–Razor Ramon reads an adaptation of A Night Before Christmas to preview In Your House 5.
–Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross are in the booth and they are concluding the tapings in Salisbury, Maryland. The Superstars theme song has been updated to reflect some of the changes in the company’s roster as Dean Douglas and Waylon Mercy have been removed from it.
–Opening Contest: Goldust (5-0) pins Aldo Montoya (12-6) after a Curtain Call at 2:18:
Montoya has been AWOL for a long time, not wrestling a singles match on television since August 12. Before the match Goldust delivers a nice promo in the split screen where he says that Montoya is “no Zorro.” McMahon and Ross discuss Goldusts’ effeminate attributes during the match, laying the foundation for a more controversial arc for the character that would play out in 1996. Goldust completely overpowers his smaller opponent, encountering few obstacles en route to winning his sixth match of the year.
–Dok Hendrix discusses the “Tag Team Warfare” card at Nassau Coliseum next month. The Undertaker and Paul Bearer pledge to work with Bret Hart to wipe out Yokozuna and Owen Hart, with the Undertaker saying that Bret will defeat the heels technically while he will take their souls.
–Hunter-Hearst Helmsley (23-0-1) beats Titus Dunning after a Pedigree at 1:42:
As Helmsley makes his entrance, Henry Godwinn pledges that he is going to Helmsley to “hog heaven” at In Your House. Helmsley counters with a split screen promo of his own, saying that he has had enough of Godwinn’s lack of personal hygiene and that he will do everything in his power to send him back to “the pig pen where [he] belongs.” Perfect adds another dimension to the feud by saying that Helmsley might be written out of his family’s will if he loses the hog pen match tomorrow night. Helmsley drives Dunning’s head into the mat at a dangerous angle with the Pedigree to win today.
–A replay of Shawn Michaels interview with Todd Pettengill on RAW is shown.
–Razor Ramon & Marty Jannetty defeat Jerry Faith & Jason Arhndt when Jannetty pins Faith after a Ramon Razor’s Edge at 2:42:
As Ramon and Jannetty show off in this squash, Sid, the 1-2-3 Kid, and Ted DiBiase give some generic heel comments in the split screen. In a nice piece of storyline development, the babyfaces mock Sid and the Kid as Ramon delivers his Razor’s Edge and lets Jannetty get the winning pin.
–King Mabel says that he does not fear the Undertaker, making the outlandish claim that he was the first man to ever pin the Undertaker. Paul Bearer and the Undertaker say it is long past time for Mabel to pay for his mistakes.
–Ahmed Johnson says that he is a “doctor of destruction” and will annihilate Isaac Yankem on today’s show.
–The announcers recap the Bret Hart-Bob Backlund match on RAW and its aftermath.
–In a taped segment, McMahon visits with the British Bulldog and Diana Smith in their home. Diana awkwardly discusses how the Bulldog could bring their family a great Christmas present if he wins the WWF title at In Your House. The Bulldog promises to give Bret a gift of “broken promises and dreams” for Christmas. This is a really odd segment as it gave the Bulldog a sympathetic hearing and nothing Diana said emphasized that the Bulldog was a heel. That is hardly a way to build interest for a WWF title match on a pay-per-view.
–Skip (w/Sunny) (9-8-1) pins Rich Myers after a super hurricanrana at 1:27:
The announcers and camera crew put over Sunny a lot more than Skip during this squash, which the Bodydonna wins with a super hurricanrana.
–A video package recaps Diesel’s tweener path since Survivor Series and how he is accepting Owen Hart’s open contract challenge for In Your House.
–Ahmed Johnson (5-0) defeats Isaac Yankem (4-2) via disqualification when Jerry Lawler interferes at 3:12:
Dean Douglas fills some time during the match cutting a split screen promo about how he is going to give him a taste of “boredom” via his paddle at In Your House. One might think that Yankem could threaten Ahmed because of his recent feud with Bret Hart, but Ahmed squashes him until Lawler runs in to produce a disqualification. The heels briefly double team Ahmed before he fights them off. Rating: ½*
–Hendrix says that the Madison Square Garden show on January 26 will be headlined by Bret Hart defending the WWF title against Diesel in a steel cage match. Bret calls Diesel cheap for his attack after their Survivor Series match. The Undertaker will also wrestle Yokozuna at the show.
–A video package hypes all of the big matches for In Your House.
–Ross drops a hint that the Ultimate Warrior might be coming back to the WWF.
–Tune in next week to see Marty Jannetty square off against the British Bulldog! Also, the Smoking Gunns defend the tag team titles against Skip & Rad Radford for a second time!
The Last Word: The company did its best to sell In Your House but the card lacks a big draw because the feuds appear so uncompetitive. Veteran fans would find it unlikely that Bret Hart was going to lose the WWF title in his first defense of the belt and the British Bulldog has hardly been portrayed as his equal outside of some references to how he defeated Bret in a match three years ago. Other matches on the card like Undertaker-Mabel, Diesel-Owen Hart, and Ahmed Johnson-Dean Douglas are stacked heavily in the babyfaces favor because all of them have been portrayed as unstoppable on television with few signs of a vulnerability.
The company did not run as house shows prior to In Your House but here are some news items prior to the show (courtesy of The Wrestling Observer for December 26):
*The WWF has given up on its women’s division as Alundra Blayze’s contract was not renewed after it expired on December 13. The company planned on running a feud between Blayze and Aja Kong for the Royal Rumble, with Kong reportedly in line to get the title. Blayze is headed to WCW, a curious decision since they do not have a women’s division at the moment.
*There is no evidence to confirm that the Ultimate Warrior is heading to the WWF, although it is unlikely that Jim Ross would have said anything on Superstars if there were not substantial talks happening behind the scenes.
*Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Razor Ramon, the British Bulldog, and the 1-2-3 Kid, along with World Championship Wrestling’s (WCW) Brian Pillman and Chris Benoit, wrestled on a tribute show for Stu Hart in Calgary on December 15. Benoit wrestled Radford and went over in the one match to feature a WWF vs. WCW talent. In other matches, Ramon beat Owen Hart to retain the Intercontinental title despite the 1-2-3 Kid’s interference and Bret Hart beat the Bulldog in a WWF title match.
*To bolster the tag ranks, the WWF has contracted the Headhunters of the International Wrestling Association of Japan (IWA Japan). They will receive a tryout match on January 22 in Stockton, California and might be used for the Royal Rumble.
*The WWF also reportedly reached out to Terry Funk on coming into the company but Funk turned them down.
Up Next: In Your House 5!