Heatwave

August 2, 1998 in Dayton, Ohio

Justin Credible (with Jason, Nicole Bass & Chastity) vs. Jerry Lynn This was a match…
not an Iron man as many had thought.. that would determine who was the true winner of the feud between the two. Great wrestling between the two just like the other matches they have had since the beginning of the summer. The crowd was into all of the high stops and were grateful of the effort of these two wrestlers.

The finish came when Justin hit “That’s Incredible” from the top rope to the ring. Match went about 15 minutes.

Chris Candido (with Tammy Sytch) vs. Lance Storm
Storm came out to few cheers and several boos. Candido came out with his finance Tammy (Sunny). She was mentioned on the broadcast as Tammy… not that it is a big deal. She was instrumental in the match by tripping Lance Storm during the match. These two have had great matches as well several times during their tag title reign and are meeting once again due to Storm’s actions in a match the two had with Sabu and Rob Van Dam.

Several nears falls in the match.. and again, the crowd appreciated their efforts. I must say, the commentating in this match was very good.. as it was in the prior match.

The finish in the match came when Candido hit the “Blonde Bombshell” on Storm.

Mike Awesome (aka The Gladiator) vs. Masato Tanaka
Once again, the crowd was very into this match. With the fantastic battles that these two have had, the crowd knew that they would see another classic. Tanaka did the “no-sell” with chair shots that came from Mike Awesome. Masato Tanaka put Mike Awesome through the table that Awesome had setup. Awesome had the chance to pin Tanaka several times but wanted to show the fans him putting Tanaka through table. Tanaka went for a pin on Awesome after the table shot and Awesome kicked out. The roaring elbow by Tanaka couldn’t even pin the big man.

But, with a swinging DDT, Awesome went down to Masato Tanaka.

Shane Douglas said that he would be returning to the ring on November 1st.

Tag Team Title Match: Sabu & Rob Van Dam (champions, with Bill Alfonso) vs. Jinzei Shinsaki (aka Hakushi) & Hayabusa
To start off with, Sabu is not from Bombay, Michigan as ring announcer Bob Ortiz stated. The crowd was somewhat unaware as to how to react when the opponents came out. A few claps but mainly it was silence when they were introduced.

Throughout the match, it seemed to me that the crowd only cared about Van Dam and Sabu. The match saw an incredible 450 splash by Hayabusa… and that didn’t even get much of a reaction the the crowd at the Hara Arena.

The finish in the match which went over 20 minutes saw both Van Dam and Sabu put the Japanese contingent through a table and Sabu got the pin.

“FTW World Title Match”: Taz vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
This match is a re-match from the last PPV which saw Bam Bam put Taz through a table. It was announced at the start that this match would be a falls count anywhere death match. The battle between the two was controlled, according to Shane Douglas, by Bam Bam Bigelow. Most of the action in the first 10 minutes took place on the outside and then moved back in the ring. On the outside, Taz did go for his Tazmission but was countered by a jawbreaker.

Bam Bam was also put through a table with Taz’ Tazplex. Fighting between the two moved to the ramp on the outside where Bam Bam tried to Tazplex Taz but Taz then hit a DDT which put them both through the ramp. After coming out from the ramp, Taz applied the Tazmission and Bam Bam tapped out.

Shane Douglas was verbally upset and claimed the entire match was a fix.

The Sandman, Tommy Dreamer & Spike Dudley vs. Bubba Ray Dudley, D-Von Dudley & Big Dick Dudley (with Joel Gertner, Sign Guy Dudley & Jeff Jones)
Without question, this match has been done over and over and over again. Hopefully this match will be the last we see of the six man matches between these two teams. The first intro was for The Dudley’s. Joel Gertner had the honor…. and it was about 10 minutes long, as usual. Then Sandman/Dreamer/Spike come out and take forever as well to get to the ring. About 45 minutes were left when the intros started so that was a good way to kill some time.

There is really isn’t any way to give a play by play type of description of this match. I will say that a ladder was used, Jeff Jones got spiked, there was plenty of blood coming from Spike Dudley. The ref and the “face” tag team all delivered drop kicks to the heels and Jeff Jones.

The finish of the match saw a DDT on Buh Buh Ray Dudley onto the ladder from Dreamer and the 1-2-3. Jack Victory comes in at the end…. followed by New Jack. The usual “brawl” ensues and the show ends soon after.