STW - In Your House: A Cold Day In Hell [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Note: We were so excited to bring you Bruce early yesterday that we forgot to attach the show notes. Enjoy!

Today we’re looking at In Your House: A Cold Day In Hell from May 1997.

We have Steve Austin’s first WWF title shot on PPV, Ken Shamrock’s WWF PPV debut vs Vader, and of course Ahmed Johnson wrestling three singles matches in a row.

You can apologize again now for that last one if you want.

You’re only 3 weeks between the last pay-per-view with Revenge of Taker and then Cold Day in Hell is that really enough time to build interest to a PPV properly? A minimum 4 weeks is best, would you agree?

From the Observer:

“Atsushi Onita of the Frontier Martial Arts and Wrestling promotion in Japan held a press conference on 4/16 to announce that they were going to start negotiations with the World Wrestling Federation for a major show in Japan. Full details of exactly what this entails haven't been released, but Onita got the ball rolling when he showed a letter Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard sent in early March where the WWF attempted to open up a business relationship between the two offices. Onita, who along with Wing Kanemura (Yukihiro Kanemura), are scheduled to come to the United States along with FMW booker Victor Quinones in early May to meet with both WWF officials and perhaps Paul Heyman as well about participating in the show. The meeting is scheduled for 5/1. Although the story has already received significant play in Japan, as best we can tell the only thing definite from a WWF perspective is that they are going to meet with Onita and there have been no talks about anything other than setting up a first meeting.”

What prompts you & Vince to send a letter to Onita about forming a relationship with FMW? Did you even know what was going on in Japan with FMW at the time?

Also from the same Observer: “In an unrelated deal, Prichard and Jim Ross met with the wrestlers from Michinoku Pro Wrestling that appeared on the ECW PPV show on 4/21 at the Titan offices in Stamford, CT about those wrestlers working in the WWF. Reports are that the chances of doing business together appear good at this point and the WWF is planning on starting a lighter weight division but is trying to work out the logistics of when the wrestlers and which wrestlers would be available at certain times. A potential deal with the Michinoku office, provided dates could be adequately worked out, would probably make the WWF's relationship with AAA in Mexico obsolete because the Michinoku wrestlers offer the same type of action but are far more polished workers. Because of the disorganized nature of the AAA office, the WWF  has been having problems getting the wrestlers they want on the dates they want, thus unable to give any of the wrestlers any kind of a push or storyline.”

How chaotic was it working with the AAA office?

Can you reenact the meeting between you & JR talking with Michinoku Pro office and wrestlers?

We’re just weeks removed from Barely Legal - ECW’s first pay-per-view which featured Michinoku Pro wrestlers - did the idea of them coming to the WWF come from Paul Heyman and that show?

How tough is it to be negotiating with two different Japanese companies at the same time when they’re long known to be tough politically to get along with?

Coming out the Revenge of the Taker pay-per-view you have a fully formed Hart Foundation of Bret, Owen, Davey Boy & Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart with Brian Pillman. But Bret Hart has a knee issue and he needs to be “written out.” Written out in the WWF’s form is Bret having a street fight on Raw against Steve Austin...from the Observer.

“Talk about the proverbial turning a negative into a positive. The 4/21 Raw is War show featured a show long angle, the highlight of which was Steve Austin injuring Bret Hart, who was taken away in an ambulance. In a twist, Austin was waiting in the ambulance and got some more licks in, with Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith, Shawn Michaels and Brian Pillman all winding up involved in the angle before the show was over, and it resulted in one of the better episodes of Raw in history.

The angle was actually a last minute decision, probably largely put together on or around 4/18, based on perhaps the worst possible thing that could have happened to the WWF at the present time, a right knee injury requiring surgery that Hart, who has been the key performer in the WWF in recent weeks with his heel turn, actually aggravated while on tour of South Africa and Kuwait.”

Lot to unpack there Bruce but obviously Bret’s knee injury throws a lot of planned creative into the fire but with it breeds one of the most well remembered angles with Bret and Steve and the ambulance. You know when you’re watching that how good it is right?

Bret wrote in his book that he thought the Hart Foundation was the WWF’s answer to the nWo. Would you agree with that?

It’s also reported in the Observer that there was a plan in place for Bret to win the Intercontinental title from the Rock at King of the Ring. Do you remember this being an idea or a thing?

Does Bret’s injury force Shawn and Steve to be paired together in the feud against the Hart Foundation?

“The angle led to WWF tightening the gap in the ratings this past week, as Nitro drew a 3.39 rating (2.90 first hour, 3.88 second hour) and 5.43 share to Raw's 2.75 (2.75 first and second hour) rating and 4.24 share. The Nitro replay drew a phenomenal 1.9 rating and 4.5 share, which may have been the all-time record, which seems to indicate whatever percentage Nitro lost was more due to WWF being good than a lack of interest in Nitro.

The hot show was important because we are going into May sweeps, where the cable network ad rates are determined by prime time ratings become doubly important. Because of the NBA playoffs, Nitro is being moved starting 4/28 to a one-hour format starting at 7 p.m. Eastern time which means Raw will be going unopposed through 5/19 and thus has a chance to do consistent 3.0+ ratings and Raw should win the next four weeks. Last year during the playoffs, the Raw ratings beat the Nitro ratings by sizeable margins every week causing people to believe some sort of momentum was being built, but it was all illusory as once the playoffs were over, Nitro has beaten Raw in the ratings every week but one.”

How important is it to take advantage of this time frame between sweeps and Nitro being moved?

There’s also rumor and innuendo about Raw moving to 9pm at this point in time? Do you remember if the WWF or USA brought that up?

That Raw in Binghamton drew a sellout of 3,846 for a gate of $67,846. That’s a hell of a gate for that small a crowd isn’t it?

Austin - Hart wasn’t the only angle on the show as the building blocks were laid out for the Goldust & Marlena interviews with JR to expose them as Dustin & Terri. How do you remember that all coming together?

At that taping both Henry Godwinn & Sultan were injured. Ahmed Johnson ended up hitting Sultan with a 2x4 and busted up his ribs and Godwinn took the Doomsday Device and landed on his head.

The Godwinn injury is super scary is it not?

Vader finally returns to America after his issue in Kuwait. Is there any hesitation to put him back on television?

Taker - Paul Bearer with Kane involved has yet to heat up and will do so in the next few weeks and months. Is this when the Kane story began to form?

The next week Raw is in Omaha drawing a sellout of 6,617 paying $88,124. The show is completely based around Bret Hart and Steve Austin. How committed is Bret to the company to be there already after that surgery?

From the Observer: “Legion of Doom beat Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon in 3:46 when Animal pinned Furnas after a clothesline off the top by Hawk although Furnas wasn't the legal man. Match was a style clash. Actually Road Warriors against almost anyone nowadays is a style clash. Furnas & LaFon desperately need a manager. They are so not over it's like they're six feet under. For the first time in history, they are actually doing a gimmick about that as Furnas & LaFon's gimmick as explained by Vince McMahon and Jim Ross is basically that they aren't over. McMahon explained that American fans aren't used to Furnas & LaFon's "European" style. So that's what it is.”

Wow that’s some ballsy creative to attempt to get someone over isn’t it?

Owen Hart wins the IC title from Rocky Maivia...it was time to transition the title to someone else and since the Hart Foundation is the hottest group it makes sense for it to be Owen doesn’t it?

Did anyone lose faith in Rocky at this point?

Jim Neidhart returns at the end of that Raw to save Bret from a Steve Austin attack. Give me Stu calling to have Jim back Bruce!

“Sid wasn't there again this week. He had an MRI done on his back on 4/28. Over the weekend on TV they had announced he would be at Raw to do an interview, but by Sunday it was known he wasn't going to be there.”

How frustrating is the situation and scenario with Sid?

“Yokozuna was contacted about coming back with all the injuries but he's on blood thinning medication so if he were to suffer an accidental cut, the blood wouldn't clot and it could be really disastrous. No word on when he'll get clearance to return.”

How bad was the Yoko situation at this point? From the Observer:

 “Frontier Martial Arts-Wrestling from Japan had meetings this past week with both the WWF and ECW about putting together a major joint show set for November and in addition, there is the beginning of dialogue between the WWF and EMLL in Mexico. Atsushi Onita, Wing Kanemura, Terry Funk and Victor Quinones represented FMW in what was reported in Japan as a three-hour meeting at Titan Towers on 5/1 with Vince McMahon, Bruce Prichard and Jim Ross. According to reports in Japan, the meeting talked about a joint show which was reported in Japan as being in October (our reports indicate it was November) and the possibility of the WWF promoting an explosive bomb match later this year at Madison Square Garden, as Onita after the recent Yokohama Arena show talked about having a bomb match against Antonio Inoki on a WWF show.”

Bruce walk me through this meeting please.

“FMW proposed to WWF doing a multi-promotional show on a Sunday in November which would include FMW, Michinoku Pro, Pancrase, ECW and WWF, which is quite a strange amalgamation of talent. At this point, as best we can tell, the WWF agreed to continue negotiations for such a show but that no deal had been completed. FMW also proposed to bring a crew of ECW wrestlers in for three shows during that same time period which would consist of two smaller arena shows including a Korakuen Hall date, along with the big show. FMW already has a major show set up for 9/28 at Kawasaki Baseball Stadium, but they didn't bring that date up to either WWF or ECW so it appears they already have the ideas on where they are going for that show.”

“Among other items apparently discussed at the meeting included Quinones, who is the foreign booker for FMW, booking a WWF tour to South America, and also Quinones, who books foreign talent for EMLL as well, getting involved in forging a relationship between WWF and EMLL. At this point, the WWF relationship with Antonio Pena isn't officially dead, but it's almost certainly on life support systems.”

What is Vince’s reaction to all this?

Bruce the ratings for the Raw running unopposed are a success. It gets a 3.44 with a 3.3 first hour and a 3.58 second hour with a 5.2 share. The next week it gets a 3.44 rating again with a 3.43 first hour and a 3.45 second hour with a 5.18 share. Bruce these numbers you’ll get eventually running against WCW but this has to be a considered a success right?

When is it determined to put Brian Pillman in the Hart Foundation? Is that a Bret call?

The Goldust segments with JR discuss Razor Ramon not wanting to work with him, Dustin’s issues with Dusty, and the character’s sexuality questioned...are you surprised Dustin didn’t come out of these a bigger star?

The build to the pay-per-view has Taker and Austin saving each other from Hart Foundation attacks and eventually turning on each other. This isn’t the best way to heat up a pay-per-view main event but it’s gotta be something where you literally have no one else to wrestle Taker right? I mean you don’t want to be doing this show with Taker vs. Austin for the first time for the WWF Title in a cold babyface vs. babyface match right?

Goliath Life is a better decision than Taker vs. Austin being the main event...

Well the reaction to the show isn’t great Bruce. 47.9% of the Observer readers voted thumbs down while 27.1% thumbs up and 25% thumbs in the middle for the show. This is the 15th In Your House and it comes from Richmond, Virginia and draws 9,381 with 7,681 paying $116,547 and another $55,000 in merchandise so at least the house is good!

But Meltzer had this to say:

“Cold Day in Hell was just another Sunday afternoon PPV show that will largely be forgotten by the end of the week. Shamrock-Vader and the main event, Undertaker vs. Steve Austin, were good matches. The undercard was as lackluster as ever. The show generally lacked heat. The finishes were clean. The outside interference was kept to a minimum so that the one point it was used for storyline (Brian Pillman ringing the bell so Steve Austin couldn't pin Undertaker) added to the show rather than resulted in the feeling of just another screw-job. But it's more and more clear that the WWF is a company that has one tremendous feud on top, and even that one is getting overexposed, and very little depth otherwise. And the undercard performers who should have decent matches on paper somehow seem to get worse by the month.”

The depth situation JR has talked about in the past...the ability to freshen up the undercard was hard at this point but it was needed don’t you agree?

“This hasn't been confirmed, but I believe neither Vince McMahon nor Jim Cornette attended the show due to personal situations. On the broadcast which Jim Ross did with Jerry Lawler, they said that Rose Anderson (a close family friend that McMahon's kids would refer to as "Aunt Rose") had passed away the previous night and Cornette's girlfriend came down with what they at first thought was appendicitis although turned out to be something less serious.”

Was Vince not at this show as reported by Meltzer? Is this the first pay-per-view he didn’t attend?

“A. Rockabilly pinned Jesse Jammes in 3:36 with a DDT in the Free-for-all match. Jammes' entrance music was messed up. It seemed like it was an angle although nothing came of it. For such a short match, it was slow-paced with no heat. Finish was cool. DUD”

These two are really just going nowhere...it’s hard to get behind any of this right?

“1. Hunter Hearst Helmsley pinned Flash Funk in 10:05. This was a major disappointment. Funk's offense was way off, both in cutting down on the acrobatics and in what he did generally looking bad. Helmsley showed no aptitude in being able to carry someone. The Funkettes weren't there with the reason given that they were intimidated by Chyna. The match had no heat except for pops for Chyna's interference and was a slow-paced match. Finish saw Funk go up top for a moonsault but Helmsley split his legs. Helmsley climbed up for a backward superplex but flipped Funk all the way over in the move, then hit the Pedigree for the pin. After the match Chyna picked Funk up and crotched him on the top ropes. Funk was said to be less than thrilled not only by his jobber position but for having to do that last spot putting Chyna over. *”

What is up with this? Both good workers. Was it an issue with Scorpio not wanting to do business?

“2. Mankind beat Rocky Maivia in 8:46. Mankind hit a rolling bodyblock off the apron to the floor. The two brawled on the ramp with Maivia giving him a uranage suplex on the ramp. Another match with no heat. After a shoulderbreaker, Maivia signalled to the crowd for his finisher and there was little reaction and some booing. He went up for the flying body press, but Mankind reversed the move, rolling with it, and winding up with the mandible claw for the submission. Good finish. During the match they almost played down Maivia's unsuccessful reign as IC champion with Jim Ross saying that the night Maivia beat Helmsley that the better man didn't want on that night. *1⁄4”

I mean this isn’t a burial Bruce but it isn’t far from it in commentary. Mick even wrote in his book that he thought the company should cut bait on Rocky. What was it about this time with Rocky?

“3. Next up was the Ahmed Johnson trilogy. It was announced on Raw that they would have the three matches at three different times during the show. During the pre-game show, Faarooq said that he was hurt (which he was), that Savio Vega was hurt (which he wasn't) and that Crush had the flu (which he didn't) and wanted all the matches in a row. Johnson agreed providing Faarooq wrestle first. For whatever reason, Faarooq didn't go first but the matches were in a row, which makes me think some communication signals were crossed before the show. Crush was first, and Gorilla Monsoon ordered the rest of the NOD to leave ringside. Crush several times signaled for the NOD to hit the ring and interfere but they never did, seemingly again building a tease for a potential turn. Crush went for the heart punch, but Johnson blocked it and hit a reverse heel kick for the pin in 5:38. This was better than previous Johnson-Crush matches have been, but that's faint praise to be sure. Johnson beat Vega via DQ in 5:57. Vega came out selling his ankle, then jumped around to make everyone realize it was a ruse. He dominated the match and destroyed Johnson with chair shots to leave him easy pickings for Faarooq. There wasn't much to that segment. Johnson and Faarooq went 2:10. It was also better than you'd think considering who was involved. Johnson didn't sell for long and got a good near fall with an inside cradle. He hit the spinebuster and Pearl River Plunge, but Faarooq kicked out of the Plunge to the crowd's amazement. Faarooq then hit a chop block and scored the pin with the dominator. 3/4*”

Bruce you apologized twice last week for this. But why all the changes? Do you think it would’ve been better spread out across the show or was it just easier to get it over with here and be done?

 “4. Ken Shamrock beat Vader via submission with an ankle lock in 13:21 in what was billed as a No Holds Barred match. There must have been some sort of a late booking change as the graphic and Howard Finkel's ring announcement talked about standing eight counts, similar to the dramatic UWFI knockdowns that both would be familiar with, but Jim Ross then said that rule had been changed. Shamrock got a pretty big pop coming out. As the early action went to the ropes, Ross tried to explain the difference in that a UFC has no ropes. Ross was very positive in his explanations of UFC and said he enjoyed the shows, while Jerry Lawler seemed to be getting mad, both worked and otherwise, as many veteran wrestlers who don't react when life goes on do when something changes the business they are in. The match was very good in that it was realistic enough to be suspenseful in a sport way. It still had enough pro wrestling maneuvers to not look like a UFC match. Vader rolled out of the ring several times early as Shamrock got the early edge. Shamrock hit a suplex and went for a kneebar but Vader rolled out. Vader took control with stiff clotheslines and took Shamrock down with a wakigatamae. Shamrock used a triangle choke (sankakujime) but Vader lifted him up and threw him. Vader suplexed Shamrock over the top rope to the floor with Shamrock selling his knee as if it was injured on the landing. Vader ran him a few times into the ring steps. Vader ended up with a bloody nose. Vader went for a standing ankle lock but Shamrock rolled out of it. Vader went for a choke on the ground but again Shamrock escaped. Vader missed a moonsault (actually it grazed Shamrock). Shamrock bodyslammed Vader and went for both an ankle lock and a half crab but Vader made the ropes both times. Shamrock threw a lot of hard knees and forearms into the corner similar to a Misawa or Kawada type offense and every bit as stiff. Vader cut him off with a solid shot to the head and as he went down to capitalize on it, Shamrock maneuvered him into an ankle lock for the tap out victory. This wasn't the kind of a match that you could do every night which explains why the UWFI and RINGS guys generally only work one match per month. ***1⁄4”

I mean of course Meltzer loved this but Shamrock literally beat the shit out of Vader during this match and you see Vader get hot and take a legit swing at Shamrock in the match. Watching in the back you have to come out of this thinking it’s a success for Shamrock but at what cost to Vader as he legit comes out of this busted up does he not?

“5. Undertaker pinned Steve Austin in 20:06 to retain the WWF title. The Hart Foundation and came to ringside and had five seats set up, with the storyline that they bought the tickets from scalpers. Lawler was hilarious in comments regarding them. When Austin attacked Owen Hart, Lawler was screaming about how the wrestlers were attacking the fans. Later when they were all sitting there calmly, Lawler said that it shows all the WWF fans don't misbehave. At the end, when in the post-match, they all attacked Undertaker, Lawler said it was like after a soccer game that the fans were attacking the players. Match started slow and the fans didn't boo either one and really didn't know how to react. It was a good match, but not on the level of most WWF PPV main events with Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels involved. Austin wrapped Taker's knee on the post but Undertaker ended up smacking Austin's face into the post. Undertaker did his rope walk but Austin swept his legs, causing him to crotch himself. Austin went for a superplex but Undertaker threw him off. Undertaker missed an elbow. Undertaker used a sleeper but Austinused a jawbreaker. The two traded low blows. Actually the biggest pop of the match was Austin flipping off the ref. Undertaker used a choke slam, but Austin came back snapping Undertaker's neck on the ropes and hitting the stone cold stunner. Brian Pillman hopped the rail and rang the bell, causing momentary confusion. When the match re-started, Undertaker went for the tombstone, Austin reversed it, but Undertaker reversed it again and dropped Austin on his head for the pin. After the match, Jim Neidhart, Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith and Pillman attacked Undertaker. Austin saw Bret by himself in the wheelchair and knocked him off the wheelchair and grabbed one of his crutches and hit the ring and cleaned house with it. After the heels were run off, Austin jumped Undertaker and hit the stone cold stunner, flipped him off and left him laying. ***”

The main event isn’t what Taker - Austin will eventually be but it’s really just a backdrop for Austin and Hart. Is Taker happy about that being he’s champion and all?

Taker’s holding pattern is waiting for Paul Bearer to return and get the Kane storyline started right?

Is this a success for either Taker or Austin or is really just a vehicle to get the heels of the Hart Foundation over?

What say you Bruce, how well do you remember this show?