WWF In Your House: Mind Games (Version II)

Original Airdate: September 22, 1996

From Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Mr. Perfect

Opening Caribbean Strap Match: Savio Vega v Justin Bradshaw: Savio charges in and tries to get busy, but Bradshaw fights him off from the high ground, and he abuses him with the strap. The referee steps in to get them connected, and Bradshaw starts touching corners, though half of them really shouldn't count, since he's not even dragging Savio with him. No matter, it doesn't go anywhere, as they spill to the outside, where Bradshaw tries to choke him out with the strap, but ends up getting pulled into the post. They're fighting it out on the floor, when suddenly Sandman (in the crowd along with fellow ECW guys Paul Heyman and Tommy Dreamer) spits a beer at Vega, in a worked shoot angle. The looks on the faces of the little kids in the crowd is tremendous. Vega and Bradshaw head back in as the ECW guys get removed from the building, and everyone ignores the match to watch and talk about that. Well, you can't blame them. This went over the heads of about 90% of the audience at that point (myself included), but for the 10% that did get it, it was pretty cool. Anyway, Vega unloads with the strap, but fails to touch all four corners before Bradshaw drops him. Savio responds with a pair of clotheslines, and a spinheel kick follows. He tries for the corners again, and makes three this time before Bradshaw cuts him off. Justin manages a big boot this time, and a lariat follows to turn the tide. He starts going for the corners, but Vega is touching them in his wake, and you know how that always ends. Or, if you don't, Savio wins at 7:09. ¼* (Original rating: ¼*)

Jim Cornette v Jose Lothario: During the entrances, we cut to the back, where we see Razor Ramon and Diesel attacking Savio in a deserted hallway. Even in that long shot, it's very obviously not Scott Hall or Kevin Nash. Also, why's Savio even in a deserted hallway? Cornette tries a sneak attack before the bell, but Jose easily fights him off, and unloads with rights. Lothario abuses him with turnbuckle smashes, and a big right hand puts Jim on his ass. A left uppercut follows, and that's all she wrote at 0:59. It's not like I was hoping for a long match between these two, but this wasn't really a satisfying payoff for the angle, as Lothario didn't really get much in on him at all. Give it up for Cornette though, the guy is willing to go out there and look like a complete and total fool for an angle, even down to the ridiculously unflattering outfit they had him in here. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

Brian Pillman (who had been promising an exclusive interview with Bret Hart for tonight) comes out, and immediately makes sure even the ECW marks boo him by going on a rant about the city of Philadelphia. He then introduces not Bret, but Owen Hart, and Owen clarifies that Bret must be going senile or something, because he was definitely supposed to be here. Or, maybe he's just scared of Steve Austin, who has been talking shit about him. And speaking of Steve, he comes out as well, and he's now got the familiar Stone Cold look down, with the chain, vest, and blue jeans. He talks shit about the Hitman, and, well, that's about it. Not much of a segment, but all three guys are such tremendous promos that it works. This is also kind of the official start to one of the best angles of the era, so it's got some significance there

WWF Tag Team Title Match: The Smoking Gunns v Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith: Billy Gunn starts with Owen, and a criss cross goes Hart's way with a hiptoss. Armdrag and a bodypress follow for two, and Gunn wisely backs off to regroup in his home corner. Owen works a headlock as they get back to it, and Hart hooks a small package for two during another criss cross, so Billy throws a quick kick to allow the tag. Bart Gunn comes in with an elbowdrop, but Owen dodges, and passes to Bulldog. Bart tries to headlock him, but Davey forces a criss cross, and uses a schoolboy for two. Dropkick and an armdrag follow, and it's back to Owen for a well placed clip to the leg of the cowboy. The challengers go to work on the leg as they cut the ring in half on Bart, but Billy manages to get some cheap shots on Bulldog on the outside before things get too grim for the champions. The Gunns take control of Davey, and the Sidewinder looks to finish, but Clarence Mason distracts the referee, and Owen dives in off the top rope to break the cover. That allows Bulldog to roll over with a cover, but Billy is up at two! Billy puts the boots to him as the Gunns take control again, but Billy gets distracted looking down Sunny's top, and messes up his part of a double team - allowing Davey to hit Bart with the Running Powerslam at 10:57. Afterwards, a furious Sunny dumps the Gunns, but sadly this didn't lead to Sunny managing Hart/Smith, though that was more due to them publicly rejecting her than anything else. This started off well enough, but both heat segments were really dull, and the match dragged. ¾* (Original rating: ½*)

Jerry Lawler v Mark Henry: Lawler stalls to start, of course. He tries to prove that Henry can't even escape a basic headlock, but that ends badly for him, and it's more stalling from the King. Yeah, sure, it's stalling, but if you're going to get stalling, at least get it from the master. I don't think there's any other worker alive who could make it as engaging as the King. Jerry tries various holds, but Henry keeps either reversing or escaping them, and Lawler ends up getting chucked across the ring with a slam. He tries a shoulderblock, but literally bounces off of Henry. Again, but this time Mark sidesteps, and Jerry takes a pretty big bump to the outside off of it. Even with this basic stuff, Henry looks like he has no idea what he's doing out there. Lawler decides to pull out one of his foreign objects to turn the tide, and that initially gets some traction, but Mark starts no-selling. Lawler tries to bail as Henry unloads, but Mark keeps hold of him, and slaps on an overhead backbreaker for the submission at 5:13. Henry looked greener than grass here, and Lawler was honestly lucky to get home without picking up an injury. This really had no place on PPV, but it was a good pairing in the sense that a worker like Lawler is perfect for Henry to work with at this stage. DUD (Original rating: ¼*)

Final Curtain Match: Goldust v Undertaker: The gimmick here is that the match must be won by pinfall only. They're already hyping Undertaker/Mankind in a Buried Alive match for the next PPV, before the bell even rings here. Undertaker just walks right up and slugs him to start the match, which was actually really neat. Legdrop gets two, so Goldust bails to the outside to buy time, and he snaps Undertaker's throat across the top rope on his way back in. Goldust with a swinging neckbreaker, but Undertaker sits up, and throws a big boot. Undertaker with a vertical suplex for two, and even the announcers are talking about how unique that move is for him. Just goes to show how terrible Undertaker was as a worker for the first five years when even a basic SUPLEX is considered a big deal. Undertaker with the ropewalk forearm, so Goldust bails, and he comes back in with a handful of gold dust to throw into Undertaker's eyes. That's enough to turn the tide, and Goldust works him over in slow, dull fashion. Speaking of guys limited by their gimmick. I mean, Dustin Rhodes was a pretty good worker by the time he left WCW in 1995, but Goldust matches have been, by and large, terrible. It's such a bad pairing too. Undertaker doesn't really 'sell' in the traditional sense that connects with a crowd and builds sympathy, so it's basically just like watching Goldust kick and punch a sack of meat for ten minutes. Undertaker finally decides to start making a comeback, so Goldust uses a powerslam for two to cut him off, but Undertaker keeps coming with a jumping clothesline. Goldust tries a dive off the top, but Undertaker chokeslams him off before he can leap, and the Tombstone finishes at 10:25. I still can't believe this feud spanned THREE pay per views. Even as a kid, this program was a total snooze, and I was a VERY forgiving fan. ¼* (Original rating: DUD)

Main Event: WWF Title Match: Shawn Michaels v Mankind: Mankind is brought out to the ring in a casket, in an interesting touch. Guess that's one way to conserve your energy before the big fight. Shawn tries grabbing a headlock at the bell, but Mankind quickly whips him into the ropes to escape, and drops him with a backelbow. Crisp execution and selling there. Mankind adds a backdrop and a cactus clothesline to send them both over the top, and Shawn gets shoved into the guardrail out there. Mankind starts pulling up the mats, but Shawn recovers with a dropkick, leaving the challenger pinned underneath them. Michaels stomps him and goes up with a flying bodypress on the exposed floor, followed by a matslam on the concrete! Shawn with a flying axehandle on the way back in, and a series of right hands set up a clothesline. Shawn with a bodyslam to set up a flying elbowdrop, and it may be over for Mankind early! Superkick, but the challenger fucking DIVES out of the ring to avoid it, and he regroups with Paul Bearer out there. Slugfest on the way back in is dominated by Michaels, but Mankind reverses a cross corner whip, and we get a silly spot where they reference the temper tantrum from SummerSlam, with Mankind 'forgetting' to charge Michaels, and Michaels throwing a fit. I don't care for that spot. I mean, I get it, and if you're going to do it, Philly is the place, but just don't do it. Just don't. Mankind nearly gets the Mandible Claw on as Shawn throws his tantrum, but the champion manages to fight him off, so Mankind tosses him to the outside instead. The challenger follows and grabs an announce table, but Shawn dives at him with a bodypress before he can use it, and he gives Mankind a nasty suplex onto the steps out there! Shawn clips the leg as Mankind tries climbing back in, and the champ bashes it against the casket. Inside, Shawn keeps pounding the part, but Mankind keeps fighting back, so Shawn corkscrew legwhips him down. Figure four (while yelling 'whoo, whoo, whoo'), and it's actually a much better version than the bullshit he'd apply during the second half of his career. Mankind escapes, so Shawn tries a half-crab instead, but Mankind makes the ropes. Shawn responds with a sunset cradle for two, but an attempt at a rana ends badly when Mankind drops him across the ropes in a hotshot. That's enough to turn the tide, and Mankind hammers him with a running kneesmash in the corner, followed by a pair of facebusters. Shawn tries to buy time with a quick side suplex, but gets stuck in a tree of woe when Mankind whips him into the corner, and the challenger unloads. Mankind with a legdrop, and a big boot sends HBK over the top. Perhaps he should try reversing the order of those moves? Mankind follows with a charge, but Shawn dodges him out there, and the challenger crashes right into the steps. Michaels capitalizes with a nasty drop-toehold into the steps, and they end up fighting over a suplex on the apron, which ends in Mankind missing another charge, and hitting the post. Inside, Michaels lands a jumping backelbow, and a powerslam hits for two. Criss cross ends in Mankind getting his head caught between the middle and top ropes, and Shawn pounds him until the challenger falls out of the ring. Michaels is on his tail, but Mankind manages the Claw out there, forcing Shawn to think fast by dropping him into the rail to escape. Mankind tries to slug him, but Michaels uses a chair to block, and then uses the weapon to clip the leg, and smash the claw hand. Inside, Shawn keeps pounding the claw hand, doing a cool sequence when he wrenches the fingers, kicks the knee, wrenches the fingers, kicks the knee. He manages to get the claw cover off, but a charge backfires when Mankind backdrops him over the top. The challenger follows with an elbowdrop off of the apron, followed by a swinging neckbreaker on the floor. Back in, Mankind hits a double-arm DDT for two, and a piledriver is worth two. He's making Shawn work for it tonight. Fisherman cradle gets two, and Mankind is throwing a tantrum of his own now. He starts flipping out and throwing chairs into the ring, but the referee interferes, so Mankind goes for the casket instead. He decides to put Shawn into it, but Michaels fights him off, and bounces back with a jumping forearm. Bodyslam leads to a flying bodypress for two, but another trip to the top ends badly when Mankind falls into the ropes to crotch him. The challenger follows up to try a side superplex through the announce table he was forced to abandon earlier, but Shawn topples him on the way down, and the crowd just has no idea what to make of this insanity. Shawn gets inside first, but Mankind follows with a chair. He climbs to the top rope with it, but Shawn Superkicks it back into his face, and takes a long time making his cover. Looks like Vader missed his cue there. Cover, count, and there's Vader for the DQ at 26:21. Shawn fights Vader off, but gets nailed from behind by Paul Bearer, and here comes Sycho Sid to make the save, followed by Undertaker to brawl with Mankind! Yeah, so, obviously this was a great match. But, it's not without its flaws. For one, the big obvious one, the ending. Not just the booking of it, but the execution as well, as Vader seemed to miss his cue for the run-in. They also messed up some small shit like the chairs that Mankind threw in were removed by the referee, and had to be quickly repositioned later to set up the Superkick spot. And I still really dislike that smarky tantrum spot. While those negatives may bring it down a tad, they aren't enough to destroy what is otherwise a fantastic match. Like with the Diesel match from April, this is the Shawn Michaels people wanted to get behind, not the boyhood dream/stripper crap they were doing for most of the year. **** ½ (Original rating: **** ½)

BUExperience: Terrible show, great main event. Not really much else to say about it.

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