The WWE product could not have possibly been colder than it was in October of 1995. The Diesel experiment failed miserably as house shows, television ratings and pay-per-view buyrates plummeted with the seven-foot-tall champion on top. A lack of viable opponents and overall star power damned the company to mediocrity, at best, and left Vince McMahon scrambling to find one Superstar to help spark business. He thought that man was Shawn Michaels but as he would find out at In Your House 4, the Heartbreak Kid was not the most reliable star under his employment. Michaels had gotten liquored and pilled up at a bar in Syracuse, mouthed off to the wrong servicemen and caught a nasty beating from them as a result. The injuries he suffered left him unable to compete at the In Your House pay-per-view, at which he was slated to defend the Intercontinental Championship against Dean Douglas. With eyes bruised and his face swollen, Michaels made his way to the ring and forfeited his title. Douglas would defend, and lose, the title against Michaels' fellow Kliq buddy Scott "Razor Ramon" Hall. Diesel, on the last legs of his title run, turned in a boring performance against British Bulldog, that ended in disqualification when Bret Hart got involved. Regardless of whether it is the right decision or not, a disqualification ruling in the top-billed match of a show people are paying to see is always a death knell. See: WWE Battleground 2013. The undercard did feature a fairly entertaining tag bout pitting Razor Ramon (pulling double duty) and 123 Kid against the Smoking Gunns. That, coupled with an OK opener between Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Fatu helped make the undercard of the show better than others ranked below it on this list but the general laziness of the booking and some of the talent on the show leads to In Your House 4 having the dubious distinction of being the worst of those events to that point.
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
