Sunday, December 15th, 1996
West Palm Beach Auditorium
West Palm Beach, Florida
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork22
I think I have only seen this show one time, so I guess it's time for another viewing. We get a short, but decent intro video hyping up only Sid/Bret Hart. We get some cheap pyro and we are in another auditorium, so that means one thing, it's time for In Your House. From what I can tell, this was the least purchased pay per view up to this point for WWF. This opener is a perfect example of a reason why.
Leif Cassidy vs. Flash Funk
While I just crapped on this match, it's not because I don't like these guys. I actually like both of them quite a bit. This had no story and neither guy had really done anything to deserve to be on a pay per view. With that being said, I like that they are putting on a match to help showcase these guys and it also tells me that they believe they can have a good match. I really don't get why the Flash Funk gimmick didn't get over because for the time, the presentation was pretty good. Funk kind of messes up his first high flying move and Cassidy hits gets the first big impact move with the face first powerbomb. He then hits a belly to belly over the top rope. Cassidy then hits a somersault dive over the top. Cassidy then hits a running clothesline from up the entrance before throwing him back into the ring. We get some of the youngsters chanting for Flash, but it is short lived. Cassidy goes for a powerbomb, but Funk counters out of it and does some Dusty Rhodes inspired offense. Cassidy comes back with a variation of a powerbomb that gets a nice reaction. Cassidy misses with a second rope leaping moonsault and Funk makes his comeback. Funk hits a cartwheel into a Pele kick. Funk then hits a big dive over the top rope. Funk hits a top rope moonsault and Cassidy kicks out of 2. The crowd is invested in the match now and you love to see that. They do the multiple pin attempt spots before Funk hits an enzuiguri. Funk goes up top again and hits the 450 splash for the victory. They did a good job of making both guys look good here and they earned the attention of the crowd by the end of it. The problem is that they did nothing with Funk after this and Cassidy actually became the winner, with him going to ECW to develop his next persona.
Match Rating: ***
We get a Royal Rumble commercial for the Coliseum Video release. I'm guessing the feed here on Netflix is from the Coliseum Video then?
WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Fake Razor Ramon & Fake Diesel vs. Owen Hart & British Bulldog
Who in the world thought booking this match was a good idea? JR is all worked up that people are booing the fake boys. We go to Kevin Kelly with Bulldog and Owen. Kelly tries to poke the Bulldog with asking if Steve Austin is around. They show Austin celebrating his victory on Superstars this morning and Bulldog came out. Before he could get to the ring, the fake boys attacked him. Fake Diesel struggles to get Owen up for the press slam because he sucks at wrestling and meanwhile, Cibernetico and Pierroth come out and no one cares. Fake Razor does his imitation of Razor and Bulldog looks like he is second guessing his life decisions that led him to this moment. The AAA stars go to the back and Vince tries to sell that it meant something. It didn't. Steve Austin now comes out and the whole arena stands up. Bulldog attacks him from behind and they start brawling. What a random and strange storyline. It really is a credit to Bulldog and Owen here that the crowd cares about this match whatsoever. And let's be honest, it's mostly Owen. Fake Razor hits the fall away slam and gets a 2 count. Fake Diesel hits a big boot and that gets a 2 count. Bulldog gets a hot tag and hits a suplex but can't hold him up for more than a split second. We have all four men in the ring and it leads to Owen being thrown into Fake Diesel and him catching Owen. Bulldog dropkicks him and it sends both over the top. Bulldog goes for the running powerslam and Fake Razor counters out into the Razor's Edge. Owen hits the spinning heel kick on Razor and Bulldog pins him and JR is livid. After the match, Austin attacks Bulldog during the celebration. This was actually not that bad overall, with the champions carrying the match.
Match Rating: **1/2
They show the Nation of Domination back in the AOL chat room, which leads us to Vince introducing Ahmed Johnson to the ring for an interview. Ahmed says that he's lost his girlfriend, his house, he's lost everything because of his injury. Are his pet's heads falling off too? It should be noted that he did not lose his fanny pack. Out come the Nation into the stands. Faarooq says a bunch of words followed "By any means necessary". Ahmed says that they don't need to wait to the Royal Rumble and then gets a small "You're going down" chant going before his music hits.
We get a video package for Marc Mero and Hunter Hearst Helmsley. They surprisingly do focus most of the video on Curt Hennig despite him being gone and they actually call him Triple H here. I didn't think it was quite this early.
Intercontinental Championship Match
Marc Mero vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley
Helmsley has his much better entrance music here. Helmsley is showing off a more aggressive side here, using the steel steps while outside the ring and now working on the back of Mero. Helmsley goes a little too far and the referee gets in his face, allowing Mero to shift the momentum. Mero hits a hurricanrana from the top rope and then signals for the Wild Thing. Helmsley shoves the referee into the ropes and that's enough to crotch Mero. Mero is able to hit the catapult and Helmsley's head hits the ring post and Mero crawls over to get a 2 count. Mero goes back up top and hits a Mero-sault for another 2 count. Helmsley ducks a Mero clothesline and he accidentally hits the referee. Helmsley grabs the Intercontinental belt to use on Mero but Mero kicks him in the gut first. Mero gets him into a pin attempt but the ref is still down. He wakes up with assistance from Sable and Helmsley kicks out at 2. Mero sends Helmsley over the top rope and then sort of hits a somersault dive. Out comes Goldust. He looks to nail Helmsley and he ducks and Goldust hits Mero. Goldust then goes after Helmsley again and this time it works, so both men are down on the floor outside the ring. Mero is able to get up and crawl into the ring just in time for the 10 count and the ref rings the bell. Mero isn't happy to not win the title so he grabs Helmsley and puts him in the ring and hits the Wild Thing. This was a pretty good match that had a stupid finish.
Match Rating: ***
While they are showing some highlights and Fink is announcing that Mero doesn't win the title, we miss Goldust attacking Helmsley. Officials help him walk to the back.
Dok Hendrix is with Sid in the locker room. They show the confrontation with Sid, Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels outside the arena this morning.
Executioner vs. Undertaker
Executioner comes out before we get our video package. This is basically a Last Man Standing match. It doesn't take too long for Paul Bearer to get involved, but as usual Taker doesn't sell long for just about anyone, especially someone on the level of the Executioner. Mankind comes out to try and clip Taker's leg but kind of trips and misses and tries to make up for it. This thing all just feels very "house show". They battle up the aisle and Taker throws Mankind through the house and then back out through the door. They start battling outside the arena and back inside the ring they are putting a straitjacket on Mankind. Taker throws Executioner into the fountain outside and then comes back towards the ring and starts attacking Mankind. Executioner meets him in the ring and Taker quickly hits a Tombstone. For some reason he pins him and counts to 3. He doesn't win though because the ref has to count to 10. He does and that's it. I mean, they knew they had to dress this up and they did what they could. They didn't play into the 10 count at all as far as psychology goes and that was probably for the best. They kept it short and sweet and let Mankind cook. This was better than I had remembered, but it also wasn't necessarily good.
Match Rating: *1/2
Dok is now with Bret Hart and he says that all he's thought about for the last 12 months is Shawn Michaels, but Shawn doesn't matter anymore. Just as he says that, Shawn's music hits and Bret is furious. Shawn joins the announce team for the match.
WWF Championship Match
Bret Hart vs. Sid
Sid turns his back and Bret jumps him from behind and Shawn mocks him for it. Shawn is doing most of the talking here, basically cutting a promo throughout the match. They start brawling outside the ring and Sid rips up the mat. Bret is able to drive Sid back into the ring post multiple times. Shawn pays Bret some respect for adapting to Sid's style and Bret starts working on Sid's back. Bret works on it for quite a while before Sid is able to throw Bret off the top rope. Out comes Steve Austin and he clips Bret's knee from behind. Out come British Bulldog and Owen Hart to defend Bret. Sid continues his offense on Bret. Sid gets him up on his shoulder and Bret escapes, but Sid counters that. Sid lifts Bret up again and they do the same spot, this time with Bret landing into the exposed turnbuckle. Sid hits the chokeslam in the center of the ring, but Bret is able to kick out at 2. Sid tries to clothesline Bret over the top, but he ducks and Bret clotheslines Sid instead and both fall over to the floor. Shawn grabs a chair from Shawn and he once again mocks Bret for being a great role model. Sid hits Bret before he can use it and then has words with Shawn. He shoves Shawn. Shawn gets up on the apron and Sid throws Bret into him. Sid hits the powerbomb and pins Bret Hart in the middle of the ring. I actually forgot that he beat him by pin here. That was a really good ending to a pretty good main event. Bret has definitely had better big man matches, but this was still pretty solid overall.
Match Rating: ***
After the match, Bret attacks Shawn and this is the main event scene that I was so invested in back while this was happening. You never knew what was going to happen between the top guys and it carried the show for months until they were finally able to build up their roster. Shawn is livid and they show the ending one more time.
Call me crazy, but this was a pretty entertaining show overall. It flew by and nothing was really boring. I mean obviously this has little historical significance, but at the end of the day, I was entertained.
Overall Rating: 66%
