Written by: Bob Colling
World Wrestling Federation presents Heat
Date: 6/18/2000
From: Chicago, IL
Matches:
1.) WWF European Champion Eddie Guerrero defeated WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Dean Malenko in a non-title match
2.) Bull Buchanan defeated Perry Saturn in a qualifying match for the 2000 King of the Ring
3.) Al Snow & Steve Blackman defeated Funaki & Taka Michinoku
4.) Val Venis defeated Jeff Hardy in a qualifying match for the 2000 King of the Ring
5.) WWF World Champion Triple H fought Hardcore Holly to a no contest in a non-title match
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Earlier in the day, Eddie Guerrero and Chyna were flirting about hooking up. Dean Malenko enters the scene and has a couple of women with him. Malenko tells Chyna that she can have the same look of happiness. Chyna says that the women next to Malenko aren’t happy. This leads to Malenko and Guerrero brawling in the locker room.
2.) Guerrero decks Malenko a few times followed by a heel kick. Malenko avoids a rolling senton from the apron and nearly wins with a backslide. They trade strikes in the corner. Malenko tosses Guerrero away to avoid a tornado DDT. Malenko plants Guerrero with a powerbomb for another near fall. Malenko drops Guerrero chest first to the mat. Malenko maintains control with a gut buster. Malenko follows up with a back suplex. Malenko dumps Guerrero over the top to the floor. Malenko tries for a baseball slide and takes out Chyna. Dean helps Chyna up and gets met with a few forearms. Guerrero comes off the top to hit a twisting hurricanrana for the victory. (**1/2. They did quite a bit for a four minute match. That can’t be a surprise considering its Guerrero and Malenko.)
3.) Backstage, WWF World Champion Triple H is talking to Stephanie is excited to have a quiet Sunday. That is until Hardcore Holly is on his couch eating grapes and wants to wrestle Triple H tonight. Holly doesn’t want a title shot, but rather just wants a piece of Triple H. Holly tells Triple H that their fruit sucks. Holly made a bit of a mess with the fruit.
4.) Buchanan drops Saturn with a clothesline and delivers a knee drop. Buchanan works over Saturn with strikes in the corner. Saturn boots Bull in the corner a few times. Saturn leaps off the middle rope to deliver a missile dropkick. Buchanan comes out of the corner to clothesline Saturn. Buchanan misses a splash in the corner and Saturn hammers away on Bull. Saturn drop toe holds Bull over the middle rope followed by an overhead suplex. Bull big boots Saturn and comes off the ropes to hit the scissors kick for the victory. (*1/4. Well, that has to be considered an upset. Buchanan appears to be getting a decent push with his recent association with the Faction. I wasn’t expecting Saturn to lose here, though.)
5.) Backstage, Al Snow and Steve Blackman are talking, with Snow hanging upside down. Blackman tells Snow that he doesn’t like whatever Al is up to.
6.) Funaki and Snow start the match with Funaki hitting a head scissors. Blackman enters and powerslams Funaki after Snow lifted him into the air. Taka trips Blackman from the floor and Funaki tags in Taka. Taka and Funaki hit a double team dropkick out of a camel clutch as Al Snow ran backstage. Taka accidentally superkicks Funaki as Blackman nails both men with superkicks. Blackman snap powerslams Funaki and kicks Taka. Al Snow runs into the ring as Blackman pinned Taka. Snow has a new outfit and has Head,. Snow decks Taka and Funaki with Head much to the delight of the fans. (*1/4. Not much of a match, really. The angle with Snow seems to be an attempt to get his Head character over again with the crowd.)
7.) Backstage, Coach interviews Hardcore Holly. Holly tells Coach that he doesn’t care about the WWF World Championship, Triple H or Stephanie’s fruit. Whether it’s for the championship or not, he’s going to kick HHH’s ass. He then tells Coach he hates him and that he’s fat.
8.) Venis starts off with a few right hands to control Hardy. Hardy is driven face first into the corner and Venis drops Hardy throat first over the top rope. Hardy leaps off the ropes to take Venis out with a Whisper in the Wind. Hardy sends Venis back first into the corner. Venis gets a two count following an elbow drop. Hardy ducks a clothesline, but misses a crossbody. Venis gets out of a sleeper hold with a spinning sit out powerbomb for a two count. Hardy spikes Venis with a DDT for a two count. Hardy backdrops Venis followed by an elbow in the corner. Hardy goes to the top rope managing to hit the Swanton Bomb. Hardy has the cover, but Trish puts Val’s boot on the bottom rope. Venis powerslams Hardy as Lita comes down to ringside to stalk Trish. Venis slides to the floor and grabs Lita allowing Trish to attack from behind. Hardy grabs Trish while in the ring, but Venis hits a fisherman suplex for the win. (**. Not bad of a match as Venis looked pretty good in there with Hardy. There was some solid action and the angle advancement with Trish and Lita worked well for the match, too. I’ve been digging Venis and hope he gets a bigger push with Trish in his corner.)
9.) Holly controls HHH with a side headlock and a shoulder block causing the champion to backup into a corner. HHH shoulder blocks Holly coming off the ropes and HHH rolls to the floor. HHH hammers away on Holly until Holly counters with punches in the corner. Holly plants HHH with a side slam for a near fall. Holly clotheslines HHH over the top to the floor. Holly rams HHH face first onto the ring steps. HHH stops Holly by sending him face first into the ring post. HHH nails Holly with a high knee lift for a two count. HHH hits a vertical suplex and kisses his wife. HHH delivers a knee drop for a near fall. HHH shoves the referee, who flips out on HHH. HHH puts a sleeper hold on Holly, but Holly counters with a back suplex. Holly runs into a boot in the corner and HHH heads to the top rope but is met with a strike in midair. Holly strikes HHH to the mat and hits a standing dropkick for a two count. Holly powerslams HHH for another near fall. HHH drops Holly over his knee face first and tries for the Pedigree, but Holly catapults HHH chest first into the corner. Holly misses a splash in the corner. Stephanie gets on the apron and tosses the championship into the ring. Chris Jericho yanks Stephanie off the apron and decks HHH and Holly with the WWF World Championship to cause a no contest. (**1/2. The crowd appeared to be buying into Hardcore Holly as a guy who could beat Triple H. I was surprised that they went with a no contest finish and seemingly protected Holly from taking a loss. If this leads to a triple threat match for the title, I wouldn’t be surprised. That would be neat for a later episode of Heat, honestly.)
Final Thoughts:
I enjoyed this episode of Heat as it was probably one of the strongest episodes of the year thus far.
Thanks for reading.