Hall’s WWF In Your House: It’s Time Review

In Your House #12: It’s Time
Date: December 15, 1996
Location: West Palm Beach Auditorium, West Palm Beach, Florida
Attendance: 5,708
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Vince McMahon

So here we have a weird one as the show is named after Vader, who isn’t on the card due to an injury. Therefore, the main event is Sid defending his newly won WWF Title against Bret Hart, which should be a good one. Other than that…well there isn’t much, which was the case with a lot of these shows. Let’s get to it.

Free For All: Rocky Maivia vs. Salvatore Sincere

This is from the Kickoff Show, Jim Cornette is here with Sincere and Maivia is brand new. Before the match, Sincere mocks the crowd, but insists he’s being sincere. A hammerlock sends Sincere over to the ropes to start and Maivia spins out of Sincere’s wristlock as well. We get three straight headlock takeovers into the headscissor counter before they trade shots to the face. Maivia is fired up and grabs an armdrag into an armbar as he’s still sticking with the basics.

Some right hands in the corner take too long and Sincere knocks him down, setting up a middle rope clothesline for two. We go split screen to hear Paul Bearer promise that the Executioner will be giving the Undertaker the Asiatic Spike. Mankind adds a poem and we come back to full screen for a double clothesline. Maivia is back up with a powerslam for two into the high crossbody but Sincere rolls through for two of his own. Sincere’s charge hits the post and Maivia loads up the shoulder breaker, which draws in Cornette for the DQ at 6:00.

Rating: C-. Yeah Maivia is still new around here but this was a boring match with a lame ending. Sincere was pretty much a nobody and it was a stretch to have him just take a DQ loss over getting pinned. Just not much to see here, as it was clear that they knew Maivia had potential but there was nothing in the way of presentation.

The opening video focuses on Bret Hart coming after the WWF Title and how he has to take out Sid to get there. Sid laughs and yells a lot.

Leif Cassidy vs. Flash Funk

Oh yeah it’s one of those shows. Funk has the Funkettes with him and come over to dance with Vince McMahon, who of course is right there with them. After a minute of circling each other and yelling, they lock up until Cassidy takes him down into a headlock. Funk reverses into a wristlock and drops a leg on the arm, setting up the armbar. A flying mare drops Cassidy and Funk is right back with the armbar to keep Cassidy down.

Something like a Whisper In The Wind sets up…another armbar, just in case it was getting interesting. Back up and a hurricanrana is countered into a powerbomb, leaving Ross to mock Lawler’s lack of athletic abilities. Cassidy strong grapples him and hits up + B for the arm trap headbutts before sending Funk outside. The flip dive to the floor lets Cassidy run down the aisle for a clothesline.

Back in and we hit the chinlock before Funk flips out of a powerbomb, dances, and hits a standing dropkick. A very nice sitout spinebuster plants Funk right back and we hit a nasty camel clutch dragon sleeper. JR doesn’t think much of the execution, which is let go rather quickly anyway. Cassidy misses a moonsault and a superkick, allowing Funk to kick him out to the floor. Funk hits a big dive to the floor as Vince tries to dub him FLYING Flash Funk. A moonsault gives Funk two and they trade rollups for two each. Funk splashes him in the corner and the 450 finishes at 10:33.

Rating: C+. This was a weird case where it was a pretty action packed match and the stuff looked good, but the two of them mean so little that the fans were just eerily silent. Funk was a heck of a talented athlete but he wasn’t getting anywhere as the unnamed pimp. On the other hand you had Cassidy, who finally got somewhere as Al Snow.

Tag Team Titles: Diesel/Razor Ramon vs. Owen Hart/British Bulldog

Yes it’s Fake Diesel/Fake Razor challenging and therefore that means Heel JR, which was just such a terrible period. Before the match, Hart and Bulldog say they are NOT worried about Steve Austin being here and promise to keep the titles. Hart and Diesel start things off with Hart’s right hands in the corner being shoved away as JR takes shots at WCW.

Cue Cibernetico and Pierroth from AAA to watch as Diesel clotheslines Hart out to the floor. Bulldog and Ramon come in to trade arm control as you can see fans getting up to do something else. Cue Steve Austin to walk around ringside so Bulldog goes outside to jump him. Somehow that isn’t a DQ so Austin is taken to the back and Ramon punches Bulldog down. That lasts all of three seconds before it’s off to Hart, who actually gets gets dropped with a clothesline.

Hart hits a missile dropkick but Diesel low bridges him to the floor, where Hart gets posted. Back in and Ramon slaps him in the back of the head before Diesel hits the side slam. It’s not even one that goes around in a circle, because these guys are just that bad. The neck crank goes on for a bit, followed by Diesel’s big boot for two.

The fans are all over Diesel, as somehow the Bulldog and Hart are the crowd favorites. Hart finally hits the enziguri and brings in Bulldog to clean house like he’s a star against two schnooks. Everything breaks down and Diesel posts himself by mistake. Hart’s spinwheel kick breaks up the Razor’s Edge and Bulldog gets the rollup to retain at 10:47.

Rating: D+. It’s a bad sign when you need smoke and mirrors to get the fans to care about this kind of a match, but they didn’t have another chance. Fake Diesel and Ramon were just TERRIBLE and easily one of the dumbest ideas the company has ever presented. The fans didn’t care and they knew how bad this was, which makes it all the more frustrating that they were getting a title shot on pay per view. Hart and Bulldog were trying, but there was only so much they could do here. Also, what in the world did Pierroth and Cibernetico add here?

Post match JR goes on a rant about the officiating and here is Steve Austin again to chop block Bulldog.

Here is Ahmed Johnson, who is almost ready to come back from an injury. He talks about how he has lost everything and all he has left are the fans. Cue the Nation Of Domination in the crowd, with Faarooq calling him an Uncle Tom and promising a beating at the Royal Rumble by any means necessary. Johnson does his YOU’RE GOING DOWN chant and that’s it. I remember watching this at 7 years old and thinking the feud was going on forever.

We recap Hunter Hearst Helmsley defending the Intercontinental Title against Marc Mero. Helmsley views the title as a status symbol while Mero wants to win it because he wants to be the best. They’ve been fighting on and off for months, with Helmsley beating him for the title thanks to interference from Mr. Perfect, his secret accomplice. Therefore, it’s time for Mero to try to get it back.

Intercontinental Title: Marc Mero vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley

Mero, with Sable, is challenging and they go face to face to start. JR: “They’re nose to nose and that gives Helmsley the advantage.” Mero takes him down by the arm to start and then grabs a hiptoss. A running clothesline puts Helmsley on the floor but he’s smart enough to move before the dive. That’s fine with Mero, who ax handles him from the apron anyway.

Helmsley sends Mero into the steps to take over as JR talks about Helmsley being court martialed at a military school when he was 12. McMahon thinks that would have to be an unsavory individual, which is funny as it’s an inside joke about something that happened to McMahon himself. The referee takes the chair away from Helmsley, who settles for a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two, with the referee being out of position. The abdominal stretch goes on, though Sable points out that Helmsley is using the ropes.

Helmsley yells at the referee….who yells right back and shouts him down into the corner in a funny bit. Mero gets a boot up to stop a diving nothing as JR and McMahon keep up their annoying (yet marginally funny) sniping. Mero gets in a nice flying clothesline and a headscissors gets two. The super hurricanrana brings Helmsley down but he shoves the referee into the ropes to break up the Wild Thing.

A catapult into the corner gives Mero a delayed two, as does the spinning top rope moonsault press. Mero clotheslines the referee by mistake and gets taken down by a neckbreaker. The belt shot misses and it’s a rollup for a rather delayed two. Back up and Helmsley is sent over the top for the crash to the floor, with Mero hitting the big flip dive. Cue Goldust to hit both of them with the belt, leaving only Mero to beat the count at 13:14.

Rating: B-. The lame ending brings it down a bit but otherwise it was a good match. Helmsley was starting to get it together at this point and you could see the potential. At the same time you had Mero, whose athleticism was more than enough to carry him. I still think he could have been a bigger deal, but there was only so much he could do when Sable became such a big star.

Post match Mero throws him back in for the Wild Thing and holds up the title. With Mero gone, Goldust beats up Helmsley again, apparently due to something Helmsley said to Marlena earlier tonight. This set up perhaps my all time least favorite match between the two of them at the Royal Rumble.

Earlier today, Shawn Michaels jumped Sid on Superstars. Bret Hart got involved and was distracted by Shawn, allowing Sid to jump Hart from behind.

Sid tells Michaels to stay out of his business. If he doesn’t believe it, ask Jose Lothario. Sid does the “Shawn beat Bret, I beat Shawn, I can beat Bret logic” to wrap it up.

Undertaker vs. Executioner

This is Armageddon Rules (basically a Texas Death match, meaning anything goes and after a fall, your opponent has a ten count to get up and only loses when he can’t do so) and Executioner (Terry Gordy under a mas and basically unable to do anything due to health issues and here as little more than a favor) has Paul Bearer with him. We get a recap, which is basically about Executioner being Bearer’s hired goon to beat the Undertaker, who wants revenge for being buried alive earlier this year (as you often do).

Undertaker slugs away to start and gives him a backdrop before sending him into the corner. You can see Undertaker waiting for Executioner to do something but since that won’t be happening, Undertaker kicks him in the ribs instead. Executioner comes back with some forearms and avoids an elbow drop. Undertaker goes after Bearer and gets jumped, which doesn’t make much of a difference.

The floor mats are peeled back but here is Mankind…who completely misses his chop block and has to get back up to interfere in a funny bit. Back in and a double clothesline drops Undertaker, which just makes him mad. They brawl up the aisle, with Undertaker throwing Mankind through the window of the set. Undertaker tosses Mankind through the door and they move the rest of the house set around, which can’t be good.

They get back inside where Executioner continues throwing right hands, which is about the extent of his offense. Security comes in to mace Mankind so Undertaker takes Executioner through the house set and into the backstage area. They head up some steps and through some doors but we don’t have a camera up there, so we cut back to the ring where Mankind has been put in a straitjacket.

We cut outside where Executioner is knocked down the side of the building and into the water, leaving Undertaker to come back to the ring. Undertaker beats up the still restrained Mankind but here is Executioner, literally tripping wet. The Tombstone finishes Executioner and he can’t beat the ten count at 11:30.

Rating: D-. And that’s being generous. While it absolutely was NOT Executioner’s fault given his health issues, this was absolutely sad to see as Executioner went from an incredible talent to someone who could barely walk around. Mankind was went out there to try to get anything out of this but all the insanity couldn’t save them. Awful match, but much more sad than bad.

Bret Hart is ticked off about this morning’s brawl with Sid and Shawn Michaels…but gets cut off by Shawn’s entrance music. You can imagine how happy he is about this.

WWF Title: Bret Hart vs. Sid

Sid, with his still awesome name in pyro entrance, is defending and Shawn Michaels is on commentary. Hart jumps him from behind to start (Michaels: “Bret, being the upstanding citizen that he is, jumped him from behind. What a guy!”) and stomps away in the corner. That’s cut off by a clothesline but Hart kicks away to cut off a backdrop attempt. They go outside, which absolutely goes to Sid, with Hart immediately taking over as they go back inside. Hart starts in on the back and hits a backbreaker, which slows Sid down even more.

We hit the reverse chinlock with a knee in the back before Hart stomps away in the corner. The turnbuckle pad is removed but Sid blocks the ram. A belly to back suplex gives Hart two and the Russian legsweep sets up the middle rope elbow to the back. Sid is up with the right hands and big boot, followed by the powerslam as Sid continues to keep it basic. Hart is right back with a knockdown and tries the Sharpshooter but gets kicked outside.

Cue Steve Austin to go after Hart’s knee, which draws out Owen Hart and the British Bulldog to get rid of him. Back in and Hart limps around so Sid stomps away before managing to avoid being rammed into the exposed buckle. The second attempt doesn’t work either, as Hart misses a charge into the buckle himself. The chokeslam gets two so Hart heads outside to grab a chair. Sid throws him back in and shoves Michaels down before heading inside. Michaels gets on the apron and Hart is whipped into him, allowing Sid to hit the powerbomb and retain at 17:05.

Rating: B-. Sid isn’t remembered all that well, but he won the title by beating Michaels one month and then beat Hart to retain it the next month. That puts him in some pretty awesome company and as usual, he knew how to do the basics rather well. Commentary kept pointing that out, as he didn’t try to do anything too fancy and it still worked. Don’t make this more complicated than it needs to be and everything often goes fine.

Post match Hart beats up Michaels as Sid celebrates to end the show.

We’re not done yet though as there were some post show dark matches. Apparently Brakkus beat Dr. X. in a match which shockingly isn’t available as far as I can find (it might have been a regular pre-show dark match but sources vary on if it was before or after the pay per view). We do have these two matches though, which aired to wrap up the night.

Dark Match: Steve Austin vs. Goldust

Marlena is here with Goldust. Austin is still figuring out the a lot of the Stone Cold stuff and doesn’t even have the black wrist tape. Goldust takes him into the corner to start and gets a mostly clean break, save for Austin getting in a quick spank. It works so well that they reverse rolls and do the same thing before trading wristlocks. Goldust blocks the Thesz press (might not have been on purpose) so Austin whips him hard into the corner.

A snapmare sets up the chinlock but Goldust is right back with the drop down uppercut. Goldust pulls him out of the corner and grabs a reverse chinlock (oh yeah it’s a dark match all right), followed by a quickly broken sleeper. Austin’s running crotch attack in the rope misses though and we’re off to another chinlock. They head outside where Goldust has to knock away Marlena’s director’s chair, only for Austin to get in a low blow. Goldust fights back but cue HHH for a cheap shot, allowing Austin to hit the Stunner (no kick) for the pin at 8:38.

Rating: C. Yeah not their best work here, but again, it’s a match after the pay per view is over. Austin was starting to put things together, but it’s like a prototype of what was to come. The problem is when you take away a lot of the intensity, it doesn’t exactly work as well. Not much to see here, but again, it’s not something that’s supposed to be great.

Dark Match: Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind

Paul Bearer is here with Mankind. Michaels throws a drink at Mankind in the ropes to start and does not look too thrilled about being out there. The beating starts on the floor before they head inside, with Michaels pounding him down in the corner. A discus clothesline gets Mankind out of trouble though and he stomps away, followed by a baseball slide to the floor.

Back in and the running knee in the corner hits Michaels again but the Mandible Claw is blocked. Instead Michaels pounds away and comes back with the flying forearm. He nips right into the Claw though, meaning they have to crash out to the floor. Michaels rams him head first into the post at few times, followed by a top rope ax handle back inside. Bearer tries to give Mankind the Urn but it lets Michaels hit the superkick for the quick pin at 6:54.

Rating: C. Well they can’t all be the Mind Games masterpiece. This was the definition of “send them home happy” as the fans get to see a star beating someone who gave him trouble a few months ago. Michaels was hardly trying here and while it wasn’t awful, it’s not something either of them are probably going to want to bring up again.

 

Results
Rocky Maivia b. Salvatore Sincere via DQ when Jim Cornette interfered
Flash Funk b. Leif Cassidy – 450
Owen Hart/British Bulldog b. Diesel/Razor Ramon – Rollup to Ramon
Marc Mero b. Hunter Hearst Helmsley via countout
Undertaker b. Executioner – Tombstone
Sid b. Bret Hart – Powerbomb
Steve Austin b. Goldust – Stunner
Shawn Michaels b. Mankind – Sweet Chin Music

 

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5.5

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

The wrestling was ok, but you could absolutely tell that this show did not matter in the least, which is probably why it did terrible business. The fans knew it wasn’t important and only Sid vs. Hart felt even remotely big. Undertaker vs. Executioner is horrible and Mero vs. Helmsley is hardly either guy’s best work or even close to it. This was a show that most people would probably forget by Tuesday and given what happened here, that’s far from surprising. It’s not the worst, but it’s one of the least interesting ever.