10 Best WWE In Your House PPV Matches Ever

Outside of a 2013 DVD release spotlighting the event's best matches, WWE left the In Your House name down in the catacombs for more than two decades. Though the title doesn't carry anywhere near the same weight as a WrestleMania or a SummerSlam, In Your House was a nice "light snack" between the heavier fare - B-level pay-per-views that keep the stories chugging ahead, helping WWE fill out the calendar by ensuring one special event per month.

While some In Your Houses are best left packed away for good (the October 1995 event, 1997's IYH: D-Generation X, etc), others provided the world with classic bouts - usually involving either Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels, both show-savers (or show-saviors) in the New Generation era. From the event's inception in May 1995 until the final In Your House in February 1999 (by which point the name was long relegated to a faint secondary title), the event left its mark in WWE lore.

As we anticipate the restoration of the name for the forthcoming NXT TakeOver, let's look back at the ten best matches in In Your House history.

Honorable Mentions: Bret Hart vs. Hakushi (In Your House 1), Shawn Michaels vs. Owen Hart (In Your House 6), The Undertaker vs. Mankind (Buried Alive), Taka Michinoku vs. The Great Sasuke (Canadian Stampede)

Outside of a 2013 DVD release spotlighting the event's best matches, WWE left the In Your House name down in the catacombs for more than two decades. Though the title doesn't carry anywhere near the same weight as a WrestleMania or a SummerSlam, In Your House was a nice "light snack" between the heavier fare - B-level pay-per-views that keep the stories chugging ahead, helping WWE fill out the calendar by ensuring one special event per month.

While some In Your Houses are best left packed away for good (the October 1995 event, 1997's IYH: D-Generation X, etc), others provided the world with classic bouts - usually involving either Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels, both show-savers (or show-saviors) in the New Generation era. From the event's inception in May 1995 until the final In Your House in February 1999 (by which point the name was long relegated to a faint secondary title), the event left its mark in WWE lore.

As we anticipate the restoration of the name for the forthcoming NXT TakeOver, let's look back at the ten best matches in In Your House history.

Honorable Mentions: Bret Hart vs. Hakushi (In Your House 1), Shawn Michaels vs. Owen Hart (In Your House 6), The Undertaker vs. Mankind (Buried Alive), Taka Michinoku vs. The Great Sasuke (Canadian Stampede)

10. Steve Austin Vs. Savio Vega (In Your House 8: Beware of Dog)

As violent as a bloodless match could get. Austin and Vega whipped each other into thin slices in this hard-hitting "Caribbean strap match", which was easily Austin's greatest WWF match prior to him setting his sights on Bret Hart later that year.

The pre-match stipulation was that if Austin lost, his manager, Ted DiBiase, had to depart the WWF, and sure enough, Vega won the bitter struggle. But without DiBiase in his corner, Austin starting speaking for himself and...well, you know what happened from there.

9. Bret Hart Vs. Jean Pierre Lafitte (In Your House 3)

A quarter-century before winning the ROH World Heavyweight title, PCO won the WWF World Tag Team titles thrice as Quebecer Pierre. Following that run, he was remodeled into grappling swashbuckler Lafitte, a role he played for about six months in 1995.

One of the few highlights for Lafitte was this match with "The Hitman", coming after he burgled Hart's leather entrance jacket. The stout-bodied pirate throws caution to the wind against Hart, resulting in a highly-physical battle that's sadly overlooked.

8. Bret Hart Vs. Steve Austin Vs. Vader Vs. The Undertaker (In Your House 13: Final Four)

Originally, this four-way match was to determine the number one contender for the World title at WrestleMania 13. Then champion Shawn Michaels "lost his smile", and all of a sudden, this multi-man scrum was used to fill the fresh vacancy.

Rumble winner Austin was pitted against the three men he illegally eliminated from the 30-man match (after referees missed his elimination). Eliminations could occur via pinfall, submission, or a Royal Rumble-style throw out. Most memorable was Vader getting horrifically busted open.

7. Jeff Jarrett Vs. Shawn Michaels (In Your House 2)

This Intercontinental title bout gained more notoriety for the events in the aftermath (namely, Jarrett walking out of the company that night due to a handful of disputes), but it doesn't diminish this fast-paced battle for the belt whatsoever.

Michaels was coming into his own as the true top star of the WWF as he and Jarrett weaved together a technically brilliant title bout, with HBK being hailed the hero in Jarrett's native Nashville. Those who still doubt Jarrett's abilities, give this one a whirl.

6. Shawn Michaels Vs. Diesel (In Your House 7: Good Friends, Better Enemies)

Before Kevin Nash departed for WCW that June, he held up his half of what may well be his all-time greatest match. Paired up with friend-enemy-friend-enemy Michaels for the WWF title, there were no rules to keep the two in check, affronting the company's family-friendly mandates.

Diesel strangles Michaels with a belt, Powerbombs him through a ringside table (with monitors falling onto HBK like boulders), and even uses the prosthetic leg of Mad Dog Vachon (seated in the crowd) to his advantage, but ordained hero Michaels fights his way through it all.

5. Bret Hart Vs. Davey Boy Smith (In Your House 5)

This World title bout played on history, which was a gamble - by hitching it to the Hart/Smith epic from SummerSlam 1992 at Wembley Stadium for the IC title, they were giving "The Hitman" and the British Bulldog much to live up to. Could it come close?

To its credit, the match is a more-than-worthy sequel, with a now-heel Smith vowing to defeat his brother-in-law for the top belt, while drawing every parallel he could to their opus in London. The year 1995 wasn't great for the WWF, but it ended on a very high note.

4. Shawn Michaels Vs. Mankind (In Your House 10: Mind Games)

There's a list out there of "greatest matches that didn't end decisively." Well, I don't know if that's true, but if there *is*, this match is number one on that list. Second place is blank, and it doesn't matter what's third. But there's definitely air and space after this.

Michaels and Mankind tornado'd their way through this multi-faceted battle in Philadelphia for the WWF title, with Mankind trying to outwrestle Shawn at times, and Michaels trying to out-hardcore Foley at others. The DQ finish doesn't even hurt it all that much.

3. Stone Cold Steve Austin Vs. Dude Love (Over the Edge: In Your House)

We all have this one to thank/blame for setting the template for every overbooked main event that followed, ones that are replete with ref bumps, interference, attempts at screwjobs, and stacking the deck against the hero. Except this did all of that correctly.

With Vince McMahon as the self-appointed referee, Austin walks a razor's edge in trying to defeat "corporate" Foley in one of the wildest brawls that the WWF had booked to that point. It's a true "audience" match, with highs and lows that still hold up two decades later.

2. The Hart Foundation Vs. Team USA (In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede)

The scene was Calgary, Alberta, and the Bret Hart-led Foundation that usually got booed out of American arenas were hailed as conquering heroes in their old stomping grounds. Steve Austin and company are the designated villains in the eyes of the Stampede faithful.

The crowd reactions throughout the lengthy fight are something to behold, as erstwhile-babyfaces Austin, Ken Shamrock, Goldust, and the LOD get booed every time they blink. It's a role-reversal with ungodly heat, as if the fate of the world relied on the outcome.

1. The Undertaker Vs. Shawn Michaels (Badd Blood: In Your House)

In one bout, you have 1) the debut of a gimmick match that has endured for 23 years and counting, 2) a five-star bloodbath that holds up against other Taker/Michaels matches, and 3) perhaps the most effective debut of a new character in company history.

Michaels was beaten from pillar to post, ripped apart by a vengeful Undertaker, who spent the previous two months trying to end the sneering degenerate. But before he can, Kane finally arrives, surprising his half-brother with his fiery arrival into the Federation realm.