Dark Pegasus Video Review: In Your House VI – Rage in the Cage

IYH 6: Rage in the Cage by J.D. Dunn Diesel was on the warpath, jackknifing Bret Hart after Bret took the title from him at the Survivor Series. He also got revenge on Owen Hart after Owen put Diesel’s buddy, Shawn Michaels, out of action. He would later become enraged when the Undertaker was named the #1 contender for Bret’s title at The Royal Rumble. He entered his name in the Rumble match but was, ironically, kicked right out of the match by his own friend Shawn Michaels. To make matters worse, he was still hanging around when the Undertaker walked out for his title match. The two brawled until WWF officials could separate them. Diesel would later return and cost the Undertaker the title. Tonight, Diesel finally gets his rematch with Bret Hart. Meanwhile, Shawn Michaels was at a crossroads. In a match with Owen Hart, Shawn caught an enzuigiri to the head, causing him to pass out in the middle of the ring. The doctors told him he had brain damage and advised him to retire. Instead, Shawn would enter the Royal Rumble match and win it! Now, he wants a piece of Owen Hart who bragged about putting him out of action. Elsewhere, the Man they Call Vader attacked WWF President Gorilla Monsoon when Monsoon sought to get between him and a helpless referee. Thanks to some legal maneuvering, Vader has been reinstated…tonight! February 18, 1996 Live from Louisville, Ky. Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler. Free-For-All: Jake Roberts vs. Tatanka (w/Ted Dibiase). Woof. This was horrible. Jake was terribly out of shape, and his “preaching babyface” gimmick just took away all of his edge. Vince tells everyone who ordered this PPV to send a copy of their bill and they’ll get a free ten-hour trial period of AOL. And, in an ironic twist, wrestling fans everywhere got online and became the bane of his existence. Jake hits the DDT for a huge pop, and it takes a good 20 seconds before he can turn Tatanka over and pick up the win (5:38). At least Jake was over. 1/4* Opening Match, Crybaby Match: Razor Ramon vs. The 1-2-3 Kid (w/Ted Dibiase). Loser here gets diapered. I’m sold! The idea is that Kid has been a crybaby for the last several months, and you can guess the rest. Both guys have switched roles since their infamous Raw match that made Kid a star. Surprisingly, both guys are capable of playing both roles equally well. Kid grabs a sleeper on Ramon, and Ramon teases a submission. Ramon slugs his way back. Kid hits a flying crossbody, but Razor rolls through for two. He hits a Blockbuster (Fallaway Slam off the top) and sets up for the Razor’s Edge. Dibiase distracts Razor while Kid gets some baby powder. Ramon kicks it back into the Kid’s face and hits the Edge for the win at…no? Ramon picks Kid up and gives him a second one for turning on him in late 1995. That gets the win at 11:57. Ramon diapers the Kid and dumps baby powder on his face. Allegedly, Waltman was so humiliated by this match that he went into a depression, leading to his departure for WCW later in the year. Although, Kid’s admitted painkiller addiction might have exacerbated the situation. ***. Hunter Hearst Helmsley (w/Elizabeth Tilden) vs. Duke Droese. See, Droese is a wrestling garbage man. I don’t get all these “occupation” gimmicks. Wrestling garbage man. Wrestling dentist. Wrestling racecar driver. Isn’t their occupation “wrestler?” And if that’s not paying enough, what does that say about the WWF financial situation? Hunter cut Droese’s long hair to set this up. I really don’t remember what Elizabeth Tilden’s involvement was supposed to amount to, but that’s probably not surprising, since 1995-1997 was erased from my memory until I started reviewing all of these. Droese fires off a series of punches but gets hot shot on the turnbuckle. He backdrops out of an early Pedigree, but Hunter still controls for most of the match. Droese gets a spinebuster and the Compactor (spinning powerslam), but he stops to throw in his garbage can for no discernible reason. The ref is distracted by the plunder, so Helmsley picks up the lid and smashes Droese in the head with it for the win at 9:36. That’s what Droese gets for not having an education! 1/2* Recap of Yokozuna’s face turn. Camp Cornette was taking on Shawn and Diesel in a tag match a few weeks before this. Bulldog accidentally hit Yoko with a legdrop, dazing the big guy long enough for Shawn to superkick him to the floor. Yoko wasn’t able to get back in the ring and got counted out. Jimmy Corn blamed him for the loss and berated him until Yoko went nuts and turned babyface. Yoko cuts his first ever promo and sounds just like a Samoan! How about that. The British Bulldog (w/Jim Cornette) vs. Yokozuna. Yoko was in dire need of fat camp at this point, but he still sells quite well for a big man. He reverses a whip and avalanches Bulldog, setting up for the Banzai Drop. Cornette pulls Bulldog to the floor. Yoko follows but misses a charge and posts himself. Back in, Bulldog gets two of an ax-handle. He gets caught the second time, though. Bulldog fires off a few clotheslines, but Yoko ducks and Samoan Drops him. Yoko hits a belly-to-belly suplex, and Cornette senses the end is near so he hits Yoko with the tennis racket for the DQ at 5:03. Vader runs down, and the heels handcuff Yoko to the ropes so they can safely beat on him. Not nearly as bad as you might think. 3/4* #1 Contender’s Match: Shawn Michaels vs. Owen Hart (w/Jim Cornette). This is the payoff from months earlier when Owen gave Shawn an enzuigiri and put him out of action. Shawn is rather blasé about the whole thing, considering his career was nearly ended. Shawn goes out after Cornette and gets a high five from Vince. Owen tries the same thing, but everyone in the front row leaves him hanging. Ha! Shawn comes of the top with a double ax-handle. Back in, Owen pulls Shawn’s hair to get out of a headlock, but Shawn grabs Owen’s hair to keep the hold. Cornette gets the ref’s attention to complain, so Shawn waits until his back is turned and yanks Owen’s hair to the delight of the crowd. Owen comes back with his belly-to-belly. Owen did two moves better than anyone else in wrestling: the belly-to-belly off an Irish Whip, and the leg lariat. After a few minutes of working the back, Owen hits the latter move and sends Shawn to the floor. Owen continues to dominate with Shawn getting an occasional move to keep the crowd interested. Shawn takes the Shawn flip, and Owen hits a wicked flying clothesline on the rebound. SHARPSHOOTER! Shawn struggles to the ropes. Owen hits the enzuigiri, knocking Shawn all the way to the floor. SHAWN’S DEAD! Owen drags him back in, which is kind of out of character because Owen was always the type who would be content with a countout. Shawn avoids a corner charge and comes back with the usual. Jim Cornette tries to intervene and gets knocked out. Owen ducks Sweet Chin Music but misses the enzuigiri. Shawn finishes with a second attempt at 15:59. Excellent match, and you could see some of that “You reverse my finisher, I reverse your finisher, and you don’t reverse my finisher” action that became part of every major match later on. **** Acting WWF President Roddy Piper tells Shawn Michaels to get ready for the winner of the main event tonight, and he’s not stopping the WrestleMania match until there’s a winner. And that’s the decision that came back to haunt Bret Hart. WWF Heavyweight Title, Cage Match: Bret Hart vs. Diesel. Diesel is in a really pissy mood, not surprisingly. He was on chronic menstruation for the last six months of his WWF tenure. Bret makes the first serious attempt to get out of the cage, but Diesel is tall enough to reach up and yank him off the top. Bret crotches Diesel with the ropes. The cage stipulations are already hampering the match because it’s entirely “hit one move, go for the door, get caught.” Things finally pick up when Bret takes a sickening “Bret Bump” to the corner, rattling the cage. Bret fires back at Diesel’s knees and goes over the top, but Dies grabs him by the hair and yanks him back in. Bret takes *another* Bret Bump to the corner. Bret works in 2/5 of the FIVE MOVES OF DOOM and goes up, but Diesel gets desperate and gives him a low blow. Diesel lunges for the door with Bret narrowly catching his ankle. Diesel kicks him away, but suddenly the Undertaker rips through the canvas and pulls Diesel down below. That allows Bret to go over the top and down to the floor to retain at 19:15. This was an inventive finish at the time, but it’s been recycled with a number of variations, so it’s lost a bit of its coolness. This was just about their worst match ever, thanks largely to the escape rules. *3/4 After the match, Piper makes a Diesel vs. Undertaker match.

The 411: It would be an easy pass if not for the Shawn vs. Owen match. That match was another great one in a calendar full of them. You could argue that Shawn had the greatest year ever in terms of entertaining matches back in 1996, and this was the start. Hopefully, they'll release it when they do another Shawn retrospective. That match, along with the Crybaby match put this over into the mildly recommended column, but be prepared to exercise your fast-forward button. Mild thumbs up.

Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]