| Company | WWF/WWE |
| Event | In Your House 5 |
| Series | In Your House |
| Edition | 5 |
| Format | Pay-Per-View |
| Date | Sunday December 17 1995 |
| Venue | Hersheypark Arena |
| Location | Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Attendance | 7,289 |
WWF In Your House 5
WWF In Your House 5 was the final PPV of 1995 for the World Wrestling Federation, and in terms of the build-up, it had that feel due to the main event between Bret Hart and The British Bulldog only being mildly hyped (which genuinely angered Hart) due to the WWF starting to look ahead by sowing the seeds for the main storylines that would lead into WrestleMania XII. Nevertheless, thanks to the efforts of the combatants, the IYH 5 headline clash ended up being an absolute classic, and by far the best match of the show.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PREVIOUS TV SHOWS? READ OUR PRE-PPV REVIEWS OF RAW & SUPERSTARS!
Razor Ramon & Marty Jannetty vs. Psycho Sid & The 123-Kid
In hindsight, it’s understandable that Razor Ramon would recruit Marty Jannetty for this tag bout, which stemmed from Kid turning his back on Ramon the prior month to join Ted DiBiase’s Million Dollar Corporation. After all, Marty could fully relate to the feeling of a betrayal (thank you Shawn Michaels), and Jannetty had also briefly teamed with Kid to win the WWF World Tag Team Titles in January 1994. At the time, though, Razor seemed to be left with the worst possible choice, since Jannetty had already been viewed as something of a punchline in terms of credibility by that stage. Nevertheless, he could still go, as could Razor and Kid, who were in their physical primes at this time. As for Sid? Well, at least he hadn’t yet departed for the softball field (though Sid would go on a leave of absence shortly after this PPV, though I cannot confirm if it was softball-related or not). This was a fun opening match, and one that put a smile on the faces of the fans due to the good guys picking up the win, which was earned after Razor pinned Sid (a contradiction of normal wrestling booking as the taller heel usually manages to retain his heat, though it was obviously done to save Razor getting his full retribution on Kid for another time). As noted, that would be it for Sid in the WWF until he returned in July in time for In Your House 9: International Incident, while this would mark Marty’s final major win in the company. Razor and Kid would eventually settle their score at In Your House 6 in February in a Crybaby match (yep).
Before the second match, Jerry Lawler brought out a returning Jeff Jarrett, who had gone AWOL after In Your House 2, and in some respects was lucky to be rehired given that he caused a major storyline to be curtailed after it had begun. Since this show was being held just before Christmas, The King brought Double J a present: a gold record for his fictional country music hit Ain’t I Great. Lawler: “You’re greater than great!” Incidentally, I believe that the ring announcer messed up the initial surprise of Jarrett returning, which may explain why said announcer didn’t remain in the WWF for much longer.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PREVIOUS EDITION? READ OUR WWF IN YOUR HOUSE 4 REVIEW!
Ahmed Johnson vs. Buddy Landell
Lawler was stationed on colour commentary alongside Vince McMahon anyway, but Jarrett also decided to stick around at ringside for the second match, which is usually a hint at a forthcoming angle, which would indeed be the case. In the meantime, Ahmed Johnson (a relative newcomer who was far more over than wrestling historians give him credit for at this stage) was supposed to fight Dean Douglas, but due to an injury, Douglas instead introduced Buddy Landell, a guy who was most famous for ripping off Ric Flair’s act on a low-budget level (he even had Flair’s old WWF theme tune here). This was a total squash, which means that the line-up change might have actually been for the better: against the fairly-established Dean, Johnson might have looked weaker in victory, but against the dispensable Landell, Ahmed could mow through him like a knife through butter, wrapping things up with his Pearl River Plunge in less than a minute. Afterwards, Lawler would chastise Ahmed for no real reason, providing a distraction for Jarrett to wallop Ahmed with the aforementioned gold record. See if you can follow me from here: this would lead to an Ahmed-Jarrett match at Royal Rumble the next month which had an inconclusive ending, but with the quarrel never being resolved because Jarrett left the WWF again afterwards. In the meantime, the PPV being reviewed here would mark the end of Dean Douglas’ time in the WWF as well. Why did so many WWF employees leave the company during this period, especially since only Jarrett would end up jumping to the rising WCW in the short-term?
Backstage, Razor Ramon was interviewed by Todd Pettingill, who also had a present, but not from himself. During the opening match, Goldust was sat at ringside and had asked Todd to give the reigning Intercontinental Champion a personal letter. Not just a letter, mind you, but a love letter. And since babyfaces were encouraged to be homophobic in 1995, Ramon reacted angrily to the show of affection from the increasingly-bizarre Goldust. Goldie would end up winning the IC, erm, gold from Ramon at Royal Rumble, though the real-life resentment that Razor had towards the Goldust character is more memorable than the actual wrestling between the two.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PREVIOUS PPV? READ OUR WWF SURVIVOR SERIES 1995 REVIEW!
Hog Pen Match
Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Henry Godwinn
A confession: I enjoy a good Hog Pen match. Granted, the use of the word “good” is very subjective here, and there has only been like three of them in WWF/WWE history, but it’s a fun spectacle to see wrestlers trying to avoid being slammed into the mud while simultaneously trying to avoid being mauled by a bunch of little pigs. In this case, it was Hunter Hearst Helmsley’s ongoing issues with the WWF’s resident hog farmer Henry Godwinn that resulted in this match happening. As a special treat, the WWF brought back Hillbilly Jim to officiate this contest, which began in the ring but could only end when one of the performers ended up in the hog pen. It was a decent match, but obviously everyone was waiting for the moment when someone found themselves in the slop pit. That actually proved to be Henry, who Helmsley back-dropped over the wooden sideboards into the mud to claim the win. Nevertheless, those hoping for the Greenwich Blueblood to get some sort of comeuppance for, well, being an arrogant jerk would be rewarded for their optimism, because after the match, Henry managed to grab hold of Helmsley (who was both arguing with Hillbilly and nursing an incredibly painful-looking cut on his back caused by the wood) and slammed him into the slop. To younger fans, moments like this are what sports entertainment is all about, and I have no issue whatsoever with that. Horses for courses and all that (or, in this case, hogs). As an aside, I believe this was the night when Owen Hart pulled a prank on Vince McMahon backstage by having the pigs sent into his office for a laugh, and Vince did indeed find it very funny. You’ve got to love Owen, though in Vince’s case, I could imagine him firing someone for trying the same stunt on him in 2020.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FIRST EDITION? READ OUR WWF IN YOUR HOUSE 1 REVIEW!
Diesel vs. Owen Hart
Speaking of Owen, he was the sacrificial lamb here against Diesel, who was undergoing an intriguing transformation. He was essentially the first true tweener in the WWF; a wrestler who acted heelish, but who maintained enough of a babyface stance to warrant receiving some cheers. Diesel had lost the WWF Title to Bret Hart at Survivor Series and destroyed the Hitman afterwards in an aggressive manner, but his promo the next night on Raw indicated that he was going to ever-so-slightly bend the script by being himself rather than a corporate puppet. That same night, Owen had concussed Shawn Michaels (in the storyline, though it was so convincing that I legitimately believed it at the time), so Diesel was here to exact revenge for his buddy HBK. That consisted of him essentially throwing Owen around like a ragdoll, which eventually saw Big Daddy Cool disqualified for going too far and shoving the referee over. Diesel did drill Owen with a Jackknife Powerbomb so that The Rocket had been sufficiently dismantled in the minds of the fans, though. It’s intriguing to see Diesel here, because his no-nonsense attitude – while being situated in the grey area between being a babyface and a heel – could have made him a far bigger star in 1996 than he had been during his WWF Title reign if only he had stayed in the company rather than leaving in the spring. Mind you, he became a massive name anyway once he went to WCW and helped to form the nWo, but it’s one of those “what if’s” that is fascinating to ponder, all things considered.
Before the fifth match, we had another segment. On this occasion, it involved Ted DiBiase, Savio Vega and Santa Claus. You read that right: DiBiase stopped Vega and Santa giving out presents by asking Vega if he truly believed in Father Christmas, and as the tone became more heated between the two, we had a shock: Santa attacked Savio! That’s right, Kris Kringle himself jumped the Caribbean Sensation, though we quickly learned that it wasn’t the real Santa (the real Santa would have jumped Savio six months earlier to spare us the King Of The Ring debacle), but instead it was Xanta Claus, an evil version of Santa (kind of like the Wario to the plumber Mario). That entire paragraph sums up 1995 WWF, and while the idea of an evil Santa is a fun wrestling character, its potential longevity was always going to be shorter than a Todd Pettingill appreciation rally, with Xanta (later Balls Mahoney) departing faster than you can say “Happy New Year”.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE LAST EDITION? READ OUR WWF ST. VALENTINE’S DAY MASSACRE: IN YOUR HOUSE REVIEW!
Casket Match
The Undertaker vs. King Mabel
For the second time in five months, we had a Casket match on PPV. The Undertaker was once again involved, but this time it was King Mabel, the mammoth Men On A Mission member who had legitimately crushed his face a few months earlier on Raw. This match was Taker’s chance to get full revenge, albeit while still wearing a creepy mask that didn’t last too long, but which I thought was quite effective and something that added to The Dead Man’s mystique. Since Mabel had caused more injuries than a plastic football pitch in the second half of 1995, it was no surprise that Undertaker was going to score the victory here, and so he did: after drilling Mabel with a Chokeslam (Taker wasn’t about to risk injuring himself even more by trying to Tombstone the then-King) and beating up Sir Mo for good measure, Undertaker ultimately managed to close the oversized casket on both men to claim the win. This was the end of their rivalry, and both Mabel and Mo would join the ever-growing list of WWF departures not long after the following month’s Royal Rumble (so to say that Mabel’s big push failed would be a major understatement). It also set up Taker for a big 1996, which I will refer back to shortly, though Taker providing a hint of a desire to become WWF Champion afterwards is a hint of which direction he was planning to head towards.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FOLLOWING PPV? READ OUR WWF ROYAL RUMBLE 1996 REVIEW!
WWF Championship Match
Bret Hart (C) vs. The British Bulldog
Between Diesel’s tweener run, the on-screen discussion of Shawn Michaels’ future (which would culminate in a grand return at Royal Rumble) and other developments, Bret Hart having a rematch of his SummerSlam 1992 classic against The British Bulldog to headline this PPV went under the radar a lot, and as noted earlier, Hart was nonplussed. He was confident that he and Davey Boy Smith could deliver another awesome match, but he felt that their history warranted more than just a passing mention. Therefore, not for the first time in his career (and not for the last time either), Hart would take it upon himself to get some colour a.k.a. blood during the bout, but to cut himself in such a way that it wasn’t immediately obvious that he had bladed, which along with him acting as if he really had been busted open for real backstage allowed him to sidestep any fines (blood was banned during this period in the WWF). Vince McMahon likely recognised that Bret really did gig himself, especially since Hart would have a few occasions of cutting either himself or his opponent, but out of respect, he chose to believe his World Champion (though Vince reacting like a headmaster saying “what’s this?” when the blood first appears during the match is humorous).
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FOLLOWING EDITION? READ OUR WWF IN YOUR HOUSE 6 REVIEW!
That was the key element to this match, but it cannot be denied that even without the bloodshed, this was still an outstanding match and a worthy sequel to their Wembley Stadium bout; to some people, this was actually the superior contest. Bulldog being a heel in contrast to him being the home country babyface in 1992 added a fresh element, and Davey Boy was in his prime at this point, while Bret was very much capable of putting on a terrific outing with almost anybody in the company. Back and forth they went with logical wrestling, proficient counters, strong psychologically, major moves and great near-falls. In the end, not unlike SummerSlam 1992, it was a simple yet clever roll-up that kept the WWF Title around Hart’s waist (I believe it was actually Chris Jericho that gave Hart this idea for the finish despite not working for the WWF at the time, based on an account in his first autobiography A Lion’s Tale), bringing a topsy-turvy year on PPV for the Federation to a close in a big way. Two side notes: Diana Hart-Smith made her first proper ringside appearance alongside Jim Cornette, who hilariously had a Santa-themed tennis racket, and Jerry Lawler insisted that Bulldog was wearing the same tights that he had worn at Wembley, when in reality they were similar but still different.
The night wasn’t quite over yet, though. Afterwards, a backstage announcement revealed that The Undertaker would face Bret for the WWF Title at Royal Rumble 1996, but this news did not please Diesel, whose newly-rediscovered arrogance led him to dispute the decision. Cue a confrontation between the two seven-footers, which marked stage one of what would be a pretty enjoyable showdown at WrestleMania XII.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FOLLOWING TV SHOWS? READ OUR POST-PPV REVIEWS OF RAW & SUPERSTARS!
WWF In Your House 5 could be described as a one-match show, and unquestionably there is only one choice for the best bout of the evening, but IYH 5 is actually a fun two hours of sports entertainment. The opener is decent, the second match is more of an angle than a proper contest, the Hog Pen bout is harmless, the fourth bout is also more of a segment than a competitive contest, and while the Casket match is poor, it has a crowd-pleasing outcome. But of course the main event is the main reason to revisit this card on the WWE Network, as Bret Hart and The British Bulldog deliver another phenomenal battle.
WANT TO RELIVE WWF IN YOUR HOUSE 5? WATCH IT RIGHT NOW ON WWE NETWORK!
