WWF In Your House - Season's Beatings (December 1995)

This one is pretty much only remembered for the main event, which is pretty much remembered for Bret Hart pulling a horror movie gory bladejob, and causing Hershey Pennsylvania’s chocolate rivers to run crimson. Oooh, hope you’re having pizza!

From Hershey, Pennsylvania – Your hosts are Vince McMahon, and Jerry Lawler.


Opening Match: Razor Ramon and Marty Jannetty v Sid and The 1-2-3 Kid: This came about when Kid finally turned on Ramon at Survivor Series, after months of teasing it. The WWF does me proud by billing the heels as ‘Sid and The Kid,’ but does not get around to calling the faces ‘Bong and Hit,’ sadly. Goldust is watching from ringside, as this was during the brilliant angle where Goldust started flirting with Razor Ramon, sending him love letters, and generally making him uncomfortable with what we were never sure were either clever mind games, or legitimate affection. Kid and Jannetty start, and Marty nails him with an enzuigiri right away. Atomic drop, and Razor comes in, sending Kid heading for the hills, but he can't get a tag off to big Sid. Razor with his own atomic drop, but in comes Sid, and he ain't putting up with anything that involves no atoms, or shit. Slugfest, and we get a double knockout spot, leading to both men tagging. Marty with a faceslam, and a powerslam gets two. Somersault bulldog, and Jannetty grabs a series of restholds like they're finishers. Even Sid gets bored of watching it, and jumps him from the outside, coming in to actually speed the match up - which may be the only time in the history of wrestling that that has happened. Powerslam gets two, and a big boot follows. He doesn't want Jannetty to get all of the resthold chatter on the playground the next day, though, so he makes sure to slap on a chinlock of his own. Tag to Ramon, and Razor is a house of arson. Blockbuster on Kid! Edge for Sid! – but, he gets backdropped. Come on, dude - Razors Edge on Sid? PCP must really be one hell of a drug. He comes back with a bulldog, and Sid's done at 12:22. Other than Jannetty slowing it way down in the middle with the restholds – which didn’t even work within the formula, as the heels generally do that to the face to prevent a tag – this was a decent little tag match, if un-notable in everyway. *.

Ahmed Johnson v Buddy Landel: This was supposed to be Johnson taking on Dean (Shane) Douglas, but Dean was on his way out (this would actually be his last appearance on TV. Not on all TV, just in his WWF run), so they have him introduce Buddy Landel as his ‘graduate student,’ and replacement, which is a joke, considering Landel debuted in 1979. Landel tries to chop away, but gets no-sold, and Johnson finishes him with a spinebuster and the Pearl River Plunge at 0:45. Just a squash, as Ahmed had the super-duper-rocket-in-the-pooper push at this point, until an injury in '96 killed that. DUD. However, afterwards, Jerry Lawler stirs shit up, grabbing a microphone, and offering 'congratulations,' along with guest commentator Jeff Jarrett - returning to the WWF after touring the world to promote his #1 hit single, ‘Ain’t I Great’/actually working in the USWA after losing the Intercontinental title that past summer. They insult Ahmed a bit, and eventually Jarrett breaks a his gold record over Johnson's head, in a bigger bump than anything that happened in the match. I'm almost tempted to bump it up a quarter-star for that alone. This led to a quasi-blowoff at the Royal Rumble, before Jarrett bolted to WCW.

Arkansas Hog Pen Match: Henry Godwinn v Hunter Hearst Helmsley: Oh, Henry! Oh my God(winn)! Where to begin with this one. An 'Arkansas' Hog Pen Match is a match that ends when one man is able to dump the other, literally, into a pig pen. Near the entrance area, the WWF has constructed an actual 10' x 10' (I’m eyeballing, but you’ll sleep at night if I’m off) hog pen, filled with mud, hogs, and presumably hog shit, as they were determined to ruin the night of at least a handful of unfortunate wrestling fans who were assigned seats in that section. The gimmick is that they battle until one can knock the other into it - kind of like a casket match, but geared towards hicks. No word on whether there are variations on the match between state to state, though I'd imagine in Alabama it is performed in the nude. Hillbilly Jim is the special referee for this one, though that seems more than a bit biased. The match came about when Henry Godwinn - whose gimmick is that of a pig farmer – had several run-ins with Connecticut blue blooded snob Triple H - whose gimmick is being Triple H. Godwinn's gimmick was a particular bit of inspiration from McMahon and Co., as they added an 'O' to the middle of his name, making his initials 'HOG.' He would later have a tag partner named Phineas, whose middle initial was 'I,' making him 'PIG.' Classic(ly stupid). Godwinn dumps a bucket of pig slop on Helmsley to start, but that musses his hair, and we have a slugfest. Godwinn with a backdrop, and he ties him up in the ropes for some abuse, including a mouthful of slop. HHH comes back with a swinging neckbreaker, and a high knee, as they cut to shots of the hog pen where the poor pigs are huddled together, likely terrified by all the noise. They spill to the outside, and Godwinn bulldogs him onto the steps, and they head for the pen. HHH reverses an Irish whip into the enclosure, and tries a Pedigree, but gets backdropped, teasing a fall into the pen. He counters... a fall into a hog pen... and hits a flying elbowdrop... off of a hog pen. Back to the ring, Henry busts out an inverted Ocean Cyclone suplex, and HHH takes a couple of Flair flips, ending up on the floor. Back up towards the pen, and Henry hits the Slopdrop (an inverted DDT), and charges, but Hunter backdrops him in to take the win at 8:58. Unfortunately, he can't play nice with referee Hillbilly, and gets thrown in himself, and Godwinn abuses him, which Helmsley sells magnificently - rolling around, and getting covered in mud. Don't let anyone tell you Triple H never pay his dues. Match was certainly no technical classic – but it was fine for what they were going for, and Triple H bumped around nicely for Godwinn. ¾*. Unfortunately, the pen was built in to the set, and stayed there for the rest of the night – much to the dismay of anyone sitting in that section.

Diesel v Owen Hart: Owen tries to dodge Diesel, but gets caught in the corner, and launched across the ring. Sidewalk slam, and a clothesline puts Owen on the floor. Back inside, Diesel with a hairpull slam, but he misses the big boot, and gets caught with a spinkick. Owen with a missile dropkick, and he works the leg. Enzuigiri gets two, and he tries a spinning toe-hold, but Diesel shoves him off into the post. Snake eyes, and he rips his head off with the big boot. Powerbomb hits, and he covers with one foot on the chest, but lets off at two to do the move again. He hits it, but shoves the referee in the process, and gets disqualified at 4:34. The angle here was that Diesel had lost the WWF Title to Bret Hart the month before at Survivor Series, and was getting his mojo back - tearing through any and everyone on a path of destruction that eventually led to a WWF Title shot with Shawn Michaels in April. It was a great angle, as it brought the Diesel character back to what made him the cool, badass guy they wanted to put the title on in the first place – though it backfired on them a bit, as they warmed him up just in time for WCW to really put him in the game. As for the match, it was sound, and well paced - if a bit brief. * ¼.

Casket Match: The Undertaker v Mabel: After getting one of the biggest, yet most bizarre, pushes in WWF history throughout 1995, by the end of the year Mabel was on his way out of the company. This was set up when Mabel (along with Yokozuna) took turns dropping big fat legdrops on 'Taker during an episode of RAW until they, shockingly, actually broke his face, which did neither of them any favors with the front office. 'Taker took some time off, and returned with a faceguard - but since he's the Undertaker, it's a stylized one, in this case, making him look like the Phantom of the Opera. It would have been kinda hilarious, to see him come back with just a standard hospital grade faceguard, actually. 'Taker chases him around to start, though the way Mabel moves, and with the limitations of 'Taker's gimmick at this point, it's really more like 'slowly follows,' until Mabel hits a belly to belly suplex inside. That gets no-sold, so Mabel goes for a 2^nd rope flying splash - which misses. Another belly to belly, and he has the balls to try a legdrop. Maybe he also shows up at rape counseling centers in trench coats, and corners people near the donuts. Splash, and Mabel declares himself the winner. Meanwhile, the rules and plain logic say otherwise. He does put on his crown, however, and I have an insanely strict policy about arguing with five-hundred pound black men wearing satin bodysuits, and crowns - so maybe we just go with it. 'Taker comes back with the jumping clothesline and a chokeslam, and that's enough for a whole box full of Mabel at 6:11. They kept this short, thankfully, and the crowd liked it. DUD.

Main Event: WWF Title Match: Bret Hart v Davey Boy Smith: Couple of tie-ups go nowhere, establishing that these two know each other well. Davey eventually wins one, and they do a reversal sequence, ending in Smith working an armbar, but Bret wrestles out, and works his own. Criss cross, and Hart gets a bodypress for two, and an inverted atomic drop lays Davey out. Davey catches him with a knee off of another criss cross, and hits a hairpull slam. Tree of woe, and Davey goes to a chinlock. Bret fights out with a crucifix, but gets dropped like a Samoan, and Davey goes right back to the chinlock, as if multiple WWF Titles have changed off of it. I guess he just wanted to be an innovator. Good for him. Bret takes the chest-first-corner bump for two, saved by throwing his foot on the rope. An impressive backdrop next, which doesn't shoot Bret into the stratosphere, but rather is executed with such crisp ability, it was like poetry. Criss cross, and Hart with a monkey flip on the Bulldog. Bulldog on the Bulldog for two. Brilliantly executed piledriver for two. Russian legsweep, and the 2^nd rope elbowdrop set up a super-duperplex, but Davey counters by dropping him in one of the most vicious crotch drops I have ever seen. Bret falls to the floor off of it - just to recover. Davey follows, and posts him, and we see that Bret's sliced himself like a pizza - as the blue gym mats on the outside of the ring are covered in puddles of his blood, as if he's pouring iced tea. Just a gruesome gusher. Inside, Davey with a sick piledriver of his own, as he shoots Bret gangster-style 'you got your blood on me, you fuck' look. Hanging vertical suplex gets two, and the camera actually zooms in on Harts damage, as opposed to today, where they'd station a camera on the moon, and stop the match if one of their shaving cuts from that morning happened to open up. Press slam, and Davey hits a flying headbutt to... the ass. Well, no one's tried that before, I'll give him that. Surfboard, but Bret wildly bucks, and counters into the Sharpshooter, but Davey's in the ropes. Shoulderblock puts Hart on the floor, and Davey suplexes in, but Bret counters into a bridging German suplex for two. Double knockout, and Davey recovers first, but gets backdropped to the floor off of a blind charge. Bret follows with a slingshot dive, but goes to the well once too often, and gets caught in the Running Powerslam on the floor. Davey pulls up the mats, and tries a suplex, but Hart crotches him on the rail, as Diana (Davey's wife, and Bret's sister) winces. Inside, and at this point, Bret has stained the entire ringside area, the canvas, all of Davey's ring gear in his blood - and he's still pushing forward. Backbreaker for two, and Davey takes his gorgeous modified Flair flip bump. Bret tries the super-duperplex again, and this time gets it, but even after all that, it only gets two. He argues with the referee over the count, and Davey rolls him up for two, which Bret reverses for two. Davey eats boot off of a cross corner exchange, and Hart catches him in a magistral cradle for the pin at 21:09, in the only notable title defense of his horribly booked 3^rd reign. The match started off slowly – but fuck, did it pick up. Aside from the gory bladejob that it’s most known for, it’s a great technically interesting, exciting brawl, with both guys working really crisp, well executed spots, and psychology. I know a lot people dislike the ending for being anticlimactic – but I thought it fit in perfectly, as Hart threw everything at Smith (highlighted by the super-duperplex spot that they fought over, and he eventually got, which couldn’t put him away – even causing him to lose his temper with the official), so, running out of options, he went into something he didn’t think Davey was prepared for – and it worked. ****.

BUExperience:  The very definition of a ‘One-Match Show.’ But, hey, it’s a hell of a match, and it takes up a quarter of a two hour card – which is always something these In Your House shows had going for them, as one match could totally give you your monies worth. The Hog Pen match has gained something of a cult-following over the years, but that’s more about seeing Triple H getting thrown into pig shit than anything else. Overall, nothing historically significant, as this was pretty much the very definition of a filler show – it could have been an episode of RAW in another era. Still, well worth seeing the main event. **.