It says something about your pay-per-view when the biggest talking point for a show is a match that didn’t actually happen.
Shawn Michaels was scheduled to defend his Intercontinental Championship at the fourth In Your House, but the match was cancelled after Michaels “got into an altercation with 5 marines in Syracuse,” as the story was told on television. In truth, he got into a bar fight with a guy from the army base in Fort Drum, just about a 90 minute drive from the Salt City. Whether he was truly injured in the fight is another story, but he was forced to relinquish the title to Dean Douglas in the middle of the ring.
This was the fourth time Michaels lost a title without losing a match, and the second time it happened with the Intercontinental Championship.
As for Dean Douglas’ reign as champion, it didn’t last long. Interim WWF President Gorilla Monsoon declared that Douglas would have to defend his newly-acquired championship against Razor Ramon. Despite taking part in the tag team championship match at the start of the show (more on that later), Ramon was game for revenge, after losing to Douglas at the September IN YOUR HOUSE. The Bad Guy became the first man to hold the Intercontinental Championship four times with his win over Douglas.
Best Match: WWF Tag Team Championship Match: The Smoking Gunns (c) defeated Razor Ramon and 1-2-3 Kid – Ramon was having a pretty good night as far as competition goes. He may not have won the tag team championships with 1-2-3 Kid, but it was certainly the most entertaining match on the show. The end result helped play into the break-up of the friendhip with the Kid, and I would expect this match to be more angle than anything else, but everyone delivered a fun match on an otherwise lackluster show.
Worst Match: Mabel and Yokozuna fought to a double countout – No one was expecting a great match out of the two largest men on the WWF roster, and they definitely played to those expectations. The two giants – put in the match as punishment for teaming up to injure the Undertaker – battled for a few minutes, both got counted out then stood in the middle of the ring and hugged, just to rub it in.
“Horrible!” – After the main event between Diesel and the British Bulldog, WWF owner and lead announcer reportedly threw down his headset in disgust and yelled “horrible! Fucking horrible!” The WWF Championship Match, which ended in Big Daddy Cool being disqualified after Bret Hart attacked Bulldog, wasn’t great by any standards, but it was far from the worst thing on the card. It was helped, mildly, by having Hart on commentary, lamenting his fortunes at being involved in a war of words with his brother-in-law and how another match with the Bulldog would cause problems with the family back in Calgary. Overall, the whole thing was a bit ridiculous.
Ranking In Your House 4
1 – WWF Tag Team Championship Match: The Smoking Gunns (c) defeated Razor Ramon and 1-2-3 Kid
2 – Intercontinental Championship Match: Razor Ramon defeated Dean Douglas (c)
3 – WWF Championship Match: British Bulldog defeated Diesel (c) by disqualification
4 – Hunter Hearst Helmsley defeated Fatu
5 – Goldust defeated Marty Jannetty
6 – Mabel and Yokozuna fought to a double countout
*DISCLAIMER* The Top 10 rankings are for discussion purposes only and in no way reflect an official or authoritative list. It is simply my opinion. If you disagree, let me know in the comments. New arrivals to the Top 10 are in bold.
1 – WWF Championship Match: Diesel (c) and Bret “Hitman” Hart battle to a draw – Royal Rumble 1995
2 – Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match: Shawn Michaels (c) defeated Razor Ramon – SummerSlam 1995
3 – WWF Championship Match: Diesel (c) defeated Shawn Michaels – WrestleMania XI
4 – WCW World Championship Match: Hulk Hogan (c) beat Vader by disqualification – SuperBrawl V
5 – Bret “Hitman” Hart defeated Hakushi – In Your House 1
6 – WCW TV Championship: Arn Anderson (c) defeated Johnny B. Badd – Clash of the Champions XXX
7 – ECW Tag Team Championship 2-out-of-3 Falls Double Dog Collar Match: The Pitbulls defeated Raven and Stevie Richards (c) – ECW Gangsta’s Paradise
8 – Arn Anderson defeated “Nature Boy” Ric Flair – Fall Brawl 1995
9 – Hulk Hogan and “Macho Man” Randy Savage defeated the Butcher and Kevin Sullivan – Clash of the Champions XXX
10 – WCW Tag Team Championship Match: The Nasty Boys (c) defeated The Blue Bloods – The Great American Bash 1995
Check back in one week for WCW’s October offering – it’s monster truck time at Halloween Havoc!