No Way Out of Texas: In Your House was the 20th In Your House and inaugural No Way Out professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on February 15, 1998, at the Compaq Center in Houston, Texas and was presented by Western Union. Seven matches were contested at the event.
This was one of the In Your House events which later became the title of an annual pay-per-view, replacing the method at the time of making new names for all events aside from the "Big Five" (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, King of the Ring, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series). It was also the last In Your House event to have the In Your House banner around the ring. However, because later events did not take place in Texas, the event's name was truncated to "No Way Out" and was not reinstated until 2000, becoming the annual February PPV until 2009, after which, only one further event was held, which was in June 2012.
Shawn Michaels did not appear in the main event as advertised, owing to a severe back injury that resulted in his first retirement after the following month's WrestleMania XIV. He was replaced by Savio Vega.
This was the last event to feature visible In Your House branding on the ring apron and the upper reaches of the venue.
Production
Background
In Your House was a series of monthly pay-per-view (PPV) shows first produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in May 1995. They aired when the promotion was not holding one of its then-five major PPVs (WrestleMania, King of the Ring, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and Royal Rumble), and were sold at a lower cost. No Way Out of Texas: In Your House was the 20th In Your House event and took place on February 15, 1998, at the Compaq Center in Houston, Texas.
Storylines
Due to jealousy over his wife and valet, Sable, receiving all the attention of the audience, Marc Mero sought to annoy the crowd by sending Sable from ringside and instead being accompanied by The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust who first dressed up as Sable and then later, in a nod to the popular song "The Beautiful People", as Marilyn Manson. Metalheads and cross dressers The Headbangers, took exception to this.
During WWF Shotgun Saturday Night, the contender Pantera (wrestler) getting ready for a moonsault on Brian Christopher who managed to get up and attack Taka Michinoku, then lay him down for the moonsault. It turned out to be a ploy as the next week Christopher and Pantera tagged up against Taka and Aguila. During the match Christopher tried to use a foreign object against Taka but it was kicked out of his hands; Pantera quickly picked it up and put it inside his mask, making use of it by tagging himself in and performing a diving head butt to take the pin.
Two Saturdays previous to the event, The Godwinns interrupted The Quebecers' match, causing them a loss by hitting them with a slop bucket; the Quebecers took revenge the following week by attacking Henry on the outside, distracting Phineas in the ring giving Savio Vega a chance to hit a spinning heel kick and win the match.
The NWA presence continued to be felt in the WWF, proposing respect for tradition whilst letting Jim Cornette's tennis racket assist them in winning matches. In a match against North American Champion Jeff Jarrett, The New Blackjacks found themselves torn apart when Barry Windham mistimed a lariat and hit team-mate Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw when trying to aid him from interference from Cornette and The Rock 'n' Roll Express. This turned out to be not so accidental as after the match, he attacked Bradshaw again and declared alliance with his origins in the NWA. Windham appeared the next week without his facial hair, severing ties with Bradshaw, but after winning a match with Jeff Jarrett against Legion of Doom, his former team mate rushed the ring and chased away the NWA contingent. Accepting a challenge from the tag team, Bradshaw revealed his partner to be Flash Funk who offered little assistance once the Express took him out behind the referee's back leading Bradshaw to fight an effective handicap match. Despite winning the match, he suffered a post-match beat down after being hit with Cornette's tennis racket and suffered a four-man elevated neck breaker followed by a figure-four leg lock, with the Express stretching his arms and Windham – now sporting blond hair, further separating his image with Bradshaw – striking with a running bodysplash.