Welcome to the tenth instalment from 2003 of Tybo Talks… Fifteen Years Ago – No Mercy 2003
I started this a full year ago when I thought it would be a good idea to start a ’15 Years Ago’ series. Twelve months and over 500 hours of wrestling later I’m starting all over again with 2003.
If you want to read my Tybo Talks… 2002 series CLICK HERE!
(This is possibly the best most comprehensive series I have ever done and loved it!)
If you want to read my Tybo Talks… 2003 (so far) CLICK HERE!
The idea was simple, 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 review and drop them on the day they were held. Where better to start than 15 years ago. The plan is to review every PPV of 2003 while watching all Raw and Smackdown episodes in between.
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 Stats
This is the sixth annual No Mercy PPV and is a Smackdown-exclusive event.
Venue – First Mariner Arena, Baltimore. Maryland
Attendance – 8,500
Theme Song – ‘Today in the Day’ by Dope
The opening vignette is all about Vince and Steph McMahon, as you would expect there are all sorts of family photos, but they are all set around rubble and dirt.
Cruiserweight Championship: Tajiri (C) vs Ray Mysterio
This is a great match to open the show with, a great pace to set for the show. Tajiri has been a great heel recently, even using the ‘black mist’ in Nidia’s eyes and blinding her. Everyone seems to remember Tajiri for his comedy segments with William Regal, but he is great in the ring and has some of the most vicious kicks in the business.
The match was a lot slower than you would expect although it does pick us a lot towards the end. It looks like a crazy fan gets in the ring and Tajiri gets the pin off the distraction. Winner – Tajiri
Backstage – Josh Matthews interviews Vince McMahon and he says it hurts him to have to beat his daughter, but if anyone gets involved they are fired.
A-Train vs Chris Benoit
Although this was a throw-away match between the two and has no huge personal reasons for the match, except Train keeps saying Benoit can’t beat him (even though he already has) this has the potential to be a solid match. The intensity of Benoit and the intensity of Benoit should make for an entertaining bout.
I think Train could be on the best run of his career here, and I have never understood why he was not a bigger star. All I can think is that no one bought into him after so many failed gimmicks.
The match is good, a lot of overpowering from Train, and desperation moves from Benoit. Benoit even manages three German Suplexes before a sharpshooter finish. Winner – Chris Benoit
Backstage – Matt Hardy is looking for Shannon Moore and eventually finds him being attacked by Heidenreich.
FunFact: Heidenreich’s original gimmick was meant to be frozen and thawed out Nazi soldier (yes you read that right) and managed by Paul Heyman (a proud Jewish man).
Zack Gowen vs Matt Hardy
Matt Fact: Matt cannot be grossed out.
It’s really hard not to be impressed by Gowen, the guy has one leg and can do more athletic moves than most of the guys in the locker room. Hardy plays the perfect heel with his V1 gimmick, and there are even tiny pieces of what would become broken.
The downfall of watching Gowen wrestle is that he has already been in the biggest feud he is ever going to be in (vs Vince McMahon) so you know he isn’t really going anywhere, but he gets his spots in, even his moonsault to win. I was actually shocked Gowen won. Winner – Zack Gowen
Backstage – Vince and Linda are in the office and Linda is begging him not to go through with the match against Steph. Vince decides that he will give Steph a ‘fighting chance’ and its now no holds barred, and Steph can win via pin.
APA vs The Basham Brothers
Its great to see the APA back together, but Bradshaw being called a ‘rough and tough redneck’ with short dyed blonde hair is weird. This one actually came about after these has a match and Bradshaw hit the Clothesline from Hell on Shaniqua, who ended up ‘injured’ for a few weeks.
After re-watching them The Basham Brothers were a really solid team and could have been a lot bigger if they weren’t burdened with this awful dominatrix gimmick. The gimmick is clearly a sign of the times but it’s still terrible.
The match was fairly standard, Bradshaw looks great off the hot tag, but after the referee goes down Shaniqua returns to lay out Bradshaw. Winner – The Basham Brothers
Backstage – Shaniqua and Basham’s are interviewed after their big win and the main subject is Shaniqua’s new boobs. Of course, they are ‘swollen’ from the Clothesline from Hell. It’s amazing that this crap made it to not only TV but PPV.
First Ever Father vs Daughter ‘I Quit’ Match: Vince McMahon vs Steph McMahon
FunFact: This match happened six days before Steph’s real-life wedding to Triple H.
Does anyone else think its just madness that this even happened?
So how did this one come about? Well, Vince wanted Steph to quit as Smackdown GM (even though he could fire her at any point) Steph refuses to quit so Vince makes this match, I mean what else could he do. He even put Steph in matches with both Lesnar and A-Train before this.
You can tell that from the first shot of the match Vince is not holding back, and although this is a rough and clunky match where Vince gimmick is basically just a terrible human. (you can decide if this is a character stretch or not)
The story they tell of Steph’s ultimate unbreakable will is actually great. There is a lot of moving parts here including some involvement from both Linda and Sable, there is a great comeback from Steph. The crowd are so into Steph making Vince quit you wouldn’t believe the pops she gets. Unfortunately, it never gets that far as Linda throws in the towel for her. Winner – Vince McMahon
My mind is genuinely blown as to what I have just watched.
Huge props to Tazz for the great work selling that Smackdown doesn’t have a General Manager, really makes it feel like something big has just happened.
Kurt Angle vs John Cena
FunFact: This is actually John Cena’s last PPV as a heel.
The whole build for this match has been great and so entertaining. Although there has been a lot of comedy segments, of course including ‘Rap Angle’ which is a personal favourite, there is something special about Cena and Angle in the ring. Cena is a great heel and it’s a huge shame he never turned back in his earlier career.
It’s easy to forget just how good Cena was 15 years ago, both guys have such contrasting styles in the ring, but this created amazing chemistry. The match is really aggressive (as you would expect from the unofficial father of the Ruthless Aggression Era)
The match is without a doubt the Match of the Night up to this point, Angle really helps Cena look like a legitimate threat in his early career. Angle takes a beating for a good portion of the match but just will not quit. The match ends with a desperation Anklelock from Angle. Winner – Kurt Angle
FunFact: This is the only time on PPV that ‘Mr Never Give Up’ John Cena taps out.
United States Championship: Eddie Guerrero vs Big Show
Amazing to think this feud started with a dodgy burrito and Show crapping himself in the ring, just let that one sink in for a minute. This seems like a poor (or shitty) start to a feud, but it got very intense very quickly. Eddie sprayed Show with a hoe full of crap so Show retaliated by bouncing Eddie of every part of his truck smashing every window and leaving him in a pool of his own blood. This really added something to the feud, and if you go back and watch it you will see it gets to be a difficult watch.
The story being told in this match is a simple one but told to perfection, it’s built like Eddie had no chance and can’t even get Show off his feet long enough to do any real damage. Eddie tries everything, including brass knuckles and the title. Show comes back every time with a relentless beatdown and basically ragdolls Eddie. After a huge Chokeslam, we have a new Champion. Winner – Big Show
Biker Chain Match – WWE Championship: Brock Lesnar (C) vs The Undertaker
This is the first ever ‘Biker Chain’ Match, what is it? Well, basically it’s a bike chain on a pole match (where was Vince Russo when this match was booked?)
The Undertaker and Lesnar have already had a long and deep rivalry weaving through some absolutely brutal matches. Their Hell in a Cell match is a particular favourite.
Lesnar is currently the ‘real’ Brock Lesnar, who is intense but not a patch on the Lesnar we see today. There is no doubt Lesnar is vicious, but it feels like the gimmick is missing something.
The match itself is a strange one, although the match is basically ‘anything goes’ the first half of the match is very tame. Then when Undertaker goes for the chain, the lights go out, but nothing happens after and nothing is explained. After the match turns a little more hardcore with some brawling outside the ring, but it feels like the chain is all but forgotten. The end is a massive cluster with F.B.I (randomly) interfering, and then Vince distraction ‘Taker so Lesnar can get the chain shot in for the win. Winner – Lesnar
Overall
This PPV is so hard to rate as it has so many ups and downs. The first half of the show was not great and didn’t have any real standout matches. This all changed with Angle vs Cena which was easily the Match of the Night. This was closely followed by Eddie vs Big Show, which told a great story.
Although the Undertaker vs Lesnar match wasn’t bad, the ‘biker chain’ stipulation was completely pointless, and all the interference was just overkill. When the PPV finished I did want to see what happened on Smackdown, so they did something right. That being said I think Smackdown will be missing something without Steph as the General Manager, I think she was a great addition to the roster and had more time left in the GM gimmick, but who will be the new General Manager?
2/5
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