EVENT REVIEW: WWF Slammy Awards 1987

December 16, 1987
Caesars Atlantic City in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Vincent Kennedy McMahon has never made a secret of the fact that when it comes to his patented brand of sports entertainment, it's the entertainment part that he's really interested in.

So it was unlikely to come as much of a surprise when, in 1986, he sent his roster of pro wrestling superstars into the music studio to record a music album, known simply as The Wrestling Album.

Nor was it overly shocking when he decided to promote that album by producing his own music awards, a parody of the Grammys known as The Slammy Awards.

That whole process worked so well that, one year later, Vince decided to it all again.

In 1987, the World Wrestling Federation released Piledriver: The Wrestling Album 2 and once again used The Slammy Awards to promote it.

This year however, they took their unique brand over-the-top entertainment to a whole new level.

Don't believe me, here's what went down at the 37th 2nd annual Slammy Awards.

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Welcome to the 37th Annual Slammy Awards

No, that's not a typo. The World Wrestling Federation promoted this as the 37th Annual Slammy Awards when in actual fact it was only the second.

Why did they do this?

Presumedly to make the whole event seem bigger than it was, even though this would have meant that the first Slammy Awards took place in 1950, two years before Vince McMahon's grandfather, Jess McMahon first founded the Capitol Wrestling Corporation that would eventually become the WWF.

So, despite the inaccuracy, Howard Finkle's voice welcomed us to the 37th Annual Slammys then proceeded to show us all of tonight's star nominees arriving for this 'prestigious' event.

For some unknown reason, half the wrestlers arrived in ambulances, though Bam Bam Bigelow did pull up in a pretty cool looking roadster and George 'The Animal' Steele hilariously turned on a pushbike.

Most of the guys were wearing tuxedos, but Bam Bam Bigelow and Ultimate Warrior simply wore their wrestling attire.

For Warrior, that meant turning up for what was essentially a black-tie event in his underpants.

The Traditional Home of The Slammy Awards

Keeping up the pretense, Vince McMahon walked out on stage to open up the show by welcoming us to the arena.

This wasn't just any arena. According to McMahon, this was 'The Traditional Home of The Slammys.'

Again, I'll remind you that there had only been one other Slammy Awards event before this one, and it took place in an entirely different venue in an entirely different state.

Clearly getting carried away with himself, McMahon called the event 'a joyous celebration of the human potential' and -I kid you not- 'A LOVE FEST OF MUTUAL ADMIRATION AND SUPPORT!'

Vince wasn't kidding, either. He looked deadly serious as he said all this, at times coming across like a religious preacher.

It was hilarious.

Giving you just enough time to stop laughing, McMahon next introduced our hosts for the evening, Mean Gene Okerlund and Jesse 'The Body' Ventura.

The WWF Academy of Sports and Sciences

Ventura and Okerlund's first job was to introduce the man who had apparently collected and tallied all the votes for tonight's event, Jack Tunney.

We all know that Tunney was the WWF President, but did you know that his official title was 'President of World Wrestling Federation Academy of Sports and Sciences?'

Yes, that does give you the acronym 'WWF ASS.'

Of course, this was all a set up so that Mean Gene could say "ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce Jack Ass. I mean, Jack Tunney."

It was a lame joke, but it could have been worse.

He could have called Tunney a JOCK ASS!

Tunney walked out on stage, waving and smiling to a crowd who were clearly booing him, then walked off again. It was funny, in a random and unintentional sort of way.

Moving on, Jesse left the stage to go and get ready for something else, leaving Mean Gene to announce the first award.

Best Performance by an Animal

'Now, historically, this category has been the springboard to even greater achievements' said Mean Gene, somehow managing to keep a straight face.

The nominees were:

• Damien, with Jake 'The Snake' Roberts
• Frankie, with Koko B. Ware
• Matilda, with The British Bulldogs
• George 'The Animal' Steele.

In a moment of unplanned madness, Matilda tried to attack Frankie. Apparently, nobody questioned the judgment of placing both animals so close to one another.

'And now, the moment that animals performing all over the world have been waiting for,' said Okerlund. 'The Winner, is George 'The Animal' Steele.'

Keeping the level of absolute ridiculousness at an all-time high, Steele got lost on his way to the stage and had to be shown the way by Hillbilly Jim.

In lieu of an actual acceptance speech, The Animal simply ripped the turnbuckle off the host's podium (which had been designed to look like the corner of a pro wrestling ring), then chased off the girl who had brought his Slammy award out for him.

Honky Tonk Man Sings

Forget Michaels/Taker, Flair/Steamboat, or R-Truth's 'My Bad' moment, this was the single greatest thing to ever happen in pro wrestling.

I mean, OK, it really wasn't, but it was so over-the-top that I couldn't help but enjoy it.

With Jimmy Hart sitting in a Cadillac, clapping along in the background and Jesse Ventura on the keys, Honky Tonk Man shook, rattled, and rolled his way through a fun rendition of his theme song, complete with dancers, backing singers, and a hysterical cameo from The Hart Foundation.

Seriously, you've not seen funny until you've seen Bret 'The Hitman' Hart and Jim 'The Anvil' Neidhart getting jiggy with it.

Woman of the Year

Honky and Jimmy Hart were on double duty tonight, presenting our next award for Woman of the Year.

Jimmy came out solo and insisted that Honky Tonk Man wouldn't set foot on the stage until he'd received a proper introduction, even though we'd just seen him on stage a few moments earlier.

Okerlund obliged anyway, introducing The Greatest Intercontinental Champion of All Time back to the stage.

The nominees were:

• Sensational Sherri
• Dolly Parton
• The Fabulous Moolah
• Yoko Ono
• Elizabeth

Dolly Parton and Yoko Onoo were represented by actresses who looked nothing like either woman. Not that it mattered anyway, Elizabeth was the obvious winner, but before she could make her acceptance speech, Macho Man Randy Savage had to run on stage and save her from the advances of The Honky Tonk Man.

"I'd like to thank you all very much," she said sweetly. "But I'd especially like to thank the man who made me the woman I am today, the Macho Man Randy Savage."

Best Ring Apparel

Savage would make another appearance in the next category as he was nominated for 'best ring apparel.'

The award was presented by Hacksaw Jim Duggan who, proving he knew a thing or two about fashion, forwent the traditional tuxedo in favor of a t-shirt with a tuxedo print on it.

The 1988 Royal Rumble Winner did at least bring a touch of class to proceedings by sticking a bow-tie on his trusty 2x4.

The nominees in this category were:

• Demolition
• Macho Man Randy Savage
• Honky Tonk Man
• King Harley Race
• The British Bulldogs

Brilliantly, Ax and Smash wore their wrestling attire with a collar and bow-tie. I won't lie, it looked kinda cool.

King Harley Race was declared the winner, but Duggan was so incensed by this that he refused to announce it. Instead, he had the pretty young model who was holding the Slammy Award do it for him.

"And the winner is...King Harley Race?" she said in a fashion which suggested she'd never heard of him and wasn't sure if she was pronouncing his name correctly.

Race's manager, Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan accompanied him to the stage and declared that The King could only accept the award if it was properly presented to him.

The Brain tried to get Hacksaw to drop to one knee in order to offer up the award. When he refused, Race attacked him.

What is a Donkey Doing at the Slammy Awards?

The two fought their way into the dressing room for a wild and thoroughly enjoyable brawl reminiscent of the kind of backstage hardcore matches we'd see 12 years later in the Attitude Era.

Gorilla Monsoon popped up to provide commentary for the whole fight, calling the action while at the same time expressing his absolute bewilderment that a random donkey and some chickens were hanging out backstage.

The whole thing ended when Race, now down to his wrestling trunks and shirt, tried to hit Duggan with a flying splash but instead crashed through a table in what was probably the first instance of this spot ever happening on a WWF show.

The whole thing was brilliantly good fun in a wacky, over-the-top kind of way.

Vince McMahon Performs Stand Back

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's the moment you've all been waiting for.

Or, as Jesse Ventura put it in his introduction.

"And now, a man who has repeatedly proven that he can't talk, and will prove that he can't sing, either."

Vince McMahon took to the stage to strut his funky stuff and sing 'Stand Back,' in a performance which, ten years later, would famously be ridiculed by D-Generation-X.

One often overlooked part of this performance is that McMahon wasn't alone.

Along with his backing dancers, the WWF Chairman also had an ensemble of pro wrestlers behind him.

Fresh from his Metallica audition, The Immortal Hulk Hogan stood tall and proud, slapping the bass like a mother. He was surrounded by a horn section comprised of Junkyard Dog, The Killer Bees, Macho Man Randy Savage, Brutus Beefcake and Jake 'The Snake' Roberts.

George Steele was there too, playing a tambourine of course.

Like just about everything on this show, McMahon's performance was glorious...in an absolutely ridiculous sort of way. The Chairman held nothing back, singing his heart out and throwing himself through the choreographed routine with commendable gusto.

I don't care if DX mocked him, if I were Vinny Mac, I'd be rightly proud of that performance.

Wait, a Llama?

Backstage, the Hacksaw/Race brawl continued with Monsoon standing by, calling the action.

Obviously, a random llama walked by, because why wouldn't it?

Then Race and Heenan managed to lock Duggan inside some kind of mesh cage. Duggan shook at the cage wall, trying to get out. The cage easily opened so that Duggan could have just pushed through it, but that would have ruined the whole storyline, so he just had to pretend like he was still trapped and instead managed to push a tower of empty cardboard boxes onto his rivals.

The Hulk Hogan Real American Award

Up next, Hulk Hogan made his way through the crowd to the stage, accompanied by a small group of rent-a-cops who were about half his size.

I mean, seriously, if somebody did try to attack Hogan, what were these short, flabby dudes going to do exactly?

Anyway, The Hulkster made his way to the stage to present The Hulk Hogan Real American Award to a man he said embodied the things that made a Real American like integrity and perseverance in the face of adversity:

Superstar Billy Graham.

Decked out in a salmon suit with enormous earrings in both ears, Graham used a walking cane to help him get up onto the stage. There, he used his acceptance speech to put over Hogan.

Repaying the kind words, Hulk took Graham's walking cane and snapped it over his knee before encouraging the legendary grappler to pose with him.

You have to hope that cane was a gimmick, otherwise, that was a bit of a dick move by the WWF Champion.

The Christmas Party is Ruined

Backstage, Hacksaw and Harley battled into a room that had been reserved for the cast of tonight's show to enjoy a celebratory Christmas party. No random animals popped up this time, though Hacksaw did blast Heenan over the head with a giant fish which was pretty funny.

The Jesse The Body Award

Up next, Jesse Ventura presented an award named after him to the person he declared to have the best body.

The nominees were:

• Ravishing Rick Rude
• The Natural Butch Reed
• The Ultimate Warrior
• Sensational Sherri
• Hercules.

Ravishing Rick Rude was declared the winner. Clearly having the time of his life, Rude strutted onto the stage and stripped off to his undies.

He then started to take his undies off too, but Mean Gene ran on stage and put a towel in front of him.

Interestingly, despite the fact that he'd run out to stop Rude from showing his junk, Okerlund couldn't stop looking at it. As Rude took his pants all the way off, Gene continually stared at what was going on behind the towel.

I suppose this shouldn't come as much of a surprise.

A few months later, at Wrestlemania 4, Gene would literally point at Brutus Beefcake's groin and yell "What a package!"

Rude eventually made his way to the podium, where he thanked Jesse and the millions of women around the world who worshipped him. In true Rick Rude fashion, he then draped his arm around the girl holding the Slammy and walked off with her.

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

"When I say 'Greatest Tits' you probably think of Jesse The Body," said Ventura.

Of course, he meant "Greatest Hits," but I'm telling you, he definitely said "tits."

The point of all this was to introduce a video package in which clips of various wrestlers hitting a bunch of moves, all set to the song 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot' by Pat Benatar.

The Greatest Hit Award

This video package was to set up our next award, for the 'Greatest Hit' or in other words - the best attack/wrestling move.

The nominees were:

• Andre The Giant (for throwing Hulk Hogan out of a battle royal)
• Hacksaw Jim Duggan (for drilling Harley Race with a 2x4)
• The Honky Tonk Man (for smashing Randy Savage with a guitar)
• Strike Force (for beating up Hart Foundation)
• Bam Bam Bigelow (for hitting a sweet slingshot splash)

Before the nominees could be read out, however, Duggan and Race burst onto the stage for some more fighting.

Gorilla Monsoon held Duggan back, giving Race and Heenan a chance to escape, but then Duggan was back a moment later as he was declared the winner of the award.

Duggan's acceptance speech was short and simple:

"HOOOOOO!"

Manager of the Year Award

After a commercial break, Monsoon presented the award for Manager of the Year, an award he said would go to a man who has improved his wrestler's career the most while displaying sportsmanship.

The nominees were:

• Slick
• Jimmy Hart
• Mr. Fuji
• Bobby Heenan.

Hilariously, all four men made their way to up to the stage as though it was a given that they'd win.

As it turned out, none of them won. Monsoon announced the winner to be "None of the Above."

Get it?

Because all the heels were so terrible that none of them deserved it!

Naturally, this caused much outrage among the wrestlers.

Koko B. Ware Performs Piledriver

Another nominee for 'Song of the Year' saw Koko B. Ware performing the lead track from Piledriver: The Wrestling Album 2.

Koko was joined on stage by a saxophone-playing Bam Bam Bigelow and a bunch of wrestlers including Hillbilly Jim, Davey Boy Smith, and The Ultimate Warrior all dressed up as construction workers.

It's a shame that I couldn't find a video of this, because you've honestly never seen a man look so uncomfortable as Jim Hellwig strutting around on stage in a hard hat, pretending to have a good time.

Best Personal Hygiene Award

Returning from commercial, Mean Gene was up to present what he called 'the oldest and most prestigious' award for best personal hygiene.

The nominees were:

• Sika (for his table manners)
• Hillbilly Jim (for creating a new cologne out of pig swill)
• George Steel (for "his tidiness in and around the ring")
• Nikolai Volkoff, Boris Zuchoff and Slick (for sharing a toothbrush)
• King Kong Bundy (for doing a smelly turd, seriously).

Volkoff, Zuchoff, and Slick won the award. Making their way to the stage, Volkoff and Zuchoff tripped over the steps and fell flat on their faces. Making a swift recovery, they flanked The Slickster, who raised the ire of the crowd by talking about how the Russians were clean and peaceful people.

Jimmy Hart Performs Girls in Cars

On the album, Robbie Dupree sang this song as Strike Force's theme song. Tonight, Jimmy Hart picked up the microphone to croon his way through it as girls on roller skates skated by with cardboard cut-outs of cars stuck to their sides.

One girl apparently couldn't roller skate, so she moved across the stage on a child's tricycle instead.

Things got weirder when Tito Santana and Rick Martel turned up on dirt bikes to steel the girls, after which a big fat woman dressed up like a school bus started to chase Jimmy Hart around the stage.

Seriously, just writing that sentence makes me question what kind of messed up drugs were floating around backstage at the Slammys.

Best Vocal Performance Award

Macho Man Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth came out to present this award, though not before the pair took a moment to put over how dapper Savage looked.

The nominees for this award were:

• Junkyard Dog (for his growl)
• One Man Gang (for his bellow)
• Hacksaw Jim Duggan (for his 'howl')
• Jimmy Hart (for his shrieking megaphone)
• George 'The Animal' Steele (for his wail)

And the winner was:

Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

Once again, Duggan gave us a big "Hoooo!" instead of an actual acceptance speech.

The WWF Superstars perform If You Only Knew

Finally, it was down to the last performance of the evening; the entire cast of World Wrestling Federation Superstars on stage, swaying back-and-forth and clapping their hands in a performance of 'If You Only Knew.'

Some, like Dynamite Kid, looked clearly uncomfortable in the song-and-dance number, but others, like Bret Hart and Butch Reed, for example, looked to be having tremendous fun.

Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase even had a smile about him as he danced on the front row, though his bodyguard, Virgil, stood stoic, arms folded, scowling the whole time, probably wishing he were at Olive Garden.

And the Winner Is...

All the song performances throughout the show were supposed to lead us to the big reveal of the Best Song Award winner.

Yet when Mean Gene tried to announce it, Jimmy Hart stole the envelope and passed it around all the heels. It eventually ended up in the hands of Sika, who, naturally, ate it.

Jesse told Mean Gene not to worry, he could always hang out with the Wild Samoan and pick up the results the following day.

The Missing Awards

Apparently, there were some awards handed out which were cut from the broadcast I watched.

Ted Dibiase won the Humanitarian of the Year. One Mang Gang was the obvious winner of the 'Best Group' Award, and the Bobby "The Brain" Heenan Scholarship Award was presented to all of Heenan's wrestlers.

The was also an award for 'Best Head' presented to Bam Bam Bigelow and Mean Gene Okerlund. If you're as disappointed as I am that what was clearly a fellatio joke was cut from the broadcast, I guess there's only one person we can blame:

The show's director, Kay Fabe.

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If you've never seen the 37th Annual Slammy Awards, here's the best way to describe it:

Imagine the most ridiculous thing you've ever seen in pro wrestling and multiply it by a thousand.

The Slammys was bizarre, cheesy, over-the-top, ridiculous, stupid, and gloriously, gloriously wonderful.

If you take pro wrestling seriously, you'll probably hate this. It was intended to be a comedy show, and to that end, it worked. OK, so most of the humor was low-brow, but let's be honest, wrestling isn't exactly known for being high-concept performance art, is it?

Overall, this is one of the weirdest and most fun things you'll ever see as a wrestling fan, and I highly recommend it.

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For other 1987 pro wrestling reviews see:

• Album review: Piledriver - The Wrestling Album 2 
• WWF - Wrestlemania 3
• WWF - Survivor series 1987

Be the first to catch the latest Retro Pro Wrestling reviews by following on Facebook or Twitter @RetroPWrestling.

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28 More WWF In Your House Matches You Should Definitely Check Out

Well, we did it. On the road to reviewing every WWE PPV between Wrestlemania 1 and Wrestlemania 30, we've finally covered all 28 In Your House events, starting with the premier show in 1995 and culminating four years later in the month after Wrestlemania 15.

In doing so, we've seen so many great matches that, even though I put together my list of the Top Ten Best In Your House Matches a few weeks ago, I felt that I could have easily have made that a top twenty, or even thirty.

Ultimately, I decided against doing that, but I still didn't want to close this chapter of the Retro Pro Wrestling journey without looking back at some of my other favourite matches from the 28-show series.

What I've done today then, is go through all 28 In Your House shows and pick out at least one match that's worth watching from every show, excluding those already featured on the top ten.

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Many of these aren't the main event, or even the most memorable matches from the shows they were on but were simply bouts that I enjoyed watching, and wanted to relive again.

Ready? Let's get into it.

In Your House 1: Bret Hart vs. Hakushi 

The very first In Your House match ever got the series off to a fine start at In Your House 1 back in May 1995.

This is typical of The Hitman's weird position in 1995 in which he mainly battled midcarders but still managed -much as he did here- to have the very best match on the show.

In Your House 2: Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett vs. Shawn Michaels

In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks is better known as being the night that Jeff Jarret 'sang' With My Baby Tonight, but immediately after that, he dropped the Intercontinental Championship to Shawn Michaels in a fantastic, 20-minute effort which unequivocally stole the show.

In Your House 3: Bret Hart vs. Jean Pierre Lafitte 

Hart and Lafitte had previously met at In Your House 2 and delivered a match which, though it wasn't terrible, wasn't much to write home about.

One month later, they regrouped at In Your House 3: Triple Header and put on the match of the night, a brilliant, 16-minute encounter that is still remembered fondly to this day.

In Your House 4: Goldust vs. Marty Jannetty

Making his WWF in-ring debut, Goldust locked up with Marty Jannetty at In Your House 4: Great White North in  a very solid effort that could easily contend to have been the best match on the show.

When said show featured the farce of Razor Ramon vs. Dean Douglas and Diesel vs. Bulldog (a match reported to be so bad it apparently made Vince Mcmahon throw his headset down in disgust) earning match of the night honours may not be such an achievement.

Still, Goldie and Jannetty entertained here, and deserve a place on the list.

In Your House 6: Shawn Michaels vs. Owen Hart

A month earlier, Shawn Michaels had won the 1996 Royal Rumble. Yet before he could make The Boyhood Dream Come True at Wrestlemania 12, he first agreed to put his title shot on the line against Owen Hart.

Duking it out at In Your House 6: Rage in the Cage, Hart and Michaels put on what I once called one of the best matches of 1996, a match that was every bit as good as you'd imagine it could be.

In Your House 7: WWF Tag Team Champions The Body Donnas (Skip & Zip, w/ Sunny) vs. The Godwins (Henry  & Phineas Godwin, w/ Hillbilly Jim)

Of course, the best part of In Your House 7: Good Friends, Better Enemies, was the classic Shawn Michaels vs. Diesel match for the WWF title. 

That match was so good that it made into to the aforementioned In Your House Top 10, leaving me to find another match from that show to include here.

Sadly, there wasn't a lot to go on. Sure, Owen Hart and British Bulldog were pretty entertaining in their tag team match against Ahmed Johnson and Jake 'The Snake' Roberts, but I think an underrated highlight of the show had to be this one. 

We may crap all over the Body Donnas for their terrible gimmick, but the truth is that Chris Candido and Tom Pritchard were solid wrestlers capable of good things. Here, they dragged The Godwins to an enjoyable tag team match which I'm not ashamed to include on this list.

In Your House 8:  WWF Champion Shawn Michaels vs. British Bulldog

Having accused WWF Champion Shawn Michaels of hitting on his wife, Dianna, British Bulldog challenged Shawn Michaels for the WWF title in a very good main event which only just missed out on making it into the In Your House Top Ten.

It's worth pointing out that In Your House 8: Beware of Dog also featured a very enjoyable strap match between Steve Austin and Savio Vega (the one where Ted Dibiase left the WWF), but for my money, this one was just marginally better.

In Your House 9: Steve Austin vs. Marc Mero 

Back at King of the Ring 1996, Austin and Wildman Marc Mero had stolen the show with their King of the Ring final match.

One month later, at In Your House 9 - International Incident, they were at it again in a thrilling contest which gave that night's main event (Michaels, Sid & Ahmed vs. Owen, Bulldog & Yoko) a serious run for its money.

In Your House 10: WWF Tag Team Champions The Smoking Gunns (Billy & Bart Gunn)  vs. Owen Hart & British Bulldog

Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind was clearly the best match at In Your House 10: Mind Games, but the whole point of today's post is to pick one good match from each In Your House that I didn't already feature in the aforementioned Top 10.

So I went with this one. While it may not have been anywhere near as good as Michaels/Mankind, Owen and Bulldog taking the tag team titles from Billy and Bart was at least very entertaining and proved to be the best match on the card that wasn't the main event.

In Your House 11: Undertaker vs. Mankind  - Buried Alive 

A rare heel vs. heel match between Steve Austin and Hunter Hearst Helmsley would have been my pick for In Your house 11: Buried Alive had Undertaker and Mankind not gone on to wage an all-out war on each other.

Competing in the buried alive match which gave the show its name, the two did the one thing they always did best when they worked together: 

Giving us something we'd never seen before.

Like their Boiler Room brawl at Summerslam 1996 and their Hell in a Cell classic at King of the Ring 1998, this unique match was unlike anything else on WWF programming and was all the more entertaining for it.

In Your House 12: Leif Cassidy vs. Flash Funk

There wasn't a lot to like about In Your House 12: It's Time. Even the main event (WWF Champion Sid vs. Bret Hart) left a lot to be desired.

Still, the show did have at least one good match - an opening contest between the future Al Snow and the former Too cold Scorpio.

In my original review, I called this:

A very enjoyable bout with lots of high flying and submissions held together by the kind of solid psychology that this kind of wrestling sometimes lacked.

I stand by this. Cassidy vs. Funk was about as good a PPV opening as you were going to get in mainstream American pro wrestling in 1996.

In Your House 13: WWF Tag Team Champions Owen Hart & British Bulldog vs. Doug Furnas & Philip LaFon

The fatal fourway match that gave the show its name was the real star of In Your House 13: Fatal Four Way, but this WWF tag team title match was pretty good in its own right. 

This was at the time when Owen and Bulldog were beginning to tease a breakup, but even when they were at odds with each other, the champs were still able to get the job done in a very good match which -along with the main event- stopped Fatal Four Way from being a total dud. 

In Your House 14: Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin 

One month after their legendary battle at Wrestlemania 13, arch-rivals Bret 'The Hitman' Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin met in a rematch at In Your House 14: Revenge of The Taker. 

The show also featured Undertaker vs. Mankind for 'Taker's WWF title. Both matches had something in common - neither were the best match the participants would have with each other, but despite that, both were still really, really good. 

Austin/Hart III for example, didn't live up to the aforementioned 'Mania classic, but it was still a great bout in its own right. 

In Your House 15: WWF Champion The Undertaker vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin

Almost a year before he'd cement his status as the company's biggest ever headline attraction, Stone Cold Steve Austin headlined his first ever WWF PPV against reigning champion The Undertaker.

At the time that I first reviewed this show, the match didn't really do it for me, but I'm willing to accept that I was probably just in an off mood that day. After all, I've read nothing but high praise for the match from just about everybody else.

Besides, everything else at In Your House 15: A Cold Day in Hell was mediocre at best.

In Your House 16: WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Taka Michinoku vs. The Great Sasuke

There's a good reason I often refer to In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede as one of my favourite PPVs of all time:

Every single match offered a lot to enjoy.

Of course, it was the main event, a wild, 10-man tag pitting The Hart Foundation against Austin, Shamrock, Goldust and The LOD, that really stole the show. That's why it ranked so highly in the list of the Top Ten Best In Your House matches ever.

Having said that, the other three matches were solid. Undertaker and Vader had a good big-man match, while Mankind and Hunter Hearst Helmsley extended their wild, chaotic brawl throughout the show, spending most of the 'tween-match segments beating the life out each other.

But it was this, a crisp, light heavyweight masterpiece from Michinoku and Sasuke that really stood out.

Honestly, I'd add the whole show to this list, but if you only watch one match from it besides that incredible main event, watch Taka and The Great Sasuke trading stiff strikes, dazzling ariel moves and suplexes that were truly a thing of beauty.

This, my friends, was probably the best match Taka Michinoku would have in his WWF run.

In Your House 17: WWF Champion Bret Hart vs. The Patriot

Undertaker and Shawn Michaels stole the show at In Your House 17: Ground Zero, which is why they're on the top ten list.

Before those two kicked off the first chapter of one 1997's hottest rivalries, however, Bret put his title on the line against The Patriot in a match that was better than this sceptical fan anticipated.

In my original review, I wrote:

This wasn't the best Bret Hart match ever.
Then again, even the worst Bret Hart match is better than many other's best, and that was certainly the case here.
After a somewhat dull start, things quickly picked up, turning into a good match with a few exciting moments.

Sure, the ending was never in doubt - nobody ever expected The Hitman to lose, but that didn't stop he and Patriot from putting on a dramatic contest that would have been match of the night had HBK and Taker not delivered a masterpiece.

In Your House 18: Tarantula & Mosaic vs. Max Mini & Nova

In my original review, I called Badd Blood: In Your House 18 'the very definition of  one match show.'

I stand by that. The only really good match was the Undertaker/Michaels Hell in a Cell match, which  was so good it made it all the way to the number one spot in the Top Ten Greatest In Your House matches.

Still, with the death of Brian Pillman lingering over the show, the rest of Badd Blood was a relatively poor show. Even a tag team match pitting Vader and The Patriot against Bret Hart and British Bulldog failed to deliver.

Meaning that, since I've stubbornly committed to picking one good match that wasn't in the top ten from every In Your House card, the nod goes to this fun little minis match. 

In Your House 20: The Rock vs. WWF Intercontinental Stone Cold Steve Austin

Austin and Rock would face each other for the WWF title at the final ever In Your House, Backlash.

That match was so good it ranked highly in the top ten.

Two years earlier, however, the two men had met for the Intercontinental championship in a really good match at D-Generation-X: In Your House 19, a match that proved -if ever proof were needed- that these were two bonafide main event superstars on the very cusp of greatness.

In Your House 20: War of Attrition
The Nation of Domination (Farooq, D'Lo Brown, Mark Henry, Kama Mustafa, and WWF Intercontinental Champion The Rock) vs. Ken Shamrock, Ahmed Johnson, Chainz, Skull, and 8-Ball

Yep, I'm recommending a match featuring The Disciples of Apocalypse. That's how slim the pickings were for quality matches at No Way Out of Texas: In Your House 20.

Sure, the main event (an eight-man pitting HHH, Savio Vega and the New Age Outlaws against Austin, Owen, Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie) was awesome, but that already made it into the top ten. 

That left us with this, a match which was better than its list of participants may suggest. Though while the match itself was fun, it's the hilarious pre-match promo in which Rock upstages Farooq without saying a word that makes this must-see viewing. 

In your house 21 - World Wrestling Federation Championship
WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Dude Love

First of all, I'll make no apologies for including both Austin vs. Dude Love matches in this list. Both were tremendous fun and were very strong contenders for the top ten.

In fact, the biggest problem I had writing that top ten was debating whether or not to include at least one of these two matches.

In the end, I didn't, but that's to take nothing away from the quality of this one. Making his first PPV title defence, Austin laid out the blue print for how all of his main event matches would run for the best part of the Attitude Era. 

It was wild, it was chaotic, it contained a whole lot of brawling and was just about as good of a main event as you were ever going to see in 1998.

By far the best thing at Unforgiven: In Your House 21. 

In Your House 22: Austin vs. Dude Love 2

One month after Austin vs. Dude Love 1 ended in controversial fashion, the two went at it in a rematch with Vince McMahon as the special guest referee and The Undertaker stalking around the place to make sure McMahon didn't do anything shady.

The resulting match may seem overbooked by today's standards, but it was a hugely entertaining affair that more than made up for what was otherwise a disappointing show at Over the Edge: In Your House 22.

In Your House 23: Two out of Three Falls for the World Wrestling Federation Intercontinental ChampionshipWWF Intercontinental Champion The Rock vs. Triple H

The Rock and Triple H would absolutely steal the show at Summerslam 1998 later that year in what is easily one of your writer's top five all-time favourite matches.

Before that, however, the two clashed in a two-out-of-three-falls match at Fully Loaded: In Your House 23, a match which most people have probably forgotten about but is absolutely worth tracking down.

In Your House 24: Cage Match to Determine WWF Championship Number One Contender - Mankind vs. The Rock vs. Ken Shamrock 

Speaking of things long since forgotten, Breakdown: In Your House 24 isn't exactly a show that people still talk about today, but it did feature a few pretty decent matches.

Austin vs. 'Taker vs. Kane for the title was a whole lot of fun, but the real star of the show was The Rock who, at this event, made it known that he wasn't just The Rock: Popular Wrestler but that he was in fact, The Rock: Major Main Event Superstar.

His triple threat cage match against Mankind and Ken Shamrock may not be the best match you've ever seen, but it was a highlight of this show.

In Your House 25: World Wrestling Federation Light Heavyweight Championship
WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Taka Michinoku (w/ Yamaguchi-San) vs. Christian (w/ Gangrel)

X-Pac and D'Lo Brown didn't just steal the show at Judgement Day: In Your House 25, they put on an underrated classic that was one of the best matches of that year. It was so good, in fact, that I put it in the In Your House top ten, meaning I had to pick something else for this spot.

Unforunately, pickings were slim.

Judgement Day 1998 was not a good show, but it did feature this decent effort in which Christian beat Taka to become Light Heavyweight Champion in his debut WWF match.

This was a good performance from both men that would have been even better had the crowd actually cared.

In Your House 26: World Wrestling Federation Championship: WWF Champion The Rock (W/ Vince & Shane McMahon) vs. Mankind

Despite the whole show being name after his finishing move, The Rock's first WWF title defence on PPV was not the main event of Rock Bottom: In Your House 26.

That honour went to Austin vs. The Undertaker in a Buried Alive match.

What Rock/Mankind was, however, was the best match on the card by a long shot.

That's not to say it was the best match the two would ever have. Their Royal Rumble 1999 encounter a month later would far top this one, but this was still a hell of a match to watch.

In Your House 27: Vince McMahon vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin in a Steel Cage 

Even if this match had sucked, it would still deserve a spot on the list thanks to the historical significance of Vince McMahon finally lacing up a pair of boots and going toe-to-toe with his arch-nemesis, Austin.

The fact that their steel cage match at St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House 27 was an absolute riot was a very welcomed bonus.

In Your House 28: Triple H vs. X-Pac 

The main event of The Rock vs. Steve Austin in a Wrestlemania 15 rematch was by far and away the best thing at Backlash: In Your House 28.

It was so good in fact, that I put it on the Top Ten Greatest In Your House Matches Ever list, meaning I had to find something else for this one.

To be honest, there was a lot to choose from. 

Whether it was Hardcore Holly and Al Snow getting creative in their hardcore title match or The New Age Outlaws having one of their better outings against Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart, Backlash was a pretty fun show overall. 

Still, though this near-20 minute epic from former DX teammates Triple H and X-Pac had its down moments, it was still very, very good indeed.

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Did I miss out your favourite WWF In Your House match? Come and let me know on the Retro Pro Wrestling Facebook page.

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PPV REVIEW: WWF - King of the Ring 1997

June 8, 1997
Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island

Since it was first established as its own Pay Per View event, King of the Ring had gone on to become the one event where new stars were born or, at the very least, elevated to a whole new level among the WWF Hierarchy.

Owen Hart's big win in 1994 helped solidify his status as one of the company's top stars, and even King Mabel, as atrocious as he may have been, enjoyed a brief main event run on the back of his 1995 King of the Ring victory.

Then there was Stone Cold Steve Austin,  who used his victory to usher in the dawning of a new era and propel himself to pro wrestling immortality.

Tonight, four new competitors would get the opportunity to take that big step towards the main event scene.

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Which one of them would be crowned king? Let's head to Providence, Rhode Island to find out.

A Night of Firsts 

Our opening video told us that tonight was going to be a night of firsts; the first time reigning tag team champions had fought one another (not sure if that's technically true, but hey ho), the first time any of the men in tonight's King of the Ring final had the chance to win it, and potentially the first time that we could have an African American WWF Champion.

From there, we got all the usual fireworks and hoopla before Vince McMahon welcomed us to the show and his broadcast colleague Jim Ross declared that the excitement in the air was akin to the Super Bowl.

Vince introduced us to the international commentary teams, and with that, it was on to our opening match.

King of the Ring Semi Final 1
Ahmed Johnson vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley (w/ Chyna) 

And so it begins.

This was a passable opening match, but a far cry from the kind of full-on epics that WCW were starting their pay per view with at the time.

After a few minutes of fairly forgettable action, Ahmed Johnson went for the Pearl River Plunge, only for Chyna to get up on the apron and distract him.

That was enough for Hunter Hearst Helmsley to attack and Pedigree his way into the final.
Your Winner: Hunter Hearst Helmsley 

Prior to taking on Jerry 'The King' Lawler in our next match, Mankind took to the microphone to call out Paul Bearer for abandoning him in favour of obsessing with bribing The Undertaker (this was around the start of Bearer teasing the arrival of Kane).

From there, Mankind, who was fast becoming a solid babyface thanks to his series of sit-down interviews with Jim Ross, turned his attentions to Jerry Lawler in a promo that was as entertaining as it was compelling.

The King Arrives

Backstage, Todd Pettengill reminded The King of how he cheated his way into the match by beating Goldust with his foot on the ropes, only to have The Golden One send Lawler rolling down the Raw is War ramp in comical fashion.

Irate, The King snatched the microphone and made his way to ringside with it, insulting Lawler, the fans, and Mankind en route.

King of the Ring Semi Final

Mankind vs. Jerry 'The King' Lawler 

The match itself was surprisingly good.

I say surprisingly because the majority of Lawler's WWF matches up to this point has largely been played for comic relief, but here he went after Mankind in what proved to be an entertaining contest.

Alas, it wasn't to be Lawler's day. Mankind shoved his fingers down The King's throat and advanced to the final.

Your Winner: Mankind 

Out in the back, Todd Pettengill interviewed Brian Pillman, asking him whether or not he felt responsible for Stone Cold Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels winding up in a match against one another.

Pillman began taking credit for the whole thing until Austin snuck up behind him and attacked him, dragging him into the men's room and flushing his head down the toilet.

This was all good stuff, except for the fact that when they went into the toilet cubicle there just happened to be a camera pointing down directly at the bowl.

Talk about making suspension of disbelief difficult.

Crush (w/ The Nation of Domination) vs. Goldust (w/ Marlena) 

Goldust and Marlena were over huge here, again thanks to a series of sit down Interviews which attempted to add a sense of realism to Goldie's bizarre character.

Unfortunately, his huge popularity did little to help this match which, despite not being terrible, wasn't exactly good.

After several minutes of fairly nondescript action, Goldust picked up the inevitable win over Crush.
Your Winner: Goldust 

Out in the back, Doc Hendrix interviewed The Legion of Doom and Sid about their upcoming match with The Hart Foundation.

Hawk and Animal were ready to extract some revenge but were not sure they could trust Sid.

In response, Sid claimed that there was no reason to worry because he was the master and ruler of the world, which seems like as good a reason as any.

Offering a retort, The British Bulldog, Owen Hart, and Jim 'The Anvil' Neidhart told Tod Pettengill that they were not afraid of their opponents and were more than ready to whoop some booty.

The Hart Foundation (WWF European Champion The British Bulldog, WWF Intercontinental Champion Owen Hart, and Jim 'The Anvil' Neidhart vs. Sid & The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) 

If I'm not mistaken, this was Jim Neidhart's first WWF PPV appearance since the 1995 Survivor Series.

Here, he teamed with brothers-in-law Owen Hart and The British Bulldog to take on The Legion of Doom and by far the most over man in the match, Sid.

Throughout 1996 and 1997, Sid was easily the most popular man on any PPV he appeared at, and this one was no different.

So it actually made a lot of sense to keep him on the apron for the majority of this mediocre contest.

That way, after Hawk and Animal had finished working with all three members of The Hart Foundation, Sid was able to get the hot tag and make the live crowd absolutely blow the roof off in the process.

Alas, it was the former two-time champion that lost the match for his team, botching a sunset flip from Owen Hart before being pinned by the Intercontinental Champion.
Your Winners: The Hart Foundation 

Whilst that match was going on, Vince and JR told us about next month's In Your House: Canadian Stampede, which just happens to be one of my favourite PPVs of all time.

We were then shown an awesome video package reminding us about how Steve Austin's career had taken off since winning the 1996 King of the Ring.

Mankind Can't Wait to be King 

King of the Ring finalist Mankind told Todd Pettengill that he didn't feel that great following his match with Jerry Lawler earlier, but that he was more than ready to beat Hunter and -stealing a line directly from The Lion King- just couldn't wait to be king.

It was another solid effort on the microphone from Foley, and another perfect example of why he fit so easily into the company's main event scene at the height of the Attitude Era.

King of the Ring 1997 Final
Mankind vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley 

This was certainly not the best match these two would ever have but it was, despite a slow start, a good effort which served to give us one of the 1997's most memorable feuds.

The action only really got really good towards the finish, when Hunter Pedigreed Mankind through the announce table, after which Chyna battered the former Cactus Jack with the sceptre meant for the King of the Ring Winner.

Back inside, a second Pedigree earned Helmsley the crown.
Your Winner and 1997  King of the Ring: Hunter Hearst Helmsley 

For the first time since King of the Ring became its own pay per view, there was no throne for the victor to sit on and no special coronation area.

Instead, Todd Pettengill gave Hunter his crown and cape in the ring.

Hunter then used the crown to beat on Mankind some more, a move designed to guarantee that we would see a lot more from these two over the coming months.

The Hart Foundation Issue A Challenge 

Prior to our next match, Bret 'The Hitman' Hart led The Hart Foundation down to the ring, where he cut a fantastic promo about his impending return to action following a recent knee surgery.

Infinitely better on the mic as a heel than he ever was as a babyface, The Hitman put over the unbreakable bond he had with his Hart Foundation family (which by now also included Brian Pillman) and challenged any five wrestlers from the World Wrestling Federation to challenge them at what Bret first called In Your Hase.

He quickly corrected himself, referring to next month's event as In Your House, and setting up a huge ten man tag that I can not wait to review.

After that, Bret insisted he was going to do colour commentary on the next match, but Dave Hebner and Jerry Briscoe ushered him and his crew backstage.

Steve Austin Won't Cripple Shawn Michaels

Speaking to Doc Hendrix, Steve Austin claimed that he wasn't going out to injure Shawn Michaels, preferring to keep him around since he would make more money as a Tag Team Champion with Shawn on his side.

But, insisted Stone Cold, if HBK brought the violence tonight, Austin would have no problem in taking Shawn out once and for all.

Austin then walked through the backstage area as Vince McMahon, foreshadowing their big feud, claimed that he was genuinely puzzled as to why fans liked Austin because he was a cheater and said bad words.

Austin then nearly came to blows with The Hart Foundation before confronting McMahon at ringside.

Shawn Michaels is Confused

In response to Austin's promo, his opponent and tag team partner Shawn Michaels told Doc Hendrix that he and Austin were not going to give The Hart Foundation what they wanted, which was to see the two of them tear each other apart.

Still, Shawn claimed -not altogether convincingly- that he was a little conflicted between focusing on Austin as an opponent and Austin as a partner.

WWF Tag Team Champion Shawn Michaels vs. WWF Tag Team Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin. 

Making his first PPV appearance since the 1997 Royal Rumble, Shawn Michaels sauntered to the ring looking for all the world like he couldn't give a damn about being there.

I don't mean that was part of his gimmick either, the Heartbreak Kid looked as though he'd just gotten out of bed and didn't want to be wrestling tonight.

Thankfully, Michaels changed his tune once the bell rung, and went on to deliver an absolute stormer with Austin.

The two battles back and forth multiple times in a match which was good not only when compared to the rest of the dross on this show, but legitimately awesome in its own right.

Towards the finish, referee Tim White took a bump. Austin hit Michaels with the stunner, then when White was unable to make the count, Austin got frustrated, picked him up and gave him a stunner too.

This gave HBK the chance to recover and hit Austin with the Sweet Chin Music. He made the cover and a second referee ran out, only to ignore the pin attempt and focus on Tim White.

Annoyed, Michaels superkicked that referee, prompting Earl Hebner to come out and disqualify both men.
Double DQ

The crowd hated that result, and so too did Michaels and Austin, who argued about it all the way to the back.

Farooq Issues a Warning 

Interviewed by Todd Pettengill, Farooq said:

'Undertaker, don't worry about Paul Bearer's blackmail, worry about this black male.' 

Which I suppose was kind of clever.

Paul Bearer Yells at The Undertaker 

Backstage, Doc Hendrix told The Undertaker that whatever terrible secret Paul Bearer was using to manipulate the WWF Champion it didn't matter because everybody still loved him.

Angry, Paul Bearer -who was now completely free of the corpse paint, was fatter than ever, and had ginger hair- snatched the mic and told both Doc and The Undertaker that he could make The Dead Man do whatever he said.

Looking despondent, The Undertaker slopes off, ready to compete.

World Wrestling Federation Championship
WWF Champion The Undertaker vs. Farooq (w/ The Nation of Domination)

I've watched this match several times now, each time hoping that I'll see it in a new light and find something positive to say about it.

My hopes failed to materialize. Instead, every time I watch this match I hate it -and myself- a little more.

Honestly, this was an appalling, tedious mess that should be avoided at all costs.

The Undertaker won. Everybody who ever saw this match lost.
Your Winner and still WWF Champion: The Undertaker

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I used to own this event on VHS tape, but every time I watched it, I would literally fall asleep. That was over a decade ago. 

When I sat down to watch and review this event just recently, I was convinced that it can't have been as bland and boring as I remembered it, but alas, it was. 

Sure, the Austin/Michaels match was great, and Hunter vs. Mankind had its moments, but outside of that, and a surprisingly entertaining Mankind/Lawler encounter, everything else fell flat. 

Watch for the Austin/Michaels match, and if you're interested in the evolution of Hunter Hearst Helmsley, but otherwise, avoid.

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1997 events reviewed so far:

1. WWF - Royal Rumble 1997
2. WCW - Souled Out 1997
3. WWF - In Your House 13: Final Four 
4. WCW - Superbrawl VII 
5. WCW - Uncensored 1997 
6. WWF - Wrestlemania 13
7. WCW Spring Stampede 1997
8. WWF - In Your House 14: Revenge of The Taker
9. WWF - In Your House 15: A Cold Day in Hell
10. WCW - Slamboree 1997

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