What the World Was Watching: In Your House 6

-In some places, you will see this show referred to as “In Your House 6: Rage in the Cage”, but considering that I’ve always felt that title is corny and that I can’t recall the WWF hyping the show by that name, I’ll just settle for calling it “In Your House 6.”

-Vince McMahon and Jerry “the King” Lawler are in the booth and they are live from USWA territory in Louisville, Kentucky.

-Free for All: Tatanka (w/Ted DiBiase) vs. Jake “the Snake” Roberts:

This would be Tatanka’s last major appearance in the WWF as he would leave the company in the spring. Roberts hits a short-arm clothesline, but when he goes for a DDT, Tatanka bails. Rinse and repeat again. A criss-cross sees Roberts roll out of the ring and go after DiBiase and when he re-enters the ring Tatanka pounds away. McMahon reminds us that if we order In Your House and mail the WWF a copy of your cable bill that they will give you ten free hours of America Online. I can hear the dial up tone playing in my ears right now. Tatanka drops an elbow for two and pounds away some more. Tatanka misses a couple of elbow drops and Roberts makes a brief comeback. A blind charge eats boot and Tatanka goes for the End of the Trail, but Roberts gets off of Tatanka’s shoulders and hits a DDT for the pin at 5:36. After the match, Roberts dumps Revelation on Tatanka. Roberts was really rusty and Tatanka couldn’t carry this thing. Rating: ½*

-And now on to the part of the show people paid to see. Your first treat is Sunny in a bikini on the beach telling us that viewer discretion is advised for tonight’s show.

-A video package hypes the Bret Hart-Diesel main event, but by the looks of things you’d swear we were getting a Bret-Diesel-Undertaker triangle match.

-Opening Cry Baby Match: “The Bad Guy” Razor Ramon vs. The 1-2-3 Kid (w/Ted DiBiase):

This is the first and only cry baby match in WWF history. If you lose, your opponent gets to put you in a diaper. In Scott Hall’s shoot interview he said that he wanted to end his feud with Goldust because he didn’t think the angle was appropriate and that he thought the feud he had going with the Kid had more heat. I can see his point, but I think the Goldust feud had more traction. The Kid throws a Razor Ramon teddy bear in Ramon’s face and he responds with a toothpick and clotheslines the Kid over the top rope. The Kid comes back with a hot shot and hits a flying clothesline off the top rope for a near-fall. The Kid shows off his martial arts offense in the corner, but Ramon reverses a hiptoss and hits a fallaway slam. Ramon goes for the Razor’s Edge, but the Kid bails to the apron, where Ramon knocks him off with a right hand. DiBiase tosses baby powder in Ramon’s eyes when he goes to pull the Kid into the ring and the referee acts incredulous to the fact that a cloud of white powder is in the air. The Kid hits a missile dropkick for two and a top rope splash gets two. Sleeper time and Ramon escapes by crotching the Kid on the top rope and we have a double KO. The Kid covers Ramon for two. When both men get to their feet Ramon goes for his side suplex off the second rope, but the Kid elbows him off and goes for a reverse flying body press off the top rope, but Ramon rolls through for two. The Kid hits a spinning heel kick for two. Ramon catches the Kid’s second body press attempt and fallaway slams him off the second rope. DiBiase distracts Ramon on the apron, but when the Kid tries to throw baby powder in Ramon’s eyes, Ramon kicks him and the Kid blinds himself with the powder. Razor’s Edge time, but Ramon pulls the Kid up at two. A second Razor’s Edge finishes this off at 12:00. After the match, Ramon shoves the baby bottle in the Kid’s mouth, throws baby powder in DiBiase’s eyes, puts the Kid in a diaper, and when the Kid wakes up he cries. The usual good match between these two, even if the stipulation was terrible. Rating: ***¼

-Duke “the Dumpster” Droese tells Todd Pettengill that he’s going to get revenge on Hunter Hearst-Helmsley for cutting his hair on a recent episode of WWF Superstars.

-Hunter Hearst Helmsley (w/Random Woman) vs. Duke “the Dumpster” Droese:

This is the blowoff for the Helmsley-Droese program, which was Helmsley’s second midcard WWF feud during his initial year in the company. Droese charges the ring and tears into Helmsley before the bell. Droese goes for some second rope punches in the corner, but Helmsley hot shots him to escape. Helmsley goes for a Pedigree, but Droese delivers an inverted atomic drop to escape. However, when Droese charges Helmsley he gets backdropped over the top rope. Outside, Helmsely whips Droese into the steps with authority and Helmsley rolls him back in for two. A knee drop gets two. A high knee gets two. A suplex gets two. A blind charge eats boot and both men clothesline each other to give us a double KO. Droese makes the comeback and hits the Trash Compactor, but elects not to cover. Droese brings his trash can into the ring instead, but the referee isn’t going to allow that and when the referee throws it out of the ring, Helmsley clocks Droese with the trash can lid, which the referee didn’t pick up, to score the winning pin at 9:42. The pacing could have been more fluid and I’m not sure why they felt the need to protect Droese with that finish. Rating: **¼

-A video package recaps Yokozuna’s face turn.

-Dok Hendrix interviews Yokozuna, who cuts a solid promo against Camp Cornette. For fans that thought Yoko was Japanese and that he couldn’t speak English this promo was definitely a shocker. Hendrix tells us to prepare for a train wreck. Was that a shoot comment?

-The British Bulldog (w/Jim Cornette) vs. Yokozuna:

Yoko manhandles the Bulldog in the early going, but a big fat elbow drop misses. The Bulldog takes Yoko off his feet with three clotheslines and Cornette gets in a token shot behind the referee’s back. However, Yoko fires back and avalanches the Bulldog. Yoko goes for the Banzai Drop, but Cornette pulls the Bulldog to the floor. Outside, Yoko tries to avalanche the Bulldog against the ring post, but the Bulldog moves and Yoko eats the post. Back in, the Bulldog hits a top rope axe handle for two. Yoko doesn’t sell some clotheslines and kills the Bulldog with a Samoan drop. Ditto a belly-to-belly suplex. Before Yoko can inflict more damage, Cornette runs into the ring and hits Yoko in the back with his tennis racquet and that gets the Bulldog disqualified at 5:01. Yoko shakes off the racquet shots, but before he can hurt Cornette, Vader runs in and he and the Bulldog handcuff Yoko to the top rope and pound away for a long time. This was just here to fill time. Rating: *½

-A video package hypes tonight’s Shawn Michaels-Owen Hart match.

-Shawn Michaels tells Todd Pettengill that he’s going to defeat Owen Hart and achieve his destiny at WrestleMania XII.

-WrestleMania XII WWF Title Shot Match: Owen Hart (w/Jim Cornette) vs. “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels:

In order to get this match with Owen, Michaels agreed to put his WrestleMania XII WWF title shot on the line. After five In Your House pay-per-views, someone finally uses the house that sits near the entrance as Michaels dances on top of it and then swings down to the aisle. In what is becoming a trend tonight, Michaels charges the ring and tosses Owen over the top rope with ease. When things officially get under way, Michaels slides under Owen’s legs and high fives the Kliq on the floor. Owen mocks the spot when Michaels gets back into the ring, which is awesome, but Michaels catches him with a reverse body press off the top rope. Back in, Michaels scores a near-fall and plays with Owen’s hair in a headlock, which makes a rest hold interesting. Both men flip around until Owen catches Michaels with a belly-to-belly suplex and pounds away. A neckbreaker gets two. Owen goes for the Sharpshooter, but Michaels kicks out to avoid it, so Owen works the back. Owen rolls up Michaels for two and it’s chinlock time. Michaels escapes, but runs into a spinning heel kick and falls to the floor. Owen goes to suplex Michaels inside, but Michaels reverses it. However, when Michaels tries a body press off the apron, Owen powerslams him on the floor. Back in, Owen hits a missile dropkick for two. Michaels rolls up Owen out of nowhere for two and Owen causes Michaels to Flair flip in the corner and he takes his head off with a clothesline. Owen locks in the Sharpshooter, but Michaels makes it to the ropes. Michaels gets a fluke cradle for two, but Owen responds with an enziguri and Michaels falls to the floor. Owen could win via count out, but in a move that changes wrestling history forever, he ignores Cornette and rolls Michaels inside and gets two. Owen crotches himself in the corner on a blind charge and Michaels makes the comeback. Michaels knocks Cornette off the apron and Owen avoids Sweet Chin Music, but Michaels ducks a second enziguri, and quickly blasts him with Sweet Chin Music to get the victory at 15:58. Really smooth finish and I like that they incorporated the enziguri into it since that put Michaels on the shelf a few months prior to this match. After the match, Michaels dances with a young female fan. Part of me wishes that these two had been given a pay-per-view main event during this period because they had great chemistry. Even though this match had an acceptable amount of drama, the WWF should’ve made Owen into a stronger singles threat after he KO’d Michaels on Raw because it would’ve given Owen a better chance of winning this match in the eyes of the fans. Jobbing to Ahmed Johnson several times prior to this killed some of his heat and I never bought into him as a threat to Michaels WrestleMania dream. Rating: ***¾

-Todd Pettengill talks with “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, who is the WWF’s interim president in place of the injured Gorilla Monsoon. He announces that Shawn Michaels is the number one contender for the WWF title and that Vader will face Yokozuna at WrestleMania. Jim Cornette and Clarence Mason crash the party and Cornette says that Vader is getting ready to run wild in the WWF and Piper will be held responsible.

-Steel Cage Match for the WWF Championship: Bret “the Hitman” Hart (Champion) vs. Diesel:

I just realized that this was the only title match on the card, which is really odd for a WWF pay-per-view in the 1990s. This match is under escape rules, per WWF policy. Diesel pounds away, but Bret reverses a take to the cage and goes after Diesel’s knee. Bret tries to escape, but Diesel catches him and knee lifts him repeatedly on the top rope. Diesel rams Bret’s back into the cage and both men try to escape through the door, but fail. Diesel plants Bret with a sidewalk slam, but misses an elbow drop and Bret tries to climb out while Diesel goes for the door. Bret quickly realizes he won’t make it out in time, so he gets down and cuts Diesel off and goes back to the knee. Bret goes to climb out, but Diesel pulls him in and throws him off the top rope. A blind charge eats boot and Bret hits a bulldog off the second rope for a double KO. Bret gets up first and tries to climb out again, but Diesel side suplexes him for double KO #2. Bret tries to crawl out, but Diesel catches him again. Diesel rams his injured knee into the corner on a blind charge, but he sends Bret into the corner chest-first and we have double KO #3. Diesel pounds away, but Bret slips off of Diesel’s shoulders when he goes for Snake Eyes and pushes him into the corner. Bret goes for the Sharpshooter, but Diesel goes to the eyes to break. The crowd is really torn here as they chant “Diesel sucks” and then change their mind minutes later. Bret hits his second rope elbow drop that never gets a three count from the top rope, but when he goes to climb out Diesel crotches him on the top rope. Diesel moves toward the door, but before he can get out, the Undertaker emerges from a hole underneath the ring and pulls Diesel down with him and as smoke comes out of the hole, Bret climbs out to retain the title at 19:14. Diesel climbs out of the hole and cage moments later and the Undertaker follows him and that plays us out. There’s a story that the original booking called for Diesel to give Bret a Jackknife before the Undertaker’s interference, but Bret vetoed it since it would make him look even weaker and that solidified Diesel’s decision to jump ship to WCW. I can’t fault Bret for that, but just think of how history could’ve been different if he’d agreed to take it. They tried to replicate the magic of their Survivor Series match here, but the escape rules restrictions prevented that from happening. Still, this had its moments and the crowd was hot for most of it. Rating: **

-Hendrix interviews Piper and Piper says that the Undertaker and Diesel will face each other at WrestleMania XII.

Show Evaluation: Thumbs Up