World Wrestling Federation presents Heat
Date: 8/12/2001
From: Los Angeles, CA
Matches:
1.) K-Kwik defeated Hurricane Helms
2.) The Hollys (Crash & Hardcore) defeated Mike Awesome & Shawn Stasiak
3.) WWF Intercontinental Champion Lance Storm defeated Scotty 2 Hotty to retain the title
4.) Rhyno defeated Billy Gunn
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Raven will be the special guest on this weeks episode of Heat.
2.) Kwik takes Hurricane down to the mat to start the bout. They shove each other and Hurricane delivers a few punches. Kwik hip tosses Hurricane followed by right hands. Kwik heel kicks Hurricane after avoiding a clothesline for a two count. Kwik sunset flips Hurricane for a two count. Hurricane nails Kwik with a superkick for a two count. Hurricane suplexs Kwik and heads to the middle rope hitting a fist drop for a near fall. Hurricane goes to the top, but is crotched by Kwik. Kwik punches Hurricane several times followed by a forearm smash. Kwik strikes Hurricane several times. Kwik holds the ropes to avoid a rollup. Kwik kicks Hurricane and hits a sit out front suplex for the win. (*. I am honestly stunned that Kwik won here. Kwik has nothing going on and an Alliance member can’t win here. They refuse to give any Alliance member substance outside of a couple of top former WCW guys, and that’s mostly just Booker T.)
3.) Outside, Raven arrives to WWF New York alongside Terri, which was not expected.
4.) Crash and Stasiak kickoff the tag match. Stasiak knee lifts Crash followed by right hands against the ropes. Stasiak tries for a slam, but Crash counters with a head scissors and drop toe holds Awesome. Hardcore enters and clotheslines Awesome before keeping arm control. Crash leaps off the top to fist drop Awesome on the ribs. Awesome tosses Crash with a release German suplex. Awesome rams Crash into the corner and Stasiak double teams Crash. Stasiak nails Crash with a leaping elbow strike. Stasiak rams Crash into the corner and delivers a clothesline. Stasiak continues with a gut wrench slam for a near fall. Awesome returns to the match and knee lifts Crash. Awesome forearms Crash coming off the ropes for a two count. Awesome hits a sit down powerbomb on Crash for a two count as Hardcore makes the save. Stasiak stomps Crash on the mat. Stasiak drops Crash with a neckbreaker for a two count as Hardcore makes the save again. Stasiak rams Crash into Awesome’s boot in the corner. Crash boots Awesome in the corner and hits a tornado DDT. Stasiak and Hardcore are tagged into the match with Hardcore cleaning house with strikes. Hardcore backdrops Stasiak and kicks Awesome between the legs over the top rope. Hardcore dropkicks Stasiak for a near fall. Awesome is sent into Crash, but Hardcore decks Awesome. Stasiak almost pins Hardcore with a rollup and continues with a clothesline. Stasiak plants Hardcore with a running powerslam, but Awesome misses a top rope splash. Stasiak tries for a powerbomb, but Hardcore counters with the Alabama Slam to pin Stasiak for the win. (**. Not a bad tag match. I thought for a moment that Stasiak and Awesome were going to prevail here. The action was surprisingly better than I expected.)
5.) Backstage, Raven is talking to Terri about Saturn being a nut job. Terri is glad to no longer working with nutcases. Raven says they can give Terri money and power.
6.) Storm attacks Hotty from behind before the bell sounds. Hotty knocks Storm down with a few strikes. Hotty clotheslines Storm over the top to the floor. Hotty slides to the floor, but Storm returns to the ring. Storm knee lifts Hotty a couple of times. Hotty head scissors Storm into the corner. Hotty misses a bulldog and is sent into the post shoulder first. Storm misses a clothesline and Hotty hits a crossbody for a near fall. Storm stops Hotty with a jawbreaker leading to a near fall. Storm chokes Hotty over the middle rope. Storm hits a vertical suplex for a near fall and keeps Hotty on the mat with a sleeper. Hotty elbows Storm, but is met with a knee lift. Hotty is cutoff by a knee lift and runs into a boot in the corner. Hotty dropkicks Storm in midair coming off the middle rope. Hotty strikes Storm a few times. Hotty backdrops Storm coming off the ropes. Hotty elbows Storm in the corner and hits a bulldog. Hotty connects with the WORM. Storm pulls Hotty through the ropes to the floor. Hotty returns to the ring, but Storm locks in the half Boston Crab and wins by submission. (*1/2. The finish got a good pop from the crowd showing that the move is getting over because Storm can get it in quickly and out of nowhere. I’m a bit surprised a title match wasn’t given the main event spot on the show.)
7.) Backstage, Terri and Raven are talking about the Alliance. Raven believes the Alliance can make the WWF obsolete. Terri appears to be falling for Raven.
8.) Raven and Terri join the show on the stage to be interviewed. Raven talks about the relationship with Terri will be successful whether it is business or personal. Michael Cole asks if Terri is with the Alliance. Terri needed a slap across the face to realize what he career needs and it needed the Alliance. Al Snow asks if this is happening due to Terri being dumped by a man who wanted a mop instead. Terri refuses that narrative. Al Snow tells Raven that they both know Paul Heyman’s nonsense. Raven believes he’s come back full circle under Heyman’s wing. Snow says Raven is back to working in the bingo halls. Raven puts over Heyman as being a legendary mind and that Shane and Stephanie are handling the money aspect. Raven thinks the WWF is coming obsolete and the Alliance is the future. Raven thinks SummerSlam will be a stepping stone whether he’s on it or not.
9.) Rhyno shoulder blocks Gunn, but Gunn arm drags and hip tosses Rhyno. Gunn is met with a kick to the chest. Gunn plants Rhyno with a neckbreaker for a two count. Gunn strikes Rhyno to keep control of the bout. Rhyno plants Gunn with a spinebuster. Rhyno continues to strike Gunn and rams Gunn into the corner a few times. Rhyno suplexs Gunn and heads to the top rope. Rhyno misses a splash. Rhyno and Gunn collide on stereo clothesline attempts. Gunn battles back with strikes and a powerslam for a two count. Gunn sends Rhyno into the corner, but misses a splash. Rhyno waits in the corner and runs into a dropkick. Gunn covers for a two count. Gunn plants Rhyno with the One And Only for a near fall. Gunn signals for the Fame-Asser. Rhyno recovers and GORES Gunn for the clean win. (**. I’d consider this a huge clean win for Rhyno. Rhyno has a meaningful match with Jericho at SummerSlam and having Rhyno win here gives him momentum. I love the booking and Rhyno getting a push or at least presented as a viable contender is fantastic.)
Final Thoughts:
An average show this week with a couple of entertaining matches. Terri fits with the Alliance vibe, so that move makes sense to me. SummerSlam 2001 is one of my favorite PPVs and they’ve done a good job promoting it in recent weeks.
Thanks for reading.