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RETRO REVIEW: IN YOUR HOUSE

And here we go with my first tape recap: the very first installment of WWF's In Your House - back from the wretched '95. It was just called In Your House then, no goofy gimmick names like "Revenge of the Taker" or "Winter Combat". The idea behind the name was as follows: a cheaper and shorter PPV (2 hours), during which the WWF would give away a house to some lucky WWF fan. This got abandoned fairly quickly. Actually, the plan was to have a PPV every weekend instead of every month, and thankfully that never materialized.

Anyways, this is my first recap, and why did I choose exactly this card to rant about? Because of the huge historical significance it has to me. Let me elaborate.

Back in '95 I was still living in Europe and watched the WWF on German TV. Now, for those of you who whine about the crap you get to see on Monday nights these days, let me assure you that this was NOTHING compared to the weekly WWF shows we got on German TV. An hour long at some ungodly time of 1 am or so filled with either

a) commercials,
b) hype for the next PPV, usually by Todd Pettengill, or
c) squash matches.

We were lucky to get a Lex Luger vs. Reno Riggins main event, I kid you not. On the upside, we got the PPV's for free, as back the whole PPV/pay-TV system wasn't implemented in Germany yet. And with the shit we got on free TV, the PPV's were the absolute highpoints, and I never missed a single one.

Until In Your House.

See, when they had the IYH idea, they only aired them in the US. SO what happens is that we got the hype for the IYH's but could never get the actual PPV in itself. So the announcers hype Diesel vs. Sid and Bret vs. Hakushi for six weeks, and we can't get it but the crappy German announcers giving us the results and start hyping the next PPV. So In Your House I was the first major WWF card I had missed ever since they started airing WWF programming on RTL2 in '93. I was a heavy WWF mark at that time, and I was not happy.

Now it's almost five years later, and I have just obtained the IYH tape on Yahoo auctions. And finally, I proudly present to you the recap of the show that has eluded me for so long:



IN YOUR HOUSE I

(Original air date: May 14th, '95)

We are live from...

  • Hold it, first Stan Lane hypes the Judge Dredd video game.

    Okay now. We are live from...

  • WWF promo for SummerSlam in which NASH DRIVES A WHITE HUMVEE!! IT WAS NASH ALL ALONG!! NASH DROVE THE HUMVEE!! SOMEONE CALL WCW, WE HAVE THE EVIDENCE RIGHT HERE!!

    Ahem, sorry. Anyways, we are live from...

  • Razor Ramon ("Yo!), the Bushwhackers, Man Mountain Rock and Ray Rougeau hype In Your House II.

    Well, FINALLY... we are live from Syracuse, New York. Your hoses are Vince McMahon and Dok Hendrix. Good God...

    Vince reminds us that it's Mother's Day Sunday, which would become important later on.

  • Hakushi (w/Shinja) vs. Bret Hart

    The storyline here was as follows: Bret got some bogus award from the Japanese media, and the evil Japanese Hakushi didn't like it and attacked him. Bret Hart is a two-time WWF champ at this point and Hakushi was new to the WWF, so why does Bret jerk the curtain against a newcomer? Clique politics of course, so Bret would spent most of '95 battling evil Japs, pirates, dentists, and Jerry Lawler.

    Todd Pettengill interviews Bret. "I just want to say one thing...", and off he goes to address Hakushi, Jerry Lawler, his mom, and his own greatness.

    And off we go. Sign of the night right there: "Bob Holly couldn't drive a go cart." Stalling to start, and Hakushi does a cartwheel and gets some good heel heat for doing so. Some more armwringers and Hakushi with a flying shoulderblock. Hakushi with an armbar. Dok Hendrix tells us how smart Hakushi is for working on Bret's arm so he can't apply the sharpshooter later. Uhm, yeah. Bret with a roll-up for two and an armdrag takedown into an armbar. Bret tosses Hakushi around until the evil Jap takes a breather. Back into the ring, and Hakushi with a cheapshot. Bret does his sternum-first into the turnbuckle bit and Hakushi hits a Vaderbomb for two while Jerry Lawler looks on in joy. He'd face Bret later tonight. Bret is Canadian and Hakushi Japanese, so naturally the fans chant "USA! USA!". Hakushi dominates some more with a Broncobuster and poses to loud boos. Good heel heat for Hakushi here. Hakushi tosses Bret out of the ring and Shinja, his manager, with some cheapshots on the outside. Back into the ring, and Hakushi with another hard whip-in. Hakushi with an illegal choke while Shinja distracts the ref. Hakushi chops Bret down again. More chops into the corner, and Hakushi with a cartwheel elbow. 360 backbreaker gets two. Hakushi with a nice diving headbutt, but again just two. Springboard bodysplash but Bret rolls clear. Bret regains control. Side russian legsweep gets two. Bulldog gets two. Standard hitman stuff here. Side backbreaker. Second-rope elbowdrop, and Bret goes for the sharpshooter to a loud face pop but Shinja interferes. Bret with an atomic drop and a clothesline. Bret ties Hakushi into the ropes, then tries a running something but Shinjo trips him, so Bret launches himself at Shinja on the outside and whacks him. Back into the ring, and Hakushi with a dropkick for two. Suplex is blocked, and Bret suplexes himself and Hakushi over the ropes to the outside. Nice spot. Both men back into the ring, but Shinja grabs Bret's ankle to keep him outside, and Hakushi with a GORGEOUS MOONSAULT from the apron! The fans pop good throughout this match, especially Hakushi's highspots Hakushi tries to suplex Bret back in, they go into a series of reversals until Bret can victory roll Hakushi for the pin.

    WINNER: Bret Hart (pinfall) at 14:40 ***1/4

    Good opener, and good heat for both men. Very solid with some nice high spots, and Hakushi could have had a much more successful WWF career then he did... but they ended up turning him face towards the end of the year and it all went down the crapper. I still have nightmares of Hakushi with a Santa Claus hat saying "Merry Christmas - ho ho ho!" with his thick accent. In an awkward spot, Bret twists his knee when jumping down the apron.

  • Stephanie Wyatt yaps about the house they give away. Man, if you think Lilian Garcia is bad...

  • Handicap match: Razor Ramon vs. Jeff Jarrett & The Roadie

    Roadie is, of course, the Road Dogg. Double J pinned Razor at the Royal Rumble with Roadie's interference to win the IC belt. The rematch at WrestleMania ended in a big mess, with both Roadie and the 1-2-3 Kid interfering, and this was supposed to be a tag match with the Kid as Ramon's partner. Unfortunately, Razor broke Waltman's neck in a botched double-team move prior to this, and this was made into a handicap match. Double J had the country singer gimmick at this point. The Kid is on the telephone since he can't be here and tells us how much he would have liked to kick the Roadie's ass. Later on, they'd both join DX. Interview with Razor who wishes "Mama Ramon" a happy Mother's Day.

    Razor gets a huge face pop. Another Dok Hendrix fuckup: he calls this the "first ever handicap match on WWF PPV". Uhm... well, what about SummerSlam '91? WrestleMania V with Demolition/Powers of Pain? Well, continuity was never the WWF's strong part...

    Nice opening sequence, with Jarrett doing a leapfrog, but Razor simply waiting and slapping him on his way down. And off bails Jarrett to the outside. Razor showboats some more. Roadie spends most of this match stalking around ringside. Jarrett with a dropkick, but Razor holds on to the ropes and Jarrett crashlands. Why does a missed dropkick hurt more than one that hits? Razor clotheslines Jarrett out of the ring, then pulls Razor to the outside. Roadie nails Razor from behind. Back into the ring, and Jarrett with an enzuigiri. Jarrett hops into the fallaway slam. Cover, but Roadie breaks it up. Roadie tags in for the first time and hits a clothesline and sine elbowdrops before tagging back out. Sunset flip by Jarrett but he gets smacked. Rollup for two. Razor with a small package for two but Jarrett clotheslines him back down and Roadie tags back in. Jarrett comes down from the top but Razor with a gut punch on his way down. Atomic drop and Razor goes for the Edge but Jarrett backdrops him to the outside. Roadie with a top rope clothesline to the outside on Razor. Back into the ring, and Jarrett with a flying bodypress which Razor reverses for two. Jarrett dropkick gets two. Jarrett with a Swinging Neckbreaker, then goes into the goofy heel mode by showboating and crotching himself on the ropes. Double clothesline, and they do the double knockout spot. HUGE side suplex by Ramon, and some more resting. Roadie tags back in with something sloppy from the top rope for two. Sleeper. Vince tells us about the Kid's agony about not being here tonight cheering for Razor. Somehow I think the broken neck hurts worse. Razor powers out, front face smash and some more resting. Jarrett tags back in , but Razor with the discus punch. Razor whips Jarrett into the Roadie, then hits his back suplex of the second rope. Razor signals the Edge to a big pop, but Jarrett bops him from behind. Jarrett goes for the figure four, but Razor kicks him into the Roadie again. Jarrett stumbles back, and Razor hits the Edge for the three count.

    WINNER: Razor Ramon (pinfall) at 12:39 ***

    Wow, two clean finishes in a row, and decent matches to boot! Razor tries the Edge on the Roadie, but gets clipped by Jarrett. Figure-Four. Aldo Montoya (of all people) runs in but gets punked. So out to help Razor comes... making his WWF debut... wait for it (drum roll)... SAVIO VEGA! Ughs. Vega was Kwang, of course. Decent match, but this was one of the reasons Jarrett left the WWF in July - despite being IC champ for half a year, he never got a clean win over anyone. Getting pinned in a handicap match doesn't exactly put you over as a monster heel now, does it? Formula: if the title was not on the line he would get pinned (like in this match), if it was he'd lose by DQ or countout.

  • Lawler demands his match against Bret right now cause Bret is still tired after the Hakushi match.

  • Sid promo.

    King of the Ring qualifier: Adam Bomb vs. Mabel

    Men on a Mission turned heel by turning on the Smoking Gunns prior to this. Mabel's mohawk is dyed black now, and this would be the start of his wretched singles push which resulted in the shitty KOTR '95, the shitty SummerSlam main event, and the shitty feud against the Undertaker, during which he broke his face after a botched legdrop which resulted in that goofy mask. Adam Bomb is Bryan Clarke, Nightstalker and Wrath in WCW.

    Mabel pounds on Bomb with some sloppy punches before the bell. Big splash into the corner, but a second one misses. Bomb shoulderblocks Mabel to the outside, then comes down with a slingshot bodypress. Bomb rolls Mabel back into the ring and comes back with a slingshot clothesline for a one count. Bomb with a top rope clothesline, again for a one count. Mabel with his spinning heel kick, which hits Bomb somewhere around his abdomen. Mabel catches Bomb off the ropes and casually splashes him for the pin.

    WINNER: Mabel (pinfall) at 1:53 DUD

    Sheesh, what a piece of shit that was. Mabel had ZERO heat while Bomb got a GOOD face pop, and of course Mabel squashes him under two minutes. Mabel was the last person alive anyone wanted to see qualifying for the KOTR. No wonder Adam Bomb disapperared from the WWF soon after this - getting squashed by Earthquake in less than a minute at WrestleMania X, getting pinned by the 1-2-3 Kid in the KOTR 94 qualifier, getting squashed by Bam Bam Bigelow at Survivor Series and now this - and the man was actually a) getting heat and b) one of the most talented big man in the WWF - especially compared to the other big guys stinking up the WWF at this time. See Nash, Kevin. See Eudy, Sid. See Bundy, King Kong. I'm not saying Adam Bomb was Chris Benoit or anything, but he should have done MUCH better than he did. But '95 was full of examples of the wrong people getting pushed.

  • Razor and Savio jabber some in their crappy fake accents. Savio is a Caribbean Legend, y'know.

  • Lawler comes out and demands the match against Bret to be held right now. Bret sits in the locker room, nursing his knee. Hendrix tells us that this is the first PPV Owen comes in as a champion and Bret does not.

  • WWF Tag Title Match: Owen Hart & Yokozuna vs. The Smoking Gunns

    This is the re-match from WrestleMania XI, where Yoko was Owen's mystery partner and the two won the belts. Billy Gunn looks absolutely nothing like Bad Ass does today. Yoko waves the Japanese flag for some heel heat. Yoko no-sells some and tags in Owen. Bart gorilla presses Owen, then lands a nice dropkick. The Gunns with a nice double-team, Bart holds Owen in vertical suplex position, and Billy with a top rope dropkick for two. Billy yells at Fuji, allowing Owen to hit the enzuigiri. Yoko tags back in and dominates Billy with his usual stuff. Nervepinch, and Owen tags back in. Swinging Neckbreaker gets two. Billy sunset flips for two. Owen dropkicks Billy out of the ring. Yoko runs into the ringpost on the outside, and Billy tags in Bart. Bart with a bodyslam for two and a back suplex. The Gunns with a nice Dudley Death Drop variation for two. Bart misses a flying bodypress and lands on the outside. Yoko legdrops Bart on the outside and rolls him back into the ring, where Owen pins him effortlessly.

    WINNERS: Owen Hart & Yokozuna (pinfall) at 5:45 *1/2

    It was definitely too short for more than *1/2, which is mainly for the Billy/Owen segments. Decent while it lasted. Questionable booking though IMHO - Owen/Yoko vs. the Allied Powers (Luger & Bulldog) could have been a killer feud, as Owen/Bulldog and Yoko/Luger had the issue. The Gunns had no heat at this point. Much like Mabel/Bomb, this has no place on a PPV.

  • Todd Pettengill interviews Diesel. I never liked Diesel's face interviews - he was so much better as a heel. Diesel wishes Sid a happy Mother's day. Uhm.

  • Bret Hart vs. Jerry Lawler

    Storyline: Bret and Lawler feuded for the second half of '93, when Bret won the inaugural King of the Ring, and Lawler claimed to be the real king. Anywhoo, the two hate each other ever since, and when Bret vs. Hakushi was signed, Lawler popped out of the woodworks, claiming he still has an open contract, guaranteeing him a match against Bret at any time. Conveniently, Lawler chose the same night as the Hakushi match, hoping Bret would be tired or injured when having to wrestle twice in the same night.

    Lawler brings some T&A with him and introduces her as her mother, then runs down Bret and his mother. Fun stuff. Lawler is such a cool heel.

    Bret Hart interview. His leg is fine, and Lawler is history.

    I'm not even gonna bother with play-by-play here. Bret kicks the crap out of Lawler before Lawler gets the fluke piledriver. Lawler celebrates but Bret no-sells and kicks Lawler's ass some more. Bret with his own piledriver. Comedy match, Lawler's facial expressions and his "mom" at ringside are hilarious. Match is practically 100% Bret before Hakushi and Shinja run in. Shinja distracts the ref, Hakushi with two top rope diving headbutts, and Lawler gets the pin to set up their epic Kiss My Foot match at King of the Ring.

    WINNER: Jerry Lawler (pinfall) at 5:02 DUD

    Post-match Hakushi accidentally clotheslines Lawler down, and Lawler and mommy bail why Bret lets his aggression out on Shinja.

  • Psycho Sid promo. He is almost as incoherant as the Warrior. Damn, I didn't need to see his face THAT close to my television.

  • Todd Pettingill and Stephanie Wyatt call the winner of the house. Todd gets the wrong number at first. Heh. Some guy in Nevada just won a house in Florida. And he thinks it's a joke too.

    Well, the first two matches started out well, but then it went downhill... and considering the workrate the next two usually show I have bad feeling about this...

    WWF Title Match: Diesel vs. Sid

    Sid took up DiBiase as his manager after dumping Shawn. Diesel mocks Sid, then pushes him down. Punch, punch, elbow, elbow, clothesline, clothesline, elbow, and out goes Sid. Back in the ring, Diesel with a flying clothesline for one. On the outside for a few elbows. DiBiase distracts Diesel, allowing Sid to pound on Diesel a little. On the outside for a few kicks and Sid rams Diesel into the ringposts. The story is that Henry Godwinn, of all people, hurt Diesel's back prior to this, so this is especially devastating now. Or something. Sid with a weak running kick to Diesel's head. Some showboating, and more slow and boring stuff. Punches galore. Axehandle. Elbow. Elbow. Clothesline. Sid yells something incoherent to get a heel pop, then comes back with more forearms. And another. Double axehandle. There is like ten seconds resting between each punch. First resthold at six minutes as Sid takes Diesel into a Camel Clutch. Only lasts two minutes, too. More punches to Diesel's back. And Camel Clutch again. Diesel with his one-armed chokeslam, which is admittedly impressive and might save this match from negative stars. Sid signals for the powerbomb and hits it but showboats like a moron so the cover only gets two. Diesel hits Snakeeyes, bigfoot, and the jackknife but Tatanka runs in for the lame DQ.

    WINNER: Diesel (disqualification) at 11:28 DUD

    Tatanka and DiBiase pound on Diesel some more until Bam Bam Bigelow makes the save, thus setting up Diesel/Bigelow vs. Sid/Tatanka at King of the Ring. Match sucked horribly. Sid just can't carry Diesel to the level Shawn can, and a DQ in a PPV main event title match is always a bad thing.

    THE BOTTOM LINE:

    Well, it started out all good with two ***-matches, then we get a much too short tag match and three DUDs with finishes no one wanted to see. It's hard to rate it, as it was the first of a new concept, and Michaels' injury dragged the main event down by at least three stars. If Michaels had won the belt here, as originally planned, this show would be an automatic recommendation for historical value alone. As it is, Bret/Hakushi is definitely worth a look, the rest is from decent (Razor/Jarrett/Roadie, the tag title match) to crap (Mabel/Bomb, Diesel/Sid).

    If you buy the Coliseum video of this tape, you also get two "bonus matches" (Undertaker/Kama and Bigelow/Tatanka). Nothing great here either.

    C-

    As always, questions and comments are welcome.

    Goetz Boedder
    freelance

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