Written by: Bob Colling
World Wrestling Federation presents Heat
Date: 3/24/2002
From: Ottawa, Ontario
Matches:
1.) Val Venis defeated Lance Storm
2.) Big Show & Kane defeated Dudley Boys
3.) Rikishi defeated Goldust
4.) WWF Intercontinental Champion Rob Van Dam defeated Mr. Perfect to retain the title
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Venis hammers away on Storm to start the contest. Venis clotheslines Storm in the corner followed by a vertical suplex. Storm fights back with forearms, but runs into a big boot. Storm forearms Venis, but is met with a clothesline. Venis clotheslines Storm over the top to the floor. Storm shoulder rams Venis from the apron. Storm spikes Venis with a DDT after countering a suplex. Storm elbow drops Venis several times. Storm clotheslines Venis leading to a near fall. Storm elbow strikes Venis several times. Storm rams Venis into the corner face first followed by a few strikes. Venis fights back with strikes in the corner. Storm heel kicks Venis from behind for a near fall. Storm gets a two count after an elbow drop. Venis kicks Storm and tries for a neckbreaker, but Storm counters with a side Russian leg sweep. Storm puts an abdominal stretch on the mat, but Venis doesn’t give in. Val manages to reach the ropes to break the hold. Venis punches Storm a few times and delivers a leaping shoulder block. Venis with a few more strikes and an elbow drop. Venis comes off the ropes with a knee drop. Storm elbows free from Venis, but Venis hits a sit out powerbomb for a near fall. Venis plants Storm with a bulldog. Storm gets the half Boston Crab on Venis, but Venis reaches the ropes. Storm elbows Venis in the corner, but Venis plants Storm with a side slam. Venis heads to the top rope, but Storm slams Venis to the mat. Storm hits a German suplex for a near fall. Storm signals for a superkick, but Venis blocks it. Venis powerslams Storm and heads to the top rope. Venis hits the Money Shot for the win. (*1/2. Well, that got plenty of time for a Heat match and I was shocked that Venis got a clean win over Storm. The crowd didn’t seem to care, but the action wasn’t bad, really.)
2.) Backstage, the Dudley Boys are chatting. D-Von says they are next and Bubba says there’s nothing wrong with him. Bubba has no regrets regarding Stacy. Bubba says they have accomplished a lot together. Bubba knows they are the best. Bubba says nobody can take their accomplishments away. Bubba notes that it could be taken away when they are possibly drafted to different shows. Things could never be the same after RAW tomorrow.
3.) Kane and Bubba start the tag match with Bubba delivering a few punches to Kane, but Kane no sells it. Kane clotheslines Bubba followed by another clothesline in the corner and a big boot. Show tags into the match and controls Bubba with a wrist lock. Bubba eye rakes free and D-Von runs into a side slam. Show sends D-Von into the corner and delivers a back splash before decking Bubba off the apron. Bubba tries for a chokeslam on both Dudley’s, but they break free. Show clotheslines both men for a two count. Kane punches D-Von to the floor and they brawl as D-Von sends Kane into the ring post. Show catches D-Von coming off the middle rope, but D-Von wiggles free and the Dudley’s hit a double back suplex on Show. Dudley’s hit the What’s Up on Show. Bubba wants to get a table. Kane stops D-Von on the floor, but Bubba comes over to help. Dudley’s put Kane through the table with a suplex. Show is driven down to the mat with a double flapjack. Show headbutts D-Von but misses a splash in the corner. D-Von leaps onto Show’s back to lock in a sleeper.
Kane has recovered and is on the apron looking for a tag. Show delivers a side slam. Bubba gets the hot tag as does Kane. Kane cleans house with right hands and a spinebuster. Kane side slams Bubba and big boots D-Von. Kane heads to the top rope hitting a leaping clothesline on Bubba for a two count. Kane tries for a chokeslam, but Bubba makes the save. Kane avoids a 3D and the Dudley’s suffer stereo chokeslams leading to Kane pinning Bubba for the win. (*1/2. A basic tag match that was okay in delivery. I’m not surprised that the Dudley’s lost their apparent last time teaming together.)
4.) Goldust taunts Rikishi to start the match and rubs himself. Rikishi decks Goldust with a right hand and Goldust retreats to the corner. Rikishi gains control with a shoulder block. Goldust low blows Rikishi and delivers a few right hands in the corner. Goldust sends Rikishi hard into the corner and continues with strikes to knock Rikishi to the mat. Goldust delivers a forearm over the apron, but Rikishi fights back with right hands. Goldust kicks Rikishi to the mat to counter a backdrop attempt. Goldust comes off the ropes and Rikishi plants Goldust with a belly to belly suplex followed by a leg drop. Goldust kicks Rikishi away a couple of times. Goldust hits a neckbreaker for a two count. Goldust comes out of the corner and met with a savant kick by Rikishi. Rikishi drags Goldust to the corner and hits a sit down splash for the win. (*. This was essentially an extended showcase for Rikishi, which I still don’t understand. Goldust isn’t a top priority, but to have this be a showcase for Rikishi was a little baffling. Ever since his heel run a face Rikishi just seems a bit weird to me.)
5.) Perfect chops RVD in the corner a few times until RVD shoulder rams Perfect a few times. Perfect bails to the floor to regroup. Perfect rams RVD into the turnbuckle from the apron and delivers several strikes. Perfect delivers a rolling neck snap to control RVD. Perfect locks in an abdominal stretch until RVD hip tosses free. RVD misses a spin kick and ducks a clothesline to hit a spinning heel kick. RVD forearms and kicks Perfect leading to the rolling thunder. RVD tries for a cover, but Perfect gets his boot on the ropes. RVD tries for a monkey flip, but Perfect counters and gets his feet on the ropes for a two count on a cover attempt. RVD spin kicks Perfect and hits the Five Star Frog Splash for the win. (*. A quick match that didn’t do Perfect a lot of favors. The finish was impressive since RVD went more than halfway across the ring to perform it. Perfect’s not in a top singles position and is likely here to elevate new talent, which fits him well.)
Final Thoughts:
An average episode of Heat this week as nothing stands out as being all that entertaining. I continue to be surprised by some booking decisions, like Venis going over. These shows are a breeze to get through and tend to be enjoyable to see undercard wrestlers getting some time to shine.
Thanks for reading.