World Wrestling Entertainment presents Heat
Date: 2/16/2003
From: Los Angeles, CA
Matches:
1.) Spike Dudley defeated Christopher Nowinski
2.) Steven Richards defeated Aaron Aguilera
3.) WWE Women’s Champion Victoria defeated Jacqueline
4.) RAW Tag Team Champions Lance Storm & William Regal defeated Al Snow & Maven
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) The show starts acknowledging Curt “Mr. Perfect” Hennig’s recent death.
2.) Nowinski controls Spike on the mat with a waist lock, but Spike counters quickly wit a headlock. Spike shoulder blocks Nowinski and delivers a knee drop. Spike takes Nowinski down with another headlock, but Nowinski gets to the ropes. Spike forearms Nowinski, but Nowinski tosses Spike through the ropes to the floor. Nowinski drops Spike gut first over the top rope and delivers a knee lift to knock Spike to the floor. Nowinski clubs Spike over the back and chokes Spike over the middle rope. Nowinski hip tosses Spike across the ring and rams Spike into the corner back first. Nowinski covers Spike for a two count. Nowinski sends Spike into the corner, but misses a splash and is nearly pinned. Spike gets another rollup for a two count. Nowinski kicks Spike and tries for a suplex, but is rammed into the corner. Spike shoulder rams Nowinski several times. Spike headbutts Nowinski and hits the Dudley Dog for the win. (*. I was not expecting Spike to pickup the win here. Nowinski seemed to be a heel that they were trying to build up, but doing a clean job here should make it clear that he’s not ready for the elevation. Spike is a great underdog, and actually winning matches will help that underdog persona similar to how it greatly helped in ECW.)
3.) Aguilera, the hometown kid, backs Richards into a corner, but backs off. Richards shoves Aguilera and gets headlock control. Richards shoulder blocks Aguilera and runs the ropes before getting met with a hip toss. Aguilera shoves Richards into the corner. Aguilera blocks a kick and nails Richards with a clothesline. Aguilera is tossed under the ropes and to the floor. Richards rams Aguilera into the apron back first followed by an elbow drop. Richards stomps Aguilera on the mat followed by chops. Richards knee lifts Aguilera followed by a kick to the chest. Richards drives Aguilera to the mat with a neckbreaker for a near fall. Richards takes Aguilera over with a suplex and delivers a lifting DDT for the win. (1/2*. Aguilera did very little. Richards is a good worker and I think there’s value as an undercard heel.)
4.) Victoria starts off striking Jacqueline, but is met with a boot to the face for a near fall. Jacqueline kicks Victoria to the mat and gets a two count with a rollup. Jacqueline comes off the ropes and Victoria delivers a powerslam. Victoria takes Jacqueline over with a snap suplex for a near fall. Jacqueline monkey flips Victoria out of the corner. Victoria backdrops Jacqueline followed by an elbow drop for a near fall. Victoria sends Jacqueline into the corner and delivers a backbreaker. Victoria dropkicks Jacqueline on the back for a two count. Victoria tries for a slam, but Jacqueline strikes Victoria several times and kicks Victoria through the ropes to the floor. Jacqueline dives off the top to hit a crossbody onto Victoria and Steven Richards on the floor. Jacqueline connects with a swinging neckbreaker and Victoria goes to the floor. Jacqueline slingshots Richards into the ring and pummels Richards with right hands. Victoria nails Jacqueline with the Widows Peak for the win. (**. The finish is a bit lame, but the action was enjoyable. There’s something about the Richards/Victoria dynamic that I enjoy.)
5.) We see never before seen footage from RAW where Teddy Long and D’Lo Brown were leaving the arena. Long tells D’Lo that he was letdown tonight. Long says that Brown lost to a sellout and not a white boy. Long says that you have to have a backup plan. Rodney Mack storms the scene and attacks Brown from behind. Mack slams the car door into Brown’s head and drives off with Teddy Long.
6.) Regal and Snow kickoff the main event. Snow gains wrist control and arm drags Regal to the mat. Regal counters with a headlock, but Snow fireman carries Regal to the mat and keeps wrist control. Regal keeps a front face lock on Snow, but doesn’t get a submission. Snow yanks Regal to the mat and tags in Maven. Maven yanks on Regal’s arm, but Regal back elbows Maven. Maven arm drags Storm and keeps arm control on the mat. Storm snapmares Maven and keeps a sleeper on for a moment. Maven drop toe holds Storm to break free from a hammerlock and keeps arm control. Snow tags into the match and is met with a knee lift to the midsection. Snow nails Storm with a clothesline. Storm knee lifts Snow in the corner followed by chops. Snow avoids Storm in the corner and elbows Storm, but Regal drops Snow over the top rope. Storm drives Snow down with an arm breaker and tags in Regal. Regal knee drops Snow on the mat a few times. Snow strikes Regal, but Regal snapmares Snow to the mat. Storm enters and keeps wrist control taking Snow down to the mat. Snow tries to fight free, but Storm keeps Snow on the mat. Snow forearms Storm a few times, but Storm keeps a top wrist lock on as Regal enters. Snow fires back with strikes. Maven enters and cleans house with right hands. Maven backdrops Regal to the mat and hits a dropkick for a two count. Snow punches Storm to the floor. Regal decks Snow from behind with a knee strike. Maven sends Regal into the corner to deliver a clothesline. Storm kicks Maven off the top turnbuckle. Regal takes advantage with the Regal Stretch. Storm brawls with Snow on the floor and Maven is forced to submit. (*. There wasn’t much going on here and the crowd seemed disinterested in the Maven/Snow team despite the heel work by Regal and Storm. They didn’t have much time to develop anything of significance.)
Final Thoughts:
Victoria/Jacqueline was a decent match and the other action was what you’d expect on the meaningless Heat episodes these days. Not a good show, but I will always watch these simple hour programs because they are easy and the hidden gems that are sometimes found are worth it.
Thanks for reading.