wrestling / Columns

Csonka’s Top 10 WWF In Your House Matches

October 9, 2016 | Posted by Larry Csonka
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WELCOME: This week we’re going to look at the top 10 matches in the history of the WWF In Your House events. I do not have a bunch of criteria for this one: Matches had to take place at a one of the 28.5 WWF In Your House events, the matches have to be great, I will use my personal match ratings, and personal preference comes into play. As always, feel free to disagree with me, but do so in a respectful manner. Have fun and thanks for reading.

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#10. Shawn Michaels vs. Owen Hart – IYH: Rage in the Cage (2.18.96) [****]: I think a lot of people may be surprised by this pick, partly because it isn’t talked about all that much, and also because they were likely thinking Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Mankind would take this spot. Sorry to say, that match was great but will not be making the list. You can consider that match your honorable mention. This match was the big follow up/pay off from months earlier when Owen gave Shawn an enzuigiri on Raw and put him out of action. I find Owen Hart to be a very polarizing figure; some feel that he was the awesome and should have been a world champion while others feel he lacked charisma and couldn’t have great matches unless it was with Bret or Bulldog (which is bullshit). On thing is for sure, people have an opinion on Owen. This is Owen and Shawn in 1996, so it rocks. It is also a match that does a lot of the finisher reversal stuff that at the time was very fresh, but is now a part of pretty much every major match these days. But at the time, it was fresh and made for a damn fine match. If you haven’t seen the match, make sure you do, you won’t be sorry.

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#9. Bret Hart vs. Vader (w/Paul Bearer) vs. Undertaker vs. Steve Austin – IYH: Final Four (2.16.97) [****¼]: This match came about after A) Shawn lost his smile and B) Austin cheated to win the Royal Rumble. With those things happening, Gorilla Monsoon made this match, which is basically the same as a Battle Royal only pinfalls and submissions count. Funny thing is that most people completely forget about this match, because Bret wins and then loses the title the next night to Sid. Fair play I suppose, but going back to watch this one, it is a very well put together multi-man match. This match not only has Hart, Austin and Taker, but it also has Vader in one of his best WWE performances. Hard work, the busted eye and the pace he worked; all great stuff from one of the best big men ever. The fact that WWF fucked him up still upsets me to this day, I mean, how in the hell do you run a guy as talented as this? Anyway, the match is well worth the time to see how it is worked, and the fact that there is so much drama involved. I told you how the match came about, but there were also the rumors that Austin was supposed to win here and drop the title to Sid the following night, but his knee injury forced Bret into that role. But that has been dismissed, due partly to Sid saying it was bullshit and also because while it appeared Austin hurts the knee in the match, he comes back and is completely fine. Most consider this one of those Vince “working the boys and the smarks” style things, which he gets off on. Anyway, this is a very under appreciated match from the IYH shows.

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#8. Caribbean Strap Match: Savio Vega vs. Steve Austin – IYH: Beware of Dog – Part 2 (5.28.96) [****¼]: In my opinion, this one is a forgotten classic when discussing Steve Austin’s greatest matches. This is also from the infamous “WWF In Your House: Beware of Dog – Part II” show. The PPV proper happened on a Sunday, but storms killed the power in the arena, and PPV customers were left in the dark. Two days later, WWF put on another PPV in the traditional replay slot, and the shows are known as “WWF In Your House 8 (Parts 1 & 2). And now you know. Anyway, this watch is truly under appreciated; partly because not a ton of people saw it, and partly because people look at Austin and Vega and do not think that equals great match. This right here is a really good match, great work, great booking and both guys working really hard. The finish sees Austin touching the corners, while Vega is also touching them “without Austin knowing.” Vega wins after a brutal 20 plus minutes of action, when Austin accidentally pulls Vega into the corner so he can win. While puzzling at the moment, it all makes sense because if Austin loses, DiBiase is gone from the WWF. It is later revealed that Austin deliberately threw the match because he wanted to get rid of DiBiase. D.T.A. motherfucker.

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#7. Bret Hart vs. Davey Boy Smith – IYH: Season’s Beatings (12.17.95) [****¼]: IYH: Season’s Beatings is a shitty show, featuring the silly old hog pen match, as well as the Undertaker vs. King Mabel Casket match. YEASH. But there was one saving grace, and that was Bret Hart vs. Davey Boy Smith. While this is no Summerslam 1992 classic, this is a DAMN good match from two guys that could work a great match at the drop of a hat. The 1992 match they had was heavy on the story and one of the best non-gimmick matches for the IC Title; so in other words it is hefty competition. This was two guys given 20-minutes to work a great main event, and they did that. They work a different pace and method, as they go with Bret getting color and Bulldog working him over with nasty rights, piledrivers and other assorted power stuff. The thing is that they pick up the pace in the last few minutes to build to a fun finish with the Majestral Cradle; allowing Bret to retain, but Bulldog to come away looking strong and not definitively defeated. Remember, it isn’t the fact that someone loses, but HOW they lose and are booked heading into the finish.

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#6. Jeff Jarrett vs. Shawn Michaels – IYH: The Lumberjacks (7.23.95) [****¼]: This match comes from the second In Your House event, and features Shawn Michaels (more coming from him) and Jeff Jarrett. The match is for the IC Title, which Jarrett holds. This is easily Jarrett’s best WWF match, and while a lot of guys can say that when they work with Shawn Michaels, Jarrett more than holds his own here. The funny thing is that this is one of those matches that annoys me most times (shenanigans by the Roadie, ref bump) but the work around it is soooooooo good, and the story works because Jarrett gets screwed in the end; paying for all of his bullshit. That’s the key here, he pays for it, and all of his bullshit backfires. Which is unlike 99% of his TNA matches that used a lot of this stuff but only pissed off the fans. This is simply a great match between two very good workers at the time, and also at a time when the IC Title meant something; which is something that I truly miss. While Jarrett more than held his own here, he never had matches of this quality again until TNA when he worked with guys like Angle and Styles.

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#5. The Great Sasuke vs. TAKA Michinoku – IYH: Canadian Stampede (7.06.97) [****½]: For the most part, I usually preferred the WCW Cruiserweight Division over the WWE’s attempts as “lightweight wresting.” While WCW was certainly not perfect in the booking, there were times when they just threw guys out their to kill time and we got some very good matches. At times, the WWF tried to capture some of that audience with their Light Heavyweights, but for numerous reasons (poor booking, always sacrificing them off for main eventers, WWF Los Super Astros, pushing Scott Putski & Brian Christopher). But this right here is proof that the WWF did have access to good talent and could done it more often of they chose too. The Canadian Stampede card will always be remembered as one of the best PPVs the company ever put on, and with good reason; the opener, this match, and main event all delivered in a big way. This match between the Great Sasuke and TAKA Michinoku is one of the finest “little guy matches” the WWF ever did. Both men were in their WWF debuts, the crowd did NOT care in the first few minutes; but hard work and an innovative style worked by both sucked the crowd in and what we got was magic. The other thing to keep in mind is that they didn’t work a loose and lackadaisical lucha style; they worked a break neck Michinoku Pro style and won over a fickle WWF audience with it. The only issues with this match are that we didn’t get more of it going forward. Matches like this and Scott Taylor vs. Dean Malenko are what the “WWF Light Heavyweight” should have been. But hey, we got Brian Christopher and Scott Putski.

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#4. Shawn Michaels vs. Diesel – IYH: Good Friends, Better Enemies (4.28.96) [****½]: It is often said in wrestling that friends often give each other their best matches, partly because they want each other to succeed, and also because they can beat the shit out of each other without worrying about offending or hurting their bond. Shawn Michaels vs. Diesel at Good Friends, Better Enemies is a perfect example of this. This match was the big blow off to their feud, and also part of the Nash farewell tour as he was asked to do the honors for Taker (WM 12) and Shawn on the way out, both of which he says he had no issue with. This match, I think I can say two things that are pretty certain about this match. 1) this is probably Kevin Hash’s finest match and 2) this is a perfect prototype for a big man vs. little man match. The match features Michaels sticking and moving, while Diesel is able to keep catching him, overpowering him and just laying in a brutal beating. Not only do you have the violence and culmination of the feud, you have the story of Shawn simply fighting to survive the match. This is also famous for Nash ripping off Vachon’s fake leg in an effort to beat down Shawn, which backfires because Diesel is a heel. Yup, I did that. Shawn survives, turns the tide, uses the fake leg and then tunes up the band to send Diesel down south. This was simply 1996 Shawn being awesome, and Diesel busting his ass with his friend and it was just a great match. Nash gets a lot of shit for stuff he did in his career, but I do hate when people claim he had no good matches. The WM 12 match with Taker and this match were a great way to go out, and while other times you can argue Nash was wrong in how he did business, here I say he did business the right way.

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#3. Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind – IYH: Mind Games (9.22.96) [****¾]: It seemed as if in 1996 Shawn Michaels could do no wrong, and while some doubted him, he proved himself in a great match with Diesel; but took it to another level with the Mind Games match with Mankind. While Foley had delivered memorable matches with Sting and Vader in WCW, many doubted if he could be a main event worker in the WWF. While many will say “sure he delivered, but did it with Shawn Michaels” I say bullshit to that because, especially in retrospect, Foley has delivered with many opponents. This match had the in ring skills of Michaels, the in ring smarts of Foley, the hot crowd and just a smartly booked match that allowed both men to deliver, but also a good enough finish that they didn’t damage Foley when he did not win the title (which he reportedly was supposed too here). The match is just great to watch, compared booking wise to Piper vs. Hart from WM 7. Whether that is the case for you or not, the fact us that this is required viewing as far as Foley’s greatest singles matches go. You have this, Beach Blast 1992 vs. Sting, KOTR 1998 vs. Taker, RR 2000 vs. Triple H, Backlash 2004 vs. Orton and vs. Edge at WrestleMania 22 on that must watch list and all for various reasons. It’s pretty great, but in my opinion, not quite the five star classic some rank it as. It still kicks ass, and helped save this show from being one of the worst WWF PPVs… ever.

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#2. Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker – IYH: Badd Blood (10.05.97) [****¾]: At Summerslam, Shawn Michaels was the special referee for Hart vs. Undertaker, and in trying to screw Hart, Michaels ended up costing the Undertaker the title, and thus had to face his wrath. That brought us to Bad Blood, and a little match called Hell in a Cell. The gimmick designed for Taker to inflict his wrath without HBK being able to escape. What we got was a symphony of violence from two of the best ever. These men had such chemistry, as evidence by their later WrestleMania classics. The pacing, the brutality, the blood, the table bump; it was all done perfectly. Taker gets revenge on HBK by nearly destroying him, but HBK steals the victory thanks to Paul Bearer introducing Kane to the WWF audience. This match beats out Foley vs. HBK for a few reasons, even if I do love the Mind Games match. First of all this match set the standard for the big time HIAC matches at the time. On top of that, the debut of Kane was huge and led to the Taker vs. Kane feud, WM match and now 16-years of the Brothers of Destruction in the WWE. Also, Taker’s sell of his “little brother arriving for revenge” was very well done. A great match is all well and good, but the added story element on top of it always helps take it to the next level. These were two men that knew what to do and when to do it, which we would see years later when they worked the back-to-back Mania classics.

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#1. The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart, Owen Hart, The British Bulldog, and Brian Pillman) defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin, Ken Shamrock, Goldust, and The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) – IYH: Canadian Stampede (7.06.97) [*****]: And I think that it is no surprise that this particular match takes the top spot. It is the second match from the PPV on the list, and I could have been talked into three if I didn’t like my #10 more than Mankind vs. HHH from this show. Anyway, this shit right here is everything that was right in the WWF in 1997. Shawn and Bret dominating the main scene, Steve Austin on the rise, the dichotomy of Hart the hated heel in America but LOVED everywhere else. Along with Hart, he had reformed the Hart Foundation with Owen, Anvil, Bulldog and adding in Pillman. If you are reading this and did not watch at the time or know all of the full stories, Steve Austin, Ken Shamrock, Goldust & the Legion of Doom comprising the other team must seem extremely random, but in this context it worked. They were all over huge, but going into Calgary (dramatic pause) Alberta, Canada they may as well have dropped an H Bomb on the country because these people wanted them to die in a fire. I have always said that a “five star match” is like a perfect storm. You have the right guys working the right kind of match in front of the right kind of crowd and it all works together in a perfect symbiotic relationship. That is this match. The Hart team, heels in America, the conquering heroes here. The WWF’s big faces all treated like pieces of shit by the Canadian crowd. Wild brawling, what the old school guys would refer too as “white hot heat” for anything and everything they did, it was magic. The family standing tall afterwards in a perfect moment all links it together in a perfect package. This was a great main event to one of the best WWF PPVs ever. Seriously, if you have not watched this match go and do so right now, watch this PPV and love it like one of your children.

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“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia.”