Your Favorite Two Hour In Your House

[The Brain]

In May 1995 the WWF began a schedule of monthly pay per view events. Until this point there were five main pay per view shows per year. When the WWF went to the monthly schedule they put on a show called In Your House during months when one of the big five events was not taking place. These events were just under two hours long and featured fewer matches than the other pay per views. In September 1997 In Your House went to three hours just like the other shows. This means there were 16 In Your House events that were two hours or less. Which of those events was your favorite?

Honestly, I don’t have one that jumps out at me as the best but I thought several were very good. There are several that had one or two very good or great matches but not many that had more than that. That’s ok though because there were only five or six matches on these shows and not everything on a card is going to be a great match. For a shorter show at a discounted price one or two good matches meant a good show.

I guess I better pick one since I am asking you to do the same by creating this thread. I’ll go with Beware of Dog from May 1996. This was an unusual event as a thunderstorm knocked out the power during the show causing only two matches to air while the other three were redone two nights later. I thought three of the five matches were pretty strong. Marc Mero vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley was a good opener and a solid mid card feud. Mero was new to the WWF and looked like he might be the new Razor Ramon. What I mean by that is I saw Mero as the new baby face that would always be involved in the IC picture. Turns out that didn’t happen but he looked good at the beginning.

The main event was also very good. Shawn Michaels defended his world title against the British Bulldog. Those two couldn’t have a bad match together could they? This wasn’t a five star spectacular or one of HBK’s best but it was a very good match that had an interesting double pin finish.

The match of the night(s) was a gimmick between two lower card guys. Savio Vega took on Stone Cold Steve Austin in a strap match. This was a good old fashioned war. These two guys beat the hell out of each other with that strap. It took Austin a little while to get going in the WWF and most people remember his KOTR speech as his breakout moment but I think it was this match that got him noticed and paved the way for him to win KOTR (along with HHH being pulled off tv temporarily). This is kind of a forgotten match because Austin hadn’t become a superstar yet but it’s definitely worth checking out if you haven’t seen it. It’s also significant because after nine years in the WWF Ted Dibiase was forced to leave due to a pre match stipulation.

So three pretty strong matches out of five is a pretty good show. What’s your favorite two hour In Your House event?

 

[HBsam31]

The one that has always stuck out in my mind, and is my personal favorite is In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks. The main event was WWF champion Diesel vs Sid. Diesel retained here, but this match is not the reason why I liked this one. HBK won the IC title belt from Jeff Jarrett in what I thought was a pretty decent match. Shawn was just back from injury and got his shot against Jarrett, and more importantly this set up the second ladder match with Shawn an Razor at Summerslam. I also believe The Roadie faced the 123 kid on this card too. Nothing else jumps out at me, but I will always remember this ppv as this was Shawn's first singles face run and his title win here pretty much kicked off his rise to the main event the next year.

 

[The Brain]

The one that has always stuck out in my mind, and is my personal favorite is In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks. The main event was WWF champion Diesel vs Sid. Diesel retained here, but this match is not the reason why I liked this one. HBK won the IC title belt from Jeff Jarrett in what I thought was a pretty decent match. Shawn was just back from injury and got his shot against Jarrett, and more importantly this set up the second ladder match with Shawn an Razor at Summerslam. I also believe The Roadie faced the 123 kid on this card too. Nothing else jumps out at me, but I will always remember this ppv as this was Shawn's first singles face run and his title win here pretty much kicked off his rise to the main event the next year.

I almost picked this one for Michaels vs. Jarrett alone. It's always been one of my favorite matches. I've been praising that forgotten classic since I first joined this forum. Match of the year in 1995 in my opinion. Roadie vs. 123 Kid opened the show and that was a good match too. If I remember correctly Roadie finished off the Kid with a piledriver from the top rope. I chose Beware of Dog because three out of five matches is a good percentage compared to two out of six but HBK vs. Jarrett alone makes In Your House 2 a good choice.

 

[donfryeismyhero]

There are so many to chose from but I'll pick IYH: Good Friends Better Enemies. The card was stacked. An exciting prelim match up that aired prior to the actual ppv between 1-2-3 Kid & Marc Mero. We saw HHH interfere helping Kid beat down Mero Kliq style. Then onto the ppv where we had Bulldog/Owen vs Jake The Snake & Ahmed Johnson. Goldust vs The Ultimate Warrior wasn't really a match. Goldust I think injured his knee legit early on in the evening but it was fun watching Warrior sitting in Marlena's chair smoking her cigar while wearing Goldust's wig. Razor Ramon wrestled his last televised match in WWE before going to WCW against Vader in a good match. But the match that stole the show was HBK vs Diesel in a no holds barred match for the WWE title. It was non stop excitement from bell to bell. The match was very Attitude era-esq minus the blood. Nash jacknifed Shwan through a table which was almost unheard of at that time in WWE. Great ppv.

 

[Wolf Pac]

I loved all of the IYH PPV's, but I'm gonna go with Canadian Stampede because of the Great Sasuke vs. TAKA Michinoku match and the main event. I can't remember the other two matches very well, Undertaker vs. Vader and HHH vs. Mankind, but from what I've read in other peoples reviews of the show, they were good matches too. The Sasuke/TAKA match I believe was the WWF's first ever Light Heavyweight match and what a great way it was to kick-off the WWF's LHW division despite the way it ended up. The crowd were dead at first once the match began because they were unfamiliar with both guys, but once they both started unloading all of their awesome moves and fun high spots, the crowd really started getting into it. I still mark out for TAKA's Running Spaceman Plancha to the outside whenever I watch old tapes of him. It's a real shame how the LHW division and TAKA's WWE career turned out after this fantastic match. And the main event was just insane all throughout from the Hart Foundation's entrances to the hilarious post-match events with Austin still going after the Hart Family and getting arrested and flipping the crowd off while he's handcuffed. The crowd's pops and reactions were absolutely nuts, and the building even shook at one point in the match. It was a really exciting PPV for those two matches alone.

 

[HBsam31]

I almost picked this one for Michaels vs. Jarrett alone. It's always been one of my favorite matches. I've been praising that forgotten classic since I first joined this forum. Match of the year in 1995 in my opinion. Roadie vs. 123 Kid opened the show and that was a good match too. If I remember correctly Roadie finished off the Kid with a piledriver from the top rope. I chose Beware of Dog because three out of five matches is a good percentage compared to two out of six but HBK vs. Jarrett alone makes In Your House 2 a good choice.

Wow, I didn't think anyone else remembered this match. As a young HBK fan it was a great moment too in him coming back from injury and winning the IC title. I actually liked all of the IYH ppvs, and I am sure there were more solid cards as a whole, but as soon as I saw a thread on IYH, 2 instantly came to mind.

 

[theHeadliner]

I can think of matches from IYH more than the actual PPV as a whole. Michaels vs Mankind at Mind Games, Bret Hart vs British Bulldog at the X-Mas show, Shawn vs Owen, Bret vs Hakushi, Shawn vs Diesel, Shawn vs Jeff Jarrett, First Hell in a Cell. My Aunt worked for the cable company and back then she got all the PPVs for free so I basically saw every PPV from Royal Rumble 1994 thru 1996 or 1997.

 

[donfryeismyhero]

Wow, I didn't think anyone else remembered this match. As a young HBK fan it was a great moment too in him coming back from injury and winning the IC title. I actually liked all of the IYH ppvs, and I am sure there were more solid cards as a whole, but as soon as I saw a thread on IYH, 2 instantly came to mind.

HBK vs Doube J was easily a 5 star match. Both guys worked their butts off in the match. It should of been a coming out party for both guys but JJ left the company for whatever reason afterwards (he returned 4 or 5 months later but disappeared a few months after only to reappear in WCW in late 96). This match really made Shawn look like a big deal superstar with his popularity growing.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

In May 1995 the WWF began a schedule of monthly pay per view events. Until this point there were five main pay per view shows per year. When the WWF went to the monthly schedule they put on a show called In Your House during months when one of the big five events was not taking place. These events were just under two hours long and featured fewer matches than the other pay per views. In September 1997 In Your House went to three hours just like the other shows. This means there were 16 In Your House events that were two hours or less. Which of those events was your favorite?

Honestly, I don’t have one that jumps out at me as the best but I thought several were very good. There are several that had one or two very good or great matches but not many that had more than that. That’s ok though because there were only five or six matches on these shows and not everything on a card is going to be a great match. For a shorter show at a discounted price one or two good matches meant a good show.

I guess I better pick one since I am asking you to do the same by creating this thread. I’ll go with Beware of Dog from May 1996. This was an unusual event as a thunderstorm knocked out the power during the show causing only two matches to air while the other three were redone two nights later. I thought three of the five matches were pretty strong. Marc Mero vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley was a good opener and a solid mid card feud. Mero was new to the WWF and looked like he might be the new Razor Ramon. What I mean by that is I saw Mero as the new baby face that would always be involved in the IC picture. Turns out that didn’t happen but he looked good at the beginning.

The main event was also very good. Shawn Michaels defended his world title against the British Bulldog. Those two couldn’t have a bad match together could they? This wasn’t a five star spectacular or one of HBK’s best but it was a very good match that had an interesting double pin finish.

The match of the night(s) was a gimmick between two lower card guys. Savio Vega took on Stone Cold Steve Austin in a strap match. This was a good old fashioned war. These two guys beat the hell out of each other with that strap. It took Austin a little while to get going in the WWF and most people remember his KOTR speech as his breakout moment but I think it was this match that got him noticed and paved the way for him to win KOTR (along with HHH being pulled off tv temporarily). This is kind of a forgotten match because Austin hadn’t become a superstar yet but it’s definitely worth checking out if you haven’t seen it. It’s also significant because after nine years in the WWF Ted Dibiase was forced to leave due to a pre match stipulation.

So three pretty strong matches out of five is a pretty good show. What’s your favorite two hour In Your House event?

I agree this one was pretty damn good, though it has always bugged me why they didn't let Davey have the belt for one night off that whole double pin thing, Shawn wouldn't have lost momentum but it would have made the KOTR match far more exciting, hell they could have done a ladder match...

One that sticks out most for me for shock was Badd Blood for the horrendous news of Pillman's passing, that was a real downer for the start of a PPV, especially when the Goldust/Pillman match was such a major part.

IYH I remember more for monents and angles than matches, like Shawn relinquishing his IC belt cos of his marine entaglements at 4. Ground Zero was memorable cos of Scott Putski's wandering kneecap and The Patriot (who I always liked) getting a title shot.

Best match was at the first one, much as I liked Jarrett v Shawn... Bret v Hakushi was a masterclass and should have been done at Mania the month prior...

 

[HBKperfect23]

Runner up goes to Canadian Stampede. The USA/Canada stuff is some of the best and most underrated stuff IMO. Mankind/HHH was decent, I liked the lt heavy weight match. Taker/Vader and the paul bearer angle was good....match was ok. The atmoshphere for the main event was great. The Hart Foundations (particually Brets) entrance was on of the best ever.

My personal favorite is IYH 2. Im bias because this is one of the rare ppvs I got to order. Michaels/JJ was with out a doubt the IC match from the mid-late 90s. I also liked the tag title match and Roadie/Kid.