World Wrestling Entertainment presents Heat
Date: 3/9/2003
From: Uniondale, NY
Matches:
1.) RAW Tag Team Champion Lance Storm defeated Maven
2.) The Hurricane defeated Steven Richards
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Storm taunts Maven with the tag title before they lockup. Storm gains wrist control to kickoff the match. Storm takes Maven down to the mat and keeps wrist control until Maven counters. Storm elbows Maven and keeps headlock control on the mat. Maven counters with a head scissors on the mat, but Storm breaks free with a kip up. Maven also kips up. Maven forearms Storm in the ribs a few times, but Storm shoulder blocks Maven. Maven takes Storm over with a fireman carry and an arm drag. Storm misses an elbow drop, but backs Maven into a corner and delivers a shoulder ram. Maven elbows a charging Storm in the corner and blocks a suplex attempt. Storm counters a backslide attempt by hitting a DDT. Maven rolls to the floor to regroup. Storm quickly rolls Maven back into the ring leading to a near fall. Storm snapmares Maven followed by a leg drop and locks in a neck vice. Maven elbows Storm and arm drags free. Maven staggers Storm with a jawbreaker and strikes to the midsection. Storm knee lifts Maven, but Maven responds with a few forearm strikes. Maven backdrops Storm coming off the ropes and delivers a dropkick for a two count. Storm kicks Maven, but is met with flapjack. Maven heads to the top rope, but is stopped by Storm with strikes. Maven shoves Storm off the middle rope and hits a top rope bulldog for a near fall. Storm pulls Maven to the apron. Maven counters a suplex and misses a kick. Storm locks in a half Boston Crab. Maven kicks free and gets an inside cradle for a two count. Storm locks in the Sharpshooter in the middle of the ring forcing Maven to submit. (**1/4. A decent match as they got a good amount of time. Maven appears to be over with the crowd as they responded well to his entrance. Storm had a few good counters and the action was solid throughout.)
2.) Teddy Long and Rodney Mack make their way out to the ring to cut a promo. Long knows the fans have been wondering why they haven’t seen Rodney Mack. Long believes “the man” is afraid that Mack will beat up a white boy. ‘The man’ is afraid to hear what Long has to say. The final reason is because they are too tan for the man. Long says they have to take their chance and promises every WWE superstar is going to see what Mack is capable of. Long tries to get a chant of “back the Mack” going, but nobody goes along with it.
3.) Hurricane gets wrist control to start the main event before switching to a headlock. Hurricane shoulder blocks Richards and runs the ropes. Hurricane arm drags Richards, but is met with a shoulder block. Hurricane tries for a chokeslam, but Richards kicks free. Hurricane head scissors Richards to the floor. Hurricane slingshots into the ring to get a rollup for a two count. Richards plants Hurricane with a powerbomb for a two count. Richards drives Hurricane to the mat with a neckbreaker for a near fall. Richards taunts the crowd by doing Hurricane’s pose. Richards side suplexs Hurricane for a two count. Richards knee strikes Hurricane over the back and presses his knee into Hurricane’s back before pulling back on Hurricane’s arms. Richards clubs Hurricane over the back and continues to pull back on Hurricane’s arms. Hurricane breaks free and punches Richards followed by a shoulder block. Richards knee lifts Hurricane, but Hurricane hits a suplex followed by right hands. Richards comes off the ropes and is clotheslined by Hurricane followed by a neckbreaker for a two count. Hurricane heads to the top rope hitting a crossbody for a two count. Hurricane misses the Eye of the Hurricane and Richards clubs Hurricane before hitting the move himself for a two count. Hurricane avoids a DDT and hits the Vertebreaker for the win! (**1/2. I was not expecting Hurricane to use the Vertebreaker on Heat, but that was cool. I thought it was a solid match and held my interest. There wasn’t an extended lull during the match and they made good use of their time.)
Final Thoughts:
A good episode of Heat this week. I liked two matches with notable talents and they got extended time compared to four matches with shorter time restraints.
Thanks for reading.