What the World Was Watching: In Your House 3

Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler, and Jim Ross are doing commentary and they are live from Saginaw, Michigan.  Lawler predicts that Owen Hart will become the new Intercontinental Champion, while Ross predicts that Yokozuna will win the Intercontinental title.

Opening Contest:  Savio Vega (12-2) pins Waylon Mercy (11-1) after a spinning heel kick at 7:06:

McMahon continues to say that Mercy is undefeated, ignoring Mercy’s disqualification loss to Bret Hart earlier in the month.  As the match progresses, backstage interviewer Dok Hendrix says that Owen Hart is not present in the building.  The match is really sloppy, with Mercy moving awkwardly, failing to effectively kick out of a side roll, and running slowly, but things pick up near the end as Mercy hits a nasty looking brainbuster and Savio counters with a German suplex, winning the bout when he catches Mercy with a spinning heel kick.  This was a big upset at the time since it seemed like Mercy would win and continue moving through the midcard.  However, Mercy was so broken down physically that he had to cut his WWF run short and the company used him to get over some talent on his way out, starting with this match.  Rating:  *

Interim WWF President Gorilla Monsoon chews out Jim Cornette for not following contractual obligations.  Monsoon promises that the triple header match is going to happen whether Owen Hart shows up or not.

Footage of Henry Godwinn slopping Sid on the recent edition of Superstars is shown.

Sid (w/Ted DiBiase) (6-3) defeats Henry Godwinn (22-5-2) after a powerbomb at 7:22:

Godwinn spends much of the match selling his injured back, an injury that Sid inflicted on Superstars by powerbombing Godwinn on the arena floor.  The psychology is appreciated, although Godwinn stops selling the back during his comeback, during which he hits the Slop Drop and is headed for victory before DiBiase reaches into the ring and pulls his leg to break the pinfall.  DiBiase then trips Godwinn when he runs the ropes and Sid finishes off the hog man to give the Million Dollar Corporation its first pay-per-view win in 1995.  It only took nine months, but miracles do happen.  Rating:  *

-After the match, DiBiase and Sid argue over who should slop Godwinn, leading to Bam Bam Bigelow and Kama running out and getting involved.  The heels double team Bigelow but when DiBiase goes to slop Bigelow, Godwinn turns the tables on the Million Dollar Man and DiBiase gets slopped so the babyfaces get some heat back.

Monsoon tells Cornette that Yokozuna can wrestle Diesel and Shawn Michaels single handedly or Cornette can find a replacement that will be sanctioned to defend the tag team titles tonight.

The British Bulldog (9-4-1) pins Bam Bam Bigelow (17-4) after a powerslam at 12:01:

Cornette is not with the Bulldog, trying to get Yokozuna a tag team partner backstage and he is shown during the match talking with Sid.  Bigelow excites the fans by hitting the flying headbutt about four minutes into the bout, but the Bulldog kicks out with ease, further weakening that move since Lawrence Taylor kicked out of it at WrestleMania.  The match features an interesting dynamic as Bigelow uses spots typically done by heels – using his weight to counter a Bulldog slam and sunset flip – to regain momentum after the Bulldog works his leg.  Unsurprisingly, the Bulldog wins after a tough back and forth encounter to put him over as a main event threat, but Bigelow worked like a man possessed and both men came out of this match looking good.  Rating:  ***

Henry Godwinn and Ted DiBiase are shown talking on the WWF Superstar Line.

Watch the WrestleMania XI special on FOX next week!

Bob Backlund comes to the ring to “Hail to the Chief” and chastises the fans for not being literate.  He puts over Dean Douglas as a fine educator and introduces him for the next match.

Dean Douglas (w/Bob Backlund) (1-0) beats Razor Ramon (16-5-1) after a schoolboy and hooking of the tights at 14:52:

As Douglas stalls in the early going, Cornette is shown talking to Mabel about the possibility of teaming with Yokozuna.  Douglas is at a size disadvantage so he tries to limit Ramon’s abilities by focusing his offense on the back, working long submission holds until Ramon delivers an electric chair drop to escape a reverse chinlock.  After Douglas blocks the super side suplex a referee bump ensues, with Ramon getting a visual pin from a Razor’s Edge.  The 1-2-3 Kid runs in and counts a visual fall and then argues with Ramon, who pushes the Kid to the floor and falls victim to a rollup to lose his third straight pay-per-view match and fourth straight singles match.  The effort was here but the wrestling seemed very half-hearted on Ramon’s part as his comeback lacked its usual energy.  Rating:  **½

After the match, Ramon tosses the Kid into the ring and WWF officials rush out to prevent a major confrontation.

Todd Pettengill hypes In Your House 4, which will be from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.  Goldust will debut there and an Undertaker-Mabel match is announced.  The Undertaker’s match was further proof of Waylon Mercy being killed off because the original plans called for the Undertaker to face Mercy in Winnipeg.

Hendrix, replacing the departed Barry Didinski, shills a Shawn Michaels hat and glasses set.  Buy yours for $25 (plus $3.95 shipping & handling) by calling 1-800-TITAN-91.  You can also get a classic WWF tape.

Hendrix interviews Diesel and Shawn Michaels.  Diesel says that he smells a rat and Michaels likens the situation to going on a complicated date.

Bret Hart tells the announcers that tonight he will be “Captain Crunch” and make Jean-Pierre LaFitte “walk the plank.”

Bret Hart (12-2-2) defeats Jean-Pierre LaFitte (19-0-1) via submission to the Sharpshooter at 16:38:

LaFitte comes to the ring in Bret Hart’s ring jacket, which he stole several weeks ago, and Bret shows that he means business early on by attacking LaFitte with a suicide dive.  That was usually Bret’s strategy during his 1995 run in ridiculous feuds:  turn matches into a display of high-impact offense to make the crowd focus on the in-ring product rather than dwell on the silliness that made him face a given opponent.  For example, Bret takes some aggressive whips into the corner and steps, while LaFitte hits a flying leg drop but misses a slingshot somersault plancha to the floor.  LaFitte actually manages to counter some of Bret’s signature spots, providing a boot to the face when Bret tries a second rope elbow and whipping out of a bulldog.  However, a top rope splash goes awry and Bret locks in the Sharpshooter out of a double KO spot to give LaFitte his first loss.  The finish was subdued relative to the rest of the match but the last five minutes was a great test of wills.  Like Hakushi, LaFitte looked like a million bucks in this match but the company did nothing to capitalize on that, partly because of the political problems LaFitte had with the Kliq.  After the match, Bret gets his jacket back.  Rating:  ****

Cornette tells Hendrix and Monsoon that the British Bulldog will team with Yokozuna in the main event.

Alundra Blayze comes out to model an In Your House 3 t-shirt to try to get fans to buy it for $20 (plus $3.95 shipping & handling) because the WWF cannot be bothered to do anything else with her in its women’s division.

Triple Header Match:  Diesel (WWF Champion) & Shawn Michaels (Intercontinental Champion) defeat The British Bulldog & Yokozuna (WWF Tag Team Champions w/Jim Cornette & Mr. Fuji) when Diesel pins Owen Hart after a Jackknife to win the titles at 15:45:

It was pretty unoriginal for Cornette to pick someone from his stable, although it makes sense in storyline terms because Cornette would not want to pick someone he could not control should they win the WWF or Intercontinental titles.  One of the significant things about this contest is that it showed the wheels were coming off the Diesel train, with McMahon showing more enthusiasm for Michaels and Michaels outclassing Diesel in terms of crowd reaction and presence on camera.  The Bulldog and Diesel also have a dull back and forth segment during the match, a poor lead-in for an anticipated title match between the two at the next In Your House.  Additionally, the announcers and the heel team downplay the stipulations.  Ross notes that the Bulldog has Michaels in trouble halfway through and should pin him, but McMahon insists that it is a good idea for the Bulldog to tag in Yokozuna, even though if Yokozuna gets the pin he would be the Intercontinental Champion and the Bulldog would leave Saginaw with nothing.  And one of the more insulting things for customers is that despite the company claiming that there would be a title change, the ground is laid for a nullification of the result as Owen Hart miraculously shows up at the end, eats a Jackknife, and the referee chooses to count the pin and award the titles to the Two Dudes with Attitudes.  Overall, this was a good television main event but nothing spectacular.  Rating:  **½

The Last Word:  This show was largely about building up heels for the future, which is why Dean Douglas scored a victory over Razor Ramon and the British Bulldog beat Bam Bam Bigelow.  The company was even holding Sid in reserve, possibly hoping that they could go back to him if needed, although the booking of the last few months has done major damage to his character.  In addition, the 1-2-3 Kid appears poised for a heel turn after his interference in another Ramon match, but the company is giving that a slow burn rather than have the Kid align with Douglas on this show.  Aside from that, the major bouts delivered and the main event was better than the last four pay-per-view outings, even though it screamed “bait and switch” for the paying customer.

Attendance:  5,146

Buyrate:  0.70 (160,000 buys)

Up Next:  Monday Night RAW for September 25, 1995!