It's September 22nd, 1996. The box office has joined The First Wives Club, and the billboard charts are still living in Macarena hell. And in the world of the WWF, it's time for the tenth installment of the In Your House series. It's Mind Games, emanating from the CoreCentres Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Attendance of 15,000 and a .48 buyrate. So, what's been going on since Summerslam?
With Vader's push out of the way, Shawn Michaels needed another challenger for the WWF Championship. Enter Mankind, who despite the logical pattern being continuing his feud with Undertaker after Paul Bearer's betrayal, is eyeing the WWF gold. Meanwhile, Undertaker will continue his on again off again feud with Goldust in a match being billed as a "Final Curtain" match.
Meanwhile, it's been a rough month for Camp Cornette. Jim Cornette, after months of insults, has to finally go in the ring with Jose Lothario. But his other concerns involve his clients Owen Hart and The British Bulldog, who have been aligning themselves more with Clarence Mason, who seeks to aid them in their tag team title hunt against The Smoking Gunns. And with the recap up to speed, it's on with the show.
Tonight's commentary team is Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Mr. Perfect. Opening action tonight is Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw vs Savio Vega. This stems from the free for all where Savio got a win over Marty Jannetty, but was attacked by Bradshaw post-match. This match will be a Carribean Strap match. Kevin Kelly interviews Savio backstage as Savio says that if Bradshaw wants to be in a PPV, he's got it. Savio rushes to the ring, but Bradshaw lays into him with the strap. He wraps the strap around Savio's throat and tosses him forward. He taps the buckles, but Savio recovers in time to pull him off.
As Savio is choked outside, you can see three certain individuals in the crowd in ECW attire, which gets an WCW chant. Savio escapes and regains control, but gets spit on by one of the ECW alumni in the crowd, that of course being The Sandman. Paul Heyman can be seen holding both Sandman and Tommy Dreamer back. Of course this is all a work as this is the beginning of a storyline between WWF and ECW that will build up in the coming months. Vince and commentary playing it up as real obviously as Sandman and Dreamer are being held back and eventually kicked out of the arena. Headlock by Bradshaw who tries to tag the corners in the process, but Savio hits a back suplex to recover. Savio wails on Bradshaw with some stiff slaps of the strap. He tags the buckles, but Bradshaw keeps his weight on the ropes.
The crowd is still focused on the ECW alum as they make their leave. Lariats from Savio followed by a wheel kick. He tags the corners again, but Bradshaw yanks the strap sending Savio crashing. Boot to the face by Bradshaw followed by a Clothesline From Hell. He starts to tag the buckles, but Savio tries to weight him down all while tagging the corners himself. Bradshaw comes close, but ends up yanking Savio into the corner, causing a win for Vega. Hot opener, but obviously the ECW involvement hampered the importance of this match in any way.
Up next, Jim Cornette has to step in the ring against Jose Lothario. However, before the match, we see What appears to be Razor and Diesel attacking Savio Vega, but before anyone can see, they run off.
Cornette grabs the mic and says that the fans must be glad to see a real man for once. Lothario is an 150 year old cripple, and he'll give him a chance to run. Shawn Michaels' music hits and Lothario makes it to the ring, so it's a definite case of sheer disappointment. Cornette tries a cheap shop, but Lothario counters with a few punches of his own. A few rams into the buckle followed by another set of rights. Cover and the three gets a quick win for Supersock.
Brian Pillman heads to the ring, obviously pissed over Bret Hart's comments about not showing up to Mind Games. Pillman says that he's an honest man. He brings up all the beautiful landmarks of Philadelphia and says it only represents 0.1% of this sewer. He says that the birthplace of freedom is a cesspool of drug abuse, battered women and welfare recipients. And if you need any more proof, look at the scum that sit before him. He promises to bring some class to this program, and invites Owen Hart.
Pillman says that Bret's always been jealous of Owen, but when Bret was facing retirement, he thought they were making amends. Owen says that Bret has started to accept that he is the best Hart and Bret is getting too old. But with Bret calling them a liar, that's uncalled for. Bret must be getting senile, since they made the arrangement, but he's not here. But maybe he's not here is because he's scared of someone by the name of Stone Cold Steve Austin. Enter Austin.
When Austin's in the house, Bret's at his own house because he's scared of Stone Cold. Bret's not a chicken, he's the slime that comes out of the back of a chicken. If you put the letter S in front of Hitman, you get his exact opinion on Bret Hart. They're alike in a lot of ways, the problem is that Bret always cared what the people thought, while Austin never gave a rat's ass about anybody. He promises that when they get in the ring, somebody's gonna get their ass whipped and it damn sure's gonna be Bret because Stone Cold said so.
Up next, we have Owen Hart teaming with British Bulldog taking on the WWF Tag Team Champions, The Smoking Gunns. Cornette is still in no condition to manage after being beaten by Jose Lothario. We get the spot of Sunny's giant poster being rolled down, but it's been sabotaged by Owen and the Bulldog. Clarence Mason heads to ringside as Billy tries a roll up for a two count on Owen. Some back and forth from Billy and Owen with Owen getting the advantage with a cross body for two. Billy calls for a time out. More fast dodges until Owen small packages for two. Tag to Bart who hits a slam, but misses on the elbow drop.
Tag to Bulldog which leads to a headlock and shoulder block spot from Bulldog. More dodges until Bulldog rolls up Bart for two. Tag back to Owen who clips the leg. Owen keeps on the injured leg with some more kicks, then tags Bulldog for a double wishbone. Bulldog keeps the leg work going, which gives me nightmares from 1995. Tag to Owen who stomps Bart in the corner. Owen locks in a leg submission, but Bart gets to the ropes. Owen locks in a Boston Crab, but Bart gets the ropes. Crowd chants "Bart sucks Billy", so that great classy mid 90s crowd in action.
Stalling suplex by Bulldog who, after some cockiness, covers Bart, but Billy makes the save. Owen comes in and continues the leg work, until he's cradled for two. Enziguri from Owen and a cover, but Billy again gets saved. Bulldog comes in, but Billy distracts, allowing Bart to cheap shot. Billy stomps on Bulldog on the outside, then throws him to the stairs. Fast tags from both Gunns who do a step over clothesline. Tag to Bart as the pair hit a Sidewinder. Clarence Mason distracts the ref while Owen dives off the top to hit Billy. Slow cover by Bulldog gets a two.
Billy stomps down on Bulldog then tags Bart back in. He slams Bulldog and drives knees to the shoulder. Tag to Billy who nails a punch and rakes the face. Billy keeps jaw jacking Bulldog and the crowd as he keeps on him. Tag to Bart who goes for a running powerslam, but Bulldog counters and hits a running powerslam. Owen lands a spin kick on Billy to keep from interference. Cover and a three and we have new WWF tag champs. As for the match itself, it was some solid tag work. Hard to get behind either team since they were heels, but for a ten minute match it wasn't bogged down too much and the shock of new champs was nice.
Post-match, Sunny grabs the mic. She gave her time to the Gunns, gave her money, gave everything to them. She thought they could really be winners, but they're nothing but no good cowboy wannabes. She fires both of them and storms off.
Backstage in the depths of the boiler room as Paul Bearer promises victory for Mankind. It was the creatures of the night's fault for him turning on the Undertaker, and the Kliq will be at fault for Michaels losing tonight. Mankind says that he lives to make Shawn Michaels miserable, and to make the Kliq feel the pain he's felt all his life. It's his like to hear Shawn's gurgled screams, his destiny to hear Shawn's liver rupture, and his destiny to cuddle that WWF title. After that we'll all have a nice day.
Up next, Jerry "The King" Lawler in action against Mark Henry. We cut to Superstars over the weekend where Lawler spilled McDonald's on him, and on the Free For All, he got in a cheap shot on Henry. Lawler says that he only watched the olympics to see if one synchronized swimmer drowns and if that means they all have to. He says he'll make Mark Henry wet his pants. Henry comes out to a decent reaction as Lawler continues to boast, saying he'll never get out of a basic lesson. "USA" chants, despite both men being American. However, the headlock is quickly turned into a hammerlock and a slam.
"Burger King" chants while Lawler stalls. A headlock by Henry is turned into a hammerlock from Lawler, but Henry gets in one of his own, throwing Lawler into the buckle. Lawler tries for a slam, but Henry presses him and throws him down. Lawler tries a series of shoulder blocks, but no luck as Henry sends Lawler diving out of the ring, head first into the floor. Lawler grabs for a foreign object and nails Henry in the face with it. Henry begins to no-sell, then starts landing knees and chops. He grabs Lawler and locks in a Canadian back breaker for the win.
Post-match The New Rockers sneak attack Henry, only to get thrown out. Hunter comes in to try, but gets press slammed out of the ring to the Rockers. Overall, it was okay. I wasn't expecting technical wizardry from Mark Henry, especially out the gate. Lawler's strength during this era is his comedy heel work, and it worked to help get Henry over in this occasion.
We get an ad for the next In Your House PPV, which will feature the first ever Buried Alive match between Undertaker and Mankind. Vince continues to stress that this match is unsanctioned.
Speaking of The Undertaker, up next is the Final Curtain Match with Goldust. The only way to win is by pinfall, so it's pretty much any other match. Taker immediately attacks Goldust, throws him into the corners, then gets in a double choke, throwing him to the mat. Leg drop and a cover only gets a two for Taker. Goldust retreats out of the ring to try and regroup. Undertaker tries to grab him, but Goldust guillotines him on the rope while Marlena gets in a cheap slap. This allows Goldust to hit a neckbreaker, but Undertaker sits up and nails an uppercut. Boot to the face, and a suplex follows. Slow cover only gets a two count.
Taker hiptosses Goldust out of the corner. Goldust tries another time out, but Taker grabs him and hits old school off the ropes. Taker throws Goldust out of the ring. Marlena hands Goldust a gold bag filled with gold dust. Undertaker grabs Marlena while Goldust throws the dust in Taker's eyes. Goldust takes Taker outside and grinds Taker's head into the steel steps. Goldust nails a right, then smashes Taker's head into the Spanish announce table (which at this time was literally a wood table with a tarp over it). Both men return to the ring as Goldust nails a clothesline and covers tor two.
Taker manages to regain control with a back suplex. Goldust recovers and hits a messy hiptoss, covering for two. He begins to smother Taker's face with his glove, but Taker breaks free. Undertaker tries to recover, but Goldust stays on him with shots in the corner. Hard whip to the buckle from Goldust who begins to rub himself. Taker grabs Goldust by the throat and throws him to the corner, laying in fast fists. Taker gets thrown to the buckle again as Goldust follows with a powerslam and a cover for two.
Taker sits up again, ducks a clothesline and nails a big one of his own. Goldust goes up top, only to get caught and chokeslammed right off the top. Taker calls for a Tombstone and delivers. Cover and the three. Solid match from both men, but I don't get the need to give a normal match a gimmick name. Surprising lack of interference from Mankind, but considering the WWF title match coming up, that makes sense.
Kevin Kelly interviews Shawn Michaels, telling him of Paul Bearer and Mankind's comments. Shawn says that he hasn't defended this belt and been nervous before. But he's now wrestling the wackiest cat in the company. He's a little bit jittery and nervous, but he'll find a way to get the job done.
Up next is the main event. Mankind (with Paul Bearer) Vs Shawn Michaels (with Jose Lothario) for the WWF Championship. We see druids dragging a casket to the ring, which they used to mess with Shawn on the previous episode of Superstars. Headlock and... elbow to the face spot by Mankind who keeps on Shawn. Back body drop by Shawn who is covered in the gold glitter of the previous match. Clothesline sends both men over the ropes.
He kicks Shawn to the barricade and tries to expose the concrete, only to get dropkicked by Shawn who stomps on Mankind who is under the tarp. He follows that with a cross body off the top. He then follows by driving Mankind head-first into the conrete. Both men return to the ring as Shawn nails an ax handle. Mankind reverses Shawn's boot, but Shawn is right back in with punches and a clothesline. Body slam and a patented elbow drop connect for Shawn. He calls for Sweet Chin Music, but Mankind dives out of the ring, cuddling Paul Bearer's urn. Mankind returns as both men exchange blows in the corner. Shawn gets the better, saving himself from a corner whip, then taking down Mankind to add more blows.
Mankind locks in a sleeper, attempting the Mandible Claw, but Shawn blocks, landing in more punches of his own. Mankind recovers and throws Shawn to the outside. He grabs the Spanish announce table, but Shawn dives over the table and attacks him. He bumps Mankind on the casket, then suplexes him knee-first into the steps. Mankind tries to get back in, but gets his knee clipped. Shawn then bashes the knee atop the casket. Shawn swipes at the referee, allowing Mankind to get in more cheap shots. Shawn grabs the leg and twists with a leg drag, turning it into a figure four. Mankind escapes, but Shawn is right back in with a kick to the leg and a half crab.
Mankind tries to recover again, but Shawn rolls him up for two. Shawn tries hurricanrana, but gets stun gunned into the rope, landing hard on his throat. Mankind is handed a pen by Paul Bearer and starts stabbing his leg to get some feeling. He bashes Shawn into the casket. Shawn returns to the ring, only to get caught with a knee to the face. He lands a facebuster, then a second. Shawn recovers just enough to get in a back suplex. He hits a few punches, but Mankind gets a boot to the knee and a headbutt.
Shawn slides under Mankind and trips him. Mankind throws Shawn into the corner, which leads to the patented corner bump and a pair of elbow drops from Mankind. He boots Shawn over the ropes, then goes to drive Shawn's head into the steps, however Shawn dodges, meaning he takes the full knee to the stair. Drop toe hold from Shawn means that he also gets a head full of stair as well. Shawn grabs Mankind as both try for an apron suplex. Shawn manages to dodge, meaning Mankind crashes into the post. Powerslam by Shawn only gets a two. Shawn throws Mankind into the ropes, causing him to get caught by the throat in the ropes, but he manages a Mandible claw on Shawn momentarily as he escapes.
Mandible claw by Mankind, but Shawn throws Mankind into the steps, knocking down Hugo Savinovich. Shawn grabs a chair and swings, only to get punched. Shawn sweeps the leg with the chair and bashes it over Mankind's hand. He drags Mankind back in and bites the hand, then bashes it into the mat. He continues to drop his weight over the fingers of Mankind, but gets back body dropped over the ropes. Mankind then follows with an elbow drop to the floor, followed by a swinging neckbreaker on the concrete. Shawn tries to get back in, but gets leg dropped on the rope.
Double arm DDT by Mankind who covers, but only gets a two. Pulling piledriver follows. Slow cover only gets a two. He keeps trying to cover, but no such luck. He grabs some chairs and throws them in the ring. He then opens the casket and throws Shawn inside. But Shawn fights back and escapes, landing a flying forearm, a nip up, a slam and another cross body. Cover only gets a two. Shawn goes up again, but Mankind crotches him.
He goes for a back suplex through the table, but Shawn turns it into a cross body as they both collapse. Shawn sets a chair up in the ring as Mankind goes up top with another one, leading to Mankind being kicked in the face by a leaping Shawn Michaels. He covers...
But Vader shows up. The match is called out, but Shawn sends Vader tumbling to the floor. Paul Bearer smashes Shawn with the urn while Sid shows up and brawls with Vader up the entrance way. Paul Bearer revives Mankind, who locks in a mandible claw on Shawn. He calls for the casket to be lifter, and...
Out pops Undertaker who goes right after Mankind. Shawn retains by disqualification. He celebrates with the crowd as the show is recapped and we are out of here.
I had heard stories going into this one that this match was one of the best in the company's history, and those expectations were certainly met. It's a massive contrast to practically anything I've covered on this blog up to this point. It was wall to wall brutality for the 26 minutes within. Focusing less on technical finesse and more on unique ways to beat down on one another. In other words, it benefited Mankind in how hardcore it was, and benefited Shawn by showing a more vicious streak to him. Lots of great spots from the early stuff with the ring mat to the big table bump spot. My only gripe is I wish this didn't end in a DQ, but it's too early for Mankind to win the title, but also too early to kill some of his mystique by handing him a decisive loss. So having Vader try (and fail) to get some revenge on Michaels is a fair way to end what was a definite classic.
So, as for Mind Games overall, I'd say this was a great show. One of the better overall wrestling shows the WWF has offered in a while in this era. The opener with Savio and Bradshaw was nice and stiff, but unfortunately was hindered by the ECW invasion. Cornette and Lothario was barely a minute, meaning that I can't complain at all about its involvement. A great shock title change with Owen and Bulldog, Taker and Goldust worked well again, and I've heaped plenty of praise on that main event enough. 1996 in terms of quality has vastly beaten 1995. Let's hope that trend continues with three months left. Mind Games gets an A.
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