In Your House

[SuperBacon]

Just wanted a place to talk about them really. I've been watching the early ones (and combining them with a re-listen of the New Gen pod episodes) and they really are the easiest watch.

Sure, there is some absolute stinky stuff on the shows, and perhaps nostalgia plays a big part, but I really enjoy them, and this for the most part is new viewing for me (we didn't get cable until late 96 so I've only seen from Final Four ones onwards, and none of the early ones)

On each show you have at least banger as well. Bret vs Hakushi from the first one; Shawn vs Jarrett from the second and Bret vs Jean-Pierre Lafitte from the third are all fantastic, and there is some decent surrounding matches as well.

There is a bit too much Diesel on the shows (I really have never been a fan) and the Savio Vega debut is atrociously done but they're great watches on the whole and the perfect length (waheeeeeeeey) I love the set as well.

Absolute state of Shinja's face paint though. 

[TibBo]

I don't think we actually got them in the UK initially? I don't remember the first few being shown.

I vaguely remember them announcing Shawn + Diesel had beaten the Headshrinkers for the titles on a Raw, so it was some time after that they started showing them in the UK? 

[tiger_rick]

Love the topic.

I watched the first couple on YouTube after listening to Benno & Hamflett's pod. Can't find too many more without paying for Netflix but I've sen them all before.

I really like the concept. They were massively OTT into the gimmick, like everything WWF in the 90s, but the shorter shows monthly for a cheaper price was a sensible addition. 

I can't quite remember when I originally saw an In Your House show. 1995-96 WWF was very hard for me to get hold of - I didn't know many people who could tape it and I couldn't afford the home videos, if I ever saw them. I remember getting a lend of WM 11 and WM 12 but I don't think I saw much of anything else until very late into 1996 when I started to get a bit of disposable income and bought some second hand tapes. I reckon I played the video game on PlayStation before I'd ever seen an In Your House show.

There's generally a gem on every show - #4 is a major exception - but there's normally something terrible on each one too.

Bret & Davey from #5 is the best match from those early shows. Shawn & Jeff from #2 is great and Bret & Hakushi from #1 is a banger. I like Bret & the pirate at #3. The match at #3 for all the belts is a gimmick I liked too. They obviously shit all over it, but it's a fun idea from the era of 3 main titles.

#6 has Shawn and Owen and #7 has Shawn and Big Kev. Both ace. The strap match at the re-taping of #8 between Savio & Austin is cracking, though it's a disaster of an event. #9 is a bit shit and then #10 has the Shawn/Mankind match that's one of the best matches without a finish in the company history.

[wandshogun09]

1 hour ago, TibBo said:

I don't think we actually got them in the UK initially? I don't remember the first few being shown.

First one we got live on Sky Sports was ‘Revenge Of The Taker’ in April 97. Closest we got before that was some Boxing Day special hosted by Dok Hendrix which showed an edited version of the ‘It’s Time’ IYH from Dec 96, but it had Dok annoyingly popping up chatting shite spliced in between the matches. But yeah, the April 97 one (Bret vs Austin 3/Taker vs Mankind) was the first one we got properly and in all its glory.

I remember this was around that weird period where we weren’t getting the PPVs live for a few months and had to make do with them being shown on delay on the Wednesday or Thursday night or something. I know this effected Survivor Series 96 because I remember being pissed off they’d ruined the first big Bret vs Austin match with ad breaks which cut all the outside the ring violence out. Was ages before I got to see the unedited full version. Think Royal Rumble 97 was the same but could be wrong on that. I just remember watching Raw in the buildup to WrestleMania 13 and being chuffed when a promo for the show played and at the end it said ‘Live on Sky Sports at 3am’ or whatever. Finally no more of that tape delay bollocks and chopped up shows. 

But yeah, the early In Your Houses were a case of only ending up seeing them if my Dad picked up a VHS on his way home from work or something, or a mate would have one I hadn’t seen yet and would let me have it for a few days. For years I think the only ones I owned were 2, 6, 7 and 10 and I saw 1 and 5 thanks to said school mate. 

Edited July 4, 2025 by wandshogun09

[SuperBacon]

1 hour ago, TibBo said:

I don't think we actually got them in the UK initially? I don't remember the first few being shown.

 

58 minutes ago, tiger_rick said:

can't quite remember when I originally saw an In Your House show. 

I think the first one I saw live was IYH: Revenge of the Taker. I remember seeing the final four match, but reckon that was when they showed it on Raw, not live, but sure someone might know better, Lister maybe?

I'll definitely try and catch up with the Benno and Hamflett pod to keep in line with when I'm watching them.

[Chili]

Always forget how long they actually used the In Your House branding even after it became a subheading from Ground Zero onwards, it went all the way up to Backlash 1999.

[Weezenal]

Why was it called In Your House?

[mim731]

1 hour ago, tiger_rick said:

I like Bret & the pirate at #3.

Proper underrated gem that. Also the argument that Bret wasn't a good promo before the 97 heel stuff is absolutely put to bed with his promo just before he walks out. It's very mid 90s, but like everything in this period Bret nails it. 

[Merzbow]

It makes little sense when you think about it, aren't all PPV's and TV shows watchable at home...?

It's a goofy concept that worked surprisingly well, the idea of a shorter, cheaper PPV to combat WCW run of new shows was pretty solid though. Numbers wise they did better than expected at first, didn't they?

I didn't catch many of the earlier ones as we'd pretty much stopped watching much wrestling in my house as the New Generation went on, even though both me and my parents were really into it through the 80's and early 90's. It wouldn't have been until my later teenage years where I grabbed every second-hand wrestling VHS I could find that I saw much of that era and honestly I really enjoyed it.

[wandshogun09]

I always assumed the In Your House name was a little hilarious in-joke that they were basically airing tarted up house shows on PPV. 

[Chili]

I forgot those very early IYH events had those silly custom songs for the intros.

 

 

Edited July 4, 2025 by Chili

[The Gaffer]

The branding was pretty concurrent with the New Gen sell as a whole. Paying X amount of dollars and you and the family can gather around and watch these assorted freaks spill from the TV and into your living room. 

[SuperBacon]

The first one they actually gave away a house, which was great. 

[Merzbow]

3 minutes ago, Chili said:

I forgot those very early IYH events had those silly custom songs for the intros.

 

 

That one slaps, as the kids say.

I've posted about it before but Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! is a really great podcast about these days.

[Supremo]

Yes! Great topic. Love these shows.

I started watching pro-wrestling after catching Royal Rumble 1996 on TV, so my childhood consisted of watching the Big Four on Sky, and then waiting to buy the In Your House events on VHS to fill in the gaps months later.

My auntie was working at WH Smith’s at the time, so that was a complete game changer. Getting all the new releases on the cheap, as soon as they arrived at the store. Randomly coming home from school to discover, “Good Friends Better Enemies,” on the kitchen table was as good as life got.

I bought all of them on Silver Vision video from #6 until Final Four, after which they’d air on Sky live and I’d spend far too much money buying blank VHS tapes from Poundland, maximising the space on them with Long Play. My carbon footprint during that time must have been through the roof.

Despite them not airing in the UK until, “Revenge of the Taker, in April 1997, we had a mate who lied that he ordered, “International Incident,” on Sky in the Summer of 96 and watched it live. With no way to prove otherwise, we had to just accept his bullshit. This is the same lad who said he flew to America to watch the rehearsal of Summerslam 1997, then annoyingly guessed the majority of the results correctly, thus, “proving,” he was telling the truth. It was a much easier time to be a Billy Bullshitter.

Before we could watch them, I remember the tiny clips or images we’d see on Raw always felt wild and exciting. I vividly remember them showing an image of, “Mind Games,” with Shawn hitting the flying Sweet Chin Music into the chair Mankind was holding. I didn’t even know what a Van Daminator was at that point. It blew my mind. I feel like half the magic is lost nowadays, when everything is so easily accessible.

I only realised when I started listening to the Benno & Hamflett podcast that I’d never seen the first five shows, even when they became available on the Network and then Netflix, so I’ve started watching from the start alongside listening to the podcast. I’ve raced ahead now and am still watching through them all again. I’m up to, “Final Four,” when I’m next in work and need some background viewing.

Some quick thoughts from these early shows.

- I don’t think there’s any wrestler whose work ages better than Bret Hart. Man is an actual artist. The time and effort he clearly put into putting these matches together, it’s amazing he still had so much time to be such a Shagger.

- In a business filled with nutters and weirdoes, mid-90s HBK might still be the most fascinating wrestler of all time. A man almost too talented for his own good. It’s as if there’s a direct correlation between how good and gifted he is and how angry and pissed off he is with everyone and everything around him. Tantrums aplenty. Man must have been a fucking nightmare to work with. You’d simultaneously have the best match and worst working experience of your career.

- Double J vs. HBK is amazing. Ridiculous this is the same lad who was having rippers with Bryan Danielson last year.

- This is the greatest Dropkick I’ve ever seen.

- Interesting to watch Diesel becoming the blueprint for lame Game Show Host babyfaces that Vince continued to drop the ball with in the decades that followed. Cool as fuck heel becoming a complete whopper once they turn babyface. Corny smile. “Loving to have fun.” Who do we think was the last of that kind before Vince fucked off? Drew McIntyre?

- As touched upon by Benno and Hamflett, Ahmed Johnson rules. Just a wild nutcase you can’t take your eyes off. Had he not been so injury-prone and had they given him some type of Goldberg-style Streak, he’d have been the next big thing. They could have wished The Ringmaster and Rocky Maivia the best in their future endeavours. Not needed. War won.

Edited July 4, 2025 by Supremo