WWE Heat
September 8th, 2002
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Match One
Jackie vs. Victoria
There’s really not a hell of a lot to say for this one except that it wasn’t very good. Since we are still in 2002, The Coach and D’Lo on commentary spend a substantial amount of time talking about Victoria’s ass and Jackie’s boobs. For women’s wrestling at this time, this was completely fine. Probably even an impressive showing by Victoria who is still relatively new at this point. Anyway, Jackie hits something of a Karate blitz with a Spinning kick at the end to get the win. Not good, but better than expected. *1/4
Earlier today, Howard Finkel talks to Raven in the hallway. The Fink says that much like how Raven lost a match on Raw a couple of months ago and was banned from ever appearing on the program again, the same thing happened to Howard on Raw. He had a match against “that sailor loving floozy, Lilian Garcia”, that he lost, so now he’s no longer allowed on Raw either. Fink promises to bounce back to the top. Fink says, “it’s kind of like, Raven, we’re two peas in a pod”. Raven isn’t interested in talking to The Fink and says that Heat is his personal playground. His match against D’Lo was just one game, “one little piece of the puzzle”. They are all pawns being controlled Raven. When it comes down to it, everyone is just a small piece of my biggest masterpiece. Not really sure I want to see The Fink being paired up with Raven. If that’s where this is going, with Raven’s manipulative ways, I’m worried.September 8th, 2002
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Match One
Jackie vs. Victoria
There’s really not a hell of a lot to say for this one except that it wasn’t very good. Since we are still in 2002, The Coach and D’Lo on commentary spend a substantial amount of time talking about Victoria’s ass and Jackie’s boobs. For women’s wrestling at this time, this was completely fine. Probably even an impressive showing by Victoria who is still relatively new at this point. Anyway, Jackie hits something of a Karate blitz with a Spinning kick at the end to get the win. Not good, but better than expected. *1/4
Match Two
Shawn Stasiak vs. Shelton Benjamin
As awesome as Shelton will eventually become, he’s not there yet. He’s green as hell here, meaning he needs to be paired with somebody more reliable than Stasiak to have a good match. Stasiak is not the guy to carry anybody to a good match. Oh yeah, worth noting that Shelton has new entrance music for this one as well. They do a nice spot where Stasiak goes for a Vertical Suplex but Shelton flips behind Stasiak, lands on his feet and hits a Neckbreaker instead. Shelton lands what Coach has dubbed the Money Clip, which is basically just his Dragon Whip kick for the win. They tried hard but the match wasn’t any good, although Shelton shows promise with his athleticism. *1/2
Shawn Stasiak vs. Shelton Benjamin
As awesome as Shelton will eventually become, he’s not there yet. He’s green as hell here, meaning he needs to be paired with somebody more reliable than Stasiak to have a good match. Stasiak is not the guy to carry anybody to a good match. Oh yeah, worth noting that Shelton has new entrance music for this one as well. They do a nice spot where Stasiak goes for a Vertical Suplex but Shelton flips behind Stasiak, lands on his feet and hits a Neckbreaker instead. Shelton lands what Coach has dubbed the Money Clip, which is basically just his Dragon Whip kick for the win. They tried hard but the match wasn’t any good, although Shelton shows promise with his athleticism. *1/2
We get a video recap of the Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H match at Summerslam before seeing the Shawn Michaels interview via satellite from this week’s Raw.
On the way to the ring for his match, Raven stops to taunt D’Lo at commentary, likely confirming that their issues aren’t over with. I’m okay with this. Having a long running issue on Heat has been refreshing and entertaining.
Match Three
Raven vs. Spike Dudley
As they lock up to begin in a very unECW like start for these two, the fans break out into a quiet chant of ECW. This one was an improvement on the two matches before it but still wasn’t very good. Raven is in control but D’Lo stands up at commentary and jaw jacks with him, allowing Spike to snatch a Backslide and get the upset. If this means D’Lo/Raven is continuing I’m happy, although this match wasn’t good. *3/4
Raven vs. Spike Dudley
As they lock up to begin in a very unECW like start for these two, the fans break out into a quiet chant of ECW. This one was an improvement on the two matches before it but still wasn’t very good. Raven is in control but D’Lo stands up at commentary and jaw jacks with him, allowing Spike to snatch a Backslide and get the upset. If this means D’Lo/Raven is continuing I’m happy, although this match wasn’t good. *3/4
We see footage from during the break where Raven and D’Lo exchanged insults again, with The Coach holding back D’Lo at commentary. The Heat feud of the year is continuing, yay. One thing that bothers me with stuff like this confrontation here, is suddenly The Coach is strong enough to be able to keep D’Lo away from Raven on his own. Meh, makes D’Lo look like he can’t overpower Coach which isn’t great.
Match Four
Goldust vs. Steven Richards
Both these guys are underrated wrestlers, especially Goldust, so I was severely disappointed with the match we got here. Just seemed clunky and never really had a flow which didn’t make it all that interesting to watch. Yeah, doesn’t quite deliver as I would have liked but is still probably the best match of the night which tells you how the match quality was this show. In the end, Goldust hits his Curtain Call finish to get the win. Still not a good one. *3/4
Goldust vs. Steven Richards
Both these guys are underrated wrestlers, especially Goldust, so I was severely disappointed with the match we got here. Just seemed clunky and never really had a flow which didn’t make it all that interesting to watch. Yeah, doesn’t quite deliver as I would have liked but is still probably the best match of the night which tells you how the match quality was this show. In the end, Goldust hits his Curtain Call finish to get the win. Still not a good one. *3/4
A really average episode of Heat, with the only shining light being the beef between D’Lo and Raven.
