WWF In Your House #8 - Beware Of Dog (May 1996 PPV)

Fun little story behind this one; while this PPV took place on Sunday night, there was a nasty storm that killed the power in the arena, which meant lots of problems in the arena (everyone wrestled in the dark) as well as out (some PPV feed issues.) So the WWF did something special for their Tuesday replay, in which they replay the two matches from the Sunday show, but they'd also air a new set of matches from the arena live.

In all honesty, I thought that was a pretty cool move. At any other time, they could've went with half a PPV showing and be done with it... but they offered a make-up show and earned a bit of good will. In any event, how was this Beware Of Dog show?

Let's find out.



Marc Mero defeated HHH in a pretty good match that saw Mero hurt his shoulder while ramming into the ringposts, which became the central focus of Hunter's attacks. Good opening contest.

The match between WWF Champion Shawn Michaels and British Bulldog ended in a double pin due to two refs counting the shoulders down of both men and as such, we have us a controversy... that would be resolved at the King of the Ring the following month. The story behind this match is HBK being the subject of a lawsuit due to alleged affairs with Bulldog's wife, Diana. Because sure, why not? Anyway, the match was pretty fun stuff until the stupid finish, but what are you gonna do?

Now comes the Tuesday showings, which were reshot in the same arena after a power loss in the Sunday show due to a storm around that area.

Savio Vega defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin in a strap match that saw Austin toss Vega into the final post to throw the match... though that last point isn't revealed until later. (In a strap match, whoever touches all four ringposts in sequence wins). As a result of his loss, Ted DiBiase (who was managing Austin) was forced to leave the WWF and end up in WCW for the rest of his days. A fitting punishment, I suppose. Anyway, hell of a strap match; very hard-hitting, very action-packed, and fun to watch. Honestly, Austin's feud with Vega doesn't get much attention these days because it's pre-Austin 3:16, but it's a generally fun series of matches. Even their Mania match was pretty good and I don't think I gave that enough credit when I did the ramblemania posts years ago.

Vader defeated Yokozuna in a battle of the hefty fellows... the less said about this one, the better. Both guys have seen much better days, especially Yoko, who'd be gone from WWF in a few scant months.

Intercontinental champion Goldust defeated the Undertaker in a casket match to retain the title. The finish came when Undertaker had the match won and was about to toss ol' Goldy into the casket, when this new fellow named Mankind emerged and paralyzed Taker with a claw-like maneuver that forced him into the casket. The match was a thing that happened and probably not the best way to end a PPV that was essentially a redo, but people seem to be terrified of this Mankind fellow with the ugly mask and brown pants. I'm sure Taker will dispose of him just fine... yep.

All in all, a surprisingly enjoyable little show with three good matches and one main event angle that builds towards the future. Not necessarily a memorable show, but not a bad way of killing two hours. If nothing else, do check out the Austin/Vega strap match; that's a fine match if ever there was one on this here show.