WWF Heat 8/30/1998

Written by: Bob Colling

World Wrestling Federation presents Heat
Date: 8/30/1998
From: New York, NY

Matches:
1.) Brian Christopher & Scott Taylor defeated the Legion of Doom
2.) Gangrel defeated Dustin Runnels
3.) Skull & 8-Ball defeated Bradshaw & Vader

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) This show is aired live at MSG since tonight is SummerSlam!

2.) Shawn Michaels makes his way out to a good ovation and will be on commentary for Heat.

3.) Road Warrior Hawk replaces Droz for the match and is wearing his LOD helmet. Animal is attacked by Taylor and Christopher from behind. Taylor is the legal man and delivers a dropkick before tagging in Christopher. Animal is taken down with a double suplex. Christopher works over Animal with a scoop slam but only gets a near fall. Animal counters a duplex attempt and takes both Taylor and Christopher down with one of his own. Animal follows up with a clothesline on Christopher and a power slam on Taylor. Animal power bombs Taylor and Hawk goes to the top rope but is backwards . Hawk falls off and hits Animal allowing Taylor to get the win. (1/2*. It’s incredible how far LOD has fallen and how ridiculous this angle is getting for Hawk. It’s a huge win for Too Much, though.)

4.) Backstage, WWF World Champion Steve Austin is waiting for the Undertaker or Kane to arrive and has a sledgehammer in hand.

5.) Shawn Michaels is in the ring and calls out Sable for an interview in the ring. She will have a mystery tag partner tonight. Sable says the Sable Bomb will be dropped on Jacqueline tonight. Michaels asks who the mystery partner will be. Sable says if she were to tell it wouldn’t be a secret. Her partner will not be one of the Oddities. She wants to see what Shawn Michaels has to offer with his dance moves. They dance a little while and it seems like Sable was really uncomfortable being in the ring with Michaels.

6.) Gangrel attacks Dustin from behind and works over Runnels with several strikes but Dustin drives Gangrel face first into the canvas. Runnels misses a strike in the corner and Gangrel follows up with a clothesline and elbow drop. Dustin drops Gangrel throat first across the top rope. Gangrel nearly wins with a snap power slam. Dustin fights back with a clothesline and atomic drop for a two count. Gangrel counters a backdrop attempt with a jumping DDT and wins the match. (1/2*. I’m digging Gangrel thus far.)

7.) Backstage, Michael Cole meets up with DX. Triple H tells Cole that things around here will never be the same.

8.) Backstage, Michael Cole interviews Vince McMahon. Vince is concerned about Austin having a sledgehammer because he needs to protect the main event tonight. He will personally take the sledgehammer away if he needs to.

9.) Jeff Jarrett and Souther Justice attack The Fink and shave his head to add more heat to his upcoming match with X-Pac at SummerSlam. Jarrett gets the mustache as well.

10.) Backstage, Gerald Briscoe, Pat Patterson and Sgt. Slaughter try to get Austin to hand over the sledgehammer but fail at accomplishing that.

11.) Backstage, the goons tell Vince McMahon that they failed to get the sledgehammer and McMahon says that he is going to get it himself from Austin.

12.) Vader and Bradshaw can’t agree on who will start the match and they get in each others face. Bradshaw goes to the apron to allow Vader to start with Skull. Vader jabs Skull in the corner several times. Skull pummels Vader in the corner and hits a power slam but doesn’t go for the cover. Vader runs over Skull with a body strike and Bradshaw tags in but confronts Vader. Bradshaw misses a clothesline and gets met with one from Skull. Bradshaw big boots Skull and tags in Vader. Vader knocks Bradshaw off the apron and Vader gets decked. Skull rolls Vader up and wins the match. (1/2*. Well, obviously the team of Vader/Bradshaw wasn’t going to workout. The fans are still giving Vader a warm reception despite his lack of wins as of late.) After the match, Vader and Bradshaw brawl until officials come out and break them apart.

13.) Backstage, Vince McMahon tries his luck to get the sledgehammer from Steve Austin. Austin tells McMahon that the main event will happen but he is going to make sure Kane doesn’t attack him. Sgt. Slaughter tried to get the sledgehammer but Austin didn’t let go. McMahon and his goons bail.

14.) The Nation enter the ring to cut a promo but that doesn’t last long because DX runs out and they have a brawl. Rock hits HHH on the knee and HHH crumbles to the mat.

15.) Austin is still waiting and a hearse pulls up to the door. Austin pulls the driver out and begins to destroy the hearse with the sledgehammer. Austin gets the forklift and rams it into the hearse. There isn’t anyone in the hearse as the show comes to an end.

Final Thoughts:
An hour program and there was fifteen segments. A lot of stuff going on to hype up the show. I thought it was a fine way to get people amped up for SummerSlam and all the segments made for a quick hour. I can’t complain about this one.

Thanks for reading.