By Jeremy Maes, Torch Team Contributor

WWE Heat Review
February 1, 2004
Taped 1/26/04 in Hershey, Pennsylvania
Report by Jeremy Maes, Torch Team Contributor

Welcome everyone to a day late edition of Sunday Night Heat, The Review. I was preoccupied with the Superbowl yesterday and thus the report is tardy. My apologies but come on. If you were impatiently waiting for this review you are a huge fan of my writing style, a true die-hard wrestling fan that needs their fix or you are Mike Roe. So, without further adieu, let’s get to some HEAT!

The show opens right off with Coachman selling his injuries from the recent attacks of which he has been a victim of recently.
Match #1: Christian defeated Lance Storm: Lance came to ringside sans his usual accompaniment of women. This fact was not lost on Al Snow as he pouted about their absence. Christian stood in the ring soaking in the chorus of boos the crowd so easily threw his way. The action began with both men feeling each other out until Lance took control. In a nice spot, Lance performed a vertical suplex on Christian a la Davey Boy Smith. At one point he held Christian one handed and with the other motioned for the crowd to cheer which they did like the sheep they are! Lance continued his offensive momentum until Christian caused it to screech to a halt when he pushed Lance off of the top rope and down to the floor. It was an ugly spill, not smooth at all. Lance got up selling his ribs.

Back in the ring Christian took control but Lance fought back and eventually locked in the half Boston crab for a nice crowd pop. Christian, however, squirmed in to the ropes. Lance broke the hold but while the two of them were tied up Christian thumbed Lance in the eye. Christian than grabbed the staggered and blinded Storm and gave him the Unprettier for the three count.

Match Satisfaction: Nice match. Christian sold very well for Lance Storm who had the crowd solidly behind him. This may be a new idea but I think Lance Storm would do very well with a better gimmick and a good push. The crowd was behind him just as much as they were against Christian. During the match Christian hilariously kissed his fingers in appreciation of the crowds boos. I get the feeling Christian knows he may be in line for something good in the future. He was solid in the ring and came off self-assured when playing his part. Good match and you could see the “talk” had an affect on this matches psychology. The placement of spots looked deliberate but logical.

Back from the break they immediately went in to the first recap of the night. This featured Goldberg’s punking Mark Henry and then turning his attention to the helpless Jonathon Coachman. Goldie grabbed Coach and threw him to the mat from the top rope. He then set Coachman up and hit a very gentle spear. The best part pf this recap was the obvious scream of some fan saying, “Do it again” after Bill had speared Coachman. After the spear Goldberg placed his foot on Coach’s chest and pinned him for the three. But Goldberg was far from finished. He stuck his furry mug in the camera and called out Brock Lesnar. Not so sure this is a good move. Brock will make Goldberg look bad.

Match #2: The Rising (Jindrak and Cade) VS Who Cares (Rosey and Hurricane): Yeah I renamed Jindrak and Cade this week in lieu of the new WWE Raw magazine nicknaming their team. Maybe it will stick. I like it and it does have a certain amount of marketability. As for the match, well, it consisted on a lot of mat holds by Cade working on Hurricane’s leg. Not fundamentally bad but there was not a lot of effort involved in the holds. No variations you could say. I did get a chuckle at the clear camera shot of an empty announce desk in the background. I must have been seeing things, isn’t HEAT live damnit! The terribly uninteresting match continued for a good while before Rosey got the hot-tag and proceeded to clean house like usual. The finish cam out of the blue when Jindrak clipped Roseys leg and Mr. Garrison rolled him up for the surprise pin. Blah!

Match Satisfaction: Okay, this was not so good. First it was the exact same Hurricane and Rosey match that has been worked countless times before. Hurricane gets beat up, Rosey makes the tag and fats around the ring, no that was not a typo. Finally the finish comes out of nowhere. As stated above, blah! The entire match was Blah and both teams are Blah! So, well, blah!

After the break they played the entire Mick Foley promo and beatdown. If you missed it, well, I am not going to dictate the entire segment. Get on Kazaa or some other media-sharing outlet and download the thing. It is worth it!

Match #3: Booker T defeated Matt Hardy. Now this is what I have been asking for quite sometime, two high-profile wrestlers meeting in the main event. Every episode of HEAT should have a main event like this. One quick question before this match goes, if the edict thrown down by McMahon and staff holds true about wrestlers feuding not being seen in public together is true, does this mean Matt and Lita can not be out in public together? Just curious really I have nowhere to go with that.

The match begins with both wrestlers slowly working gin to the action. Booker controls the opening moments by grabbing a headlock on Matt. Funny thing about it though is Matt is trying his damndest to worm his way out while Booker is trying just as hard to maintain his grip. It comes off as an effective maneuver. I guess real professionals make it look so easy. Then out of the blue, it’s time for a final commercial break!

Commercial Break: Burger King You know at Burger King a double Whopper, single Whopper and a chicken Whopper only have 5 carbs? Of course that is if you leave off the ketchup, mayonnaise and bun. They call it “The slimy, fat, crap burger.” Run, don’t walk, and grab one today.

Back from the commercials, a Wrestlemania graphic come up saying the big day is only 42 days away, well, you know what that means? 38 days until “A Day With The Crippler” comes from Difrango’s, you have been warned. Let the anticipation begin. La Casita margaritas, Ying-Ling, Giant Eagle Italian bread, hangovers, and 98 hours of wrestling and insanity that would make James Guttman blush. Oh sweet nectar of the Mango margarita, oh sorry, the show.

Back to the match Matt caught Booker with a hotshot allowing him to gain an advantage. Matt settled in with a headlock but Booker fights out. Matt then twists around and synchs in a body scissor/full-nelson combination. Al Snow even took time to break character and act like a color play-by-play announcer. He explained that Matt is cutting off Booker’s air supply while Booker is trying to formulate a plan of escape.” To give you a feeling try holding your breath for a long time and try moving. It’s a lot like that.” I guess the new wrestling style is being adhered to both in the ring and announcing. Again, I like it! Booker finally powers out and hits Matt with a sidekick. He then gives the crowd a thrill by performing the spinaroonie. Booker then turns his attention back on Matt but he misses the axe kick and Matt nails him with the side effect. Matt only gets a two count but when he goes for the Twist of Fate Booker blocks it and nails a Spinebuster. Matt rolls out of the ring. Booker grabs him but Matt ducks out staggering Booker. Matt then climbs the top rope and jumps off for some reason. As he flies in the air Booker cracks him with a sidekick. They fall and Booker covers him for the three.

Match Satisfaction: This match had no business being on HEAT. I know I was singing it’s position on HEAT before the contest but that was before the match and it’s stellar quality. It should have been on Raw but I get the feeling they ran out of room. I can see that as both a positive and a negative. The positive is that HEAT received a terrific main-event but the negative is the fact neither of theses men received some good exposure on Raw.

End Points: Even a day late this show was pretty good. The recaps made sense and were placed in decent spots. By having them earlier in the show it allowed the main event to develop nicely even though there was an annoying commercial break right as the match began. The tag match was pointless since it has been contested in some form a literal 20 times before. Neither of those teams is going to go much further if they do not reinvigorate their game. It’s that simple. Lance Storm continued his solid work and Christian flourished in his expanded role. My god, this was the best episode of HEAT I have seen yet. Is that the sky falling?


Jeremy Maes welcomes any comments, oversights and opinions you have to share. Drop me a line at jeremymaes@yahoo.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. Make sure and check it out. Until this Wednesday, have fun!

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