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Dark Pegasus Video Review: In Your House IX: International Incident

December 7, 2007 | Posted by J.D. Dunn
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Dark Pegasus Video Review: In Your House IX: International Incident  

IYH 9: International Incident
by J.D. Dunn

When last we left our beloved WWF, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin had emerged victorious from the King of the Ring and become the hottest star in wrestling in the process. World Champion Shawn Michaels retained his title against the British Bulldog but drew the wrath of Camp Cornette’s other members.

  • July 21, 1996
  • Live from Vancouver, B.C..
  • Your hosts are Jim Ross, Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler.

  • Earlier tonight, Jose Lothario knocked down a mouthy Jim Cornette, triggering a pull-apart brawl between Shawn Michaels and Vader.
  • Opening Match, Non-Title Match: The Smoking Gunns (w/Sunny) vs. The Bodydonnas.
    Before the match, Zip says they don’t need a manager, so they also let Cloudy go. Don’t ask. Please don’t ask! Of course, Sunny used to manage the Donnas, but she left them when they lost the tag titles to the Godwinns. Then, she left them for the Gunns when they won the titles about a week later. The Donnas clean house early. Jerry Lawler runs down the Vancouver Grizzlies basketball team, which is mildly interesting because they would later move to Memphis. Hey kids, wanna see the difference between a good worker and a bad worker? Skip grabs a wristlock on Billy, and they both just stand there for nearly sixty seconds. I don’t mean “Billy is selling the hold so there’s not a lot going on.” I mean there is quite literally nothing going on but the two of them standing there holding hands. Finally, Sunny fakes a bump to sucker nice-guy Skip over to her and then slaps him. Lawler gets in an inside joke about Skip not having a chance with Sunny. Back in, Bart catches Skip with a powerslam. The Gunns try the old Bad Company stretch into a leapfrog splash, but it goes horribly, HORRIBLY wrong. Billy gets the blame from the fans, but Bart was the one who was standing straight up. Did Bart actually think Billy had an 80″ vertical to clear him? The Gunns keep Skip in their corner, though, and stay on top. The crowd dies until Skip gets an atomic drop on Billy. HOT TAG TO ZIP! Well, in theory. Zip gets tripped up, but Billy and Sunny are talking on the outside, and they don’t see Bart setting up for the Sidewinder. Skip is able to missile dropkick Bart over, and Zip gets the win at 13:04. Sloppy and killed the crowd. Not a good start. On the positive side, Sunny was tragically hot at this point. 1/2*

  • In the back, Mr. Perfect stands by with Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith, Diana Hart and Jim Cornette. Somewhere off screen, Vader throws a tantrum as Cornette explains Lothario pulled a switchblade on him. He promises a refund to the fans if his team loses.
  • Mankind vs. Henry O. Godwinn (w/Hillbilly Jim).
    Mick is looking positively svelte tonight. Godwinn is replacing Jake Roberts, who is “physically unable to perform.” Hard to perform physically when you don’t show up. Oh, btw, get it? Henry O. Godwinn. And he’s a HOG farmer. HOG?! GET IT?! GODDAMMIT, YOU WILL! The Hogfather stops to yell “souey,” so Mankind attacks him from behind. HOG comes back with a clothesline to send Mankind over the top. PIGGIN’ AIN’T EASY, BUT IT SHO’ IS FUN! I have to make my own entertainment. This sure as hell isn’t doing it. Lawler, who has been ripping Canada for most of the PPV, says there’s one good thing about Canada — they don’t have an Arkansas. Mankind drops an elbow and rips out his own hair. Mankind pulls up the protective mats and gives HOG a neckbreaker on the concrete. Back in, Mankind misses a charge and goes *right into* the ringpost. Mankind sends HOG to the floor but when he follows, Godwinn is able to pressslam him onto the concrete. Insane! Back in again, Mankind blocks the Slop Drop (Inverted DDT) and finishes with the Mandible Claw at 6:53. Give Mick Foley credit for basically beating the crap out of himself for 7 minutes in the general vicinity of HOG. *

  • Steve Austin vs. Marc Mero (w/Sable)
    These two had a good match at KotR a month earlier in which Austin defeated Mero to move on and eventually win the whole tournament. In that match, Mero accidentally kicked Austin in the face during a flying leg rollup, cutting Austin’s lip and forcing him to get stitches (actually it was probably the jawbreaker, but the WWF made lemonade out of lemons). Austin fires away early, but Mero hits a crossbody for two. They take it to the mat. Remember when Austin was a mat guy? Mero fires away with punches now, and Austin bails to stalk Sable. Back in, Mero hits that Flying Leg Rollup again, and Austin fakes another mouth injury. Mero backs off, so Austin pokes him in the eye. Nice play on the last match. To the outside, Austin slingshots Mero into the post, drawing a big pop. Marlena comes down to further a feud with Sable. Austin tries his over-the-shoulder Stun Gun, but Mero counters to a rana to send Austin to the floor. Mero follows him out with a rolling bodyblock. Back in, Austin crotches Mero, but Mero blocks the Stone Cold Stunner. Austin clips Mero’s knee and finishes with the Stunner at 10:50. The crowd started out cold, but they eventually got behind Austin. Probably not the result the WWF wanted, but you take what you can get. Not as good as KotR or their Slamboree matches. **1/2

  • Goldust (w/Marlena) vs. Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer).
    Goldust and Mankind had an odd sort of kinship, so Taker has a problem with Goldie too. Goldust hides behind the referee to start then starts to come on to Taker, causing Take to hit him with an uppercut. Goldust stalls, and if there’s anyone who knows how to stall…well, it’s Larry Zbyszko, but if there’s anyone else, it’s Goldust. Vince uses the phrase, “don’t go there” for about the fifth time by my count. Taker gets sick of waiting, so he goes outside and chokeslams Goldie on the steps! He starts to drop the steps on Goldust, but Marlena lays on top of him to block. Taker busts out the Ropewalk Forearm. He snaps Goldust’s neck on the top rope, but Goldie avoids a charge and takes over. To the outside again, Goldust is successful in smashing the ringsteps on Taker’s back. See, that’s why Marlena is a better manager than Paul Bearer. Where was he to lay down on Taker’s back? Back in, Goldust works the back, but Taker catches him with a small package (!) for two. Taker makes the big comeback — flying clothesline, Tombstone, the en…? No? Instead, Mankind tears through the canvas from under the ring and drags Taker down for the DQ. He then sits there waiting for Taker to reemerge, but Taker tears through the opposite side and chases Mankind into the boiler room. Hey, maybe they should fight in the boiler room next month. While Ross and Vince are giving their analysis, some kid in the front row puts a Burger King crown on Lawler’s head, so security has to get after them. Wacky canucks. *

  • Down in the bowels of the arena, Goldie and Mankind give a marvelously unhinged interview where Mankind promises Undertaker’s destruction will be beautiful.
  • Six-Man Tag: Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson & Sycho Sid (w/Jose Lothario) vs. Owen Hart, The British Bulldog & Vader (w/Jim Cornette).
    The Ultimate Warrior was nice enough to let the WWF set up the six-man with him involved before flaking out and no-showing, forcing Vince to turn to Sid instead. For those that don’t remember 1996, these six guys basically spent the whole year wrestling one another. There is also some implied tension between Shawn and Sid because Sid turned on Shawn a year earlier and powerbombed the crap out of him 5x. Vader demands to start with Shawn. Shawn fires away, but Vader no-sells and knocks him down with a single punch. Shawn uses momentum to come back with a rana and a crossbody that takes Vader over the top. The crowd chants for Sid, so Shawn gets the hot tag to Sid. THE PLACE ERUPTS! Sid cleans house, tossing all three of the heels to the floor. Owen comes in but can’t get anything going. Ahmed actually hits him with ROLLING GERMANS. Those look horrible and painful to Owen. Ahmed goes for the Pearl River Plunge (Tigerbomb), but Vader makes the save. Vader hits an avalanche on Johnson to take over, but Ahmed catches him on a second attempt and powerslams the big man. Owen hits Ahmed with his cast, but Ahmed still stays on top. I don’t think he gets the concept of the face-in-peril. Sid and Bulldog tag in, and Bulldog gets a delayed suplex. Shawn gets the hot tag but misses a charge to the corner and posts himself. Shawn whips Bulldog into Vader and covers. Owen runs in but accidentally hits Bulldog with his cast. Owen gets two off a Rolling Cradle. Shawn continues to get caught in the wrong corner as Davey Boy works on him. Owen gets a cheapshot with the cast, and Shawn takes the Shawn-Bump to the floor off a corner whip. A fan tries to get in the ring as Vader grabs a side bearhug. How stupid do you have to be to try and jump into the ring with Vader, Sid, Bulldog and Ahmed Johnson? Like a good heel, he yanks on Shawn’s hair. Then, when Shawn tells the ref to check, Vader twists on his Adam’s Apple. Shawn avoids a Bulldog charge, but…he…can’t…quite…make…the tag. Owen comes in, but they collide for a double KO. Bulldog cuts off *another* tag and gives Shawn the powerslam. Sid makes the save. HOT TAG TO AHMED! Oh, no! The ref’s back was turned. Jose and Sid argue with the ref, so the heels triple team Shawn to the horror of the crowd. Owen and Bulldog team up for a doubleteam, but it backfires as Shawn moves, and Owen clobbers Davey Boy. HOT TAG TO SID! This time it’s for real! CHOKESLAM TO VADER! CHOKESLAM TO OWEN! CHOKESLAM TO DAVEY BOY! Sid and Shawn team up for a Rocket Launcher, breaking the match down. Shawn steals the tennis racket from Cornette and wallops Vader with it. It only gets two, so Shawn sets up for Sweet Chin Music. Cornette grabs his ankle, though, long enough for Vader to avalanche Shawn and finish him with the Vaderbomb (Pump Splash) at 24:31. Well, that saved Corny some burger money. After the match, the pissed-off faces feed Owen and Davey Boy to Sid for him to powerbomb. Vader escapes, so Shawn SKIES over the top in a plancha and pummels Vader. Well, that sets up Summerslam pretty nicely. The match was perfect formula and 4 out of the 6 guys are pretty good workers, and the other two were incredibly over, so this was outstanding. ****1/4
  • The 411: You probably could just get a list of the match-ups and know how this was going to turn out qualitywise. As with a lot of the WWF in 1996, the undercard is horrible, but Shawn usually puts on a great show in the main event. This was no exception. The main event is just enough to squeak out a recommendation, despite a boring undercard.

    Very mild thumbs up for International Incident.

     
    Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]  legend

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