WWE Heat 8/4/2002

World Wrestling Entertainment presents Heat
Date: 8/4/2002
From:

Matches:
1.) Matt Hardy defeated Steven Richards
2.) Shelton Benjamin defeated Justin Credible
3.) Johnny Stamboli defeated Spike Dudley
4.) Goldust defeated William Regal

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Earlier today, Matt Hardy cut a promo saying that he doesn’t accept losing to Steven Richards the way he did last week. Tonight, Hardy is going to get revenge and nobody will stop him.

2.) Hardy goes after Richards on the floor and sends Richards into the guard railing back first before getting in the ring. Hardy plays to the crowd before delivering several right hands in the corner. Hardy decks Richards with a right hand. Hardy back elbows Richards followed by a standing fist drop for a near fall. Hardy chokes Richards with his shirt. Richards dumps Hardy to the apron and sends Hardy back first into the ring post. Richards elbow drops Hardy over the back a few times. Richards takes Hardy over with a snap suplex for a two count. Richards shoulder rams Hardy on the back a few times. Richards stomps on Hardy and keeps control with a full nelson on the mat. Hardy breaks free and hits a back suplex/elbow drop, but can’t followup quick enough. Hardy drives Richards down with a headlock slam. Hardy nails Richards with a right hand and discus strike. Hardy clotheslines Richards for a two count. Hardy runs into an elbow in the corner and connects with a neckbreaker for a two count. Richards avoids the Side Effect, but Hardy hits it on a second attempt for a two count! Hardy tries for the Twist of Fate, but Richards counters and dumps Hardy to the apron. Hardy tries for a sunset flip, but Richards blocks and almost cheats to win, but Hardy counters through. Hardy slams Richards and goes to the middle rope hitting a leg drop. Hardy tries for the Twist of Fate, but Richards holds onto the ropes and hits a bulldog for a two count. Richards sits Hardy on the top turnbuckle looking for a bulldog, but Hardy counters with a top rope Twist of Fate for the win. (**1/4. There was no surprise that Hardy would get his win back after losing to Richards last week. I was surprised that they did that big a finish on Heat, but I’m all for it. The two matches these two had some noticeable crowd reaction and I thought they were both good matches for Heat. I’d be fine with a third showdown to end the series.)

3.) Backstage, Terri interviews William Regal regarding his match with Goldust tonight. Regal reminds Terri that she was married to Goldust at one point. Regal is disgusted with the idea that he’s got to wrestle Goldust tonight and figures Goldust would enjoy a thrashing by him. Regal says that he’s got the power of the punch and Goldust will not like how that feels.

4.) Raven makes his way out to join Coach and D’Lo Brown at the announcers table.

5.) This is Shelton Benjamin’s debut on WWE television.

6.) Benjamin takes Credible down to the mat with some mat wrestling, but only manages a two count on pin attempts as Credible gets to the ropes to complain to the referee. Benjamin takes Credible over with a fireman’s carry and keeps arm control. Credible hammers away on Benjamin with right hands, but Benjamin comes back with a dropkick and hip toss. Benjamin catapults Credible across the ring with a monkey flip and keeps arm control on the mat. Credible tries for a monkey flip, but Benjamin lands on his feet and hits a side Russian leg sweep for a two count. Benjamin shoulder blocks Credible for another near fall. Credible hits a swinging DDT to gain the advantage. Credible rams Benjamin into the corner and delivers a few chops. Credible stomps on Benjamin in the corner and yells at the referee. Credible plants Benjamin with a sit down powerbomb out of the corner. Credible controls Benjamin with a front face lock, but is rammed into the corner. Benjamin fights back with right hands and kicks. Benjamin decks Credible with right hands. Benjamin press slams Credible to the mat. Benjamin takes Credible over with a northern lights suplex for a near fall. Benjamin is almost sent into the referee and Credible nearly wins with a superkick. Credible can’t believe it. Benjamin blocks a superkick and connects with a spin kick for the upset win! (*1/2. The only reason this is an upset is because Credible is on the main roster. Credible hasn’t had any momentum in forever, so it shouldn’t be a complete shock that Benjamin could win. I think it’s very obvious that Benjamin has the skills to be a successful worker in the WWE.)

7.) Stamboli attacks Spike before the bell for the cheap advantage. Stamboli lifts Dudley up into the air and drops Spike down to the mat gut first. Stamboli chokes Spike over the bottom rope and delivers a few stomps. Spike dropkicks Stamboli and follows up with right hands. Spike nails Stamboli with a headbutt to the gut. Stamboli kicks Spike and delivers a tilt a whirl backbreaker for a two count. Stamboli drops Spike gut first over the top rope and Spike crashes to the mat. Stamboli tries for a suplex, but Dudley counters with a bulldog. Stamboli continues to work over Dudley in the corner with stomps. Spike struggles to standup and avoids Stamboli in the corner. Spike hammers away on Stamboli with a flurry, but is sent chest first into the corner. Stamboli gets an abdominal stretch locked in and punches Spike on his injured ribs. Stamboli used the ropes for leverage briefly. Stamboli sits Spike on the top turnbuckle and is knocked off allowing Spike to hit a double stomp. Stamboli plants Spike with the Forget About It side slam for the clean win. (*. This is a major upset even compared to the previous match in my opinion. Stamboli managing a clean win over Spike is a shocking result on Heat. The match wasn’t all that memorable, but it didn’t overstay its welcome either.)

8.) Raven and D’Lo were bickering at the announcers table and it leads to Raven trying to cheap shot Brown, but is tossed over the announcers table by D’Lo. Raven falls to the floor and walks off while D’Lo is being cooled down by Coach to end the segment.

9.) Goldust backs Regal into a corner, but is backed off by the referee. Regal hip tosses Goldust to the mat and keeps wrist control. Goldust knocks Regal to the mat and Regal backs off to the corner to regroup. Regal knee lifts Goldust into the corner and delivers a series of forearm strikes. Goldust backdrops Regal, but is crotched over the top rope and decked by a forearm strike. Regal stomps on Goldust to maintain control of the bout. Regal knee lifts Goldust and comes off the ropes with a knee strike for a near fall. Regal forearms Goldust, but Goldust fights back with punches. Goldust clotheslines Regal a few times and drops down to uppercut Regal to the mat. Goldust tries for the Curtain Call, but Regal breaks free. Regal tries for the brass knuckles, but struggles to get them out and Goldust wins with a rollup. After the match, Regal nails Goldust with the brass knuckles to leave Goldust laid out to end the show. (*. It felt like there was minimal effort since these two regularly appear on RAW. They had less than five minutes of time and that likely played a part in the lack of compelling offense. The finish was a little lackluster, but effective in protecting Regal. The aftermath was fine to likely continue the issues between the two in the future, as well.)

Final Thoughts:
I enjoyed the show as the Hardy/Richards match was solid and the debut of Shelton Benjamin was a good one. Stamboli getting a clean win was a shocker, too. So, there’s at least some interesting things happening on Heat. I could get behind a Raven/D’Lo feud on Heat since Raven can’t go to RAW anyway. I’ll give this weeks show a thumbs up.

Thanks for reading.