wrestling / Video Reviews
Leighty’s Retro Review: WWF In Your House: International Incident
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...-We continue our run through 1996 and a seismic shift happened as two weeks before this show, WCW went Oppenheimer on WWF with Hulk Hogan being the third man with Hall and Nash and thus the nWo was born. I did a review of that show two years ago to celebrate it’s 25th anniversary and you can find that here. The WWF countered with a six man tag match of their own as this show was basically a place holder to SummerSlam. Let’s get to it!
-Announce Team: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler, and Jim Ross
-Date: July 21, 1996
-GM Palace, Vancouver, BC, Canada
-Attendance: 14804
-PPV Buys: 99,000
Non Title: The Smoking Gunns (w/ Sunny) vs. The Body Donnas
-The Gunns are the tag champions, but the titles are not on the line. Thankfully, no Cloudy with The Body Donnas! The camera is making sure to give us plenty of views of Sunny’s ass in her cut-off jeans. The Donnas start quick and clear the ring, so The Gunns regroup on the floor with Sunny. The crowd starts what sounds like a “buns of steel,” chant. Crazy Canuckers! Bart and Zip start us proper. They take turns trading arm drags as JR talks about The Vancouver Grizzlies. Yes, for those wondering, the current Memphis Grizzlies used to play in Vancouver! BIG COUNTRY (someone will get that reference)! Billy in and so is Skip as the crowd chants for Sunny. Again, that was the issue as she over shadowed every team she managed. Billy gets a rocker-dropper to a good pop. Billy misses a charge in the corner and Skips gets an arm-drag. JR says there is no team quicker than The Donnas and Vince brings up The Godwins. JR is at a loss for words with that. Sunny fakes passing out and then slaps Skip in the face when he comes to her aid. The Gunns blast him as Sunny bounces around excited. Billy drops Skip face first on the apron and that gets two back inside the ring. Heavy whip into the corner from Bart and then another. More camera cuts to Sunny! Skip tries to come off the top, but gets caught with a power slam on the way down. The Gunns completely botch a spot as Billy can’t boost himself over Bart to land on Skip and the crowd actually laughs at them. They figure things out and sucker Zip into the ring so they can work over Skip in the corner. Skip gets abused in the corner some more and eats a catapult into the bottom rope. Lawler makes jokes about Skip’s height to amuse himself. Bart and Skip botch something again, so they repeat and Skip gets a roll-up for two and then a body press, but gets run down by a shoulder. Billy heads up top and lands balls first on Skip’s knee to leave both men down. Hot tag made to Zip and Bart is in as well. Zip runs wild for all the little zippers, but gets tripped by Billy from the floor. Bart preps for The Sidewinder, but no Billy as he is with Sunny yelling at Skip. That lets Skip come off the top with a dropkick that puts Zip on top for the pin at 13:06.
Winner: The Body Donnas via pin at 13:06
-There were some decent parts in here, but it was just too long and dull. They also seemed to mess up a few things which didn’t help. 3/4*
-Mr. Perfect is backstage with Camp Cornette and we see footage from The Free For All where Jose got into it with Jim Cornette. According to Cornette, Jose pulled a switchblade on him. Cornette has promised to refund everyone who bought the show at home or paid for a ticket if Camp Cornette loses. Well, I mean the logic is a heel so he can say he lied, but that pretty much gives away who is winning tonight.
Mankind vs. Henry Godwin (w/ Hillbilly Jim)
-This was supposed be Mankind vs. Jake Roberts, but he’s not here so HOG is the replacement. Lawler makes drunk jokes to bury Jake on commentary. Henry calls out to the hogs and gets blasted from behind for it. Mankind stomps away in the corner and gets a head butt to the abdomen. Godwin back with a power slam and a clothesline that sends Mankind to the floor. Lockup and Mankind goes to the eyes. Vince notes that Henry is missing some teeth. Hope that never happens to Mankind! Jerry makes some Bill Clinton jokes on commentary as Henry gets a double leg from the corner, but gets caught with a kick to the stomach. Elbow to the face drops Henry and Mankind follows with a bulldog and elbow drop. Running knee in the corner to the face! Mankind drops the leg on the apron and then pulls the mats away from the floor to expose the concrete. Swinging neckbreaker on the concrete as Lawler notes it may have hurt Mankind more. Henry fights back, but gets caught in the corner with a clothesline. Mankind misses a charge in the corner with impressive force. Clothesline from Godwin pops the crowd. Mankind sucks Henry in and dumps him to the floor. Mankind gets slammed from the apron to the concrete floor as JR screams about his back being broken. Patience JR! Back in the ring Godwin goes for the Slop Drop, but Mankind hangs on the ropes to counter and gets The Mandible Claw and the ref ends it at 6:53.
Winner: Mankind via submission at 6:53
-Should have been more of a SQUASH. *
-The Body Donnas are with Brian Pillman on The Superstar Line and he mentions The Donnas want to double team Sunny. Brian Pillman, man! Vince apologizes for the remarks while Lawler pops for the comment.
”Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs. “The Wild Man” Marc Mero (w/ Sable)
-This is a rematch from last month where Austin beat Mero in the semi-finals of The King of The Ring Tournament. Austin got kicked in the mouth during the match and needed sixteen stitches to close the wound. So we are one month post Austin 3:16 and only one sign in the crowd. Again, it was a gradual build over the summer and into the fall with Bret before things really started to take off for Austin. Watching Austin with a logo on the back of his tights is weird after years of the all black trunks. Fast start as Mero controls the arm and gets a two count. Mero drops a leg on the arm and goes back to a wrist-lock. Austin escapes and gets a side headlock into a pin for two. Mero back with a head scissors and Austin is able to fight his way out and flips over for a two count. Mero bridges up and they fight over a backslide, so Austin just knees him in the gut. Effective! Mero starts throwing jabs and lands a right hand that sends Austin to the floor. Austin chases after Sable which lets Mero come off the apron with a double axe. Roll-up gets two for Mero, but Austin fakes having his mouth split open and pokes Mero in the eye. The crowd cheers Austin for cheating to win! On the floor Austin gets a catapult that sends Mero into the ring post. Austin chokes Mero on the apron and then just runs him off into the railing on the floor. Austin drops the elbow from the middle rope for two! Back elbow is followed by a modified camel clutch. Austin uses the middle rope to choke again and then slaps Mero around a little bit. Austin grabs a side headlock, but gets dropped balls first on the top rope. Things seem a little clunky as they seem unsure of what to do in the corner and then they nearly kill themselves trying to avoid falling over the top to the floor off an apparent stun-gun that was to be countered. Marlena and her usher head down and hand Lawler a note. Mero comes off the apron with a moonsault and gets a sling-shot splash back into the ring for two. Mero gets some mounted punches in the corner but gets tossed balls first on the top rope. Stunner is blocked and Mero gets a sling-shot legdrop for two. Austin clips the knee and hits The Stunner for the pin at 10:48 to a good pop.
Winner: “Stone Cold” Steve Austin via pin at 10:48
-Solid match here, but the one last month was better. There were some clunky spots, but the important thing was following up with Austin and giving him another win. **3/4
Goldust (w/ Marlena) vs. The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer)
-These two faced off at Beware of Dog 2 in a Casket Match as Taker was still feuding with Mankind, but had this run with Goldust in between. Lawler is still making drunk jokes at the expense of Jake Roberts. Lots of stalling from Goldust as he doesn’t want to get in the ring. He finally gets in and hides behind the ref for a bit. They have a staring contest and Taker lands the first shot with a right hand, so Goldust bails to the floor and regroups with Marlena. He teases walking out on the match to anger the crowd. He demands the ref get Taker back so he can get into the ring. Goldust pulls Taker to the floor, but eats another right hand. Taker with a choke slam on the steps, but Goldust took the bump on his ass which looked horrible, but there was not a better way to take that with the steps still together. Taker is still rather annoyed so he goes to drop the steps on Goldust, but Marlena covers Goldust. Taker thinks better of it and instead opts to choke Goldust back in the ring. Goldust starts working on the buckle to remove the cover. Taker with a whip to the opposite corner and a clothesline follows. Taker drops the leg and it gets two. Goldust begs off and gets in a thumb to the eye. Taker no sells a whip to the corner and then fires Goldust into an opposite corner and goes crazy with strikes. Not so Old School follows as the crowd starts a Rest in Peace chant. Slam from Taker as he has dominated the opening six minutes of this one. Taker misses an elbow and gets clotheslined to the floor, but lands on his feet and pulls Goldust out with him. They trade blows out there and Goldust wins this exchange. Taker drops Goldust throat first on the top rope to counter a move. Goldust exposes the metal buckle and sends Taker back first into it. Back to the floor we go as Goldust starts moving the stairs around. Only fair as Taker used them first. Goldust drops the steps on Taker’s back to a good reaction from the crowd. We weren’t use to stuff like that yet. Back in the ring Goldust gets a slam and hooks a modified camel clutch. Taker fights back out of the corner with strikes and lands a big boot. Tombstone is avoided, but Taker counters into a small package for two. Huh, Don’t see that every day! Taker plants Goldust with a Tombstone and the ref doesn’t count even though technically Taker has him pinned, but he waits for Taker to cross the arms. Mankind pops up through the ring and hooks the Mandible Claw and pulls Taker to hell. That would be a DQ at 12:07.
Winner: The Undertaker via DQ at 12:07
-This was okay, but I would bet they have a better match in them. Maybe not as this version of Taker and Goldust, but I think there was more. I thought Taker could get the win since Goldust was no longer IC Champ, but they were still protective of him at this point and they needed more craziness between Mankind and Taker. *1/2
-The lights flicker and they tease Taker’s music as Mankind waits to see if he comes back through the hole. After a few moments Taker pops up through the mat on the other side of the ring and the fight is on as they head towards the back. The crowd loved that!
-SummerSlam 1996 commercial parodying The Summer Olympics.
-Vince, Lawler, and JR hype our Main Event and Vince notes that Cornette’s guarantee doesn’t reflect a guarantee from the WWF. There we go! Carneys got to carney!
-To the back where Mankind and The Undertaker continue to brawl. If only they had some kind of Room in which to do their Brawling.
-Hype video for our Main Event Tag Match. Originally it was supposed to be The Ultimate Warrior teaming with Shawn and Ahmed, but he got fired and Sid was brought back to take his place.
Owen Hart, The British Bulldog, and Vader (w/ James Cornette) vs. Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson, and Sid (w/ Jose Lothario)
-Vader and Ahmed are starting this one out, but Vader wants Shawn and calls him out. JR notes Vader is a tough guy and only outweighs Shawn by 200 plus pounds. So? Shawn is the Heavyweight Champion. Go to WCW and wrestle as a Cruiserweight if you don’t want to deal with people like Vader. Shawn answers the challenge and unloads with right hands, but one punch from Vader snuffs out that run. Shawn gets the pace up and fights out of a powerbomb and turns it into a rana. A forearm sends Vader to the floor and Shawn gets a baseball slide. Shawn follows out with a slingshot crossbody. He tries to come off the apron, but Vader moves and Shawn splats on the security railing. They head back in the ring and Vader mauls Shawn in the corner with heavy blows. Shawn avoids a belly to back suplex and makes the tag to Sid. It just dawned on me we have 3/4 of the guys involved in the Cheatam The Midget boat bombing in WCW here. We are just missing Sting! Sid cleans house to a big pop from the crowd as he sends everyone from Camp Cornette to the floor. Now Ahmed gets a chance and he pops the crowd by throwing Owen all around the ring. Ahmed misses an elbow and the tag is made to Bulldog. He lands some blows, but gets caught with a spinebuster. Ahmed hits the Pearl River Plunge, but Vader makes the save. Tag to Vader as Vince mentions that Vader recently gave Ahmed his first loss. The crowd chants for Sid until Ahmed fires up and unloads with right hands. Vader gets in a shot and hits a splash in the corner. Now he gets to unload in the corner and the crowd is not happy. Vader tries another splash, but Ahmed catches him and gets a power slam for two. Sweet! Vader makes the tag to Owen and he lays the boots to Ahmed and then hits a spinning heel kick. The crowd really wants Sid back in this match. Ahmed reverses a whip and drops Owen with a Gorilla Press Slam. Tag to Sid and Owen eats a big boot to the face. Sid makes the mistake of sending Owen into his corner and he is able to tag Bulldog. He comes in and shows off his power with a delayed vertical suplex. Impressive! Vader in to drop an elbow and Bulldog covers for two, but Sid kicks out with power. The crowd starts another Sid chant and perhaps they should put the WWF Title on this man at some point. Just a suggestion! Bulldog starts firing off right hands and that only fires Sid up, so he drops Bulldog with a single right hand. Tag to Shawn who comes off the top. He misses a charge in the corner though and shoulder meets steel! Shawn reverses a whip and that sends Bulldog into Vader on the apron. Owen comes in with an elbow to break up the count, but Shawn moves and Bulldog eats the elbow. Shawn ends up getting a two count. Owen gets the tag back in and we get an actual Oklahoma Roll where Owen gets a two count. Shawn gets a Victory Roll for two, but Owen counters for his own two count. They continue their awesome sequence with counters and Owen rips Shawn’s head off with a clothesline for two. Lawler notes Owen is a hero doing all this with a cast for his broken wrist. I agree and the man deserves a statue outside this arena! Bulldog back in and he misses an elbow, but Owen is right there to hit Shawn in the back of the head. Now you could believe JR when he said Owen used the cast, but Owen promises the ref he didn’t and that’s good enough for me. Cornette also says Owen didn’t do it and I wouldn’t call him a liar. Shawn is now your WWF Champion in peril as Vader beats the fire out of him. Vader decks Sid on the apron to pull the ref away and let Owen get in more shots with or without the cast depending on who you believe. JR is so pissed he actually curses and apologizes for it. The Attitude Era is coming soon enough, JR! Vader hooks a nerve hold as a fan rushes the ring and makes it up the ropes before getting pulled to the floor. That brings Bulldog and Ahmed over to save, but security got to him first. Good thing for the fan! So we had a fan rush the ring at WCW’s July PPV and now the same for the WWF here. Shawn starts fighting his way out of the hold, but Vader flattens him and then gets a splash. Ahmed bolts in and drops Vader with a clothesline. The race is on and Bulldog gets the tag first and pulls Shawn back to his corner. Bulldog puts Shawn in a backbreaker, but Shawn slides out. He tries a crucifix, but Bulldog falls back with a Samoan Drop. Shawn gets in another shot in the corner, but Owen gets the tag and stops Shawn from getting to his corner. Bulldog back in and he gets a power slam. Sid in and he runs the ropes before dropping a leg which was funny for some reason. Bulldog tags out to Vader and Shawn tags as well, but the ref never saw it. Sid and Ahmed argue which lets Camp Cornette triple team Shawn. Owen in and he comes off the top with a dropkick but Shawn moves and Bulldog gets hit instead. The race is on again and this time Shawn makes the hot tag to Sid. He tries a clothesline on Vader which doesn’t work, so he just chokeslams the piss out of him. Here’s one for Bulldog and Owen. Ahmed and Sid hit a DOUBLE CLOTHESLINE on Vader. Like that move will ever get over for a tag team! All hell breaks lose as all six men are in the ring and Shawn ends up getting Cornette’s racket and hits Vader square in the face. Vader kicks out rather easily, so Shawn tunes up the band. Cornette grabs the leg and that lets Vader get a splash in the corner. Jose punches out Cornette, but the damage is done as Vader hits Shawn with The Vader Bomb and gets the pin at 24:32.
Winners: Camp Cornette via pin at 24:32
-Wonderful match with a hot crowd! Shawn took a beating while the heels cheated where they could and Sid and Ahmed were there to look mean and throw people around the ring. Vader winning was the right call as he was next in line to face Shawn at SummerSlam. ****
-We have to send the fans home happy so Sid powerbombs Owen and Bulldog. Vader gets pulled out of the ring before it happens to him, so Shawn dives over the top rope onto Vader. The teams are separated and Team Shawn celebrate in the ring to cheers from the crowd even though they lost.
-We have a post show as Gorilla Monsoon is with Dok. Monsoon announces it will be Taker vs. Mankind in a Boiler Room type match at SummerSlam. Cornette and Vader interrupt and they rightly demand a WWF Title Match.
-Recap video of what we just watched over the last nearly two hours!
-Thanks for reading!
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