WWF In Your House: Beware of Dog (Version II)

Original Airdate: May 26, 1996

From Florence, South Carolina; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler

Opening Match: Hunter Hearst Helmsley v Marc Mero: HHH's valets really peaked with Sable. It looks like he's being accompanied by his mother tonight. And speaking of Sable, Lawler notes that he thinks "they filmed the movie 'Gorillas in the Mist' in her shower," which feels like it may fall on the wrong side of racist. Mero charges in and beats on HHH, sending Hunter over the top with an uppercut, and diving after him with a plancha. Marc with a slingshot legdrop for two on the way back in, and a corner whip flips Helmsley into a punch for two. HHH is overselling like crazy tonight! Marc keeps hammering, but misses a corner charge, and Hunter throws him into the post through the buckles - Mero taking a nice spill to the outside off of it. He beats the count in, so Helmsley keeps on the shoulder with a single-arm DDT, as Vince notes that there is a major storm going on outside. Something tells me that may become important later. HHH with a high knee, and he works the arm/shoulder, as Lawler hits on Helmsley's mother. There's a dude at ringside that looks like the combined feces from every toilet at the ECW Arena in human form. Mero tries to fight back with a double-underhook cradle for two, but Hunter cuts him off with a clothesline, and goes back to work on the arm. I appreciate him working the part so tenaciously, and Mero is doing a good job of selling it, but it's made for a dull match thus far. Hunter with a hammerlock-slam, but a trip to the top rope ends in Mero crotching him, and he brings Helmsley back down to earth with a rana! Hunter tries cutting him off with a tilt-a-whirl, but Marc manages a headscissors takedown, and he's able to add a kneelift before HHH can cut him off again. Mero with a backdrop and a flying sunset flip for two, followed by a dropkick to knock Helmsley over the top for a somersault plancha - only for HHH to get out of the way! Mero hurts his knee on the crash landing, and HHH goes for the Pedigree on the way back in, but Sable refuses to look so Helmsley lets off to go after her. He gets her attention, but by the time he's ready to try the move again, Mero is able to counter with a catapult into the corner for three at 16:24. He spent ten minutes tirelessly working the arm, and it doesn't factor into the finish at all? I liked this one a lot more in my first review. I found it to be really dull and unengaging this time around, with HHH pounding on the arm forever, but not building to anything with it. And then the power dies after the match, leaving the crew working the rest of the show in the dark (literal 'dark matches,' if you will) until power is restored just in time for the main event. * ½ (Original rating: ***)

Main Event: WWF Title Match: Shawn Michaels v Davey Boy Smith: To give you an idea of the Hart family's influence during this period, this is Michaels' third pay per view match against a member of the family in 1996, and there's not even any crossover between the angles like, say, Steve Austin's multiple matches with them in 1997 all being part of the same feud. Before the bell, Clarence Mason serves the champion with a summons, as Bulldog and wife Diana are filing a lawsuit against him for 'attempted alienation of affection,' though Michaels tears it up. Yeah, I'm no lawyer, but I don't think it works that way. Bulldog tries to sneak attack, but Michaels fights him off, so Davey tries backdropping him over the top, but Shawn lands on the apron. He slides back in and tries a Superkick, but Davey dodges, so Shawn sends him over the top for a plancha instead. Bulldog milks the count, but gets caught in a headlock on the way back in anyway, which Shawn holds on to for quite a while actually. He tries a rollup, but Bulldog blocks, and tries a bearhug, but Michaels quickly escapes. Shawn with a cradle for two, and a leg-feed enzuigiri gets two. Armbar, but Davey is able to whip him into the ropes, so Shawn hiptosses him down for a short-armscissors instead. Smith powers it into a cradle for two, then up to a vertical base in the hold, slamming Shawn to the mat to shake him off. Smith is able to add a backdrop and a matslam as he takes control, grounding the champion in a chinlock. Shawn slugs free, so Bulldog goes for an overhead backbreaker rack, but Shawn is able to slip out of that as well, so Smith drops him like a Samoan. Legdrop gets the challenger two, and he goes back to the chinlock for a while, as Lawler rants about how Shawn is obviously guilty since "where there's smoke, there's fire." You'd think, of all people, JERRY LAWLER would be the last to take that particular stance on this issue. Shawn slugs free again, but loses his footing as they criss cross, and takes a spill to the outside off of it. Davey follows to ram him into the apron out there, but Michaels beats the count in, snapping Davey's throat across the top rope as he does. Shawn with a slingshot clothesline, and another criss cross ends in both guys knocking heads for a double knockout. Well, at least no one accidentally fell out of the ring that time. Bulldog is up first, but Shawn manages to duck a clothesline, and hit a jumping forearm. Bodyslam leads to a flying axehandle for two, but the referee goes down when they criss cross again. Shawn stays focused with another bodyslam (right as they're showing a replay of the earlier bodyslam at the exact same time, resulting in a neat mirror image), followed by the flying elbowdrop. Superkick, so Owen Hart slides in, eating it for Davey. That allows Smith to put Michaels down, as a second referee runs out. Bulldog goes for the Running Powerslam, but Michaels counters with a bridging German suplex to retain at 16:58. Oh but wait, one referee says Bulldog's shoulders were down, while the other says Shawn's were down - you know how that goes. The final call is Shawn retaining on a draw, thus setting up a rematch for King of the Ring the following month. Bulldog can usually work up to the level of his opponent, but Michaels seemed to be having attitude problems throughout, and turned in a performance well below his usual level here. It's worth noting that the match was apparently booked to go much longer, but cut down due to the power outage messing with the timing of the show, so maybe they were going to kick it up to that next level for the final third that we didn't get to see, but as is, it was really weak. Not to mention a bad finish. The wrestlers also apparently thought the show was still off-air when they went out to the ring, and didn't find out until half way through the match that they were, in fact, live on pay per view, which I'm sure messed with things further. The Michaels/Smith dynamic always worked better with the babyface/heel roles reversed, anyway. * (Original rating: ** ½)

Original Airdate: May 28, 1996

From North Charleston, South Carolina; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Mr. Perfect

Career v Servitude Caribbean Strap Match: Steve Austin v Savio Vega: It's Ted DiBiase's managerial career against Vega being forced to be Ted's chauffer on the line here. They play a little tug-of-war to start, until Austin bails to the outside to avoid a swipe with the strap. He can't really stall much since they're still connected at the wrist anyway, and he manages to nail Savio on the way in, but runs into a backdrop. Vega swings the strap, but Austin bails to avoid it again, so this time Savio goes after him, and rams Steve into the apron. Back in, Savio unloads with the strap, so Austin dives over the top to try and anchor him, but Vega pulls him back onto the apron for a vertical suplex in. Spinkick allows Vega to start touching corners, but he only gets two before Austin stops him in his tracks. Austin unloads with the strap, but Vega takes him down, and they slug it out on the mat, spilling to the outside, where Steve drops him across the guardrail. He wraps the strap around Savio's throat and tries to hang him, then vertical suplexes him in from the apron, all of which is enough for only two corners before Vega stops him. Steve tries backdropping him over the top, but it backfires when the strap forces Austin right over after him! Steve tries to regroup with a vertical suplex on the floor, but Vega reverses, and cracks him with the strap a few times. Back in, Vega makes three corners before Austin is able to sweep the leg, and he tags Savio with the strap a few times. He goes up, but Vega crotches him on the top turnbuckle, and brings him down with a vertical superplex. This match may be approaching a record for vertical suplexes. Vega gets three corners, but runs into a spinebuster as he goes for the fourth, and Steve delivers a straddling ropechoke. He then goes a more direct route by choking Savio with the strap, but only gets two corners before Vega pokes him in the eyes. Austin responds by poking him in the one-eyed monster, and a tombstone reversal sequence ends in Vega getting dumped over the top. Steve tries to hang him again, but an attempt to dive after Vega from the top rope backfires when Savio uses the strap to send Steve crashing all the way down into the guardrail! Vega uses the strap to pull Austin into the post before taking the action back inside, where Savio manages two corners before Steve escapes with a sunset cradle. Vega powers through it to hit the third corner though, but Steve flings his weight back at the last second to violently force Savio to the mat before he can make number four. Austin with a piledriver, but DiBiase tells him to do it again before trying the corners, which ends up backfiring when Vega manages a backdrop. Steve responds by slapping on the Million Dollar Dream, but as he rides Vega with the hold, Savio is able to muster the strength to walk to two corners! Steve starts really squeezing, but Vega manages to make a last ditch dive into the third corner - shaking Austin off in the process! Unfortunately for him, Steve hits a hotshot into the turnbuckle to cut him off, and he wraps the strap around Vega's throat to start dragging him to the corners. He makes it to three that way, but Savio is hitting them all behind his back along the way, and it's a race to the fourth. Vega anchors him, so Steve drops his weight back to try and knock him loose, but it backfires - sending Vega into the fourth corner at 21:23, and ending DiBiase's near ten year WWF run! This didn't quite find that next level, but it was a damn good match, with hard work, no resting, strong drama around the corner touches. *** (Original rating: ** ¾)

Yokozuna v Vader: A real Fats McGats here, you might say. If you were crazy. Yoko comes in slugging, and he challenges Vader to a little sumo showdown, but Vader backs down. The funny thing is, Vader's spent more time in Japan than the so-called sumo champion ever has. They keep psyching each other out while teasing charges, until they finally collide, and Vader goes down! That allows Yokozuna to clothesline him over the top, and he pounds on Vader on the way back in, but engaging Vader in a slugfest proves unwise. Yokozuna takes him down and drops an elbow across the leg to send Vader bailing for the outside, but he wins another slugfest on the way back in, so Yoko takes him down for another elbowdrop to the leg. Yokozuna pounds him in the corner, so Vader tries a bodyslam, but can't get him up. That allows Yokozuna a uranage, and he avalanches Vader in the corner to set up a Samoan drop. It's so weird seeing Vader look small next to another man. Yokozuna goes for the Banzai Drop to finish, so Jim Cornette goes after him with the tennis racket, but Yokozuna is ready for him. He goes to hit Jim with the Banzai, but Vader pulls him out of harms way, and splashes Yoko's leg. That sets up the Vaderbomb, and that's enough at 8:56. Not really much to this one. It felt like a house show match more than a property pay per view showdown. ¼* (Original rating: ¼*)

WWF Intercontinental Title Casket Match: Goldust v Undertaker: Undertaker sneak attacks, and beats the champion from pillar to post to start. After an extended beating, Undertaker delivers a bodyslam and a legdrop to set up a trip to the casket, but Goldust fights him off. Undertaker responds with the ropewalk forearm and a corner whip, but he hits elbow as he tries a charge, and Goldust bodyslams him. An awkward sequence where they look like they're not on the same page ends in Goldust hitting a tombstone (and nearly dropping the challenger right on his head), but he fails to get him into the casket. Undertaker fires back with a big boot, so Goldust backdrops him over the top to buy time, and follows to ram his challenger into the steps. Goldust chokes him with some cable out there, and grabs a sleeper on the way back in, but fails to close the lid on the casket when he gets 'Taker in. Undertaker hits a jumping clothesline as they criss cross, and a clothesline sends both men tumbling over the top. Undertaker grabs a chair out there, but Goldust kicks it back into his face, and clotheslines him on the floor. Back in, Goldust hits a powerslam, followed by a flying clothesline. He covers, but there are no pinfalls here, so that goes nowhere. No matter, Goldust starts dragging him towards the casket, but Undertaker starts to get feisty, so Goldust tries his own ropewalk forearm - only to get slammed off the top in the process. That allows Undertaker to drill him with the Tombstone, and we're going to see a new champion, folks! He opens the lid, but when he does, he's stunned to find Mankind in the box! Mankind slaps on the Mandible Claw, and he forces 'Taker into the casket at 12:39 - Goldust still out on his back as he's awarded the victory! Pretty dull match, with very little heat too, since the buildup was terrible, and then Goldust already started a hotter feud with Ahmed Johnson the night before on RAW to make matters worse. ¾* (Original rating: ¾*)

BUExperience: ‘Dog’ is indeed a very appropriate subtitle for this show.

DUD