It's Sunday, February 18th, 1996. Broken Arrow is still topping the box office, and it's still One Sweet Day for Boyz II Men and Mariah Carey. And in the world of the WWF, it's time for the sixth edition of In Your House, also known as Rage in the Cage. Emanating from the Louisville Gardens in Louisville, Kentucky to an attendance of 5,500 and a buyrate of .77. Up from the more disatrous numbers of late 1995.
So, what's been going down since the Royal Rumble? Diesel has been running roughshod over everyone in the past few months, but made his presence well known in the WWF title situation, interfering in the WWF championship match between Bret Hart and The Undertaker. Diesel wants the championship rematch he feels he deserves, but Undertaker wants to make sure he never sees championship gold in the WWF again. To ensure the title match goes off without a hitch. Bret will defend his title against Diesel inside a steel cage.
Meanwhile, Shawn Michaels hasn't had too much time to celebrate his recent Royal Rumble victory as he still has a score to settle with Owen Hart. Owen has been gloating for the past few months about how he was the one who almost retired Shawn Michaels. Michaels wants revenge against Owen, but the only way to get a match with the King of Harts is to put his guaranteed title shot at Wrestlemania 12 on the line. A victory for Owen could boost the morale of Camp Cornette, which has been falling apart with Yokozuna's recent departure and Vader being suspended for attacking president Gorilla Monsoon. The newly face Yoko will take on the British Bulldog.
Also on this card will see Razor Ramon take on his longtime friend/foe The 1-2-3 Kid in a "cry baby match". After the 1-2-3 Kid cost Razor the Intercontinental title against Goldust at the Royal Rumble, Kid and Dibiase have been mocking Razor, calling him the WWF's biggest baby. They've accentuated this by trying to shove a baby bottle down the gullet of the Bad Guy and using everything from a diaper and baby powder to mess with Razor. This months long feud comes to a head here as the way to win this match is to put a diaper on their opponent and stick a bottle in their mouth. Yes, this is an actual match that happened on an actual Pay Per View.
Speaking of that cry baby match, it's what opens In Your House 6. It's Vince and Lawler on the microphone tonight. The Kid and Dibiase come to ringside with a stroller carrying a Razor Ramon teddy bear. He takes the bear into the ring and throws it at Razor, but Razor comes back with a toss of the toothpick and a slap to the face. Headlock and shoulder block spot followed by some stiff slaps and a big clothesline that sends the Kid tumbling outside.
Kid guillotines Razor on the rooes then hits a springboard clothesline off the top rope. Cover barely gets a one. Kid starts to stomp Razor down, then takes him to the corner with a big kick. He tries a hiptoss, but can't quite do it, so he instead whips Razor and hits some kicks. His second attempt at a hiptoss is turned around by Razor who beals him across the ring and hits a big clothesline. Razor then catches Kid for the big fallaway slam. He tries a Razor's Edge, but Kid escapes, only to end up hit with a strike to the face. Dibiase grabs some baby powder and throws it in the eyes of Razor while Kid dives off the top buckle with a dropkick. Cover only gets a two.
Fast leg drops by Kid followed by a dropkick. Kid goes back up and hits a frog splash. Cover still only gets two. Several more punches by Kid followed by another spin kick in the corner. He locks in a sleeper hold, but Razor throws him off and after a sloppy spot, catches Kid with a knee lift. Kid goes back in with the sleeper, jumping on Razor's back to add pressure. Razor breaks the hold, but Kid quickly reapplies. Razor eventually falls to the ground, and after about a minute, Razor finally recovers, dropping Kid groin-first onto the ropes.
Kid covers Razor, but only gets a two count. Razor blocks some punches and follows with some hard strikes of his own. Back suplex attempt by Razor is turned into a cross body by the Kid, which Razor turns around into a roll up for two. Kid ducks a clothesline and hits a spin kick. Cover still only gets a two. Razor reverses a whip and goes for a second fallaway slam. This time off the second buckle. Dibiase distracts Razor while the Kid grabs some baby powder, but Razor kicks it in the Kid's face. Razor hits a Razor's Edge. Cover, but Razor breaks the hold. He hits a second Razor's Edge and covers for the win. A good match, but I feel they've had far better outings in the ring.
Razor squirts the Kid with the bottle. He begins to pour the baby powder for the diaper, but instead throws the powder into the eyes of Dibiase. Razor finishes the job by putting the diaper on and pouring some powder in the face of the Kid. When the Kid realizes what happened, he throws a massive tantrum on his way out.
Quick backstage segment with Ray Rougeau and Sunny as we recap earlier in the night on the Free For All where Jake "The Snake" Roberts whipped out his python in front of Sunny. Yes, I am making that sound dirty, but I think that may have been their intention as well.
Up next, Hunter Hearst Helmsley is in action against Duke "The Dumpster" Droese. These two have been feuding for a while since their match on the Royal Rumble Free For All. Three weeks prior on Superstars, Hunter attacked Droese and cut his hair. Droese promises payback in his quick interview with Pettengill. Hunter is accompanied by Elizabeth Hilden this week. Droese runs to the ring and goes on the attack on Hunter early on with some punches. He grabs Hunter by the hair and tosses him across the ring.
Hard whip to the buckle and a press slam by Droese. Hunter begs off, but Droese smacks him with his belt. Irish whip and a big boot. Droese tries ten punches in the corner, but Hunter sends him face-first into the buckle. Hunter tries a pedigree, but Droese gets in an inverted atomic drop and a clothesline. He tries another clothesline, but Hunter back drops him over the ropes. Hunter then whips Droese hard into the steel steps. He brings Droese back in and covers for two.
Some European uppercuts and a knee drop by Hunter who covers for two. High knee by Hunter who covers again for a two count. Hunter peppers in some strikes to the face and follows with a suplex for two. Hunter throws Droese into the corner, but the garbage man gets in a big boot. Double clothesline spot with both men colliding into each other. Hunter gets up first and whips Dropes, but Droese reverses it, catching Hunter with a spinebuster. He follows with a back body drop. Some more rights and clotheslines follow. Powerslam by Droese. He says that it's time to take out the trash, and hits a trash compactor.
However, he doesn't cover Hunter. He instead goes for his trash can. He argues with the ref over the can, giving Hunter enough time to pie face Droese with the lid. Cover gets the three as Hunter remains unpinned in singles action. Not a bad match honestly. Definitely Droese's best showing since he debuted on the blog. The ending makes him look like an idiot, but considering he wants revenge for his hair being cut, it makes some sense that he wasn't here to win a match, but to punish Hunter. In the end though, the right guy goes over.
Up next, Yokozuna takes on The British Bulldog. We get a promo from Yokozuna, who despite only saying Banzai for years, can speak perfect English. He says he stood in the shadows of Cornette for nearly three years, but now it's his turn. He says that this 650 pounds of bad attitude is going to burn Camp Cornette to the ground.
Some rights and a wonky looking back drop by Yoko to start, followed by some clotheslines. He follows with a body slam. He goes for an elbow drop, but Bulldog avoids. Davey Boy gets in some fists and hits several clotheslines, with the third taking the massive man down. Cornette gets in a cheap shot to the face with his tennis racket. Yoko reverses a whip and splashes Bulldog in the corner. He sets Bulldog up for the Banzai Drop, but Cornette saves Davey Boy.
Yoko continues to attack Bulldog, throwing him to the post. He charges at Bulldog, but Bulldog avoids, causing him to crash into the post. Bulldog hits an ax handle on Yoko and covers, but Yoko shoves him off. Bulldog dives again, but this time Yoko catches him with a strike. Bulldog tries the clotheslines again, but no effect this time around. Samoan drop by Yokozuna. Bulldog begs off Yoko, but Yoko grabs him and lands a belly to belly. He calls for the Banzai Drop again...
But Cornette nails him with the racket, causing a DQ. Yoko stalks Cornette, but Vader shows up and attacks Yoko. Yoko fights him off until Bulldog joins in the assault. Vader grabs a pair of handcuffs and cuffs Yoko to the ropes. The heels keep assaulting Yoko, who despite his best efforts is unable to fight him off. The officials try to keep the heels from Yoko, but to very little avail. Bulldog tries to clobber Yoko with the tennis racket and Vader continues to land shots. Yoko continues to fight them off with one hand, but no such luck. Eventually he gets battered with the tennis racket some more. The officials and Clarence Mason eventually manage to get the heels to stop their assault.
Quick backstage segment with Goldust groping the America Online guy. He talks about his match with Razor Ramon tomorrow on Raw and how he's "oozing with excitement already".
Shawn makes his entrance by dancing atop the In Your House stage, then swinging down on a rope. he runs to the ring and starts the attack on Owen. He throws Owen out of the ring and continues his entrance... for at least another three minutes. Eventually we finally get into action. Owen shovesd Shawn, Shawn shoves harder. Headlock by Shawn who then baseball slides under, almost hitting Cornette. He gives high fives to the "Kliq" at ringside, and kisses several women. Shawn gets back into the ring and after some more stalling, we get a headlock from Owen eventually turned into a baseball slide. Owen goes for high fives, but nobody wants none (I'd have high fived Owen).
Shawn then dives off the top rope to Owen on the outside and gives more high fives to the crowd. Back in the ring as Shawn lands an ax handle off the top buckle. Early cover only gets a two count. Shawn with another headlock. Owen tries a back drop, but Shawn avoids, trips Owen and walks over him. Another long headlock by Shawn, including some hair pulling. Cornette tries to interfere, but the ref is distracted long enough for Shawn to continue yanking. Hiptoss by Owen, but Shawn gets a kick in. Double nip up, and a frankensteiner from Shawn with some fists. He tries a back drop, but Owen counters with a massive belly to belly suplex.
Owen stomps on the lower extremities and follows up with a back breaker. Hard whip to the buckle and a neckbreaker follow. Cover only gets a two count. Owen sets up a sharpshooter, but Shawn kicks him off. Owen goes back on the assault ot the midsection, then stretches the face of Shawn, turning it into a camel clutch. Shawn breaks free with some shots to the midsection, but Owen comes back with a fast knee to the midsection. Roll up by Owen for another two count. He locks in a chinlock as the crowd is chanting "Go Shawn Go". We have thankfully come a long way from the days of "Shawn is Gay".
Shawn breaks free again, but gets caught with a big spin kick by Owen, that sends Shawn sliding to the outside. Cornette tries a cheap shot, but the referee catches him. Owen tries a suplex to the inside, but Shawn turns it around to a suplex to the outside, but Owen lands on his feet. Shawn tries a dive, but Owen turns it into a powerslam. Owen brings Shawn back in and hits a missile dropkick. Cover gets a close two. Owen lands some European uppercuts in the corner. Shawn gets in a roll up, but still only a two. Shawn gets thrown in the corner (complete with patented rope flip) and gets caught with a clothesline. Owen locks in a sharpshooter, but despite being locked in for a good minute, Shawn doesn't give up. He crawls to the ropes and forces the break.
Scoop slam by Owen who then blows his nose at Shawn, but Shawn rolls him up for another two count. Massive enziguri by Owen to the back of Shawn's head that sends HBK collapsing to the outside. Instead of wanting a count out, Owen brings Shawn in and covers, but Shawn kicks out at two. Owen whips Shawn to the corner, but dives groin-first into the corner. Shawn hits an inverted atomic drop. Shawn ducks a clothesline and hits one of his own. Shawn nips up and blocks some strikes. Whip to the corner and a flying forearm. Scoop slam and a diving elbow drop follow. Shawn lays out Cornette. Owen tries another enziguri, but Shawn ducks and hits Sweet Chin Music for the win.
A really good match between two of the best of the era. A lot of slow stalling early on, but it picked up momentum quick with both men looking equal in the ring. But in the end, Shawn gets the win, finishing this feud with Owen and moving forward to his match at Wrestlemania 12.
As the steel cage is being set up, Todd Pettengill is with acting president Rowdy Roddy Piper. He can't be bought, he don't pull no punches, he doesn't think Michael Jackson's innocent (okay...) and is afraid of no booger man. He says that at Wrestlemania Shawn Michaels will either face Bret Hart or Diesel, so he'd better come to fight. He then announces that he doesn't feel bad for Yokozuna being attacked because he's 640 pounds of nasty beast. He's here to cure Vader's major malfunction. He calls Vader inbred and says that his mask is a jock strap. He removes Vader's suspension, and sets up a match between Vader and Yokozuna at Wrestlemania.
This brings Cornette and Mason up to the stage, but Roddy cuts them off. Cornette then says that Piper was scared of nothing because he's been through it all. But there was one man that scared everyone and that was Vader. The WWF tried to send him away, but Clarence Mason brought him back. Cornette accepts the challenge of Vader vs Yokozuna and promises that what will happen is on Hot Rod's hands. Piper says that if Vader loses, Cornette might become cheek to cheek with Yokozuna.
It's main event time. A steel cage match for the WWF championship as Diesel challenges Bret Hart. Exchange of strikes from both men, but Dieesl gains control with some knees in the corner. He yells at Bret that this is going to be a long night as he then chokes Bret with his boot. He throws Bret hard into the corner. So hard that it makes the cage rattle. Bret tries to fight out of the corner, but Diesel continues to overpower him. Diesel tries to throw Bret into the steel bars, but Bret counters, slamming Diesel head-first into the cage. He follows with a second throw into the steel.
Some elbows by Bret to the back of Diesel's head. He tries to climb over the cage, but Diesel catches him and knees him atop the buckle. He grabs Bret and slams him back-first into the cage a couple times. Diesel calls for the cage door to open. He slowly saunters to the entrance, but Bret stops him, catching him groin-first on the rope. Bret nails several punches, and takes Diesel down. He hits a headbutt to the lower extremities then crawls to the door. Bret is almost out, but Diesel drags him back in. Diesel tries for the door, but Bret grabs him and gets a boot to the chest.
Bret begins to work the leg of Diesel, but eventually Diesel comes back with a clothesline. He follows up with a sidewalk slam. He goes for an elbow drop, but Bret escapes. Bret starts his climb, but Diesel gets closer to the door. Bret stops his climb and drags Diesel back in. Back to work on the leg with some elbows and knees to Diesel's knee. Bret climbs up and is almost out, but Diesel grabs him and brings him back in. He then throws Bret off the top buckle to the mat below. Bret comes back with a boot and a bulldog. Bret tries to climb up again, but Diesel catches him and hits a back suplex. Bret crawls to the door, but Diesel grabs him and puts a stop to it yet again.
Diesel drags Bret to the middle of the ring and hits an elbow drop. Diesel tries to boot Bret in the corner, but Bret avoids, then starts kicking down at the legs of Diesel, following with an elbow drop to the knee. He throws Diesel to the corner and continues to pummel the leg. Diesel reverses a whip and sends Bret crashing sternum-first into the buckle. Diesel then pummels the back of Bret with more clubbing blows. He throws Bret into the corner with ease and hits more knees and elbows. Bret goes back to kicking the knee, then tries to climb oer, but Diesel grabs him by the head and brings him back in.
Diesel hits some more body blows on Bret, then throws him to the steel, followed by another sternum throw to the buckle. Instead of easily exiting the door, he continues offense on Bret, dropping his weight on the hitman's back. He tries for snake eyes, but Bret slides behind him and sends him head-first into the steel. Bret tries for a Sharpshooter, but Diesel gets a thumb to the eye. Bret comes back with some kidney shots and a Russian leg sweep. Bret tries to climb again, and kicks Diesel down, following with a top rope elbow drop.
Bret goes up yet again, but Diesel recovers and hits a blatant low blow. Another kick to the head by Diesel who slowly slides to the door. Bret tries to stop him, but gets shoved away. Bret still manages to grab Diesel's foot, but gets kicked away.
But suddenly, through the ring mat comes the Undertaker who grabs Diesel. He pulls Diesel into the depths as Bret makes his escape. Smoke billows out of the hole, but Diesel eventually makes his escape. Undertaker stalks Diesel, but the big man climbs out of the cage and makes his exit. Undertaker stands atop the cage and points at Diesel as the lights go out.
A solid steel cage main event, if not pretty basic in terms of the in-ring for both men. Lots of cage escape attempts and wear down moves. In terms of wrestling, probably the weakest Bret/Diesel match of the ones we've covered. But in the end, it sets in stone two of Wrestlemania 12's main events with Bret facing Shawn and Diesel facing Undertaker. So for what it intended to do, it worked just right.
As for In Your House 6, it was a decent show. I can't say it was the most exciting two hours, but the matches were all fine. Razor vs the Kid was fine given the goofy stipulation, but I wouldn't say their best outing. Droese and Helmsley surprised me as it was better than it had any reason to be. Yoko and Bulldog served as more of an angle and not so much a match. Match of the night was hands down Owen vs Shawn as it felt the most exciting. And while Diesel and Bret have seen better matches, like I previously said, it did the trick in building to Wrestlemania 12. So, the ultimate rating for this show is a B-. Nothing groundbreaking, but still a watchable affair. But up next, it's time once again for Wrestlemania. Will the 12th affair deliver? Find out soon.
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