WWF In Your House VI (Version II)

Original Airdate: February 18, 1996

From Louisville, Kentucky; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler

Opening Crybaby Match: Razor Ramon v 1-2-3 Kid: Kid gets in his face, but gets smacked around, and clotheslined over the top with authority. He stalls, allowing him to snap Razor's throat across the top rope when Ramon gets frustrated, and Kid dives at him with a springboard clothesline for two. Kid unloads with lightning kicks in the corner, and a spinkick puts Razor down. Back into the corner for some chops, but Razor turns the tide, and he launches Kid across the ring with a hiptoss, then corner clotheslines him. Criss cross sees Kid try a bodypress, but Razor catches him in a fallaway slam. Razor's Edge, but Kid hits the deck, so Ramon decks him to put Kid on the outside. Razor goes after him, so Ted DiBiase throws a massive handful of powder into the Bad Guy's eyes, and despite that creating a cloud thick enough that it could probably be seen from outside of the arena, the referee doesn't really notice. With Razor blinded, Kid dives in with a missile dropkick for two, and he snapmare's Ramon down for a pair of sliding legdrops. Standing dropkick sets up a flying frogsplash for two, and Kid hits another spinkick in the corner to set up a sleeper. Ramon escapes, and a sloppy exchange sees him throw a knee, but Kid latches on with another sleeper. Razor fades, but manages to come back to life with enough to drops Kid crotch-first across the top rope. He's still battered, however, and Kid is able to crawl over and cover for two. Both guys stagger up for a slugfest, with Ramon controlling. He goes for a side superplex, but Kid blocks, and dives with a flying bodypress - only for Razor to roll through for two. Kid blasts him with a spinheel kick for two, but another bodypress is caught, and this time Razor takes him up to the middle rope for a fallaway slam! Razor's Edge, so DiBiase hops onto the apron to distract him, which allows Kid to grab a handful of powder. He tries sneaking up, but it backfires on him, and Razor's Edge hits, but Ramon pulls him up at two! Another one, and Kid is done at 11:43. And then afterwards, Kid gets put in a diaper, which is even less entertaining than it sounds (which says a lot). Kid's lucky he was able to bail for WCW not long after this, because it would have taken a really long time for him to regain any credibility in the promotion again after this. Silly stipulations aside, the match itself was a good opener, with hard work from both. Not sure what my beef with it was in the original review, but it was nowhere near a half-star match. ** ¾ (Original rating: ½*)

Hunter Hearst Helmsley v Duke Droese: Duke charges in to blitz Hunter with right hands, and he throws HHH across the ring by his hair, like in a women's match. Cross corner whip flips HHH on the turnbuckles, and he staggers right into a press-slam from the Dumpster. Droese with a big boot, leaving HHH begging off in the corner, but Duke shows no mercy with a ten-punch count. HHH tries hooking him up in the Pedigree, but Droese counters with an inverted atomic drop, and adds a clothesline. A charge goes badly, however, as HHH is ready with a backdrop over the top, and he follows to whip Duke into the steps. The buildup for this involved Helmsley cutting off Droese's hair, leading Vince to wonder what it would be like if HHH ever had short hair. Funny, nowadays it's hard to picture him with anything but. Inside, HHH hits a kneedrop for two, so Duke tries to turn it into a slugfest, but Hunter goes to the eyes, and hits a high knee for two. HHH with a vertical suplex for two, as Lawler enjoys hitting on Hunter's valet (Elizabeth Hilden) at ringside. Based on those close-ups, it's hard to believe she was only 26 at the time, because she looks about ten years older. Double knockout spot coming out of the corner leaves both men looking up at the lights, and Droese is able to hit a rotating spinebuster as they recover. Duke mounts a comeback, and the Trash Compactor looks to finish, but Droese neglects to cover. Instead he heads out and grabs his trashcan, but that backfires on him before he can use it, and Hunter scores the pinfall at 9:41. Well, serves him right for bringing the weapon into things. This was fine, though I disliked the way they handled the finish. * ¼ (Original rating: *)

Davey Boy Smith v Yokozuna: "Get ready for a train wreck," notes Dok Hendrix following a pre-match interview with Yokozuna. Bulldog tries attacking as Yokozuna steps into the ring, but the big man sees it coming, and shrugs him off. Yokozuna with a bodyslam to set up an elbowdrop, but he's moving so slowly that Davey quite easily dodges. Smith uses a series of clotheslines to knock Yokozuna down for a ropechoke, allowing Jim Cornette to get a cheap shot in from the floor. Cross corner whip, but Yoko reverses, and follows in with an avalanche to set up a clothesline. Banzai Drop, so Cornette pulls Davey out of the ring as Yoko climbs, forcing the big dude to give chase. Or, well, whatever the equivalent would be considered at the speed Yokozuna moves at. Bulldog dodges an avalanche against the post out there, and hits Yoko with a flying axehandle for two on the way back in. Another one, but Yokozuna swats him out of the air to block, and drops him like a Samoan. Belly-to-belly suplex connects, and it's looking like Banzai time, so Cornette comes in to whack Yokozuna with his tennis racket for the cheap DQ at 5:03. That gets Yoko good and mad, and he decides to kick the crap out of Cornette, but Vader runs in to make the save, and the heels do a major beat down. Vader was still in the process of recovering from shoulder surgery at this point (which is why he was written out with a suspension following his debut in January), but they really wanted him to come in for this to set up his match for WrestleMania (since it's just a beat down)... so, of course, he ended up aggravating his injury while doing so, leading to the planned singles match with Yokozuna being reorganized into a six-man tag instead. The match was nothing, but babyface Yoko is already a million times better than heel Yoko simply because this didn't feature even a single nervehold! ¾* (Original rating: *)

#1 Contender's Match: Shawn Michaels v Owen Hart: Instead of coming through the curtain, Shawn appears on the roof of the house themed entrance set, and swings down into the aisle like Tarzan. But not before all sorts of dancing though, of course. Shawn dances and prances all the way into the ring, where he quickly dumps Owen over the top so he can finish his striptease routine in peace. He's also hugely over with the crowd here, and looks like he's having a ball playing to his adoring public. He's not just blowing them kisses here, he's literally kissing the people! Funny bit where Owen tries to go out and soak up some adoration from the fans as well, but no one wants to slap hands with him, and he gets hit with a flying twisting bodypress for his efforts, then rolled in for a flying axehandle. Michaels works a headlock, so Owen tries to use the hair to force a break, but it backfires when Shawn uses the hair to keep the hold applied! Owen tries a hiptoss, but Shawn fires back with a rana into some mounted punches, but a criss cross ends in Hart delivering an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. He adds a backbreaker and a corner whip to rattle HBK, then drops him with a neckbreaker for two. Sharpshooter early on, but Shawn blocks, so Owen slaps on a camel clutch instead. Shawn escapes, so Owen cracks him hard with a knee, and hooks a somersault cradle for two. Chinlock, but Shawn escapes that as well, so Hart drills him with a spinheel kick, knocking HBK to the outside with it. He tries to vertical suplex him back inside, but Shawn reverses to the outside, then dives off the apron with a flying bodypress - only for Owen to catch him with a powerslam on the floor. Hart with a missile dropkick for two on the way back in, and he hammers Shawn with some uppercuts in the corner, but Michaels manages a double-underhook rollup for two. He tries to keep it going, but Owen reverses a whip into the corner, and levels Shawn with a lariat. Sharpshooter is successfully applied this time, but Shawn manages to get the ropes to escape. Hart responds by putting the boots to him, and a bodyslam follows, but Owen spends too much time gloating, and Michaels hooks a victory cradle for two. Hart responds with the leg-feed enzuigiri, and Shawn sells it like death - falling out of the ring, seemingly unconscious. I was freaking out at this point back in 1996, but watching as an adult now, this whole match is severely lacking the drama you'd expect given the build. Owen forces him back in to pin, but Michaels has a shoulder up at two. He corner whips Michaels, but a charge in after him misses, and Shawn pops off an inverted atomic drop, followed by a jumping forearm. Shawn continues mounting a comeback, so Jim Cornette tries to interfere to prevent the Superkick. That allows Owen to counter it with another leg-feed enzuigiri, but Shawn ducks this time, and the Superkick finishes at 15:57. This was good, but a lot more playful than the angle and stakes would suggest. The RAW match from back in November was actually significantly better. *** ¼ (Original rating: ***)

Main Event: WWF Title Cage Match: Bret Hart v Diesel: And speaking of guys who had better matches in November. Bret tries firing off some right hands in the early going, but ends up getting himself into a full-on slugfest with Diesel, and that does not go well for him. Diesel goes to work in the corner, but Bret is able to reverse him into the cage, and he starts kicking at the leg to shake the challenger off. Vince notes that both men recently returned from a 'world tour of India,' and, I mean, I know it's a big country and everything, but come on. Bret tries to climb in the corner, but Diesel meets him on the top rope, and drills him with knees against the cage, then pulls him off for a pair of rams into the steel. Diesel goes for the door, but lollygags, and Hart is able to stop him with a flurry of fists. Bret adds a headbutt drop to the groin, and he goes for the door himself, but Diesel is able to grab an ankle to keep him in. Diesel then makes another attempt for the door, so Hart stomps the groin to keep him in, and tries to take the wheels away by going after the leg again. Diesel tries fighting him off with a sidewalk slam, but misses an elbowdrop, and Bret makes a climb. He spots Diesel crawling for the door as he does so, however, and has to abandon his climb to stop the challenger. He hammers the leg some more before climbing again, but even with a limp, Diesel is able to slam the Hitman down. Bret fires back with a 2^nd rope flying bulldog, and he climbs again, but Diesel is just so tall that he's easily able to cut him off - this time with a side suplex. Bret tries to crawl for the door before Diesel can follow up, but that earns the champion an elbowdrop. Diesel tries to follow-up in the corner, but Hart dodges a knee, and immediately capitalizes by putting the boots to the part. Bret with a 2^nd rope pointed elbowdrop to the leg, but Diesel reverses a cross corner whip to buy himself time. He goes to town in the corner, so Bret swipes at the knee, and tries to dash up and over the cage, but Diesel uses his long reach to pull him back over before Bret can make it down the outside. Diesel throws him into the cage, then whips him into the corner again, stopping to gauge if Hart is battered enough that Diesel can try to escape again or not between moves. Diesel keeps pounding with a straddling ropechoke, but Bret shoves him into the cage to block a snake-eyes, so Diesel goes to the eyes when the champion tries for the Sharpshooter. Bret keeps coming with a Russian legsweep, then dives off the top rope with a flying pointed elbowdrop when it looks like Diesel is going to cut off an escape attempt. Bret climbs, but Diesel throws a low blow to stop the attempt, and Hart falls crotch-first across the top rope on the way down. That allows Diesel to start crawling towards the door, and it looks like he's going to have a clear path to victory, when all of a suddenly Undertaker pops up out of a hole in the ring, and pulls him underneath - complete with smoke effects! That allows Bret to climb out to retain at 19:13, though it's kind of an afterthought, as everyone is focused on Diesel climbing back out of the hole with his gear all torn up, and looking terrified. That was a pretty cool finish, especially for the time period, as it hadn't been done before. I've always been really disappointed with this one, and while it's certainly still well below par for them, it's not really 'bad,' just kind of paint-by-numbers, and lacking the usual psychology or enthusiasm that their other high profile matches had. ** (Original rating: ¾*)

BUExperience: Nothing here to go out of your way to see as far as the individual matches go, but taking the piece in total in, it’s not the worst.

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