WWF In Your House #9: International Incident (July 1996)

(If you don't mind something old and re-purposed, here's something that was posted in 2015 and reposted in 2020. That way, we can continue the string of IYH PPV musings uninterrupted!)

It's another in a long line of two-hour throwaway In Your House PPVs that nobody in their right mind should care about, except this time it's in CANADA. This is one month after King Of The Ring, where Austin 3:16 was born, Mankind drew first blood (not literally) against the Undertaker, and Ahmed Johnson won the IC title... oh and Shawn Michaels was there too, for some reason.


The Bodydonnas defeated WWF Tag-Team Champions The Smoking Gunns in a non-title match... because poor Dr. Tom doesn't deserve a tag title or something (even though he's a former tag champ or something). Thankfully, the Bodydonnas left manager Cloudy at home and if you don't know Cloudy, consider yourself fortunate. Sunny looks kinda hot here, a far cry from today... this makes me feel sad.

Mankind beat Henry O. Godwinn in a short squashy match. Nothing to brag about, but nothing terrible, either. This was a thing that was there. The portrayal of the early Mankind character intrigues me more than anything, because it's a far cry from the version that would stuff a dirty socky down people's mouths. If anything, I would've liked to have seen this version make a comeback along the way... and in case he's watching this... please don't get any ideas, Mick.

Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Marc Mero in a rematch from King of the Ring. I liked their KOTR match a little better, but this was alright too. You could definitely tell Austin's on a roll with the loud cheers for every little thing he does, but it wouldn't be long before it would catch on in a way nobody could have foreseen.

Undertaker defeated Goldust via DQ when Mankind pulled him under the ring through a hole... and then Undertaker emerges on the other side and gets his revenge or something... Man, what a waste of Undertaker. It'd be like wasting Brock Lesnar on Kofi Kingston... oh wait.

Owen Hart, British Bulldog, and Vader defeated WWF Champion Shawn Michaels, Intercontinental Champion Ahmed Johnson and Ruler Of The World Sycho Sid when Vader pinned Shawn, which would lead to Shawn vs. Vader at the following month's Summerslam, which is a supposed clusterfuck. This six-man, on the other hand, is anything but. This was relatively good, entertaining stuff and, in all honesty, the only real highpoint on this card for me.

So... this show was a thing that happened. The six-man tag was awesome stuff that I'm not quite sure if it's on any DVD compilation (it should be), but the rest of it... take it or leave it. I'd much rather leave it. The only other notable match on here has been done better the previous month, so... meh.