WWE In Your House 9: International Incident (1996)

Wonderful Movie

That was an excellent one.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Blistering performances.

1st Match: The Bodydonnas vs The Smokin' Gunns. No titles on the line for this show, which I don't think has happened since, but whatever. This is an OK match to start, both sides get decent offense, but the ending is pretty sloppy. Not that bad of a watch though. Rating: 3/52nd Match: Mankind vs Henry Godwinn. This was supposed to be Foley vs Jake Roberts, but for some reason it was changed. This isn't a bad match though, Foley does a great job of selling just how crazy he is, and there are some good spots on the concrete. It's not the match of the night, but I found it entertaining. Rating: 3.5/5 3rd Match: Marc Mero vs Stone Cold Steve Austin. Another really good match between these two. Austin's brawling style works great with Mero's high-flying. You can really tell they had a lot of faith in Austin with putting him in matches like this. Rating: 4/5 4th Match: The Undertaker vs Goldust. Even though this is a good back and forth match between the two, the match only serves to set up Taker and Mankind for Summerslam next month. The match is good, don't get me wrong, but the ending, with Foley pulling Taker through the ring, kind of weakens it a bit. Rating: 3.5/5 5th Match: Vader, Owen Hart, and The British Bulldog vs Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson, and Sid Vicious. Ultimate Warrior was supposed to be on Shawn's team here, but after no-showing a few house shows, he was fired and replaced with Sid. That being said though, it's good to see Sid again after all this time. The match is on fire, three huge faces vs three huge heels, and they do a lot with this. All guys get good offense for the match, and I liked how the heels actually won, they didn't win clean, but the match was still really entertaining. Rating: 4.5/5 Final Rating: 7 out of 10. While the Attitude Era wasn't in full force yet, you can tell it was definitely underway. All the matches on this show are at least watchable, and there are two really good ones. One of the better IYH shows.

(07.21.96)Live from Vancouver, British Columbia, CanadaAttendance: 14,804Your hosts are Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler & Jim RossThe Smoking Gunns (W/Sunny) Vs The BodydonnasThe Bodydonnas win. This isn't the best way to start the show. It wasn't a horrible match but it's distinctly average at best. The crowd was rather indifferent towards the match.**Mankind Vs Henry Godwin (W/Hillbilly Jim)Mankind wins with the Mandible Claw. This was originally supposed to be Jake Roberts vs Mankind. That would have been more interesting than this match was. The crowd was dead for this match as well. Foley took a couple of nasty bumps as usual.*1/2"Stone Cold" Steve Austin Vs Marc Mero (W/Sable)Austin wins with a Stunner. This is another really good match between these two. These two had a four star match at King of the Ring in 96. While this isn't as good as that one, it's still a good one. Watching all the amazing high-flying offense Mero had in his arsenal from 93/96 makes me wanna weep after how mediocre he'd become after his knee surgery.***1/4Goldust (W/Marlena) Vs The Undertaker (W/Paul Bearer)The Undertaker has the match won with the tombstone until Mankind comes up through the ring and pulls The Undertaker down inside with him. The Undertaker disappears, then reappears on the other side, and brawls with Mankind all the way to the dressing room. I'm actually surprised by this match. I expected mediocrity, but these two battled hard and brought it up above average. That was the first time I've ever seen The Undertaker use an inside cradle.**1/4The Undertaker and Mankind start brawling in the boiler room. This would lead to a Boiler Room Brawl at Summerslam the next month.Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson & Sycho Sid (W/Jose Lothario) Vs Owen Hart, The British Bulldog & Vader (W/JimCornette)Vader pins Michaels after a Vader Bomb from the second rope. A massive brawl takes place after the match. This is one of the most underrated main events. It's a superb match that fires on all cylinders. It's filled with non-stop action and very little rest holds. We all know how Shawn messed up Vader's push, but the relatively clean pin on Shawn here is still surprising. Last but not least, Sid was the most over face on the team. The crowd chanted his name every chance they got.****1/46/10 ranking overall.

1. Savio Vega Vs. "Hawk" Bradshaw - Free for all match. Bradshaw looked here interesting. 6/10 2. The Smoking Gunns vs. The Body Donnas - In places diffident match. 6.5/10 3. Mankind Vs. Henry O. Godwinn - Mick Foley is God 6.5/10 4. Stone Cold Steve Austin Vs. The Wildman - Great, Austin defeated that Weirdoman in a solid one. 7/10 5. Goldust Vs. The Undertaker - Another No Contest between these two. 6.5/10 6. Shawn Michaels/Psycho Sid/Ahmed Johnson Vs. The British Bulldog/Owen Hart/Vader - Well arranged match. Thanks for the heel's victory! Vader over Michaels, finally. 8.5/10

In Your House, and the WWE in general, found itself in a real rut as this PPV came around. The WWE was trying their best with what they had. Shawn Michaels work in this period was amazing, though a majority of the wrestling public didn't care. Over in WCW Hogan, Nash and Hall had just formed the NWO. They were missing Bret Hart and the Ultimate Warrior's brief second run with the company was over.The night kicked off with The Body Donnas defeating the Smoking Gunns in a passable tag match. Not much to say here, Zip pinned Bart tow wrap things up.The next match was nothing to write home about either as Mankind defeated Henry Godwinn, who had a very poor singles record in the WWE at this point. Godwinn got his share of hits in before Mankind got in the mandible claw to wrap up the match.Next we had emerging megastar Steve Austin continuing his rivalry with Marc Mero with an impressive victory. This was much better than their previous PPV matches, but still not all that great. Austin won with a Stone Cold stunner.Next up we saw the Undertaker taking revenge on Goldust for his loss in a casket match at In Your House: Beware of the Dog, with an decisive showing here. But his moment was ruined by Mankind, who interfered in the match, attacking the Undertaker, giving the dead man a DQ victory but leaving him bruised and battered. Discerning viewers could sense a big match coming up for Summerslam.Tis led us into the Main Event, a continuation of Shawn Michaels rivalry with Jim Cornette's stable of monsters. And it was Cornette's team of Vader, British Bulldog and Owen Hart getting the win over SHawn Michaels, Sycho Sid and Ahmed Johnson. Sid was a last minute inclusion after The Ultimate Warrior pulled out of the event. This was an entertaining six man tag match, which ended with Vader delivering a devastating Vader bomb on Michaels to get the three count. Wow, I'd like to see those two guys in a singles match in the near future.So there you have it, if nothing else the 9th In Your House set up Summerslam well, gave the fans some new match ups and some of the matches were OK. An inoffensive, but instantly forgettable PPV event.