WWE Heat 1/7/2007

WWE Heat 1/7/2007

Val Venis vs Eugene

Eugene is a heel here. Eug goes out to stall to start. Eug side headlock takeovers him. Val headscissors him then Eug side headlock takeovers him. Val headscissors him. They do the spot again. Val side headlocks him then shoulders him over.

Eug gets mad then Val wristlocks him. Eug punches him to get out. Eug hits more punches in the corner and stomps on him. Eug foot chokes him. Val shoulders and lariats him over. Val hits knees to the gut then he russian legsweeps him. 

Val's arm is pulled down over the top rope and Eug knee drops the arm. Eug hammerlocks Val's arm around the middle rope. Eug armlocks him. Eug backslides him. Val cradles him for 2. Val sweeps him. Eug misses a flying knee in the corner. Val hits leg kicks. 

Val pulls back on the leg and does a figure four variation. Eug is close to tapping out but ropebreaks. Val slingshot sunset flips him but Eug drops down, holds the ropes and pins him.

Thoughts: It went long and wasn't that good. Heel Eugene is a really hard character to sell and it didn't work here. 

We get some recaps.

Super Crazy vs Steve Madison

 

SM wristlocks him. SC headflips out and reverses it. SM hits him in the gut and SC hiptosses him. SC slams him then does a nice pin attempt for 2. SC side headlock takeovers him.

SC shoulders him over and rolls over him. SC spinning monkey flips him then headscissors him. SC misses a dive off the apron and goes into the rail. SM then sends SC into the apron edge. SM shoulderbreakers him for 2. 

SM hits shots to the arm and armlocks him. SM hits a neat shoulderbreaker off the piledriver position then armlocks him. SM chops him then SC crucifixes him for 2.  

They trade shots. SM eye rakes him and hammerlock slams him. SM misses an elbow drop. SM misses a corner charge. SC hits a running lariat and a spinning heel kick. SC back body drops him. SC top rope dropkicks him and wins.

Thoughts: It was a decent match. SM worked the arm and shoulder then SC got a little offense in and won. I was surprised to see SC win with a top rope dropkick. They talked about SC "getting his stuff in" here which was weird.

Todd Grisham interviews Vladimir Kozlov in the front row. Vlad talks in Russian and says Happy New Year to everyone. He is asked what brand he wants to work for and he says, "I love double double E". 

We get more recaps. 

Viscera vs "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan

 

They lock up and Jim is shoved back. Jim ducks a lock-up and hits punches. Jim running lariats him twice then is hit with one. Vis clubs him then stands on his back. Jim blocks a punch and hits his own. Vis samoan drops him.

Vis bearhugs Jim and Jim earclaps him. Jim tries to headbutt him but gets nowhere. Jim does some good selling and keeps his arm up on the 3rd attempt. Jim bites Vis. Vis misses a corner splash and takes mounted corner punches. 

Vis runs at him for a splash and is lariated. Jim hits another lariat then knocks him over with one for 2. Jim goes for a three point stance lariat but is slammed. Vis gyrates then hits a big splash for the win.

Thoughts: It was short but entertaining. Jim was perfect for these short undercard matches and did a great job here. He sold well and was a likeable underdog.

Overall thoughts: We had 3 new matches here. Crazy/Madison was good and Viscera/Duggan was a short but fun match. Val and Eugene didn't work though. I'd give it a 5 out of 10 as it was nothing must see but it wasn't bad.