WWF Heat 2/20/2000

Written by: Bob Colling

World Wrestling Federation presents Heat
Date: 2/20/2000
From: Fresno, CA

Matches:
1.) Godfather & D’Lo Brown defeated Dudley Boys by disqualification
2.) WWF Women’s Champion Jackie defeated Ivory to retain the title
3.) WWF Lightweight Champion Essa Rios defeated Funaki in a non-title match
4.) Al Snow & Steve Blackman defeated Headbangers
5.) WWF Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho defeated Jeff Hardy to retain the title

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) All four men in the opening tag match start brawling as soon as the bell sounds. Godfather and Brown deliver backdrops. Godfather and D-Von legally start the match with D-Von being sent into the corners a few times. Godfather delivers a leg drop, as well. Godfather goes for the Ho Train and hits it in the corner causing D-Von fall to the mat. Brown comes off the top rope hitting a frog splash but Bubba enters with a chair to whack D’Lo over the back and that causes the disqualification. Bubba also whacks Godfather over the back with a chair. Dudley Boys grab a table and Bubba has grabbed a Ho. Brown and Godfather are able to make the save. (NR. Less than two minutes of action, but I’d be open to see these guys wrestle another match.)

2.) Backstage, Dudley Boys are pacing because they were so close to putting the Ho through a table. Bubba tells D-Von that he doesn’t know how it feels to put a woman through a table and says it’s the best feeling in the world. Bubba wants to put her through the table if it’s the last thing they do. After a commercial, Bubba is still suffering. D-Von thinks that he has an idea to help out Bubba. Bubba isn’t going to rest until someone pays. D-Von has a plan and whispers in Bubba’s ear.

3.) Ivory grabs the WWF Women’s Championship and is speared by Jackie. Ivory sends Jackie into the corner and is met with a kick to the face. Jackie clotheslines Ivory followed by a side slam for a near fall. Ivory hammers away on Jackie and tosses Jackie across the ring by her hair. Jackie plants Ivory with a float over DDT for the win. After the match, the Dudley Boys come down to the ring and attack Jackie. D-Von slides a table into the ring and Bubba has Jackie set up for a power bomb. The Hardy Boys run down into the ring and make the save.

4.) Rios puts a headlock on Funaki and attempts a spin kick but Funaki ducks it. Rios nearly wins with a power slam. Rios stomps on Funaki but Funaki comes off the ropes with a bulldog. Funaki puts Rios on the top turnbuckle. Rios drives Funaki down with a tornado DDT. Lita does a tornado DDT as well as the referee was distracted by Rios. Rios slams Funaki followed by a leg drop for a two count. Funaki kicks Rios into the ropes but misses a spear and crashes to the floor. Rios takes Funaki out with a corkscrew dive to the floor! Rios works over Funaki with chops in the corner. Rios slams Funaki and goes to the middle rope missing an elbow drop. Funaki takes Rios over with a snap suplex. Rios comes off the ropes with a spinning heel kick. Rios puts Funaki on the top turnbuckle but is yanked down by his hair. Funaki hits a Diamond Dust but Lita makes the save on the cover attempt. Rios plants Funaki with a power bomb and goes to the top rope hitting a moonsault for the win. After the match, Lita hits a moonsault, too. (**. A quick but a solid match showcasing Rios, though Lita’s involvement kind of takes the spotlight off the champion.)

5.) Backstage, Dudley Boys are pissed off in the bathroom. Bubba hates the Hardy Boys for preventing them from putting the Ho through a table.

6.) The fans are chanting Head Cheese very loudly for Al Snow and Steve Blackman. Snow takes Thrasher down with a few right hands but Thrasher dropkicks Snow. Thrasher hip tosses Snow followed by another dropkick. Mosh gets tagged in and Snow is driven gut first down into the canvas. Blackman kicks Mosh on the apron and Snow delivers a strike before tagging in Blackman. Blackman kicks Mosh several times followed by a dropkick. Mosh drops Blackman face first to the mat to avoid a head scissors and dropkicks Blackman into the corner. Snow pulls Mosh to the floor and drops him face first onto the ring steps. Blackman drives Mosh down to the mat with a backbreaker. Blackman delivers a few forearm strikes to Mosh on the canvas. Blackman scoop slams Mosh and taunts the crowd because they continue to chant for Head Cheese. Snow tags in and takes Mosh down with a side Russian leg sweep for a two count. Snow works over Mosh with right hands in the corner. Snow misses a splash and Mosh hits a Torture Rack slam. Thrasher and Blackman get tagged in with Thrasher actually cleaning house. Snow and Thrasher are in the ring but Thrasher is left alone as Blackman delivered a kick to the midsection. Snow comes off the top to leg drop Thrasher while he was over Blackman’s knee, which gets the three count. (**. I don’t think people really understand how over the Head Cheese gimmick is. In a short period of time, they went from unlikable heels to a fun comedy team. I think Snow deserves some credit for that.)

7.) Jericho has a headlock on Hardy and drops Jeff with a shoulder block. Jericho comes off the ropes with a clothesline to turn Hardy inside out. Jericho hammers away on Hardy with right hands. Hardy sends Jericho to the floor with a head scissors. Hardy takes Jericho out with a slingshot cross body. Hardy runs the guard railing but Jericho catches Hardy managing to hit a power slam on the floor! Jericho rams Hardy face first into the ring steps before returning to the ring. Jericho chops Hardy against the ropes a few times. Hardy drop toe holds Jericho face first into the bottom turnbuckle. Jeff drops Jericho throat first across the ropes and hits the Twist of Fate for a two count. Jericho counters a hurricanrana managing to put the Walls of Jericho on but Matt pulls Jeff to the ropes to save the match. Jeff plants Jericho with a DDT. Jeff heads to the top rope and hits a Swanton Bomb! Jeff has the cover but Chyna pulls Jeff off at two! Jericho tosses Jeff with a release German suplex. D-Von Dudley comes out and attacks Matt Hardy on the floor. Chyna helps out Matt but in the ring Bubba hits Jeff with the Bubba Cutter. Jericho hits the Lionsault and wins the match. (**1/2. Well, if you ignore the interference part, which makes sense, this was a solid match and would have been great if they went double the time and didn’t have the interference. The crowd was into it and I want to see these guys in the ring again.)

Final Thoughts:
A solid episode of Heat this week as the main event left me entertained for the first time in several weeks it feels like. There was quality action and the fans were into most of what was going on thus it made for an easy viewing experience.

Thanks for reading.