World Wrestling Federation presents Heat
Date: 3/18/2001
From:
Matches:
1.) Crash Holly defeated WWF Lightweight Champion Dean Malenko to win the title
2.) Raven defeated Val Venis
3.) Chris Benoit defeated Haku
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Earlier today, Michael Cole is practicing his commentary while Tazz is sleeping. George enters the scene and wakes up Tazz and is almost put in an arm bar. George brings up Taka and Funaki and says they are mocking people. They tell George to spy on them.
2.) Kaientai appear on the stage at WWF New York. Their promos are dubbed over by a voiceover guy, as per usual. Funaki does some dance moves. Taka says they are the greatest athletes in the world and they are doing to display the greatest martial arts moves of all time. Funaki finishes off by saying indeed.
3.) Backstage, Kaientai are telling security that they don’t need him. They strike the security guy and he says he’s too old for this. We see the ninja stalking them.
4.) Malenko and Holly trade some mat wrestling holds until Malenko delivers a kick to the gut. Holly hip tosses and scoop slams Malenko. Holly sends Malenko into the corner and is met with a boot. Holly powerslams Malenko for a two count. Holly hits the ring post shoulder first to allow Malenko to regain control of the match. Malenko keeps an abdominal stretch on the mat, but Holly refuses to give in. Malenko works over Holly in the corner with stomps and chokes Holly to maintain control of the contest. Malenko kicks Holly and taunts the fans. Malenko sends Holly into the corner and connects with a back suplex despite Holly trying to punch free. Holly misses a clothesline and Malenko rams Holly in the corner a few times. Malenko hooks Holly for a superplex, but Holly shoves Malenko off to the mat. Holly hits a missile dropkick for a near fall. Holly hammers away on Malenko followed by stomps. They trade a few rollups and neither man gets a three. Holly almost wins with a backslide. Malenko rolls through Holly’s rollup and locks in the Texas Cloverleaf. Molly gets on the apron and Malenko kisses her. Holly almost wins with a rollup and is stopped by a clothesline from Malenko. Malenko clotheslines Holly over the top to the floor. Holly grabs the championship, but the referee stops Holly. Molly hits a somersault dive off the top onto Malenko. Crash gets a rollup on Malenko and wins the match and title! (**. They got a lot of time considering it is Heat and I thought it was a decent match. It’s got to be a huge upset for Crash to win the title even with the interference by Molly. Malenko had been a great Lightweight Champion and I’m not sure if Crash will be able to come anywhere near that level.)
5.) Backstage, Kaientai is checking out their fruit plate and they are pissed about it. Taka attacks the fruit and they leave to get better food. The ninja jumps into the scene and steals some fruit before continuing his pursuit.
6.) Apparently, the RTC tried to recruit Raven earlier in the day as it was noted on commentary. There’s no footage of such thing happening, though.
7.) Venis backs Raven into a corner, but Raven delivers a strike. Venis knee lifts Raven a few times in the corner. Raven pummels Venis with right hands of his own. Venis gets control with several right hands in the corner. Raven sends Venis chest first into the corner and connects with a clothesline for a two count. Raven boots Venis in the gut and connects with a knee lift. Raven forearms Venis in the corner several times and stomps Venis in the corner. Venis back elbows Raven to the mat followed by an elbow drop. Venis pummels Raven with right hands. Venis chokes Raven over the middle rope as Ivory taunts Raven from the floor. Raven battles back with right hands, but Venis gains control with knee lifts and a side Russian leg sweep for a two count. Venis keeps Raven on the mat with a sleeper hold. Raven elbows free and shoulder blocks Venis a couple of times. Raven forearms Venis to the mat followed by more right hands. Raven splashes Venis in the corner followed by a bulldog out of the corner. Ivory is on the apron causing a distraction. Steven Richards tries to get involved and is knocked down by Raven. Richards accidentally superkicks Venis and Raven plants Venis with a DDT for the win. (*1/2. They kept it basic, but it was fine for what it was, really. I was honestly surprised that Raven won since he’s normally been jobbing out in non-hardcore matches. This makes me feel as if RTC may be on their last legs.)
8.) Backstage, Kaientai are in the kitchen looking to make sushi. The joke being that they are Japanese and know how to make it. The ninja has continued to follow them. I’m thinking the ninja is in fact George.
9.) X-Pac, Albert and Justin Credible make their way down to the ring to cut a promo. Pac tells the fans to shut up and listen to what he has to say. Pac talks about first arriving in the WWF in 1993 and was named the 1-2-3 Kid. Pac asks how was he supposed to get any respect with a name like that. Pac never got top matches because of his name. Pac was waiting for big money, but was just a kid. The fans begin to chant “1-2-3” just like it’s 1993 all over again. Pac returned to WWF in 1998 and put DX on the map again. Pac takes credit for the concepts and ideas because it was his attitude. Pac didn’t get the big deals because he was just a follower.. just a kid. Pac says that the kid they use to love is now the man they will hate. Pac is no longer a follower, but rather a leader. Pac proclaims it is their time. Albert gets fired up saying it’s their time. It is their time to shine, according to Pac. Credible gets the microphone and does his typical catchphrase.
10.) Backstage, Kaientai tell a security guy they need soy sauce and the ninja continues to trail them.
11.) Ninja throws powder at the door and literally sits on the ground while Taka yells at the security guy. The ninja ends up chopping the security guy.
12.) Haku backs Benoit into a corner, but Benoit arm drags Haku to the mat leading to a standoff. Haku continues to beat on Benoit in the corner with stomps and strikes. Benoit dropkicks Haku on the knee a few times to gain the advantage. They begin to trade chops until Haku delivers a big boot to drop Benoit to the mat. Haku throat thrusts Benoit on the mat. Haku drives Benoit down with a backbreaker a few times. Haku tries for a cover, but Benoit kicks out at two. Haku continues to control the match with chops in the corner and a clothesline in the corner. Haku pummels Benoit in the corner with several strikes and a headbutt as Benoit stumbled out on the corner. Haku tries for another cover, but Benoit kicks out at two. Haku forearms Benoit in the corner followed by several more strikes. Benoit boots Haku in the corner, but Haku no sells it. Benoit hooks Haku for a series of German suplexs hitting three of them. Benoit signals for the diving headbutt and goes to the top rope. Benoit leaps off, but Haku rolls out of the way. Benoit takes Haku down with a dragon screw leg whip. Benoit goes for the Crossface in the middle of the ring and wins the match. Haku never actually tapped, but must have said it. (**. These two had some fun matches back in ’97 for WCW, but this was a much shorter match so it was never going to get to that level. That being said, I still enjoyed it as they played the hits. Haku is coming across like a badass and has fit in fairly well for the WWF, which I never expected to be the case.)
13.) Backstage, Kainetai are doing their martial arts. Security enters the room to escort them to the stage, but they don’t want them. Security wants to protect them from the ninja, but Taka refuses the help and isn’t afraid of the ninja. The ninja enters the scene and attacks the security guys.
14.) Taka and Funaki are on the stage at WWF New York calling out the ninja for a fight. The ninja appears on the stage and they begin to battle. Taka chops the ninja and Funaki sends the ninja off stage. The ninja returns and gets his masked taken off to reveal that it was George “The Germ”.
Final Thoughts:
There was some enjoyable action this week, but man they need to stop using George. He is not funny. His segments are not fun. I can’t wait for him to be done on Heat.
Thanks for reading.