In Your House 18: Badd Blood

Badd Blood: In Your House was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation, that took place on October 5, 1997 at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri. On the afternoon preceding this event, Brian Pillman, who was scheduled to face Dude Love on the show, was found dead in his hotel room. The announcement was made to fans during the half-hour "pregame show" prior to the pay-per-view broadcast itself. This event was also notable as the debut of The Undertaker's kayfabe brother, Kane, in WWF's inaugural "Hell in a Cell" gimmick match, as well as Vince McMahon's last pay-per-view appearance as the WWF's lead commentator.
==Background==
The main feud heading into Badd Blood: In Your House was between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels in the first ever Hell in a Cell match. The rivalry dates back to August at SummerSlam, when Michaels served as special guest referee for the WWF Championship match between Undertaker and Bret Hart. Michaels using a steel chair meant for Hart accidentally struck Undertaker instead leading to Hart winning the match and the title. This led to a match between the two the previous month at Ground Zero: In Your House, which ended in a double countout. At the time, Undertaker rejected his former manager Paul Bearer who attempted to realign with him.
After Bearer had his faced burned by a fireball thrown by Undertaker at In Your House 14: Revenge of the 'Taker, Bearer referred the incident to a fire that burned down the funeral home that killed Undertaker parents and possibly his younger half-brother of which he blamed Undertaker for but Undertaker denied it. Bearer claimed to have proof in the form of Undertaker's half brother Kane who Bearer raised after the fire and had announced to Undertaker that he was coming to the WWF to challenge him. Bearer also revealed that Undertaker's mother had an affair with him thus making him Kane's father. Undertaker and Michaels continued to feud leading to the first ever Hell in a cell match between the two for Badd Blood with the winner becoming number one contender for the WWF Championship
On the afternoon of the event, Brian Pillman, who was scheduled to face Dude Love on the show, was found dead in his hotel room. The announcement was made to fans during the half-hour "pregame show" prior to the pay-per-view being broadcast.
==Event==
A Legends Ceremony was held during the event to honor some legends of St. Louis wrestling. It was hosted by Jim Ross and honored wrestlers, including Harley Race, Jack Brisco, Dory Funk, Jr., Gene Kiniski, Terry Funk, Lou Thesz, and promoter Sam Muchnick. Also, at the top of the show, as the Nation of Domination was preparing for their match, Vince McMahon announced, as had been already announced on the Free For All show directly preceding Badd Blood, that Brian Pillman had died earlier that day (October 5, 1997). This was the last pay-per-view event that McMahon called in his position as the WWF's lead broadcaster, as he left the broadcast team altogether following the events of the next month.
The event started with the Nation of Domination taking on The Legion of Doom in what was supposed to be a six-man tag team match. However, as noted above, Ken Shamrock (who was supposed to be Hawk & Animal's partner) was out due to injury. Faarooq interfered on behalf of his Nation teammates, which enabled Kama Mustafa to kick Hawk in the back of the head and Rocky Maivia to hit the Rock Bottom for the pin.
Due to Pillman's death, his match with Dude Love was canceled and two matches had to be added to the card at the last minute to fill out the time. The first of those was a midget wrestling tag team match pitting Max Mini and Nova against Tarantula and Mosaic; Max Mini and Nova emerged victorious when Mini pinned Tarantula despite a kickout at 2.
The Headbangers then defended their WWF Tag Team Championships against The Godwinns. Late in the match, Phineas caught Mosh going for his Mosh Pit finisher and powerbombed him for the pin while Uncle Cletus held Thrasher to prevent him from making the save. After the contest was over the new champions assaulted the old champions, only stopping when threatened with losing the belts.
The next match saw the finals of the Intercontinental Championship Tournament, where Owen Hart faced Faarooq for the belt that Stone Cold Steve Austin was forced to vacate due to an injury he suffered at SummerSlam in August. Austin was at ringside for the contest, as he was to present the belt to the winner. Austin also served as guest timekeeper and guest commentator, and factored in the outcome as he hit Faarooq with the belt to knock him out while Commissioner Slaughter, who was also at ringside to prevent any incidents, was distracted. After Hart pinned Faarooq to win the belt, Austin then attacked him.
The second of two matches necessitated by the cancellation of Pillman's match was an eight man tag team contest pitting the Disciples of Apocalypse against Los Boricuas. DOA won the match after Crush pinned Miguel Perez, Jr., after a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker.
WWF Champion Bret Hart and The British Bulldog took on Vader and The Patriot in a tag-team match that followed the eight man tag. Originally scheduled to be a capture-the-flag match, where the object was to go to the opponent's corner and grab their country's flag (Canada's or America's) to win, this was changed to allow for pinfalls and submissions due to all four competitors entering the match with injuries. The changed enabled Hart to roll-up The Patriot and pin him for the victory. After the match both members of the American team assaulted their opponents.
The main event of the evening saw European Champion Shawn Michaels face off against The Undertaker in the first ever Hell in a Cell match, with the winner to face Hart for his championship at Survivor Series in November. Michaels was initially accompanied to the ring by Triple H, Chyna, and Rick Rude, his cohorts in D-Generation X, but after the cage was locked all three of Michaels' allies were forced to leave the ring. Undertaker took the fight to Michaels early and often, and his opponent was unable to mount much of an offensive attack early on in the match. Approximately halfway through the match a cameraman was (kayfabe) injured, forcing the cell door to unlock. Michaels and Undertaker took the fight to the outside of the cell; Michaels was then thrown face-first into the cage, causing him to begin bleeding profusely. The two men even climbed to the top of the Hell in a Cell to fight. This culminated with Michaels hanging from the side of the cell helplessly while Undertaker stomped on his hands, causing Michaels to fall and crash through the Spanish announcers' table. Action then returned to the inside of the cell, where the door was once again locked.
Late in the match, Undertaker used a steel chair to hit Michaels hard in his head, which was referred to on air as "payback" for a similar incident involving Michaels costing Undertaker the WWF Championship at SummerSlam when Michaels was the guest referee for Undertaker's match with Bret Hart. As Michaels lay unconscious, Undertaker made his throat-slash gesture to signify that he was either going to chokeslam or hit the Tombstone Piledriver on Michaels. As he was readying to do so, all of the lights in the arena went out and organ music began to play. Within seconds, red light filled the arena and Paul Bearer walked to the ring with the debuting Kane. Kane proceeded to rip the door of the cell off its hinges, assault referee Earl Hebner, and enter the ring. He then turned the lights in the arena back on with his soon-to-be trademark gesture of summoning fire from the corners, and nailed the Tombstone Piledriver on the Undertaker and exited the cell. Michaels then crawled over to the Undertaker while referee Earl Hebner, who had also been taken out, slowly crawled back into the ring. Undertaker was counted out and Michaels scored the victory.
==Results==
;
;
*Nation of Domination (Rocky Maivia, Kama Mustafa & D'Lo Brown) defeated The Legion of Doom (Hawk & Animal) in a Handicap match (12:16)
*Max Mini & Nova defeated Tarantula & Mosaic (6:44)
*The Godwinns (Henry & Phineas) (w/ Uncle Cletus) defeated The Headbangers (Mosh & Thrasher) to win the WWF Tag Team Championship (12:18)
*Legends Ceremony hosted by Jim Ross; honoring some legends of St. Louis wrestling, including Harley Race, Jack Brisco, Dory Funk, Jr., Gene Kiniski, Terry Funk, Lou Thesz, and promoter Sam Muchnick.
*Owen Hart defeated Faarooq to win the vacant WWF Intercontinental Championship (5:51)
*Disciples of Apocalypse (Crush, Chainz, 8-ball & Skull) defeated Los Boricuas (Savio Vega, Jesus Castillo, Jose Estrada, Jr. & Miguel Pérez, Jr.) (8:04)
*Bret Hart & The British Bulldog defeated Vader & The Patriot in a Flag Match (25:07)
*Shawn Michaels defeated The Undertaker in the first Hell in a Cell match (29:57)
===WWF Intercontinental Championship tournament===
The tournament to determine the new WWF Intercontinental Champion was held between September 8 and October 5, 1997, with the finals occurring on October 5 at the pay-per-view. The tournament brackets were:
Notes:
1 
==Aftermath==
For the next several weeks leading up to Survivor Series, D-Generation X and the Hart Foundation engaged in a battle that largely centered around Bret Hart's being from Canada. Michaels took opportunities to deface the Canadian flag quite often, including in their match at the event. As for the match itself, the controversial ending lives on in professional wrestling history as the Montreal Screwjob. Hart left the WWF afterwards for rival promotion WCW.
Austin and Owen Hart resumed their feud that had been interrupted after Summerslam due to his injury. Austin made it a point to interfere in every single one of Hart's title defenses to ensure that Owen would keep the title until Survivor Series, where he planned to take it from him. Austin did exactly that and kept the championship for most of the remainder of the year.
The Patriot disappeared from the WWF after Badd Blood due to injuries, but Vader continued to wrestle and was part of an eight-man tag match at Survivor Series where he was pinned by Davey Boy Smith. He then entered a feud with Goldust, which lasted until the Royal Rumble.
Ken Shamrock returned from his injuries shortly after Badd Blood and set his sights on the WWF Championship. He got an opportunity at D-Generation X: In Your House when he faced off against Michaels, only to lose the match via disqualification. He resumed his ongoing feud with the Nation of Domination after that, specifically targeting Rocky Maivia (who by this time was known as The Rock).
The Godwinns lost their tag team championships to the Legion of Doom on the episode of Raw aired eight days after Badd Blood. Shortly thereafter, the team began to move down the card and was eventually broken up and repackaged. The Headbangers returned to contending for the WWF Tag Team Championships for a brief period before challenging for the NWA World Tag Team Championship when that title began appearing on WWF programming as part of the WWF's NWA invasion angle. Mosh and Thrasher beat The Rock 'n' Roll Express for the titles in February 1998 and lost to Bob Holly and Bart Gunn, a repackaged version of The Midnight Express, the following month
Kane won his debut match against Mankind at Survivor Series and entered various feuds with other wrestlers, with the goal to eventually bring his brother The Undertaker into the ring with him. For months and months he staunchly refused to face him, not wanting to fight his brother. As for Undertaker, he returned to pay-per-view action at D-Generation X: In Your House by losing to Jeff Jarrett. He faced Michaels one more time at the Royal Rumble in January 1998, in a casket match for the WWF Championship. Undertaker lost the match after Kane and Paul Bearer, who came to the ring and looked like they were going to help Undertaker, instead assaulted him and locked him in the casket themselves to give Michaels the victory. After the match was over Kane struck the still-locked casket with an axe, then poured gasoline all over it and set it on fire. This was enough for Undertaker to finally agree to wrestle his brother, and the two began feuding with a match at WrestleMania XIV.
At Hell In A Cell on October 3, 2010, nearly 13 years after the first Hell In A Cell match, Kane and The Undertaker faced each other in their first actual encounter inside the Cell. Kane won, after Paul Bearer cost Undertaker the match.
==Reception==
The main event was given a 5-star match rating by Dave Meltzer, which would be the last WWF/WWE match to receive the honor until the John Cena vs CM Punk match at the 2011 Money in the Bank event.
The pay-per-view received a 0.60 buyrate, equivalent to approximately 240,000 buys.
==Other on-screen talent==
;Commentators
;*Vince McMahon
;*Jerry "The King" Lawler
;*Jim Ross
;Interviewers
;*Michael Cole
;*Dok Hendrix	
;Ring announcer
;*Howard Finkel
;*Sunny (Tag Team Championship Match)
;Referees
;*Jack Doan
;*Mike Chioda
;*Tim White
;*Earl Hebner
==See also==
*List of WWE pay-per-view events
*WWE Event History
*In Your House
==DVD release==
* In Your House 18 on DVD
==External links==
* on WWE Network
* In Your House 18 at CAGEMATCH.net
* In Your House 18 at Online World of Wrestling
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events
Category:Bad Blood
Category:1997 pay-per-view events
Category:Events with Hell in a Cell matches
Category:Events with Handicap matches
Category:Events with Flag matches