WWF In Your House: A Cold Day In Hell [1997]

While 1997 was definitely WCW’s year in terms of financial success, the WWF was revitalizing its product in a major way. More realistic characters, edgier programs and some genuinely hot stars got the company growing. Chief among those was Stone Cold Steve Austin, who had gone from a promising newcomer to a white hot megastar thanks to an incredible program with Bret Hart. After finally defeating him at the previous In Your House, Austin was given his first one-on-one title match on Pay-Per-View.

1. FLASH FUNK VS. HUNTER HEARST HELMSLEY

Helmsley had Chyna in his corner at this point, which drastically improved his presentation if not his offense. This match was good when Funk (2 Cold Scorpio) was on offense and boring when Hunter was on offense. It’s crazy to think that three years later he’d be in a compelling sixty-minute main event. Helmsley won with the Pedigree, which isn’t a shocker as he was about to become King of the Ring. **

2. MANKIND VS. ROCKY MAIVIA

Oh look, it’s another one of those crazy matches where bland babyface Rocky Maivia was facing a guy he’d make a ton of money with later. In his pre-match interview you could tell he was feeling lost. Foley did his best to make him look good, even taking a Rock Bottom on the entrance ramp. He caught Maivia going for a crossbody and beat him with the Mandible Claw. This is fascinating to look at with the benefit of hindsight. **3/4

3. GAUNTLET MATCH: AHMED JOHNSON VS. THE NATION OF DOMINATION

Johnson would end the Nation of Domination if he could get through all three opponents. He beat Crush with a spinning heel kick, Savio got disqualified for using a chair, and Faarooq picked up the scraps and hit the Dominator to win. Ironically, this version of the Nation would fall apart anyway as Faarooq threw out Crush and Savio and remake the group with Kama Mustafa, D’Lo Brown and Rocky Maivia. This gauntlet sucked, as all Ahmed Johnson matches do. *1/4

4. KEN SHAMROCK VS. VADER

This match is fascinating, and not just because the Federation plugged a PPV event for the fledgling UFC. Shamrock controlled most of the match with stiff strikes, MMA submissions and the occasional power move, and you could tell Vader was getting frustrated with Ken’s inability to pull his strikes. He socked Shamrock with a wicked forearm before getting caught in a heel hook and tapping out. This doesn’t have much in the way of traditional wrestling psychology but it’s a strange beast that was in, in many ways, ahead of its time. ***

5. WWF CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: THE UNDERTAKER (C) VS. STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN

Both guys got huge cheers from Richmond, Virginia here. Before the match started, the Hart Foundation came down the ramp and took up five seats in the front row. Austin and Taker did some early brawling and abused Owen Hart before things settled down in the ring with a long headlock from Austin. He eventually switched gears by going after the legs, and Taker retaliated in kind. The highlight of the match was a sequence where Austin low blowed the Deadman, flipped off Earl Hebner, then called for a disqualification when Undertaker hit one of his own, only for Hebner to flip him off in return. Austin nearly pinned Taker with the Stunner, but Brian Pillman caused a distraction by ringing the bell. Austin and Undertaker did the Tombstone reversal spot that is always awesome before Taker hit it and retained. The Hart Foundation went after Undertaker, leaving Bret vulnerable to an Austin attack. After Taker and Austin fought off the Harts, Austin hit Taker with one more Stunner. This is one of their better matches together. Austin still did as much wrestling as brawling back before his neck injury, but more importantly, he was still under Taker in the pecking order and pretty much working heel. Most of their bad matches boil down to them both being too similar as badass babyfaces. ***

This is a pretty decent two hour show. Austin and Taker had a fun match and had even more fun with the Hart Foundation. Shamrock and Vader is a weird, fascinating match, and so is Mankind vs. The Rock given where their careers would go. If you skip the Ahmed vs. Nation segment, you’ll have a good time. But if you skip the show entirely, you won’t miss a whole bunch either.

Final Rating: 6/10