HARD ON THE GO
THE HANDS ON THE CLOCK KEEP SPINNIN TOO SLOW
CUZ I CAN'T WAIT TO BE ALONE WITH MY BABY TOOOOONIIIIIIIIGHHHHTTTTT

/oh lord that was awful.