WWE Heat 6/23/2002

World Wrestling Entertainment presents Heat
Date: 6/23/2002
From: Columbus, OH

Matches:
1.) The Hardy Boys defeated Raven & Steven Richards

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) D’Lo Brown and Coach are on commentary to promote the matches to take place at King of the Ring, which takes place after Heat tonight.

2.) Jamie Noble and Nidia arrived in a beat up and muddy looking truck. Nidia has Hurricane’s cape with her. Noble challenges for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Noble promises to ride in class after tonight.

3.) Backstage, Terri interviewed Ric Flair and said that Flair is one of the greatest and wrestles Eddie Guerrero tonight. Flair believes that he has one last great run left in him and it will mean nothing if Guerrero beats him tonight. Flair has to prove that he is still the man.

4.) Backstage, Jerry Lawler interviews Molly Holly regarding her title match against Trish Stratus. Molly is looking forward to bringing dignity back to the WWE Women’s Championship. Lawler promotes the Divas Undressed special on Tuesday. Molly turned down an offer from them and she’s not going to show her body. Lawler makes a joke about her big butt and says that Molly rented her butt out as a drive in movie theater and says her ass is like an iMAX.

5.) Raven and Matt start the main event, but Raven tags out to Richards. Matt controls Richards with a wrist lock, but Richards delivers a few right hands. Matt connects with a clothesline and is distracted by Raven. Raven drops Matt throat first over the top rope from the apron allowing Richards to keep control. Richards tries for a suplex, but Matt counters with one of his own. Jeff tags in and forearms Richards. Jeff leaps off Matt’s back to splash Richards in the corner. Jeff leg drops Richards on the lower midsection for a two count. Raven pulls down the ropes to cause Jeff to fall over the top to the floor. Richards manages a two count. Richards connects with a snap suplex on Jeff for a two count. Raven drives down on Jeff’s neck from the middle rope with his knee. Richards controls Jeff on the mat with a full nelson, but doesn’t get a submission. Jeff leg drops Richards legs and has a cover, but Raven dropkicks Jeff while the referee is distracted by Matt. Raven sends Jeff into the corner chest first and follows up with a clothesline. Raven knee lifts Jeff for a two count. Richards tags back in and slams Jeff for a two count. Raven returns to the match, but Jeff delivers a jawbreaker. Richards tags back in and is kicked away by Jeff. Matt tags in and clotheslines Richards a few times. Matt backdrops Richards and knocks Raven off the apron. Matt fist drops Richards followed by a slam. Matt comes off the middle rope to hit a leg drop for a near fall as Raven pulled Matt to the floor and sent into the ring post. Raven tries for a DDT, but Matt counters with the Side Effect. Richards superkicks Matt for a near fall. Raven walks out on Richards allowing Matt to hit the Twist of Fate and Jeff hits the Swanton Bomb for the win. (**1/2. The superkick spot by Richards was a great near fall as the crowd really thought the Hardy’s were going to lose. I enjoyed the match as they kept a great pace and the moves were entertaining. This is the ideal way to hype up your PPV crowd before the big show.)

Final Thoughts:
I enjoyed this show as a pre-show for King of the Ring. We got a good tag match and they did a fine enough job promoting the feuds leading into the PPV.

Thanks for reading.