In Your House 14: Revenge of the 'Taker

Background

The main feud heading into In Your House 14 was between Steve Austin and Bret Hart. Their rivalry began in 1996 after Austin won the 1996 King of the Ring tournament and began taunting Hart, who was inactive at the time. Austin insulted Hart in his speeches so Hart could accept his challenge to a match. Hart returned in October and accepted Austin's challenge, with the two facing each other at Survivor Series where Hart defeated Austin. Their rivalry continued as Hart and Austin were the final two participants in the 1997 Royal Rumble match. Hart had originally eliminated Austin from the match but Austin's elimination was considered unofficial as the officials didn't see it because they were busy in a brawl between eliminated wrestlers Mankind and Terry Funk. They were participants in a Four Corners Elimination match for the vacant WWF Championship at In Your House 13: Final Four, which Hart won. The next night on Raw, Austin cost Hart the WWF Championship against Sycho Sid when Hart had applied the Sharpshooter on Sid, Austin nailed Hart with a steel chair followed by Sid powerbombing Hart for the win. Hart and Austin were booked to wrestle in a no disqualification submission match at WrestleMania, but Hart got a shot at the WWF Championship in a steel cage match on the March 17 edition of Raw Is War, with the winner defending the title against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 13. Hart had almost the match won, until Undertaker interfered and helped Sid in getting the victory. At WrestleMania 13, Hart faced Austin in a No Disqualification Submission match where he applied the Sharpshooter on Austin in the end of the match. Austin was heavily bleeding and passed out. Hart won the match but he did not release the hold. It resulted in a double turn, as Hart turned heel and Austin turned babyface. Hart then was booked to face Sid at In Your House, but during the April 7 episode of Raw Is War, Sid no-showed and Austin volunteered to face Sid's scheduled opponent, Mankind, if Austin faced Hart at In Your House. Hart then reformed the Hart Foundation by recruiting Owen Hart and The British Bulldog. Brian Pillman joined on April 21 and Jim Neidhart joined on April 28. The entire faction feuded with Austin.

The other feud heading into the event was between The Undertaker and Mankind. On the April 1, 1996, edition of Monday Night Raw, Undertaker faced Justin Bradshaw in the main event where Mankind interfered and attacked Undertaker, thus disqualifying Bradshaw in the process. At King of the Ring, Mankind defeated Undertaker in their first encounter. Mankind invented Boiler Room Brawl match and the first-ever Boiler Room Brawl took place at SummerSlam, which Mankind won after Undertaker's manager Paul Bearer betrayed him. Undertaker invented a Buried Alive match and the first-ever Buried Alive match took place at In Your House 11: Buried Alive, which Undertaker won. They faced each other in a normal one fall match at Survivor Series, which Undertaker won. On the March 31 edition of Raw is War, Bearer asked WWF Champion Undertaker to forgive him and take him back as his manager but Undertaker refused to do so. Mankind came out and attacked Undertaker, while former champion Sid saved Undertaker. This led to a match between Undertaker and Mankind at In Your House 14.

Event

Before the event aired live on pay-per-view, The Sultan defeated Flash Funk at Free for All. The first match that aired live was a tag team match for the WWF Tag Team Championship. The champions Owen Hart and British Bulldog defended the titles against Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal). LOD won the match after a Doomsday Device on Bulldog and pinned him, but the match continued because Owen was the legal man in the ring. Bret Hart made a run-in during the match, however, and interfered by attacking the referee. Hart and Bulldog were disqualified and Legion of Doom won the match but did not become champions, because a title cannot change hands via disqualification. As a result, Hart and Bulldog retained their titles. The second live match was an Intercontinental Championship match between Savio Vega and the champion Rocky Maivia. Vega was supported by his stable Nation of Domination. During the match, Nation member Crush interfered and hit Maivia with a Heart Punch outside the ring. Maivia was counted-out and lost the match. Vega won the match by countout but did not become champion because a title cannot change hands via countout. After the match, the entire Nation attacked Maivia but Nation's enemy Ahmed Johnson came out with a wooden board and cleared the ring.

The third match saw "Double J" Jesse James face Rockabilly. Jesse won the match when he pinned Rockabilly with a small package. The fourth match was a WWF Championship match between the champion The Undertaker and Mankind. Undertaker hit Mankind with a Tombstone Piledriver and pinned him to retain his title. He chased Paul Bearer in the ring and beat both Bearer and Mankind. He then followed by shooting a fireball into Bearer's face. The final match was the main event of the show between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Bret Hart. During the match, British Bulldog made a run-in and hit Austin with a steel chair. Austin won the match by disqualification, but Bret, Owen and Bulldog all continued to attack him. Hart got the ring bell and tried to hit Austin with it, but Austin instead cocked the bell to hit Hart. He hit a steel chair in Hart's knee and applied Hart's own maneuver, Sharpshooter on him until all the officials pulled him apart from Hart. Bret, Owen and Bulldog retreated from the ring while Austin celebrated his victory inside the ring.

Aftermath

Stone Cold Steve Austin continued his feud with The Hart Foundation, which culminated in Austin and Shawn Michaels defeating Owen Hart and The British Bulldog for the WWF Tag Team Championship on the May 25, 1997 edition of Raw is War. However, Michaels was injured and they vacated the titles on the July 14 episode of Raw is War. The rivalry finally ended at In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede where Austin captained a team consisting of Ken Shamrock, Goldust and the Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) against the entire Hart Foundation in a five-on-five tag team match. Hart Foundation went on to win the match.