WWE Sunday Night Heat review
August 17, 2003
Aired on Spike TV
Report by Jeremy Maes, Torch Team Contributor

Welcome everyone to a very special vacation edition of Sunday Night Heat! I am in beautiful Columbus, Ohio as of this typing and am eagerly awaiting my journey back home to Detroit tomorrow for some much-needed time with family! Enough about me though, it’s time for some Heat!

(1) Maven defeated Steve Fender. The match begins with the traditional collar and elbow tie up. Fender breaks the hold and the two men exchange slaps to the face. Maven then legtrips the jobber and goes for a quick cover, garnering a two count. Maven follows with a hip toss into an armdrag and finishes the sequence with a nice dropkick. Before Maven can hit another move Fender falls to the mat and rolls out of the ring avoiding further punishment. Maven walks to the ropes where fender trips him and elbows Maven in the throat. Fender quickly rolls in to the ring and covers Maven for a two count. Fender slaps on a chinlock for a bit until Maven makes an abbreviated comeback. Fender kicks Maven and performs a standing blockbuster for another two count. Fender climbs to the second rope where he misses a legdrop. Maven takes hold of the opportunity with a clothesline and a back elbow. After a two count he connects with a heel kick and goes for another cover. Garnering another two count Maven ascends the top rope and misses a dropkick. Fender covers him for a two count. Fender whips Maven into the corner but runs into the bottom of Maven’s boot. Maven, seizing the moment, ascends to the second rope and nails a reverse DDT for the victory!

Talking points: Maven continues to progress inside the ring and that is a good thing. Placing him in matches with opponents of Fender’s caliber is a step in the right direction. Maven just has not had enough training at this point in his career to be involved in a match of any consequence. Jobber matches should be on his itinerary for the next few months at least.

Before the commercial break they go to footage from “earlier today” where we find Al Snow and Tommy Dreamer sitting at a table eating lunch. In barges Stevie Richards and Victoria. Steven gets all over dreamer about finding him in catering and his weight problem. This leads to Dreamer taking Richards’s fuzzy fisherman’s hat, pouring water in it and placing it on Stevie’s head.

(2) Stevie Richards (w/Victoria) beat Tommy Dreamer. The match starts with Stevie attacking Tommy as he steps through the ropes. The advantage does not last long and Dreamer back tosses Richards and follows with a fall away slam. As Tommy runs to the ropes, Victoria grabs his leg. Steven tries to take advantage but he is introduced to a sloppy atomic drop. Steven slides outside the ring but Tommy follows him and tosses him into the guardrail. Steven rolls back into the ring. Dreamer follows but Steven catches him with a series of kicks. Steven then bodyslams Dreamer. As Dreamer lies in the ring, Stevie distracts the referee, allowing Victoria to land a spinning leg drop on to Tommy. Steven grabs his fuzzy hat and tries to attack Dreamer but he is cut off. Dreamer spins through a neckbreaker and lands a powerbomb. Dreamer tries to DDT Stevie but he is run into the turnbuckle. Both men stagger out but Dreamer grabs Richards and performs the Death Valley Driver. It is Victoria’s turn to distract the referee this time. Tommy takes exception to her interference. He walks over to her and kisses her on the mouth but when he turns around he is greeted with a Stevie kick. Steven covers the fallen opponent and scores the three count.

Talking Points: Another pointless match on HEAT. The match itself was technically sound but the outcome was inevitable. Can anyone remember the last time Tommy Dreamer won a match against someone other than a jobber? Me neither!

After the break we are entranced with a slick video about the Elimination Chamber. It included highlights of the past match and the brutality that is involved. Some highlights of mention are, RVD forearming Triple H’s throat, Kane throwing Chris Jericho or Michaels (it was hard to tell) through the plastic windows and Shawn Michaels superkicking Kane. They followed this video with a recap of the Ric Flair and Goldberg match from Raw. They started with Flair having Goldberg in the Figure Four leglock. Randy Orton interfered on Flair’s behalf continually until Goldberg made his comeback. He spears Orton and goes after Flair who immediately started begging off. Goldberg eventually spears Flair. Shawn Michaels runs out and superkicks Orton. Using Orton’s limp arm Michaels counts Flair’s shoulders down for Goldberg’s victory.

(2) Mark Jindrak & Garrison Cade defeat Ken Anderson & Slater Vain. Yet again the production team and the announcers fails to distinguish the jobbers. Luckily Slater Vain has “Vain” on his trunks. Vain starts with Garrison Cade. The two men entangle with a collar and elbow. Vain breaks and runs off the rope connecting on Cade with a shoulderblock. Both men then exchange leapfrogs. Cade then connects with a big punch then slaps Vain around. Cade tags in Jindrak and they hit a double hip toss that sends Vain across the ring. Vain tags in Anderson who immediately gets into it with Jindrak. The jobbers take control for a spell with Anderson choking Cade, now in the ring, over the top rope. Cade makes the comeback and tags Jindrak who cleans house. He cleans up on the jobbers with some nice dropkicks and finishes with a spring board clothesline on Anderson. Cade returns to the action and bulldogs Vain. Cade then holds up the prone vain and Jindrak hits a high dropkick for the win.

Talking Points: Not a bad match. The jobbers did not look out of place in the least bit, which is a hard criticism of Jindrak and Cade. The appearances of Cade and Jindrak were so similar to those of the jobbers that it gave off the feeling that none of them men were special. It was just a tryout match on a shallow level.

(3) Test defeats Val Venis. Once again a match starts with a collar and elbow tie up. Val garbs control with an arm wringer and knocks Test off his feet. Test, however, immediately kips up and applies an armringer of his own. Test backs Val into the corner and punches him. Val though backs him out and runs the ropes with Test, kneeing him in the gut. Test breaks out and knocks Val down to the mat. As Test does jumping jacks with his back to Venis, Val jumps up and clotheslines him. Test regains control though and stomps on Val’s head with his boot. He then punches Val and locks on a headlock. Val fights out and runs to the ropes. As he shoots off the rope both he and Test perform clotheslines felling them both. Val is the first to his feet. He clotheslines the staggering Test and then shoulder tackles him. Test thumbs Val in the eye and attempts the pumphandle slam, which Val squirms free. Val lands a spinning powerbomb on Test and heads for the top rope. Test kicks the referee’s leg causing him to fall in to the ropes knocking Val down. Test gets up and pulls a Barry Horowitz by patting himself on the back. Test goes back on the attack but it is cut short and he is knocked down to the mat again. Val climbs the ropes and jumps off for another money shot. This time test raises his knees at the last moment. Test raises up and connects with the pumphandle slam for a two count. He is angered by this and calls for the big boot. Test misses the boot. Val then side body drops him. Val lifts him up and sends Test in to the cornerpost. As he charges, Test lunges forward with the big boot for the pinfall.

Talking points: Not a bad match between the two combatants. Test continues to stride slowly but surely with is new arrogant character. His inevitable reunion with Stacy Kiebler tomorrow night on Raw will help flush his character out, as he will have someone to play off of on a consistent basis. As for Val, he is saddled with a gimmick that will never lead him up the card. He is a curtain-jerker for life as it stands right now.

End of the Line: I enjoyed this show more than any of the shows I have reviewed so far. The wrestling matches were competitive and told good logical stories. I still have the same gripes with the production gaffes but it is out of my control at this point.

Other news: There will be no Lounge article this week. Sorry, I will not have access to a computer for the next five days and I did not have the opportunity to write anything suitable since I have been traveling and dealing with some family or as I like to call it" real life" problems. Also, Dusty Giebenk will be doing this review next week as I will be ending up my vacation with the traditional "SummerSlam weekend." More on that when I return to the Lounge on August 27th. Until then, have fun!

I welcome any comments, oversights and opinions you have to share. Drop me a line at jmaes@pwtorch.com or if you are a VIP Member, as you should be by now, I can be reached at Jmaes through the messenger service! Also, my Lounge articles are posted sometime every Wednesday.

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