What the World Was Watching: In Your House 7: Good Friends, Better Enemies

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are tonight’s commentary team, live from Omaha, Nebraska. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, 9.563 fans attended the show, with 8.273 paying for tickets. The WWF claimed a sellout regardless. The pay-per-view drew a domestic buyrate of 0.65 (165,000 estimated buys), less than In Your House 6’s 186,000 buys. However, it was the third-best drawing In Your House pay-per-view to this point.

Free for All: Marc Mero (w/Sable) (3-0) defeats the 1-2-3 Kid (w/Ted DiBiase) (3-4) via disqualification when Hunter Hearst Helmsley interferes at 7:20:

There is a botch early from a Mero corner headscissors but the Kid covers for it well by flying out of the ring and positioning himself for a suicide dive. The Kid kicks out of Mero’s slingshot leg drop and avoids a flying sunset flip as Helmsley walks to ringside. Helmsley stalks after Sable, distracting from some of the match as the Kid nearly wins with a spinning heel kick. Soon thereafter, the Kid misses a corner dropkick and Mero uses the opportunity to confront Helmsley. The Kid lands a brutal looking baseball slide and another referee finally forces Helmsley to the locker room. As Helmsley retreats, the Kid misses a top rope splash but before Mero can do much of a comeback, Helmsley just runs back out and starts fighting Mero, causing a disqualification. The ring work between Mero and Kid was fun but Helmsley’s interjection was non-sensical. Having him come out, retreat, and come back out again was too much. Rating: **

Mero initially gets the best of Helmsley but the Kid knocks Mero down with a standing spin kick and Helmsley follows up with the Pedigree. Helmsley leaves the ring and bows in front of Sable, which is a weird way to flex, and walks to the back with the Kid and DiBiase, doing the Kliq symbol.

Now onto the pay-per-view. Before the planned Jake Roberts-British Bulldog match, Jim Cornette and Clarence Mason present referee Tim White with a legal injunction to keep Revelation from ringside. Roberts just tears up the court order, pulls Revelation out, and tries to place it on the heels. Cornette faints in the corner as the Bulldog, Owen Hart, and Mason flee. Roberts carries Revelation backstage but brings Ahmed Johnson with him when he returns. This changed the planned Roberts-Bulldog singles match into a tag team match as Mason helps Cornette to the locker room.

Opening Contest: Owen Hart & the British Bulldog (1-2) beat Jake Roberts & Ahmed Johnson when the Bulldog submits Roberts to a kneebar at 13:45:

The switch to the tag team match was due to the Bulldog suffering a knee injury on the German tour. It is probably for the best since the Bulldog is feuding with Ahmed anyway and Roberts has not been having good matches. After wearing long tights since his heel turn, the Bulldog goes back to short ones. Once again, Diana Hart Smith is shown in the crowd. There is dissension among the heels as the Bulldog does not want to mix it up with Ahmed, continually tagging Owen in when Ahmed is the legal man. Predictably, Roberts is placed in peril and Owen brings all the hard-hitting offense. The Bulldog simply stomps and applies chinlocks. Ahmed gets a great reaction from the crowd when he gets the hot tag, impressively elevating the Bulldog for a spinebuster. However, Ahmed stupidly tags a beaten down Roberts back in after that. In the ensuing four-way brawl the Bulldog hits Roberts in the knee with Cornette’s tennis racquet three times and applies a kneebar, forcing the WWF legend to submit. There was not much build to the finish and this was more of a drawn-out television tag team bout. Rating: **

Marc Mero and the 1-2-3 Kid are shown talking about their Free for All match on the Superstar Line.

Intercontinental Championship Match: The Ultimate Warrior (1-0) beats Goldust (Intercontinental Champion w/Marlena & Bodyguard) (8-3-1) via count out at 7:46:

Goldust has a bandage over his left knee because he suffered a bad injury against Razor Ramon on the German tour. His bodyguard is Mike Halac, who last wrestled in the WWF as Mantaur in 1995. Goldust is in no condition to wrestle so the match is full of literal smoke and mirrors as the Warrior picks up Marlena’s cigar and smokes it, causing McMahon to issue a full-blown denial that the Warrior smokes. The spot makes a joke of the anti-smoking ads the Warrior made in the late 1980s, urging fans to be a survivor by not smoking. The Warrior sits in Marlena’s director’s chair in the middle of the ring and the bodyguard keeps screaming “He’s got the chair! He’s got the chair!” The crowd loudly chants anti-gay slurs at Goldust as he stalls. Then it takes the champion five minutes to enter the ring, goaded by the Warrior helping him into his robe. Goldust sits in the director’s chair and thinks he might have worked out an alliance with the Warrior. However, the Warrior burns Goldust’s hand with the cigar and clotheslines him out of the chair. After that, Goldust and Marlena get counted out and the “match” ends. Rating: DUD

Goldust’s bodyguard is left behind and fights the Warrior, who does not sell his clubbing blows and knocks the big man down with a clothesline and flying shoulder block before slamming him. The Warrior puts on the bodyguard’s hat and Goldust’s hair and poses for the crowd, who is still taking the time to process that they have been denied an actual match.

Dok Hendrix provides a backstage report, showing the British Bulldog in tow with Owen Hart and arguing with Dave Hebner and Tony Garea outside of Shawn Michaels’ dressing room. Hebner and Garea will not let the Bulldog in and tell him to calm down.

Vader (w/Jim Cornette) (5-0) pins Razor Ramon (3-3) after a butt splash at 14:48:

Ramon is back from a six-week suspension to make his last televised WWF appearance before going to WCW. There is no early shine for Ramon as Vader manhandles him. But the former four-time Intercontinental champion does not stay down forever, beating Vader up in the corner and sending him out of the ring with strikes of his own. Ramon survives a splash and appears done after the Vader Bomb but surprisingly kicks out. Ramon gets some close near-falls from a suplex and a powerslam when Vader dives off the ropes. He mounts one last comeback with a flying bulldog off the second rope for two and then tries the Razor’s Edge to counter a Vader Bomb. However, he is too beaten down to pull it off. Vader goes for a moonsault but Ramon counters that with an electric chair drop. Ramon tries the Razor’s Edge again but Vader backdrops out and a butt splash finishes. This was a fun, physical war but the flow was disjointed. Vader seemed to be having trouble keeping up with Ramon and if he could have matched his pace the match would have been better. The ending was also abrupt. Still, this was not a bad match for Ramon to go out on. He would not return until 2002, a year after WCW closed. Rating: ***

Hendrix interviews Vader and Cornette at ringside, telling them that WWF President Gorilla Monsoon has decided that Vader will face Yokozuna at the next In Your House. Cornette tells Yokozuna that he is going to be Vader’s next victim.

The Undertaker and Paul Bearer participate in an America Online chat in a dark room.

WWF Tag Team Championship Match: The Bodydonnas (Champions w/Sunny) (7-2) defeat the Godwinns (w/Hillbilly Jim) (8-1) when Zip pins Henry with a small package at 7:16:

In a running theme for the feud, the crowd is dead for much of the contest. The action goes back-and-forth but lacks much of a story or build. It comes across as a match where everyone plays their part but is still missing the big picture. Phineas shrugs off some double teams and when he makes a spirited comeback, Sunny goes to the back and returns with an autographed picture of herself. That picture reads “To PIG with all my love, Sunny.” She presents it to Phineas after Henry gets the hot tag. Jim gets the biggest pop of the match by threatening to slop Sunny, eventually taking the picture and putting it in the slop bucket. As all of this is going on, Henry Slop Drops Skip but the referee is distracted by the extracurriculars outside of the ring. Zip trades places with Skip and Henry is none the wiser, getting small packaged and pinned when he tries to pick Zip off the canvas. Rating: *½

Phineas makes up with Henry and Jim after the match, but he digs out Sunny’s picture and puts it in his overalls before heading to the locker room with them.

An ad for next month’s In Your House announces several new matches as the WWF wastes no time trying to get buys for that show: Marc Mero vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Savio Vega vs. Steve Austin. A WWF title defense is promised too.

Hendrix does a backstage interview with Mero and Sable. Mero warns Helmsley that he is going to enter the jungle at the next In Your House and has to answer the call of the wild. Mero is trying to find himself in this character but is struggling. He had legitimate boxing background and the WWF could have leaned more into that in some way.

McMahon urges fans to send in their cable or satellite bill as proof of buying tonight’s show so they can receive five free long-distance minutes. This deal sounds awful. The WWF could not have thrown in autographed picture or something instead?

Jose Lothario tries to get WWF Champion Shawn Michaels warmed up backstage. Michaels just has an expression that reads “I wish this old man would stop touching me.”

No Holds Barred Match for the WWF Championship: Shawn Michaels (Champion w/Jose Lothario) (9-0) beats Diesel (5-2) after Sweet Chin Music at 17:53:

Lawler is excited at the idea of Diesel coming after McMahon after the match and laughs when Diesel throws his ring jacket onto McMahon’s head from the ring. Mad Dog Vachon is shown sitting in the crowd pre-match. There is no dancing from Michaels to start as he immediately starts fighting his former friend and knocks him out of the ring with a dropkick. Michaels takes a boot off Spanish announcer Hugo Savinovich and uses it as a weapon off the top rope for an early near-fall. Diesel does not stay down long, sending Michaels into the corner and then into the guardrail when Michaels Flair flips over. The size difference allows Diesel’s power moves to look great as Michaels gets extra air on Snake Eyes or when taking a side suplex. The crowd starts getting more into the match when Diesel takes off some of his wrist tape to choke referee Earl Hebner and then uses Hebner’s belt as a weapon to whip and hang the champion. The carnage continues as Diesel throws ring announcer Howard Finkel out of his chair and uses said chair as a weapon too. The match has a Rocky-like vibe as McMahon keeps yelling for Michaels to stay down as Diesel keeps up his assault, including a Jackknife through McMahon and Lawler’s announce table. That was only the third time that a table had been broken on WWF television for a spot and the second time in the 1990s, last used in Diesel’s loss to Bret Hart at Survivor Series. As Michaels pulls himself out of the carnage McMahon yells at him “Let it be over!” Michaels’ selling is good, although the spot should put him out longer. He uses a fire extinguisher and then gets frustrated when a chair he wants to use is wrapped up in announcer wires. Diesel clubs Michaels across the back to regain control but when he tries a Jackknife, Michaels rains down punches to escape. However, when Michaels tries Sweet Chin Music Diesel blocks it. After stun gunning Michaels across the guardrail Diesel decides to focus his ire on Vachon, yanking off the old man’s prosthetic leg. Diesel attempts to use it as a weapon but Michaels blocks with a low blow and then tees off on his former friend with it, using Sweet Chin Music as a coup de grace. Like Ramon, this was Diesel’s last televised WWF match before going to WCW and like Ramon, it was a great way to write off his character. The match had some wild spots and played into the stipulation beautifully. Elements of the crowd were cheering Diesel but the Vachon attack was so disgusting that most fans could not help by cheer Michaels by the end. The only small flaws it had were Michaels getting up too fast from the table spot and Hebner recovering too fast from Diesel choking him. Diesel would return with Ramon to the WWF in 2002. Rating: ****¾

A fired-up Michaels mocks Hulk Hogan by posing after the match and fireworks go off.

Hendrix interviews the Undertaker and Paul Bearer and it is announced that the Undertaker will face Goldust at the next In Your House for the Intercontinental Championship. The Undertaker tells Goldust to quit living the fantasy and live in the world of reality. That reality is that it is dark and there is no place to hide.

Mr. Perfect interviews Hunter Hearst-Helmsley and Perfect tells him that he will have gold around his waist very soon. Helmsley says that Marco Mero stole Sable from him and that is why he ate a Pedigree tonight.

Hendrix interviews Gorilla Monsoon and Monsoon apologizes to Mad Dog Vachon before putting over Michaels as a fighting champion. Hendrix says that the British Bulldog will get the next crack at Shawn Michaels at the next In Your House before the Bulldog appears and calls Michaels a pervert and says that Michaels wants to sleep with his wife. Monsoon’s facial expressions during these revelations are priceless. The Bulldog heads to the ring but no confrontation with Michaels is shown.

A video package plays the highlights of tonight’s show.

The Last Word: Going in this was billed as a one match show and that one match delivered, making it a worthwhile purchase for any fan. The Intercontinental Championship match was a disaster but that was to be expected due to Goldust’s injuries and how the WWF was not willing to end the character’s title run to give Dustin Rhodes time off. Diesel and Razor Ramon had good to great matches to end their televised WWF runs and their departure opens up positions on the babyface and heel sides of the roster. They leave big shoes to fill for who comes later and it may take some time for the WWF to groom someone for those spots.

Backstage News*: There were two dark matches after In Your House went off the air. Hunter Hearst Helmsley beat Marc Mero with a Flair pin and the Undertaker defeated Mankind with the Tombstone.

-There was lots of drama on the WWF’s tour of Germany. Diesel and Razor Ramon were flagrantly breaking company rules in front of other wrestlers and this brought a lot of heat on the Kliq, especially Shawn Michaels and Helmsley. However, no one wanted to do anything for fear of being fired. Sunny left the tour early. Some say it is because someone took a dump in her food and others say it is because Lisa Wolfe, who works in Human Relations, wanted her back home to avoid the company getting sued for sexual harassment. Skip was also harassed a lot by the Kliq during the tour and it is openly discussed how there is a love triangle forming between Sunny, Skip, and Shawn Michaels. Bret Hart was not happy with the antics taking place, hardening some of his anti-Kliq views, but he is still expected to return in the fall.

-Advance sales for WWF events in May have been strong.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for May 6 and 13.

Up Next: Monday Night RAW for April 29!

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