Dark Pegasus Video Review: In Your House 11 – Buried Alive

IYH 11: Buried Alive by J.D. Dunn October 20, 1996 Live from Indianapolis, Ind. Your hosts are Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler and Bizarro Jim Ross. Opening Match: Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Steve Austin. This was supposed to be Austin polishing off Savio Vega in anticipation of facing Bret Hart. Instead, Vega got injured, so Helmsley is a last-second substitute. Yes, there was a time when someone had to get injured in order for Helmsley to get a shot on PPV. Long stalling session as HHH jaws with some fans at ringside. Btw, in one of those little Russo worked/shoot ideas, Ross starts going off on shoot rants only to have his microphone cut out. HHH slaps Austin in the face, so Austin slaps him back, knocking him to the floor. Hey, wait a minute! What’s Austin doing? He’s using holds and stuff. I’m a-scared. Hold me! Hunter goes to the eyes but charges into a boot. Helmsley misses an elbow but gets a knee to the gut on the other side. Austin fires away with rights. That’s more like it! HHH catches him with a backdrop, though, and suplexes him. Hunter settles things down as Ross continues to bitch about his microphone and how the WWF is bush league. They busts out the sleeper reversal spot, and Austin gets a jawbreaker for two. A Stun Gun and a second-rope elbow get two. Lawler starts to goad Ross by asking him if it makes him mad when Vince says, “He got ‘im! No. No, he didn’t.” Mr. Perfect walks out to a big pop and steals Hunter’s valet. Austin picks a fight with Perfect just because he’s Austin. Hunter uses that distraction to jump Austin from behind, but he decides to chase after Perfect instead of hitting the Pedigree. Austin gives chase and slingshots Hunter into the post. Back in, Hunter avoids a charge but gets cocky and plays to the crowd, so Austin stalks him and gives him a Stunner for the win at 15:30. The crowd loved every minute of Austin, leading to his face turn several months later. The Ross/Vince storyline overwhelms the match for the TV audience, though. Nothing would ever come out of the Perfect interference because he would jump to WCW later in the year. **3/4 WWF Tag Titles: Owen Hart & The British Bulldog (w/Clarence Mason) vs. The Smoking Gunns. The Gunns are Billy (Kip James) and Bart (Mike Barton). Sunny left the Godwinns for the Smoking Gunns when the Gunns won the tag titles, then dumped the Gunns when the lost to Owen and Bulldog. Billy, who was PG-13 poking her, got upset and started a heel turn, putting a strain on the team. Billy grabs a headlock and outheels Owen. Owen & DBS doubleteam Billy and make a wish. Talk turns to Sunny, prompting Ross to bust out his “She’s like Will Rogers. She never met a man she didn’t like” line. Vince, seemingly in all sincerity, says, “Will Rogers is no longer with us” as if he’d be offended. Bart misses a flying crossbody and gets caught in the wrong corner. Billy starts playing to the crowd, and Bart runs into him off a whip, causing more tension. The Gunns isolate Owen, and Billy hits a springboard Stinger Splash. Davey Boy breaks up the Sidewinder (Demolition Decapitation with a Legdrop), and Owen finishes Billy with a spinning wheel kick at 9:15. This was another odd case, like the opener, of virtually everyone in the match being a heel except Bart, who gets booed for being a dunce. ** Finally, Jim Ross has enough and gets in the ring to promise that Bret Hart is coming back and JR’s responsible, not McMahon. He calls Vince an egotistical maniac who talks out of both sides of his mouth. AND THAT’S A SHOOT! JR storms off. Earlier tonight, Faarooq had words for Ahmed Johnson, but Ahmed had wood for Faarooq…in the form of a 2×4. The end result is Faarooq is injured and can’t wrestle Marc Mero tonight. Former IC Champ Goldust gets the call to replace him. Intercontinental Title: Marc Mero (w/Sable) vs. Goldust (w/Marlena). Mr. Perfect replaces Ross on commentary to serve basically the same purpose of keeping Vince in line and playing heel. Goldust tries his mind games early, but Mero is a no-nonsense guy at this point, so he works the arm. Goldust makes the mistake of spitting on Mero, which only serves to piss Mero off. Mero takes him down and pummels him. A headscissors sends Goldie to the outside, and Mero hits a somersault plancha. Back in, Mero gets two and climbs the corner for the 10-count punches. Goldust counters to a powerbomb and takes it to the floor. Back in, Goldie slows things way down with a series of chinlocks. Mero punches his way back and hits a bodypress for two. Goldust nails him with a clothesline to cut off the comeback and gets on the mic to threaten to kiss everyone in the audience if they don’t shut up. Okay. Mero comes back with a doublejump moonsault bodyblock, but Goldust throws him to the floor. Mr. Perfect leaves the announce position, so Hunter Hearst Helmsley comes out to argue with him for a bit. Goldust tries to interfere and takes a shot from Perfect. Back in, Mero hits a Samoan Drop that sets up the Wild Thing (Shooting Star Press) at 11:37. Mero looked great here, but injuries would derail his career shortly after this (despite what Mick Foley might tell you). **3/4 #1 Contender’s Match: Sycho Sid vs. Vader (w/Jim Cornette). Winner gets Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series. In 1996, I would have been extra stoked for this match (had I really paid attention to the WWF at that point). And guess what, in 2006, I’m really stoked to see this match! HBK comes down and joins the commentary crew, and Vader nearly goes after him but runs into Sid. Vader hits an avalanche in the corner. Sid rolls to the outside where Cornette gets a racket shot. They slug it out with Sid on the apron, and he gets a sunset flip! Vader squashes him and lays in the short clotheslines. Shawn goes tweener on commentary as Sid blocks a Vader charge and comes off the turnbuckle with a crossbody. Vader catches him with a front slam and splashes him for two. He goes up to the second rope and gets the big version, but he picks Sid up at two. If ever there was a bad idea, it was “Basic Instinct 2,” but if there was a second place finish, it would be picking up a man named Sycho Sid. Sid avoids the pump splash and crotches Cornette as he tries to interfere. He stops to go for the powerbomb, but Vader goes low and tries his own. Sid blocks the powerbomb and finishes with a chokeslam moments later at 8:01. Shawn does not look happy. Surprisingly, this did not suck. **1/2 In the back, Jim Ross presses Sid on what he will do to Shawn to win the WWF Title. Sid promises to break Shawn in half in order to…something something his destiny. Sid wasn’t one for fancy promos. Buried Alive Match: Mankind (w/Paul Bearer) vs. The Undertaker. They slug it out right away. Taker wins that battle and kicks Mick headfirst to the railing. He rockets himself off the top and takes Mankind out on the floor. Mankind scurries away but realizes he’s run to the grave. He uses a shovel to get out of trouble. The Taker actually busts out a small package, and they roll off the dirt mound to the floor. They head down to ringside and out to the crowd. Undertaker tosses Mankind back over the railing and SKIES over the rail to clothesline him back down. Taker tries the Ropewalk Forearm, but Bearer shakes the ropes, causing the Undertaker to crotch himself. Mankind takes over, and Bearer hands him a pen to stab the Taker with. Undertaker catches him with a reverse elbow and takes the pen away. He hits Mankind with a Flying Clothesline and a legdrop. Bearer draws the ire of the Undertaker, allowing Mick to grab a chair and wallop Taker with it. Mankind takes him up to the dirt pile and puts him in the hole. Taker suddenly pops up and drags Mankind in, but Mankind tosses a clump of dirt in his face. Taker hiptosses him off the dirt mound to the floor, and they head back to the ring. Mankind gets a piledriver, but there are no pinfalls. A double-arm DDT on the metal chair is just as futile. Taker suddenly sits up and crushes Mankind’s skull underneath a chair. Mankind takes him to the floor for a piledriver, but Taker backdrops him into the steps in a sort of awkward Emerald Frosion. Back inside again, Taker slams the steel steps on Mick’s back and drops him with a Tombstone Piledriver. The Undertaker takes him back to the dirt mound. Mankind tries one last desperate grab with the Mandible Claw, but Taker turns him around and chokeslams him into the grave. The ref rules that Mankind is buried enough at 15:23. That’s not enough for the Undertaker, though. He wants Mankind completely buried. The Executioner (Terry Gordy) runs out and hits Taker with a shovel. Mankind and Gordy then commence to burying the Undertaker alive. A plethora of other heels join in until the Undertaker is completely buried. Even Triple H is there, doing manual labor, which is out-of-character for him. Just when they have him buried, though, lightning strikes the grave, and the Undertaker’s hand shoots out of the dirt. HE’S ALIVE!!! I actually liked this a little more than their Boiler Room Brawl, despite the obvious limitations of a Buried Alive match. **1/4

The 411:  In an era when the WWF didn't have much to stake their hopes to outside of Bret Hart returning and Steve Austin maybe getting over (hope-hope, pray-pray, kiss ring), and despite numerous injuries that led to the hasty rebooking of this show, they didn't do too badly. The Buried Alive match, still a novelty at this point, helps make up for the fact that Shawn and Bret were sitting this one out. The big downside, though, is that the announcing angles (Ross, Perfect, HBK) overshadow the matches to the point of distraction. I guess how much you like this will depend on how much you like Evil JR. Mild thumbs up for "Buried Alive."

Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]