Bluray Review: The Best of WWE In Your House
Jan 25, 2015 0:37:48 GMT -5
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Post by adamclark52 on Jan 25, 2015 0:37:48 GMT -5
This is a partial review. I can't find my writings for the first disc other than I really enjoyed it and it had one of my favorite moments by Jerry Lawler on commentary. I believe it was during Shawn Micheals verses Jeff Jarrett. They showed a rather..."tacky"...looking lady in the crowd. Your typical lady who was in the crowd at a mid-1990's WWF show with big hair and tons of make-up. And the King just blurts out "Ah, what's her hobby? Stepping on rakes?". I was sold on the whole video after that.
July 6th, 1997
Goldust, Ken Shamrock, the Legion of Doom and Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Hart Foundation (Brian Pillman, Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart, the British Bulldog, Owen Hart and Bret "the Hitman" Hart)
It was sad watching this and how many of these guys are dead. And not even recently, within five years of this. I think the Hart Foundation were uber-heels at this time but this match was in Calgary so...yeah. I've personally grown really tired of the Hart family. They're always so angry. Especially Bruce Hart. Who the f*** is that guy anyway and why should I care? The only one who ever smiled was Helen and I think that's only because she never had a clue as to what was going on. The match itself was okay. I'd have preferred it be an elimination match but at the pace it was moving it would have been an hour and a half. Nah, it was good.
September 7th, 1997
Shawn Michaels vs. the Undertaker
Ah, Shawn Michaels circa 1997. Female fans ranging from "average" to "barf". Fan-made signs full of glitter, bad grammar and spelling mistakes. Those gawdy T-shirts. This match just epitomized mid-1990's WWF. This was the first time Michaels ever faced the Undertaker. So it's pretty important considering how things would pan out between the two over the next fifteen years. The Undertaker was in an especially foul mood during this match. He beat the referee up before it even started, and then four more referees got beaten up over the course of the match. I've seen a lot of the Undertakers matches over the years but I don't think I've ever seen him booked to be such a dominating monster before. Not in a pay per view match at least. I really wish I knew more of the backstory on this one. I do know that it led to the first Hell in a Cell a few months later. But this should have been part of a retrospective collection instead of a random collection. I had no idea what was going on. I'd imagine people will feel this confused when they watch Brock Lesnar verses John Cena long after they're gone. This match was a lot like the ECW video I just finished watching in all its sloppy brutality. Except it was WWF circa 1997 and it ended in a No Contest. It wasn't very good but it was different for the time and federation.
February 15th, 1998
Non-Sanctioned Match
D-X (Triple H, Bad Ass Billy Gunn and the Road Dogg Jesse James) and Savio Vega w/Chyna vs. Owen Hart, Chainsaw Charlie, Cactus Jack and Stone Cold Steve Austin
If you think the WWE does a great job of f***ing up wrestlers now look no farther. I never understood why they thought to call Terry Funk "Chainsaw Charlie" and make him wear a nylon stocking over his head. But they still always referred to him as "Terry Funk" and drop not-so-subtle hints about his past. I wasn't watching in 1998 so maybe he was playing a character at the time, just like with Mick Foley and all his personas. This was a hardcore match not unlike the hardcore matches on all my ECW videos, except six out of the eight guys weren't HxCx performers. So it suffered a few times and was a little too choreographed. Foley took a beating but what else is new? I can't believe Chyna does porn now...
July 26th, 1998
For the World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Championships
Kane and Mankind (champions) w/Paul Bearer vs. The Undertaker and Stone Cold Steve Austin
I noticed a huge change in atmosphere between the last match and this one and I such a short amount of time. The last match was just as the wrestling hysteria of the late-1990's was taking off. It was in full-blown flight by this match. The crowd was different too. From your typical lower class dweebs to an arena full of bronies and their bros flipping middle fingers off all over the place in their Stone Cold t-shirts. I’d imagine it was a lot like being at a Winds of Plague concert. I like the dweebs better. They're the people still watching wrestling fifteen years later. People often lament about these days, the Attitude Era. I think a lot of it's viewed through rose-colored glasses. I think a lot of the Attitude Era was style over substance. Except marquee and main-event matches. They always had weight and delivered, even on a C-level pay per view like this. This was a good match.
October 18th, 1998
For the World Wrestling Federation Intercontinental Championship
Ken Shamrock (champion) vs. Mankind
Foot-in-mouth? Proof positive how much better the WWE was back in these day: JR and the King were dropping some really nice "gay" hints about the first Intercontinental champion Pat Patterson when this match started. The announcers today wouldn't even THINK about doing that. Maybe I do miss the Attitude Era more than I think? Yeah, I do. Even with Vince Russos ridiculous gonzo-swerves and gimmicks it was so much better than the crap they have today. This was one of those marquee matches that stood out in the Attitude Era. It was pretty rough. But again, when isn't a Mick Foley match a little rough? The ending was stupid though when Mankind was in the Ankle-Lock and made himself pass out with his own Mandible Claw. The Mandible Claw has always been one of the stupidest finishers ever. Putting it on himself was beyond stupid.
February 14th, 1999
Last Man Standing Match for the World Wrestling Federation Championship
The Rock vs. Mankind (champion)
I remember these days; when the Rock had some fatty deposits removed from his chest to get rid of his Samoan man-tits. He had to wear a shirt for most of that winter to hide the scaring, which is why he was wearing a shirt at the Royal Rumble and this match. But look at those pecks now! All worth it. I also remember these days when I though Mankind was the worst WWF champion of all-time. This was a pretty brutal match. Not as nuts as their match a month earlier at the Royal Rumble but still good. You don't get many championship matches like this anymore, especially on "c" pay per views. It ended in a draw though, which was stupid. I thought the Triple H verses Shawn Michaels Last Man Standing match at the 2004 Royal Rumble was the only Last Man Standing match to end in a draw. You learn something every day. It was nice too that Michael Cole (who was in his stint filling in for JR because of his stroke) was treated like a total pube during this match.
I thought I was done with this video but when I was putting it away I noticed that the bluray (which I have) has five bonus matches on it.
April 20th, 1997
Bret "the Hitman" Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin
I guess this was the rematch after their match at Wrestlemania 13. I can't remember much from that match but I'm sure it was better. You don't hear people lament as much about Austin verses Bret Hart from "Revenge of the 'Taker" as much. This match was going on fine, maybe a little plodding, until the British Bulldog and Owen Hart came in and attacked Stone Cold, which led to a disqualification.
December 7th, 1997
Final Match in a tournament to determine the first World Wrestling Federation Light Heavyweight Championship
"Too Sexy" Brian Christopher vs. TAKA Michinoku
There were some A-listers in the tournament leading up to this match. Scott Flanagan. Eric Shelley. Super Loco. I'm usually pretty good at recognizing shit for eras I wasn't even watching but I have no clue who the f*** some of those guys were. This match wasn't too bad. But what really made it entertaining was Jerry Lawlers commentary and the whole "he's not my son, what are you talking about, oh he's bleeding, I better go check on him" shtick. Jerry may be terrible now but there've been many times he was very entertaining. Brian Christopher’s' "Steroids Backne" was pretty intense.
December 7th, 1997
For the World Wrestling Federation World Heavyweight Championship
Ken Shamrock vs. Shawn Michaels (champion) w/D-X (Triple H and Chyna)
I never knew Ken Shamrock got heavyweight title shots. I guess Bret Hart bailing a few weeks earlier left them scrambling. It was kinda sad watching this match. As far as I know, unless he wrestled on Raw, this was Shawn Michaels last match before he f***ed his back up entirely the next month at the Royal Rumble. This match wasn't very good. It ended with more outside interference from D-X and a disqualification. Owen Hart came out at the end and attacked Shawn Michaels and I'm sure that was pretty important given what happened at the Survivor Series a month earlier. And I said it last night...Chyna does porn now? I wouldn't even stream that for free.
July 26th, 1998
D-Lo Brown w/the Godfather vs. X-Pac w/Chyna
Chyna had already gone quite the transformation by this point. She wasn't quite up to pornography standards by this point but I'm sure she will be some day. I don't know why this match was included. I guess they figured that by this point of the video that anyone watching would be all wrestled out. Or they had ten minutes of space left to fill on the disc and it was this or the New Rockers verses the Heavenly Bodies. I'd have preferred the New Rockers match. I've always hated X-Pac. And D-Lo Brown and that stupid chest protector is one of the clearest memories I have of when I got back in to wrestling in 1998. But this is another fine example of the WWF then verses the WWE now. These two were always losers, but they still got "pops" during their entrances and the crowd was still making noise during their match.
The also included that segment from the first In Your House when they gave away a house. It was pretty lame. Stephanie Wiand was pretty annoying.
I was really surprised on this video that they weren't blurring out any of the WWF "scratch" logos or censoring the commentators whenever they said "WWF". I don't know when they stopped doing that but this was the first time I noticed it. Thank god they have. Some of the DVDS I have from when they first had to start censoring it was brutal. They didn't really censor anything. During the Mankind verses Ken Shamrock match some guy held up a HUGE sign that said, "Eric Bennet is Gay". That wouldn't fly today.
Overall I really enjoyed this video. It got a bit Mankind/Mick Foley heavy towards the end. But during the Attitude Era it really only was Stone Cold, the Undertaker, Mankind, the Rock a bit later and everyone else. And how’s that any different from today really? Todd Pettengill was great as a host. He didn't take it serious at all and did a great job of poking fun at himself and all the things going on that deserved to be made fun of. He just said what we all think. It was pretty incredible to see how much the WWF (and wrestling in general) took off between late 1997 and by the time this video closed in early 1999. I'd forgotten how huge it was and how electric it was. It was a great throwback to a lot of matches and events that have been forgotten to time. I've always had a soft spot for mid-1990's WWF so I'd like to see more of this. I'd even watch full pay per views. Todd put it best; In Your House had some great matches that weren't necessarily on the grandest of stage. I recommend this set to anyone.
July 6th, 1997
Goldust, Ken Shamrock, the Legion of Doom and Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Hart Foundation (Brian Pillman, Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart, the British Bulldog, Owen Hart and Bret "the Hitman" Hart)
It was sad watching this and how many of these guys are dead. And not even recently, within five years of this. I think the Hart Foundation were uber-heels at this time but this match was in Calgary so...yeah. I've personally grown really tired of the Hart family. They're always so angry. Especially Bruce Hart. Who the f*** is that guy anyway and why should I care? The only one who ever smiled was Helen and I think that's only because she never had a clue as to what was going on. The match itself was okay. I'd have preferred it be an elimination match but at the pace it was moving it would have been an hour and a half. Nah, it was good.
September 7th, 1997
Shawn Michaels vs. the Undertaker
Ah, Shawn Michaels circa 1997. Female fans ranging from "average" to "barf". Fan-made signs full of glitter, bad grammar and spelling mistakes. Those gawdy T-shirts. This match just epitomized mid-1990's WWF. This was the first time Michaels ever faced the Undertaker. So it's pretty important considering how things would pan out between the two over the next fifteen years. The Undertaker was in an especially foul mood during this match. He beat the referee up before it even started, and then four more referees got beaten up over the course of the match. I've seen a lot of the Undertakers matches over the years but I don't think I've ever seen him booked to be such a dominating monster before. Not in a pay per view match at least. I really wish I knew more of the backstory on this one. I do know that it led to the first Hell in a Cell a few months later. But this should have been part of a retrospective collection instead of a random collection. I had no idea what was going on. I'd imagine people will feel this confused when they watch Brock Lesnar verses John Cena long after they're gone. This match was a lot like the ECW video I just finished watching in all its sloppy brutality. Except it was WWF circa 1997 and it ended in a No Contest. It wasn't very good but it was different for the time and federation.
February 15th, 1998
Non-Sanctioned Match
D-X (Triple H, Bad Ass Billy Gunn and the Road Dogg Jesse James) and Savio Vega w/Chyna vs. Owen Hart, Chainsaw Charlie, Cactus Jack and Stone Cold Steve Austin
If you think the WWE does a great job of f***ing up wrestlers now look no farther. I never understood why they thought to call Terry Funk "Chainsaw Charlie" and make him wear a nylon stocking over his head. But they still always referred to him as "Terry Funk" and drop not-so-subtle hints about his past. I wasn't watching in 1998 so maybe he was playing a character at the time, just like with Mick Foley and all his personas. This was a hardcore match not unlike the hardcore matches on all my ECW videos, except six out of the eight guys weren't HxCx performers. So it suffered a few times and was a little too choreographed. Foley took a beating but what else is new? I can't believe Chyna does porn now...
July 26th, 1998
For the World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Championships
Kane and Mankind (champions) w/Paul Bearer vs. The Undertaker and Stone Cold Steve Austin
I noticed a huge change in atmosphere between the last match and this one and I such a short amount of time. The last match was just as the wrestling hysteria of the late-1990's was taking off. It was in full-blown flight by this match. The crowd was different too. From your typical lower class dweebs to an arena full of bronies and their bros flipping middle fingers off all over the place in their Stone Cold t-shirts. I’d imagine it was a lot like being at a Winds of Plague concert. I like the dweebs better. They're the people still watching wrestling fifteen years later. People often lament about these days, the Attitude Era. I think a lot of it's viewed through rose-colored glasses. I think a lot of the Attitude Era was style over substance. Except marquee and main-event matches. They always had weight and delivered, even on a C-level pay per view like this. This was a good match.
October 18th, 1998
For the World Wrestling Federation Intercontinental Championship
Ken Shamrock (champion) vs. Mankind
Foot-in-mouth? Proof positive how much better the WWE was back in these day: JR and the King were dropping some really nice "gay" hints about the first Intercontinental champion Pat Patterson when this match started. The announcers today wouldn't even THINK about doing that. Maybe I do miss the Attitude Era more than I think? Yeah, I do. Even with Vince Russos ridiculous gonzo-swerves and gimmicks it was so much better than the crap they have today. This was one of those marquee matches that stood out in the Attitude Era. It was pretty rough. But again, when isn't a Mick Foley match a little rough? The ending was stupid though when Mankind was in the Ankle-Lock and made himself pass out with his own Mandible Claw. The Mandible Claw has always been one of the stupidest finishers ever. Putting it on himself was beyond stupid.
February 14th, 1999
Last Man Standing Match for the World Wrestling Federation Championship
The Rock vs. Mankind (champion)
I remember these days; when the Rock had some fatty deposits removed from his chest to get rid of his Samoan man-tits. He had to wear a shirt for most of that winter to hide the scaring, which is why he was wearing a shirt at the Royal Rumble and this match. But look at those pecks now! All worth it. I also remember these days when I though Mankind was the worst WWF champion of all-time. This was a pretty brutal match. Not as nuts as their match a month earlier at the Royal Rumble but still good. You don't get many championship matches like this anymore, especially on "c" pay per views. It ended in a draw though, which was stupid. I thought the Triple H verses Shawn Michaels Last Man Standing match at the 2004 Royal Rumble was the only Last Man Standing match to end in a draw. You learn something every day. It was nice too that Michael Cole (who was in his stint filling in for JR because of his stroke) was treated like a total pube during this match.
I thought I was done with this video but when I was putting it away I noticed that the bluray (which I have) has five bonus matches on it.
April 20th, 1997
Bret "the Hitman" Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin
I guess this was the rematch after their match at Wrestlemania 13. I can't remember much from that match but I'm sure it was better. You don't hear people lament as much about Austin verses Bret Hart from "Revenge of the 'Taker" as much. This match was going on fine, maybe a little plodding, until the British Bulldog and Owen Hart came in and attacked Stone Cold, which led to a disqualification.
December 7th, 1997
Final Match in a tournament to determine the first World Wrestling Federation Light Heavyweight Championship
"Too Sexy" Brian Christopher vs. TAKA Michinoku
There were some A-listers in the tournament leading up to this match. Scott Flanagan. Eric Shelley. Super Loco. I'm usually pretty good at recognizing shit for eras I wasn't even watching but I have no clue who the f*** some of those guys were. This match wasn't too bad. But what really made it entertaining was Jerry Lawlers commentary and the whole "he's not my son, what are you talking about, oh he's bleeding, I better go check on him" shtick. Jerry may be terrible now but there've been many times he was very entertaining. Brian Christopher’s' "Steroids Backne" was pretty intense.
December 7th, 1997
For the World Wrestling Federation World Heavyweight Championship
Ken Shamrock vs. Shawn Michaels (champion) w/D-X (Triple H and Chyna)
I never knew Ken Shamrock got heavyweight title shots. I guess Bret Hart bailing a few weeks earlier left them scrambling. It was kinda sad watching this match. As far as I know, unless he wrestled on Raw, this was Shawn Michaels last match before he f***ed his back up entirely the next month at the Royal Rumble. This match wasn't very good. It ended with more outside interference from D-X and a disqualification. Owen Hart came out at the end and attacked Shawn Michaels and I'm sure that was pretty important given what happened at the Survivor Series a month earlier. And I said it last night...Chyna does porn now? I wouldn't even stream that for free.
July 26th, 1998
D-Lo Brown w/the Godfather vs. X-Pac w/Chyna
Chyna had already gone quite the transformation by this point. She wasn't quite up to pornography standards by this point but I'm sure she will be some day. I don't know why this match was included. I guess they figured that by this point of the video that anyone watching would be all wrestled out. Or they had ten minutes of space left to fill on the disc and it was this or the New Rockers verses the Heavenly Bodies. I'd have preferred the New Rockers match. I've always hated X-Pac. And D-Lo Brown and that stupid chest protector is one of the clearest memories I have of when I got back in to wrestling in 1998. But this is another fine example of the WWF then verses the WWE now. These two were always losers, but they still got "pops" during their entrances and the crowd was still making noise during their match.
The also included that segment from the first In Your House when they gave away a house. It was pretty lame. Stephanie Wiand was pretty annoying.
I was really surprised on this video that they weren't blurring out any of the WWF "scratch" logos or censoring the commentators whenever they said "WWF". I don't know when they stopped doing that but this was the first time I noticed it. Thank god they have. Some of the DVDS I have from when they first had to start censoring it was brutal. They didn't really censor anything. During the Mankind verses Ken Shamrock match some guy held up a HUGE sign that said, "Eric Bennet is Gay". That wouldn't fly today.
Overall I really enjoyed this video. It got a bit Mankind/Mick Foley heavy towards the end. But during the Attitude Era it really only was Stone Cold, the Undertaker, Mankind, the Rock a bit later and everyone else. And how’s that any different from today really? Todd Pettengill was great as a host. He didn't take it serious at all and did a great job of poking fun at himself and all the things going on that deserved to be made fun of. He just said what we all think. It was pretty incredible to see how much the WWF (and wrestling in general) took off between late 1997 and by the time this video closed in early 1999. I'd forgotten how huge it was and how electric it was. It was a great throwback to a lot of matches and events that have been forgotten to time. I've always had a soft spot for mid-1990's WWF so I'd like to see more of this. I'd even watch full pay per views. Todd put it best; In Your House had some great matches that weren't necessarily on the grandest of stage. I recommend this set to anyone.
