WWF In Your House: Dark Side was a 1997 professional wrestling event put on by the World Wrestling Federation. It was the 16th In Your House event, the 4th event of 1997 and the 88th event overall in the alternate WWF timeline. Held in Mobile, Alabama, the main event of the show was a 3 on 1 Gauntlet Match as Stone Cold Steve Austin took on The Hart Foundation of The British Bulldog, Owen Hart and Bret Hart. Other matches on the card included a WWF Title match between The Undertaker and Sycho Sid, a first ever 6-Pack Challenge for the Intercontinental Title and former WWF Champion Vader taking on Ken Shamrock.
Prelude[]
In their submission match at Wrestlemania, Bret Hart had won, but didn't make Austin actually submit, instead winning by Austin passing out from the pain of the Sharpshooter. The effect of the match had turned Bret Hart heel, while Austin continued his rise as an anti-authority babyface. Bret began to blame the United States for the ills of the world, a condition shared with his feuding brother and brother-in-law, Owen Hart and The British Bulldog. The two had finally exploded after losing the tag team titles the night after Wrestlemania, eventually leading to Bret intervening and burying the hatchet with both of them, recruiting them for a new version of the Hart Foundation. Austin promised to take out all three of them, challenging them to a Gauntlet match to try and wipe out the Hart Family Dynasty once and for all.
The Undertaker had finally captured the WWF title versus Vader at Wrestlemania, however trouble ocurred with the return of his former manager Paul Bearer, who demanded that Undertaker return to his side or else he would "reveal a dark secret" about the Undertaker's past. Undertaker had refused, going so far as to Chokeslam his former manager through an announce table, sending him to the hospital. This raised the ire of Bearer's latest client, Sycho Sid. The former WWF champion challenged the Undertaker in his first pay per view title defense, attempting to regain the title and end the Deadman's title run early.
Intercontinental Champion Rocky Maivia's title defense against Shane Douglas at Wrestlemania had ended in a disqualification victory for the champion, with Maivia's father Rocky Johnson coming to his son's aid. The Franchise demanded a rematch for the title, but he wasn't the only one, as former champions Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Marc Mero, and Ahmed Johnson all were looking for a chance. Moreover, Maivia lost his first match by pinfall in a non-title contest to Faarooq (thanks to outside interference from the Nation), leading to the leader of the Nation having a claim at being #1 contender. Commissioner Slaughter decided the only way to ensure was a six pack challenge to determine who the undisputed champion would be. A further benefit also came to the nation when Savio Vega was allowed to be a replacement for the injured Marc Mero, giving the Nation two representatives in the match.
Since his debut in the WWF in January, former UFC star Ken Shamrock had been on a massive winning streak, defeating every superstar by submission in convincing fashion. This drew the attention of former WWF Champion Vader, who took umbridge at Shamrock's moniker of "The World's Most Dangerous Man." Vader challenged Shamrock to a match on Raw, which ended in a countout victory for the Mastodon after he used a distraction by Jim Cornette to flatten Shamrock against a ringpost (which also "injured" Cornette, taking him off TV to explain his eventual retirement as a manager.) Shamrock thus was out for revenge in this rematch at In Your House.
Event[]
Coming Soon...
Results[]
No. | Results | Stipulations | Time |
---|---|---|---|
FFA | Chyna (c) d. Alundra Blayze by Pinfall | Singles Match for the WWF Women's Title | 9:43 |
1 | Hayabusa d. Hector Garza (c) by Pinfall | Singles Match for the WWF Lightheavyweight Title | 10:22 |
2 | Ken Shamrock d. Vader by Submission | Singles Match | 13:00 |
3 | Billy Gunn w/The Honky Tonk Man d. Jesse James Armstrong (c) by Pinfall | Singles Match for the WWF Television Title | 8:01 |
4 | Rocky Maivia (c) d. "The Franchise" Shane Douglas, Ahmed Johnson, Faarooq, Savio Vega & Hunter Hearst Helmsley by Pinfall | Six Pack Challenge for the WWF Intercontinental Title | 16:02 |
5 | The Undertaker (c) d. Sycho Sid w/Paul Bearer by Pinfall | Singles Match for the WWF Championship | 9:56 |
6 | Stone Cold Steve Austin d. Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Owen Hart & The British Bulldog | 3-on-1 Gauntlet Match | 18:32 |
Aftermath[]
Due to his victory, Austin would receive a title shot at The Undertaker at the following month's In Your House, while Bret Hart would take a month off to heal a damaged knee, kayfabe explained by Austin "Pillmanizing" Bret after the Gauntlet match after the interference of Shawn Michaels. Ahmed Johnson suffered a back injury shortly after this event, forcing him to take several months off and seeing the Nation enter a feud with itself as Savio Vega was eventually kicked out of the group. Chyna's reign as WWF Women's Champion would be a lengthy one, but the title wouldn't be defended till towards the end of the year.