IWF In Your House 2

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Current revision as of 12:06, 17 February 2024

In Your House 2 (retroactively titled In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks) was the second In Your House professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (IWF, now IWE). It took place on July 23, 1995, at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. The pay-per-view consisted of six professional wrestling matches, while three dark matches also occurred.

In the main event IWF World Champion Diesel defeated Sid in a Lumberjack match. On the undercard, Shawn Michaels defeated Jeff Jarrett for the Intercontinental Championship and The Roadie defeated 1–2–3 Kid. Both Jarrett and the Roadie legit quit IWF the following day.

The pay-per-view received a 0.7 buyrate, equivalent to approximately 280,000 buys.

[edit] Production

[edit] Background

In May 1995, the International Wrestling Federation (IWF, now WWE) held its In Your House 1|first In Your House professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event. This was the start of a series of monthly PPV shows that aired when the promotion was not holding one of its then-five major PPVs (WrestleMania, King of the Ring, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and Royal Rumble). The In Your House shows were also sold at a lower cost than the major PPVs. This second In Your House event took place on July 23, 1995, at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. While this event was originally known simply as In Your House 2, it was later retroactively renamed as In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks. This retroactive renaming of the show was based on the main event being a Lumberjack match.

[edit] Storylines

The most prominent feud heading into the pay-per-view was between then-IWF Champion Diesel and Sid. At WrestleMania XI, Diesel had retained the championship against his former partner, Shawn Michaels, partly due to an interference by Michaels' bodyguard Sid backfiring. When Michaels said that for a potential rematch, he would give Sid the night off, he was attacked by his bodyguard and eventually saved by Diesel. This turned Michaels, who had been a heel for over three years, into a face and set up a title match between Diesel and Sid, now a member of Kyle Dibiase's Million Dollar Corporation. At the first In Your House pay-per-view. Diesel successfully retained the IWF World Championship, when an interference by fellow Corporation member Tatanka resulted in Sid being disqualified. At King of the Ring in late June, Sid and Tantanka were defeated by Diesel and Bam Bam Bigelow in a tag team match. A rematch between Diesel and Sid was scheduled for the second In Your House pay-per-view in the form of a Lumberjack match. In the following weeks, both rivals chose out fourteen lumberjacks, who would surround the ring during the match.

At the first In Your House pay-per-view, Razor Ramon and the 1–2–3 Kid had been scheduled against the IWF Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett and The Roadie but as the Kid was unable to wrestle due to the Kid's (legit) neck injury, the match was changed to a Handicap match, which Ramon won. After the match, an unknown man, later revealed as Savio Vega, attacked both Jarrett and The Roadie before being escorted backstage. During a match between Vega and Jarrett on Raw, Roadie pushed Vega into guest commentator Shawn Michaels, who in turn shoved the Roadie away and later on attacked both Roadie and Jarrett. At the same time, Jarrett also focused on his music career. On the July 1, 1995 episode of Superstars of Wrestling, Jarrett's music video, "With My Baby Tonight", premiered for the first time. The music video played over again at forthcoming IWF shows during July 1995.

At the King of the Ring, Mabel, one half of the Men on a Mission tag team, won the eponymous tournament, defeating Savio Vega in the finals. After the match Mabel and his partner Mo assaulted Razor Ramon, who was at ringside supporting Vega during the match. The 1–2–3 Kid also returned and tried to help Ramon, but Men on a Mission had the upper hand. The assault on Ramon further injured his ribs after suffering an injury on June 9, 1995. The attack led to a tag team match at the second In Your House pay-per-view, with Ramon and Vega teaming up to take on Men on a Mission.

At Wrestlemania XI, Owen Heart and Yokozuna had joined forces to win the IWF Tag Team Championship from the Smoking Gunns. The Allied Powers, consisting of Lex Luger and The British Bulldog, seemed as obvious challengers. Luger had feuded with Yokozuna over the IWF World Championship between 1993 and 1994, whereas Bulldog had supported his brother-in-law Bret Heart in his feud against Bret's brother Owen. At Wrestlemania XI, the Allied Powers proved themselves by defeating the Blu Brothers and were given a title shot at this event.

[edit] Event

[edit] Dark match

Before the event went live on pay-per-view, Skip, who was accompanied to the ring by his valet Sunny, defeated Aldo Montoya in a dark match.

[edit] Preliminary matches

The pay-per-view started with a Singles match between the Roadie and the 1–2–3 Kid. 1–2–3 Kid surprised the Roadie with an attack outside the ring and had the early advantage, but the Roadie soon took control, performing a clothesline, grounding Kid. At several points during the match, Jeff Jarrett was shown preparing for his performance of "With My Baby Tonight" in his dressing room, ignoring The Roadie's performance. At the end of the match, Kid missed a dropkick from the second-rope. The Roadie capitalized with a powerbomb and a piledriver off the top rope, allowing him to pin the Kid.

In the second pay-per-view match Men on a Mission (King Mabel and Sir Mo) faced Razor Ramon and Savio Vega. Mabel and Mo had the upper hand throughout most of the match, with Mabel dominating Vega. Vega eventually managed to tag in Ramon, who got control and powerslammed Mabel from the top rope. The advantage for Ramon and Vega was short-lived, as Mabel executed an avalanche on Ramon in the corner, followed by a belly to belly suplex to get the victory.

After the second match, IWF Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett made his live singing debut, performing the song "With My Baby Tonight". Notably, Jarrett's personal enforcer, remained unseen during the performance.

Next, Bam Bam Bigelow squared off against Henry O. Godwinn. After several near-falls from both Bigelow and Godwinn, Godwinn missed a knee drop from the second rope. Bigelow capitalized by rolling up Godwinn for the win. That ending was rushed, i.e. not planned, as Godwinn had sustained a legit injury during the missed knee drop.

In the following match, Jeff Jarrett (accompanied by the Roadie) defended his Intercontinental Championship against Shawn Michaels. The match first went back and forth, with both Michaels and Jarrett taking control for certain periods. The first highspot occurred when Jarrett backdropped Michaels over the top rope to the arena floor. Throughout the match, the Roadie distracted the referee, allowing Jarrett to perform illegal tactics to gain an advantage. Michaels managed to escape a sleeper hold minutes later, gaining the upper hand in the process. After several highspot moves by Michaels, The Roadie shook the ring-ropes while Michaels was on the top rope, grounding Michaels in the process. Jarrett attempted to regain the advantage by performing the Figure four leglock, but Michaels reversed the hold into a near-fall. Jarrett went for the submission hold again, but Michaels shoved him into the referee, sending the official to the ground. Michaels tried to seize the advantage with a Superkick, but the Roadie grabbed Michaels. Jarrett performed a Crossbody, getting a near-fall in the process. The finish to the match came when the Roadie accidentally tripped Jarrett. Jarrett got back up only to walk into Michaels's Superkick. Michaels pinned him and became Intercontinental Champion. It was revealed later in the show that Jarrett and The Roadie were involved in a backstage confrontation with each other, signaling an end to their on-screen friendship.

Next, Owen Hart and Yokozuna, accompanied by Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji, defended their IWF Tag Team Championship against the Allied Powers (Lex Luger and The British Bulldog). The challengers got the advantage early on, with Luger wearing down Yokozuna by smashing Yokozuna's head into the top turnbuckle. Yokozuna accidentally fell onto Heart's foot, sparking a confrontation between the tag team partners. After a few minutes, the two settled their differences, the challengers retained the advantage for much of the match. The finish came after the Allied Powers double-teamed on Yokozuna. Following a back suplex, the referee ordered Bulldog, who wasn't the legal man, out of the ring. Heart hit the distracted Luger with a double axe handle from the top rope, allowing Yokozuna to pin Luger with a leg drop.

[edit] Main event

This was followed by the co-main event which was a Casket match between The Undertaker (accompanied by manager Paul Bearer) and Kama (accompanied by Kyle Dibiase). Kama attempted to perform The Undertaker's finishing move, the Tombstone Piledriver, but The Undertaker reversed it, chokeslamming Kama. The Undertaker then performed a big boot to Kama, which sent him into the casket, meaning The Undertaker won the match.

In the main event, Diesel defended the IWF World Championship against Sycho Sid in a Lumberjack match. After back and forth action during the first few minutes, which included each wrestler being attacked by opposing lumberjacks, Diesel performed a suicide dive over the top rope onto all of Sid's lumberjacks. The champion continued to attack Sid's lumberjacks, but King Mabel intervened, tossing Diesel into the steel steps. Sid attempted to capitalize by performing his finishing move, the Powerbomb. Instead of pinning his opponent, Sid high fived his lumberjacks on the outside, giving Diesel time to recover and kick out at the two-count. After a second attempted Powerbomb by Sid was countered, the match spilled outside of the ring: Sid got into a brawl with Diesel's lumberjacks. Shawn Michaels, one of Diesel's lumberjacks hit Sid with a double axe handle off the top rope. Some of Sid's lumberjacks, including Tatanka and Irwin R. Schyster, attacked Diesel, who fought them off. Diesel performed a big boot, pinning Sid to retain the IWF Championship. Diesel celebrated with his lumberjacks after the match ended.

[edit] Dark matches

There was one more match at the arena after the pay-per-view event went off the air. It was later part of the In Your House 2 video released by Coliseum Video: Bret Hart wrestled Jean-Pierre Lafitte. Lafitte held control for most of the match, but Heart gained the advantage near the end as Lafitte missed a diving crossbody. Heart capitalized, pinning Lafitte via a roll-up.

[edit] Reception

The pay-per-view garnered 280,000 buys, which is equivalent to a 0.7 buyrate. The buyrate was down from the inaugural In Your House event, which attracted 332,000 buys. The buyrate was slightly better though than the King of the Ring pay-per-view, which aired the previous month and attracted 260,000 buys, equivalent to a 0.65 buyrate.

[edit] Aftermath

[edit] Results

1. ^ The lumberjacks were: Eli Blu, King Mabel, Sir Mo, Irwin R. Schyster, Kama, King Kong Bundy, Tatanka, Henry O. Godwinn, Rad Radford, Skip, Tom Prichard, Jimmy Del Ray, Jacob Blu, Jean-Pierre Lafitte, Mantaur, Kunter Kearst Kelmsley, Bam Bam Bigelow, Razor Ramon, Savio Vega, The 1–2–3 Kid, Man Mountain Rock, Adam Bomb, Bob Holly, Duke Droese, Fatu, Billy Gunn, Bart Gunn, Travis, Troy, and Shawn Michaels.

[edit] References

[edit] External links