World Wrestling Entertainment presents Heat
Date: 5/11/2003
From: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
MATCH #1: JACQUELINE VS. VICTORIA
FINISH: Victoria counters a rollup attempt and gets help from Steven Richards to pin Jacqueline.
Bob’s Take: Victoria controlled the match early on, but missed a somersault leg drop from the apron into the ring. Luckily for Victoria, she was able to keep control with a powerslam. Jacqueline made a comeback with a head scissors and a flapjack. The match isn’t all that good as they weren’t given much time.
Match Rating: *
MATCH #2: MAVEN VS. STEVEN RICHARDS
FINISH: Late in the match, Jacqueline comes out to attack Victoria allowing Maven to missile dropkick Richards for the win.
Bob’s Take: Maven gains the early control on Richards with basic offense for the most part. Richards cuts off Maven’s attack delivering a neckbreaker. Maven battles back with clotheslines and a dropkick, but there’s zero heat from the crowd. Richards gets a pop after nailing Maven with a superkick. I’m thinking the finish means we’ll get a mixed tag match, but this was a bit dull for the most part.
Match Rating: *1/2
Prior to the next match, Nowinski cuts a promo saying that his opponent is getting a great opportunity to wrestle him. Nowisnki warns that his opponent will not hear more cheers and he’s not going to beat him tonight.
MATCH #3: CHRISTOPHER NOWINSKI VS. MARK BARTOLUCCI
FINISH: Nowisnki wins following a spinebuster
Bob’s Take: This is a very short match, but Bartolucci took a nice bump in the corner along with a good bump for the spinebuster. Nowinski is an underrated heel.
Match Rating: SQUASH
Backstage, Terri interviews The Hurricane. Hurricane splits his time between fighting crime and wrestling. Hurricane promotes his match against Chris Jericho tonight. Hurricane says crime never sleeps and he has a job to do. Hurricane goes to spin out and puts his hand on her breast, but then stops and casually walks out of scene.
MAIN EVENT: THE HURRICANE VS. CHRIS JERICHO
FINISH: Jericho rolls through a top rope crossbody and forces a submission with the Walls of Jericho.
Bob’s Take: Jericho competing on Heat feels like a big deal for this era of Heat, and Hurricane is a guy with some major buzz over the last few months. So, this feels like an ideal main event for Heat. Hurricane tosses Jericho to the floor and hit a great somersault dive to the floor. Jericho drops Hurricane over the ropes before hitting a sleeper hold neckbreaker for a near fall. Jericho tries to use an exposed turnbuckle, but settles for choking Hurricane with his wrist tape. Hurricane battles back with clotheslines and a leaping neckbreaker. Jericho avoided the shining wizard to hit a bulldog. Hurricane avoided the Lionsault, and almost wins with a rollup after countering the Walls of Jericho. Jericho hits the post shoulder first and Hurricane delivered a chokeslam for a near fall. Moments later, Jericho is able to finish off Hurricane cleanly. This is a good back and forth match for Heat standards, and probably the best competitive match on the show thus far in 2003, but I haven’t looked back at the other shows to cement that, but it’s certainly up there regardless. Jericho winning clean is logical and Hurricane put on a good fight.
Match Rating: ***
Final Thoughts:
I feel like the main event made this worth it as Jericho and Hurricane delivered a good match and they were given enough time to make good use out of it. So, this weeks episode gets a thumbs up from me.
Thanks for reading.