WWF In Your House 2
WWF In Your House 2
It's July 23rd 1995, and the WWF is In Your House for the second time. A music video, featuring Big Al singing introduces us to the show, live in Nashville, Tennessee. Your hosts for the event are Vince McMahon and Jerry "The King" Lawler. Vince has switched his trademark WWF suit for a white shirt and waistcoat. Obviously he plans on going line-dancing after the event. King, in the meantime, is wearing JR's cowboy hat with a crown around the outside of it.
Tonight, we'll see the very first lumberjack match on a WWF Pay Per View, as Diesel defends the title against Sid. Hmm, what's that I can smell? Oh yeah, it's workrate, baby. Anyways, let's get ready for the opening match.
123 Kid vs The Roadie
In case you didn't realise, the Kid is Sean Waltman, aka X-Pac, before he was old enough to grow a beard. He must be, what, about 9 at this time. The Roadie is Jeff Jarrett's lackey, and the man who would go on to become Road Dogg Jesse James, and later BG James, in TNA. This match is down to Roadie and Jarrett putting the Kid out of action earlier in the year.
The Kid attacks the Roadie as he comes to the ring, but gets stomped on as he re-enters the ring. After a shoulderblock puts the Kid down, both guys attempt leapfrogs, only for the Roadie to catch his foot on the Kid as he jumps up, and fall flat on his face. To his credit, rather than try to pretend it didn't happen, he grabs his face in pain to sell the move.
Waltman tries some kicks in the corner, and then sends the Roadie outside with headscissors after his irish whip was reversed. As the Roadie recovers, the Kid comes over the top to the outside with a flying kick, reminiscent of the top rope kick that RVD uses. Back in the ring, the Kid hits more kicks, and a corner splash. When he goes for a second one, he ends up getting powerslammed by the Roadie.
The camera now cuts backstage, where Jeff Jarrett is ignoring the match, and preparing for his singing debut later tonight. Back to the ring, Roadie sends the Kid outside, and ends up bashing his groin and head against the post from an atomic drop position. The dominance continues back inside, as the Kid gets propelled high into the air and face down on the ground, and then receives a pair of legdrops. A back body drop soon after gets a 2-count.
Again, it's backstage to Jeff Jarret, talking to his back-up singers, while Road Dogg locks in a nerve hold inside. The fans channel their energy to Kid, who breaks the hold, only to get knocked straight back down again. After the Roadie misses a splash from the top, the Kid fires back with punches, and a spinning heel kick gets 2. The Kid starts to build up momentum, and ends up going up top for a splash of his own, which results in a 2-count.
An attempted hurricanrana by Waltman is countered to a sit-out powerbomb for 2, but just as the Roadie thinks he's about to take control, he ends up posting his shoulder. The Kid goes to the top, but Road Dogg has the presence of mind to bash the ropes, thus crotching him. Roadie goes up top with Waltman, and hits a rather sloppy-looking top rope piledriver for the 3-count.
This one gets *1/2. An interesting opener, but both guys seemed sloppy at times, and there wasn't much of note. The finish was well thought out, as Waltman was back off a neck injury, but the piledriver just didn't look that great.
The Roadie dances to the back, stopping off to check the microphones for Double J.
Todd Pettingill is backstage with the Million $ Corporation. DiBiase cuts a good promo. Tatanka says the same things DiBiase says, only worse. Kama wastes more valuable seconds with pointless words, and then Sid goes through the master/ruler motions.
King Mabel and Sir Mo vs Razor Ramon and Savio Vega
We flash back to the King of the Ring, where Mabel defeated Savio Vega to become the King of the Ring, and then attacked Razor after the match. At KotR, Savio wrestled 4 seperate matches, which Vince tells us is a WWF record. What that sentence basically means is that Randy Savage doesn't wrestle for the WWF anymore, and therefore his past, present and future are stricken from the records. Razor comes to the ring with taped ribs, only to throw the rib wrap at Mabel. You idiot Razor, if you want to take a 500lb guy out of the equation for a match, you throw a rack of ribs, not a wrap.
Mo trash talks the Bad Guy, but gets a tooth pick for his troubles. The two trade arm bars, and then Razor gets the upper hand. Mo gets whipped into the ropes, and then caught for a fallaway slam as he goes for a crossbody. Savio comes in shortly afterwards, and goes for a crossbody of his own. Sadly, Mo fails to catch him properly, so Savio is left to drop down to his feet by himself, and then shows his disdain by firing off with chops and punches.
Mo is eventually able to slow down Savio with a knee to the gut, and then he tags in the big man. As MOM attempt a big whippy corner splash, with no Flake, Savio is able to get out of the way, leaving Mabel to crush only the turnbuckle pads. He hits a clothesline on the big man, and a superkick on Mo, which probably lost him Kliq points for unsolicited use of Shawn Michaels' moves. He gets his come-uppance though, as an irish whip is reversed into a Boss Man Slam from Mabel.
Mabel throws Savio over the top rope, and he's done it! King Mabel has won the Royal Rumble, and he's on his way to Wrestlemania for a sh..., no wait, wrong Pay Per View, sorry. Mo rolls Savio back in, and the big man continues to attack, whipping him into the corner, and then hitting an enziguri. Yes, that's right, Mabel used an enziguri. This gets a 2-count.
Mo comes in, and a double clothesline from the heels gets 2. Suplex from Mo, again for 2. Mabel then returns for more big moves, and a nerve hold. Savio eventually breaks it, and then tries for a body slam on Mabel, only to get squashed flat. This puts Savio into a surely uncatchable lead for the "idiot of the night" award.
Mabel gets a massive northern lights suplex on Savio, although understandably, there's no bridge with it. As MOM further double team Vega, Razor makes things worse for his friend by trying to get in and help him. Shades of Owen and Yoko, as Mo drop toeholds Savio for a legdrop by Mabel, causing Razor to come in and attack the big man. As Ramon is held back, Mabel slams Savio, while Mo goes up for a moonsault. He misses, and Savio is finally able to get the hot tag to Ramon.
Razor clocks Mo with right hands, and then hits the back suplex off the ropes. As he calls for the Razor's Edge, Mabel attempts to come in. Razor punches him down, only for Mo to attack as he goes back. Mabel comes in, as Mo slams the Bad Guy. The Big Man goes up to the top rope, but Razor is up in time, and slams him down to the mat, Flair-style.
Razor hits a few clotheslines, but then gets kicked in the back by Mo. Mabel slams him, but misses a splash soon afterwards. Razor covers, causing Mo to come in and break the fall before the count has even begun. Savio then runs in to put Mo, and himself, over the top with a clothesline. Razor attempts one last attack, only to get splashed in the corner by Mabel, and then hit with the belly-to-belly suplex for the three count.
This one's worth * 3Ú4. It was essentially a glorified squash match, but did see Mabel pull off some rather impressive moves. Much like in the previous match, the victorious heels danced to the back.
Todd Pettingill acts like a jerk on Jeff Jarrett's stage, and then we cut to Dok Hendrix, who's with Adam Bomb, the Smoking Gunns, Bam Bam Bigelow and Man Mountain Rock, who'll all be lumberjacks for Diesel tonight. Dok tries to cause dissention by suggesting that someone has sold out to DiBiase. Of course, they all deny it.
Now then, it's time for Jeff Jarrett's "performance". The Roadie brings out Jarrett, and then goes off to sing the song...sorry, I mean, watch the show *wink*. Jarrett cuts a brief promo, before launching into "his" performance of 'With My Baby Tonight'. It's a pretty darn good performance, as Jarrett does a fairly good impersonation of Milli Vanilli. The fans are mixed, with some cheers and some boos. Todd Pettingill is out in the crowd, where a number of kids and adults, who are still struggling to escape the 80's five years after their demise, comment on what has just gone down.
Henry O Godwinn vs Bam Bam Bigelow
We flash back to Raw, where the HoG man cost Triple B a match against Sid. We also see him dropping the contents of his slop bucket over Adam Bomb.
Bam Bam comes to the ring, doing his little in-ring skip, which would normally cause his pyro to go off. However, it's a little bit late this time around, but does go off eventually. I'm sure Nash and co. were holding it down.
The match gets started, as Bam Bam locks in a side headlock. Hank counters to a back suplex, which BBB no-sells. He then fires back with a couple of his own. A diving shoulderblock then sends Godwinn outside. Bam Bam goes out and hits a few punches. Back in the ring, and HoG attempts to take control, only to get DDT'd. After a couple of shoulderblocks, Bammer goes for a third, and gets propelled over the top rope to the outside. And that's it, Henry Godwinn is going to Wre...nope, done that one already.
Henry goes out and slams BBB on the outside, before sending him into the steps. HoG repeatedly rolls in and out of the ring to keep Tim White from reaching the ten count. Back inside the ring, Henry continues on the offence, before putting on a reverse chinlock. Bammer breaks out from this, and then hits a crossbody for 2. Soon afterwards, HoG clotheslines him down again, and then goes for the slop bucket. Tim White is on the case to stop him. A slam and an elbow drop get a 2-count, as the pig farmer continues him dominance,
Bam Bam starts to mount some offense, with clotheslines and headbutts. He goes up top for the flying headbutt to finish it, but Henry gets out of the way. HoG goes to the top rope himself, and also misses with an attempted flying kneedrop. Bam Bam rolls over and covers him for the three-count.
I'd originally given this *, but going back over the notes, and in comparison to later matches, it only really deserves 3Ú4 * at best. At least it was relatively short. HoG teases a slop throw after the match, but doesn't go through with it.
Bob Backlund is in the stands campaigning. Unfortunately, he's campaigning to kids that aren't old enough to vote.
Toad Pettypoop (credit to Scott Levy) is backstage with Shawn Michaels. It was HBK's birthday yesterday, and he wants the belt as a belated gift. Todd sends him off, and very nearly says "Michaels going off to win the Intercontinental Championship yet again", adding in a "hopefully" at the last second.
Jeff Jarrett (c) vs Shawn Michaels - Intercontinental Championship
The Roadie is back again, and he stalls briefly, before introducing Jeff Jarrett. The champ comes to the ring, followed shortly by the challenger, who has a lot of female and/or castrato support in attendence, judging by the initial response. Jarrett looks for approval but gets none. Michaels, in the meantime, looks...at himself in the IC belt.
They lock up and trade blows, with HBK coming off best, and then showboating in the corner. Another lock-up, and this time Jarrett hits an arm drag, followed by his trademark strut. They then trade armbars, followed by a whip to the corner by HBK. Jarrett leaps over as Shawn rushes in, and clocks the challenger, sending HBK outside the ring. Jarrett struts again, and then copies Michaels' resting taunt.
HBK returns to the ring for another lock-up, as Jarrett gets a side headlock. JJ then tries a hip toss, but gets a thumb to the eye. As Michaels attempts a hip toss of his own, they end up in the corner. This time, it's Michaels who flips over and hits Jarrett after an irish whip. He then gets a successful hip toss, followed by a clothesline over the top. Michaels skins the cat and copies Jarrett's strut. BY GAWD, HE'S DONE IT! SHAWN MICHAELS HAS WON THE ROY...okay, I'm seriously gonna need some new material.
The champ decides he's gonna take a hike, but Michaels doesn't care. He helps Earl Hebner out with the 10-count. Jarrett decides to return, but stalls by repeatedly rolling in and out of the ring when the count reaches 9. HBK goes out to meet him, and rolls him back inside. Michaels goes up top, but his attempted ax handle is countered by a punch to the gut. Jarrett regains the advantage briefly, only to miss a dropkick.
Roadie tries to intervene, but takes a thumb to the eye from Michaels, and then Jarrett gets pitched over the top onto him. As they recover, Michaels goes to the top turnbuckle, and flies down on them both with a crossbody block. Shawn continues the offence inside, faking a dive off the second turnbuckle to trick Jarrett, and then following up with a sunset flip. JJ tries to counter this with a punch, but misses. The tide soon changes though, as Michaels runs at Jarrett in the corner, only to get backdropped over the top and all the way down to the arena floor.
Michaels is rammed into the steps outside, and then brought back in. Front suplex by Jarrett, and the first cover of the match gets 2. Sensing a back injury, JJ locks in an abdominal stretch, with some additional leverage from the Roadie. Hebner eventually sees this and kicks the arm away, leaving Jarrett to be hip tossed by Michaels. Shawn doesn't have the upper hand for long though, as he puts his head down, and leaves himself open for a DDT for 2.
At this point, Vinny Mac's mic has cut out, leaving Jerry Lawler to call the match. The Roadie chokes Shawn on the outside, as Jarrett distracts the referee. As Roadie tries this a second time, Michaels pulls him up, and then moves out of the way, as the Dogg's head collects with the champs crotch. There's a meeting of the minds for you.
A roll-up by Michaels gets 2, as Vince's mic is back in action. Michaels tries to whip Jarrett to the corner, but gets reversed and goes up and over with the Flair flop. Jarrett tries to come off the top to the outside of Shawn, but gets stopped by Hebner. While he's distracted, the Roadie nails Michaels with a clothesline from the apron.
Michaels rolls in at the count of 9, as Jarrett goes to the top rope. A flying crossbody is rolled through by Michaels for 2. Jarrett then attempts a crucifix, turned into a sunset flip. Michaels kneels down, only for JJ to get his legs up to complete the move. Shawn kicks out at 2, but then gets hit with a vicious dropkick for another 2 count.
Jarrett tries for a sleeper, which Michaels back drops out of. He rises at 9, and then receives a 2 count for his efforts. As both men get up, Michaels nails some punches, and then hits the trademark forearm and kip up. The adrenaline is rushing through HBK, as he nails more punches, another flying forearm, a double axe handle, a slam, and then the flying elbowdrop. Jarrett kicks out at 2.
Rather than tune up the band, HBK ends up crotching Jarrett on the ring post, and then going up top again. The Roadie causes Michaels to lose his balance, leaving him to be superplexed by the champ, who then goes for the Figure 4. Michaels counters by rolling Jarrett up for 2. Jarrett hits a knee breaker, and then goes for the move again, this time getting kicked into Earl Hebner.
As Jarrett checks the ref, Michaels tunes up the band, but the Roadie sneaks in and clips his knee. Jarrett goes up top for another crossbody, which this time is successful, and gets a 2-count. The champ calls for his lackey to trip Shawn off a whip, but Michaels reverses, and the Roadie ends up tripping his own man while trash-talking the fans.
Jarrett yells at the Roadie, and then turns around into Sweet Chin Music for the 1, 2, 3. Ladies and Gentlemen, your winner, and the new, 3-time Intercontinental Champion, Shawn Michaels!
One of the greatest matches on WWF PPV in 1995, this is worth ****1/2. The only thing that puts me off giving it the full monty is that I felt Michaels could have sold the back a little better, and that Jarrett didn't work the leg before attempting the Figure 4. Still, this pisses over every other match on the actual PPV card.
Backstage, Dok Hendrix overreacts about a confrontation that has apparently occured between Jeff Jarrett and the Roadie. This was due to lead to a match between the two of them at Summerslam, but both men disappeared, with Jarrett re-appearing in late 95, and the Roadie not showing his face again until sometime in 1996 or 97.
Owen Hart and Yokzuna (c) vs Allied Powers - Tag Team Championship
In case you didn't know, the Allied Powers were Lex Luger and the British Bulldog, which goes to show that Vince has randomly been throwing under-utilized singles competitors into tag teams for around 10 years now. It's kinda scary to think that 75% of the wrestlers in this match have since passed away, while the remaining 25% is no stranger to untimely deaths in the business.
Luger and Yoko lock-up to start off, as they trade blows. Yoko ends up slamming Luger, but misses an elbow drop. After Luger introduces Yoko to the turnbuckle, he then knocks the big man back, and eventually down. As Yoko falls, he lands on Owen's foot, causing the King of Harts to come in and get involved in a shoving match with his partner. Understandably, Owen comes off worse. Jim Cornette soothes the situation, and the champs get back on the same page.
In comes Owen, who slaps and cheapshots Luger, before receiving a shoulderblock, hip toss and arm drag from the American Original. In comes Davey Boy, who indulges in a spot of counter wrestling with his brother-in-law, before hitting him with an attempted back body drop. Owen apparently fails to flip over properly in mid-air, and ends up landing face first on the mat. He then gets slingshot into the turnbuckle, and then clotheslined for a 2 count.
Davey tries to wear down Owen with a reverse chinlock, but ultimately ends up getting attacked from behind by Yoko. Owen works the leg of the Bulldog, and then tags in the big man. Yoko shows us his wide range of kicks, stomps and headbutts, before locking in a nerve-hold on Davey, the same hold that made his Wrestlemania X match with Lex Luger such a yawn-fest. Although Bulldog gets back up, he's soon clotheslined down again.
Owen is tagged back in, and hits a sweet heel kick, followed up by a sunset flip from Davey Boy for 2. Owen then hits the enziguri for a 2 count of his own. Owen whips Davey to the corner, and tries to leap in for almost a bronco buster of sorts, only to get crotched on the turnbuckle. To motivate Davey Boy, the fans start a "USA" chant. It seems that they want to take Savio's title away from him. As Yoko comes in, Bulldog gets the hot tag to Luger.
He cleans house, punching out the big man, and taking Owen off the top Flair-style. The younger Hart then gets press slammed into his partner, and then they both get clotheslined. Owen breaks the count at two though. As Davey-Boy brawls with his brother-in-law, Yoko tries to crush him in the corner, but misses and eats turnbuckle. The Allied Powers then link up to hit the big man with a double back suplex.
Luger covers, while the ref tries to get Davey out of the ring. While he's distracted, Owen comes off the top with a driving elbow to the back of Luger. One Yoko leg drop later, and we have a three count. Owen and Yoko retain.
This is worth *, mainly for being another glorified squash match. The fans were pretty hot for the Allied Powers, and they really should have been given a title run. But the fact is, Bulldog was about a month away from turning heel at this point, so it wouldn't have been much of a run anyway.
The main event is up next, and the lumberjacks are on their way out, starting with the heels, and followed by the faces.
Diesel (c) vs Sid - WWF Championship - Lumberjack Match
Sid's lumberjacks, for those of you that are interested, are as follows: The Heavenly Bodies, Tatanka, Jacob & Eli Blu, King Kong Bundy, Kama, IRS, King Mabel, Sir Mo, Henry Godwinn, Rad Radford, Skip, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Jean Pierre Lafitte, and Mantaur, who is mooing as the camera focuses on him.
Diesel, on the other hand, brings the following faces with him: Bam Bam Bigelow, Savio Vega, Razor Ramon, Bob Holly, Duke "The Dumpster" Droese, Man Mountain Rock, Tekno Team 2000, The Smoking Gunns, Fatu, Adam Bomb, and the 123 Kid. Unsurprisingly, Bret Hart is not amongst Diesel's buddies.
Backstage, Todd is with Diesel, who cuts a standard "I'm gonna beat you" promo. Back at ringside, Sid makes his way to the dance, with his head lumberjack, Ted DiBiase. Diesel soon follows suit, accompanied by Shawn Michaels, as Vince refers to them as Two Dudes with Attitudes for the first time.
Sid attacks as soon as Diesel enters the ring, and then Nash fires back. Sid goes outside twice, only to be thrown back in almost instantly, and then slammed by Diesel. Sid then rolls out to the safety of his own lumberjacks for comfort. As he comes back in, he throws Nash out to the faces, who start beating down on him. The faces come over to save the day, as Michaels steals the spotlight by launching off the apron, down onto the crowd. Shades of Teddy Hart, as Shawn must have been, gosh, around 30cm above his unsuspecting opponents.
When Diesel gets back in, he's covered for 2. Sid hits stomps, kicks and thumps, then starts working on Diesel's ribs. More stomps, and then a choke. As Sid is reprimanded, the lumberjacks start to choke the champ as well. And by that, I don't mean they all starting masturbating at ringside. Oh god, now I've got that image in my head. And I bet you have too. I can only apologise.
After some more Sid kicks, Diesel fires back with some punches, a clothesline, and then a couple of elbow drops, using his injured elbow that Vince had been going on at the start of the match. Vinny Mac has to backtrack by saying that obviously the elbow was alright after all. Diesel then crazily, and sloppily, attempts a vaulting body press onto the heels.
Returning to ring, Diesel continues to go through the motions on Sid, with a boss man attack, and snake eyes. As he comes off the ropes for a clothesline, King Mabel grabs the champ, and drags him outside the ring. He crushes Nash against the post, before delivering a slam and a leg drop on the outside, while the other lumberjacks fight, and Sid recovers on the inside. Diesel rolls in, and gets punched and kicked a little more, before Sid covers for a 2-count.
Sid then executes his first actual move of the match, by executing a chinlock. It lasts for a matter of seconds, before Sid releases the hold. This is then followed up with the powerbomb. Instead of going for the cover, Sid high fives his buddies, and then pins the champ. Nash kicks out at 2. He goes for another powerbomb, but this time, Nash back drops out of it.
Rather than follow up on the attack, Sid instead exits the ring, and attacks Erik Watts (I really don't know, or care if he was Travis or Troy in TT2K) with an axehandle from the apron. Surprisingly enough, this didn't warrant the standing ovation that it deserved. The lumberjacks hold the challenger in place, as Shawn Michaels comes off the top turnbuckle with an axehandle of his own to Sid's back.
Sid is sent back in, where Diesel calls for the jack knife. As he attempts it, the corporation runs in, but gets thrown straight back out again. Sid attempts a whip, but gets reversed, and then Diesel nails him with the big boot for the 3 count. Diesel is still WWF champ.
This one's a DUD. When Kevin Nash is the man with the larger moveset in a match, you know there's trouble. This was essentially a Summerslam preview, as it set up the Diesel/Mabel match, and the HBK/Sid match that didn't happen.
After the match, Diesel attempts to get at Mabel, before celebrating the win with his buddies.
Video Exclusive Matches
Gorilla Monsoon and Stan Lane have the call for this pair of additional fights.
Bret "Hitman" Hart vs Jean Pierre Lafitte
This would be the first time that Bret Hart hadn't appeared on the televised card of a PPV since Royal Rumble 92, but at least the fans in attendence, and the video buying public got to experience a Hitman match.
Bret gets an amazing pop from the fans, while Pierre's attempt to get crowd approval falls flat. They lock up, as Pierre muscles Bret to the corner. After avoiding a corner splash, Bret takes the upper hand and starts working on the arm of Pierre, with multiple arm drags, and a tightly-locked armbar. Although Pierre pulls hair to break the hold, Bret soon has it back on following a monkey flip.
He moves to a hammerlock, which Pierre reverses. Bret then breaks this by running around, and then flipping Pierre out of the ring. Pierre considers leaving, but eventually changes his mind. Bret rolls him in, and continues to work on the arm. A cruicifix gets 2, and then Bret returns to the armbar.
Soon enough, a Stun Gun by Pierre changes the tide of the match, sending Bret to the outside, where he gets slammed throat-first on the metal barricade, before becoming the recipient of an axehandle off the apron. Back in the ring, Bret gets stomped, and then whipped into the corner. He takes it sternum-first in classic Hitman style, but then kicks out at 2.
Pierre follows up with a slam, and then a legdrop off the top for a 2-count. He then attempts to slow things down with a chinlock. The arm drops twice, but fights back, only to get dropped by a cunning elbow from Pierre. After another 2-count following a headbutt, Pierre returns to the chinlock.
Bret uses a top wristlock to escape the chinlock, but that dastardly heel Lafitte pulls his hair to re-apply the hold. Off the ropes, Bret goes for a sunset flip, and pulls Pierre's tights to get him down. He kicks out at 2 though. An angry Pierre whips Bret into the corner again. A Splash. STINGER SPLASH! SCORPION DEATHLOCK! Sorry, went into Tony Schiavone mode for a second there...
Pierre continues his WCW tribute by hitting a Rude Awakening for 2, and then he chokes Bret on the ropes, before following up with a fist drop for 2. Although Bret fires back briefly, he ends up putting his head down too early and getting DDT'ed for his error. Pierre goes up top for Le Cannonball, but there's nobody there.
The Hitman fires back with punches, and then whips Pierre into the corner. The pirate takes the move even harder than Bret usually does. After a shot to the gut, Bret hits the Russian Legsweep. Shades of Vladamir right there, folks. This gets 2, as does a roll up. Bret hits the backbreaker, and then goes for the elbow, but Pierre gets his foot up, as Stan Lane mentions that Bret hasn't worked the leg at all in this match, thus currently rendering the Sharpshooter somewhat useless.
Another whip to the corner sees Bret leap over Pierre and attempt a German Suplex, Pierre blocks this and goes for one of his own. As Bret lifts up, he reverses the move into a roll-up for the 3 count.
This one is ***1/2. Would have been much better to have this on the PPV than Bigelow/Godwinn, although they would have a better match just two months down the line at In Your House 3.
Undertaker vs Kama - Casket Match
A preview of a match that would take place again one month later at Summerslam. As this isn't a special PPV though, the double-wide, double-deep casket of old has been left in the back, in favour of the more standard casket, that would be seen again at Beware of Dog and Mind Games.
Kama is out first, along with Ted DiBiase. He has the melted remnants of the Urn around his neck. To think, the stolen Urn storyline would go on for a year before finally got it back.
Taker, accompanied by Paul Bearer, goes through his usual dead man theatrics, and then attacks Kama before the bell. The Supreme Fighting Machine retreats, but Taker follows. Although Kama tries to cheap shot the dead man when he returns to the ring, Undertaker soon gets the upper hand with a powerful throw and some punches.
Kama gets the advantage with a knee to the gut, and a suplex, but the Taker sits up. Kama keeps kicking him down, but the Phenom just won't stop sitting back up again. Eventually, he tries an elbow, but Taker sits up, and the future Godfather tastes canvas. As Taker tries to rally back, he ends up getting slammed by Kama, and then rolled into the casket. Taker kicks back before the lid can be shut though.
An attempted dead man comeback sees him use a hip toss, and then old school, which I guess, seeing as this is 95, should just be called school. He then throws Kama onto the closed casket. When he tries to follow up on this, however, he ends up getting dropped throat first onto the ropes. Kama capatilizes by hitting a number of kicks, sending Taker outside. Kama then refuses to let him back in.
As Taker gets onto the apron, Gorilla Monsoon tells us how Taker has never lost a casket match, only for Stan Lane to correct him. Monsoon's excuse is that he doesn't count RR94 as a loss, because so many people got involved. Nice logic there Gorilla.
Taker brings Kama outside, as uses the casket as a weapon, slamming the lid into Kama's head. He then goes after DiBiase and ends up meeting with the ring steps instead. Inside, Kama mocks the Taker, and then locks in a weak half crab for a short period. Taker then takes two massive corner bumps, managing to outdo even Bret and Pierre. A bearhug is broken up, as is a side headlock, which results in a back suplex.
Kama tries more kicks, and another corner whip, but then eats a foot to the face, which does not come with any special sauce. Taker soon makes the mistake of putting his head down though, and gets piledrivered. The lid is opened, and Taker gets rolled into the casket. Before Kama can win, Taker grabs him by the throat, and drags him inside, nailing him with punches.
Back in the ring, Taker whips Kama into the buckle, and hits a corner splash, which is tonight's move of choice, alongside the throw over the top rope. After both men rebound off the ropes, they clothesline each other. Kama is up first, and he attempts to slam Taker into the casket. Taker slips out the back door, and then hits the chokeslam, before using a big boot to put Kama into the casket. Only it doesn't quite work. Taker has to finish the job by rolling him in, and then closing the lid.
Only worth *. Nothing special and a sloppy finish. This is followed up with a music video showing the highlights of the PPV.
Overall, it's worth getting the video for Bret/Pierre and Shawn/Jarrett, but if you can track them down elsewhere, you'd be better off doing that.
Back to index