It's Sunday, October 22nd, 1995. Get Shorty is the number one movie in the box office, while Mariah Carey's "Fantasy" is dominant in the Billboard Charts. And in the world of the WWF, it's time to ship up to the Great White North. Winnipeg, Manitoba to be precise. In Your House 4 was held in the Winnipeg Arena, the first WWF pay per view to be held in Canada since Wrestlemania VI in 1990, to an audience of 10.339 and to a PPV buyrate of .4, continuing the down trend.
So, what's been going on since In Your House 3? Well, not so much in-ring. The real interesting stories lie outside of the WWF. Shawn Michaels would get himself in a heap of trouble in a Syracuse bar one fateful October eve. The story goes that Michaels, Bulldog and the 1-2-3 Kid were together at the bar together and Michaels, being his arrogant prick self, started to run afoul of about 20 marines in the bar. Trying to pick up one of their girlfriends, and acting as if his backup of Bulldog and Kid would keep him from getting pummeled, Michaels was signing his own death warrant. And sure enough, Michaels got the Heartbreak Krap kicked out of him by the Marine. In the end, the marine was arrested and had to pay Shawn's medical bills, but it's a stark reminder of just how massive a douche Michaels was.
In other matches for tonight's card, the main event will see Diesel defend his WWF title against The British Bulldog. This storyline began before Summerslam as Bulldog turned on Diesel, aiding in an assault by Jim Cornette's heel faction. Bulldog is angry about being constantly overlooked in the title picture and made his intentions clear on beating Diesel for the gold. Bulldog would also earn a pinfall victory over the champion in a six-man tag match on the October 9th edition of Raw.
Tonight will also see a battle of behemoths as Yokozuna takes on King Mabel. This came from the aftermath of the 6-man tag as the two men would assault the Undertaker, the original opponent for Mabel, and crush his orbital bone, forcing the dead man to miss action. President Gorilla Monsoon, focused on righting this wrong, made the match between Mabel and Yoko a go for In Your House. Also on the show will be the debut of the bizarre Goldust, who is finally exiting the Hollywood hills to set his sights in the WWF.
Gorilla Monsoon opens the show saying that due to Shawn Michaels' concussion, he will not wrestle tonight. Michaels will foreit the title tonight to Dean Douglas, but there will still be an IC title match tonight against Razor Ramon.
So, if you at home have been keeping track, this marks the third time since this blog started that Shawn Michaels has dropped gold via forfeit. The first time was in the fall of 1993 after his brief exit from the company forced him to drop the Intercontinental championship. The second time was after Survivor Series 1994 when the split of Diesel and Shawn Michaels forced the team to drop their tag team championships, and fast forward to October of 1995 where due to Shawn's injuries, he's now forced to drop the Intercontintantal championship yet again. Much like Marty Jannetty's firings, this remains a nearly yearly tradition at this point. Won't be the last though. Stay tuned in 1997.
It's Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and an uncaged Jerry Lawler who are at ringside tonight as we open action with "Make a Difference" Fatu taking on Hunter Hears Helmsley. Note the BSK hat on Fatu, which stood for "Bone Street Krew" the alliance backstage of Undertaker, Henry Godwinn, Paul Bearer, Fatu, Savio Vega and others who essentially were standing against the Kliq backstage. The heat of this feud came from Superstars over the previous weekend as Helmsley sprayed his perfume on Fatu.
Fatu starts the match with some shots. He teases using the perfume, but instead continues to lays in to Hemlsey, landing some shots in the corner. Hard whip sends Helmsley tumbling to the outside. This gives Hunter enough time to finally get his jacket off, but Fatu continues the assault with right hands and a ram into the steps. Hunter revereses a whip and lands an elbow. He rams Fatur into the buckle, but as expected it fails since Fatu's gained the Tatanka No-sell powers.
Hunter ties Fatu's head into the ropes. He pummels him for a bit before landing messy clothesline spot off the top buckle. When Fatu's head is freed, Hunter follows up with a piledriver, allowing him to finally get his shirt off. He bows to the crowd and stalls a bit, before landing some uppercuts. An exchange of strikes in the corner before Hunter gets an eye rake and a spinning neckbreaker. Cover only gets a two. Knee to the midsection follows with another cover for a two count. He locks in a chinlock to Fatu, applying pressure to the neck.
Fatu tries to recover, but Hunter keeps him down, keeping the hold applied. Fatu escapes, but Hunter follows with a hard whip to the buckle and a clothesline, complete with Fatu's patented flip sell. Cover only gets two. Fatu gets a roll up for two. Fatu tries a back drop, but Hunter goes for the pedigree, ony for Fatu to back drop him. DDT by Hunter is no-sold by Fatu who lands another back drop. Clothesline by Fatu who follows up with a backbreaker. He goes off the second rope and lands a headbutt. Slow cover only gets two. Running neckbreaker by Fatu who then calls for the splash. Hunter avoids in time as Fatu crashes and burns. Pedigree gets the win for Hunter.
A good opener. Lots of energy from Fatu, who looked good with all of his offense, and logical no-selling with the whole "Samoan hard head" shtick. Hunter looked crisp in the ring with all of his offense as well. I do feel there were a lot of awkward pauses in the match, but other than that, it was fine. A much better match than I had expected going in.
Lawler interviews Hunter, mainly so he can reuse the "can of raid as deodorant" joke about Fatu. Hunter calls Fatu repulsive as from behind, Henry Godwinn sneaks up behind them with the slop bucket. Hunter hides behind Lawler and runs off with the hog farmer in tow.
Dok Hendrix is backstage with British Bulldog and Jim Cornette. Basic recap of the heel turn with Cornette promising that tonight's Davey Boy's night to win the title against Diesel.
Up next, it's the WWF Tag Team titles on the line. The Smoking Gunns defending against Razor Ramon and the 1-2-3 Kid. So yes, Razor has not one, but two championship opportunities on this show. The issues between Kid and Razor have heated up in the past few months, but tonight they're dressed in similar colors and both seem to be on the same page.
A freshly hair cut Billy and the Kid start the match. Some slow back and forth early on as Kid goes for a headlock, only for Billy to escape. leapfrogs from both men until Billy gets a hiptoss. Tags to Razor and Bart as the crowd is very high on the bad guy tonight. Shove by Bart followed by some exchange of arm bars, with Bart being the dominant of the two. Bart continues to work the arm with some wringers, only to eat some fists from Razor. Bart ducks a clothesline, but Kid pulls the rope, causing Bart to tumble to the outside, as the heelish nature of the Kid continues to show.
Bart is brought back into the ring as Razor hits a hard clothesline. He takes Bart to the corner and pummels him, tagging in the Kid. Kicks in the corner followed by the patented heel kick. A whip and another heel kick, followed by a cheap shot to Billy. Super fast leg drops to Bart by the Kid. Tag back to Razor who lands the fallaway slam. Tag immediately to the Kid as he throws the Kid into Bart with a Fallaway slam spot. Hard chop in the corner by Kid who tags Razor back in. Another tag to Kid as the pair land a double elbow to the face.
Elbow drop by Kid, who covers for two. Yet another tag to Razor who gets caught by Bart with a hairpull slam. Meanwhile, Dean Douglas is backstage watching on and taking notes. Billy and Kid tag in. Billy hits a house of fire with strikes and dropkicks to both Kid and Razor big elbow drop by Billy who covers for two. Tag to Bart who drops Kid with a series of backbreakers. Cover, but Razor breaks the fall. Bart keeps Kid isolated and tags in Billy. Suplex and dropkick by the Gunns. Cover by Billy only gets a two.
Hard whip to the buckle by Billy who goes for an attack, but Kid dodges, causing Billy to crash and burn on the buckle. Bart throws Billy on to Kidd, but Razor turns it right back around on him. But Billy kicks out. Tag to Bart and Razor. Razor cleans house with some hard strikes to the faces of the Gunns. Razor catches Billy in a Razor's Edge, hitting it. Kid begs for a tag, wasting valuable pinning time. Razor obliges as Kid covers, but Billy rolls up Kid for the win.
Good tag match. Pretty basic "wrestler in peril" work from Bart for the majority, but other than that everyone looked good. Plus, as the post-match shows, the situation between Razor and Kid continues as Kid's pettiness continues to be the team's downfall, in turn costing Razor he chance to hold two titles tonight. Kid snaps post-match by attacking both Gunns, kicking them outside of the ring. He grabs the belts as the two teams have a standoff. Razor argues with the kid before handing the Gunns their belts back.
Bret Hart is on this show... in cardboard form. Dok Hendrix is shilling cut outs of Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart tonight. Dok particularly seems interested in the ladies having the Shawn variant in their house.
Up next, we have Marty Janetty going up against the debuting Goldust. It's the Hollywood premiere of the bizarre one, who we first saw back in the Summer of 1995 through his many movie inspired vignettes. After the unveiling, Marty attacks early on, hitting a back body drop and a clothesline that sends Goldust to the outside. Goldust retreats up the ramp to gather himself as Marty gives chase, landing a clothesline. He brings goldust back into the ring, but the bizarre one slides right back out. Marty calls Goldust a chicken, which brings him back in the ring as the pair stare each other down.
Goldust gets a roll up on Marty for two. Hard slap to the face followed by yet another one. Goldust stops a go-behind, but Marty lands a hurricanrana. Goldust shoves Marty around, which raises the ire of Marty, who lands a series of rights. Goldust revers a whip, but still gets another right to the mush. Goldust finally comes back with a clothesline that sends Marty spinning. He begins to rake at the eyes and rams the rocker into the buckle.
Hard chop by Goldust, who covers for two. He follows with a long chinlock, keeping Marty grounded. Marty fights back with some strikes, but Goldust quickly comes back with a back body drop. Cover, but Marty is too close to the ropes. Goldust lands some hard fists to the face and throws Marty through the ropes. He rams Marty into the steps and continues to stomp him down. Marty comes back, sending Goldust tumbling over the ropes and ramming him into the steps. Goldust throws Marty into the steel post. He continues to assault Marty on the outside before bringing him back in with a suplex over the ropes. Cover still just gets a two.
Back to the chinlock as the gold paint is already falling off the face of Goldust. He brings Mart into the ropes, but Marty turns a backdrop into a really sloppy neckbreaker. Mary whips Goldust to the buckle and goes for a cross body, but crashes and burns. DDT by Goldust who covers for two.
While "Bela Lugosi" watches. I don't even know anymore.
Marty manages to get in the Rocker Dropper and goes to the top rope. Goldust avoids offense, but Marty still lands an elbow. Cover only gets a two. More clotheslines by Marty who goes back up again. Goldust gets in the boot to the face and finishes off with a falling suplex for the win.
Not a good match at all honestly. All over the place and neither man seemed to click with one another. It was slow, sloppy, and really bland. I think Goldust tried, but Marty just didn't serve as a strong opponent to help make Goldust's debut look good. Disappointing.
Up next, we have King Mabel taking on Yokozuna. Backstage interview with Jim Cornette who is none too happy with Yokozuna being forced into this match by "Gorilla Baboon". Despite the ties with Mabel, his loyalties lie with Mabel, and promises victory for his client.
Mabel runs his mouth at Yoko and slaps the sumo. Both men lay in some strikes to each other with Yoko winning the fight, sending Mabel spilling to the outside. More stalling from both men as Yoko seeks advice from Master Fuji. Mabel gets in some strikes and whips Yoko, but Yoko reverses. Mabel ducks a clothesline and lands a big one of his own. Strike by Mabel sends Yoko tumbling outside. Upon returning to the ring, Mo distracts Yoko as Mabel gets a splash in the corner and lays in strikes. Hard whip to the buckle by Mabel, who goes for a splash but eats a clothesline. Leg drop by Yoko is avoided. Elbow drop by Mabel is also avoided. Yoko beats down on Mabel in the corner and lands a headbutt, but Mabel comes back with a botched bulldog that sends Yoko back outside. Both men brawl outside to a double countout. Mo shoves Yokozuna on to Jim Cornette, causing him to splash his manager.
Not a very good match, but about exactly what I expected. Slow, bland offense from both men with them being gassed super quick. Plus the lack of a definitive ending really killed any good to come from it. But it was a merciful six minutes, so that's a plus.
Post-match both Mabel and Yokozuna stare each other down. Mo and Cornette try to calm the situation, but things remain intense, until both men decide to just hug it out instead, focusing on stable over animosity.
Dok Hendrix and Gorilla Monsoon are in the ring for the official forfeiture of the Intercontinental title. A sullen Shawn says nothing and after hesitation hand the gold to Monsoon, only to Douglas to immediately snatch it and celebrate his championship win by default. This leads us immediately into our next match, as Dean Douglas defends against Razor Ramon.
Razor runs in and goes on the attack early, sending Dean rolling to the outside to regroup. Razor works the arm with some wringers and shoulder blocks, turning it around into an arm bar. Dean tries to get back up, only to be taken down hard as Razor continues the pressure on the arm, paintbrushing the head of Dean in the process. Dean tries to regain offense, only for Razor to immediately reapply the arm bar. Dean begs for Mercy, but Razor is just quick to slap Dean around as this match between heated rivals is just dragging on. Dean does come back with some strikes, stomping down Razor. Dean ducks a clothesline, but gets caught int a fallaway slam. Clothesline follows, sending the Dean falling outside.
Eye poke by Dean who tries to ram Razor into the buckle, only to get struck himself and clotheslined outside. Razor brings Dean in and stomps him, following with a hard whip to the buckle. He throws Douglas again to the outside. Razor grabs a bottle of water and splashes it over Dean, bringing back into the ring. More arm work by Razor until Dean tries to come back, only to eat a back suplex. Razor's Edge attempt is countered by Dean Douglas who back drops Razor over the top rope. He lays in some strikes to Razor and rams him back first into the ring apron. He brings Razor back in and goes up top, only for Razor to catch him and land a chokeslam. He blocks some strikes and knocks Dean back down. Back suplex off the top buckle is countered by Dean Douglas who tries for a flying cross body, but Razor turns it around, covering for two. Dropkick by Douglas who covers, but Razor gets his foot on the rope. Razor lands a back suplex and covers, but Dean gets his foot under the bottom rope. Despite that, the referee counts the three and hands the title to Razor Ramon.
Not a good match at all. Granted, Razor already worked a match early on, but everything in the match was boring bland offense with a lot of arm work through a good quarter of the match. Dean looked like a geek compared to Razor and compared to their last encounter they just never seemed to click. And the screwjob ending also just deflated this match as well. Underwhelming and a clear cut example of Kliq politics rearing their ugly head. And this, it ends the push of Dean Douglas. He's not fully gone yet, but this is definitely the end of any semblance of a push until he's gone in early 1996.
It's time for the WWF Title match between Diesel and the British Bulldog. Bret Hart joins the announce table. Lawler runs off, but Bret gets in a few shots before he leaves. Lawler tries to come back, but Bret chases him off again. This gets to Benny Hill level absurdity at one point until Lawler finally makes his exit.
Dok Hendrix shills a 2 Dudes With Attitude shirt before interviewing Diesel, who just says that tonight he's "feeling funky". He heads to the ring to a decent pop as we get to action. Shove by Diesel early on as both men stalemate. Another shove by Diesel is followed by forearm to the face after Bulldog tried to avoid clotheslines. Diesel catches Bulldog and lands a couple of slams. Bulldog makes his retreat to the outside as the champion is in control so far. However that changes when Bulldog tries to pull him groin-first into the buckle. However, Diesel s quick to shove him off.
Whip to the corner and a clothesline by Diesel followed by a second. Knees and elbows follow from the champ, but Bulldog attacks the knee and hits some elbows. Diesel reverses a whip, but Bulldog comes back with a dropkick that sends Diesel falling to the outside. He pie faces Bret for some reason, allowing for Bulldog to chop block him, taking the knee out. Bulldog begins the work on the knee, dropping some knees to the injured leg of Diesel. Diesel tries to locks in a chinlock, but to no avail as Bulldog continues to drop weight on the leg. Leg drop to the knee by Bulldog who follows with a leg lock of some sort, using both legs and applying pressure.
Diesel tries to escape, but Bulldog comes right back to throw Diesel out. Cornette drops an elbow to the leg of Diesel as the referee is disracted. The crowd actually gives a good pop to Cornette for his antics. With the referee constantly distracted, Cornette finds more and more interesting ways to keep attacking. Bulldog finally brings Diesel back in and continues to work on the leg, turning in a half crab submission. Diesel escapes, but Bulldog just locks it right back in as the energy this match had a while back has vanished. Diesel escapes, but Bulldog drops an elbow to the leg. Cover only gets a two.
Another leg lock by Bulldog, who pummels on the knee. Diesel breaks out again with some elbows to the head of Bulldog, but, shocker, Bulldog takes out the leg again. Elbow to the leg and a reapplied lock as the crowd is pretty dead at this point. Much like myself, they have been leg locked out already. Diesel tries to fight back out of the corner, but here we go 'round the mulberry bush as Bulldog puts the leg lock right back on. Diesel shoves Bulldog to the outside, to try and regain energy, but Diesel avoids an elbow drop. And guess where Bulldog goes back to? The Leg? Why, you'd be absolutely right!
Diesel kicks at Bulldog with the good leg. Bulldog tries for a suplex, surprisingly not on the leg, but Diesel reverses with one of his own. Back suplex by Diesel. Bulldog recovers first and punches him down, covering for a two. Bulldog goes right back for the legs again, this time sending a message to Bret with a sharpshooter, but he can't even lock it in right as Diesel escapes. Bulldog tries a slam, but Diesel falls on him, covering for two. Powerslam attempt by Bulldog is turned around into a big boot as Diesel collapses. He calls for the Jackknife, but Cornette interferes. Bulldog accidentally runs into Cornette as Diesel follows by sending Bulldog to the outside. Diesel jumps out, and like an idiot, falls on his leg. Diesel gets thrown right into the steel post.
Bulldog slaps Bret suddenly, which angers the hitman. He attacks Bulldog, pummeling him in the ring, causing the disqualification. Diesel pulls Bret away as the two argue with each other over the situation. Diesel and Bret then end up brawling with one another, laying in fist after fist. Referees try to pull apart the two. The Gunns and Godwinn even try to keep the two apart. Montoya, Bigelow, Savio, and so many others keep the two apart as we end In Your House abruptly.
This match was terrible. Which is a shame because I know that both Bulldog and Diesel could have put on a real hard hitting affair. But no, instead we focus the majority of the match on leg based offense by Bulldog. I don't mind wrestling that focuses a lot on a specific area, but this was just bland and terrible. The kind that feels more fitting for a tag team match, not a WWF title main event. Diesel ends up looking weak for the most part, not even ending the show looking strong due to the disqualification and the focus of the match becoming more on Bret Hart than the title itself. Which in turn, leads to the disqualification that makes this match suffer more, because in the end, all this ended up being was a boring advertisement for Diesel vs Bret at Survivor Series. In fact, this match was such a mess that when the show went off the air Vince apparently slammed his headset hard on the table and was in a rage. Ladies and gentlemen, the Days of Diesel are reaching their end.
In Your House 4 as a show was not a good show in honesty. A boring main event was the rotten cherry atop a show with a dull debut for Goldust, an underwhelming IC title match with Razor and Douglas, and five minutes of nothing between Mabel and Yokozuna. I did enjoy the tag title match and Fatu vs Helmsley, but I'd hardly call either of them worth the watch either. This was the first show in a long time that really had no redeeming qualities to it and the first to truly show the downturn of the quality of the company at this point. Can Survivor Series get them back on track? We'll see, but for now, In Your House : The Great White North gets a D-.