–The Nasty Boys and Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck cut dueling promos against each other to kick off the broadcast.
–Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan are in the booth and they are wrapping up the January 8 tapings in Atlanta, Georgia. Gene Okerlund lets both of them know that Big Van Vader and Harley Race have purchased ringside seats for Clash of the Champions. Heenan adds that Ric Flair will also make an appearance at the Clash.
–Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan are doing the commentary. These Worldwide tapings were done on November 1, 1994 in Orlando, Florida. Heenan puts over the attractiveness of Sister Sherri and warns WCW Champion Hulk Hogan to be on the lookout for Big Van Vader.
–Gordon Solie, Dusty Rhodes, and Larry Zbyszko are doing commentary and they are concluding the tapings in Dalton, Georgia.
–Gene Okerlund and Bobby Heenan are the studio hosts for a special ninety minute episode.
–Sister Sherri provoking Stars & Stripes on last week’s show is replayed.
–Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan are doing commentary and they are taped from Atlanta, Georgia. The matches on this telecast were taped on December 8 and January 8. The announcers discuss the Hulk Hogan-Big Van Vader main event that has been signed for SuperBrawl.
–Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan are doing commentary and they are taped from Orlando, Florida. Schiavone announces that Hulk Hogan will defend the WCW title against Big Van Vader at SuperBrawl.
–Gordon Solie, Larry Zbyszko, and Dusty Rhodes are today’s broadcasters and they are still taped from Dalton, Georgia.
–Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan are doing commentary and they are live from Atlanta, Georgia. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the show drew a packed crowd of 785, with no one having to pay for their ticket.
–Gene Okerlund; in the heel locker room with Avalanche, the Butcher, Colonel Robert Parker, the Blacktop Bully, Bunkhouse Buck, and Meng; urges fans to call 1-900-370-3WCW to vote for who they wish to see wrestle in the main event. The calls cost ninety-nine cents. The babyface locker room, where Tony Schiavone is, features Sting, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, the Guardian Angel, and Dustin Rhodes.
–Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan are tonight’s broadcast team and they are taped from the Center Stage Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. The tapings were done on December 7, 1994.
–Footage of Big Van Vader confronting WCW Champion Hulk Hogan at the end of Starrcade is shown. The highlight is Vader grabbing Doug Dillinger by the tie and nearly decking him with a right hand.
–Tony Schiavone, substituting for Eric Bischoff who is in Japan, and Bobby Heenan are doing commentary and they are taped from Disney/MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida. These tapings were done on October 30, 1994.
–Gordon Solie, Dusty Rhodes, and Larry Zbyszko are doing commentary and they are taped from Dalton, Georgia. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, 1,400 fans attended the tapings.
Now that we have covered what the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) was doing in 1995, we will shift our focus to what was taking place in Atlanta with World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Much like the WWF, WCW was fighting against the headwind of a bitter wrestling depression, but it did receive significant publicity in the summer of 1994 when it signed Hulk Hogan. Hogan would subsequently defeat Ric Flair at Bash at the Beach and immediately claim the WCW title, which he still held as 1995 began. Despite drawing an impressive television rating for a Clash of the Champions rematch between Hogan and Flair – a number that put WCW’s events on par with, if not exceeding those of the WWF – WCW was still under pressure to cut costs as it lost more than $3 million in 1994. The cuts were also spurred on by Halloween Havoc drawing a less than expected rating for the third match in the Hogan-Flair series. In that match, Flair was “retired” after losing and although he said the retirement would be permanent, few in the wrestling world believed him. Nevertheless, that meant that WCW was starting the year without one of its major draws in the squared circle. A big question for WCW going into 1995 was how it would attempt to challenge the WWF’s domestic supremacy, and Executive Producer Eric Bischoff’s gamble to launch a new Monday night wrestling show to challenge the WWF’s Monday Night RAW at the end of the summer changed wrestling forever.
–A replay of Xanta Claus attacking Savio Vega at In Your House 5 is shown.
–Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross are doing commentary and they are kicking off some new tapings in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, only 1,500 fans attended because there was a blizzard during the show. This was also the taping where Bradshaw made his debut in a dark match, losing to Savio Vega. Also, this is the last Superstars of 1995 because next week’s episode is a “year in review” show.
(My reviews are a little out of order as I accidentally posted the Monday Night RAW that happened the night after this show on Friday instead of posting this In Your House review. So if you missed that review, you can read this one and then go back and check that one out. I will finish this series of 1995 WWF columns on Friday).
–Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are doing commentary and they are live from Hershey, Pennsylvania.
–Vince McMahon narrates a video package that shows highlights of In Your House 5.
–McMahon and Jerry Lawler are doing commentary and they are live from Newark, Delaware. This is the last RAW of 1995 since the WWF was pre-empted for Christmas.
–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.
–A video package recaps the Bret Hart-Bob Backlund feud, which limits the history between the two to Backlund’s actions over the past two weeks.
–Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are the broadcast team and due to a quirk in the taping schedule due to the Thanksgiving holiday they are from Salisbury, Maryland, the site of the Superstars tapings for mid-December. This is the last RAW before In Your House.
–A video package hypes today’s Savio Vega-Bob Backlund main event. Savio says that he is going to put spice on Backlund’s chicken wing, whatever that means.
–Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Bob Backlund are doing commentary and they are taped from Salisbury, Maryland.
–Vince McMahon narrates tonight’s promo video for the Razor Ramon-Dean Douglas Intercontinental title match and Sid-Marty Jannetty encounter. Sid and Jannetty give dueling promos, with Jannetty promising to light Sid up.
–McMahon and Jerry Lawler are tonight’s commentary team and they are taped from Richmond, Virginia.
–Vince McMahon, Mr. Perfect, and Jim Ross are calling today’s action, which is taped from Salisbury, Maryland.
–Marty Jannetty gives Razor Ramon a leather jacket backstage and asks for Ramon’s help against the 1-2-3 Kid. Ramon agrees to the idea and agrees to watch Jannetty’s back as long as Jannetty watches his in the weeks ahead. It seems like this angle ran behind their television storylines as McMahon already told fans on RAW that Ramon and Jannetty would be facing Sid and the Kid at In Your House.