WWF In Your House 6: Rage In The Cage Review

Shawn Michaels faced Owen Hart in a match with his Wrestlemania spot on the line

Listen to our February 1996 podcast, reviewing In Your House 6.

Subscribe to the podcast via: iTunes | RSS Feed | Email Newsletter
​

A show that owed more to a stable of pre-existing storylines than much that was allowed to develop in the few short weeks between the end of the Royal Rumble and the event, In Your House 6 could still attest to having some good stories going into it.

The staggered merry-go-round for the WWF Title that started in December was still in full swing. On that show, The British Bulldog received his title rematch that he was owed from October, January saw Undertaker receive a title match that he had been owed forever and this month saw Diesel receive the title rematch he had been owed since November.

Elsewhere, Shawn Michaels promised revenge over the man who was taking credit for his spell on the sidelines (Owen Hart) and he had even put up is Wrestlemania title shot on the line to make it happen. Razor Ramon and The 123 Kid would partake in the feud that would never end, and Hunter Hearst Helmsley would look to avenge his loss in the Royal Rumble pre-show against Duke “The Dumpster” Droese. The only story that had really developed since the Rumble was the babyface turn of Yokozuna, who would be taking on Bulldog here.
 
Razor Ramon vs The 123 Kid (w/ Ted DiBiase) in a cry-baby match
The stip, born off some crowbarred references on TV’s prior, would see that the loser have to be put in a diaper and forced to suck a big babies bottle (remember, this is a match bookended by Sunny in a bikini and Goldust feeling up an America Online worker). The match was OK, save a protracted sleeper hold that provided an unsatisfying meat in the sandwich. The action otherwise was very good, Razor polishes the Kid off with two Razor’s Edges, before putting Kid in the diaper. Razor’s blasé look towards the crowd summed it up.
 
Hunter Hearst Helmsley (w/ Elizabeth Hilton) vs Duke “The Dumpster” Droese
Dull match, flat crowd. We’re in the situation where if you read the newsletters you know people are high on Triple H, yet there’s not a great deal of evidence of it on TV yet. Sure, he on pay per view (which says something) but that’s twice in two months he’s not beaten Droese cleanly. The one at the Rumble match sense, the one here (with the ref missing the trash can hit despite it making the sound of a small rifle) wasn’t what anyone needed. Dull match, flat crowd.
 
The British Bulldog (w/ Jim Cornette) vs Yokozuna
So we got to hear a full Yokozuna promo in the build-up. He’s good, no doubt, but even as a face you’d be better off leaving the mystique as an ass kicker face rather than having him talk. The match, while not awful, was exactly what you’d expect – this was not a pairing designed for a great match (not that many involving Yokozuna were these days). That being said, the ending with Cornette just hitting Yokozuna with his tennis racket was really bad. The post match beatdown involving Vader was quite well executed, but the fans weren’t massively keen to cheer the newly turned Yokozuna.
 
Owen Hart (w/ Jim Cornette) vs Shawn Michaels
If there was one thing that you could say about the In Your House shows from last year, most of the time even if the rest of the show was flat you’d get a really good match from either Shawn Michaels or Bret Hart. This did not disappoint. Lots of posturing, but all of it entertaining, the match built very nicely with both men trying to outdo each other. If you could be critical, redoing the Shawn “collapse” enziguri was a nice idea, but not when Shawn stopped selling it two minutes later.  Some lovely big spots later, Shawn wins with an incredibly satisfying second sweet chin music after Owen had ducked the first one.
 
Filling Time While They Built The Cage
The last time this happened (at Summerslam 1994) we got a long and listless delay. Fortunately, they had a better plan this time. We got a stellar interview with Roddy Piper on the interview stage in front of the fans, previewing some of the big matches at Wrestlemania, before announcing that Vader would face Yokozuna on the show. That bought out Jim Cornette (and the ever excellent Clarence Mason) to protest the case. The Cornette/Piper showdown was very good.
 
Diesel vs Bret Hart for the WWF Championship inside a steel cage
Boy did this not work. Dead silent crowd, in a match where there were only escape the cage rules left to 16 minutes of anti-climactic nothingness. Both guys tried hard, but whoever finally decided to make WWE cage matches include pin and submission could’ve helped here. The usual escape the cage fare, Bret works Diesel’s leg a bit (which doesn’t seem to hamper his climbing ability a lot). In the end, Bret wins after Undertaker tears through the apron and pulls Diesel into the abyss. Nice ending, if nothing else.
 
Score Rating: 5.5/10
Go Back and Watch: Shawn vs Owen, the Piper/Cornette segment. The rest isn’t worth your time.