Welcome to the eighth, Tybo Talks 1995. We are continuing from WCW Fall Brawl – WarGames and shifting back to WWF, with In Your House 3.
With the ease of access to pretty much all of WWE’s back catalogue on the WWE Network I thought it would be cool to change it up a bit and do some classic reviews (with a twist). As some of you may know I have already done this with WWE in 2002 and 2003, but this time I’m doing it a little different.
In the past, I have reviewed all the PPV (from the year) but watched all Raw and Smackdown episodes too. This time as it’s 1995 I’m watching all PPV but in between, I’m watching WWE Raw, ECW’s Hardcore TV and WCW Nitro (when it starts in September)… Wish me luck!
The opening vignette is all about Michaels & Deisel vs Yokozuna & Hart, all the titles are on the line for the first time ever.
Also, there seems to be an ‘In Your House’ song made especially for the PPV… checking Spotify.
There is a three-man commentary team with Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross. I have always thought the three-man team felt too much, but not mad the extra man is JR.
FunFact: This is the first PPV since WCW launched their weekly Nitro show.
Savio Vaga vs Wayland Mercy
At this point Mercy is undefeated, but this is his first and would turn out to be his last PPV outing. It’s crazy to think that Wayland Mercy’s gimmick lived on years later with ‘Mercy The Buzzard’ on Bray Wyatt’s Firefly Fun House.
FunFact: Bray Wyatt’s ‘Eater of Worlds’ character was actually based on the Wayland Mercy character. Wyatt even sporting some very similar Hawaiian shirts.
The match isn’t on long before Doc Hendrix interrupts and explains that Owen Hart still isn’t in the building. This will be a running theme throughout the show.
As for the match, this is a fairly standard opening match, they had some good back and forth but there is no real story to tell as they both go into this one cold, with no feud or build. A simple back-kick from Vaga and a pin.
Winner – Savio Vaga
Backstage: Doc Hendrix walks in on (interim) General Manager Gorilla Monsoon and Jim Cornette arguing over where Owen Hart is. As I have mentioned this is the theme throughout, which isn’t the worst story to keep things connected.
Sid (w/ The Million Dolla Man) vs Henry O’Godwin
Last on ‘WWF Superstars’ Sid was ‘slopped’ by Godwin and went absolutely mental, and DiBiase has already been ‘slopped’ twice, so this seems like a worth match to have.
FunFact: This could be the first time Jim ‘JR’ Ross uses the word ‘Slobberknocker’, if it’s not it’s almost certainly the first time he uses it in WWF.
This is two big men doing some big man moves, and although it’s a slow match Sid is working the big angry giant very well on this show. The match is exactly what you would expect, neither man is known for being great in the ring. Sid gets the win when The Million Dollar Man gets involved. Sid wins with a huge and impressive Powerbomb.
Winner – Sid
After the match, Sid And DiBiase attempt to ‘slop’ Godwin, for Bam Bam Bigalow to come out for the save. Bigalow has had a long running feud with all members of The Million Dollar Corporation. It ends with DiBiase getting ‘slopped’ once again.
Backstage: GM Monsoon and Cornette are still arguing over Owen’s whereabouts. Monsoon presents Cornette with some options, as the Tag Team Championship match is happening no matter what.
Yokozuna can defend the Championships alone in a 2 on 1 handicap match.
or
Cornette can find a partner to defend the Championships with Yokozuna, but this means the new partner could also become Intercontinental or Heavyweight Champion if he gets the pin.
Where is Owen?!
FunFact: Owen was supposed to be written out of the show as he was in the hospital with his wife as she was giving birth to their second child. Even though he was in the arena they kept the story throughout the show.
British Bulldog vs Bam Bam Bigalow
British Bulldog has recently turned heel, and has a new look sporting a new haircut, he looks a lot more focused I’m a fan of this version of Bulldog. When Bulldog turned heel he did it by turning on Deisel, and as Bigalow has become fast friends with Deisel that’s why this match came about.
Backstage we see Cornette trying to convince Sid to join Yokozuna in the main event.
This is easily the best match on the card so far, I seem to say this every time but Bigalow is one of the best big men to ever do it and I would say he is the best big men of the mid 90s. Add to that Bulldog being so smooth and crisp in the ring, and this was never going to be a bad match. It’s still crazy to me that Bulldog was never WWF Champion.
There is some great heel work from Bulldog, the more the crowd ‘boo’ and chant ‘USA’ the more intense Bulldog gets and take his anger out on Bigalow. In the end its Bulldog who gets the win. This match is head and shoulders above the previous two matches. This one is easily Match of the Night at this point.
Winner – British Bulldog
Bob Backlund enters the ring (still contemplating Presidency) and cuts a heel promo, he is using words that will be lost on the audience. He asks the crowd ‘Where is your Lexicon?’ (If you’re wondering a lexicon is ‘a book containing an alphabetical arrangement of words in a language and definition’, basically lexicon = dictionary) Thank you Google.
Backlund introduces Dean Douglas, saying he crawled out of the sewers to be better, I wonder if this is an ECW dig?
Dean Douglas vs Razor Ramon
This match starts so quick, Razor has wanted a match with Douglas since he attacked him backstage at SummerSlam. The whole Dean Douglas character is a strange one to me, I feel like going from ‘The Franchise’ to ‘The Teacher’ is a massive miss-step. I may have mentioned this before but watching this back, I am beginning to wonder if ‘The Dean’ character who spends his time grading each match is a play on Dave Meltzer?
FunFact: Back when Dean Douglas was in ECW he openly put down WWF for having ‘cartoon characters, which is funny as he became one himself.
Continuing the Owen story, we see Cornette talking to King Mable. Mable and Yokozuna, now that’s a big team!
Ramon is all over Douglas for the majority of this match, but still manages to make Douglas look good, I know I have said this about British Bulldog, but it’s crazy that Scott Hall was never a World Champion in WWF or WCW.
Towards the end of this one the match really slows down, with a lot of rest moves, sleeper holds and armbars. After the referee gets knocked out 1-2-3 Kid runs in to count the three (no idea what that was about) there is more distention between Kid and Ramon and Douglas gets a sneaky roll up.
Winner – Dean Douglas
There is a post-match brawl between Kid and Ramon that takes referees and officials to break them up
Backstage: Doc Hendrix is interviewing Shawn Michaels and Deisel. Deisel says that ‘Two Dudes with Attitudes’ will become ‘Two Chaps with Four Straps’. Why was this never made into a t-shirt?!
Jean-Pierre LaFitte vs Bret Hart
Lafitte had recently been repackaged with this new name and character of a pirate where he wore an eye patch.
FunFact: Jean-Pierre LaFitte was named after a real life pirate from the early 19th century. The pirate and privateer Jean Lafitte was born in either Basque-France or the (then) French colony of Saint-Domingue.
As he is a pirate he has been stealing items of Bret Hart’s, taking his glasses off kids in the crowd and he is currently sporting Hart’s signature leather jacket to the ring.
This seems a strange first half of the year for Bret Hart with some strange feuds, and this is the same. This match is really good, it’s an enjoyable watch but there is nothing to really write home about, it all seemed to be over a little too quick considering the time other matches have. In the end Hart locks in the sharpshooter and it’s all done.
Winner – Bret Hart
Backstage: Doc Hedrix is with Cornette and Yokozuna, their newfound partner in British Bulldog. (this means Bulldog is ‘for one night only’ a Tag Team Champion)
WWF Triple Header
Yokozuna & British Bulldog (Tag Team Champions) vs Shawn Michaels (intercontinental Champion) & Diesel (WWF Heavyweight Champion)
If You Get Pinned You Lose Your Championship
I think the main issue with this match for me is that Michaels and Deisel vacated the Tag Team Championships less than a year ago because they hated each other, so this all seems like a very quick turnaround to have them back in the Tag Team Title picture.
During the match JR shares randomly that Michaels has only had four days off in the last month, I always thought that was a strange thing to say.
The match itself is actually pretty good, there is some great chemistry between Deisel and Michaels, really utilising their speed and power to both look great. British Bulldog is so good, this is his second match and he is still so smooth. He hits Deisel with a stalling suplex (granted he does botch the first one) this is amazing to see, the size and weight of Deisel, and power of Bulldog. So impressive.
The closing minutes are manic with everyone in the ring, when out of nowhere Owen Hart is here and looking for the tag off Yokozuna. Hart ends up eating a huge Jacknife Powerbomb and gets pinned. The crowd go absolutely nuts over Diesel and Michaels being double champions… but was Hart an active participant in the match?
Winners (New Tag Team Champions) Diesel and Shawn Michaels
Side Note: On the Raw after In Your House 3 Jim Cornette used a ‘legal loophole’ to have Two Dudes with Attitude’s stripped of the championships because Owen Hart wasn’t in the match.
Overall
This is one the better In Your House PPV’s, there were some great matches, but there was some odd booking decisions. Although the Hart and LeFitte match was good, it feels like Bret should be in a higher profile feud. I really enjoyed the ‘Where’s Owen?’ storyline throughout the show, it was a fun way to connect everything. As I have mentioned my main gripe with this PPV is Michaels and Diesel not only having a match for the Tag Team Championships, but willing them too. Less than a year ago they won them and vacated them, and here we are again.
Michaels and Diesel must be the only two WWE wrestlers to be two time Tage Team Champions and not lose them either time.
Match of the Night has to go to the main event, this was great from start to finish and some of the spots and moves from Bulldog and Michaels were next level. Somewhere in the multiverse they got a long intense feud between Shawn Michaels vs British Bulldog for the WWF Championship.
I do think Hart vs LeFitte and British Bulldog vs Bam Bam Bigalow deserve a mention.
I think this is the first PPV you can start to see ‘The Kliq’ possibly using some backstage influence, with all the members in predominant roles on the show.
In Your House 3 – 3.25/5
Tybometer ’95
(1995 PPV’s scored out of a possible five)
WWF Royal Rumble – 4
WWF Wrestlemania – 2
WWF In Your House – 2.5
WWF King of the Ring – 0.5
WWF In Your House 2 – 3.5
WWF SummerSlam – 2
WCW Fall Brawl: WarGames – 2.75
WWF In Your House 3 – 3.25
Look out for the next Tybo Talks 1995, where I shift back to WWF and review In Your House 4
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