In Your House was a pay-per-view series created by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The original concept was that, in months when the WWF was not holding one of its major PPV events (WrestleMania, King of the Ring, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and Royal Rumble, which at the time ran for three hours and retailed for $29.95), they would offer a two-hour PPV, priced at $19.95. This concept was somewhat abandoned when World Championship Wrestling (WCW) began offering three-hour PPV events on a monthly basis, forcing the WWF to do the same.

The events were numbered, as In Your House #1, #2, and so on, until event specific subtitles were added, such as "It's Time" (Vader's catchphrase), "Buried Alive" (describing the main event match), "A Cold Day In Hell" (contrasting gimmicks of main eventers Steve Austin and The Undertaker), "Rock Bottom" (The Rock's finishing move and the decline of his opponent Mankind), "St. Valentine's Day Massacre" (a violent event taking place in February and the PPV happened on Valentine's Day), and many others. Gradually the subtitles became main titles (whereas the PPV was not named In Your House: Fully Loaded but Fully Loaded: In Your House), until the regular named shows took over, with the current No Way Out, Backlash, Judgment Day, and Unforgiven stemming from them.

The WWF gave away a brand-new house in the Hunter's Creek subdivision area in Orlando, Florida on the first PPV to a randomly selected fan.

WWF Title: The Rock vs. Mankind, Buried Alive Match: The Undertaker vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin, WWF Tag Team Titles: The New Age Outlaws vs. Ken Shamrock & The Big Boss Man, The Oddities vs. The Headbangers, Goldust vs. Jeff Jarrett, Owen Hart vs. Steve Blackman, The Brood vs. The J.O.B Squad, Mark Henry & D'Lo Brown vs. Val Venis & The Godfather Written by Anonymous