WWF IN YOUR HOUSE 4
10/22/1995
Winnipeg, MB
Winnipeg Arena
The World Wrestling Federation presents In Your House from the Great White North in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada! A landmark event in the lore of the WWF for a couple different reasons, which we will get into here in this review. Top to bottom, this was a pretty fun show. I watched this show and made a ton of notes last night. One weird experience happened during my note-taking, which I will address when I get to it. Also, another weird experience just a few moments ago as I began writing the review. Very spooky stuff, but not as spooky as the Vampire in the crowd throughout this show. I had a lot of fun with this one, in case you can’t already tell. Without wasting any more time, let’s get into my favorite show I’ve covered so far while doing these retro reviews: In Your House 4!
The show begins with “up and coming” Canadian singer Joni Wilson, who as it turns out, wasn’t really an up and coming singer like we were led to believe. She had a great voice, though, and did a great job singing the Canadian National Anthem. Apparently Joni Wilson now lives in Henderson, TN as a real estate agent. If I’m ever in the market for a home in Henderson, I’ll be sure to look her up and ask how this gig came to be.
President Gorilla Monsoon is backstage with a huge announcement to kick the show off. As a reminder, just over a week ago, Shawn Michaels was attacked in Syracuse, NY at an after hours club (shoutout to the John Cena stabbing) and received a concussion, along with two swollen-shut eyes. Monsoon says he will NOT allow Shawn Michaels to compete tonight and will instead have to ask Michaels to forfeit the World Wrestling Federation Intercontinental Championship. As a result, Dean Douglas will be awarded the title, but he will defend it tonight against Razor Ramon. Monsoon says this is one of the most difficult decisions he’s ever had to make in his career. So tonight, Razor Ramon has a chance to become the first ever 4-time Intercontinental Champion, as well as a double champion. We shall see.
At ringside, we’ve got Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Jerry “The King” Lawler! Anytime I see these three on commentary, I know I’m going to enjoy the show. As bad as the gimmicks and matches can be, these three make it entertaining. McMahon is seriously my favorite commentator of all time. As I’ve mentioned before, probably because of all the reasons most people hate his commentary. Nonetheless, Lawler is ecstatic after the announcement of Gorilla Monsoon, and says he’s finally made a decision that he agrees with.
MATCH 1: FATU VS HUNTER HEARST HELMSLEY
We’re about to jump right into the action with our opening contest! “Make a difference” Fatu is out first wearing his “JUST SAY NO” tights and a BSK beanie. Last night on WWF Superstars, Hunter Hearst Helmsley sprayed perfume on Fatu with a look of absolute disgust on his face (good stuff) and Fatu took great offense, so we have ourselves a Pay Per View match as a result. Time were much simpler.
Helmsley is out next and tries to spray the perfume on Fatu again but Fatu avoids it, snatches the perfume away, and throws it down. Fatu is all over Helmsley here in the early goings and Helmsley spends the first several minutes wrestling in his red coat and white shirt. This was a pretty fun visual. Helmsley looked very overwhelmed by Fatu here and the crowd was getting hot for it. Helmsley was bumping his ass off for the Samoan.
Helmsley tries to swing the momentum into his favor and drives the head of Fatu into the top turnbuckle pad, but Fatu is Samoan. Helmsley is leaned against the ropes and Fatu charges in, Helmsley moves, and Fatu is caught in Cactus Jack’s hangman spot between the top and middle ropes. It’s a great visual and a definite way to turn the tide of the match. Helmsely gets Fatu back into the ring and hits a nice piledriver and finally gets to take his shirt off.
At this point, I noticed a man dressed as a vampire sitting in the front row opposite the hard cam. This dude was great. He had no emotion at all, never reacts to anything throughout the show, his costume was on point, and he was living the gimmick, brother.
I observed the match and the thing that struck me most was how Helmsley wrestled a main event style in the undercard. Bret Hart would say he was boring and wrestled the same match every night, but I say he was trying to be different from everyone else and it worked to his favor. Helmsley was methodical and calculating with his moves. Nothing fancy, but always effective. I dig it.
Jerry Lawler is talking about “In Your House,” and going with the theme. He says Fatu’s house is the only one he’s ever been in where the cockroaches have names. He also says Fatu uses a can of Raid as underarm deodorant. Classic Lawler.
Helmsley hits Fatu with a clothesline and Fatu does his classic twisting bump, which is quite the visual. I’ve always loved how certain workers had their own unique bump spots. To me, that sets certain guys apart from others. When you think of ways to have signature bumps, you’re thinking of cooler ways to make the other guy look good while also giving fans something to remember you by. That’s a lost art these days. Fatu had the twisting clothesline bump, Race had the seesaw spot in the ropes, Flair had the Flair bump, Shawn Michaels had the turnbuckle flip, Bret took the forward turnbuckle like no one else, etc. Fatu is in good company.
Helmsley nails Fatu with a DDT in the middle of the ring, but Fatu pops right up and starts shaking his hips because again, he’s Samoan. Never hit a Samoan in the head, dammit! Fatu follows up with a superkick and a firey comeback. The crowd is hot at this point. They loved the DDT no-sell.
Fatu comes off the middle rope with a headbutt, which by all accounts should’ve been murder, according to wrestling logic. Fatu follows up with a Diamond Cutter in the middle of the ring! I know there’s footage of HHH using the Diamond Cutter and called it the Pedigree Pandemonium, but I haven’t come across that yet. I’m curious when that whole thing started and how long it lasted. I thought we’d covered HHH’s debut a few weeks ago, but now I’m unsure.
Fatu comes off the top with a big splash, but HHH rolls out of the way (the wrong way, and almost catches two big Samoan knees to the face) and Fatu burns. HHH nails the Pedigree for the win!
WINNER: HUNTER HEARST HELMSLEY
After the match, HHH is standing by with Lawler at ringside. Lawler says it was the most impressive victory he’s ever seen. He mentions to HHH he knows Fatu uses Raid as deodorant, and asks if Fatu smelled like a dead skunk in the ring. HHH has a look of absolute disgust as he starts talking about Fatu, full-on English accent still present. While he’s talking, Henry O. Godwinn sneaks up behind both of them with a bucket of slop. HHH is scared to death and holds Lawler in front of him as a shield. Lawler is screaming and pleading with Godwinn to stop and for Helmsley to let him go (I STILL LOVE YOU, HUNTER!). Helmsley lets Lawler go and is chased out of the building by Godwinn. This was so fun.
We go backstage to Dok Hendrix standing by with Jim Cornette and The British Bulldog. We take a look back at how we arrived to this match between the Bulldog and Diesel for the World Wrestling Federation Title. Two months ago on RAW, The Bulldog turned on Diesel and aligned himself with James E. Cornette. Then two weeks ago on RAW, in a 6-man tag team match, Bulldog pinned Diesel in the middle of the ring. Cornette and the Bulldog are hyped for the match tonight, and say tonight when Bulldog pins Diesel again, Bulldog will finally become the new WWF Champion.
MATCH 2: WWF TAG TEAM TITLES – THE SMOKING GUNNS© VS RAZOR RAMON & THE 123 KID
The Smoking Gunns are smoking as of late, according to Vince McMahon. They recently won the Tag Team Titles from Owen Hart and Yokozuna on RAW and have picked up a couple wins over the USWA Tag Team Champions, PG-13. The Gunns were definitely a nice part of the WWF in 1995. At this point, I’d consider them to be a classic tag team.
Razor Ramon and The 123 Kid are backstage with some words before their match, wearing matching purple gear. McMahon notices the matching gear and suggests they’re finally back on the same page, after several weeks of bumping heads. Razor says he knows the Gunns are looking for a fight. He and the Kid are going to give it to the Gunns.
During their entrance, Jim Ross gives some commentary that I loved. One of the things that set him apart was the realism he brought to the announcing. He’d peel the curtain back just a tad and give some real information from time to time. Here, he mentions that the Kid suffered a neck injury earlier in the year and has been struggling with it. He says because of this, Razor should be the leader of the team and should start the match. Except… the Kid starts the match. Oh well, it was still good commentary.
The four participants have a staredown in the ring prior to the match. The Gunns extend their hands in pre-match sportsmanship, but Billy gets a toothpick thrown at him instead of a handshake. The Kid and Billy Gunn start the match off and this one is fun.
Lawler is making fun of the Kid’s haircut. He says The Kid goes to nail salons where they bite your fingers and call it a manicure. Jim Ross says that sounds like Arkansas. Hey Ross, I’m from Arkansas. At least when you go to Twin Peaks in Little Rock, the waitresses don’t look like they all eat a pack of crayons for breakfast like the ones in Tulsa do. I’m speaking from experience.
Billy tags in Bart and the Kid tags Razor. The crowd loves Razor Ramon. He’s over like rover. He shoots finger guns at Bart and then the two lock it up. Razor starts putting over Bart as the stronger of the two. Bart is out-wrestling Razor here as they begin at a slow pace. Razor was really the consummate professional.
I noticed here that the entire front row of fans have been asked to change seats. The vampire gets moved to the second row and all the fans to his right are now moved down further and out of camera shot. A new group of fans are seated in the front.
Bart is shot off the ropes by Razor and the Kid pulls the top rope down, sending Bart flying over and to the floor. It’s a good looking spot that gets a good reaction from the crowd. Razor and the Kid look really good here. They look like they’re willing to bend the rules and fight dirty to beat the Gunns, because the Gunns are that good. Kid is really showing a mean streak in the early goings of the match.
Bart gets tossed back into the ring and Razor tags in the Kid. The Kid is showing off a lot of good looking kicks and even Lawler says he’s getting impressed. Remember, a couple weeks ago, Lawler said he couldn’t help but notice the Kid having a conversation with Ted DiBiase. We haven’t gotten any more information on that since he made the comment, so it’s interesting to think about while watching the Kid over the last few weeks and his change in demeanor.
Kid hits a couple very nice snapping leg drops on Bart, lightning fast. The Kid tags Razor back in, who hits a fall away slam on Bart, which is usually to set up the Razor’s Edge. Instead, he tags The Kid back in and tosses him into Bart with another fall away slam. The challengers are in control of the match, making frequent tags in and out of the ring and executing quick double team maneuvers each time.
Razor goes for a back body drop on Bart Gunn, but Bart telegraphs it and slams Razor to the mat with two hands full of hair. We go to a shot backstage of Dean Douglas, the soon-to-be-awarded Intercontinental Champion, who is taking notes on his opponent later on tonight, Razor Ramon. Back in the ring, we’ve got a double down.
Billy Gunn and The Kid are both tagged in and Billy Gunn is cleaning house. He’s got some tremendous leaping ability with his dropkicks and Stinger splashes. The Gunns are now firing back on the challengers and tempers are really starting to flare. The Gunns hit a nice vertical suplex/dropkick combination on the Kid for a near fall. Billy Gunn goes for a Stinger Splash but goes way too high and nails his head on the ring post and we’ve got another double down.
Another really fun spot here as Razor leaves his corner to check on the Kid. As the referee orders him back to his corner, Bart Gunn sneaks into the ring and places Billy on top of the Kid for a pin, but the referee catches Bart and orders him out of the ring. While the referee is distracted with Bart, Razor sneaks in and reverses the pin. The Kid gets a near fall on Billy.
Razor gets the hot tag and cleans house with some of the best right hands you’ll ever see in wrestling. Razor catches Billy going for a back body drop and nails the Razor’s Edge! The Kid is pleading on the apron for the tag so he can win the match and the titles for he and Razor. Razor reluctantly doesn’t go for the pin and tags in the Kid. The Kid comes in for a lazy pinfall attempt and pays for it when Billy reverses the pin into a crucifix for the 1-2-3.
WINNERS AND STILL WWF TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS: THE SMOKING GUNNS
After the match, the Kid throws a tantrum in the ring. Frustrated after losing this big match, Kid starts laying in on the Gunns with several kicks, knocking them both out of the ring. The Kid grabs the Tag Team Titles as if he wants to just keep them for himself (like an actual kid who throws a fit when he doesn’t get what he wants). The Gunns come back into the ring ready for a fight and Razor steps in like a big brother protecting the Kid. He makes the Kid give the belts back to the Gunns, but he throws them down and exits the ring instead. Razor backs off, not wanting any real trouble with the Gunns, and gives them the floor as he exits the ring. The tension is definitely still building between Razor Ramon and the 123 Kid.
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MATCH 3: MARTY JANETTY VS GOLDUST
And now, it’s time for the world premiere we’ve all been waiting for. At least, that’s what Goldust says during Marty Jannetty’s entrance. Goldust is on the split screen giving one last warning to “Mr. Rocker” that we’re finally about to get lights, camera, and oooooooooo so much action. He’s ready for his big reveal and after tonight, no one will ever forget the name “Goldust.”
Goldust finally gets his entrance and it feels as if the crowd just doesn’t know what to make of him. There’s not a big reaction one way or the other, it’s mostly just somewhat quiet. Usually, I’d say that’s a really bad sign. Here, I think it’s good. The era of 1995 was still a different time. LGBT+ (sorry, I don’t know all the letters) still wasn’t really accepted. Definitely not on the scale it is now. Homophobia was still “cool,” and homosexuality was still the butt of a lot of jokes in pop culture. So when Goldust came out in his elegant robe, the face paint, rubbing himself, etc., I think it was really barking up the tree of controversy. I think this is exactly what Vince McMahon was looking for. I think Goldust changed the whole atmosphere of the WWF in a good way. Let’s see how things progress.
Goldust is in the ring and we get a golden glitter shower (ha ha). Goldust takes his wig off and Vince McMahon sells it like crazy on commentary; we still hadn’t seen Goldust without the wig, so this was actually quite the reveal.
Marty Janetty starts the match off like a house of fire and Goldust is forced to take a powder. Goldust wants to head to the back and live to fight another day, but Marty chases him up the aisle and hits a clothesline, causing Goldust to do the Fatu twisting bump on the concrete floor. I know it hurt.
Back in the ring now, Jim Ross is talking about Marty’s history in the WWF. He’s a former Intercontinental Champion and Tag Team Champion, but his own “demons” have gotten in his way over the last few years. He’s wrestling on this show like he has something to prove. When Marty was on, I think he was really good. It’s a shame he wasn’t able to overcome his issues and have a better career. The Rockers were a great tag team. In 2005, he had a very nice resurgence when he wrestled Kurt Angle in the build to Wrestlemania 21 and a very fun Rockers reunion on RAW with Shawn Michaels taking on La Resistance.
Marty is out-wrestling Goldust for the most part, but one thing I noticed is how relaxed Goldust looked at all times during this match. When the pace quickens, he looks so calm. He doesn’t freak out or get nervous at all. I’d be willing to bet he even has a resting heart rate during the fastest part of a match. He just looks like a natural, no pun intended. When he takes over control of the match, he also looks menacing. I was getting some real Buffalo Bill vibes from him during this match. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was an influence for the character, considering the cross-dressing and such. He’s the kind of guy you can make fun of in public, but if he ever were to get his hands on you away from other people, he could be terrifying. I think they really should’ve played more into this with his character, because that’s exactly how he operates in the ring.
McMahon calls Goldust “androgynous” on commentary, and we’ve all heard the story told a hundred times from Dustin Rhodes that “androgynous” was the key word when McMahon first explained the character to him. I think it’s funny how “bizarre” ended up becoming the sticking term to describe Goldust through the years, instead of “androgynous.”
It was around this time in the show I noticed the big boy sitting in the front row where the vampire was at the beginning of the show. The vampire is now behind the big boy, still with no emotion, but now the big boy literally just looks like a robot. He doesn’t move, he keeps a smile on his face, and it’s very strange. I’m starting to believe this “simulation” stuff.
McMahon mentions there’s a 100-year old lady in attendance tonight, and he hopes to get a word with her before the end of the show (he doesn’t). And then, we finally get a close-up of my boy, the vampire. Jim Ross calls him the cousin of Paul Bearer, and I appreciated it.
Marty is able to score with the Rocker Dropper, but he doesn’t go for a pin. He starts a comeback and it’s as firey as a babyface can get, but the crowd is just dead at this point. Marty comes off the top rope but Goldust gets a boot up that catches Mr. Rocker in the chin. Goldust follows up with a Gordbuster for the 1-2-3. And that’s your debut (world premiere) of the androgynous Goldust.
WINNER: GOLDUST
We go backstage for the WWF Superstar line where The Smoking Gunns and the 123 Kid are taking your calls. Was anyone reading this a fan at the time and ever tried calling the Superstar line? I’m curious if this was actually legit and you could talk to the wrestlers. I’m sure the WWF would actually receive a lot of calls for something like this and I’m even more sure wrestlers wouldn’t actually sit there and talk to every fan who called. This has always intrigued me and I’d like to learn more about it.
Up next, we get a recap on how The Undertaker was injured and why he’s not able to compete tonight against King Mabel. His face was crushed, and that’s about it.
MATCH 4: KING MABEL W/ SIR MO VS YOKOZUNA W/ JIM CORNETTE & MR FUJI
And now for a match of colossal proportions. I said in my previous review when this match was announced, this would either be freaking awesome or absolutely terrible. As Mr. Cornette would say, “Wouldn’t you know who won the pony?”
Yeah, this one was not good. I won’t bore you with an in-depth breakdown of this one because honestly, there’s not much substance anyway. There are a couple fun big man spots where the wrestlers take some bumps and get a Japanese-esqe reaction from the fans, but the match ends with a double countout before anything interesting really happens. There’s a funny spot outside during the countout when Cornette gets knocked to the ground and Yokozuna falls on top of him. Poor guy is lucky to be alive.
At the top of the post I teased something sort of weird that happened while I was watching this match and taking notes. I went to look up some information on Sir Mo because honestly, I’ve never really seen much of him, and I found that news had broken 20 minutes before looking him up that Mo had passed away. I can probably count on one hand the amount of times I’ve watched Sir Mo, and for me to see that news in that way was pretty weird. But sad nonetheless. My thoughts go out to his family, for sure. For what it’s worth, I was entertained by this whole portion of the show, whether the match was good or not. And part of that credit goes to Mo.
After the match, Cornette and Mo organize a hug-it-out session for the big men and that’s that.
RESULT: DOUBLE COUNTOUT
During the match, it was announced that The Undertaker will be returning at Survivor Series. We get a little hype video for Survivor Series which drives that news home to the viewers. At the end of the video, we get hype for the main event, which will be Bret Hart challenging Diesel for the WWF Title! But… Diesel still has to defend the title against the British Bulldog tonight, and if Bulldog wins, Bret will face Bulldog instead. But… they didn’t say that in the video, they just said it’ll be Diesel. Surely that was a mistake and surely they didn’t pre-record this video ahead of time because they knew the plan was for Diesel to still be champion at Survivor Series. And surely they didn’t just spoil the ending to the main event on this Pay Per View… right?
Dok Hendrix is in the ring (fantastic) with President Gorilla Monsoon. Dok asks Dean Douglas to come to the ring. It’s expected that Shawn Michaels will relinquish the Intercontinental Title and hand it over to Dean Douglas, as Michaels has been forced to forfeit his title defense tonight. Dean Douglas comes to the ring prouder than ever. It’s really easy to hate him. I’ve mentioned it before, but when Dean Douglas comes out, if you take away the ring attire and the music, take away the “character” he portrays, he’s “The Franchise” Shane Douglas. When he’s not doing his gimmicky things like taking notes or talking on a microphone, he gets to be who he wants to be. It’s just a shame we never could get “The Franchise” for real in the WWF.
Shawn Michaels comes out next and you can see that he really was roughed up pretty well in Syracuse. He has two shiners and what looks to be a busted vein in his right eye. McMahon says he’s suffering from “post concussion syndrome,” but I’m not sure if that’s true or not. He definitely looks beat up and ashamed here, as I’m sure he really was. This was embarrassing for him and the company, and he had to know that. It’s unfortunate that it wasn’t really a wake-up call for him like it could’ve been.
Shawn hands the belt over to Monsoon, but Douglas snatches it away from him and puts it around his waist. Dean Douglas is officially the new Intercontinental Champion. But we’ll see how long it lasts, because he’s scheduled to defend the title against Razor Ramon right now!
MATCH 5: WWF INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH – DEAN DOUGLAS© VS RAZOR RAMON
As mentioned earlier, Razor Ramon is looking to become the first ever 4-time WWF Intercontinental Champion by defeating Dean Douglas In Your House! This match was OK… but it definitely felt like something was off. I’ve seen the shoot interviews over the years from Scott Hall and (mostly) Shane Douglas, and I know there were issues between the two. I’m pretty sure most of the issues stem from this night for some reason. I could see how the perception would be that the Kliq didn’t want to drop a title to Shane Douglas and instead wanted to keep it in their group, but who knows what really went down. Watching the match, it seems like Douglas took a beating and didn’t really get much of his stuff in. And either Douglas was selling really well, or he was actually taking a beating. I could just be looking too deep into it.
The match goes on for a bit and honestly, I was getting pretty bored by this point. When a match isn’t clicking, it just isn’t fun to watch. There was something pretty off about this one, and the finish definitely didn’t help at all. Razor hits Douglas with a back suplex by the ropes and barely gets an arm draped over Douglas’s chest, and the referee counts the pinfall. Dean Douglas has a leg under the bottom rope, which Lawler really drives home on commentary. There’s some chicanery with this one, but officially, the new Intercontinental Champion is Razor Ramon. I know Douglas’s time is coming to an end in the WWF, but I’m curious to see what follow-up there is to this angle, if any.
WINNER AND NEW INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION: RAZOR RAMON
Shawn Michaels is now on the WWF Superstar line, and boy I’d love to have called him that night to see what he was talking about. I can’t imagine him legitimately taking calls from random fans, but random things I learn from this era of the WWF never cease to amaze me. Case-in-point, I can’t wait to get to Wrestlemania 12 and talk about the rumored original plan for the Hollywood Backlot Brawl.
MATCH 6: WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH – DIESEL© VS THE BRITISH BULLDOG W/ JIM CORNETTE
Here we go. We finally get our first WWF Title match since we started doing these reviews. Technically, the title was on the line at the last In Your House, but you know what I mean. Diesel has not been showcased well at all in September or October, so it’s good that he’s finally headlining a Pay Per View on his own.
Bret Hart is introduced to join the announce team for the main event. When he gets to ringside, he chases Jerry Lawler out of the arena. We get a fun couple minutes of Lawler trying to sneak back in, but Bret finally chases him all the way up the aisle and Lawler can finally catch a plane out of Winnipeg. Bret Hart will face the winner of this match at Survivor Series (or apparently his match with Diesel is a done deal) and he wants to do commentary on the match so he can be up close and do homework for his big match next month.
The Bulldog makes his way to the ring with Cornette. This is my favorite era of the Bulldog. He finally cut off the long hair, he’s aligned with Cornette (who I love, if you can’t tell), and heel Bulldog just does more for me. His confidence was apparent, I’m sure he loved getting to work with Bret and Owen, and he was just always so good. He’s another one that could’ve been on a whole higher level if he could’ve just stayed clean. It’s so sad when you hear about some of the greatest wrestlers of all time (yes, Bulldog is in that discussion and if you don’t like it, go cry about it) and the things they struggled with. Imagine how good a sober Bulldog, Pillman, Shawn Michaels, Scott Hall, X-Pac, Eddie Guerrero, or Jake Roberts could’ve been. It’s wild when you really think about it.
Dok Hendrix is annoying as hell as he tries to beg Diesel for an interview as he’s about to walk through the curtain. It was at this point that I realized, the gimmick of Dok Hendrix is that he’s really just a mark. He fangirls over everything, he loves getting the attention from the wrestlers, and he’ll do anything on camera. As much as it pains me to admit it, Dok Hendrix was a pretty good salesman. All kidding aside, he was committed to the character. He does deserve credit for that.
It’s Halloween season, and we get a look at a fan dressed up as Diesel. Things like this are always fun and I’m glad they actually showed this fan and the vampire earlier in the night. If the fans want to have fun, let them have fun. Good stuff.
The match begins and once again… something feels off. Bulldog wastes no time going for the legs of Diesel, which is the smartest and most logical thing to do in a match with a guy like Diesel, but man it goes on and on. Diesel gets knocked out of the ring and the momentum takes him backwards into the announce table. Bret Hart puts his hand on Diesel’s back to stop him, and Diesel turns around and pushes Bret. Bulldog catches Diesel from behind with a chop block and Jim Ross calls it like it’s the most dastardly thing he’s ever seen. Later on, Bulldog does it again in the ring and Bret calls it a smart move. Ross changes his tune and says, “Yes it was.”
Bulldog gets Diesel in a weird looking leg lock I’ve never seen before. He twists Diesel’s legs across one-another and just holds them between his arms. It’s just an awkward looking spot in the match. Moments later, Bulldog puts Diesel in a Sharpshooter, but it doesn’t look good, Bulldog is falling over, and commentary has no choice but to say Bulldog doesn’t have the experience with the hold that Bret Hart does.
Cornette is on the ring apron and gets brought into the ring the hard way by Diesel. Bulldog is knocked down and out of the ring and Diesel follows him outside, hurting his knee when he jumps off the apron. Great selling by Diesel. I mean it, too. This is some of the best selling I think I’ve ever seen. He’s limping and grimacing like he’s legitimately hurt.
Bulldog gets closer to the announce table and slaps the headset right off of Bret Hart. It looked stiff and I wouldn’t be surprised if Bret saw red for real. He immediately charges Bulldog and attacks him, forcing the referee to call for the bell. Diesel officially gets disqualified and the main event has been ruined.
WINNER VIA DQ: THE BRITISH BULLDOG
Diesel is hot at Bret now, and we get a big brawl between the champion and “The Hitman.” Bulldog leaves the arena with Cornette, not even upset that he didn’t win the title. All the referees and agents pour out of the backstage to try to pull Bret and Diesel apart. And folks, that’s how we end the show. It feels like a real letdown of an ending. I would’ve loved to have seen a winner in this match and I’m sure the fans felt the same way. It was an intense ending to the show, but one that felt better suited for free TV. But either way, that’s our ending of In Your House 4.
Let’s dig deeper into our overall thoughts on the show. I felt like the show started off really well and I thoroughly enjoyed everything through the Tag Team Title match. That match in particular was one of the more fun tag team matches I’ve watched in quite some time. I love watching The Kid find his mean streak and the dynamic between he and Razor Ramon start building to a boiling point. I know where the relationship ends up in a few months and it’s not good, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Another weird tidbit I found while typing this, is that today is Scott Hall’s birthday. Two weird coincidences for me while doing this review, but at least that one is worth celebrating. Happy Birthday, Bad Guy.
While doing more research for this show, I rediscovered an early Something to Wrestle podcast where Conrad Thompson and Bruce Prichard covered this show. Apparently, everyone universally hated the whole thing. Vince McMahon was even said to throw his glasses down and call the show “horrible” as it was ending. I didn’t feel that strongly about it. I certainly wasn’t a fan of how the show ended, but we did get some fun stuff. Bruce said he was pissed off that he had to watch the show again. I may have to go back and listen to the podcast because I can think of several Pay Per Views that fell flatter than this one. I’d put this show up against many of the “PLEs” that we’ve gotten in the last ten years.
I can’t believe they made a mistake like with the Survivor Series hype video. They totally gave away the finish to this show before the main event happened. I’m not sure if anyone really paid attention to it, but it stuck out to me while I was taking notes. Surely someone else would’ve caught it or cared about it. Be that as it may, Bret Hart and Diesel at the Survivor Series is one of my top ten favorite matches of all time, so I’m very much looking forward to going into that show in-depth next month. I’ve never watched the event in full, so I’m very excited for it.
This show was definitely fighting an uphill battle with Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker out with injuries. I’m not sure how much better Mabel’s match would’ve been with The Undertaker, but it couldn’t have been worse than his match was with Yokozuna here. Shawn Michaels probably could’ve had a pretty good match with Dean Douglas, I’d assume. I’d be more interested to see how the outcome would’ve been, but I highly doubt he would’ve dropped the Intercontinental Title to him without throwing a tantrum. Also, where was Owen Hart during this time? I’m very surprised he was kept out of storylines during this period.
I’ll say it again, I enjoyed the show. I’ve already watched Halloween Havoc once and will be watching it again to take notes, and that’s like listening to the Superstars theme song on an endless loop. IYH4 is 10000000000000X better than Halloween Havoc. But now, let’s get into the dirt. We’ll take a look now at the WWF-related notes from the October 16 AND 23 editions of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. I’m curious about Dave Meltzer’s before-and-after notes on this particular show. And as one last note, thank you to anyone who read this whole review. If you actually invested the time to read all of this garbage, I really appreciate you and I hope you enjoyed my opinions and breakdown of the show. I’m doing this for you.
- To the WWF, for your JEFF JARRETT UPDATE. He’s expected back by most people. Ditto Adam Bomb, who walked out but hasn’t been released yet, so he hasn’t been able to work anywhere.
- Al Snow will come in as a babyface, and he’s said to have “a good gimmick”. But not the Crow.
- Bill Watts is already making friends by instituting a new policy where guys don’t know the finishes of their matches until the day of the show, so that finishes won’t leak.
- And now ANOTHER understated Observer Debut, as Dave notes that potential Olympic weightlifter Mark Henry was at the MSG show, and they like him enough that they’ll probably try to make him into the next Ken Patera if he does well there.
- And finally, the WWF took out an ad on the 10/2 Nitro show hyping up the 10/3 MSG show, saying it would have action “too hot for TV”. The show ended up featuring action like Barry Horowitz v. Sir Mo, 1-2-3 Kid v. Bob Backlund, Bret Hart (with George Steele in his corner) v. Isaac Yankem (with Jerry Lawler in his corner) and Diesel beating Mabel in the main event.
And now for the 10/23/1995 Observer… I owe Lance Wright an apology.
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After only three weeks with the company, Bill Watts officially quit on 10/13 after a disagreement with Vince McMahon.
- Also, Shawn Michaels apparently suffered a horrific beating at the hands of several servicemen outside of a bar in Syracuse and now he’s in the hospital.
- Also, Undertaker suffered a broken orbital bone against Mabel and he’ll be out of action for a month.
- Of course, it wouldn’t be a big story without Mean Gene cashing in, as he reported on “a WWF superstar coming out on the short end of a fight with a fan” for the WCW hotline and did record business. Of course this is equally as much of a bad spin as the WWF’s “He got jumped by ten thugs unprovoked”.
- Marty Jannetty was flown in as an emergency replacement for weekend shows, taking Shawn’s place against Bulldog and winning because it’s WWF policy to put over substitute babyfaces. Shawn is still expected to work the PPV in Winnipeg.
- Also, Shawn had previously gotten into a confrontation with the Harris twins at the MSG show on 10/5, with Don putting a chair against the door to keep people from getting in while Ron choked Shawn out against the wall. Shawn was scared but uninjured, and the Blu Twins quit right after.
- Back to the Undertaker, who will 100% certainly be missing the Winnipeg show and a month’s worth of shows. The injury was suffered against Mabel on 10/7, as an errant clothesline hit him in the eye and broke his orbital bone, although worked the rest of the week against Isaac Yankem not realizing the severity of the injury until the pain became unbearable. The storyline reason for the injury is the RAW match against Mabel and Yokozuna on 10/9.
- Jim Ross was doing a “heavy Okie gimmick” on Superstars and he seemed uncomfortable doing it.
- Adam Bomb is definitely coming back.
- The WWF is cutting back heavily on the “B” show tours, so they started sending out letters to local indy promoters offering guys so they could get work with no house shows. So lots of people were thrilled, until they discovered that WWF either wouldn’t respond to their requests, or else promised them talent and then pulled them at the last minute after they were advertised for local shows.
- And finally, with the dropping of the B Shows, they’re also dropping the women’s division, so the live RAW on 10/23 from Brandon MB will likely feature Alundra Blayze winning the title back from Bertha Faye as the swan song for the belt. They might send her to Japan to defend the belt there and then bring her back to defend the belt on WWF shows later in the year.
