Throwback Thursday – Looking back at WWE In Your House 11: Buried Alive
Each and every Thursday I will look back at a different pay-per-view event from the past via the WWE Network. Want to see a certain event covered? Send your suggestions to @VaughnMJohnson on Twitter.
Last time, I covered the WWE Royal Rumble 2008.
WWE In Your House 11: Buried Alive
Date: Oct. 20, 1996
Venue: Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Ind.
Some random notes
Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler were on hand to call the action.
Ross had quite the eventful night, as he was in the midst of a feud of sorts with McMahon. Ross was having audio issues throughout the first couple of matches and he was blowing a gasket at ringside because of it.
Ross claimed to be victim of multiple conspiracies going around WWE, specifically from McMahon. Ross and McMahon constantly talked over each other during the first two matches to drive the point home that they didn't quite get along.
Just as his audio was coming through nice and clear, Ross got into the ring and cut a promo about how McMahon tried to sabotage him and then promised the fans that Bret Hart would return to WWE the next night. He then left the arena, but returned moments later with Mr. Perfect.
Mr. Perfect joined McMahon and Lawler on commentary to watch the Intercontinental title match. His headset worked … perfectly.
Later in the show, Ross interrupted Doc Hendrix's (Michael Hayes) interview with Sid, claiming that Hendrix was simply going to ask him softball or "McMahon questions."
Before the main event, WWE ran a video hyping up Survivor Series weekend in New York, which included the WWE Hall of Fame banquet. This was long before WWE made the Hall of Fame ceremony an annual happening during WrestleMania weekend.
The In Your House set was very different for Buried Alive to make room for the large mound of dirt required for the main event.
WWE went back to the normal In Your House stage for the next installment of the event in December called, It's Time.
With that said, let's get to the matches:
Steve Austin def. Hunter Hearst Helmsley
Austin's original opponent was supposed to be Savio Vega, who he had been embroiled in a rivalry with most of the year, but he was removed from the match due to injury.
Austin was already months in to his "Stone Cold" persona, but really didn't have the theme music to match. That was until this night when fans heard the iconic sound of glass shattering for the very first time and Austin walked out to the initial version of Jim Johnston's Hell Frozen Over.
Helmsley, better known today as simply Triple H, was still in the proverbial doghouse after the "Curtain Call" incident in Madison Square Garden earlier that year.
He was so much in the doghouse that he wasn't even originally on the card. He was simply Vega's replacement. However, it did create the intriguing matchup of the man that was supposed to win that year's King of the Ring (Helmsley) versus the man that actually did win it (Austin).
Mr. Perfect strolled to the ring in a suit during the match. He was scheduled to return to action on Raw the next night against Helmsley.
Perfect distracted Helmsley by hitting on his valet. Austin took advantage of the distraction by attacking Helmsley and tossing him back into the ring.
Austin then got in Perfect's face and told him to get out his way. Perfect took exception to Austin yelling at him and read him the riot act, which caused Austin to back off.
When Perfect turned around to walk away with Helmsley's valet, Austin grabbed a cup of soda and tossed it into Perfect's face.
As a result, Mr. Perfect was irate and almost got into the ring. However, Helmsley took advantage of the second distraction and set Austin up for the pedigree.
Unfortunately for Helmsley, he was distracted yet again, this time by the site of Mr. Perfect walking away with his valet. Helmsley tossed Austin down and left the ring to go after Perfect.
Austin attacked Helmsley from behind, but Helmsley managed to put him in a suplex on the floor.
Austin quickly regained the upper hand and tossed Helmsley into the ring post. Austin then tossed Helmsley back into the ring and hit him with the stunner, which drew a big reaction from the crowd despite him being a heel at the time.
WWE Tag Team championship – Owen Hart & British Bulldog def. The Smoking Gunns
The story of this match was that Billy Gunn being more focused on getting Sunny back than winning the tag titles.
While Billy Gunn was trying to get his manager back, Owen Hart and Bulldog had their managerial situation already figured, as Clarence Mason accompanied them to the ring. Mason had apparently finagled Owen Hart and Bulldog away from Jim Cornette.
Billy Gunn didn't work well with his partner Bart Gunn because he was trying too hard to impress Sunny, who was watching on a monitor backstage. This played right into the hands of Owen Hart and Bulldog, who worked seamlessly together.
Billy Gunn's lack of concentration eventually cost the Smoking Gunns when he took too much time hitting the team's finishing move, which allowed Bulldog and Hart to counter and pick up the win.
WWE Intercontinental championship – Marc Mero def. Goldust
Mero was doing dives to the outside of the ring when no one else did in WWE, which made him the supposed "Wildman" that he was. However, it looked like he hurt his leg/knee doing a dive during this match.
At one point, Goldust grabbed the microphone during the match and told all of the fans to shut up. It really didn't have anything to do with the match and seemed rather random.
Mr. Perfect voiced his displeasure with the official and eventually decided to take matters into his own hands by getting up from the announce table.
Just as that happened, Helmsley made his way back out to the ring. Goldust tried to sneak up on Mr. Perfect, but to no avail, as Mr. Perfect decked him.
That allowed Mero to hit a shooting star press dubbed the "wild thing" to pick up the win and retain his title.
Perfect jumped into the ring and celebrated with Mero and Sable.
Sycho Sid def. Vader
The winner of this match was going to be rewarded by being named the No. 1 contender for WWE championship at Survivor Series, which was held by Shawn Michaels.
The reason why the match even came about was because Sid began using the power bomb, which Vader took exception to, as he claimed that it was his move first.
The fans didn't care whether the power bomb was Vader's move or not, as they loved Sid at this point of his career. I mean he was over and carried over to Survivor Series the next month in New York.
Before the match began, Michaels made his way out and entered the ring. Once in the ring, Michaels shook hands with his former bodyguard Sid and then had some words with Vader and Cornette before the two behemoths began fighting.
Michaels jumped out of the ring and joined McMahon and Lawler on commentary. His headset worked just fine as well.
It didn't take long for Cornette to strike Sid with his tennis racket while the referee's back was turned. Sid struggled to get back into the ring, but did so just in time to beat the 10-count.
Things didn't get any better for Sid, as Vader used his weight and power advantage to hold serve. Vader eventually hit a splash from the top rope and attempted to pin Sid, but picked his opponent up off the mat so that he could hit the Vader bomb.
However, Sid got his knees up on the Vader bomb and regained momentum.
Vader got back on track thanks to a low blow and went for a power bomb, but was unable to hoist Sid up. Sid wiggled out of the power bomb and choke slammed Vader to pick up the win and clinch a championship match against Michaels at Survivor Series.
After the match, Michaels got into the ring and had a talk with Sid. The two men shook hands, as fireworks went off for some reason.
Buried Alive match – The Undertaker def. Mankind
This was the first Buried Alive match in WWE history and I'm pretty sure it was the very first in the history of professional wrestling. I can't imagine the National Wrestling Alliance or any other promotion doing something like this prior to this night.
The last Buried Alive match to date in WWE was back on Oct. 24, 2010 when Kane defeated The Undertaker at the now defunct Bragging Rights pay-per-view.
But back in 1996, McMahon said that this was the first unsanctioned match in WWE history despite there being an entire set up for it in the arena and a referee in the ring.
Mankind and The Undertaker didn't waste any time throwing punches at each other and the match didn't stay in the ring for very long.
The Undertaker managed to knock Mankind out of the ring and ascended to the top turnbuckle. The big man then leaped off the top and crashed into Mankind, who was standing beside the ring.
The two combatants fought their way up to the gravesite, which allowed The Undertaker to grab a shovel. Mankind grabbed a shovel of his own and hit his opponent with it.
They then rolled down the mound of dirt and made their way back to the ring. Once back in the ring, The Undertaker took firm control and knocked Mankind back out of it.
The Undertaker joined him and grabbed a cable to wrap it around Mankind's neck. The fight then went into the crowd and back to ringside before finally getting back into the ring, where The Undertaker maintained control.
He then attempted to walk the top rope, but his former friend Paul Bearer knocked him off, which opened the door for Mankind to finally gain the upper hand.
Bearer helped Mankind again later in the match by handing him some type of foreign object to use against The Undertaker. Since there were no rules, the referee couldn't do anything about it.
As the cliché goes, turnabout is fair play and that worked in The Undertaker's favor, as he was able to force Mankind to drop the object and used it against him.
The Undertaker suddenly turned his attention to Bearer, but Mankind thwarted him with the help of a steel chair to the face.
Mankind took The Undertaker back to the gravesite and knocked him into the grave. Mankind attempted to shovel dirt on top of him, but he fought his way out of the hole.
Mankind reassumed control by throwing dirt in The Undertaker's eye, but that didn't stop the dead man, as he hip tossed Mankind off the mound and dragged him back into the ring.
Bearer eventually slid a steel chair into the ring, which Mankind used to DDT The Undertaker into it. That didn't keep The Undertaker down for long, as he sat up and hit Mankind in the back with the chair.
He then placed the chair over Mankind's face and delivered a big leg drop.
Mankind made his way out of the ring and pulled back the protective mats at ringside. He then got The Undertaker in position for a pile driver on the exposed concrete, but The Undertaker flipped him into the steel steps.
The Undertaker then picked up said steel steps and tossed them into the ring and proceeded to punish Mankind with them. Moments later, The Undertaker delivered a tombstone to Mankind.
He then picked up Mankind and carried him all the way to the gravesite. He dumped Mankind into the dirt, but Mankind locked in the mandible claw.
Bearer then tossed The Undertaker's urn to Mankind so that he could use on his former running mate, but The Undertaker put a stop to that by choking Mankind and slamming him into the grave.
The Undertaker grabbed the shovel and began piling dirt on top of Mankind to win the match.
Although the bell rang to signify him winning, The Undertaker kept shoveling dirt on top of Mankind and shoved away multiple referees that attempted to stop him.
A masked man then came out of nowhere and hit The Undertaker in the back with a shovel. After that, he helped Mankind out of the grave.
The masked man rolled The Undertaker into the grave, as the lights went out into the arena. Mankind and the masked man began covering The Undertaker in dirt to bury him alive.
Suddenly, multiple members of the roster, including Goldust, Helmsley and Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw, came out to shovel dirt on top of The Undertaker in a scene very reminiscent to when all of the heels "killed" The Undertaker at the 1994 Royal Rumble.
While the bad guys were dumping dirt on The Undertaker, a cup full of ice fell on top of the grave, which I assume came from an angry fan that threw it from the stands. That person had a good arm and good aim, as the cup landed right in the camera shot.
After multiple minutes of dirt shoveling, the sound of thunder rang throughout the arena and scared off everyone but Bearer, Mankind and the masked man.
The dastardly trio climbed off the mound of dirt and relished in what they had accomplished when a bolt of lightning struck the grave.
Suddenly, The Undertaker's hand popped out from beneath the ground, signifying he wasn't quite dead yet. This would have worked beautifully if it wasn't clear as day that The Undertaker's hand did not come from the big pile of dirt in the grave, but yet from underneath the fake grass next to it where he was safe and sound.
I didn't expect WWE to actually bury The Undertaker alive because that would have actually killed him, but I figured it would have done better job with the cameras to help create an illusion that The Undertaker's hand had come up from the dirt that was being shoveled on top of him for at least five minutes.
The man under the man was apparently former Fabulous Freebird Terry Gordy. He wasn't a Freebird on this night. He was The Executioner. The name was very fitting on this night.