In Your House 1 results, live retro blog: Like a real house

In the mid-1990s, World Championship Wrestling was getting a complete makeover under Eric Bischoff. In addition to bringing in many WWF superstars of a bygone era, the company upped its production values and began offering more PPV events.

With WCW being super serious about taking the WWF out at the knees, Vince and friends had no other option but to do the same... but with a twist. Give the customer two-thirds of a PPV for half the price.

On Mother’s Day 1995, WWF’s newest PPV concept was born. And to make sure they got as many eyeballs on the show as possible, they had the ultimate hook: they were giving away a house. No, seriously. They gave away an actual house on the show.

In Your House 1 is the focus of this edition of the Cageside Seats Live Retro Blog. It begins this Saturday night at 7pm Eastern Time. That’s 6pm Central, 4pm Pacific, 2pm in Hawaii, and 12 midnight in Britannia.

WWE Network subscription recommended to join along in on the fun, as that’s the version of the show we’ll be watching. If you don’t have WWE Network, you can get a free month here, or if you’re not up for giving out your credit card number, you can purchase a subscription card at any Wal-Mart, 7-Eleven, or Gamestop.

In the main event, Diesel defends the WWF Championship against Sid. The tag titles are on the line in a return match from Wrestlemania XI as Owen Hart and Yokozuna face the former champions The Smoking Gunns.

On the undercard, WWF triple crown champion Bret Hart will pull double duty this evening as he takes on Hakushi and long-time rival Jerry “The King” Lawler in separate bouts. Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett will team with the Roadie to take on Razor Ramon in a 2-on-1 handicap match.

And the road to the 1995 King of the Ring begins here as Adam Bomb takes on Mabel for a spot in the tournament.

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Hi. I’m Eddie Mac. Look what I found on the Internets. The 30-minute preshow for the first ever In Your House. Check it out.

And here’s the intro for the first In Your House.

TV-PG (V).

WWF New Generation signature.

Todd Petingill runs down the card and giveaway, then PYRO AND BALLYHOO! Ok, no pyro. This is 1995. Gotta save money where you can.

Vince McMahon and Dok Hendrix on commentary in English, with Carlos Cabrera and Hugo Savinovich on commentary in Spanish.

Pre-match shows Bret Hart being honored by the Japanese media just before Wrestlemania XI, but is jumped by Hakushi. Bret Hart dedicates his two bouts tonight to his mom.

Match 1: Bret Hart defeated Hakushi in 14:39. Awesome match. Shinja provides a distraction late, but in the end, Bret Hart is Bret Hart and Hakushi is not Bret Hart. He is also not undefeated anymore, as this is his first pinfall defeat. PYRO AND BALLYHOO AND PINK SPOTLIGHTS. Post-match, Bret leaps out of the ring and possibly twisted his ring. (FUTURE EDDIE ALERT: This is pretty much the height of Hakushi's run. He would get in a three-way feud with Skip of the Bodydonnas and Barry Horowitz later in the year, and Horowitz actually beat him in a match. No, seriously. Hakushi never recovered.)

Also, Dok Hendrix has no idea what those tattoos on Hakushi says. I'm willing to bet dollars on this.

Todd Petingill with Sweet Stan Lane and WWF Women's Champion Alundra Blayze on the Superstar Line (1-900-737-4WWF). Petingill is interrupted by Jerry Lawler, but he gets a page from his mom and he's gotta go.

Stageside, Stephanie Wiand shows off the house that's being given away later in the show. (FUTURE EDDIE ALERT. Who's Stephanie Wiand? She was brought into the WWF in late 1994 to replace Randy Savage on WWF Mania. She... did not last long. In fact, this show is her last PPV appearance. She was let go due to budget cuts soon after. These days, she's a producer, working most notably on a series about dealing with kidney transplants. Really. She's also a writer and actor on something called... Revenge of the Bimbot Zombie Killers. It's real, I promise. 4.8/10 on IMDb.)

As Jeff Jarrett enters, Vince McMahon briefly chats with the 1-2-3 Kid. Then he interviews Razor Ramon. In addition to wishing his mom a happy Mother's Day, he says he's been having handicap matches with Jeff Jarrett and Roadie for months, and tonight, he gets to have one legally. Originally set as a tag team match (until 1-2-3 Kid's injury at the hands of Roadie), this contest is a handicap match. Not just a handicap match, but the first ever 1-on-2 handicap match on a WWF PPV. Ever.

Match 2: Razor Ramon defeated Jeff Jarrett and The Roadie in 12:36. Razor gets Jarrett with the Razor's Edge for the win. Post-match, Razor goes for seconds, looking to give one to Roadie, but Jarrett clips Razor and hooks the figure four. Aldo Montoya tries to make the save, but is ineffective. Then a short-sleeved shirt man rushes the ring and runs off Jarrett and Roadie. The rail-jumping Samaritan is escorted out by some of Syracuse's finest. Don't jump the rail, kids.

Promo for King of the Ring.

Backstage, Lawler demands that WWF President Jack Tunney rearrange the card so he could face Bret Hart right now, but Jack was all... nah.

(FUTURE EDDIE ALERT: This is one of, if not, Jack's last television appearances on WWF programming. By the summer, Tunney was fired from the company. Why he was fired depends on who is telling the story. The common reason speculated is that Jack was busted for using company money to pay off gambling debts. However, there is also speculation that it was Bret Hart himself that got Tunney fired, seeing Jack was on record saying that Bret would never draw as a main-eventer; when Jack was proven wrong, he became unpopular with the office. Another possibility is that Vince McMahon decided to run shows in the Toronto area without any involvement from the Tunney family going forward. The story has a sad ending. Tunney left the wrestling business following his firing and basically lived in obscurity until his death in January 2004. No one associated with WWE was at his funeral, and no mention of his death was mentioned on television or on the website.)

Here's a Sid promo package. Sid will challenge Diesel for the WWF title later.

Barry Dudynsky promotes a new Bret Hart T-shirt. One size fits all. $20 plus shipping. 1-800-TITAN-91.

Match 3: Mabel defeated Adam Bomb in just 1:54 to qualify for the King of the Ring tournament. Though Adam was able to get Mabel off his feet—twice, Mabel squashes the Bomb. Mabel's in the tournament. And he's probably the favorite.

Todd Pettingill in the Superstar Line locker room with Razor Ramon and rail jumper and Ramon's friend from the streets of Miami Savio Vega.

As the Smoking Gunns get a jobber entrance, Jerry Lawler still wants Bret, but Worzel and friend say, sorry fam, you gotta wait your turn.

Match 4: Owen Hart and Yokozuna defeated The Smoking Gunns to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship in 5:44. Owen and Yoko didn't have the surprise factor they benefitted from a month ago, but it mattered not. Slow match because Yokozuna, but Yokozuna made the difference.

Backstage, Todd Pettingill is with WWF Champion Diesel. Pretty somber interview, as Diesel talks about his mom who passed away around Christmas last year (that's sad), Henry Godwinn attacking him recently for some reason, and his on-again, off-again friendship with Shawn Michaels. Also, he is the Walrus and he's coming after Sid for injuring his BFF Shawn.

In the ring, Jerry Lawler with his mother... yeah, so no his mother. Backstage, Todd Pettingill's with Bret Hart. Turns out Bret's leg is fine. Lawler loses his shit as Hart makes his way to the ring.

Match 5: Jerry Lawler defeated Bret Hart at 5:01. Hart dominated until Shinja and Hakushi both interfered on Lawler's behalf. Two headbutts by Hakushi put Bret away. Also, pretty sure Lawler's shoulders were down.

Post-match, Lawler and Haksuhi look to double-team, but Hakushi clotheslines Lawler, and Bret is able to run off the heels and “Mama Lawler”.

Backstage, Sid does one of those whispery promos Sid does as he talks about his WWF title bout with Diesel. Master, ruler, that sorta thing.

Todd Pettingill and Stephanie Wiand give away a house. Like a real house and everything. An envelope is picked out and they call the winner. First attempt fails. Wrong number. Assholes. Second one works. Your winner is Matt Pomposelli of Henderson, Nevada. The family is excited. Obviously. PYRO AND BALLYHOO!

Match 6: Diesel defeated Sycho Sid via disqualification to retain the WWF Championship at 11:31. Tatanka (Buffalo) runs in on behalf of Sid as Diesel was about to end him with the Jackknife. Bam Bam Bigelow runs in to save Diesel and we're out.

FUTURE EDDIE ALERT: There were three post-show dark matches, two of which were on the Coliseum Home Video version of the event, the other airing on RAW in early June. For completion's sake, here are the results:

-The Undertaker defeated Kama in 13:08.

-Bam Bam Bigelow defeated Tatanka in 8:50.

-Owen Hart and The British Bulldog fight to a 15-minute time limit draw in a King of the Ring qualifying match. As this eliminated both men, a replacement match was commissioned for the next week's RAW, with Yokozuna defeating Lex Luger via countout to make the final eight.

EDDIE MAC'S QUICK REVIEW

I get that it's important to have perspective and all (this was 1995, widely regarded as the single worst year in WWE history). That said... yeah, this show is not good. Not good for any time period, and not good for 1995. The opener is the best match on the show (and it's not even close), then the quality dips as the show progresses, and by the time the main event starts, you'll probably wonder whether to watch it to its conclusion or not. I recommend one watch for historical purposes (and for the absurdity that is the combination of Todd Pettingill and Stephanie Wiand), but not after that. 3 out of 10, would not watch again.

FUTURE EDDIE ALERT: So... what happened to the In Your House house? Glad you asked. In 2012, WWE caught up with the winner of the house from the first In Your House, Matthew Pomposelli.

WWE.COM: First thing — are you still living in the home?

MATTHEW POMPOSELLI: No, I don’t own the house. I sold it about six months after I won it. We had just moved from New York to Las Vegas, and it was a big decision to move into the Florida home, rent it or sell it. It was a tough choice, but selling it meant I’d have money for college.

WWE.COM: Wow, an 11-year-old flipping real estate! How much did you bank from the sale?

POMPOSELLI: I believe it sold for more than $175,000, which back then was good money for an 11-year-old.

$175,000. Not bad money if you can get it.