411’s WWE Heat Report 11.25.07
Posted by Scott Slimmer on 11.25.2007
Welcome one and welcome all to the all-new, all-different Heat Report. It’s leaner and meaner, it’s slimmer and trimmer, but it’s still the best Heat Report on the net.
Hey guys and gals, I'm Scott, and this is 411's ALL-NEW, ALL-DIFFERENT Heat Report.
I've always prided myself on writing the Best Damn Heat Report on the Net, and part of being the best is continually striving to improve. So this week I'm proud to debut a completely new format for the Heat Report. The most dramatic change will be a drastic reduction in the length of the play-by-play. I loved writing in-depth, detailed reports of each match, but I completely understand that most readers would rather just get right to the highlights. So from now on I'm going to be presenting a more condensed Overview of each match in order to give you a clear view of the main events while skipping over some of the more minor details. However, in order to compensate for the abbreviated length of the Overview, I'm also going to be adding a Background, Analysis, and Rating for each match. The Background will provide a brief review of the recent events in the careers of each of the wrestlers involved in the match while the Analysis and Rating will allow me to give you my opinion on the quality and future implications of the match. Finally, I'll still include the Result, Length, and Best Spot in order to continue to provide the most complete coverage possible. Okay, enough with the boring stuff. Let's get to the wrestling.
Match One: Paul London & Brian Kendrick vs. The Highlanders
Background: London & Kendrick and the Highlanders have been feuding with each other for the last three weeks for the right to be named the Number One Contenders for the World Tag Team Championships. Two weeks ago, the Highlanders defeated London & Kendrick in a traditional tag team match. Last week, Cody Rhodes & Hardcore Holly defeated both London & Kendrick and the Highlanders in a Triple Threat Tag Team Match to become the Number One Contenders for the World Tag Team Championships. Rhodes & Holly then unsuccessfully challenged Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch for the World Tag Team Championships at Survivor Series. Thus you could argue that the winners of this match should be considered the new Number One Contenders for the World Tag Team Championships.
Overview: London and Rory start the match, and London quickly takes control. London tags Kendrick into the match, and Kendrick connects with a top rope elbow drop to Rory's shoulder. Kendrick immediately tags London back into the match, and London scores with a top rope Mushroom Stomp to Rory's shoulder for a two count. Rory fights back and tags Robbie into the match, and Robbie goes to work with a head butt to London's gut. London regains control with a flying shoulder block before tagging Kendrick back into the match, and London and Kendrick catch Robbie with a double Japanese arm drag for a two count. Kendrick again immediately tags London back into the match, and London lands a top rope fist drop to Robbie's shoulder for another two count. London again makes the quick tag to Kendrick, and Kendrick catches Robbie with a sunset flip for yet another two count. Robbie finally regains control by dropping Kendrick gut-first onto the top rope and then kicking him in the chest in order to send him all the way down to the arena floor. Kendrick is sprawled out on the floor as we head to a commercial.
We come back from the commercial to find Robbie firmly in control of Kendrick in the ring. Robbie locks in a surfboard and then gets a head butt for a two count. Kendrick is playing face-in-peril as Robbie tags Rory back into the match and scoop slams him onto Kendrick for a two count. Rory stomps away on Kendrick and Kendrick ends up draped chest-first over the ring apron, so Robbie drops down and delivers a double ax-handle shot to Kendrick's back. Rory tags Robbie back into the match and battering rams him shoulder-first into Kendrick's gut. Robbie works over Kendrick in the corner and hits a suplex for a two count. Robbie tags Rory back into the match and tries to battering ram him shoulder-first into Kendrick's gut, but Kendrick floats over and gets a sunset flip for a two count. Rory charges towards Kendrick and goes for a clothesline, but Kendrick low-bridges the top rope and sends Rory sailing down to the arena floor. Robbie rolls Rory back into the ring, but Kendrick dives across the ring and gets the hot tag to London. London cleans house and takes control before hitting a swank standing shooting star press for two. John Morrison only wishes they still served moves like that at the Palace of Wisdom. Robbie makes the save and goes for an inverted slingshot suplex, but Kendrick catches London and sends Robbie out of the ring with the Cactus Clothesline. London catches Rory with a springboard Mushroom Stomp and gets the three count.
Analysis: This was a fundamentally solid, entertaining tag team match. There was nothing overly flashy other than a few moves from London near the end of the match, but that makes sense given that the tag team division is moving towards a more grounded, methodical style. The Highlanders have been on quite a winning streak, so it was smart to have London & Kendrick pull out the victory in order to level the playing field in the tag team division.
Result: Paul London defeats Rory McAllister with the Mushroom Stomp. Length: 9:43 Best Spot: Paul London's standing shooting star press Rating: **½
Match Two: "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan vs. Mai Tai Anoa'i
Background: "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan has spent the better part of the year defending Heat from the threat of evil foreigners such as Daivari, but six weeks ago Duggan surprisingly began competing in tag team matches alongside Mexican luchador Super Crazy. Duggan & Crazy teamed for four weeks, but Crazy cost his team the match on three of those four occasions. Duggan now seems to have returned to his roots as a singles wrestler. This is Mai Tai Anoa'i's first appearance on WWE programming. He may appear to be just another jobber, but in reality he's actually Afa Anoa'i Jr., son of the legendary Wild Samoan Afa Anoa'i. Anoa'i is the nephew of Wild Samoan Sika Anoa'i and the first cousin of Umaga, Junior Fatu (a.k.a. Rikishi), Matt Anoa'i (a.k.a. Rosey), and Yokozuna. Anoa'i defeated Harry Smith by count-out to win the Florida Championship Wrestling Southern Heavyweight Championship on October 16, 2007
Overview: Anoa'i takes control early and goes to work with a series of punches. Duggan fights back with a hip toss and a pair of clotheslines, but Anoa'i regains control and locks in a claw on Duggan's ribs for a two count. Anoa'i goes back to the claw on Duggan's ribs and gets another two count. Anoa'i again goes back to the claw on Duggan's ribs, but Duggan fights back to his feet and scores with a series of mounted punches in the corner. Anoa'i seems to regain control, but Duggan whip him to the corner and connects with the Three Point Stance Clothesline for the three count.
Analysis: The real story here is that this match was definitely not your typical squash match. Anoa'i got in more than his fair share of offense and was actually in control for the majority of the match. Todd Grisham and Jonathan Coachman alluded to the fact that Anoa'i may be related to Umaga and even speculated that he may soon be offered on contract on Raw. It would have made no sense for Anoa'i to pick up the win in his first televised match, but this was a fine way for him to begin to make his name in the big leagues.
Result: "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan defeats Mai Tai Anoa'i with the Three Point Stance Clothesline. Length: 3:48 Best Spot: "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan's Three Point Stance Clothesline Rating: *½
Match Three: Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch vs. The World's Greatest Tag Team
Background: Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch defeated Paul London & Brian Kendrick to win the World Tag Team Championships on September 8, 2007. Their most recent title defense was against Cody Rhodes & Hardcore Holly at Survivor Series. Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas have competed as both singles wrestlers and as a tag team during the course of 2007. However, this Tuesday on ECW it was announced that Shelton Benjamin is now a member of the ECW roster. That would seem to indicate that this is Benjamin & Haas' last match as a tag team, at least for the moment. This is a non-title match.
Overview: Cade and Benjamin start the match, and Benjamin quickly takes control. Cade fights back with a pair of hip tosses, so Benjamin slides out of the ring to catch a breather on the outside. Cade calls for Benjamin to get back in the ring while Haas gives him a little pep talk on the outside. Benjamin seems to be thinking of walking away from the match and calling it a night, and Haas is clearly upset by his partner's lack of focus. Benjamin finally climbs back in the ring to beat the ten count, and it looks like Cade & Murdoch are going to be playing the pseudo-faces in this match even though both teams are really heels. Benjamin takes a cheap shot at Murdoch, so Cade tags Murdoch into the match. Murdoch charges into the ring, but Benjamin continues to play the cowardly heel by scampering out of the ring and making the tag to Haas along the way. Murdoch takes control and hits a top rope flying cross body to Haas for a two count. Murdoch gives Benjamin a receipt before tagging Cade back into the match, and Cade and Murdoch catch Haas with a double hip toss. Cade immediately tags Murdoch back into the match and assists him with a big leg drop to Haas for a two count. Benjamin is still on the outside after that shot from Murdoch. Haas regains control and ties up Murdoch in the ropes, so Benjamin springs back up to the ring apron and scores with sick kick to Murdoch's face. Cade drops down to the floor and heads for Benjamin but only gets in a single kick before the referee forces him back to his own corner.
Haas tags Benjamin back into the match, and Benjamin connects with a kick to the back of Murdoch's head. Dude, Murdoch is playing face-in-peril right now. How bizarre is that? Anyway, Benjamin hits a couple of elbow drops but only gets a two count. Benjamin tags Haas back into the match, and Haas lands a knee drop to Murdoch's face. Haas continues to ground and pound Murdoch before tagging Benjamin back into the match. Benjamin ducks a punch and hits a back breaker but only gets a two count. Benjamin tags Haas back into the match, and Haas just manages to prevent Murdoch from making the tag. Haas continues to work on Murdoch's head and neck, but Murdoch catches him with a jaw breaker to create some distance. Murdoch goes for a diving tag, but Haas catches him and carries him to the opposite corner. Murdoch goes for a sunset flip, but Haas gets the blind tag to Benjamin. Benjamin tries to keep Murdoch away from the tag, but Murdoch kicks Benjamin off and finally gets the tag to Cade. Cade charges into the ring and cleans house before knocking Haas off the ring apron. Cade gets a back elbow shot for a two count followed by a running clothesline for another two count. Haas makes the save, but Murdoch flings him out of the ring and hits a plancha over the top rope to the outside. That's a whole lotta man to be flying through the air like that. Anyway, back in the ring Cade goes for a suplex, but Benjamin floats over into a neck breaker for a two count. Benjamin goes for the Dragon Whip, but Cade ducks and hits a sit-out side slam for the three count.
Analysis: We all knew that Shelton Benjamin was headed to ECW before this match aired, so it was easy to see that the World's Greatest Tag Team were basically dead men walking in this match. It's rare for any team to defeat the reigning tag team champions, and it would have been highly questionable for the champions to lose to a team that is about to be dissolved. Cade & Murdoch continue to look strong, and Benjamin should be a good fit on ECW's roster of rising stars. However, without Benjamin to add a little sizzle to his steak, you have to wonder how much longer Charlie Haas will be useful to Raw.
Result: Lance Cade defeats Shelton Benjamin with a sit-out side slam. Length: 10:22 Best Spot: Trevor Murdoch's plancha Rating: **½
Okay kids, that's it for this week's edition of Heat. I'd love for you to let me know what you think of the new format, so feel free to drop me an email if you get the chance. I'll see you back here next weekend.
