WWE Velocity & Heat Reports-23rd April 2006
By Shaun Best-Rajah.Com Reporter
(Special in Studio Editions)
Steve Romero & Josh Mathews covered Velocity while Todd Grisham was on hand for Heat. Velocity had a King of the Ring theme to it while Heat was all about hyping Backlash. Let's begin with Velocity. Among the highlights shown were:
Bret Hart vs Mr Perfect then Bret Hart vs Bam Bam Bigelow from King of the Ring 1993. Bret's crowning is shown sans the Jerry Lawler attack.
Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Jake "The Snake" Roberts from King of the Ring 1996 and the birth of Austin 3:16 was next. The classic promo Austin cut from the heart and not a writing team's dialogue that propelled him to legendary status also aired. If only the wrestlers today had the same privileges. By the way Owen Hart was great on commentary for this match. I still miss him so much. (Anyone willing to sell any Owen Hart compilation tapes please get in touch).
Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs Mankind from King of the Ring 1997 was next. God was Chyna hideous looking here. Josh says this was the making of the Game here but I disagree. This was the start of Triple H. The Game didn't come into play until 1999.
Finally Velocity took a look at this year's King of the Ring and what's took place so far. Highlights were shown of Kurt Angle vs Randy Orton and Booker T vs Matt Hardy. It was good to see Angle snap and show his vicious streak sending Randy Orton into suspension oblivion (by "breaking his ankle").
Steve and Josh hype Bobby Lashley vs Mark Henry in King of the Ring this week from London, England to end the show.
Heat began by showing the dissension between Carlito and Chris Masters before going back to Raw to see Carlito get trapped in the Masterlock during Matt Striker's Classroom.
For some reason we then get shown a Shawn Michaels vs Shelton Benjamin match from three months ago just before the Royal Rumble. This was to show how Vince McMahon put Shawn Michaels on the Highway to Hell which is where he remains today.
After some Money in the Bank clips from this year's WrestleMania it's back to Raw we go to for Shelton Benjamin vs Charlie Haas. This was a fine face off between the two former Tag Champions in what was a good Wrestling match (not Sports Entertainment match as it was billed). Following this we get Rob Van Dam vs The Spirit Squad in a Handicap match. Both Money in the Bank and the Intercontinental Title will be on the line at Backlash as a result of these matches. RVD should go over here before being built for One night Stand where he hopfully beats Cena for the title but I get the impression this will be a non-finish. Hopefully the match goes long and is a showstealer. I miss the old cocky ECW RVD by the way. How about you?
Next up in the spotlight is Kane. Kane snaps on Raw two weeks ago and chokeslams Big Show. Last week Show returns the favour after saving Lilian Garcia from Kane who had just destroyed Rob Conway.
The latest installment in the best current storyline on Raw is next. It's Mickie James and Trish Stratus. Mickie's plight into a psycho is played out before Trish spoofs her at her own game and copies Mickie taking Ashley hostage by taking Jack hostage. Mickie/Trish kicks Jack into touch.
Umaga vs Shawn Michaels is replayed followed by Vince McMahon being stopped by divine intervention..... sorry the pyro guy.
Finally taking Heat home is Triple H vs Edge & John Cena from Raw where the merry go round pinfalls continued. This time Triple H takes the pinfall. I'm backing Cena to retain at Backlash then go on to lose to RVD who in turn will enter a program with Edge. Hopefully Triple H doesn't get the title back despite his apparent face turn.
That's that for this week. Velocity is worth checking out as I loved seeing retro WWF especially Bret Hart matches once more. The webcast version even has Owen Hart footage from King of the Ring 1994 which is even better. If you missed the Heat telecast then you didn't miss much assuming you watched Raw last Monday. The Heat webcast looks more appealing. It has IRS (remember him) giving Money advice, Natural Disasters vs Money Inc, Razor Ramon vs 1-2-3 Kid in a $10K challenge match, Andre The Giant vs Big John Studd in a $15K Body Slam challenge plus Money in the Bank from WrestleMania 21. Phewph. Shame that us UK viewers are locked out from accessing the web shows as I'd be interested to see some of that for the first time/again. Nevertheless I'll be back next weekend with Heat and Velocity exclusively from the UK with some good matches on tap. (They were taped over the weekend). I won't spoil things though so until then take care and I'll catch you later. Shaun.
Comments/praise/feedback/criticism please direct to shaunmb1@hotmail.com.