WWF Coliseum Video Collection: Winter Combat '96 (1996)

 

WWF Coliseum Video Collection: Winter Combat '96 (1996)

Coliseum Video compilation. The front cover features a selection of winter combatants from 1996, while the back promises a bunch of matches from In Your House pay per views

Dok Hendrix hosts from his mancave (the studio), and is his usual quiet, subdued self

WWF Title Match: Diesel v Davey Boy Smith: From In Your House IV on October 22 1995 in Winnipeg Manitoba Canada. Bret Hart joins us to do guest commentary for this, since he'll be challenging the champion at Survivor Series. Lawler, who has spent the entire night ripping on Bret, wisely runs the hell away before he gets killed. They measure each other for a while to start, and Bulldog tries a bodypress, but gets caught in a slam. Diesel adds a second bodyslam, so Davey bails to the outside to kill the momentum. He manages to sweep Diesel in the corner, but trying to crotch him on the post backfires, and Diesel hits a pair of cross corner clotheslines on the way back in. Diesel unloads in the corner, but Smith clips the leg to stop the assault, and uses a dropkick to knock Big Daddy Cool over the top. He gets into an altercation with Hart out there, allowing Bulldog to sneak out and clip the leg again, and he grounds the seven foot champion in a leglock on the way back in. Davey stays on the leg with a variety of boring holds, and the crowd is so unimpressed by Diesel that they can't even draw any heat with it. I mean, not only aren't they supporting Diesel, but they're actually cheering Bulldog! The match drags on with Bulldog working the leg, as I fight the urge to fall asleep at my desk here. It's just leglock after leglock, with Diesel not even having the ring presence to realize he needs to get in some hope spots. He finally reverses a vertical suplex, and adds a side suplex, but the leg is too battered, and Bulldog thumps him with forearms for two. He decides to try a sharpshooter, and gets on perhaps the worst version of it I've ever seen. Like, he makes Rock look like Bret Hart himself. Diesel powers out, so Bulldog tries the Running Powerslam, but Diesel topples him for two. Davey tries again, but Diesel counters with a big boot, and he calls for the Jackknife. That summons Jim Cornette in, but Diesel takes him out, and hits Davey with a straddling ropechoke - remembering to sell the knee at the last second. Smith bails, so Diesel goes after him, but gets reversed into the post out there. Smith decides to smack Bret in the head while he passes by, but Hart loses it, and attacks Smith - getting Diesel disqualified in the process at 18:14. Really? Eighteen minutes for that shitty TV finish? I mean, I get that they wanted to set up Survivor Series, but the finish didn't even make sense! Like, Davey was in complete control of the match, and instead of finishing things up and winning the WWF Title, he needs to attack Bret, totally unprovoked? This was excruciatingly boring. But, at least it led to two great matches at the following two pay per views. ¼*

Marty Jannetty v Goldust: Also from In Your House IV. This is billed as Goldust's debut, though he'd wrestled in some non-televised matches since August. Counting how many times Vince says the word 'bizarre' during this could make for an interesting drinking game. I'd be hammered before the entrances are over. Marty sneak attacks him, the initial blitz leaves Goldust on the outside. He stalls out there, so Marty runs at him with a clothesline, and he rolls him back in, but Goldust bails right back out to stall some more. Watching Dustin Rhodes as Goldust must have been a trip for JR. Inside, Goldust manages a rollup for two, so Marty tries one of his own, but Goldust blocks. Jannetty responds with a rana, which pisses Goldust off, and gets Marty shoved a couple of times. Jannetty responds to that with his fists, but a criss cross ends in Marty back flipping through the air to sell a clothesline. Goldust cross corner whips him, and a snapmare sets up a pointed elbowdrop for two. Goldust works him over in plodding fashion, but gets snapmared over the top to the outside, where Jannetty rams him into the steps. A shot into the post gets reversed, however, allowing Marty to do a wild oversell off of it. Goldust vertical suplexes him back in for two, and he works a chinlock. Marty tries coming back with a stinger splash, but misses, and Goldust drops him with a DDT for two. Jannetty keeps coming with a rocker dropper, but Goldust avoids a flying fistdrop - Marty able to land on his feet to avoid crashing. He throws a trio of clotheslines, and goes back up for the flying fistdrop, but Goldust lifts a boot to block this time. I think that first attempt was supposed to get blocked, but there was a miscommunication somewhere. No matter, as Goldust finishes him with a gourdbuster at 11:15. A bit longer than it needed to be for a debut, but I get what they were shooting for. Rhodes had settled into the character, but was still getting the hang of working heel, after spending his entire career as a babyface. * ¼

Casket Match: Undertaker v Mabel: From In Your House V on December 17 1995 in Hershey Pennsylvania. Hog Pen match, Casket match - forcing people into containers against their will was all the rage in 1995, apparently. Mabel brings his spray painted casket down for this, which actually has 'BSK' tagged on the side. A distraction from Mo allows Mabel to attack, but Undertaker quickly fights him off, and chokes away in the corner. At least the referee knows his role and stays on the outside for this one. Mabel reverses a cross corner whip and hits a scrapbuster, but Undertaker sits up, so Mabel clotheslines him. Another sit up, so Mabel bodyslams him to set up a 2nd rope flying splash, but gets a sit up instead! Undertaker throws a series of clotheslines, so Mo trips him up from the floor, allowing Mabel to hit a belly-to-belly suplex. Legdrop follows, and now Undertaker is having trouble sitting up. Mabel adds a splash to be sure, and they dump 'Taker in the casket, but Mabel waits too long to close the lid, and Undertaker escapes. That was lame. Undertaker makes his comeback, hitting the jumping clothesline and the chokeslam, before dumping Mabel (and Mo, for good measure) into the casket for the win at 6:11. Crap, but at least it provided a satisfying end to their feud. This was pretty much it for Mabel too, as he worked another match with Diesel on RAW, popped up to fill a slot in the Royal Rumble, and then disappeared for a few years before returning in the Attitude Era. ¼*

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Dean Douglas v Razor Ramon: From In Your House IV. Douglas is awarded the title right before the bout, as his scheduled opponent (champion Shawn Michaels) is forced to forfeit the title following a legit injury outside of a nightclub in Syracuse. They make a big angle out of it, with an emotional Shawn having to surrender the belt in the ring before the bout. I think they should have made an angle out of whatever the hell that jacket Shawn was wearing out there was all about. Maybe have Jean-Pierre Lafitte steal it to set up the WrestleMania main. Razor charges in like he did the month before, blitzing the new champion, and knocking him to the outside. Back in, the Bad Guy works the arm, wasting no time boring the crowd. Dean tries a bodypress, but gets caught in a fallaway slam, and Ramon clotheslines him over the top. He's surprisingly relaxed about the count too, hanging back and just kind of hoping Dean beats it. Razor with a hanging vertical suplex, followed by a corner whip, and Dean ends up on the outside again. Man, Ramon has been in control of literally the entire match thus far. Razor pours a bottle of water on Douglas' head out there, and he delivers a short-shoulderblock on the way back in, followed by an atomic drop. Razor's Edge time, but Douglas manages to backdrop him over the top to block, and he follows Ramon out for some abuse on the floor. He tries a flying clothesline on the way back in, but Razor counters with a chokeslam. Side superplex, but Dean blocks, and hits a flying bodypress for two. Dropkick gets two, but Razor fires back with a side suplex, and gets a weird pin at 11:01. Like, he was flat on his back, and just sort of put his arm across Douglas for three - the crowd not even realizing he had won. This was basically an extended squash. I swear, Razor used to give enhancement guys more offense in three minute Superstars matches than he allowed Douglas here. It was like he was sleepwalking out there. Too bad Michaels couldn't go on, because even if he was half-assing it, I'm pretty sure he'd break three-stars with Douglas. ¼*

Arkansas Hog Pen Match: Henry Godwinn v Hunter Hearst Helmsley: From In Your House V. Hillbilly Jim acts as the special guest referee for this one. Godwinn chases him around with the bucket of slop, but one of the ringside attendants ends up getting a face full instead. And a bunch of the fans, too. Nice. Godwinn with a backdrop, as some guys in the crowd hold up a five piece 'Hogan' sign. That's perhaps the most offensive sign you could have in 1995. Offensive to the WWF because he's with the competition. Offensive to WCW because they're doing everything short of outright paying people to cheer Hogan on the shows where he's actually performing. And offensive to ECW because, well, Hogan. Godwinn manages to get HHH tied up in the ropes, and he feeds him some slop, but eats a swinging neckbreaker himself. What's the point of even having a referee in the ring for something like this? There are no pinfalls, submissions, countouts, or disqualifications. His only job is to make an official ruling when someone goes into the pen. Nothing more, nothing less. Watching Hillbilly Jim get in there and spot everything like he's scoring this on points is pretty funny. They spill to the outside, when Henry takes a trip into the steps, and they brawl over to the pen, where Hunter whips him into it. Pedigree, so Godwinn counters with a backdrop, but HHH lands on the pen without going in. That allows him to dive off the pen with a flying elbowdrop, as Lawler trips over himself to make Jeff Foxworthy jokes. And I don't mean jokes about Jeff Foxworthy. I mean he's literally reciting his material. They go back into the ring, where Godwinn hits a pretty impressive wheelbarrow facebuster, and Hunter bumps all over the place through a few corner whips, finally ending up on the outside. Henry slugs him over to the pen, but Hunter blocks a Slop Drop in the aisle, as Lawler continues to rip off Foxworthy. Henry manages to whip him into the pen to set up the Slop Drop, and poor HHH is bleeding from the back from his bump into the enclosure. Henry goes for the kill, but a charge backfires when HHH backdrops him right into the pen with the win at 8:58. And then, of course, Godwinn press-slams him into the pen afterwards to get his heat back. Helmsley bumping into pig shit with an open wound may be the most dangerous thing to happen on this show. The match was trash, but was relatively short, and paid off the angle. ¾*

Diesel v Owen Hart:  From In Your House V. Owen gets trapped in the corner to start, and Diesel unloads. Sidewalk slam connects, as Diesel's entrance pyro overwhelms the building's ventilation system, leaving them working in a thick cloud of smoke. Owen tries cornering him for a ten-punch count, but Diesel shoves him clear across the ring, and then knocks him over the top. Hart tries taking a walk, but Diesel drags him back in, and hits a hairpull slam. Big boot, but Owen ducks, and throws a spinheel kick, followed by a missile dropkick. He goes to work on the leg, and throws a leg-feed enzuigiri for two. Spinning-toehold, but Diesel uses his free leg to shove Owen into the corner, and he follows up with the snake-eyes. Straddling ropechoke hits, and he creams Owen with a big boot. Jackknife hits, and Diesel makes a one-foot cover, but then decides to let off at two. He wants to hit another Jackknife, but shoves the referee aside when he protests, and that's a DQ at 4:34. This would have felt really rushed as a TV match, let alone on pay per view. Not just that, but they completely sacrificed Owen here, booking him like a total jobber, which is a shame since he could have had some serious heel heat following the Shawn Michaels situation. ¾*

WWF Title Match: Bret Hart v Davey Boy Smith: From In Your House V. Lawler notes that Bulldog is wearing the same tights as at SummerSlam '92, but that isn't even remotely accurate. They don't even look alike! The world was a much simpler place before you could just pop out your smartphone and do a quick Google search. Feeling out process to start, with Hart trying to fight off the powerful challenger by keeping things grounded. Bodypress gets Bret two, but Smith kicks out with authority, and the Hitman ends up on the outside. He slides back in right through Davey's legs to hit an inverted atomic drop, and he latches on a hammerlock, taking Bulldog to the mat in it. Davey powers out, and drives a knee to the midsection during a criss cross, then drops Bret with a hairpull slam. He hangs Bret in a tree of woe for some abuse, as pretty Diana Hart-Smith watches from ringside. Chinlock, but Bret escapes and tries a crucifix, so Davey drops him like a Samoan for two. Smith chokes him on the ropes, allowing Jim Cornette to get in a cheap shot with the tennis racket for two, and Smith goes back to the chinlock. Davey with a cross corner whip for two, and a backdrop is worth two. Bret is doing all the work here, and even still, Bulldog has to go back to the chinlock again. Hart tries to escape, so Smith wrenches it into a headlock to keep the champion grounded. Hart manages to escape on the second go around, and he hits a monkeyflip. Inverted atomic drop sets up a headbutt drop to the groin, and Bret bulldogs him for two. Piledriver is worth two, and a Russian legsweep sets up a 2nd rope pointed elbowdrop. Bret takes him upstairs for a vertical superplex, but Davey counters by dropping Hart crotch-first across the top rope - with authority! Bret bumps all the way out to the floor on that one, and Bulldog follows - nailing the Hitman from behind to send the champ crashing into the steps. Hart is absolutely pouring blood after hitting the steel, but Davey shows no mercy, ramming him into the post next. This is a gory bladejob too, the mats at ringside stained with pools within seconds. Back in, Bulldog goes to work with another cross corner whip, and he drops Hart with a piledriver for two. Bret is bleeding so damn much that Bulldog's tights are already getting stained red, and it's only been, like, a minute. Davey with a hanging vertical suplex for two, and a press-slam gets two. Bodyslam sets up a flying headbutt for two, but it knocks Smith silly as well. I don't know if that was meant to be a shout-out to Dynamite Kid, or what, but it looked awkward. Bulldog with a Mexican surfboard, but Hart counters to the Sharpshooter, only for Bulldog to block. Nice sequence there. Smith sends him crashing to the outside with a shoulderblock, but an attempt to suplex him back in is countered with a bridging German suplex for two. Bret keeps coming, but a criss cross results in a double knockout spot, and Hart manages to backdrop his challenger over the top as they recover. Bret dives after him with a plancha, and thankfully doesn't nearly snap Bulldog's neck with it like he did at SummerSlam. Bret keeps it going with a springboard dive, but Smith catches him with the Running Powerslam on the floor! He pulls the mats up for a suplex on the floor, but Bret counters by dropping Bulldog crotch-first across the rail, then clotheslining his ass off! Back in, Bret hits a backbreaker for two, and he vertical superplexes his brother-in-law for two. Hart argues the count, allowing Bulldog to try a rollup, but Bret reverses for two. Backdrop follows, and Bret unloads on him in the corner, but a cross corner whip gets reversed. Bulldog charges in after him, but hits boot, and a groggy Hitman ties him up in a magistral cradle to retain at 21:09! I know it's blasphemous to some people, but I actually liked this one better than the overrated SummerSlam match, which I thought went back to the mat too often so Bret could guide an out of shape Smith through the sequences. Mind you, those sequences were insanely good, but Hart having to play nurse to Smith at every turn hurt the flow a lot for me. Davey may have been more in the zone here than at SummerSlam, but even still, this was all Hart. Bulldog seemed keen to do his usual chinlocky main event match before Bret kicked it into high gear with the bladejob. It's almost like a tale of two separate matches - one before the blade, and one after. Before the blood, Davey wasn't really getting over with the fans as any kind of real threat to Hart, but once Bret started pouring buckets all over the place, suddenly everyone was taking Bulldog seriously. Also very shrewd, as the house was packed with ECW fans, and adding in a gory bladejob won over even their most hardcore of believers. Another brilliant performance by Hart, in a series of them. For those keeping score, that's his third pay per view match in a row at four-stars, or better. Sadly, that would not keep into 1996. **** ¼ 

BUExperience: I guess if you’ve never seen those two In Your House shows, maybe this is worth your time? At least they included the Hart/Bulldog match. For everyone else?

Not a good addition to your Coliseum Collection.