WWF In Your House I (May 1995)

This is the very first In Your House, as the WWF, feeling increasing pressure from WCW’s growing pay per view lineup, decided to add monthly two hour pay per views to supplement their ‘Big Five’ three hour shows (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, King of the Ring, SummerSlam and Survivor Series), and compete head to head – and at a bargain price of only $14.95, which I can tell you went a long way in helping to convince your parents to order these things back in the day. 

To work with the ‘In Your House’ gimmick (which came from the idea that the WWF would be IN YOUR HOUSE!!), they promised to actually give away a house in Florida to a fan, live, on the pay per view.

From Syracuse, New York, your hosts are Vince McMahon and Dok Hendrix (Michael Hayes) playing a straight man WWF corporate shill, before those types of characters had any sorts of irony, or were Michael Cole. It also shows just how thin the talent pool was at this point, when Dok fucking Hendrix is co-hosting because Jerry Lawler has a match tonight. Talk about scraping the bottom of the barrel. What, Alfred Hayes was too busy?


Opening Match: Bret Hart v Hakushi: Bret spent a good part of 1995 (when he wasn't, you know, fighting pirates, and dentists, and such) making it his mission to get Hakushi over as a legitimate threat, despite The Kliq's best efforts to bury the guy. Back and forth to start, but Hakushi gets a jumping shoulderblock for two, and works the arm. Bret comes back with a series of armdrags, and Hakushi bails to the floor to regroup. I guess it worked, too, as he comes in a house of arson, giving Bret the chest first cross corner bump. Vaderbomb gets two, and a non-gay version of the bronco buster follows. Guy's like a wrestling version of a cover band tonight. Hakushi with a great looking handspring elbow, and a gutwrench suplex gets two. Flying headbutt connects beautifully for two, but a springboard version misses. Went to the well once too often there! Bret with the Russian legsweep for two. Bulldog for two. Backbreaker, and the 2^nd rope elbow sets up the Sharpshooter, but Hakushi's manager distracts him. Bret responds with a tope onto him, but that allows Hakushi to catch him with a dropkick coming in. He tries a suplex, but Bret reverses, suplexing him all the way over the top rope, and to the floor, in a very impressive spot. Hakushi with a gorgeous springboard moonsault out there, and after teasing a countout, Hart catches Hakushi with a victory roll coming back in for the pin at 14:39. Well paced and booked - Hakushi looked especially crisp with his offense, and came out looking like a million bucks, even while doing the job. ***. Bret twists his ankle on his way out of the ring, however, which becomes important later, as he's pulling double duty in another match with Jerry Lawler. You know the roster's thin when they're booking a two-hour show, and they can't even fill the card without having guys wrestling twice. Well, that and the dead giveaway when fucking MABEL wins King of the Ring, and headlines SummerSlam.

Handicap Match: Jeff Jarrett and The Roadie v Razor Ramon: The Roadie is 'The Road Dogg' Jesse James, back when he was Jeff Jarrett's Roadie. This was during Ramon and Jarrett's endless feud over the Intercontinental title in 1995 that is likely the reason you still see Jeff Jarrett as a headliner today. Jarrett actually elects to start off, which is kinda odd booking for these sort of matches, especially for a cowardly heel champion. It doesn't go to well for him, either, as Razor dumps him twice within the first few minutes, but gets double teamed during a chase. Jeff with an enzuigiri (he needs to study that one from Owen. I’d like to think maybe he got some tips when they held the tag titles in '99), and tries a bodypress, but gets caught in a blockbuster. Roadie saves, and Jeff gets a sunset flip for two. Suplex, but Razor cradles for two, and Roadie tags in all official-like. He busts out the big technical stuff (see: punch, kick, stomp - he was still pretty useless at this point), and then tags back out to Jarrett who backdrops Ramon to the floor off of a Razors Edge attempt. Roadie with a flying clothesline to the floor to try to actually earn his paycheck for this match, but Ramon beats the count back in. Jeff with a flying bodypress, and a dropkick for two, but he gets crotched off of a charge, and Razor hits a side suplex. Tag, and Roadie hits a 2^nd rope flying kneedrop for two, then grabs a chinlock, since he doesn't know how to do much else at this point, and Jarrett needs to sell on the apron. He wisely tags back out, but Razor is a house of arson, and starts taking both guys out. Side superplex for Roadie, and a Razors Edge for Jarrett finishes at 12:36. You’d think this would signal Ramon getting the title back in short order (say, maybe, the next pay per view?), but Shawn Michaels was the new golden boy, and would be the one to dethrone Jarrett in July. Ramon would get the title back, but only after Michaels had to vacate it in the fall due to legitimate injury. Afterwards, the heels beat Razor down, and some guy runs out of the crowd to make the save, which they play off as some crazy fan getting involved. Good try guys, but you always know it's not a 'crazy fan' when the wrestlers are actually selling his offense, and security doesn't immediately use him as a tackling dummy. We would later learn it’s the debut of ‘Caribbean Superstar’ Savio Vega, as his Kwang gimmick wasn’t exactly dropping panties in towns across America, and he needed to be repackaged. They, um, didn’t say that, of course. They just said he was Razor’s long time friend from his days on the streets, yo! The match was basically Razor v Jarrett, one-on-one, with Roadie’s usual interference made legal. That being said, the sequences had a good flow to them, and the pacing was fine – and it was a well booked match, keeping the Roadie’s involvement to a minimum, and giving Ramon a clean pinfall on Jarrett. * ½.

King of the Ring Qualifying Match: Mabel v Adam Bomb: This was during the period when Men on a Mission - the goofy black rappers, who existed for no other reason than to be, well, goofy black rappers - turned heel. And Vince McMahon actually took it seriously enough to push Mabel to the main event of SummerSlam that year. Mabel misses an avalanche early, and Bomb shoulderblocks him to the floor, then follows with a slingshot bodyblock. Inside, Adam with a slingshot clothesline for two. Flying clothesline for two. Fuck, Bryan Clark is moving tonight! He gets caught in a slam off of a bodypress attempt, however, and Mabel advances into the King of the Ring tournament (we should have seen it coming...) at 1:54. Energetic, plus I’ve always had a soft spot for Adam Bomb because when I was a kid, my little brother (also named Adam) would get disproportionately angry whenever Adam Bomb was brought up, as he thought he was the only one on the planet with access to the name ‘Adam,’ and that this large, angry man had stolen it from him. Of course, he was, like, three at the time, but, if you can’t tease toddlers, where do you get your jollies? ½*.

WWF Tag Team Title Match: Owen Hart and Yokozuna v The Smoking Gunns: Yokozuna kills both Gunns to start, but Owen gets caught in a suplex/flying dropkick, but gets a neckbreaker for two, and a spinheel kick. He misses a blind charge, however, and Bart is a house of arson. Slam and a side suplex set up a double team side suplex/neckbreaker, in a nice spot. Bart misses a bodypress, however, allowing Yoko to drop the BIG leg on the floor, and inside, Owen gets the easy pin off of that to retain at 5:44. Short, and better off that way, as this was not clicking at all, for whatever reason. ¼*.

Bret Hart v Jerry Lawler: With Bret having twisted his ankle in the opener, Jerry had been spending the entire show trying to convince WWF Officials to put on his match RIGHT NOW as opposed to waiting for later, and giving Bret time to heal. Lawler, in rare form tonight, also brings down his mother - a 25 year old beauty queen - who looks fantastic, considering Jerry must have put her through all sorts of hell as a child. Just great, old school heel tactics from the King, which I remember all working brilliantly on me as a ten year old mark, as I was dead scared that Bret was in trouble. Bret does, indeed, limp out – but then gets to the ring, and shows us all he had been faking it all along - giving the King a false sense of security! He goes right at him, beating him all the way around the ring area, and hits a backdrop inside. He tries another, but Jerry hits the dreaded piledriver, while his mother cheers on. Bret actually no sells it (TV sales likely skyrocketed in Memphis the next day, after thousands kicked their screens in), and hits a bulldog, then a piledriver of his own, which Jerry properly sells, even calling out for his mother. Five bucks says Bret later fucked her. In the ass. Headbutt to the balls (hey, gotta make sure you’re the only guy who can fuck that guys mother), and the Russian legsweep. 2^nd rope elbow, but the referee is bumped, and Hakushi runs in. He hits a pair of flying headbutts, and Lawler pins him with a cradle in 5:00. This was an angle, not a match, as they just went through the motions to set up what would be the infamous Kiss My Foot match at King of the Ring. DUD.

They do the drawing for the house, but the people who get the call apparently were completely unaware that the WWF was hosting a pay per view, or drawing, or whatever the fuck, and kind of sounded like they thought they were getting called by telemarketers. This worked out as well as you'd imagine - as the WWF gave some schmos from Nevada a house in a gated community in Florida, and they eventually got foreclosed on when they couldn't keep up with the expenses. The whole segment came off like something WCW would do - but I get what they were going for.

Main Event: WWF Title Match: Diesel v Sid: Sid actually busts out the rare red tights for this, which is a bold move, considering how many fine Indian restaurants there are in the Syracuse area. Diesel controls the early going, and dumps him, following out with an axehandle off of the apron. Sid with a slam on the apron out there, and he posts him, as the referee makes the worlds slowest countout. Inside, Sid works some of the worst offense I've ever seen - consisting of kicks, punches, and... kicks, all while yelling really loud. He grabs a reverse chinlock (to rest from all the yelling!), and drops a leg for two. Sid was horrible, but as a kid - it worked. This show took place about an hour from where I grew up, and I remember being terrified that I'd run into Sid the next day at, like, the grocery store, and that he'd randomly powerbomb me. It was literally one of my top fears at the time. Camel clutch, but Diesel makes the escape, only to take a chokeslam. Powerbomb hits, but Sid poses for a good minute instead of covering. Yeah, we all know what that means. He's TRUCKING UP!! Snake eyes! Big boot! Powerbomb!...but Tatanka (who was also managed by Ted DiBiase) runs in to break up the pin, and Diesel retains by DQ at 11:31. The heels beat him down afterwards until Bam Bam Bigelow makes the save, because, yeah, the roster was that thin at this point. The match was atrociously bad, as they plodded along between moves, relied on restholds, and had horrible pacing - not to mention a shitty ending. -*. I kind of feel bad for Vince McMahon with the whole Diesel run - as I can see why he wanted to put the title on him - but Diesel is like a wonderbra. McMahon got all turned on for 1994 Diesel, and then when the lights dimmed, he's suddenly left holding a much smaller bag...s.

BUExperience:  The first In Your House was definitely an experiment. They had never worked a two-hour format for pay per view before – and it shows. Things go along well enough for the first few matches, and then suddenly, it’s as if someone hit the FF button on everyone so that they don’t run out of air time before the main event is over – and, boy, did it go downhill. Of the matches themselves, other than a decent opener, there is nothing here worth seeking, and if not for the historical value of it being the first of the monthly pay per view format that the WWF continues to run to this day – it would be completely unnoteworthy. DUD.