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WWE No Mercy 2001
Here is Tim Whitehead's original report on the show.
WWF No Mercy looked to be just another show going in, but it turned out to be one of the best PPV's of the year. Appropriately, considering it aired from St. Louis, it was a wrestling-based PPV in a city where legendary promoter Sam Muchnick always put the in-ring product, and its credibility, over the gimmickry and cartoon aspects. There were fewer run-ins on the undercard and those in the main events at least made storyline sense. Both top matches were great, as was the ladder match. Nothing was particularly bad. The lingerie match wasn't good wrestling but it was, shall we say, very watchable. Commentary was solid from Jim Ross & Paul Heyman. The live crowd was hot for most of the show.
THE HARDY BOYZ beat LANCE STORM & HURRICANE to retain the WCW Tag Titles in 7:41. Heyman brought up that Hurricane and the Hardys had matches against each other on local shows back in the Carolinas before hitting it big. They seemed to be emphasizing history more on this show, since they were in St. Louis. Storm and Hurricane did a cool double team spot on Matt. Jeff cleaned house but bumped out while going after Ivory, who had interfered. Hurricane started for a plancha but Lita lariated him. Hurricane donned the cape and did a high (and I mean really high) dive to the floor. Jeff nearly killed Storm as he came off a springboard move. They went to a lot of near falls with big crowd pops and Lita, Ivory, and Molly all getting involved. I love Lita's huracanrana spots. Matt nailed Hurricane with the twist of fate and then pinned him after a swanton from Jeff. Real good opener.
Rob Van Dam arrived and William Regal demanded that he apologize to Steve Austin for five-starring him on Smackdown. RVD refused. Regal also accused him of being involved with Vince McMahon, but RVD said he's in it for himself and no one else.
Michael Cole interviewed the arriving Vince McMahon. Vince demanded that Cole help him with his jacket. Cole was nervous and dropped it. Vince didn't say much, just that he was there to make an impact. He told Cole that if he ever drops his jacket again, he'll drop him.
TEST beat KANE in 10:08. Mostly brawling. There were a couple of off-center spots but it was way better than you'd expect. Overall, a decent match of this type. Test used the ring bell right in front of referee Nick Patrick, who didn't call for a DQ (still doing the heel ref act). Test got a busted lip. Test delivered some hard kicks and Kane did his chokeslam. They got some good crowd pops for near falls. Test got a chair but Kane dropkicked it back into Test's face. Kane went for another chokeslam but Test blocked it and gave Kane a hard boot to the face and got the pin. Afterward, Kane gave Patrick two chokeslams and a powerbomb.
Jonathan Coachman wanted to interview Austin but Debra said he doesn't want to talk. However, Austin yelled out to Debra to tell Coachman that Kurt Angle is a sorry son of a bitch, RVD is a big piece of trash, Vince is an even bigger piece of trash, and there's no way he'll lose the WWF Title. Even though Coachman (and everyone else) heard Austin, Debra repeated everything, though cleaning up the language.
Stacy Keibler arrived and encountered Matt Hardy. She flirted with him and showed him her lingerie. Matt stared after her as she walked away. Lita arrived and asked what he was staring at. He stammered out some excuse and turned his attentions to Lita.
TORRIE WILSON beat STACY KIEBLER in the lingerie match in 3:07. I guess since they were on hallowed St. Louis ground, they didn't do the regular lingerie gimmick where the girls strip each other down to their undies. Instead, it was a regular wrestling match with both already in their undies. JR said up front that this wouldn't be comparable to Dory Funk vs. Jack Brisco. Stacy did two perfect cartwheels (she's a former cheerleader). They mostly wrestled around and reversed each other's roll-up attempts until finally Torrie scored the three count.
Angle was interviewed by Cole. He said Vince marches to the beat of a different drum and acted a little concerned that Vince was seen on Smackdown with RVD. Vince walked up and wished Angle luck. Angle said he doesn't need luck.
Lilian Garcia interviewed Christian. He said that Edge found out that however good you are, there's always someone a little bit better, comparing that to Mark McGuire's record being shattered as a way of rubbing it in to the St. Louis fans.
EDGE beat CHRISTIAN in a ladder match to regain the IC Title in 22:14. This was a great match but it came off looking a little slower paced than some prior ladder matches. That's partly because some of the prior ones set standards that are hard to beat without committing suicide and also because a multiple tag team ladder match allows for some team members to remain active while others sell the killer spots. They brawled early with Christian taking a high backdrop. The crowd started getting into it when the first ladder appeared. Both took bumps into the ladder, and Christian got crotched in a spot that looked very risky. Edge took the requisite teeter-totter shot. Christian took the first bump off the ladder. Edge blocked a chairshot and got slammed on a ladder. Each went up separate ladders and both bumped off. Christian got two chairs to do the one-man "concerto" but Edge blocked it. Edge brought in a third ladder. Both took more bumps off, including Edge spearing Christian off a ladder. Both went up yet again and ended up bumping all the way to the floor. Both recovered and climbed again. This time, Edge crotched Christian with a chair and managed to do the one-man "concerto" on Christian on top of the ladders. Christian fell off and Edge grabbed the belt for the win. Excellent match!
Spike Dudley appeared at WWF New York. Heyman sarcastically asked him about being dumped by Molly. But a hot chick began coming on to Spike, who said, "Molly who?"
THE DUDLEYS defeated BIG SHOW & TAJIRI in 9:18 to retain the WWF Tag Titles. The Dudleys pounded Tajiri, who made occasional comebacks with his kicks and handsprings. JR compared the Dudleys to the Midnight Express, which set Heyman off asserting that the Dudleys are superior to the Midnights in numerous ways. Heyman has long had legit heat with Jim Cornette, who was manager of the Midnights, so I guess this was Heyman's way of taking a verbal shot. Actually, any fan from the eighties knows that the Midnights were off-the-charts spectacular. Tajiri finally hot tagged, after earlier doing a spot where the ref didn't see a tag. Show cleaned house until taking a low blow. Tajiri came back in but accidentally misted the referee. Rhyno ran in and gored Show (the only undercard run-in). Tajiri kicked D-Von's head off but only scored a two. The Dudleys then 3D'ed Tajiri and got the pin. A solid match.
Rhyno told Regal backstage that he did the run-in because he's tired of the Alliance being disrespected and treated as a joke. They should have thought of that six months ago when they made the decision to have the WCW guys job in their first appearances, and they've been mostly jobbing ever since.
UNDERTAKER beat BOOKER T in 12:11. Booker attacked Undertaker as he got off his motorcycle. Guess he should have worn a helmet. They brawled on the floor. Booker's shoulder hit the post and he sold it for the rest of the match. UT did his rope walk. The crowd was quiet for the first part of this match but popped by the end. Booker hit a great missile kick and scored a series of near falls. UT scored a near fall with a serious looking DDT. Booker got a pop for the spinaroonie. Booker was pounding UT in the corner when UT simply lifted him up and gave him the last ride for the pin. Booker really needed the win here since they've made him into something of a buffoon lately. But it was a decent match.
CHRIS JERICHO defeated ROCK in 23:40 to capture the WCW World Title. JR mentioned that Jericho was in WCW for three years and never even got a WCW Title shot. Anybody else hear Kevin Nash's name echoing around the room? JR & Heyman put over history big time here, mentioning Ric Flair, Rick Steamboat, and even back as far as Gene Kiniski and Whipper Billy Watson. They were using the generic title lineage linking the old NWA Title to the WCW belt. JR also mentioned the Black Scorpion, though not in a positive context. Rock blocked an early attempt by Jericho to hook the walls hold. Jericho springboard kicked Rock off the apron. Jericho hit an elbow off the top and a flying forearm. They traded hard chops. Heyman put over Jericho's international experience. Rock hit a superplex. The crowd was really into this one, and with good reason. Rock did a Samoan Drop, and JR noted it was a move used by High Chief Peter Maivia, the late grandather of Rock. Rock rammed Jericho into the announcers' desk. Jericho hit an excellent missile kick and got a near fall with Rock's own Rock Bottom move, followed by a lionsault. The heat for the last few minutes was awesome. Jericho tried for a People's Elbow but Rock rolled clear. Rock used a sharpshooter for a pop. Jericho made the ropes. Rock put Jericho through the Spanish table with a Rock Bottom. Back in the ring, they did a fantastic spot where Jericho blocked a People's Elbow and turned it into the walls hold. Stephanie then arrived and tossed in a chair, presumably for Rock (the lesser of two evils to her) to use. However, Rock dragged her into the ring and flattened her with a Rock Bottom. But this allowed Jericho to catch Rock from behind and full nelson slam him on the chair for the pin and title change, which drew a huge babyface pop. So Jericho finally won the big one, thanks to Stephanie. Steph was hysterical when she came to and saw what happened. When Rock revived he teased hitting Jericho with the chair but instead handed the chair to Jericho in a gesture of goodwill. Excellent match from top to bottom.
STEVE AUSTIN beat KURT ANGLE and ROB VAN DAM in the Triple Threat match to retain the WWF World Title in 15:14. They announced earlier on Heat that this was now a no-DQ match (i.e., expect the McMahons to get involved). Here's a lesson for the WWF. Normally, they job any newcomer who arrives there from other federations to the point that they rarely get them over at top tier level. But for whatever reason, they didn't job RVD and allowed him to score pins on top tier guys. The result? RVD is now a main eventer in record time and the guys who put him over weren't hurt a bit. Angle started off by suplexing the hell out of both Austin and RVD. They then joined forces to beat up Angle. Angle got an ankle lock on Austin but RVD made the save. RVD laid in the kicks on both opponents and hit the rolling thunder on Angle. Angle took several major bumps out to the floor. Austin kept working on RVD's leg. Austin and Angle brawled on the floor and RVD did a somersault plancha onto both of them. The crowd was really into this. Angle hit RVD with a high moonsault, as in Kenta Kobashi high. That's really a scary looking move to take. Austin hit a stunner on Angle but RVD broke up the pin. Angle saved when RVD hit the split-leg moonsault on Austin. Angle hit his Olympic Slam on RVD but Austin saved. Austin and Angle traded hard chops. Angle backdropped Austin onto the desk, followed by RVD doing a tope on Angle. Vince then arrived to a big crowd reaction. RVD went up for the five star but Angle superplexed him. Austin hit another stunner on Angle, but Angle fell out of the ring afterward and Austin couldn't get the pin. Vince went in and plastered Austin with a chairshot which legit cut Austin around the ear and he juiced. Funny, everyone was waiting for RVD to potato someone and it was Vince who did it. RVD hit the five star on Austin but Angle went after RVD and gave him the multiple German suplexes. Shane McMahon ran in and assaulted Angle. Vince attacked Shane and they bumped hard across the desk with Vince pounding away. While this was going on, Austin hit the stunner out of nowhere on RVD and got the pin. Austin staggered out, bloody but victorious. Vince didn't look pleased. It all was set up to look like Vince was trying to help RVD more than Angle. The match was a very strong main event to end a hot show.
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Bang On Casino
