Throughout 1996, we've witnessed the continued embrace of gimmick matches in the WWF, as hardcore wrestling moved from a novelty to a staple of the company's product, with the on swell of support for ECW making the style more popular and financially viable than ever before. We've seen hardcore matches of every variety on pay-per-view cards, multiple Caribbean Strap matches, and even the first Boiler Room Brawl at SummerSlam. For the 11th In Your House event, Vince McMahon moved from the realm of edgy violence into actual murder, promoting the first Buried Alive match, which gave the show it's subtitle. The prospect of seeing just how far the company would take this premise had to be intriguing for the fanbase, and the major escalation of the Mankind/Undertaker conflict was intended to be the major hook for plopping down cash on this event, as there was no WWF title match on the docket.
- In Your House 11: Buried Alive comes to you from the now-defunct Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana, the previous home of the Pacers and the site of WWF's The Main Event 1 in 1988, where Andre the Giant took the WWF title away from Hulk Hogan in a screwy finish involving both Hebner brothers as referees. Vince McMahon, Jerry "The King" Lawler, and Jim Ross start the night on commentary, but the trio wouldn't stick together for very long on this night.
- Our opening contest is between "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Hunter Hearst Helmsley, many years before they tangled in acclaimed grudge matches in the Attitude Era. Austin has fully graduated from his "Ringmaster" days, with his famous Jim Johnston theme introduced a couple weeks ago, and the iconic opening glass shatter making its debut on this night. This match takes a while to get going, with both men slowly working through holds as all attention is diverted to JR's mic issues, which are legitimate but get turned into a work, as he claims that he's being sabotaged. This takes place during Ross' ill-conceived heel run where he brought in the imposter versions of Diesel and Razor Ramon, and constantly got into shouting matches with Vince at the desk. Eventually, the action picks up as Mr. Perfect saunters out, playing mind games with Helmsley by stealing his female valet in advance of a promoted match between the two for Raw the next night. Austin tosses a drink in Perfect's face, and both competitors energize the crowd by taking big bumps, Austin getting suplexed on the floor, and Helmsley eats the ring post after a catapult. Austin, exuding pure Chad energy, no-sells a missed leg lariat in the ropes, flips off the crowd, flips off Helmsley, then turns Hunter's lights out with the Stunner to end it. You can definitely see that star potential written all over Austin, who is so damn entertaining to watch, beefing with literally everyone he comes into contact with and taking absolutely no prisoners. He turned an otherwise lukewarm opener into a delight.
- The Smoking Gunns look to make up for their miscommunication last month, as they square off with Owen Hart and the British Bulldog in a rematch for the tag titles. This was another solid encounter between the two teams, as they kept the pace flowing and added in some impressive athleticism. Bulldog and Owen take control early after the latter's missile dropkick, before the Gunns work Hart over with neckbreakers and Billy's flying corner splash off Bart's back. The camera is distracted by Sunny and her low-cut dress as she watched on from backstage, as she's interested to see if her former charges might win her attention back by regaining the gold. The answer is no, as an awkward spot sees Bart somehow miss Bulldog standing right behind him, ready to prevent the Sidewinder from connecting, as Billy has a hard time setting up for the move, leaving Bulldog to hover behind Bart for an uncomfortably long time. Finally, Billy jumps so Bulldog can pull Bart out of the way, saving Owen, who then drops Billy with a spinning back heel kick to retain.
- JR bails from commentary after ranting at Vince for his mic troubles and a lack of credit on bringing Bret Hart back to the WWF, leaving Mr. Perfect to join the booth for our next match. It's for the Intercontinental Championship, as Marc Mero, who took the gold in a tournament after Ahmed Johnson was forced to vacate, defends against Goldust. This was another quality outing on this night, as Mero got to shine with his daredevil antics, while Goldust took a few big bumps and worked the crowd. Goldust's most impressive offensive move was a one-armed top rope powerbomb, while Mero took to the skies, nearly blowing out his knee on a dangerous Tope con Hilo, before making up for it with a gorgeous double jump moonsault. After not adding much behind the desk, Perfect gets involved to assist Mero, and staredown with Helmsley, who, with his hair unkempt and poofy white shirt gone, resembles a lot of his future self. Perfect nails Goldust for sneaking up on him, and Mero ends it with the Wild Thing (Shooting Star Press).
- While Shawn Michaels may not be defending his belt on this night, he's still present for a stint on commentary, as he joins Vince and Lawler to witness the battle to crown his number one contender, with Vader taking on Sycho Sid. This was, by some distance, the slowest and sloppiest match of the night, but the presentation of Sid wins out, as the crowd is fully invested in him as a future champion, no matter how weak his offense appears. Sid gains the early advantage after Shawn disrespects Jim Cornette by blowing his nose with Cornette's fancy handkerchief, but Cornette gets his man back in it by stinging Sid's back with his tennis racket. Vader looks like a right numpty for refusing to make a cover after a big splash, wanting to end it with the Vader Bomb instead, which is obviously countered by Sid. The crowd roars for Sid's bodyslam, and for him yanking the middle rope into Cornette's groin when the loudmouth manager tries to interfere, but Vader adds extra drama by countering a powerbomb with a low blow. This was set up to be a battle of the powerbomb, but that's not the way it ends, as Vader can't pull off the move either, and Sid suddenly wins with a Chokeslam, Vader getting only a moderate amount of air on the move. Shawn and Sid, despite knowing that they'll face off at Survivor Series, seem to be on the same page after the match, but JR gets Sid to say he'll do whatever it takes to become champion in a backstage interview. While it's disheartening to see the wheels fall off of Vader's push, it's obvious that Sid is the far hotter name right now, and the dynamic of his relationship with Shawn makes for a great championship program.
- Main event time, as Mankind and The Undertaker compete in the first Buried Alive match, with the objective to literally bury the other six feet under. As always, Mankind is game to take some sickening bumps and weapon attacks, but Undertaker appears to be determined to produce a worthy show closer and puts his body on the line for a few thrilling high spots. The first is a diving clothesline to the outside, and the second is far more impressive, as he leaps over the barricade, fully clearing the steel to clobber his deranged opponent. The match moves from exhilarating to violent with the introduction of a chair, as Undertaker gets brained by it, before sitting up after a Stump Puller piledriver to punish Mankind's body with the chair, and legdrop it on his face. The biggest pop of the night comes when Undertaker points towards the burial site, as the match moves fully out of the ring. Mankind almost breaks hearts as he applies the Mandible Claw, but he splats into the open grave after a Chokeslam by Undertaker, who dumps in an inch or two of dirt, which is apparently enough to be declared the winner. That's not going to satisfy to "The Deadman", nor this bloodthirsty crowd (in fairness, I wanted to see this go the whole way too), and he keeps shoveling in dirt. But in a similar closing angle to that of the Royal Rumble 1994, a gaggle of heels arrive to stop The Undertaker, led by a hooded man that lays Undertaker out with a shovel shot. This man, plus Mankind, Crush, Justin Bradshaw, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, and Goldust all cover Undertaker in dirt, and despite the manpower, it takes them an awfully long time, which does ruin some of the atmosphere as the task begins to grow tedious to watch. After they're finally finished, lightning strikes the grave, and we get one of the greatest visuals in WWE history, as Undertaker arm punches through the earth above him, a true embrace of his status as a supernatural monster. Despite the occasional stalling, this more than lived up to the hype that the company had built.
8/10
Buried Alive was far more than the sum of its parts, a cohesive and enjoyable experience that featured several quality matches, a lot of interesting build towards specific matches, and even a few storylines that were exclusive to this night, a great choice. This show added a ton of momentum to the product, getting the ball rolling towards Survivor Series in Madison Square Garden next month (my review here).
- Henry
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