WWF In Your House 15: A Cold Day in Hell
Sunday, May 11, 1997
Richmond Coliseum – Richmond, Virginia

Announcers: Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler”

Free For All (Pre-PPV):

“The Real Double J” Jesse Jammes
-VS-
Rockabilly (w/ The Honky Tonk Man)

Result/Analysis: Rockabilly via pinfall (3:12) following a DDT, which countered an attempted back splash by Jammes. Before they would become The New Age Outlaws in October 1997, Jesse James (his last name spelling was Jammes here) and Billy Gunn were both saddled in going nowhere gimmicks. James’ “The Real Double J” gimmick at least made some sense as it was he, then, as The Roadie, to “Double J” Jeff Jarrett, that had truthfully sang “With My Baby Tonight,” you know, the hit single which Jarrett had tried to pull off as his own by lip-syncing. Gunn, meanwhile, became the hand-picked protégé of The Honky Tonk Man, though only after James had turned down the gig offered first to him by Honky a month or so earlier. Thus, a feud was born with an attack on James by Rockabilly two weeks beforehand on Monday Night Raw. Honky was such an out of place figure in the WWF by 1997 and nearly three decades later looking back on it now it was definitely a reach to loop him into any storyline as a 1980’s hasbeen. As for the match, there isn’t much to analzye really over three plus minutes especially since JR and King set up the PPV on commentary that was mere minutes away. Thankfully, the match being on the Free For All meant no one had to pay money to watch as neither guy generated any crowd reaction. Gunn, as Rockabilly, was the guy being pushed so he goes over. There would be several additional matches between James and Rockabilly so a one-off this was not. They tried but …

Rating: 3/4*

During the match, Todd Pettengill had a spot backstage where he informed the audience that Ken Shamrock had been checked out by doctors and cleared to compete later on during the PPV versus Vader. Shamrock had been previously attacked by Mankind and Vader earlier on the Free For All.

Meanwhile, Bret “The Hitman” Hart along with the other members of The Hart Foundation, including would be groupie Brian Pillman, are interviewed whereby Bret confirms their collective presence at the Richmond Coliseum for the event. Bret holds up five scalped tickets saying they trust no one in the WWF from top-to-bottom and therefore, have to take matters into their own hands. JR tries to gauge from Bret when they will all show up tonight but Bret offers up nothing in response only saying, “you’ll know when you know.”

Onto the PPV broadcast now …

JR and King come on the air and immediately discuss the Main Event WWF Championship match between The Undertaker (the champion) and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin (the challenger). They also mention Ahmed Johnson having to face three members of The Nation of Domination in succession, whereby, should he be successful in defeating each, The Nation has promised they’ll disband. King, meanwhile, talks down at the in ring debut of Ken Shamrock, who will square off with Vader. And now, the opening contest for A Cold Day in Hell …

Flash Funk -VS- Hunter Hearst Helmsley (w/ Chyna)

Result/Analysis: Helmsley via pinfall (10:05) following the pedigree. It twas early on in HHH’s ascension, hell, he hadn’t yet won the KOR and that would come a month later, but with the addition to Chyna, the audience began to pay more mind to Helmsley even in a curtain jerker match versus Flash Funk. The Funkettes are conspiciously no shows alongside of Funk as JR and King allude to Chyna being the reason behind that. Those girls couldn’t dance anyway LOL. Funk hits a flurry of offense early on and he’s on point in his execution. Scorpio must have let his drug habit slip at this point? Helmsley, meanwhile, only garners control atter Chyna interferes, which happens a few times over. HHH, in still his Greenwich, Connecticut aristocrat gimmick, had far from established his moveset save for various uses of the high knee ala the legendary Harley Race. JR puts over Helmsley’s training from Killer Kowalski, too, as was customary for him to do on commentary in these days. Funk is noted to need to win this match by JR as he’s got six mouths to feed at home. Really now? It’s a surprisingly competetive match given Helmsley’s status in the WWF compared to Funk’s and with zero backstory as to their pairing against each other, the audience is mostly tempered throughout save for Chyna’s interfering. JR and King get off on little tangents as they discuss Frank Gifford’s possible affair and how Helmeley had consoled Kathie Lee, also, the rumored split of Marla Maples and unbeknownst to them future President of The United States Donald Trump. The camera crew also shows the five empty ringside seats that apparently belong to The Hart Foundation for later tonight, presumably for the Main Event WWF Championship match between The Undertaker and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Meanwhile, the match continues with Funk on a heater until Helmsley prevents the 450 splash by tossing Funk off the top rope before finishing Funk off with the pedigree. I thought I’d be bored with this bout but I surprisingly was not. Chyna, the man beast she initially was, added so much to HHH. He really benefitted. After the bell, whilst Helmsley celebrates to no crowd reaction whatsoever, Chyna lifts Funk up upon her shoulders, carries him (245 pounds JR says) to the ropes and crotches him for dramatic effect. JR refers to the masculine Chyna as a Cyborg female.

Rating: **1/2

JR kicks to video highlights of Ken Shamrock’s ultimate fighting (UFC) days prior to an interview with him courtesy of the video wall. Shamrock is asked how he’ll compensate for Vader tonight, a man outweighs him by nearly 200 pounds and if he’s feeling any adverse effects from the attack on him by Mankind and Vader earlier tonight. Shamrock, ever intense, says he’s focused and in his zone. Alright tough guy. King responds to this by predicting Shamrock will be entering a zone tonight when he opposes Vader but it will be the “Twilight Zone.” HaHa.

Mankind is introduced with JR and King recapping his recent IYH match versus The Undertaker (yours truly attended “Revenge of The Taker” in April 1997) with the focus more upon Paul Bearer being taken out of action after having his face lit on fire by The Undertaker during that IYH WWF Title defense. Backstage, Pettengill is standing by with Rocky Maivia as he recaps Rocky’s WWF career thus far, one with incredible highs from his debut at Survivor Series in Madison Square Garden to then winning the Intercontinental Championship, to an incredible low, his recent loss of the belt to Owen Hart. Pettengill asks Rocky about these highs and lows with Rocky saying he’s learned a lot. He exits the pre-match interview saying it’s not about his destiny but about his determination. Yeah, not so electrifying just yet there Rocky.

Mankind -VS- Rocky Maivia

Result/Analysis: Mankind via submission (8:08) with the mandible claw. Given what would become of thse two within under two years – – – being Main Event players – – – watching this IYH match, non descript with no backing to it, feels surreal. Rocky, in particular, elicits zero crowd reaction, which was a harbinger for his soon heel turn. JR calls Maivia The Rock during the match which was either a Freudian slip of his tongue or just him trying to make Rocky sound more legit. We see teases in the match of future mannerisms of “The Rock” so Maivia was developing in some areas while still looking green as a wrestler quite a lot. JR also couldn’t help himself with Mankind referencing his previous history of matches where he put his body through hell. While every serious wrestling fan knew that Mankind had been Cactus Jack in both ECW and WCW, the WWF had yet to explore Mick Foley, even that, as such, so Ross just couldn’t help himself with storytelling time. At least Mankind, though, had been deemed a player by WWF fans seeing how he’d been feuding on and off with The Undertaker for over one year. Rocky busts out a Rock Bottom on Mankind outside the ring in this match, though the move isn’t named as such. Mankind takes the move landing on the steel grading of the entrance ramp. Ouch! The finish results off a flying cross body press by Maivia where Mankind reverses that into the mandible claw. The fans in the front row cheer with exuberance for this occuring and keep in mind Mankind is the heel! Vince McMahon take notice … Rocky Maivia as a babyface, the son of Rocky Johnson and the grandson of The High Chief Peter Maivia is NOT getting over! No worries as Vince surely did.

Rating: **1/2

JR and King rewind to last Monday on Raw is War as Crush of The Nation of Domination was put into his own gauntlet match against three hand-picked opponents by Faarooq. Crush easily defeated the first two men, both of which were jobbers, but then, his third opponent was a disguised Ahmed Johnson, who had replaced the would be man. Ahmed stunned Crush with a pearl river plunge and pinned him. That further sets up tonight’s gauntlet match that’s next up at IYH with Ahmed squaring off with three members from The Nation of Domination.

The NOD is introduced first. Meanwhile, Ahmed is backstage standing by with Pettengill for a pre-match interview. Ahmed knows that he’s accepted a no-win situation tonight but his message is for Faarooq. Ahmed wants Faarooq in the ring first as they’re the ones with the beef with each other. He adds that since Faarooq is bringing with him the other two goons (Crush and Savio Vega) then he’ll just deal with them, too.

Three-on-One Gauntlet Match:
* If Ahmed Johnson defeats all three members of The Nation of Domination in succession, The NOD will disband *

The Nation of Domination [Crush, Savio Vega & Faarooq] (w/ Clarence Mason) -VS- Ahmed Johnson

Result(s)/Analysis: Johnson def. Crush via pinfall (5:32) following a reverse heel kick. * Johnson def. Savio Vega via DQ (5:58) * Faarooq def. Johnson via pinfall following the dominator (2:02) * Ahmed predictably reached the third match, and it was predictably versus Faarooq. That’s where the buck stopped. The NOD had only recently formed as a faction earlier in 1997 so in no way was the WWF disbanding the stable so soon. The gauntlet match in my opinion wasn’t more interesting than a straight up one-on-one match between Ahmed and Faarooq would have been but storyline overkill won out. Crush was blown up as a wrestler at this point. Vega was a better babyface rather than a groupie heel doing the bidding of someone else. And Faarooq was the figurehead to a movement more than someone to push on his own into upper card matches. Ahmed, at 305 pounds per JR, would get so gassed beyond five minutes that you’re left questioning what it is the powers that be see in the guy as far as potential. I gave each match a very generous * rating but what a boring 15 minutes all inclusive here with zero pay-off.

Rating: *

JR again kicks the PPV audience back to Raw is War from this past Monday. Vader defeated Goldust with his IYH opponent Ken Shamrock a guest on commentary. Following the match, Vader successfully goaded Shamrock into the ring with him after spitting in his direction. The two men brawled as a result to further set up their PPV showdown.

Back live at the arena, Vader is standing by with Pettengill for a pre-match interview. We first see the attack on Shamrock by Mankind and Vader that happened earlier on the Free For All. Vader’s response to the attack is that he was just playing with the boy, i.e., the so-called most dangerous man. In a promise to Shamrock, Vader says he’ll inflict a new kind of pain in their match before reminding everyone that it’s time, it’s “Vader Time!”

No Holds Barred Match:
* victory can only be achieved via knockout or submission*
Vader -VS- Ken Shamrock

Result/Analysis: Shamrock via submission (13:22) with the ankle-lock. The result was in no way a surprise or in doubt. What required evaluation was Shamrock’s performance inside the squared circle since this match was his in ring WWF debut. While not the octagon confinement of a UFC ring, Shamrock adapted his submission style quite well. Vader would often break away by rolling outside the ring which only frustrated Shamrock as he wasn’t use to an opponent being able to flee away from him. The analysis of this being a stiffly worked match is also spot on as both guys lay into each other. That element gets big applause and played into what Shamrock was billed to be. Vader sure had no issue working stiff with anyone so he’d much rather bring forth a sense of realism. The highlight of the match comes as Vader suplexes Shamrock out onto the floor which had to hurt. Shamrock takes Vader’s corner splash like a champ, too, which looked better on him than the typical Vader opponent. Later, when Vader attempts the moonsault, Shamrock barely gets out of the way as Vader lands, nearly taking all of Vader on his head as he rolls away. Not only were the punches stiff, so too were the knee shots. Shamrock received the loudest fan reaction of the night both on his intro and moreso in victory. Given he was a new breed of cat and that’s what drew a positive crowd reaction, the dynamic of what a babyface needed to be was shifting. But, we only need to look at the fans reaction for “Stone Cold” Steve Austin to already know that. Vader helped to elevate Shamrock here but Shamrock’s debut WWF match is a rousing success given all the hype.

Rating: ***

The cameras pan to the five empty ringside seats which JR points out yet again belong to The Hart Foundation. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, asked by Pettengill about The Hart Foundation in his pre-match interview, says, he’ll send all five of them straight back to Calgary in bunch of wheelchairs after he’s finished whipping The Undertaker’s ass. As for The Undertaker tonight, Austin adds that he’ll be damned if hell isn’t about to freeze over. “Stone Cold” walks off with Pettengill showing the PPV audience Austin previously delivering the “Stone Cold” stunner to The Undertaker two weeks ago on Raw is War. Even still, ‘Taker recovered from that to chokeslam Austin to conclude the segment.

WWF Championship:
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin -VS- The Undertaker

Result/Analysis: The Undertaker via pinfall (20:07) following the tombstone piledriver, a reversal of Austin’s reversal of the same move. The Hart Foundation sat at ringside and watched. Brian Pillman, Owen Hart and The British Bulldog do take on some punishment in the early stages as Austin and The Undertaker each take pot shots on them. Bret watches the match unfold from his wheelchair while seated next to Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart. Austin begins the match by jumping The Undertaker before the bell sounds and stomps on him in the corner. Taker still has his jacket and the title belt strapped around his waist during this. Taker fights back, sending Austin outside the ring, and throws Austin into the ring steps before he tosses Owen back over the side barrier and into his seat. Austin can’t gain the upper hand once theor both back inside the ring as ‘Taker hits a leaping clothesline and the old school clothesline, both which result in two counts. Austin rakes ‘Taker in the eyes to gain control then works a side headlock for a while. That gets boring so he switches strategy to neutralize ‘Taker’s height advantage by working on his left knee. That goes on for a few minutes before ‘Taker uses his good leg to boot Austin over the top rope and onto the floor. Austin eats the ring steps for a second time after that. Back inside the ring, ‘Taker goes to work on Austin’s knee, the one in the large knee brace, of course. These guys have the same playbook tonight as Lawler points out on commentary. ‘Taker works a half Boston crab as JR wonders if he can make Austin submit unlike Bret Hart was able to do at WrestleMania 13. Business eventually picks up as portions of the crowd get restless with the slower pace with Austin suplexing ‘Taker for two then later a jawbreaker, really a modified stunner, for two. In no way can you sense a title change despite the crowd pulling and favoring Austin big time. Austin flips off ‘Taker to the crowd’s delight but that expression nets him a punch in the balls by The Phenom. ‘Taker hits a chokeslam but Austin rolls himself the ropes then he snaps ‘Taker’s neck down into the ropes. Austin hits the stunner and goes for the pin! But wait, the bell sounds. WTF! Pillman rang it oh jeez. Referee Earl Hebner waves that off and the match continues. That “interference” is enough for ‘Taker to sit up, get Austin up for the tombstone piledriver, and the reversal/reversal sequence follows before it’s Austin’s head that eats the canvas with The Deadman retaining the WWF Title. The Hart Foundation, except for Bret, immediately hop the railing and enter the ring. ‘Taker gets pounded on in the corner. Austin, meanwhile, rolls outside the ring and he’s alone with Bret. Uh oh. Austin grabs a crutch from Bret and turns him over in the wheelchair. Ouch! Austin re-enters the ring swinging the crutch and hits everyone in sight! ‘Taker chokeslams Owen and is announced the winner as his music hits. He turns around into a stunner from Austin though giving “Stone Cold” his heat back. Bret is able to maneveur his way backstage with his Hart Foundation cohorts as Austin chases them as the PPV ends. The outcome was predictable as was the Hart’s involvement. This may have been the only “wrestling” match that Austin and ‘Taker ever had. Any other time beyond this was your classic “Attitude Era” brawl. Those matches would carry more acclaim. Still, given the obvious booking here, this match rates out well enough.

Rating: ***1/4

The Verdict: The “Attitude Era” wasn’t quite yet a thing in terms of the in-ring product. The company was leaning into the transition to that though. Austin versus The Undertaker here, in 1997, would look a lot different by August 1998 at the conclusion of their “Highway to Hell.” Bret Hart remained a focal point in main event storylines even at a time when he wasn’t physically able to wrestle. Future main event talent, namely HHH, Mankind and “The Rock,” were mid-card talent. Ken Shamrock, meanwhile, the new kid on the block, was getting the big push. Go figure. Austin, post-WrestleMania 13, let alone the crowd reactions he was getting, had landed at the top of the card. No one knew just yet how massive a star he’d become. If they say otherwise they’re lying to you. For an IYH, this was a solid enough card. The Nation versus Ahmed gauntlet match was lousy, as expected, really, but all else was above-average. My takeaway was how “The Rock,” before he became The Rock as a heel by joining The NOD, was definitively a total flop as a babyface. Bret would be back on his feet soon enough to allow The Hart Foundation to dominate the main event storylines thru the summer months and into the fall until Survivor Series, and then …