What the World Was Watching: In Your House 10: Mind Games

Vince McMahon returns to the announce desk to commentate tonight’s event with Mr. Perfect and Jim Ross, live from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, 15,000 fans attended, of which 11,969 paid for their tickets. According to wrestlenomics.com, the pay-per-view had a domestic buyrate of 0.48 (131,000 buys). That is less than 0.70 buyrate and 162,000 domestic buys for In Your House 3 last year. However, it is an increase in buys from the previous two In Your House pay-per-views this year.

The Free for All starts with an in-ring debate between Mark Henry and Jerry Lawler that is moderated by Ross. Lawler carries the segment, ranting about Henry’s inexperience. Henry merely says that his actions later tonight will do the talking for him. Lawler slaps Henry when he gets Henry to lean in for a final word, walking off like he has had a major triumph. The slap must have been extreme as the crowd loudly chants “ECW!”

Free for All: Savio Vega (9-9-2) beats Marty Jannetty (w/Leif Cassidy) (1-6) after rolling through a reverse flying body press off the second rope at 3:56:

Cassidy is growing a goatee. The New Rockers have not been in televised action since SummerSlam, slipping through the cracks like a lot of WWF talent over the past month. Justin Bradshaw and Zebekiah talk to the announcers in the split screen, angry that they are not on another pay-per-view while Savio gets more exposure. Savio beat Jannetty months ago in a King of the Ring qualifier in a sub-par match and Jannetty sleepwalks his way through another. It is sad to see. The crowd chants “ECW!” several times during the match, which McMahon acknowledges, albeit calling ECW a local outfit and not the promotion’s actual name. Tommy Dreamer can be seen in the front row and off camera he has the Sandman and Paul Heyman sitting beside him. After Savio clotheslines him against the buckles, Jannetty tries to counter a whip across the ring with a reverse flying body press off the second rope but Savio rolls through and beats Jannetty again. Rating: *

Zebekiah distracts Savio after the match, allowing Bradshaw to run out and hit Savio in the back of the head with the bell on his bull rope. Bradshaw then whips Savio with his bull rope. After a plug for the WWF Hotline, Savio drives Bradshaw and Zebekiah down the aisle and through the entrance way. Savio tells Dok Hendrix that he wants a contract to face Bradshaw tonight on the pay-per-view. The bout is later confirmed by McMahon before the Free for All goes off the air.

Fearing that the Philadelphia crowd will cheer Mankind, the WWF has Ross interview him and Paul Bearer in the ring. Mankind gets a mixed reaction when he says he will destroy WWF Champion Shawn Michaels. But he masterfully turns the hardcore crowd against him by saying that he will win the WWF title because he does not want to go back to wrestling in a bingo hall in Philadelphia. As Mankind walks to the locker room, he goes out on the side of the ring where several ECW stars are located and eyes them as he walks away.

Now onto the show that people paid for!

Kevin Kelly interviews Savio Vega, who is fired up and excited to get revenge on Justin Bradshaw from earlier in the evening in a Caribbean strap match.

Opening Caribbean Strap Contest: Savio Vega (10-9-2) defeats Justin Bradshaw (w/Zebekiah) (13-5-1) at 7:07:

Savio charges the ring but Bradshaw, who is already linked to the strap, beats him with it. After a couple of minutes, the match spills closer to the ECW stars and the Sandman spits his drink on Savio. That causes the Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, and Paul Heyman to be ejected from the event. Savio hits his spinning heel kick finisher at the five-minute mark but Bradshaw prevents him from getting to a fourth corner. Bradshaw soon responds with his lariat and they repeat the same finish as Savio’s strap match against Steve Austin at In Your House 8: Beware of Dog of Bradshaw touching corners and Savio touching a corner behind him and then Bradshaw pulling Savio into the fourth corner, inadvertently giving Savio the win. The lack of originality subtracts from the match, which should have been a more physical blowoff for the feud between these two. Rating: *½

A video package recaps the Jose Lothario-Jim Cornette feud.

From a distance Razor Ramon and Diesel are shown down a hallway in the locker room area beating down Savio Vega. Ross gloats that he was right about Ramon and Diesel coming back to the WWF.

Before the next match, Jim Cornette tells fans that he is giving Jose Lothario a chance to get out of their match because he is so old.

Jose Lothario beats Jim Cornette after a left hand in 57 seconds:

The funniest bit of the match is each man coming out to their respective charge’s theme song so fans are treated to Lothario coming out to Shawn Michaels’ “Sexy Boy.” Lothario is 62 years old so he does not bump and Cornette is squashed, pummeled with blows until Lothario beats him with a weak looking left hand. The crowd goes mild for this.

Marc Mero, Sable, Faarooq, and Sunny are shown talking to the WWF Superstar Line, presumably about their preparations for tomorrow night’s match on Monday Night RAW.

A fuming Brian Pillman gets in the ring and rips Philadelphia as a “cesspool of drug abuse, battered women, and welfare recipients.” Pillman does an in-ring interview with Owen Hart, who he touts as the best Hart brother. Owen keeps selling the lie that he has patched things up with Bret, explaining Bret’s absence as a fear of Steve Austin. Austin sees that as an invitation to walk to the ring, now wearing a black vest with “Austin 3:16” on it. A few silver skulls are on the back. Austin says that he expected Bret to no-show as Bret has been running from him since he arrived in the WWF. He proceeds to say “Put an ‘s’ in front of Hitman” and that is what he thinks of Bret. To say that Austin saved this segment is an understatement. The attitude that he displayed was a breath of fresh air in a stale product.

A video package shows Mark Henry visiting the historical sights of Philadelphia.

Sid is shown dictating answers to a few aides for a chat on America Online.

Dok Hendrix is backstage where Jim Cornette is receiving medical attention. Clarence Mason has a disoriented Cornette sign a document, presumably to sue Jose Lothario for damages sustained in the last match.

WWF Tag Team Championship Match: Owen Hart & the British Bulldog (4-2) defeat the Smoking Gunns (Champions w/Sunny) (13-3) when the Bulldog pins Bart after the running powerslam at 10:58:

The Gunns show some dissension as Bart walks far ahead of Billy, who is paying lots of attention to Sunny. When Sunny unveils her poster, she is horrified that it has been vandalized by Owen and the Bulldog. When the match starts, Mason comes out to manage the challengers. The crowd is not sure who they want to root for at first but eventually cast their lot with members of the Hart family. The challengers target Bart’s left leg and Billy has to break up a fall when Owen blasts Bart with an enzuigiri. Both teams do find ways to cheat as Owen and the Bulldog do illegal switches and then the Gunns turn the tables, with Billy hitting the Bulldog as he runs the ropes to put him in peril. The Gunns flatten the Bulldog with the Sidewinder but Mason distracts the referee and Owen breaks up the count by diving onto Billy off the ropes. The match meanders after that but Bart eventually decides to try to beat the Bulldog with his version of the running powerslam. The Bulldog slips off his shoulders, though, and pushes Bart into Billy. Billy angrily pushes Bart, causing him to be picked up by the Bulldog and powerslammed. When Billy tries to rectify his mistake and break up the fall, Owen hits him with a spinning heel kick and the Gunns four-month title reign comes to an end. Some of this match broke from the usual tag team formula but it still had good spots and a fun finish. Rating: **¾

Sunny berates the Gunns for losing the titles after “she gave them everything.” She fires them before walking out of the ring, meaning that Faarooq is now her lone client. Billy tries to convince her to stay but fails.

Kelly interviews Mankind and Paul Bearer in a dark part of the arena. Bearer is confident that Mankind will be the next WWF champion. Mankind talks about how making Shawn Michaels miserable is what keeps him going.

Jerry Lawler does his usual activity of blasting the crowd before a pay-per-view match. It is not as good as King of the Ring or SummerSlam.

Mark Henry defeats Jerry Lawler (5-3) via submission to a Canadian backbreaker at 5:12:

Henry is very green after recently some quick training from Leo Burke and Tom Prichard. This was only his second professional match after wrestling Lawler the night before in Baltimore, Maryland. His theme music has thankfully been changed from “Stars and Stripes Forever” to remove any connection to Lex Luger’s aborted 1993-1995 run but it is just a soft rock rhythm that is more likely to put people to sleep than make fans get on their feet. Henry is still adorned in the U.S. flag, though, having a massive singlet with the red, white, and blue. The unfortunate design makes Henry look like a big Hershey’s kiss. The match has a basic template of Lawler trying to do holds like a headlock and being surprised when Henry counters them. The crowd does like Henry, popping for him consistently getting the better of Lawler. Lawler does his part to get Henry over, doing a head-first dive through the ropes and landing close to the guardrail when Henry throws him out of the ring. The phantom object trick is not sold and after a few blows Henry hoists Lawler over his shoulder and submits him with a Canadian backbreaker. Again, Henry was inexperienced and followed Lawler’s lead throughout. Still, this was Lawler’s best pay-per-view outing this year. Rating: *

After the match, Leif Cassidy gets in the ring and attacks Henry. Henry just knocks him over the top rope. Marty Jannetty tries next but he gets thrown to the floor as well. Hunter Hearst Helmsley joins in but he gets gorilla press slammed out of the ring and onto the New Rockers. McMahon claims that everyone is attacking Henry because they want to make a name for themselves. Fireworks go off as Henry celebrates in the ring and thanks the fans for their support.

McMahon announces that the next In Your House will take place in Indianapolis, Indiana on October 20. It will be headlined by a Buried Alive match between the Undertaker and Mankind. The winner has to bury their opponent alive in a grave that will be set up in Market Square Arena. McMahon emphasizes that the match will not be sanctioned by the WWF.

A video package recaps the Undertaker-Goldust feud.

Final Curtain Match: The Undertaker (10-5) pins Goldust (w/Marlena) (14-8-1) after the Tombstone at 10:23:

This long-term program has not done anything for either man, presented as a mere speed bump for the Undertaker in his feud with Mankind and something Goldust quotes movies about but not doing anything dastardly to the Undertaker other than beating him in a casket match four months ago. Marlena gets more involved than usual, slapping the Undertaker when he is draped over the ropes and handing Goldust a bag of gold dust that he throws in the Undertaker’s eyes behind the referee’s back. Even if the referee saw it, though, it would not mean anything because this match is supposed to be no disqualification. Of course, referee Tim White counts both men out when they are outside the ring even though the match is only supposed to end via pinfall. Goldust registers some near-falls from a hiptoss and powerslam but his decision to go to the top rope is a poor one as the Undertaker chokeslams him off. The Tombstone makes the Undertaker the winner of the feud after that. The stipulation should have seen a more vicious brawl. However, that did not happen and the match came off as a filler bout without stakes. Rating: *½

Kelly interviews Shawn Michaels, who admits that he is nervous because he is facing an unpredictable opponent.

WWF Championship Match: Shawn Michaels (w/Jose Lothario) (18-0-1) beats Mankind (w/Paul Bearer) (16-0) via disqualification after Vader interferes at 26:22:

Druids wheel a casket to ringside, the same one that Mankind used as a weapon on Superstars earlier in the day, and Mankind pops out for his entrance. Lothario now has a jacket with Michaels’ last name and heartbreak symbol on the back. There is a nice spot to start as Mankind beats Michaels down, Cactus clotheslines him to the floor, and then Michaels knocks Mankind back when he tries to pull up the padding around the ring. With Mankind under the padding, Michaels jumps on it like he is trying to kill a monster and then jumps off the ring steps to slam Mankind’s head into the concrete floor. Back in, Michaels goes for Sweet Chin Music after his flying elbow drop but Mankind quickly flies out of the ring to avoid the finishing move. There is another creative spot suggested by Foley where they do an intentional botch of Mankind not following a Michaels reverse flying body press off the second rope and they simulate a sequence of legitimately fighting each other. That is a play on Michaels throwing fits in his match with the British Bulldog at In Your House 8: Beware of Dog and Vader at SummerSlam. The brutality continues as Michaels suplexes Mankind’s left leg across the ring steps and focuses his offense on the body part, using the casket as an additional tool to ram it into. When Mankind gets back on offense, he has Bearer give him an object to jam into his knee multiple times to rehabilitate the limb. It has mixed results as Mankind hurts his knee again ramming it into Michaels in the corner and later when Michaels avoids Mankind doing the same spot near the ring steps. Mankind goes back to an old WCW spot that cost him his ear where he gets his head caught between the top and middle ropes, applying the Mandible Claw from that position but having to release it when his head is dislodged. When they end up on the floor, Mankind goes for the Claw multiple times and Michaels shows more intelligence than other stars by using a chair on Mankind’s claw hand and working it over. But even this cannot stop Mankind, who backdrops Michaels out of the ring, does the Cactus elbow, and delivers a swinging neckbreaker on the concrete. A double-arm DDT in the ring, followed by a pulled piledriver almost ends the bout, triggering a few boos after the kickout, which McMahon says are due to Bearer’s behavior. A frustrated Mankind throws chairs into the ring and then forgets what type of match it is, throwing Michaels into the casket. The champion fights out but gets crotched on the top rope. Mankind tries to back suplex him through ringside table courtesy of the Spanish announce team but Michaels shifts his weight in mid-air and Mankind gets the worst of it. Again, it is a creative high-risk spot that was not common on WWF television at the time. When the match returns to the ring, Bearer distracts the referee and Mankind tries to bring a chair with him to the top rope but Michaels flies off another chair and does an aerial superkick, sending the chair into Mankind’s face. That would end things but Vader interferes and one can sense the crowd’s frustration that there will not be a decisive finish after the crazy battle these two had for more than twenty-five minutes. The only underwhelming thing about this match was the finish as there was not a lot of logic as to why Vader would want to prevent a Michaels victory since he was not an on-screen ally of Mankind. Also, Michaels’ pin of Mankind after the flying superkick seemed lax and did not fit the emotion of the moment. But this was a great brawl akin to the one Michaels had with Diesel at In Your House 7: Good Friends, Bitter Enemies. It had lots of creative spots and was well booked to allow Michaels to demonstrate his skills in a different style of match. Fans thought they went through a monumental battle with him by the time it was done. Rating: ****¾

After the bell, Michaels sends Vader over the top rope with a flying forearm off the ropes. Then Bearer knocks Michaels out by cracking him over the back of the head with the urn. Sid runs out and brawls with Vader down the aisle, sending the crowd into a frenzy. As officials aim to separate Vader and Sid, Mankind puts Michaels in the Mandible Claw and orders Bearer to open the casket. But when it is, the Undertaker emerges and the crowd pops big again as the Undertaker hurls Mankind over the top rope and stalks him to the locker room. After Michaels is billed as the winner, he goes around and slaps hands with the fans around ringside. Even Perfect, who in storyline is not a fan of Michaels, cannot help but smile.

A video package recaps the night’s events.

The Last Word: Like In Your House 9: International Incident this show was going nowhere until the main event. But Shawn Michaels put out another amazing pay-per-view effort, assisted by Mankind’s ability to match him in the wild bumps department. Michaels would say in later interviews that he wishes that he could have worked a longer program with Mick Foley as this main event was something that Vince McMahon threw together to fill the calendar before Survivor Series. The wild brawling at the end of the show was very ECW-like and it was also a precursor to how the WWF would be booking things within the next two years. The other notable event of the evening was the Tag Team titles changing hands. Owen Hart and the British Bulldog are a great team but they inherit a division that is still on death’s door. Their only competition outside of the Smoking Gunns, who are on the path to breaking up, are the Godwinns and fans have seen enough Godwinn title shots to last a lifetime.

Backstage News*: In dark matches that took place after In Your House went off the air, Jake Roberts beat Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Faarooq defeated Marc Mero, and Sid defeated Vader.

-Even though In Your House did not result in a sellout since the venue could seat 22,400, the gate was $210,290, which was a record for an In Your House event since the money made for In Your House 9: International Incident was in Canadian dollars.

-Vince McMahon and Paul Heyman of ECW have been in contact for weeks about working together against WCW. The goal of Heyman, the Sandman, and Tommy Dreamer getting tossed early in the In Your House pay-per-view was to draw more ratings for the following night’s Monday Night RAW. However, it does not appear that this will lead to a WWF-ECW inter-promotional feud as Heyman does not want his talent to job to WWF stars.

-There has been a shakeup of positions in the Titan Sports hierarchy as Vince is now Chairman of the Board instead of CEO and Linda McMahon and Neville Meyer are co-CEOs. Meyer is tasked with helping the company expand and has a background in movies and Broadway.

-Ratings for the new WWF Livewire show and WWF Superstars on USA Network were about the same as the programs that preceded them. Since Livewire is happening live, Jim Cornette and Sunny will not be on the road.

-As part of his new job on the creative team, Jake Roberts will not be doing house shows after next month.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for September 30.

Up Next: Monday Night RAW for September 23!

And if you would like to read a compiled breakdown of 1990-1995 WWF, 1993-1995 ECW, or of various promotions in 1995, check out my Amazon author page to purchase e-books or paperback copies!