12/7/97 – Springfield Civic Center in Springfield, Massachusetts – Attendance: 6,358
The best year in wrestling history, 1997, was coming to an end. Off of the heels of the most controversial moment in wrestling history, the Montreal Screwjob, Shawn Michaels was now the WWF Champion for a third time. His new stable with Triple H and Chyna would get a Pay-Per-View named after themselves. There are a few things of note about this show. One is that the In Your House title comes after the DX name, when all other IYH shows that I know of had the IYH part first. Second, this show features the first one on one match between The Rock and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, kick starting one of the greatest rivalries of all time. The Attitude Era was still in its early stages and this Pay-Per-View would be the last of a phenomenal year.
The intro video shows how D-Generation X has run rampant through the WWF over the past few months. Not only will Shawn Michaels be defending his WWF Title against Ken Shamrock, but Triple H will face Commissioner Slaughter in a Boot Camp match, whatever the hell that is. Your commentary team for the evening is Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.
Light Heavyweight Championship Tournament Finals
Brian Christopher vs. Taka Michinoku
Too Sexy opens with a slam and an armdrag as he does his trademark laugh. The fans chant “Jerry's Kid” at him. He celebrates all of his offense, even the tiniest of moves. I wish the Light Heavyweight Division would've taken off like the Cruiserweight Division did. Taka lands on his feet to counter a German and dropkicks Christopher multiple times. As he ends up outside, Taka nails a springboard plancha to a positive reaction from the fans. Brian ends up crotching Taka on the top rope and knocks him outside. He goes for a fist drop (sure he's not Jerry's kid) but misses. He hit the guardrail hard and is bleeding from the mouth. Taka hits a nice looking tornado DDT for a near fall. Hurricanrana follows that sends Christopher outside, so Taka follows out with a moonsault. His offense is impressive for this time. Lawler gets up from commentary to check on his son. It has no effect on the match. Christopher manages to hit the Stroke, so if this was TNA in 2005, he'd be World Champion. He connects with a nice sitout powerbomb, but his cocky cover only gets him two. He hits the Rocker Dropper, so Billy Gunn is probably pissed backstage. Christopher hits a clothesline that looks like they double clotheslined each other, so that's weird. He does hit a sweet German suplex but continues to showboat instead of pin. He goes for the top rope leg drop but misfires. Michinoku driver finishes it.
Winner and New Light Heavyweight Champion: Taka Michinoku in 12:01
Really fun opener. Christopher impressed as the more powerful of the two, and Taka was always pretty good. They got a good amount of time and used it well. It's crazy to think that Taka isn't even 40 yet in present day. ***
Six Man Tag Team Match
Disciples of Apocalypse (Chainz, Skull and 8-Ball) vs. Los Boricuas (Miguel Perez Jr., Jesus Castillo Jr. and Jose Estrada Jr.) w/ Savio Vega
The only thing I disliked in 1997 was the gang warfare stuff. Just look at this match. Why are all of the Boricuas juniors? Los Boricuas rap their theme to the ring and it sounds awful. Savio gets kicked out because Tim White is obviously racist judging by his name. I'm not sure which Boricua is which. The hairy one, who Ross says is Miguel, starts with Chainz...I think. “Shave your back” chants start directed at Miguel. The Harris Brothers double clothesline Jose. Miguel gets in some cheap shots from the apron as we have a hate crime going on in the corner. Spanish A-Train seems to injure his leg and tags out to Jose. The match continues to bore me as Savio comes out to replace Miguel. Tim White continues to be racist and prevents this. Miguel was faking the entire time as he comes in and hits a leg drop, allowing his team to steal the win.
Winners: Los Boricuas in 7:58
Maybe it's because I don't care about anyone in this match, but I was not a fan of this. It bored me to tears. *
Dok Hendrix is standing by with Butterbean, who just won a boxing match on Pay-Per-View the previous night. He's going to box the FIVE TIME NEW YORK STATE GOLDEN GLOVES BOXING CHAMPION! Butterbean struggles through the promo before we cut to nerdy Michael Cole and Sable. Because she held up the title for Butterbean last night, people question if she's going to be with him and not Mero. She'll be with Mero, who interrupts because she's stealing his spotlight.
Toughman Match
Butterbean vs. “Marvelous” Marc Mero w/ Sable
So, this is like a cross between a boxing match and a straight up fight. Four rounds at two minutes a piece of tough fighting. Mero stalls by hugging the ropes for a bit. As he goes to the ropes, Butterbean nails him and he falls outside. Back inside, Mero gets in some shots and actually survives Round 1. Mero attacks him after the round and they need to be separated. Mero's trainers distract Mike Chioda which allow Mero to choke him with a string and use heel tactics. The fans find this to be boring and I'd have to agree somewhat. He survives Round 2 and dropkicks Butterbean in between rounds again. Round three involved Butterbean getting Mero into the corner and firing away. Knowing what he did to Bart Gunn, it's obvious that he's not being Butterbean for real here. Butterbean finally gets a knockdown as the third round is coming to an end and is saved by the bell. IT'S ALL RIGHT CUZ I'M SAVED BY THE BELL! As the fourth round starts Butterbean knocks down Mero again, causing Mero to hit him with a low blow.
Winner via disqualification: Butterbean in 10:20
This should not have gone 10 minutes. It wasn't very entertaining, though Mero tried hard with his antics. *1/4
Mero hits Butterbean with a stool, but he shakes it off and forces him to get a case of the limber tail. The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust and Luna come out and it's as weird as you would expect. I hated this incarnation of Goldust. It was by far the worst run he had as the character. He reads a weird version of green eggs and ham that goes on for far too long. Luna gets tired of it like I did and shoves him down.
Michael Cole interviews the Legion of Doom and it's horrible. Hawk spews off lines about boogers. I'm serious.
WWF Tag Team Championship
The New Age Outlaws (c) vs. The Legion of Doom
Road Dogg's pre-match promo is about the Legion of Doom being dinosaurs. LOD is sick of their smack talk and they chase them up the ramp so the Outlaws stall a bit more. Officials come out to make them compete and this starts as a brawl. Things settle down rather quickly and Hawk hits a sweet looking neckbreaker on that D-O-DOUBLE G. He goes to talk strategy with Billy, so Hawk hits a double clothesline off the apron. Later on, Dogg tries to leapfrog over Animal but gets caught with a powerbomb. Things spill outside so Dogg hits Hawk with a trash can of sorts and Billy low blows him. Billy Gunn gets the tag for the very first time finally after a while. Hawk poorly sells a kitchen sink and I guess Hawk shouted a curse or something because something gets bleeped. Animal gets the hot tag and does what one would expect as he hits a big powerslam and shoulder block. LOD sets up for the Doomsday Device but Henry Godwin comes out and hits Animal with the slop bucket. Hawk hits Billy Gunn with it and gets disqualified like an idiot.
Winners via disqualification and Still WWF Tag Team Champions: The New Age Outlaws in 10:32
Not the greatest tag match ever. LOD was pretty rough to enjoy at this time, and Road Dogg did too much of the work for his team. *3/4
Boot Camp Match
Sgt. Slaughter vs. Triple H w/ Chyna
Triple H is wearing jeans, so if you didn't know what a Boot Camp match was, you now know it's a street fight basically. They sell the fact that Sarge made the Boot Camp match famous but this is the only one in history. Last thing to point out, the Sarge is using Kurt Angle's theme or, in other words, the Patriot's theme THAT HE JUST USED LIKE 3 PPVS AGO. The Sarge starts in control because he's all business tonight. Going outside, Slaughter continues to beat the future 13 time World Champion down. He attempts a cover outside leading the official to tell him that it's not falls count anywhere. HOW DOESN'T HE KNOW? HE MADE THE MATCH UP! The belt comes off and the Sarge takes Hunter to the woodshed. Hunter prevents the Cobra Clutch and takes over as things go outside. Hunter steals the ring bell from recently released Mark Yeaton by knocking him out. THAT MAN HAS A FAMILY. HHH wraps the belt around Slaughter's neck and sends him across the ring. He puts a chain around his hand and hits Slaughter with it before delivering a fist drop off the second rope. Somehow that's not all. Sarge climbs to the top because he's apparently an idiot, so HHH slams him from the top. Why is this taking so long? HHH puts on a sleeper hold, so yay! Sarge counters and applies the Cobra Clutch! Chyna gets in and shoves the official before raking Sarge in the eyes. Chyna tries to hit him with a chair but Slaughter throws powder into her eyes, allowing Hunter to hit him with his boot. He goes for it again but gets put back in the Clutch. Chyna blindly enters and kicks him in the nuts. A Pedigree on a chair follows to end it.
Winner: Triple H in 17:39
Horrible. Triple H couldn't go over in a Street Fight over Sgt. Slaughter without help from Chyna? He looked awful and the match was boring as hell. *1/4
Michael Cole interviews Jeff Jarrett about his in-ring debut. So, his mid-90's run didn't happen? Also, do they have no other interviewers in the company?
Jeff Jarrett vs. The Undertaker
I had no clue that this match ever happened. It's oddly placed in between the Shawn Michaels/Undertaker and Kane/Undertaker feuds. Jarrett hits right hands and runs, which is a wise strategy. Undertaker gets in the driver's seat and and it's OLD SCHOOL time. Undertaker charges into the corner, so Jarrett meets him with an elbow and goes for the knee. Taker misses a big boot and Jarrett targets the knee again. He continues to work the leg and The Undertaker is actually selling it well with some very visible limping. Even the backbreaker that he ends up hitting is with the good leg. He does hit a leg drop with it so it's not the world's greatest sell job. The lights go out just as The Undertaker is rallying back and Kane's theme plays. Kane's entrance pyro used to be absurdly huge. As he enters the ring, he chokeslams Jarrett to everyone's surprise and causes a disqualification.
Winner via disqualification: Jeff Jarrett in 6:40
I was liking this until Kane showed up. That's our third disqualification in six matches. **1/4
Kane slaps his brother and, when The Undertaker doesn't retaliate, he leaves. Jarrett attacks Undertaker from behind and goes for the Figure Four. Undertaker blocks it and hits a pretty piss poor looking Chokeslam. Jarrett should've quit while he was ahead. Michael Cole is back, this time in the crowd with Mark Henry. They talk about some nonsense and his return, which he says is about a week away. He picks Austin to beat the Rock even though he would join the Nation shortly after.
WWF Intercontinental Championship
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin (c) vs. The Rock w/ The Nation of Domination
Rock has the Intercontinental Title even though he's not the Champion. Austin drives to the ring in his pickup truck and IT'S ON! He gets in and pounds away on the Rock until the Nation overcomes him before the bell rings. I would like to point out that the crowd is red hot. As the referee clears the ring, Austin backdrops D-Lo onto the windshield and hits a Stunner on the truck. The bell sounds and it's a fist fight between two of the best of all time. LOU THEZ PRESS! PISTON LIKE RIGHT HANDS! Rock uses Austin's momentum to send him flying over the top. Faarooq and Kama assault Austin on the outside and Kama gets a chair but misses and cracks Faarooq. Austin then throws him into the truck and goes inside, but Rock stomps on him. Rock slows the pace as Austin is still pretty limited since SummerSlam. He does sell a kitchen sink way better than Hawk does though. Austin hits the Stunner on the referee by mistake and Rock goes to hit him with brass knuckles but it's blocked and Austin hits the Stunner. Another referee rushes out and counts the three.
Winner and Still WWF Intercontinental Champion: Steve Austin in 5:28
Despite the Rock slowing it down, it was a short but fun little match. They would obviously best this in the future, but I enjoyed it. **1/2
The pre-match promo focuses on Ken Shamrock being insane but the highlight is Shawn Michaels and Triple H twisting HBK's ankle a million times on Raw to show that he can handle the Ankle Lock. So there is another interviewer, as Jim Cornette talks to Ken Shamrock about the main event. It's not the best promo work ever.
WWF Championship
Shawn Michaels (c) w/ DX vs. Ken Shamrock
If I recall correctly, Shamrock made his in-ring debut in May of 1997 and already has a WWF Title shot. Impressive. A feeling out process starts things and it's very fast paced. Shamrock kicks the hell out of Shawn in the chest, sending him outside. Shawn gets back inside and gets tossed around by Ken before taking his signature corner bump and regrouping again. Chyna attempts to distract Shamrock but he sees Shawn coming and levels him. When Shawn goes outside with Triple H again, Shamrock grabs their heads and DOUBLE NOGGIN KNOCKER! Shamrock continues to dominate as he sends Michaels all over the ring and the Champion oversells everything. He goes for the belly to belly but Shawn holds onto Earl Hebner to stop it and hits a low blow. Shawn gets Shamrock outside and dives onto him, and by the way, this is one of my favorite HBK attires of all time. Shawn drives his elbow into Shamrock from the second rope. HHH gets in like 15 rapid fire cheap shots while HBK distracts the official. Shawn decides that it's rest hold time because Shamrock nearly got INTO HIS ZONE. Shamrock powers out and starts to GET INTO HIS ZONE! Anytime he screams I just picture X-Pac's impersonation of him. He hits a hurricanrana and starts to pound away on Michaels. Michaels goes for a hurricanrana of his own but it's reversed into a powerbomb for two. Triple H and Chyna again get in cheap shots on Shamrock. Back in, Shawn hits an elbow and sets up for the Sweet Chin Music. Shamrock dodges and hits a big belly to belly before locking in the Ankle Lock! Triple H and Chyna run in for the DQ as they break it up.
Winner via disqualification: Ken Shamrock in 18:27
Another disqualification finish to another relatively disappointing contest. I was hoping for more but these two didn't click that well. **1/2
As DX beats down on Shamrock, a man in a hood rushes out and attacks Shawn Michaels. It's OWEN HART! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH AND ITS TIME FOR A CHANGE! When Triple H comes out for the save, Owen escapes through the crowd.
Overall: 4/10; Weak. Too many disqualification finishes. Of the eight matches, four of them ended in a DQ. The opener was the best match and the final two matches weren't terrible. The six man tag, Butterbean stuff, Tag Title match and Boot Camp match were all crap though and that's too much crap on one show. Up next on “Random Network Reviews” will be from the Old School Vault! MSG from 10/28/1991. That's different and should be interesting.
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