wrestling / Video Reviews
Leighty’s Retro Review – WWF In Your House: Ground Zero
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...-Date: Sept 7, 1997
-Location: Louisville Gardens, Louisville, KY
-Announce Team: Vince McMahon, Jerry “The King” Lawler, and Jim Ross
-Attendance: 4963
-PPV Buys: 126,000
-WWE was in the process of playing down and then phasing out the In Your House name, but the “house set” was still present here. This is also the first In Your House show to clock in at 3 hours (well, 2 hours 50 minutes) as WWE decided to match WCW with each PPV clocking in at that length.
-Video package for Goldust/Pillman as that feud continues. Pillman claims that Dustin’s daughter, Dakota, is his love child. The stakes are if Pillman loses he is gone from the WWF forever and if Goldust loses, Marlena becomes his slave for 30 days.
Goldust (w/ Marlena) vs. Brian Pillman
-Goldust blitzes Pillman on the floor before the bell and hits an inverted atomic drop back in the ring. He punches away in the corner with the 10 punch count that the fans always love. Vince and JR mention that Pillman and Terri did have a relationship before Terri married Dustin. Lawler makes sure to work in every joke he can about Marlena being one to get around. Pillman lands a shot and goes out after Marlena, but Goldust catches him and hits a stungun on the security railing. This is already better than their SummerSlam match! Back in the ring they exchange chops and forearms. Pillman yells to the crowd he will show them a bulldog. Apparently Goldust was listening as he blocks and throws Pillman balls first on the top rope. They fight up. The ramp and Goldust gets a suplex on the steel grated ramp. Back to ringside where Pillman gets his balls abused on the ring post and then gets his knee wrapped around the post. Goldust works the knee and ankle which plays off Pillman’s well documented injury history. Goldust looks for the bulldog, but Pillman shoves off as they’re 0 for 2 on bulldogs attempts. The crowd is all over Pillman as they are way into this show. It may be a small crowd, but they are making a ton of noise. Pillman gets dropped with an Electric Chair as the crowd rallies Goldust. Pillman lands an elbow in the corner and heads up top. Goldust hits the ropes causing Pillman to fall on his junk. Goldust tosses Pillman off the top and he splats on the security railing. Marlena lands a slap on the floor which should have been a DQ and thankfully McMahon notes the ref is letting things go to explain the lack of a DQ. Goldust preps for a superplex, but Pillman shoves off and tries a missile dropkick that Goldust avoids. The ref gets bumped as Goldust hits The Curtain Call which means there is no ref to make the count. Marlena gets on the apron and tries to hit Pillman with her purse, but Pillman steals it and decks Goldust. That gets him the pin at 11:05.
Winner: Brian Pillman via pin at 11:05
-Much better than what they gave us last month with a crazy, hot crowd. The rumor is that the story was going to be Marlena turning on Goldust, but sadly, Pillman passed away the next month. **1/2
-Pillman drags Marlena away after the match which has Lawler excited and JR disgusted. Goldust gives chase, but I mean, a deal is a deal I guess.
-Pillman drives off with Marlena as Goldust tries to stop him, but no dice. Back at the commentary table Lawler opens up Marlena’s purses and inside is a brick.
-To the back as Goldust is destroying things and curses at the cameraman before chasing him out of the room.
Scott Putski vs. Brian Christopher
-This is the early stages of WWE bringing a Light Heavyweight Division to try to compete with WCW. It didn’t go so well! The running gag is that Lawler and Christoper are denying they are father and son while everyone else knows the deal. Sadly, we have another person involved tonight that would pass away far too young with Brian. The crowd starts a “Jerry’s Kid” chant as Christopher stalls. Wonder where he got that from? Putski hits a clothesline in the corner and then a dropkick sends Brian to the floor. Back in the ring Christopher gets a side headlock and hits a clothesline. Weak kicks followed by a slam and Christopher heads up top. He gets caught coming down with a fist to the gut. Pustki gets a Rana for two. Clothesline is ducked and Christopher hits The Skull Crushing Finale (years before Miz made it famous). Putski back with another slam, but Christopher dumps him with a release German Suplex. He dumps Putski to the floor and follows with a slingshot crossbody. Putski destroys his knee catching Christopher and he gets counted out to finish this match at 4:36.
Winner: Brian Christopher via count-out/ref stoppage at 4:36
-They were having a decent match until it came to a sudden stop due to Putski’s injury. Replay shows that his knee got pinned under him and that sucks for the kid. *1/2
-Lawler cuts a promo after the match to fill some time as the refs and medics check on Putski. He gets stretchered to the back.
Savio Vega vs. Faarooq vs. Crush
-This match had been building all summer since The Nation of Domination splintered off with Savio and Crush each getting their own faction. They start brawling at the bell and it settles to Faarooq and Savio working over Crush. He ducks a clothesline and drops both men with one. He misses a charge in the corner and Savio gets a roll-up, but Faarooq breaks the cover. Faarooq uses his belt, but Crush takes it away and smacks Faarooq with it. They take turn getting covers with each other man breaking up the fall. Faarooq hits Crush in the pineapples and that sends him to the floor. Savio gets planted with a spinebuster for two. Savio rams Faarooq’s face in the mat, but Crush breaks up the pin attempt. Powerslam on Faarooq gets two as Savio saves. All three men start punching each other from a kneeling position. Crush rams their heads together for another two count. Savio hits a super kick on Crush and throws chops in the corner on Faarooq. He gets caught running in with a boot to the face. Crush back and he chokes Faarooq over the middle rope. Savio tries a splash, but that hits knees. That lets Faarooq get a cover, but Crush stops that. Crush hooks a chinlock and JR buries that strategy on commentary. I agree! Faarooq comes off the top with a flying head butt to break and that gets two. Faarooq talks trash to someone in the front row and gets caught with an Electric Chair Drop from Crush for two. Savio with a dropkick to Crush, but gets caught with an atomic drop and clothesline for two. Savio tries a neckbreaker and it’s awful as he slides off and Faarooq takes the move anyway. Yikes! Lawler entertains himself with jokes about what Pillman is doing with Marlena. Crush gets a backbreaker on Savio for two. He and Faarooq team up to him a double suplex and they both go for the cover. No dice though as the ref just stares at them. Savio gets dumped to the floor so Faarooq and Crush can settle things. Savio in and then right back out and then back in again. The crowd is over this match as this point! Faarooq with a slam and Savio breaks up the fall which draws some boos. Now Savio and Crush decide to work together as they hit an ugly spike piledriver. Crush sends Savio to the floor and catches Faarooq with a heart punch, but Savio is back with a spinning heel kick on Crush for the win at 11:39.
Winner: Savio Vega via pin at 11:39
-Not a fan of this one as it was disjointed and had some rough moments. It seemed a lot longer than 12 minutes as well. 1/2*
El Torito vs. Max Mini
-Torito gets a quick takedown, but Mini flips back up and snaps off a head scissors. He springs off the middle rope and gets caught, but flies around and gets another head scissors that sends Torito to the floor. Max hits a dive that gives the loudest reaction of the night. The crowd is loving every second of this match. Back inside Torito gets in a shot and gets booed out of the building. Slam from Torito but he misses a Senton. Mini controls the wrist, but Torito counters and bit’s Max on his ass. Kick to the gut from Torito and then another to the head. Charge in the corner misses and Max goes back to the wrist. Torito counters and goes back to bitting the ass. They do the spot with Mini complains to the ref and the bites him which pops the crowd. The ref chases Mini around the ring, so he hops on Lawler’s lap and puts on his crown. That’s great! The crowd starts a “Jerry’s Kid,” chant and JR is loving it. Torito flattens Mini in the ring and looks for approval from Lawler. He gores Mini a few times and drops a knee. Max gets tossed up and counters into a rana for two. Torito plants him with a powerbomb for two. Mini gets a sunset flip for two, but he can’t follow up. Torito gets a crucifix for two. Clothesline flips Torito, but a second one if avoided. Mini lands two clotheslines of his own and gets an arm drag. He gets another that sends Torito the floor and Mini gets an Asai Moonsault to again pop the crowd. Back in the ring Torito misses a splash in the corner and Mini comes off the top with a rana. Torito rolls through a victory roll and catches Mini with a kick. Another sunset flip from Mini and this time it finishes at 9:20.
Winner: Max Mini via pin at 9:20
-This was fun and the crowd enjoyed it. They worked in the spots you figured and Mini got to fly around the ring and pop the crowd. **3/4
-Back to SummerSlam as Austin gets his neck broken by Owen Hart on a botched piledriver. Austin wins the IC Title, but can’t wrestle so he gets suspended by Sgt. Slaughter and is ordered to forfeit his half of the WWF Tag Team Titles.
-Slaughter is in the ring with JR and he explains he owes what he is doing to all the fans here and at home. The crowd serenades him with “Slaughter Sucks,” chants. They bring the other half of the Tag Champions, Dude Love, out. Dude notes he could try to defend the Titles by himself, but that wouldn’t be right as Austin is the racehorse that brought him to the dance. He gives up his half of the Tag Titles. JR brings out Austin and yeah, the crowd loves him. Austin gives JR the double bird just because and then stares down Slaughter. He grabs the mic and tells Vince he will stomp his ass in the ground. Like anyone would pay to see that! Austin tells Slaughter the only one that knows if he is okay to wrestle is himself. He throws the belt at Slaughter’s feet and tells him to drop down and give him twenty. Slaughter picks up the belt as Austin continues to rant. He calls JR “fat ass” and Vince lets us know this is way out of line. Considering the things Vince did to JR over the years, being called “fat ass” is a walk in the park. JR tells Austin they want to see him healthy and wrestling for years to come. Austin responds by hitting a Stunner as Vince loses it on commentary. The crowd loves it though! Dude is able to back Austin up as officials hit the ring and Vince leaves the announce desk. Great segment here as the crowd loves Austin and this was the first rung on the ladder that lead to MSG when he stunned Vince McMahon. JR gets carried out as the crowd loudly chants for “Austin.”
-Owen Hart and The British Bulldog are backstage and Owen wants to see Austin thrown in jail and wants the IC Title back. For the time being though they will go take the Tag Titles back.
-Vince calls Austin a jackass and tells us he is being protected against himself. Lawler tells Vince if he keeps running his mouth Austin will come back and do to Vince what he did to JR. Sounds like money to me!
Fatal 4-Way: WWF Tag Team Titles: The Headbangers vs. The Godwins vs. The Legion of Doom vs. Owen Hart and The British Bulldog
-So with Austin and Dude forfeiting their Titles, this will crown new Champions. Vince plus the upcoming One Night Only PPV in The UK where Bulldog has to defend the European Title against Shawn Michaels. LOD gets to cut a promo backstage with Michael Cole. Elimination rules, the last team standing become new WWF Tag Champions! Thrasher and Henry start us out and they collide with neither man getting an advantage. Thrasher tags out to Phineas and Henry tags to Mosh. Lots of stalling before we finally gets a lockup. Mosh gets a hip-toss into an armdrag takeover. Vince talks about Marilyn Manson fashion to pass the time during this one. Animal gets the tag and the crowd finally wakes up, but Phineas bails to the floor to slow things down again. Great! Back in and Phineas makes a tag to Henry who pounds Animal down in the corner. Animal ducks a clothesline and they collide with nobody backing own. Vince actually names refers to referee Tim White by name, so it wasn’t always a no-no with him. More stalling and Henry makes a tag to Mosh. Animal gets a powerslam and tags Hawk. He comes off the top with a flying clothesline. Gorilla Press Throw by Hawk and he offers a tag to Owen or Bulldog, but they are smart enough to stay out of the match. Hawk decides to just push Bulldog in the face and I guess that counts as a tag. More stalling! It’s like they knew they needed this to fill time and they are doing whatever they can to make sure it does. These matches should have a faster pace with 8 people to work it. Owen gets the tag and gets caught with a press slam from Henry for two. Owen lands the HBK Killer for two. Animal back in and he gets dumped to the floor as he misses a clothesline. LOD chant as Phineas gets caught with a boot to the face coming off the middle rope. Hot tag to Hawk and he runs wild. Henry gets set-up for The Doomsday Device, but Phineas makes the save. The slop bucket gets brought it, but LOD grabs it first and they get disqualified for using it at around the 10:00 mark. There’s our LOD loss without them having to eat a pin! The Headbangers are now the faces in this match and hit some double team offense on one of The Godwins. Plancha/Stage Dive to the floor from Thrasher. Phineas misses a clothesline, but Henry low bridges Thrasher and he falls to the floor. Double backdrop from The Godwins. They try again and Thrasher gets a sunset flip to eliminate The Godwins at 12:48. Owen hits the ring and gets a gut-wrench suplex followed by a legdrop. USA chant from the crowd! For some reason Owen and Bulldog switched corners and are now in the corner that LOD was using. I assume so both teams weren’t on the same side of the ring. Owen hits a missile dropkick from the top as Vince complains Bulldog never made the tag to Owen. Thrasher with a crossbody for two, but Owen is right back on him. Neckbreaker gets two. Tag to Bulldog and we get a double clothesline to leave both men down. Each man makes a tag, but Mosh runs wild with right hands and dropkicks. Owen gets a trip from the floor, but a spinwheel kick accidentally hits Bulldog. Mosh heads up top and gets knocked to the floor by Bulldog so they battle out there with the ref trying to separate them. That brings out Austin to a monster pop and he Stuns Owen which lets The Headbangers get the pin and Titles at 17:19.
Winners and New WWF Tag Team Champions: The Headbangers via pin at 17:19
-Match was nothing until the final few minutes with The Headbangers vs Owen/Bulldog. I understand needing LOD in there for star power, but this was boring until they got involved and suffered until we got down to two teams. *
-The Headbangers are celebrating with fans.
-Jim Ross is being checked on in the back by Slaughter and goes on a cursed filled rant. “They can kiss my 3:16 ass and so can Stone Cold Steve Austin. I will tell you something else and you can tell Vince, if this shits happens again, my ass won’t be around here because I didn’t come here to get whipped or beat up.” Yet, this was just the beginning of JR being embarrassed and beaten up by various people in the WWE. Fun promo by JR though!
-Video package for our WWF Title Match between Bret Hart and The Patriot. Yep, Bret won the WWF Title a month ago and here he is defending the Title second from the top as he plays second banana to Shawn and Undertaker.
-The Patriot cuts a promo backstage with Sunny as they try to find anything for her to do. I mean, I don’t blame them because she was an absolute smoke show back in the day.
WWF Championship: Bret “The Hitman” Hart vs. The Patriot
-The Patriot is using the theme that would be recycled for Kurt Angle and it’s so weird because in my mind I can hear the “You Suck” chants even though they obviously aren’t there.
-Bret cuts a promo backstage with Michael Cole. Bret rants about the American fans that turned their backs on him. He is going to kick the crap out of this guy and will enjoy doing it.
-Bret gets booed out of the building other than a few girls shrieking as his makes his way down the ramp. This was set-up as they needed an American foil to go against Bret, so they bring in The Patriot from Global Wrestling fame. I watched a lot of Global on ESPN so I at least knew of The Patriot. My friends in High School had no clue and felt this was a waste as Patriot had no shot here. They weren’t wrong about having no shot. Bret attacks just before the bell and works Patriot over in the corner as a USA chant breaks out. Patriot reverses a whip to the corner and catches Bret coming out with a clothesline. Dropkick from The Patriot and a clothesline sends Bret over the top to the floor. Bret stalls on the floor but take a few glances at Vince at the announce table. I would only worry if Vince was near a time keeper if I was Bret! Back in the ring The Patriots starts to work on the arm. He hooks a hammerlock and throws Bret shoulder first into the top turnbuckle as Lawler names every single Hart child. Impressive! Bret gets to the corner to break and tries to get feeling back in his arm. Patriot wraps the arm around the top rope and gets admonished by the ref. Bret gets in a kick to the knee and now he has a body part to attack. He works the knee for a bit as the crowd is zoning out a little bit with this one. Lawler mentions Patriot got the match by being Bret in a non-title match on RAW in Pittsburgh. I was not there for that one. Bret goes to the ring-post assisted Figure Four to get the crowd back in the match and he makes sure to talk shit to Vince. Bulldog heads down to the ring and the crowd starts an Austin chant. Bret gets a backbreaker, but a suplex is blocked and Patriot gets one of his own. Sunset flip gets two which is then followed up with a DDT for two. Patriot misses a charge in the corner, but catches Bret with a right hand as he tried to come off the middle rope. Bulldog pulls the leg, but Bret gets run into Bulldog. A roll-up gets two for The Patriot. He connects with Uncle Slam which gets two as Bulldog put Bret’s leg on the bottom rope. Vader is down to take out Bulldog but he also beats the hell out of Bret including sending him into the stairs which should definitely be a DQ, but for some reason is not. Man, I guess you can say Bret is getting screwed here. They head back in the ring like nothing happened and Patriot gets a slam. He heads up top and connects with The Patriots Missile (shoulder) for two. Atomic Drop into a belly to back suplex gets two! Bret back with a stun-gun that drops Patriot on the middle rope instead of the top rope. Running bulldog followed by the middle rope elbow drop gets two. They start trading blows in the corner and the ref gets blasted with an elbow. Patriot hits another Uncle Slam, but the ref is late to get there and Bret gets his bottom foot on the rope. So really, Bret has been pinned twice in this one and also should have won by DQ since Vader beat his ass. Man, was Bret booked like crap following his Title win. Small package from Bret for two which is turned into one by The Patriot which also gets two. Bret takes his patented sternum first bump into the corner and he took this one with mustard. Patriot hooks a Sharpshooter and man, can you imagine Bret losing to his own hold. Even Vince is talking about how crazy that would be. Bret easily counters though and hooks The Sharpshooter as the crowd starts freaking out. They start a USA chant, but Patriot is done at 19:20.
Winner and Still WWF Champion: Bret “The Hitman” Hart via submission at 19:20
-Started slow but got really good. The stuff was Vader was weird though as that should have been a DQ ***1/2
-Bret gets in some shots on The Patriot after the match and uses the US Flag to choke him. He beats on The Patriot a bit more before finally taking his leave to many many boos.
-Lawer compares Patriot losing to the US losing The Vietnam War which has Vince wanting him tested for drugs.
-Backstage Cole catches up with Bret and Bulldog and they pimp wrestling in front of better fans in The UK. I guess I am going to have to do that show after Fall Brawl!
-Video package covering all the stuff Taker has dealt with this year between Mankind feud, Paul Bearer talking about Kane, and then Shawn blasting him with the chair last month which ended his WWF Title reign. On RAW, Shawn did it again, but this time there was no questioning his intent and now Taker is pissed!
-Shawn cuts a promo backstage and lets us know he is too jacked up to rest. I tend to believe that!
Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker
-Shawn’s ring pyro doesn’t go off at the right time and he handles as maturely as you would expect. Vince notes that must be a bad omen! This is the first one on one meeting between these two which is something that happened a good bit with Taker as guys that had been there a long time, you soon realized never faced him. Chris Jericho is another example and even things like Cena and Taker being kept away from each other for years. As noted Taker is PISSED and Shawn hides behind the ref, so Taker just punches him in the face and it sucks to be Shawn right now. Shawn bails to the floor and tells Vince, “you can forget this,” and starts walking up the aisle. Slaughter is out to stop Shawn and back inside the ring, Taker throws the ref to the floor on Shawn. Taker stalks Shawn as he beats his ass up the ramp and we get a great visual with the old House set as Shawn crawls to the door and frantically knocks to try to escape. Taker beats on him some more and hits a Gorillas Press Slam on the steel ramp and then tosses Shawn in the decorative flower beds. Shawn gets nailed with a bunch and flops ass over heels the entire way down the ramp. This is fantastic and also shows, that Shawn did bump like this way even in matches that didn’t involve Hulk Hogan. I mean, it may have been a little more with Hogan, but he is still bouncing around like a ball here. Right hand sends Shawn flying on an announce table and then another one has him falling onto the security rail. For those wondering the match still hasn’t started yet. They finally get back in the ring and Taker wrecks Shawn with a clothesline. He drops an elbow and another and goes for a cover, but there is no ref. Well, he has nobody to blame but himself. Shawn sent into the corner with force as he flips over the top to the floor and now Henbar is out as the ref for the match. Shawn begs for Hebnar to DQ Taker, but no dice and Shawn uses the distraction from the new ref to rush in for a chop block. Now we have a bell! He works Taker over in the corner with punches, but Taker punches off and looks for a chokeslam. Shawn goes to the eyes to stop that and heads up top, but Taker catches him with a right hand on the way down. Shawn gets bounced over the top to the floor. Shawn tries a sunset flip back in, but Taker lifts him off the mat with a choke and slams him down. Just one of those days for Shawn! Another whip and Shawn gets hung up on the top and Taker kicks away as Shawn flies all over the place. He ends up getting crotched and bounced around on the top rope for a bit. Taker gets the first cover and only for two. Taker goes to work on the arm as he tries to rip it out of the socket. He drops a leg on the arm and goes for Old School, but Shawn kicks the ropes causing Taker to land zombies first on the top rope. Shawn kicks Taker to the floor and connects with a baseball slide. He tries to slingshot out, but Taker catches him and runs him back first into the post. He gives Shawn another one for good measure! Back in the ring Taker gets a low blow and then starts working the back. Backdrop sends Shawn into the heavens and that gets two. Shawn tries to leave again, but Taker just pull him back in the ring by his pants which lets Shawn show off his ass. Taker sets too early on a backdrop and Shawn gets a desperation swinging neck breaker. Taker just sits up though and Shawn bails to the floor. The story of this match is absolutely genius when you know what it leads to the following month. Shawn grabs a chair and Taker isn’t having that as he lands a boot to the face. He goes to use the chair, but the ref stops that. Shawn hits a dropkick that sends Taker into the ref and now he is down. Shawn unloads with right hands before heading up top. He connects with a beautiful elbow drop and decides to hit another one. Still have three more to go if he wants to match Savage at Mania VII. Hebnar crawls over for the count, but Taker is out at two. Rick Rude is out and he tosses Shawn a pair of brass knuckles and the crowd is heated. Shawn decks Taker as Rude takes his leave. Hebnar can’t make the count, so Shawn kicks him in the head. A third ref is out and Taker is out at two. HHH and Chyna are here and they take out the third ref. Taker gets dumped to the floor where HHH gets in some shots before he and Chyna send Taker into the ring stairs. Again, all this plays into what would be needed the following month, which we didn’t know at the time, but makes perfect sense now. Shawn decks Hebnar again and goes back to working over Taker. They start exchanging rights in the middle of the ring and Taker gets sent to the floor with a clothesline. He lands on his feet, but HHH hits him from behind. Taker no sells a shot from Chyna, but Shawn saves as he comes off the top with a double axe. He uses cable cord to choke Taker as Hunter unloads with right hands. The camera picks up some of the things being yelled at Hunter from the front row and yeah, it’s not complimentary. Back in the ring Taker blocks Sweet Chin Music and beats on Shawn in the corner. Taker pulls the brass knuckles out of Shawn’s tights and decks him with them. Hunter gets blasted off the apron. Taker gets a cover, but the ref is still slow to get there and Shawn is out at two. Taker has had enough and choke slams the ref as this is becoming hilarious! Shawn ducks a clothesline, but not a second one. Our fourth ref, Tim White, is out and he calls for the bell to disqualify both men at 16:01.
No Winner via Double DQ at 16:01
-This a fantastic brawl and when rating it you have to take into consideration what happened before the bell and after the bell as it all tells the story here. These two just couldn’t have a bad match apparently (not counting the DX/BOD Tag Match) and this only set the stage for the next month. ****1/4
-We aren’t done though as Taker decks Hunter which lets Shawn hit Sweet Chin Music and that gets Taker tied in the ropes like Andre. Another ref gets blasted as Shawn grabs a chair. Taker lands a kick to the face and escapes the ropes. Hunter eats a Tombstone as Shawn kicks an official. This utter chaos and it is awesome! Now wrestlers from the back hit the ring to try to separate the two and they are able to back Taker to the ropes. Taker escapes and hits the plancha over the top onto Shawn and a pile of other wrestlers to pop the crowd. That was awesome! Shawn, Hunter, and Chyna bail as Taker stands tall with a chair in hand as his music plays.
-Thanks
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