In Your House 10: Mind Games - Corestates Centre, Philadelphia Pennsylvania, September 22nd 1996
Ok lets call it like it is; this is an awesome opening video! The PPV has two main events which firmly position Mankind vs. Undertaker as THE feud at the moment with their matches against Goldust and Shawn Michaels respectively taking centre stage. The PPV has its own opening graphics and logo too which is new and shows the company is taking their B PPVs seriously.
The moment the show opens, while commentary trio Jim Ross, Mr. Perfect and Vince McMahon welcome us to the show, the crowd in Philly start chanting ECW. It’ll be one of those nights! You might recall that King of the Ring 1995, which also took place in Philly, suffered from the local fans turning on the show and chanting for ECW too. This PPV is a lot better than the King of the Ring 1995.
Caribbean Strap match
Savio Vega vs. Justin Hawk Bradshaw (w/Uncle Zebikiah)
I speculated on where this match came from at the end of the Preview. It turns out this WASN’T preannounced. Savio was wrestling Marty Jannetty in the Free for All pre-show match when Bradshaw attacked him and said he wanted to be on the PPV, hence the challenge and this match moments later. Savio is fired up, tells Bradshaw that he’s going to tear him apart and then sprints to the ring to kick things off early.
Bradshaw dominates early and as they fight on the outside, drifting to the far corner of the ring, we get a good look at ECW owner Paul Heyman and ECW stars Sandman and Tommy Dreamer sitting in the front row. The fans spot them and start to cheer as Savio and Bradshaw get near them. Sandman spits beer into Savio’s face and is quickly accosted by security with the three of them then being taken out of the building. That gets a lot of attention from the crowd who are watching that and not the match and Vince and JR do a good job of making this seem real and unscripted, referring to them as a “local wrestling promotion” looking for their 15 minutes of fame.
Savio and Bradshaw do their best to recover the fans, violently lashing each other in the ring with the leather strap but the fans aren’t paying any attention to this match anymore; they’re ALL about this “unscripted” ECW invasion. More on that at the end of the match, which doesn’t go for much longer. Savio struggles to touch the corners and Bradshaw tugs on the strap which backfires and sends Vega flying into the fourth and final corner to give him the victory. That was more or less the same finish as the Savio and Stone Cold strap match.
The ECW Invasion? Yes, it was scripted. It was some promotion for ECW as while they weren’t mentioned by name, fans who are interested would no doubt try and find out who they were and what happened. It made ECW seem like bad asses and it gave the WWF a major talking point and a little bit of “anything can happen in the WWF” marketing.
Jose Lothario vs. Jim Cornette
Speaking of “anything can happen in the WWF”, this match between non-wrestling managers gets an honest to goodness video package.
Jim Cornette looks ridiculous which is very much the point of course. He was, for all his faults, willing to make himself look stupid for easy fan heat. Conette cuts a promo before the match calling Lothario a legend but he’s an old man now so he should run away and not get his brains beaten out. There’s more unintentional comedy as while Cornette enters to Vader’s theme song, Jose enters to Shawn Michaels’ “sexy boy”.
The fans are quite into this as Jose punches and bounces Cornette around the ring as he over-sells and flails, JR calling him a human twinky and Perfect calling him the Michelin tyre man. A string of punches later and Jose pins and defeats Cornette in about 90 seconds. This wasn’t really a match so much as an angle but it was fun for what it was.
At the start of this match there was some backstage drama with Savio Vega being attacked by two men who appear to be Diesel and Razor Ramon or at least dressed like them! Vince McMahon accuses JR of “a ratings ploy” which is hilarious given that Vince was booking the show. We’ll see more of them tomorrow night on Raw, apparently.
Backstage on the WWF Superstar line, the two finalists in the Intercontinental title tournament are on the line with their respective gorgeous managers Sunny and Sable. Faarooq Asad vs. “Wildman” Marc Mero for the vacant Intercontinental title tomorrow night on Raw. Mr. Perfect picks Faarooq as the winner.
The unplanned and unexpected moments on the PPV continue when Brian Pillman heads down to the ring. He spent weeks promising that Bret Hart would be here tonight, that Bret and Owen had mended fences and were friends again and that he was close with them both. Bret Hart blew a hole in that on Raw with some pre-taped comments from a tour in Africa, calling both of them liars and saying he never planned or promised to be at the PPV. Pillman, who’s now walking without his crutches, runs down Philly and says this city is now famous for illiterate degenerates who beat women and abuse drugs. Vince apologises for his comments which are laughably insincere. Brian gives a glowing introduction to “the real best there is, best there was and best there ever will be” the King of Harts Owen Hart who runs down all smiles. Pillman basically interviews Owen and they talk about how much better he is than Bret. They flip it and call Bret the liar; he DID promise he’d be here tonight and has obviously changed his mind because he’s scared of Stone Cold Steve Austin! Stone Cold comes out and debuts his more trademark look with the blue jeans and his leather vest which is now covered in silver writing. Austin says that Bret ran away the moment that Austin showed up and that he doesn’t even qualify as a chicken, he’s more like “the slimy substance that slides out of the back end of a chicken” and “if you put the letter S in front of Hitman you get my opinion of Bret Hart”. He says that when Bret comes back they’ll get in the ring and someone is going to get their ass whipped courtesy of Austin 3:16 and that’s the bottom line cos Stone Cold said so! Pretty cool to see Stone Cold turn into the version that made him a mega star and its nice to see Brian Pillman start to get more involved in storylines now that he’s healing up from his broken ankle.
WWF Tag Team Championships
The Smoking Gunns © (Billy and Bart Gunn w/Sunny) vs. Owen Hart and The British Bulldog
This match mostly came about due to the issues between the managers. It’s a heel vs. heel match caused by the various managers in the WWF bickering over who the best manager is. Before the match, Cornette is shown getting some medical attention with Clarence Mason badgering him to sign some official paperwork. I wonder who he’s suing this time?
When the Gunns enter, Sunny is far more focused on Billy much to Bart’s annoyance. Vince and Jim argue about whether Sunny is closer to one of them than the other; the story is pretty clear that she likes Billy more which JR points out but then Vince argues with him for no reason. Sunny drops her huge Sunny banner from the roof of the arena as normal but it’s been defaced by Bulldog and Owen! Man, there is a lot going on at the start of his match! Sunny pouts like a spoiled child about how unfair it is that her banner was graffitied. Clarence Mason comes down to ringside to support Bulldog and Owen and when they question it he just points to the paperwork that a groggy Cornette signed backstage. Interesting.
The Smoking Gunns work as the babyfaces which is an odd choice and the challengers use their speed advantage to work on Bart’s leg and isolate him. Vince and JR spend a lot of this match bickering with Vince just calling JR out and then talking over him when he tries to respond. I suspect that’s part of the wider story involving the return of Razor Ramon and Diesel which will expand tomorrow night on Raw. The fans in Philly chant “Bart sucks Billy” so maybe they’re NOT the babyfaces here. The fans in the 90s were so homophobic but that was the style at the time.
Billy is definitely the heel on his team, attacking Bulldog on the outside and continually screaming “COME AND GET IT!” at the crowd. That seems to be his new catchphrase? He says it about four times. There’s some miscommunication with Bart almost running into Billy so he shoves his own partner right into a Bulldog running powerslam! Owen stops Billy from breaking up the pin with a running dropkick and just like that, Bulldog and Owen Hart are the new Tag Team Champions!
After the match, Sunny loses her temper and yells at the Gunns for losing. Vince calls her a petulant child as she screams about giving them her time, money and “everything” which everyone correctly assumes means she slept with them. She stamps her feet and fires them as clients! Billy takes off after her to try and win her back over but Bart seems less bothered by losing her as their manager.
Kevin Kelly interviews Paul Bearer and Mankind in the boiler room. Bearer speaks with his ghostly voice and its so high pitched I could barely understand a word he said. Mankind says it’s his destiny to hear Michaels’ liver rupture and hear him scream and gurgle and to cuddle the Heavyweight title belt to his chest.
Mark Henry vs. Jerry “The King” Lawler
Jerry Lawler cuts a promo on his walk to the ring but the commentators talked over him the whole time. The main story is that Mark is untrained and not ready to compete but was goaded into this by the crafty veteran Lawler who has FINALLY shaved off his mullet and looks much better.
Earlier today Lawler threw coffee on Henry and on the Free for All, slapped him so he’s obviously very confident. This match is a lot of stalling with King wanting to show off his wrestling skills; he locks in a headlock which Mark just easily powers into a hammerlock and shoves him onto the mat. That’s the story of this match - Lawler tries to use wrestling holds but Mark is so strong he’s able to just shrug King off and send him flying across the ring. The fans chant “burger king” and do get behind Henry and they smartly keep this match nice and basic.
Mark slings Lawler around the ring while he sells for the 24 year old like he is, literally, the strongest man in the world. Mark lifts him into a backbreaker across his shoulder and wins his first professional match by submission. He’s definitely not ready to be on TV and wrestling regularly but this was a strong debut.
As Mark celebrates he’s attacked by Marty Jannetty and Leif Cassidy, The New Rockers and Hunter Hearst Helmsley. There’s no context given for why these three heels are attacking him but Vince suggests they want to make a name for themselves at the expense of this Olympian. He beats them up and lifts HHH, throwing him out of the ring onto the New Rockers.
Before we get into the main events of this PPV we learn what the main event of next month’s In Your House will be; a Buried Alive match. JR explains the rules where they’ll build a literal gravesite at ringside and the winner must bury their opponent alive. Vince McMahon explains that the match is unsanctioned so regardless of whether Mankind wins the title tonight or not, the WWF Championship will NOT be on the line in that match.
Final Curtain match
The Undertaker vs. Goldust (w/Marlena)
Undertaker and Goldust have been feuding more or less since Wrestlemania now and Mankind has been heavily involved. The video package for this match focuses on the bizarre pairing of Goldust and Mankind and how they’ve worked together. Todd Pettengill refers to Mankind as Goldust’s minion which I don’t think is fair.
The rules for this match are finally specified; the only way to win this match is via pinfall, so no disqualifications or count outs.
Undertaker rushes the ring and, with no Bearer, has dropped most of his entrance outfit. He rocks Goldust with a punch and gets this match moving quickly, dominating in the early going with big boots, slams and uppercuts. He is far more aggressive and moves a lot more quickly since losing Paul Bearer as manager, suplexing Goldust and using moves we’ve never seen from him before.
Goldust finally slows him down by throwing gold dust into Undertaker’s face and then works him over on the outside, throwing him into the ring steps and then slowly picking him apart in the ring with strikes and rest holds.
Undertaker shakes off the beating and hammers Goldust’s body with a flurry of punches. Goldust tries to fight back and sends him hard into the corner before climbing the ropes but he’s brought back down with a chokeslam off the top rope and then a Tombstone Piledriver to give The Undertaker a hard fought victory, albeit in quite a short match. It feels like Undertaker is done with Goldust now and can focus all of his attention on Mankind and Paul Bearer.
Before the main event, Kevin Kelly interviews Shawn Michaels about his WWF Championship defense. Michaels says that he’s never nervous even as WWF Champion because he knows he can out wrestle anyone but against Mankind? He is nervous because he has no idea what to expect from “this cookie cat” and says he’s “as whacked as the day is long”. Shawn says that he doesn’t really have a mind to play games with and has no game plan - he’s just going to think on the job and put it together in the ring.
WWF Championship
Shawn Michaels © (w/Jose Lothario) vs. Mankind (w/Paul Bearer)
Mankind’s music plays and a team of druids roll a casket to the ring, followed far behind by Paul Bearer. The casket finally opens and Mankind sits up from inside; what kind of psychopath is willing rolled around inside a coffin? The commentary trio do a really good job of hammering home how crazy Mankind is and what a different challenge this is for Shawn Michaels. Mankind hammers him with punches and a backdrop and takes early, immediate control of the match. Mankind wastes zero time and tries to expose the bare concrete at ringside but Michaels stops him, pinning the challenger under the mats and then jumping on him followed by a crossbody off the top. The first few minutes of this match are great! Shawn knocks Mankind down causing his head to bang on the concrete and back in the ring hits the top rope elbow. Mankind kicks out and, sensing the Sweet Chin Music coming, dives out of the ring to recuperate with Uncle Paul.
Michaels is thrown into the corner and waits for a charge that never comes. An innocent botch but Michaels, just like at Summerslam, loses his temper at Mick and they throw punches at each other. Michaels hits a couple of stiff kicks to the head so Foley blasts him with a forearm to knock down the WWF Champion. It’s a furious brawl with stiff punches and on the outside, HBK suplexes Mankind bringing his legs down across the ringsteps! Ouch, but that move became a Foley trademark. Michaels turns his focus to Mankind’s legs, hammering them with chop blocks and then slamming him on the lid of the casket at ringside. This is a far more aggressive Shawn Michaels than we’ve seen before and he shoves the referee for trying to break up the action. Michaels is losing his cool, proving that Mankind’s mind games have been effective. He keeps working on Mankind’s leg and locks in the figure four in the middle of the ring but breaks it himself and turns it into a single leg boston crab when he suspects Mankind might make it to the ropes.
Mankind finally counters a hurricanrana attempt, dropping Shawn across the ropes throat-first and then stabs himself violently in the leg over and over with a pen from Paul Bearer! I have no idea what he was going for but he’s making himself look crazy. Mankind slows things down and works over Shawn with forearms and kicks to the head. He throws Michaels out of the ring but then misses three separate charges at the WWF Champion, paying for it each time driving his own knees into the ring steps, his face into the steps and then into the ring post too.
Mankind gets himself tied up in the ropes, trapped and hanging himself between the middle and top ropes but in an awesome looking spot he catches HBK in the Mandible Claw. They’re both forced to break it up and they fight back to the outside, around the ring desks and all over each other. Mankind swings with a punch but Michaels uses a steel chair as a shield and then drives it into Mankind’s knee and then slams it across his hand! Michaels starts biting Mankind’s hand and slamming it on the mat to try and stop him from being able to use the Mandible Claw!
That’s smart and Mankind squeals in pain but shakes it off and backdrops Michaels up and over the top rope and follows with a running elbow drop off the apron onto the WWF Champion, laying on the bare concrete. He follows up with a swinging neckbreaker, also out on the floor. Mankind hits a double arm DDT in the middle of the ring but Shawn Michaels kicks out! Mr. Perfect hasn’t said much in this match but when he does speak he comes across as genuinely blown away by this match and by both men’s resilience. Mankind hits a piledriver and a leg drop, also for near falls so Mankind throws a temper tantrum, ripping out his own hair and banging his own head into the turnbuckle before throwing a pair of steel chairs into the ring and then opening up the casket to roll Shawn into. I guess a symbolic gesture but it just motivates Shawn and he fights back and starts his comeback with a flying forearm and kip up. Shawn hits a crossbody off the top for a close two and then tries to go back up to the top but Mankind falls into the ropes, stopping him. Mankind tries to back suplex Shawn from the top rope to the floor but Shawn turns in midair, turning it into a crossbody and they crash through the Spanish announce desk! What an awesome spot.
Vince gets off commentary immediately to check on their well being but they’re both ok and Paul Bearer distracts the referee so Mankind can use a steel chair. HBK catches him coming in and drives it back into Mankind’s face with Sweet Chin Music! We’ll never know if Mankind would have kicked out because Vader runs down and Shawn goes after him. The match ends via disqualification which is a shame because this was an AWESOME match.
Paul Bearer knocks out Michaels with the urn but Sycho Sid runs down to brawl with Vader and stop Michaels from coming to any more harm. In the ring, Mankind clamps the Mandible Claw on Shawn Michaels and tells Bearer to open the casket so he can put Shawn inside but when it’s opened The Undertaker is inside! How did he do that? That explains why Mankind tries to put Shawn inside it earlier; to show us all that it was empty. The Undertaker attacks Mankind and they brawl up the ramp leaving Michaels alone in the ring to be declared the winner and STILL WWF Champion. Shawn pulls down his trunks to show the fans a big deep bruise that’s developed on his hip/ass, but he does it with a smile and there’s a nice moment as he appears to be speaking directly to and having a laugh with the fans in the front row. He does a lap of the ring shaking hands and giving out high fives to make the people happy and close the event on a high.
This was a very good PPV, mostly thanks to the main event which was spectacular. Mick Foley for years and years called this the best match of his whole career and he was right. Great stuff. We also had the tag title change and developments from Stone Cold, Brian Pillman and Bret Hart. I enjoyed this show a lot.
