Written by: Bob Colling
World Wrestling Federation presents Heat
Date: 6/11/2000
From: Buffalo, NY
Matches:
1.) WWF European Champion Eddie Guerrero defeated Crash Holly to retain the title
2.) Bubba Ray Dudley defeated Big Bossman to quality for the 2000 King of the Ring tournament
3.) D’Lo Brown defeated Steve Blackman by disqualification
4.) Perry Saturn defeated D-Von Dudley to qualify for the 2000 King of the Ring tournament
5.) Intercontinental Champion Chris Benoit defeated Chris Jericho, Hardcore Holly and Val Venis to retain the title
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Guerrero and Holly start off with some mat wrestling until Holly takes Guerrero over with a head scissors and another one out of the corner. Guerrero drives Holly down with a tilt a whirl backbreaker. Guerrero plants Holly down with a back suplex and a slingshot senton from the apron for a two count. They trade shots in the corner until Guerrero stops Crash with an eye rake. Holly backdrops Guerrero to get some momentum followed by a back suplex for a two count. Crash scoop slams Guerrero and goes to the top rope. Holly nails Guerrero with a missile dropkick for a near fall. Holly tries for a superplex, but Guerrero shoves Crash off. Guerrero hits a hurricanrana off the top rope and pins Holly. (*1/2. For the most part this came across as being an extended squash for Guerrero. I think the comedy appeal for Crash has vanished and nobody is buying into the act anymore.) After the match, Chyna pats Holly on the head and Crash appears to be blushing and is happy about it.
2.) Backstage, Bubba Dudley is talking to D-Von Dudley telling D-Von to take care of Saturn while D-Von tells Bubba to handle Big Bossman. Coach enters and asks how it would work if they were to wrestle each other in the finals of the KOTR. Bubba says they have been kicking the crap out of each other since they were kids. They talk about how they’d take each other right now if they had to.
3.) Backstage, Lilian Garcia interviews WWF Intercontinental Champion Chris Benoit. Benoit asks why Garcia would think anyone or anything would make him worried about losing his championship. Benoit says the reality is that anyone who challenges him will lose.
4.) Bossman starts the match hammering away on Bubba in the corner. Bubba fights back with right hands followed by a backdrop. Bossman stops Bubba with strikes in the corner and pulls Bubba groin first into the ring post. Bossman clotheslines Bubba coming off the ropes for another two count. Bossman boots Bubba and delivers a spinebuster as Bull Buchanan comes down to ringside. Bubba takes Bossman over with a back suplex and an elbow drop before turning his attention to Bull. Bubba dumps Bossman to the floor where Bossman decks Bull with a right hand. Bull hits Bossman with the nightstick and Bubba wins the match following a cutter. (1/2*. The match was mostly basic and wasn’t ever going to deliver a quality match. I think Bull and Bossman are better working as a tag rather than being split up.)
5.) Backstage, Coach interviews Hardcore Holly about the upcoming title match. Holly has been attacking the other three men involved. Holly doesn’t give a damn about the interview nor does he give a damn about the other guys. Holly thinks the other guys aren’t very happy to be in a match with the Big Shot. Holly tells Coach that he’s fat and he doesn’t care what Coach thinks about that.
6.) Brown starts off with a few jabs and stomps for the early advantage. Brown boot a charging Blackman, but Blackman comes back with a snap powerslam. Blackman misses a middle rope headbutt. Brown clotheslines Blackman over the top to the floor. Brown takes Blackman out with a crossbody to the floor. Blackman sends Brown into the barricade. Blackman drops Brown face first over the ring steps. Brown clotheslines Blackman to keep control of the match followed by a scoop slam. Brown misses a middle rope leg drop. Blackman dropkicks Brown and delivers a kick to knock Brown down. Blackman hits a spinebuster for a two count. Brown hits the Sky High, but Al Snow comes out and nails Brown with Head. Snow also knocks out the referee. Apparently, Al Snow has snapped isn’t level headed anymore. (1/2*. Wasn’t too bad, but this wasn’t designed to be a good match and rather seemed to serve a purpose to focus on Snow going nuts, again.)
7.) D-Von nails Saturn with a right hand and a leaping clothesline. Saturn comes back with a dropkick and a pump handle suplex. D-Von takes Saturn over with a snap suplex and delivers a leg drop for a two count. Saturn has D-Von on his shoulders and drives Dudley chest first down to the mat. Saturn runs into a boot in the corner and D-Von nearly wins with a sunset flip. Saturn clotheslines D-Von to regain control of the match. D-Von comes off the ropes to nearly win following a forearm strike. D-Von takes Saturn off the top with a superplex. Tori makes her way out to ringside. Bubba sneaks up from behind and grabs Tori. X-Pac and Road Dogg come out to attack Bubba. Tori low blows Bubba and Pac hits the X-Factor. Dogg drops D-Von over the top rope allowing Saturn to hit a powerbomb and goes to the top rope hitting an elbow drop for the win. (*. Clearly the focus was on the angle between the Dudleys and DX. Saturn winning came across as being an upset, but was the right decision.)
8.) Backstage, Chris Jericho is interviewed regarding the main event tonight. Everyone involved doesn’t like Jericho. Jericho says that there’s 20,000 people who like him. He’s confident that he’ll be champion for the third time.
9.) Benoit and Jericho go after each other while Venis and Holly go to the floor brawling. Holly slams Venis face first onto the announcers table. Jericho tries for a springboard but is tripped by Benoit. Jericho hits a springboard dropkick to knock Holly and Benoit off the apron. Venis pummels Holly in the corner while Jericho hit a springboard moonsault on Benoit for a two count. Venis dumps Jericho to the floor and is chopped by Benoit. Holly clotheslines Venis and drops Benoit over the top rope before kicking him in the groin and hit a wheelbarrow suplex for a near fall. Jericho works over Holly in the corner and hits a top rope hurricanrana. Benoit comes off the top rope to hit a diving headbutt on Holly, but Venis breaks up the cover. Venis runs into a sleeper hold by Jericho, but hits a sit out powerbomb for a near fall. Holly dropkicks Venis and plays to the crowd. Benoit dumps Holly to the floor while Jericho hammers away on Venis. Jericho goes for the Walls of Jericho as Holly sent Benoit into the ring post. Holly grabs a steel chair and shoves the referee down. Benoit whacks Holly with a chair shot and pins Holly while Venis was submitting. The referee didn’t see Venis submitting. (***. A good main event that had constant action and held my interest throughout. The finish seems to continue the Jericho/Benoit rivalry. Usually the double finish doesn’t work very well, but this was executed very well, I thought.)
Final Thoughts:
A good episode of Heat this week as the main event was strong and a few undercard matches were enjoyable. Heat continues to be an easy hour of television to watch.
Thanks for reading.