Reported by Paul Nemer of WrestleView.com
» On Monday, August 19, 2002 at 10:04 AM EST

WWE Sunday Night Heat Report: August 18, 2002
Announcers: Crash Holly & The Coach
Report by: David Michaud of WrestleView.com

It's time again for the Sunday Night Heat Report. For those of you who don't know, I've recently been granted my own column here on Wrestleview. It's called Here's The Deal. Fret not my children for I will continue on as your beloved Heat reporter as long as my girlfriend can tolerate the amount of wrestling I watch.

Before moving on, I would like to try something a little different this week but it requires the assistance of you, my faithful readers. The way I figure it, reading a report that just recounts what moves were pulled is, well, not very interesting. Besides, that way I spend more time writing and less time paying proper attention and enjoying the show. So tonight, I'm going to just try to give you the meat of the show. This way you're still informed and I get to bed earlier. Send me an email to let me know which style you prefer and I'll take it under advisement.

The night kicks off with the usual opening commentary but tonight Crash is replacing D'Lo at the table due to D'Lo being booked for a match against Raven.

D'Lo Brown vs. Justin Credible

D'Lo heads to the ring and grabs a microphone. Basically he just reminds us of what has transpired over the past two weeks on Heat and then calls out Raven. Raven appears at the top of the ramp armed with a mic of his own. Raven agrees to fight D'Lo but not tonight because it's his "playground" and he won't have terms dictated to him. So instead of the match we all want to see, the fans will be treated to Justin Credible taking Raven's place. I just hope the WWE is only saving this match for a more deserving venue. Raven tries to put Justin over on the mic but the crowd isn't having any of it. Well, at least he tried. The match is a three minute special but not bad to watch. Raven stays at ringside but doesn't get involved. Well paced with a couple big spots delivered by D'Lo. Justin even gets in a mean super kick. About half way through, the match slows down a bit and Justin gets whipped in to the corner. He tries a baseball slide but just ends up sliding his crotch right in to the ring post. Silly Justin. A patented leg drop from D'Lo almost ends the match but Justin kicks out of the pin. A few more exchanges and D'Lo hits the Sky High and picks up the win over Justin DisbeliefthatevenFunakigotawin.

Winner: D'Lo Brown

After the match, Raven jumps D'Lo from behind and nails him with the Raven Effect.

-COMMERCIAL-

Promo for Shawn Michaels.

Summer Slam promo listing off all currently booked matches.

-COMMERCIAL-

Highlight of RAW from this past Monday featuring the pantsing of Jericho at the hands of Flair. Doesn't matter how old you are, seeing some getting their pants jerked down to their ankles is always funny.

William Regal vs. Shelton Benjamin

I've got the feeling that this one will be a good wrestling match. Sure enough, this match starts off as a decent psychological battle as William and Shelton exchange holds, reversals and counters. For the first few minutes neither wrestler looks to have the upper hand. Solid technical wrestling and of course the crowd doesn't get it. Eventually the two back off each other for a brief staring contest. One of those moments when they're supposed to be showing respect for the other's ability. William offers a handshake and the crowd comes to life, booing the cursed Brit. Shelton's no dummy though as he seizes William's hand and the opportunity to take advantage in this match. Regal then turns the tide with a series of uppercuts and almost ends it with a rollup. Shelton bounces back and hits William with a stiff looking kick to the face. More back and forth action ensues. The match ends when Shelton tries a rollup of his own but Regal reverses the pin. The end was actually a little sloppy looking.

Winner: William Regal

We cut backstage to Terri interviewing Raven about why he had Justin wrestle in his place. Raven says that D'Lo has been victimized by, "rules of Raven's playground," or some such nonsense. The usual Raven fare whereby he uses a lot of big words and run-on sentences in order to sound intelligent. Don't you just hate that? Raven goes on to say he "almost feels sorry for Justin". Yeah, me too, except for the "almost" part.

-COMMERCIAL-

We come back to highlights from the Global Warning Tour in Australia. Same clips they've been showing all week.

Recap of RAW featuring HHH dressed like a yuppie and bad mouthing Shawn Michaels. Enter the Rock on his way to confront Heyman and Lesnar in the front row. The Rock and HHH end up getting in to fisticuffs in the ring.

Promo for the Rock vs. HHH main event for RAW this coming Monday.

-COMMERCIAL-

Still recapping RAW. We've moved on to the closing moments of the eight-man tag match.

-COMMERCIAL- (almost criminal ain't it?)

Bradshaw vs. Shawn Stasiak

How many of you out there would rather see Stasiak win this match? Ok, now how many of you out there honestly believe that will happen? This match is basically a brawl from the bell with Bradshaw dominating for the better part of it. Up until this point I've pretty much tuned out the commentary by Coach and Crash only because it's been unremarkable. Then Crash comes up with a line about Stasiak's new finisher being called the "Ratings Drop". Poor Stasiak. At least it was a funny joke. Meanwhile back in the ring, nothing interesting has happened. At one point Stasiak tries to pick up the intensity by delivering a clothesline from the second rope. Didn't really help but that's ok because it's all mercifully over soon after that. Bradshaw comes off the ropes and hits perhaps one of the better Clotheslines from Hell that I've ever seen. Sorry Stasiak but somebody had to job to Bradshaw tonight and Justin already had a match.

Winner: Bradshaw

So that's the show. Once again we were denied the D'Lo vs. Raven match. Maybe they'll meet for Summer Slam. Probably not, maybe the Heat right before it. Anyways, email me (shedmanD@hotmail.com) your thoughts as to which style of reporting you prefer. As always you're also welcome to email me on other topics such as why I rule, how much I rule and when my autobiography entitled "I Rule" will be available in paperback. Cheers.