In Your House 13: Final Four

In Your House 13: Final Four was the 13th

The

The first feud was that between Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin, which had been brewing since shortly after Austin won the 1996 King of the Ring crown. Hart, at the time, had taken a leave of absence from the company following his WWF Championship loss to Shawn Michaels in an Iron Man Match at WrestleMania XII and the possibility existed that he might not return to the WWF (he had been negotiating with, and had received a contract offer from, World Championship Wrestling and was said to be considering leaving). Austin began berating Hart in his absence trying to goad him into a match. Hart would eventually return at Survivor Series in November 1996 and defeat Austin.^[5]

The other feud was between The Undertaker and his former manager Paul Bearer, who had turned on him at SummerSlam in August 1996. Vader, who had joined the WWF in 1996, was drawn into said feud when Bearer interfered in their match at the Royal Rumble and began managing Vader.^[6]

The winner of the Royal Rumble match, as is almost always the case, was to face the WWF Champion in the main event of WrestleMania 13 in Chicago in March 1997. In this particular instance, the Royal Rumble winner would face the winner of the main event of the pay-per-view where reigning champion Sycho Sid defended his title against Michaels, from whom he had wrested the title at Survivor Series. All four of the previously mentioned wrestlers were entered into the match.^[6]

Late in the match,

The next night on Monday Night Raw, Hart came out unexpectedly at the start of the program and expressed his frustration over what he perceived as constant mistreatment since he had returned from his self-imposed exile following his loss to Michaels at WrestleMania XII. Hart directed his attention to Vince McMahon at ringside as he was set to take his broadcast position, demanding that he be given the WrestleMania championship match, where he would face Michaels in a rematch of their contest from the previous year (Michaels having regained the championship from Sid in the main event of the pay-per-view), since he had been the last legal man in the Rumble when the match ended. McMahon ignored Hart’s demand, and the three-time WWF champion responded by quitting and storming out of the ring.^{[citation needed]}

A short time later, WWF President Gorilla Monsoon came out to clarify the situation. He confirmed Austin’s victory in the Royal Rumble, citing the longstanding Federation policy of referees’ decisions being final. However, Austin’s win did not mean he was guaranteed the title shot due to his actions in attaining the victory.^{[citation needed]}

Instead, a match was conceived for the February event to settle the dispute. Austin, Undertaker, and Vader would compete in what was called the Final Four match, with the fourth spot in the match offered to Hart if he reconsidered his quitting earlier, which he did. The match would be conducted under elimination rules, with the last man standing advancing to WrestleMania to face the champion. However, an incident involving Michaels would lead to a significant change in plans for the pay-per-view.^{[citation needed]}

As Bret Hart recalled, the plan was for him to face Michaels in a rematch of their classic at WrestleMania XII in 1996. In that match, Hart was supposed to defeat Michaels for the WWF Championship as a reward for agreeing to lose the year before. However, on a special Thursday edition of Raw that aired on February 13, 1997, Michaels announced that he was vacating the championship.

Several weeks earlier he had wrestled Hart and Sid and suffered a knee injury; Michaels revealed that doctors had told him that the damage was severe enough that he would likely have to retire from wrestling. He also said that he had “lost (his) smile” and needed to find it again, and thus he was walking away for a spell.^[3] Hart was said to be furious with the situation; he believed that Michaels was only doing this so he could get out of having to lose the belt to him as they had agreed upon and that the injury was not as bad as he was letting on.

Whatever his reasoning actually was, Michaels’ decision forced a change in plans. First, the Final Four match would now be contested for the vacant WWF Championship and Sid would remain the #1 contender for the title. Then, on the edition of Raw on February 17, the winner of the Final Four match would be obligated to make his first defense of the WWF Championship against Sid in the main event of the program.

Other feuds

The other major feuds heading into the pay-per-view event were between

The first televised match was between Marc Mero and Leif Cassidy. Mero began with a quick assault on Cassidy before getting distracted by Sable. Cassidy regrouped and applied the figure four leglock on Mero and also argued with Sable, who was in Mero's corner. Mero tried to do quick attacks on Cassidy but Cassidy managed to be on the offensive. Sable continued to distract him throughout the match and Cassidy was frustrated of her interferences. He ran before her before Mero hit Cassidy with a Wild Thing for the win.^[2][3][4]

The second match was a six-man tag team match featuring

The third match was for the WWF Intercontinental Championship between champion Rocky Maivia and Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Helmsley gained the early advantage by performing backbreakers and suplexes on Maivia. Helmsley began applying submission holds on Maivia but Maivia countered them into a small package. Helmsley kicked out of the pin until Maivia hit a flying crossbody on Helmsley. He kicked out again and nailed Maivia with a jawbreaker and a DDT. Goldust came to the ringside and distracted Helmsley. Maivia hit a Bridging German suplex on Helmsley and pinned him to retain the IC title. Following the match, as Goldust confronted Helmsley, Marlena was assaulted and choked by a female fan at ringside, who was later identified as Helmsley's new bodyguard/enforcer, Chyna. ^[2][3][4]

The fourth match was a

After In Your House, Vader and Undertaker’s feud came to an end until the next In Your House: Canadian Stampede when Undertaker was the WWF Champion while Austin and Hart’s continued.

In his mandatory defense against Sid on Raw, Hart lost the WWF Championship after Austin interfered and attacked him while Hart had the challenger locked in the Sharpshooter. Sid pinned Bret with a power bomb and won his second WWF Championship. Shortly thereafter, The Undertaker was given the #1 contender status and a match between him and Sid was signed for WrestleMania.^[3]

A frustrated Hart issued a challenge to Austin for WrestleMania, wanting to face him in a submission match. Austin accepted the challenge. Hart later received a rematch against Sid for the title in a steel cage match on March 17, and both men’s WrestleMania opponents played a role in its outcome. Austin interfered on Hart’s behalf, as he wanted an opportunity to wrestle for the WWF Championship. Undertaker, meanwhile, wanted Sid to retain the championship so he could have his title match at WrestleMania. It was Undertaker’s interference that made the difference, as he slammed the cage door on Hart as he attempted to walk out and enabled Sid to escape.

While the steel cage was being dismantled, Vince McMahon attempted to interview Hart. Hart grabbed the microphone from McMahon, shoved him to the canvas, and launched into an expletive-laced tirade as his frustrations finally boiled over. This eventually resulted in Sid, Austin, and Undertaker returning to ringside where the four men began brawling. ^[7]

Hart and Austin wrestled their regularly scheduled submission match at WrestleMania 13 with

External links

• In Your House 13: Final Four results at Online World of Wrestling