WWF In Your House 4

To say that I’m not thrilled by reviewing this show would be putting it mildly. Not only have I seen this show previously but also I read about it in Titan Sinking. Since even Vince McMahon hated this show (more on this later) I’ve enlisted the services of Sir Charles Barkley of Alabama. Sir Charles will make a commentary here and there. After all Sir Charles is never short on words.

Toni (“Don’t call me Anthony”) Wilson sings the Canadian National Anthem. Not a bad rendition.

WWF interim President Gorilla Monsoon rules that due to the severity of Shawn Michaels’ concussion he will not be permitted to compete tonight. However, there will be no bait/switch on this show as the Intercontinental title will be defended. Monsoon has instructed Michaels to forfeit the title making Dean Douglas the champion; in turn Douglas will defend the title against Razor Ramon. So one Clique member can no longer hold the title so let’s try to pass it off to another member, right? Stay tuned!

On Superstars Fatu took exception to Helmsley’s ~~poor imitation of “The Model” Rick Martel~~ spraying of perfume/cologne.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Fatu’s “BSK” skull cap (or as they say in Canada “toque”). While Michaels, Ramon, Diesel, 1-2-3 Kid, and Helmsley were part of the Clique, Fatu, the Undertaker, Kama, Savio Vega, and Crush made up the “Bone Street Krew” faction.
Upon receipt of a cross-corner whip Helmsley tumbled over the top rope to the floor.
Outside the ring Fatu made Helmsley eat the steel steps.
Ross noted that Helmsley was still undefeated in the WWF. Considering these two wrestled in a dark match at the previous IYH and Fatu won that match I beg to differ.
It would seem that Helmsley didn’t watch Fatu defeat Skip two weeks ago on RAW because he made the same mistake of ramming Fatu’s head into the turnbuckle to ZERO effect.
As Fatu charged Helmsley side-stepped him trying to send him through the ropes to the floor; however, Fatu got tangled in the ropes with his head. OUCH!
Taking advantage of the situation Helmsley delivered a right hand from the second turnbuckle.
Piledriver by Helmsley followed by a formal bow.
Swinging neckbreaker by Helmsley.
Knee to the midsection by Helmsley.
While Helmsley bored me with a chinlock I notice Nosferatu in the front row opposite the hard camera. Dude, Halloween was NEXT WEEK. Perhaps, he’s bloodthirsty.
Clothesline off the ropes by Helmsley followed by a 360° sell by Fatu. Awesome!
Fatu countered the Pedigree with a back body drop.
DDT by Helmsley…no-sold by Fatu.
Superkick by Fatu.
Clothesline.
Backbreaker.
Next he mounted the second turnbuckle and hit the diving head butt.
Bulldog. Was he going for the Bret Hart impersonation tonight?
He then mounted the top turnbuckle but missed the splash.
Pedigree.
Helmsley won.

Summary: OK, not an awful opener. The “Round Mound of Rebound” offers nothing bad to say about this match.

After the match Lawler shakes Helmsley’s hand and interviews him. Behind Helmsley’s back Henry Godwinn sneaks up and tries to slop him, but Helmsley scurries away.

Back in the locker room Dok Hendrix interviews Bulldog and Cornette. Included was the highlight of Bulldog’s pin of Diesel during that six-man tag match on RAW a couple of weeks ago.

Match 2 for the WWF tag team titles: The Smoking Gunns (champions) versus Razor Ramon and the 1-2-3 Kid

In order to add a little heel flavor to the match (since both teams were faces) as Bart was coming off the ropes the Kid lowered the top rope sending Bart to the floor. SNEAKY!
Clothesline in the corner by Ramon to Bart.
Series of kicks in the corner by the Kid including one to the head.
Leg lariat by the Kid.
Leg drop by the Kid.
Make that 2.
Fallaway slam by Ramon.
Double-team maneuver as Ramon gave the Kid a fallaway slam into Bart. Clever!
Backstage Dean Douglas was watching the match on a monitor scouting Ramon for their match later.
Hot tag Billy.
Dropkick from Billy to Ramon.
Backbreaker by Bart to the Kid.
Make that 2.
Make that 3.
Suplex/dropkick combo by the Gunns to the Kid.
Billy missed an avalanche knocking himself silly on the ring post.
While Ramon occupied referee Jim Korderas’ attention Bart put Billy atop the Kid.
As Korderas admonished Bart Ramon did the switcheroo with the Kid atop Billy.
Hot tag Ramon.
Razor’s Edge to Billy.
The Kid wanted the tag. Reluctantly Ramon tagged him in.
Upon giving Billy a nonchalant cover the Kid got the tables turned on him and was pinned.

Summary: Subtle heel gestures by the Kid told the story in this one. However, since the Kid didn’t turn heel on Ramon here Barkley calls BS on him.

After the match the Kid throws a tantrum then delivers a dropkick to Bart and a spinning heel kick to Billy. Next he takes the belts, but Ramon returns to calm the situation down. In what would become a trend tonight the crowd boos the champs. In this case it’s not the Gunns’ fault as they were pitted against a crowd favorite (Ramon).

Back in the locker room Dok Hendrix shills standees for both Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. Unfortunately the Shawn standee falls down in Syracuse.

Goldust whispers in a pre-match snippet. Somehow the Colonel’s secret recipe wasn’t disclosed.

WWF wrestling debut for the Golden One here. Rumors of the Blacktop Bully’s involvement have been greatly exaggerated.
After a brief flurry of offense Jannetty clotheslined Goldust over the top rope to the floor.
Goldust tried to out-Marty-Jannetty Jannetty with a 360° sell of a clothesline on the floor.
Ross noted that Jannetty’s personal demons hurt his career in spite of being a multiple-time tag and Intercontinental champion. Quite the in-depth commentary from the not-yet Head of Talent Relations.
Huracanrana by Jannetty.
After a Jannetty leapfrog Goldust delivered a clothesline that resulted in a 360° sell job that was much crisper than Goldust and Fatu tonight. And that’s saying something.
Goldust then bored me with an extended chinlock.
Outside the ring Goldust made Jannetty eat the steel steps. No love for the steel railing? Dammit!
Jannetty gave Goldust a snap mare over the top rope to the floor.
He then rams him into the steel steps.
Goldust shoved Jannetty into the ring post. Jannetty celebrated with a 180°.
Vertical suplex by Goldust brought Jannetty back into the ring.
Another chinlock by Goldust made me yawn. Sorry.
Jannetty then fucked up badly. Hey! If Barkley can swear in this review, so can I.
On a blind charge Jannetty hit nothing but ring post. Served him right for screwing up.
Nosferatu got a close-up. Thanks, Kevin Dunn for scaring the bejeezus out of your audience.
DDT by Goldust.
Rocker Dropper.
Jannetty then mounted the top turnbuckle but Goldust evaded him.
A trio of clotheslines and a snap mare put Goldust down on the canvas.
Again Jannetty mounted the top turnbuckle but only ate boot on the way down.
Gourdbuster got the pin for Goldust.

Summary: While Jannetty brought the workrate Goldust erased it. Poor debut for Goldust. What did Sir Charles think? My thoughts exactly.

Next we get the highlights of the demolition of the Undertaker then a pre-match diatribe by Cornette.

Match 4: Yokozuna (w/ Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji) versus King Mabel (w/ Sir Mo)

Whose bright idea was this? Oh yeah, Vince. Never mind.
To give you an idea of how big each man was their combined weight was greater than the combined weight of a Midnight Express-Rock’n’Roll Express match. Yikes!
Clothesline by Yokozuna knocked King Mabel between the ropes to the floor.
“Flying” clothesline by King Mabel. I’ll give him credit for leaving his feet on that one.
Right hand by King Mabel sent Yokozuna through the ropes to the floor.
Avalanche by King Mabel.
Clothesline by Yokozuna.
He then missed a leg drop.
King Mabel missed an elbow drop.
Bulldog missed by King Mabel. A dazed Yokozuna went outside the ring.
Double axe handle from the apron to the floor by King Mabel.
Yokozuna then rammed him into the ring post.
Somehow Cornette was on the floor and Yokozuna fell on him! SQUISH!
The bell rung. Both men were counted out.
Oh. My. God.

Summary: This match definitely needed a member of the audience to hold up the sign: “Who booked this crap?” Sir Charles, how would you rate this match? 1 2 3

After the match both men get back into the ring and stare each other down. After Cornette and Sir Mo attempt to smooth things over the big men embrace. Aw. The crowd boos this out of the building and rightfully so.

The Undertaker will return to Survivor Series. Also, Bret “Hitman” Hart will face the WWF champion for the title on November 19 only on PPV!

Vince and Jim Ross briefly discuss the upcoming wild card match at Survivor Series.

Match 5 for the Intercontinental title: “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels (champion) versus Dean Douglas

According to the Heartbreak and Triumph DVD Shawn “got suspended” in 1993 for violating the WWF steroid policy and was forced to vacate the Intercontinental title rather than “do the honors” by putting someone over. A similar scenario happened here where Shawn, while not 100%, could have been persuaded into lying down. Instead we get this…
In the ring Dok Hendrix introduced Dean Douglas.
Standing beside Hendrix is WWF interim President Gorilla Monsoon.
Hendrix then introduced Michaels.
Michaels’ right eye still looked bad nine days post-incident. Otherwise he just looked despondent.
When Michaels attempted to hand over the belt to Monsoon Douglas snatched the belt from him.
As Douglas strapped the belt on Michaels watched with disdain. This whole segment was totally out of character for Michaels.
Suffice it to say: WE HAVE A NEW CHAMPION!

REAL Match 5 for the Intercontinental title: Dean Douglas (champion) versus Razor Ramon

Prior to the match Ramon held up four fingers as if to say 4-time Intercontinental champion. That would be a first in the WWF should that occur.
Vince referred to their match at IYH 3. I recall Douglas’ not looking so good in that match in spite of his victory.
Ramon bored me and the crowd with an elongated arm bar.
Fallaway slam by Ramon.
Clothesline by Ramon sent Douglas over the top rope to the floor.
After ramming Douglas into the top turnbuckle a slap by Ramon sent Douglas back down to the floor.
A vertical suplex brought him back in.
Hard cross-corner whip by Ramon hurt Douglas’ back further.
Outside the ring Ramon grabbed Ross’ water and doused Douglas with it.
Atomic drop by Ramon.
Ramon attempted to give Douglas the Razor’s Edge but received a back drop over the top rope to the floor.
Isn’t the heel supposed to call the match? It appeared that Ramon was walking Douglas through this.
Anyways, after ramming Ramon’s back into the apron and tossing him back inside Douglas mounted the top turnbuckle, got caught and subsequently chokeslammed.
Ramon attempted the belly-to-back superplex, but Douglas nailed him.
Douglas then flew from the top turnbuckle with a high cross body block.
Ramon reversed the momentum and got a 2 count.
Dropkick by Douglas.
Belly-to-back suplex by Ramon.
After placing his right arm across Douglas referee Tim White counted three.
Douglas’ leg was under the bottom rope, but White didn’t see it.
WE HAVE A NEW CHAMPION!

Summary: Someone please hand Ramon a phone because he called this one in. This was boring, pedantic, and unnecessary. The future of Douglas’ WWF tenure doesn’t look bright. Sir Charles, what do you think of this crappy Intercontinental title situation?

Ramon’s reaction to the less-than-enthusiastic response from the crowd tells the story of the PPV right there. Yikes!

Call the Superstar line to talk with Shawn Michaels. The cuts on his face are very pronounced in this light.

To appease the Canadian crowd the #1 contender (after this match) to the WWF title Bret Hart, wearing a Calgary Hitman jersey, comes to ringside to add commentary. He then chases Lawler around the ring, nails him, and sends him scurrying to the back.

Backstage Dok Hendrix shills the “2 Dudes with Attitude” t-shirt for $20. He then tries to interview Diesel. In pure Kevin Nash-fashion he says that he’s “feeling awfully funky.”

Match 6 for the WWF title: Diesel (champion) versus “The British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith (w/ Jim Cornette)

After a forearm shot Diesel delivered a pair of slams.
Smith grabbed both of Diesel’s legs in order to ram one into the ring post but ate it himself.
Clothesline in the corner by Diesel.
Make that 2.
Dropkick by Smith sent Diesel over the top rope to the floor where he shoved Bret. On the replay Bret was trying to make sure Diesel didn’t fall onto the broadcast table.
Chop block by Smith. Personal foul #0 Defense. 15 yard penalty. First down.
Smith bored the crowd and me with some leg work. Diesel broke the hold with an elbow to the head.
A double axe handle and stomp sent Diesel to the floor. While there Cornette dropped an elbow on his leg to a huge reaction. As Smith distracted referee Earl Hebner, Cornette stomped on the leg.
Smith then rammed Diesel face-first into the steel steps.
In a cleverly sneaky move Cornette crawled over to Diesel to hammer on the leg some more.
Boston Crab by Smith. After a while Diesel powered out of it.
Single-leg crab followed by a leg drop.
Another chop block by Smith. Personal foul. You get the idea.
As Smith tried to jump on Diesel’s leg while it was draped on the bottom rope Diesel punted him over the top rope to the floor.
MORE BORING LEG WORK BY SMITH. STOP THE MATCH ALREADY!
Vertical suplex by Diesel after countering Smith’s.
Belly-to-back suplex by Diesel.
Vince referred to Smith’s offense as a “devastating leg attack.” It’s only devastating to my efforts to stay awake.
Sharpshooter by Bulldog. He should have taken notes from Bret or Owen. Diesel powered out.
Big boot by Diesel.
After Cornette jumped on the apron Diesel brought him in the hard way. Bulldog charged at Diesel but hit Cornette instead.
Diving guillotine (with a tremendous limp) by Diesel.
Outside the ring Smith blocked then rammed Diesel into the ring post.
Whilst standing next to the broadcast table Smith nailed Bret knocking his headset off.
Bret chased him into the ring and walloped him causing the DQ.

Summary: While I admire the ring psychology of working a body part it neither factored into the finish nor was it entertaining whatsoever. This is one of the worst PPV main events I’ve ever witnessed.

After the match Diesel and Bret trade fisticuffs as officials and wrestlers from the back try to break it up.

Conclusion: WORST PPV EVER! This show has ZERO redeeming value. The main event proved two things: (1) Diesel is not over as WWF Champion, and (2) Smith was not built up enough as an adversary for the crowd to care. To top it all off Smith used a ground attack on the big man rather than using speed combined with power to knock Diesel off his feet.

In order to send the 10,000 disgruntled fans home happy Bret won a dark match against Isaac Yankem. While Lawler and Bodydonna Skip were in Yankem’s corner Brett McNeill and Miles Gorrel of the hometown Winnipeg Blue Bombers (CFL) were in Bret’s corner.

Regarding Vince’s thoughts before this show he knew without the Undertaker and Shawn to liven it up that the show would not be as good as it should have been. However, he was disgusted not only by the product itself but also the crowd reaction thereafter. According to Meltzer the Winnipeg fans booed Diesel along with the finish of the main event. In my eyes it made sense that the crowd booed Diesel when up against a Canadian superstar like Bret but that main event deserved their disapproval.

With Vince’s antiquated idea of big men matches and the hopeless attempts to reinvent Hulkamania with anyone besides Hogan the WWF was far behind in the Monday Night War with respect to workrate (Benoit, Guerrero, Malenko, Pillman, Badd versus Michaels, Bret and Owen Hart) and star power (Hogan, Savage, Flair versus Michaels, Bret Hart, and Diesel). If they expect their fan base to keep buying their lower-priced PPVs then they have to deliver a better product than this.

To summarize I’ll leave it to Sir Charles to tell you my reaction to this PPV. Thanks, Chuck. Keep it clean on TNT, ok?