BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
(FOUR) SEASONS BEATINGS
In Your House 5 had the bad ass main event of Bret Hart defending the WWF Title against The British Bulldog. The thing about this match that stood out to me was how much these two family men beat the hell out of each other. I remember being really exhausted and into the match when it went down. And there was a lot of blood. That made it stand out for sure in 1995. The undercard on these In Your Houses kind of sucked at times, but this one had a few decent moments. Triple H being dropped into the hog pen during the Arkansas Hog Pen Match with Henry Godwinn. On top of that was a casket match that saw The Undertaker defeat King Mabel. For an In Your House, this one had a few cool moments that stand out like they happened yesterday.
(THREE) MIND GAMES
Shawn Michaels and Mick Foley didn’t get to wrestle all that much. They did at the tenth In Your House. This was a great match event. It was “hardcore” right at the cusp of the American mainstream hardcore craze. I remember the finish of a top rope super kick with a trashcan involved. At the time, this sort of spot was unheard of. The undercard saw a decent bout between Goldust and Undertaker, Owen Hart and Bulldog beat The Smoking Gunns, and Savio Vega beat a pre-JBL Justin Bradshaw in a Caribbean Strap Match. Fun stuff.
(TWO) CANADIAN STAMPEDE
I wanted to include this one as the number one. It’s hard not to. The undercard was the weaker link. We got a double count out between Mankind and Triple H, a solid light weight match in Sasuke and Taka, and Taker and Vade had a decent title match. The main event here is why it’s even considered. Holy shit was it hot. People talk about the 2011 Money in the Bank crowd in Chicago, but the crowd for this pay per view was louder than any show I can remember as a kid. On one side were the good American guys in Austin, Shamrock, Goldust, and LOD taking on the Canadian heroes of The Hart Foundation. This was Bret, Owen, Anvil, Bulldog, and Pillman. Talk about a team! The match was nothing too special on its own, but the electricity from the crowd made that one specific night really magical.
(ONE) BADD BLOOD
I had to go with this PPV because of the historical landmarks involved. It was the tragic announcement of Brian Pillman’s passing to open the show. The card was solid despite the somber start. The original Nation of Domination beat up LOD, the Godwinns beat The Headbangers in one of those really underappreciated mid-90’s tag matches, Owen Hart won the IC title after defeating Faarooq in the a tournament final, DOA and the Los Boricuas were doing their “gang warfare” thing, and Bret and Bulldog took on Vader and The Patriot in a Flag Match. The main even is the story here too. The first ever Hell In The Cell saw Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker innovate and put the new match on the map. The finish brought up the massive debut of Kane. It’s just one of those nights that a wrestling fan at the time will never forget.
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