Written by: Bob Colling
World Wrestling Federation presents Heat
Date: 11/1/1998
From: Austin, TX
Matches:
1.) Hardy Boys defeated Animal & Droz
2.) Steven Regal defeated Bradshaw
3.) Edge, WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Christian & Gangrel defeated Kurrgan, Golga & Giant Silva
4.) Steve Blackman defeated D’Lo Brown
5.) Jeff Jarrett defeated Val Venis
6.) The Undertaker fought The Godfather to a no contest
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Tomorrow night on RAW, Vince McMahon will have an announcement regarding his career. They did a video package with some sappy music as it may be a big announcement.
2.) Animal and Droz go right after the Hardy Boys with Droz hitting a leaping back elbow. Matt backdrops Droz to the floor while Animal powerslams Jeff. Droz beats on Matt while Animal hits a powerbomb. Droz is arguing with Hawk at ringside. Animal hits a double suplex on the Hardy Boys. Animal is dropkicked from behind and the Hardy’s hit a double suplex. Jeff and Matt go to opposite corners to hit a splash and leg drop and manage to pin Animal clean in the middle of the ring! (**. A really quick match, but I dug what they did here from a storytelling standpoint. Hardy’s didn’t even get an entrance for the match and they pulled off a huge upset and did so cleanly.) After the match, Droz and Hawk continue to argue and Animal is fed up with the whole situation, too. Hawk grabs a microphone and gives Droz 24-hours to rest up and wants to wrestle. Droz accepts and mocks Hawk for drinking booze.
3.) Backstage, Shane McMahon was with the Hardy Boys to give them props for their win. In a hilarious moment, Matt was about to cut a promo and the camera decide to cutaway quickly.
4.) A video promoting Steven Regal is shown. Regal is a real man’s man. He’s not afraid to sweat. Regal cuts a promo saying that he’s going to issue a challenge to anyone in the back to wrestle him tonight. Bradshaw answers the challenge. If they beat him then they’ll be a good man.
5.) Bradshaw attacks Regal in the corner with right hands and a big boot. Bradshaw connects with a clothesline in the corner a couple of times. Bradshaw hits a side suplex followed by a quick elbow drop for a two count. Regal stops Bradshaw with an uppercut in the corner several times. Regal kicks Bradshaw across the back, but Bradshaw fights back with a scoop slam. Regal ducks a big boot and hits a leg trapped bridging suplex to cleanly pin Bradshaw! (*1/2. Regal’s character is cringeworthy since he’s still wearing his Lord Steven gear. It seemed like a weird decision to have Bradshaw lose here. The crowd popped for him and he seemed like a good option to elevate up the card. I’d imagine this development would hinder that, though.) After the match, Jackyl appears at ringside and talks to Bradshaw.
6.) Edge decks Kurrgan from behind but runs into a choke hold. Edge breaks free and is met with a bearhug, which Kurrgan switches to a swinging side slam. Silva enters and slams Christian while nailing Gangrel with a clothesline. The camera cuts to someone up in the rafters, and the commentators thinks its Kane. Golga splashes Gangrel in the corner before hitting a leg drop for a two count. Golga hits a middle rope elbow drop on Gangrel. Golga slams Gangrel and there is a distraction on the floor with some brawling. Golga is met with a double DDT for the win. (1/2*. There just wasn’t much going on here, really. The main takeaway was whether or not Kane was in the rafters.)
7.) They have been promoting Shane McMahon as possibly being the owner of the WWF tomorrow night on RAW. Shane is seen talking to some guys involved in production.
8.) Backstage, Kevin Kelly talks to Steve Blackman who says that Owen Hart isn’t fooling anyone with Blue Blazer costume. Blackman knows that it’s Owen because only a nugget leaves that kind of smell.
9.) Brown kicks Blackman, but misses an elbow drop. Blackman misses a dropkick as Brown held onto the ropes. Brown works over Blackman but is met with a kick to the chest. Blackman hammers away on Brown for a moment. Brown kicks Blackman and hits a running Liger Bomb! The Headbangers come out and distract Mark Henry at ringside. Brown scoop slams Blackman before going to the top rope. Thrasher shoves Brown off the top rope and Blackman manages to pin Brown with a rollup. (1/2*. Well, this is just an angle advancement for the Nation with Headbangers.) After the match, the Headbangers brawl with Brown and Henry at ringside. These two wrestle tomorrow night on RAW for a tag title shot.
10.) Jarrett attacks Venis from behind followed by a back elbow and more right hands. Venis plants Jarrett with a spinebuster and plays to a few women in the front row. Debra gets on the apron allowing Jarrett to deliver a knee lift. Terri runs down to ringside to confront Debra. Jarrett plants Venis with a DDT for a near fall. Venis connects with a powerslam as Jarrett comes off the ropes for a two count. Venis delivers a few knee lifts, but Jarrett backdrops Venis over the top to the floor. Debra checks on Venis causing Terri to come over and confront Debra again. Venis hits a vertical suplex from the apron into the ring and gets distracted by the women on the floor. Jarrett is able to hit Venis with a frontward falling leg sweep (The Stroke) to win the match. (*1/2. The action was decent, but the main focus was again on people outside the ring.) After the match, Terri apologizes for making a mistake. Terri announces that they are pregnant and Venis is not happy about that news being revealed. Venis refutes that announcement. Venis says they are not pregnant and that Terri is the only person pregnant. It’s Terri’s problem, not theirs. Venis proceeds to leave Terri.
11.) Dan Severn was interviewed from his home. Severn is wearing a neck brace and says he’s felt better. He suffered a spinal shock, but he’s doing better. Severn can’t think about returning to the WWF at the moment. Severn plans to be on RAW tomorrow night to confront Owen Hart!
12.) Shane McMahon makes his way down to the ring to be interviewed by Kevin Kelly. Kelly asks what the announcement is going to be that Vince McMahon has been talking about. Shane has absolutely no idea what the announcement could be. Shane gets a little emotional as the fans chant for Steve Austin. Shane hired Austin back because his father was wrong. Shane has a vision that has no stooges, swerving, no lying and no screwing. Shane has no idea what Vince is going to say tomorrow night. Shane says whatever Vince has to say will be too little, too late.
13.) Godfather offers some hoes to Undertaker before the scheduled match. Taker refuses that offer by hammering away on Godfather. The referee gets knocked down quickly. Taker knocks down two more referees as Taker slams Godfather. Kane’s music hits and appears in the rafters. That’s how the show ends.
Final Thoughts:
They had a lot going on here and they did a good job of promoting several things for RAW the following night. I enjoyed the episode this week.
Thanks for reading.