WWF Heat 9/17/2000

Written by: Bob Colling

World Wrestling Federation presents Heat
Date: 9/17/2000
From: Phoenix, AZ

Matches:
1.) Tazz defeated Brooklyn Brawler in a strap match
2.) D’Lo Brown & Chaz defeated Taka Michinoku & Funaki
3.) WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Dean Malenko defeated Crash Holly to retain the title
4.) WWF Women’s Champion Lita defeated Ivory & Jacqueline to retain the title

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Earlier today, Just Joe met with Brooklyn Brawler and says that Tazz had been going around discrediting Brooklyn Brawler’s toughness. Of course, this leads to Brawler issuing a challenge to Tazz. Just Joe ran into Tazz moments later and Tazz chokes Joe asking if he has an issue with him. Joe knows someone that has an issue and tells Tazz it’s Brawler. Joe says that Brawler said that Tazz wouldn’t allow a retired wrestling commentator kick his ass. Tazz says that Brawler will wrestle him in a strap match.

2.) Tazz decks Brawler with a clothesline to start the strap match and whips Brawler a few times over the back. Tazz beats on Brawler with more whips with the strap. Brawler fights back with a low blow and a scoop slam. Brawler whips Tazz over the back with the strap several times. Brawler chokes Tazz on the mat followed by right hands. Brawler eye rakes Tazz followed by a clothesline. Brawler eye gouges Tazz against the ropes. Brawler tosses Tazz to the mat and misses a clothesline. Tazz locks in the Tazz Mission to win the match. (1/4*. I’m glad Tazz won the match, but man what a fall from grace for Tazz in the WWF.) After the match, Tazz grabs a microphone. Tazz delivers his trademark catchphrase for the second time on the program and it’s been about ten minutes.

3.) Backstage, WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Dean Malenko is chatting with Mick Foley. Malenko wants to give Crash Holly a chance at being the champion. Malenko wants Crash to have a chance to enjoy a woman. Foley agrees to give Holly the match.

4.) Chaz knee lifts Funkai followed by a right hand and a scoop slam. Chaz misses a leg drop and Funaki delivers a seated dropkick. Taka enters to double team Chaz with strikes. Chaz elbows Taka to the mat and tags in Brown. Taka drop toe holds Brown to the mat. Taka superkicks Brown on the jaw. Chaz plants Taka with the Burning Hammer. Brown scoop slams Taka and tags in Chaz. Chaz splashes Taka after being lifted by Brown. Chaz connects with a jackhammer on Taka, but doesn’t go for the cover. Chaz works over Taka with stomps in the corner. Taka comes off the ropes and is met with a spinebuster by Brown. Brown hooks Taka to hit a vertical suplex. Chaz returns to the match and works over Taka with chops. Taka punches Chaz in the corner to hit a tornado DDT. Brown and Funaki get tagged in with Funaki getting the advantage. Funaki bulldogs Brown and Chaz gets met with a drop toe hold and a dropkick. Taka plays to the crowd allowing Brown to hit the Sky High. Chaz stops Funaki on the top and that leads to the superplex/frog splash combo for the win. (**. Honestly, D’Lo Brown and Chaz are over with the crowd judging by the response here. I’m convinced they didn’t get a fair shot in the tag division.)

5.) Chyna makes her way down to the ring for a promo segment. Chyna wants to explain what’s going on between herself and Eddie Guerrero lately. She says that it looks like they are having problems, but that’s from an outside perspective. Chyna says they have lows and highs, but they have a lot of highs. Chyna says that Guerrero does make her cry, but she also laughs a lot. Chyna says there is just something about Guerrero that she seemingly can’t leave. Chyna forgives Guerrero and hopes that the fans can forgive him, too. Chyna promises that Guerrero will not take her opinion away. Chyna believes in her freedoms and announces that she’s posed for Playboy magazine. Chyna knows that Guerrero isn’t going to like it but she’s proud of it. The issue comes out on September 25th. Mideon enters the ring from behind and struts. Mideon gets his butt slapped and runs away. Chyna promises we’ll see a lot of her in Playboy.

6.) Malenko and Holly shake hands to show respect for each other. They counter each other on the mat a few times. Malenko keeps leg control on the mat, but Holly manages to get to his feet. Holly hip tosses Malenko followed by a dropkick. Holly misses a baseball slide and they return to the ring for a standoff. Malenko beats on Holly with several strikes to keep control of the contest. Malenko snaps Holly over with a snap suplex for a two count. Malenko slams Holly and keeps leg control on the mat. Malenko stomps on Holly’s knee. Malenko sends Holly chest first into the corner, but Holly counters a back suplex. Malenko counters Holly with a side Russian leg sweep. Holly nearly wins with a sunset flip. Holly nearly wins with a backslide. Malenko powerbombs Holly and tries for the Cloverleaf and locks it in to win the match by submission. (*1/4. Is that the payoff of this angle? Malenko just beats Holly cleanly to show that Crash isn’t on his level? The action was pretty much nothing for the most part.)

7.) Jacqueline and Ivory work over Lita with strikes but Lita fights back with a clothesline. Lita hits a head scissors on Jacqueline. Ivory misses a dropkick and Lita nearly wins the match. Ivory and Jacqueline backdrop Lita to the floor. Jacqueline decks Ivory with a few rights until Ivory hits a bulldog out of the corner for a two count. Jacqueline nearly pins Ivory with a crossbody as Lita makes the save. Ivory decks Lita with a clothesline and Jacqueline nails Ivory with a clothesline. Lita sends Jacqueline to the floor and hits the Twist of Fate on Ivory. Lita goes to the top rope managing to hit a moonsault for the win. (*. Kind of what you’d expect from these three women. They weren’t given much time to produce anything but managed to do some usual three way spots.)

Final Thoughts:
We close out September, since next week is just a pre-show for the PPV, as a weak month for Heat. They advanced some angles, and D’Lo/Chaz continue some momentum, but the stuff provided on Heat this month was mostly disappointing or uninteresting.

Thanks for reading.