WWE Heat 9/1/2002

World Wrestling Entertainment presents Heat
Date: 9/1/2002
From:

Matches:
1.) Goldust defeated Johnny Stamboli
2.) Steven Richards defeated Crash Holly
3.) Bradshaw defeated Justin Credible
4.) D’Lo Brown defeated Raven

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Earlier today, Stamboli cuts a promo about a guy asking what the key to a successful marriage is and that is to never introduce your wife to him.

2.) Stamboli backs Goldust into the corner and delivers an elbow strike followed by stomps and a snap suplex. Stamboli misses an elbow drop and Goldust delivers a jumping butt strike. Goldust keeps arm control on Stamboli, but Stamboli hammers away on Goldust. Goldust tries for a reverse DDT, but Stamboli counters an dangerously drops Goldust over the top rope gut first. Stamboli stomps on Goldust and chokes Goldust for a moment. Stamboli press slams Goldust down over his knee and manages a two count. Stamboli stomps on Goldust, but Goldust fires back with right hands. Goldust kicks Stamboli and hits a snap suplex. Goldust misses an elbow drop. Stamboli gains control with elbow drops leading to a near fall. Stamboli controls Goldust on the mat with a sleeper hold. Stamboli keeps the sleeper on Goldust, but Goldust breaks free with right hands. Stamboli sends Goldust chest first into the corner and delivers a clothesline to the back for a near fall. Stamboli misses a dropkick and Goldust almost wins with a rollup. Goldust plants Stamboli with a side slam causing both men to be down on the mat. They begin to trade strikes until Goldust drops Stamboli with a few clotheslines. Goldust atomic drops Stamboli followed by a clothesline for a two count. Goldust drops down and uppercuts Stamboli followed by the Curtain Call for the win. (*1/4. Goldust did the best he could, but this is the kind of showing that proves that Stamboli probably isn’t seasoned enough to even be on Heat in extended matches.)

3.) Richards backs Holly into a corner and delivers a right hand. They run the ropes until Holly clotheslines Richards followed by a dropkick. Crash scares Richards into the corner before hitting a hip toss. Holly keeps arm control on Richards. Holly punches Richards a few times, but runs into a boot. Richards elbows Holly to the mat. Richards knee lifts Holly followed by shoulder rams in the corner. Richards chops Holly in the corner a few times. Richards sends Holly hard into the corner and continues with chops and strikes to the back. Richards controls Holly on the mat with a body scissors, but Holly elbows Richards. Richards switches to a full nelson on the mat, but Holly breaks free with elbow strikes. Holly misses an elbow drop and Richards goes to the top rope. Richards is stopped by Holly and slammed to the mat. Holly hammers away on Richards several times followed by a clothesline. Crash backdrops Richards coming off the ropes and plays to the crowd. Crash scoop slams Richards and goes to the top rope, but is slowly moving up there. Crash still manages to hit a missile dropkick for a near fall. Crash sends Richards into the corner and tries for a bulldog, but Richards counters hitting the Steven Kick and cleanly pins Crash. (*1/2. A basic match that didn’t have a lot of impactful offense, but the match was fine for what it was. Richards had some new gear seemingly ditching the baggy pants for more traditional tights, which is a good move on his end.)

4.) Bradshaw backs Credible into a corner, but Credible fights out of a headlock. Bradshaw shoulder blocks Credible and takes Credible down to the mat with an arm drag. Bradshaw slams Credible to the mat and misses an elbow drop. Credible hammers away on Bradshaw, but is met with a big boot. Bradshaw forearms Credible on the back. Bradshaw decks Credible over the back. Credible connects with a swinging neckbreaker and ducks a clothesline. Bradshaw catches Credible hitting a fallaway slam. Bradshaw tries for a powerbomb, but Credible countered with a back bridge. Bradshaw plants Credible with a side suplex. Credible dropkicks Bradshaw on the knee and continues to stomp the left knee. Bradshaw staggers Credible with right hands. Credible ducks a strike to superkick Bradshaw for a near fall. Credible kicks Bradshaw, but is decked by the Clothesline From Hell to give Bradshaw the win. (*. I feel like Credible isn’t a small guy, but compared to Bradshaw he looked like a cruiserweight, which was something I was not expecting to see. Bradshaw continues to entertain me and I really could see myself buying into Bradshaw as a main event face on RAW eventually.)

5.) Raven kicks D’Lo and delivers right hands in the corner for the early advantage. Raven bails to the floor to avoid a punch by Brown. Brown baseball slide dropkicks Raven and follows up with a slingshot crossbody to the floor. Brown mounts Raven with a series of right hands. Brown misses a spear and hits the ring post. Raven sends Brown into the ring post a second time and Brown crashes to the floor. Raven sends Brown into the barricade with a side Russian leg sweep. Raven rolls Brown into the ring and kicks Brown’s arm over the top rope. Raven drops Brown with a running knee lift for a near fall. Raven goes to the middle rope and drives his knee into the upper back of Brown for a two count. Brown ducks a clothesline and drops Raven with a clothesline. Raven yanks Brown down to the mat by his injured arm. Raven controls Brown with a wrist lock, but Brown fights back with strikes. Raven tries for the Evenflow, but Brown holds onto the ropes and misses an elbow drop. Raven sends Brown chest first into the corner, but Brown comes back with a heel kick. Brown fights back with strikes and a forearm smash to Raven. Brown slams Raven followed by a leg drop for a near fall. Raven eye rakes Brown, but Brown hits a swinging side slam for a near fall. Brown hammers away on Raven in the corner with right hands. Raven takes Brown off the middle rope and has his feet on the ropes, but doesn’t get a three count. Raven kicks Brown and tries for the Raven Effect, but Brown counters with the Sky High for the clean win. (**. I found myself invested in this match since they have done a good job promoting this match for a Heat exclusive feud. I was a little surprised to see Raven lose the first encounter as I would have thought that they would drag this out a bit more. Regardless, it was a solid match.)

Final Thoughts:
It’s probably a skippable episode of Heat unless you’re invested in the Brown/Raven feud and would want to see the first match of their feud. Aside from that, there’s not much value this week.

Thanks for reading.