WWE In Your House 2 – The Lumberjacks (July 1995) Review
The second-ever WWF/E In Your House was named The Lumberjacks simply because it was headlined by a Lumberjack Match. It wasn’t the most creative name for a show, but they always needed a theme for these In Your House events. It is also the first-ever July PPV in WWE history.
The year 1995 was one of the worst years in WWE history, but I remember this being a pretty good show. In addition to the match, there was also a musical performance by Jeff Jarrett as well, but that’s not all with Jarrett. There was some behind-the-scenes drama with Jarrett and his buddy The Roadie (later known as Road Dogg), which I’ll get to in-depth in this review.
Two of WWE’s biggest names were Bret Hart and The Undertaker, but neither man wrestled on this show. Bret Hart beat Jean Pierre Lafitte in a dark match and The Undertaker beat Kama in a Casket Match that was also a dark match. Those matches actually made it onto some VHS versions of the show when this event was released. However, I’m just reviewing what’s on WWE Network and that’s all.
This show did well on pay-per-view with 280,000 buys. While 1995 was a tough year for WWE, that was third-highest number of PPV buys in the year after WrestleMania 11 and the first In Your House. The main reason for that is because this PPV had a price point of $14.95 with a two-hour runtime as opposed to $29.95 for the three-hour PPVs. In other words, you paid less for less content, but PPVs were interesting because that’s where the big matches were.
This show followed the first In Your House in May 1995, King of the Ring 1995, and led to SummerSlam 1995.
Here is the synopsis on WWE Network:
“Diesel defends the WWE Championship against Sycho Sid in a Lumberjack Match. Shawn Michaels has his eyes set on the Intercontinental Championship. Bam Bam Bigelow faces Henry Godwinn. Men on a Mission battle Razor Ramon and Savio Vega in tag team action.” (PG, V)
The poster looks like this:
WWF In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks
From Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee
July 23, 1995
There was an opening video showing some Nashville sights with some country music version of an “In Your House” song. It was cheesy, but so fitting for 1995.
The crowd was loud and looking ready to go. The announce team of Vince McMahon and Jerry “The King” Lawler were at ringside to call the action.
The 1-2-3 Kid was the first wrestler to enter and he got a good pop from the crowd. Kid was coming back from a neck injury. The Roadie made his entrance as the opponent. Kid attacked Roadie in the aisle and tossed him into the ring to start the match.
1-2-3 Kid vs. The Roadie
Pre-match notes: Kid was the face and Roadie was the heel. It would be about three yeas after this when they would be part of Degeneration X together. Both guys changed a lot between this point in 1995 to what they were in DX in 1998.
Roadie with a shoulder tackle. Kid did a leapfrog and Roadie tumbled to the mat when hitting his foot. Kid wit ha spin kick in the corner led to the first “WHAT A MANEUVER” from Vince. Kid knocked Roadie out of the ring with Roadie taking a break on the floor. Kid jumped over the top onto Roadie although he barely touched him. Back in the ring, Kid with a kick, corner splash and Kid charged into a powerslam from Roadie. They showed Jeff Jarrett’s locker room where he was getting ready for his singing debut while Roadie’s match was on, so Vince ripped on Jarrett for not watching. They were out on the floor with Roadie driving Kid groin first into the ring post. That probably should be a DQ, but it was not. Back in the ring, Roadie lifted up Kid into the air to send him crashing into the mat. Roadie hit two leg drops followed by a back body drop with Kid getting a lot of height. They showed Jeff Jarrett talking to his backup singers prior to his musical performance. Roadie applied a chinlock, the fans chanted “1-2-3” for Kid and Kid broke free. Roadie went up top, he jumped off with nothing, Kid moved and Roadie hit the mat hard. Kid came back with a huge spin kick to the head for two. Kid with a running dropkick against the turnbuckle and Kid with a body slam. Kid went up top with a Frog Splash for a two count. Kid charged at Roadie, who caught him and Roadie hit a sitout Powerbomb for two. Roadie charged against the turnbuckle, Kid moved and then Kid went up top, so Roadie tripped him. With Roadie on the middle rope, he gave Kid a Piledriver for the pinfall win at 7:26. That was a bit scary, but I think Kid was okay.
Winner by pinfall: The Roadie
Analysis: ***1/4 This was a pretty good opening match with a lot of action in a match under ten minutes. Roadie controlled most of it, Kid made the big comeback and Roadie was able to stop the momentum for the pinfall win. It’s pretty cool watching 1-2-3 Kid at this point in his career when he was one of the fastest wrestlers ever and he made everything look so easy. They were giving Roadie a bit of a push at this point, but things would change for him later in the night. More on that later in the review.
The Roadie went up to the stage to check the band that was on the stage to make sure everything was working smoothly.
There was a locker room interview with Sycho Sid, manager Ted Dibiase and the Million Dollar Corporation. Dibiase talked about how he bought the best 15 lumberjacks to surround the ring. There were comments from Tatanka and Kama. Sid ended it saying he would be the master and ruler of the world as the camera zoomed in on his eyes.
They had a guy named Barry Didinsky in the locker room with Diesel, Shawn Michaels and the other faces. Barry was shilling t-shirts about the show. I don’t remember much about Barry.
King Mabel and Sir Mo made their entrance for tag team action. Mabel won the King of the Ring tournament one month earlier. Razor Ramon & Savio Vega were up next as the opponents and they got a good pop. Razor was wearing a brace around his ribs and then he threw it at Mabel before the match.
Men on a Mission – King Mabel & Sir Mo vs. Razor Ramon & Savio Vega
Pre-match notes: Mabel & Mo were the heels while Razor & Savio were the faces.
Razor caught Mo in his arms with a fallaway slam. Vega tagged in with a clothesline on Mo. Knee to the ribs by Mo and the big man Mabel tagged in with Vega avoiding a corner splash as Mabel hit the ropes. Vega with punches, but then Mabel hit an impressive sidewalk slam. Mabel tossed Vega over the top to the floor so Mo could get some cheap shots. Mabel with a hard whip into the turnbuckle followed by a kick to the head. Mabel and Mo did a double clothesline on Vega for two. Mo hit a suplex on Vega for two. Mabel with a back elbow on Vega followed by a body slam. Savio went for a body slam, Mabel landed on top so that led to the classic “one…two…he got him…no he didn’t” call from Vince. Mabel with a suplex across the ring. Mo back in for a double team elbow on Vega. Mabel tagged back in, Mo did a drop toe hold and Mabel hit a dropkick to the back of the head. Mabel with a body slam. Mo was the legal man, Mo went up top, took way too long and Vega moved out of the way of Mo’s moonsault attempt. Razor got the hot tag, he put Mo on the top and hit the belly to back suplex off the top that Razor did all the time. After a bit of a distraction, Mabel got the tag. Mo with a body slam, Mabel was legal and Mabel went up top for some reason, but then Razor slammed Mabel to the mat for two. Mo with a knee to the back of Razor and Mabel hit a DDT. Mabel went for a splash, but Razor moved. Mo went after Razor, so Vega went in with a clothesline on Mo over the top to the floor. Mabel with a corner splash on Razor followed by a huge belly to belly slam for the pinfall win at 10:09.
Winners by pinfall: Men on a Mission – King Mabel & Sir Mo
Analysis: **1/2 An average tag team match to put over Mabel in a big way to continue his momentum from King of the Ring. They followed the classic tag team match formula by having Vega as the face in peril, Razor got the hot tag and the pace picked up from there. The fans cared a lot when Razor was in there, so having Mabel beat Razor was a smart move since it showed how dominant Mabel was. Since Razor had the rib injury going into the match, it made sense for Mabel to win after a corner splash and a belly to belly slam.
They killed some time with Todd Pettengill talking to the band about Jeff Jarrett’s musical performance coming up.
There was a backstage interview with some of the babyface lumberjacks along with Dok Hendrix. It was Adam Bomb, Bam Bam Bigelow, The Smoking Gunns and Man Mountain Rock. They tried to tell the story that somebody was going to take Ted Dibiase’s money, but they all denied that would happen.
“With My Baby Tonight” Musical Performance
Jeff Jarrett was introduced for his musical performance with The Roadie doing the introduction. Jeff did his usual promo about how he was going to use the WWF, he’s the Intercontinental Champion and he’s got a hit single out there right now. Jeff said that people didn’t think he had the talent to make it as a country music star, but he has proved everybody wrong. Jeff spelled his name out again.
That led to the musical performance of the song “With My Baby Tonight.” You could tell immediately that it wasn’t Jarrett’s voice singing the song, but it’s not like people thought about it when this happened in July 1995. That’s where the angle would eventually go. Vince and Jerry spoke over the performance throughout the song with Jerry putting Jeff over a lot. This performance would go on for about four minutes with the fans giving a mild applause. Vince said he thought it was a good minutes. Jeff said that he proved he’s the world’s greatest singer and he’ll prove he’s the world’s greatest wrestler. Jeff: “Ain’t I great?” That ended it.
Analysis: The song is memorable if you have seen this show or listened to the song at some point in your life because it’s got a bit of a catchy tune. I wouldn’t call it a great song or anything like that, but it was fine for the time period it was in. The big reveal in the storyline would come in early 1996 when they revealed that it was actually The Roadie that was singing and if you know Roadie’s voice, it made sense.
There was a commercial for SummerSlam 1995.
They had Todd Pettengill go into the crowd asking fans what they thought about Jeff Jarrett’s musical performance. There were some people that liked what Jeff did and others did not.
The evil farmer Henry O. Godwinn (get it, the name spells HOG) made his entrance first. Bam Bam Bigelow was up next as the opponent.
Henry Godwinn vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
Pre-match notes: Godwinn was the heel and Bigelow was the face. Bigelow was a heel for a lot of his WWE run, but they turned him face after the WrestleMania 11 main event with Lawrence Taylor.
Bigelow with a headlock, Godwinn with a belly to back suplex, Bigelow was up quickly and Bigelow hit two belly to back suplexes in a row. Bigelow with a running shoulder tackle to knock Godwinn out of the ring. Back in the ring, Bigelow hit a bulldog. Bigelow charged, Godwinn ducked and Bigelow bumped over the top to the floor. Godwinn sent Bigelow into the steel steps. Godwinn sent Bigelow into the turnbuckle and a clothesline got two leading to the “one…two…he got him…no he didn’t” call from Vince. Godwinn grabbed a chinlock to ground the big man Bigelow. Bam Bam hit a cross body block for two and then Godwinn hit a clothesline. Godwinn choked Bigelow across the middle rope. Godwinn with a weak body slam and elbow drop for two. Bigelow started the comeback with a clothesline, then two headbutts and a boot to the head. Bigelow went up top for the headbutt, but Godwinn moved and Bigelow hit the mat hard. Godwinn went for nothing off the middle rope, Bigelow moved and Bigelow simply hooked the leg for the pinfall win at 5:33.
Winner by pinfall: Bam Bam Bigelow
Analysis: * A bad match that was kept short, which is fine because it was boring. The fans were dead for most of it. Bad finish since Bigelow won after Godwinn missed a move off the ropes. Godwinn didn’t have much success as a singles wrestler and was better off in the years that followed in a tag team. Bigelow was a bigger star, so it made more sense for him to win.
Bob Backlund was shown talking to some fans in the crowd.
Shawn Michaels was shown backstage being interviewed by Todd Pettengill. Shawn said it was his birthday the day before, so he’s going to get himself a present by winning the Intercontinental Title.
The Roadie made his entrance to Jeff Jarrett’s theme song, which was played by the band on the stage. The Roadie delivered a special introduction for the Intercontinental Champion today, tomorrow and there’s nothing that the fans or Shawn Michaels can do about it. That led to The Roadie introducing Jarrett for the match with Jeff as the Intercontinental Champion.
Shawn Michaels got a big pop from the crowd. Vince: “Listen to this crowd! This capacity crowd is electric!” Shawn turned babyface about three months earlier after WrestleMania when Sid hit him with repeated Powerbombs. It was obvious that Shawn was on his way to being a top babyface. The fans were solidly behind him.
Intercontinental Championship: Jeff Jarrett (w/The Roadie) vs. Shawn Michaels
Pre-match notes: Jarrett was the heel Intercontinental Champion while Michaels was the babyface champion. Michaels was a two-time Intercontinental Champion going into this match.
They started by exchanging punches with Lawler saying nothing can go wrong for Jarrett here. Ominous words there. They did a lockup with Jarrett shoving Michaels down to the mat. Michaels avoided a charging Jarrett, but then Jarrett punched Shawn in the jaw. Michaels went for a hiptoss, Michaels blocked, then Shawn did an eye poke and a punch. Jarrett charged, this time Shawn jumped over and hit a punch followed by a hiptoss leading to a clothesline over the top to the floor. Michaels did the classic skin-the-cat move back into the ring followed by a strut to taunt Jarrett some more. Jarrett walked away up the aisle, then Michaels counted with the referee, Jarrett was back in at nine and then back out to the floor again. Jarrett rolled back in and back out again. Michaels got a hold of Jarrett, but Jarrett hit a jumping splash on the back. Michaels knocked Roadie off the apron and then Michaels tossed Jarrett over the top onto Roadie. Shawn went up top and jumped onto Jarrett/Roadie with a cross body block on the floor. The fans popped big for that. Back in the ring, Michaels went for a sunset flip, Jarrett with a punch, Shawn moved and then Jarrett gave Michaels a back body drop over the top to the floor. That was a huge, painful looking bump. Jarrett sent Michaels into the steps.
They went back into the ring with Jarrett in control with a front suplex for two. Jarrett applied an abdominal stretch near the ropes, which led to some cheating for nearly a minute until Shawn got out of it. Jarrett countered a ducking Michaels with a DDT for two. Lawler celebrated about how there was something wrong with Vince’s microphone. Roadie choked Michaels across the middle rope when Jarrett distracted the referee. Jarrett went for a running attack, Michaels moved and Jarrett hit Roadie by accident. Michaels got a rollup for two. Jarrett tossed Michaels into the turnbuckle leading to Shawn’s upside-down bump over the top to the floor. Jarrett distracted the referee again leading to The Roadie hitting a clothesline off the apron onto Shawn on the floor. Jarrett claimed he would win by countout, but Michaels got back in before the ten count. Jarrett jumped off the top with a cross body block with Michaels turning it over for a two count. Jarrett went for a sunset flip and they each got a two count. Jarrett hit an impressive dropkick to the face for a two count. Michaels ran the ropes a few times leading to Jarrett getting a sleeper hold and holding onto it for about a minute until Michaels hit a belly to back suplex on Jarrett. Both guys were down selling a lot as Michaels crawled over and got a two count with Jarrett getting his right shoulder up. Both guys ran the ropes with Michaels landing a huge clothesline. Michaels hit the flying forearm to the head. Michaels jumped off the top with a double axehandle with a two count. Michaels with a body slam. Michaels went up top and he hit the patented elbow drop for a two count. Michaels sent Jarrett into the ropes, Michaels tripped him up and pulled the legs so Jarrett went groin first into the ring post. The referee checked Jarrett, which led to Roadie shaking the ropes to crotch Michaels on the top rope. Jarrett hit a superplex off the middle rope. Jarrett went for a Figure Four Leglock, but Michaels got an inside cradle. Jarrett with a knee breaker. Jarrett went for the Figure Four Leglock, but Michaels kicked Jarrett right into referee Earl Hebner. Michaels was back up, but Roadie hit Michaels in the back of the left knee. Jarrett went up top, which was not common for him and Jarrett hit a cross body block for two with Michaels getting his shoulder up. Jarrett tried a whip into the ropes, Michaels reversed it and Roadie turned his back to the ring, but he held out his hand to trip…Jarrett by accident. The referee did not see it. Jarrett got back up, was mad at Roadie for doing that (it was an accident by Roadie) and then Jarrett turned around right into a Sweet Chin Music superkick by Michaels for the pinfall win at 20:03.
Winner by pinfall AND NEW Intercontinental Champion: Shawn Michaels
Analysis: ****1/4 It’s an awesome match that was one of the best WWE matches of 1995. There was too much stalling early on for me to give it a higher rating, but I really liked the match and it held up very well as I watched this 26 years later. They got a lot of time since this was by far the longest match on the show, they came up with a creative finish with Dogg tripping Jarrett by accident and Michaels got the pinfall win to capitalize on the mistake. That was a really good story to the match since Roadie interfered so much to help Jarrett, but then when Roadie messed up at the finish, it cost Jarrett the win and Michaels capitalized to win the IC Title once again. It was a lot of fun watching Shawn in this era on his rise to the top as a babyface because even though I loved him as a heel in the three years prior to this, he was very natural in the babyface role and it showed in this match. This was probably Jeff Jarett’s best match in his WWE (or WCW) career. This match was rated ****1/2 by Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer in 1995, so Dave liked it a bit more than me.
Shawn Michaels celebrated with the Intercontinental Title. There was some pyro that went off in the arena. The fans popped big for the win by Michaels. Shawn kissed a woman at ringside, who I think was a girlfriend at the time. I don’t know. They replayed the finish with Roadie accidentally costing Jarrett with the no-look trip and Michaels capitalized to win.
There was a locker room scene with Barry Didinski with the babyface wrestlers. Shawn Michaels showed up with the Intercontinental Title and some hugs from his friends in the room.
Dok Hendrix was outside a locker room saying that Jeff Jarrett and The Roadie got into a fight. Dok said that Roadie knocked Jarrett down, then they went into a room and he didn’t know what happened.
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STORY TIME: Jeff Jarrett and The Roadie Left WWE After This Show
That was the last we saw of Jeff Jarrett and The Roadie for a while. Both guys quit the company because they didn’t like that their team was being split up.
Here’s how Jarrett explained it in April 2021:
“It was a creative difference. Me and Brian got together. He was in Lowell, MA. He sang in front of Vince and Bruce and others. It got him a job and they put him with me. Me and Brian were on camera as Double J and The Roadie less than six months. This is the boss (Vince McMahon) and he had the right to split us up and shoot the angle. I felt there was so much more gas left in the tank to do another song, to do a concert. I didn’t think we were ready to be split up. I voiced it multiple times, but not loud enough, and certainly, I don’t think they thought that I was going to say, ‘I’m not up for this. I’m going to lose the title to Shawn and I did.”
“My track record speaks for itself when it’s time to do the honors, but I’m not doing the angle afterwards.’ Brian will tell you to this day, ‘Brian, you make the decision that you want to do. I’m leaving, but you don’t have to.’ I’ll leave a cliffhanger here, but there’s a couple other reasons that he left as well. There was a creative difference that I didn’t talk through, and I’ll put that on me more than I’ll put it on Vince because I didn’t over communicate with him. It had zero to do with WCW. It had zero to do with my father. It had everything to do from a creative perspective that I thought that there was no rhyme or reason. The song just really started going. I’m Nashville, so I’m biased. I think the song had only been out six or eight weeks. Coming off Royal Rumble, I won the I.C. title. Mania, everybody thought Razor Ramon was winning it back, everybody. We kicked off the first ever In Your House. We were just getting going. There you have it.”
Here’s an explanation from longtime WWE executive Bruce Prichard from his podcast in July 2020:
“It was a shock to me, it was a shock to Pat [Patterson], but it also hurt. That was one that hurt because all you had to do was say, ‘I don’t want to do this,’ or, ‘Can we do it a different way?’ or something like that. Versus, just saying, ‘Oh, well, Vince didn’t talk to us, and we didn’t like the way it was going,’ and you never made an attempt, at least that we know of, to talk to Vince and tell him that, and you had many, many opportunities to tell us and instead you yeah-yeahed us to death to the point that we felt everybody was on board and everybody was good to go. So to that, shame on you, and we move on. It wasn’t received well by me, I can definitely tell you that.”
Here are more Bruce comments about it:
“I talked to Jeff about it when he came back and I’ve talked to Jeff about it over the years. I think we agree to disagree and I think that Jeff realizes now that that wasn’t the greatest move in the world to make. So being in a position of being a promoter and being in a position of trying to do a television show and work with a lot of talent, and then have somebody treat you like that, all of a sudden you go, ‘Oh wow, maybe I didn’t handle that the best way.’ So I don’t agree with the way Jeff and Road Dogg handled it, in any way, shape, or form, and wish it wouldn’t have happened because I think the angle on the story we had laid out would have been awesome.”
Analysis: Jarrett left WWE for about five months and he was back by the end of the year. The Roadie was back in early 1996. Both of them wrestled in the USWA while they were gone. Anyway, when Roadie came back it was revealed that he sang “With My Baby Tonight” with Jarrett lip syncing the whole time, so it made Jarrett look like more of a heel.
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Owen Hart and Yokozuna made their entrance as the WWE Tag Team Champions joined by Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji. Lex Luger and the British Bulldog entered as the challengers. They got a decent pop with some pyro going off when they were in the ring.
Owen Hart & Yokozuna (w/Jim Cornette & Mr. Fuji) vs. The Allied Powers (Lex Luger & The British Bulldog)
Pre-match notes: Owen and Yoko were the heel champions while the Allied Powers were the faces.
Luger faced off with Yokozuna with Vince talking about how Luger slammed Yokozuna two years ago, but that Yokozuna was lighter than he is now. Yokozuna with a headbutt, punches and a body slam. Luger avoided an elbow drop. Luger sent Yokozuna into the turnbuckle ten times with the fans chanting along with it. Luger punched Yokozuna so that he landed against the turnbuckle and Owen sold it like he hurt his foot. Owen complained about it, so Yoko shoved Owen on his ass. Cornette got them to calm down, Owen shook Yoko’s hand and everything was cool. Owen was the legal man as he slapped Luger in the face and Luger hit a huge hiptoss followed by an armdrag. Bulldog tagged in against his brother in law with Owen doing a hair pull and they did some crafty armbar work to eachother. Bulldog lifted up Owen for a back body drop, Owen never really turned and just landed hard on the mat. Bulldog with a catapult that sent Owen into the turnbuckle followed by a clothesline. That led to a classic “one…two…he got him…no he didn’t” call from Vince. Yoko hit a forearm to the back of Bulldog and then the heels took over with Yoko tagging in with a stomp along with a headbutt. Yokozuna applied a vice grip to the shoulders of Bulldog, but Bulldog managed to get out of it after over a minute or so. Bulldog ran the ropes, but Yoko decked him with a clothesline. Owen was back in, Bulldog ran the ropes and Owen hit a spinning heel kick for two. Bulldog got a sunset flip for two. Owen came back with an enziguri kick for two. Owen went for a charging attack against the corner, Bulldog moved and Hart hit the turnbuckle. Cornette is so smart that he hit the mat repeatedly to get the crowd to chant “USA” even though he wasn’t doing that for the crowd, but it’s a little thing that works. Luger tagged in against Yokozuna with a clothesline and he slammed Owen off the top rope into the ring. Luger tossed Owen onto Yoko and there was a double clothesline on Owen along with a double clothesline on Yoko. Owen broke up the pin attempt. Yoko decked Luger with a punch. Yokozuna went for a charging attack, Bulldog moved and Luger/Bulldog hit a double team back suplex. Luger tried to pin Yoko, the referee was looking at Bulldog and Owen jumped off the top with a double axehandle to Luger. Owen took out Bulldog, Yokozuna hit a leg drop on Luger and got the pinfall win at 10:54.
Winners by pinfall: Owen Hart & Yokozuna
Analysis: **3/4 Good match with a finish that was booked well especially towards the finish. The fans thought that Luger/Bulldog could win after that double team suplex on Yokozuna, but then Owen made the save and the heels came up with a cheap way to get the win. I really liked the Owen/Yoko team as a mix of speed/power, but then Yoko kept on getting bigger and couldn’t wrestle that much more. Luger and Bulldog were solid as a babyface team. Lex ended up leaving WWE for WCW less than two months after this.
They showed Shawn Michaels talking on the phone on the WWE Superstar Line.
They showed some of the lumberjacks walking down to the ring for the main event.
A video aired about Diesel’s rivalry with Sycho Sid. On the April 3rd edition of Raw, Sycho Sid hit Shawn Michaels with multiple Powerbombs, so Diesel saved Shawn. At the first In Your House in May, Diesel beat Sycho Sid by disqualification because of Tatanka. Bam Bam Bigelow saved Diesel during that attack. At King of the Ring, Sycho Sid abandoned tag team partner Tatanka because hew as afraid of Diesel. On the last Raw before this In Your House event, Sid backed away from Diesel again.
Analysis: Since Diesel didn’t pin Sid at their last PPV match in May 1995 and since Sid bailed at King of the Ring in June 1995, Diesel had yet to beat Sid clean. That led to this rematch. It wasn’t a great feud by any means, but it was a decent storyline of a heel being scared of a dominant babyface champion.
The babyface lumberjacks made their way down to ringside.
The WWE Champion Diesel was interviewed by Todd Petengill in the backstage area. Diesel said there was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Diesel said that Sid started this and Diesel is going to finish this once and for all.
Sycho Sid made his entrance with Ted Dibiase. There were lumberjacks all around the ring. Diesel made his entrance with Shawn Michaels as Vince screamed about them being “Two Dudes with Attitudes” and they greeted the babyface lumberjacks around ringside.
WWE Championship Lumberjack Match: Diesel vs. Sycho Sid
Pre-match notes: Diesel was the babyface WWE Champion and Sid was the heel challenger.
Diesel knocked Sid out of the ring, then the babyface lumberjacks tossed Sid back into the ring. Diesel sent Sid out of the ring again and the faces sent Sid back into the ring again. Diesel with a body slam, so Sid left to the floor on the heel side, which led to nobody tossing him back into the ring. Sid sent Diesel out of the ring and the heels stomped on Diesel repeatedly. That led to faces fighting with the heels on the floor. Diesel was sent back into the ring after being attacked on the floor with Side getting a two count. Sid worked over Diesel with punches, then multiple kicks to the ribs and a clothesline. Kama and some of the other heels choked Diesel across the middle rope while the referee wasn’t looking. Sid with a boot to the head. Diesel with a clothesline followed by two elbow drops. Diesel jumped over the top rope onto some of the heel lumberjacks and punched them. He used to the ropes to help with the dive, but that was still very impressive for a big guy. Diesel with a running splash on Sid’s back against the ropes. Diesel with snake eyes that sent Diesel into the top turnbuckle. King Mabel pulled Diesel out of the ring, Diesel shoved Mo into the ring post and then Mabel squashed Diesel against the ring post. Mabel also body-slammed Diesel on the floor. Mabel hit Diesel with a leg drop on the floor as well. Sid stomped on Diesel and drove his knee into the throat. Sid hit Diesel with a boot to the face for two. Vince was screaming about it as a dramatic nearfall, but it wasn’t very dramatic at all. Sid hit Diesel with a Powerbomb and he was too stupid to cover right away because he chose to celebrate with the other heels at ringside, so Diesel kicked out. When Sid teased another one, Diesel hit a back body drop. Sid left the ring to get into a brawl with the faces on the floor. Shawn Michaels jumped off the top turnbuckle with a double axehandle to Sid. The faces sent Sid back into the ring. Diesel fought off heels like IRS, Henry Godwinn and Tatana. Diesel sent Sid into the turnbuckle and hit a weak looking boot to the face for the pinfall win. It went 10:06.
Winner by pinfall: Diesel
Analysis: 3/4* This match sucked. Boring from start to finish. The story of the match was okay with the lumberjacks involved the whole way, but the match was boring. The attack from Mabel on Diesel was a tease for their SummerSlam match, which was a stinker just like this match was. Sid was booked like such a moron in this match since he didn’t go for a pin after a Powerbomb and then Sid fought with lumberjacks on the floor for no reason. The finish was weak since it was just a boot to the face and Diesel barely connected with it, so it sucked to see.
Post match, Diesel argued with Mabel. There’s the tease for their SummerSlam match again.
Analysis: That match was terrible too. A lot of bad memories during this Diesel title reign, my friends.
Diesel celebrated in the ring along with the other babyface wrestlers. Some pyro went off around the ring. That was it.
There was a video package that aired with the In Your House theme song.
This event had a runtime of 1:55:18 on WWE Network.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Show rating (out of 10): 5
It’s mid-1990s WWE so you should lower your expectations when watching shows from this era. It’s mainly a one match show with Shawn Michaels and Jeff Jarrett standing out. It was by far the longest match and easily the best match with the fans really getting into it a lot. That was definitely one of the best WWE matches of 1995, one of the best in In Your House history and one of the best IC Title matches of all time. No doubt about it. I highly recommend it if you’ve never seen it because it’s really awesome. Other than that, I liked the Roadie/1-2-3 Kid match that opened the show as an entertaining match that was under ten minutes. The two tag team matches were passable matches using the classic tag team match formula.
The main event between Diesel and Sid was bad. It had one of the weakest finishes to a WWE Title match ever. They made it a Lumberjack Match because they used this as a way to set up Diesel vs. Mabel at SummerSlam, which is also a terrible match. The Bigelow/Godwinn match on this show was tough to watch too.
When you consider that it’s only a two-hour show, there’s a Match of the Year contender on it and there’s a couple of other good matches, it’s at least an average show. However, there is some crap on here holding it back, especially the main event. Now let’s wrap this up with a song: “Spend my days working on the go, but the hands on the clock keep spinning too slow, ’cause I can’t wait to be alone with my baby tonight.” Okay, fine, I’ll stop.
FIVE STARS
- Shawn Michaels
- Jeff Jarrett
- The Roadie
- 1-2-3 Kid
- Owen Hart
OPINIONS
Best Match: Shawn Michaels vs. Jeff Jarrett (****1/4 out of 5)
Worst Match: Diesel vs. Sid (3/4*)
Most Memorable Moment: Jeff Jarrett getting tripped by The Roadie by accident and then Shawn Michaels hitting the Sweet Chin Music to win the IC Title.
That’s all for me. Check out the full list of my WWE PPV Review archive right here. Thanks for reading.
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My contact info is below.
John Canton
Email mrjohncanton@gmail.com
Twitter @johnreport