Welcome to the tenth instalment of Tybo Talks… 2002 – No Mercy
With the ease of access to pretty much all of WWE’s back catalogue on the WWE Network I thought it would be cool to change it up a bit and do some classic reviews (with a twist). So, where better to start than 2002 (which was originally 15 years ago from when I started this) The plan is to review every PPV of 2002, while watching all Raw and Smackdown episodes in between.
Let’s get the stats out the way first, No Mercy 2002 was held on October 20th at the at Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas. In front of 10,000 fans. This was the fifth annual No Mercy PPV in history. This would also be the last time we see the Intercontinental Championship for nearly seven months as the Raw main event is a Championship unification match.
Now before I go any further, I’m not really going to explain the matches move for move. No one needs that, the PPV is on the WWE Network. This is going to be my thoughts on the booking and general thoughts about the matches and the event.
The first thing I noticed about No Mercy is that on the WWE Network, this is the first TV-MA rated PPV I have seen, this could be because of the adult nature of the Triple H and Kane feud.
Before the opening vignette there was a small clip of Kane sitting with The Undertaker and asking ‘So, how was your week?’ I always thought this was a great little nod to them being ‘brothers’. The opening vignette was all about the World and WWE Championship rivalries. It’s not until they are played together that you see how similar they are, but involving a woman from the past.
World Tag Team Championship (Raw) – Chris Jericho & Christian (C) vs Booker T & Goldust – Jericho and Christian only won the championships the week before, and it was only because Triple H distracted Kane. The real rivalry here is between Jericho and Booker T. Booker called Jericho and Fozzy (Jericho’s band) a ‘sucka’ and they have been attacking each other for weeks. I like that they have now involved Christian and Goldust, Booker T and Goldust are still such and strange pairing, but they are so over with the crowd its madness. At this point Christian is an 8-time Tag Champion, but he has had two championship partners in two months (Storm and Jericho). This is a standard heel vs face tag match, great heel work, hot tags from faces, and an insane reaction to a Spin-a-roony. The only notable thing is that the rope snaps when Jericho goes for the Lionsault, but recovers and uses title to retain. Winner – Chris Jericho & Christian
Backstage – Funaki (Smackdown’s Number One Announcer) is interviewing Al Wilson (Torrie Wilson’s father), they show footage of Dawn Marie and Al, and Al uses the same line Bill Clinton did about Monica Lewinski. This story just screams ‘Attitude Era’.
Dawn Marie vs Torrie Wilson – This match is purely eye candy for teenage boys, neither diva can wrestle very well. It’s a shame that its matches like this that this era is known for when Trish, Jazz, Victoria etc are doing well on Raw. This match is hard to watch in some points (no pun intended). Torrie has already ‘beat’ Dawn Marie twice, I say beat they were lingerie and bikini matches. The Match is far too long. Winner – Torrie Wilson
Backstage – Coach is interviewing RVD, cuts a promo ripping off Ric Flair and is worth a laugh. Then Coach bumps into Lesnar and Undertakers ‘bit on the side’.
Ric Flair vs Rob Van Dam – With Flair now ‘Evolving’ with Triple H and RVD coming off a feud with Triple H, the obvious next step for RVD is Flair, this coupled with Flair being the main component in RVD not being the World Heavyweight Champion this is a solid feud for both guys to move into. The crowd reaction to RVD is mental, there are very few guys who are as over as Van Dam. This is a classic commoner (RVD) vs the rich and entitled (Flair), there is a quick start to the match with RVD catching Flair off guard, but Flair quickly shuts him down. The ‘dirtiest player in the game’ grounds RVD, this is a great story showing Flair as the mat veteran everything RVD tired, Flair out smarts. This is a great match showing why Flair has been in the ring for as long as he has, but it only takes one move to change the momentum. Winner – Rod Van Dam
Backstage – Big Show is talking to Steph McMahon (Smackdown GM), he is telling her he isn’t happy with Raw and Eric Bischoff. Bischoff wants to know what’s going on. Big Show hasn’t been on a PPV since July. This is the beginning of a huge storyline for Big Show.
History of Intercontinental Championship – With the Intercontinental Championship being retired tonight, a history of the title is shown, really strange that WWE decided to retire such a strong championship. It didn’t last long as Stone Cold Steve Austin brought it back in May 2003 when he was GM.
Cruiserweight Championship – Jamie Noble (C) vs Tajiri – This is a strange one, Noble and Nidia’s relationship is… interesting. They recently had a boyfriend vs girlfriend match of Smackdown with Tajiri as the referee. After Noble wins, Tajiri helps Nidia up and Noble attacks Tajiri and here we are. Aside from their relationship Noble has added something much needed to the cruiserweight division. His intensity and in ring work is great to watch and if they would have put more behind him Noble could have been a great Intercontinental or United States Champion. The Cruiserweight Championship is one of the best things on Smackdown right now. With Noble’s intensity and hard-hitting ground style and Tajiri’s speed and fast-paced strikes this is a great match-up and probably one of the best matches of the night. Winner – Jamie Noble
Backstage – Chris Benoit tells Eddie Guererro that Chavo is getting beat up by Kurt Angle, but Eddie doesn’t believe him. All four of these guys have been playing one-ups with each other for weeks. Although it’s fun and games now, this is building a solid rivalry between the two teams.
Champion vs Champion (Winner Takes All) – Triple H (World Heavyweight Champion) vs Kane (Intercontinental Champion) – The build for this match could have been amazing. They could have talked about the history and prestige of the Intercontinental Title, and Raw heading into a one title era. Triple H being the rightful champion and Kane shouldn’t be the face of Raw because he is a freak, and Triple H walks, talks, dresses and acts like a champion. Instead we got Katie Vick!
The Katie Vick storyline is easily the strangest and most awkward storylines in WWE history. When Kane returned, he quickly won the Intercontinental Title (from Jericho) and then won the Tag Team Titles (with Hurricane) then won a Four-Team-TLC match alone. (a small side note why was there never any Hurri-Kane merch? I always wanted a shirt) So with Kane now happy and ‘freaks are cool’ Bischoff wants ‘One Title, One Show’ so has the terrible idea to unify both titles, which clearly doesn’t last.
To add fuel to the rivalry Triple H asked Kane about Katie Vick, and accuses him of being a murderer. So the story goes that Kane was at a party with this girl 10 years ago, and she was drunk (or they both were if believe Triple H) there was a car crash with Kane driving and Vick died. Where this all fits into Undertaker burning down their family’s funeral home, killing his and Kane’s parents and burning Kane’s face. Then Paul Bearer hiding Kane in an insane asylum till adulthood is anyone guess.
This has the potential to be a match of the night, this is two future Hall of Fame, WWE main-stays going to battle. The story of the match is Kane’s anger and unwavering durability vs a desperate Triple H who has pushed Kane too far and is just trying to survive. The first half of this match is slow and methodical, then when it does pick up the pace its becomes a bit of a cluster finish. There seems to be everyone involved, the referee is knocked out and Flair get involved, then Hurricane, then Triple H is chockslamed through the announce table, then Flair brings in a sledgehammer. It’s all a bit much towards the end. After Flair takes out the second referee and Kane takes out Flair, Triple H capitalises with a Pedigree. Winner – Triple H
Tag Team Tournament Finals (To Crown the New Smackdown Tag Team Champions) Edge & Ray Mysterio vs Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit – This whole tournament has been amazing, and has built a lot of solid rivalries. Even one between Angle and Benoit who are a team in the finals. The strong rivalries throughout has really got this tournament and the new Tag Titles over as something worth winning. The long rivalry between Angle and Benoit has made the road to the finals even more interesting it’s true that ‘bitter enemies make the best partners’. This is also interesting to note that neither of the final teams are actual teams, they are all established singles stars.
All involved work well together, and have spent a lot of ring time together over the years. If Angle wins the championship he will become a ‘Grand Slam Champion’. As you would expect there is a lot of ground based moves in this match, and clear dominance from Angle and Benoit, they work as a cohesive unit, almost a shame there isn’t more ‘butting heads’ between them. Once again Edge is involved in a ‘Match of the Night’ calibre match, good long match, with great double team moves from Edge and Mysterio. Angle eventually gets Edge to tap. Winners – Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit
Backstage – Undertaker is getting shots to numb his broken hand.
Women’s Championship – Trish Stratus (C) vs Victoria – This is Victoria’s first big push, and she is great in the ring, very aggressive. The story is that Trish and Victoria were fitness models together and Trish left Victoria behind for WWE. The main thing that stands out is the difference between this match and Dawn Marie vs Torrie from earlier. The quality of match is off the charts when compared. Victoria’s strength and power adds something to this match, and makes Trish look even more like an underdog, Trish works hard to keep up. Although Trish wins Victoria cheap shots her in what looks like a rough shot. Winner – Trish Stratus
WWE Championship Hell in a Cell – Brock Lesnar (C) vs The Undertaker – This feud has got very personal, very quick. In the last month Undertaker has never looked so ‘human’ in all the years I have watched his gimmick evolve. He has a pregnant wife at home, and then Lesnar and Heyman introduced ‘Tracey’ who was apparently having an affair with Undertaker. (this was proved to be a lie earlier in the night when Steph McMahon confronted her and got the truth) If all this wasn’t enough, Lesnar recently broke Takers hand with a propane tank during a no disqualification match with Matt Hardy. Due to the personal nature of the feud, this was made a Hell in the Cell match, I always thought this was strange as Raw had already used the Cell this year.
These two have had this feud for 15 Years, and it always feels personal. The match has a slow start but more than makes up for it, the brutality from both guys is something I have never seen before. Once Lesnar is busted open all hell breaks loose. Brock ends up using Heyman’s belt to tie up ‘Takers broken hand and proceeds to smash the cast with a chair then rips and even bites it off. It’s not long after this that both guys look finished, then Undertaker gets busted open.
The Undertaker ends up (literally) pissing blood, so much so that Lesnar ends up covered in Takers blood, I have never seen him beaten up like this before, it’s a shock to watch. Lesnar ends up in the Tombstone position, but counters and somehow rolls through and re-positions Undertaker into the F5, Lesnar has superhuman strength. Winner – Brock Lesnar
Overall – This PPV was one of the best I have seen in a while, there were some absolutely awful moments (Dawn Marie vs Torrie) but the Triple H vs Kane (minus the terrible storyline), the Smackdown Tag Team Tournament Finals and the Hell in a Cell were all fantastic. The Match of the Night would have to go to Hell in a Cell, as it is easily one of the most brutal matches in WWE history. The story that both guys told was something you rarely see; the ring chemistry is almost perfect. After the Cell match, you will realise why the PPV got a TV-MA rating on the WWE Network.
2002 PPV Ranking
- Wrestlemania X8 – 4.5
- Vengeance – 4.5
- No Mercy – 4
- Royal Rumble – 3.5
- King of the Ring 2002 – 3.5
- Summer Slam – 3
- Unforgiven – 3
- No Way Out – 3
- Judgement Day – 3
- Backlash – 2.5
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