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THIS DAY IN HISTORY: DUDLEYS PAY TRIBUTE TO HAWK, WCW RELEASES BRET HART, UNDERTAKER IS BURIED ALIVE, WORLD AND INTERCONTINENTAL TITLES UNIFIED

WWE No Mercy 2002
by Tim Whitehead

WWE's No Mercy (10/20 from Little Rock) was largely a two match show, but both those matches were great and made the PPV a clear thumb's up in my mind. The rest of the show was okay, with some of it good, some of it weak, and some of it average. The dual division commentary was good again, except during the Triple H vs. Kane match when Jerry Lawler dwelled unceasingly on the moronic "Kane's a murderer" angle. I know it's an announcer's job to get angles over, but Lawler was pushing the murder deal as if it were a good angle, when in fact it's one of the most idiotic ideas anyone in wrestling has ever come up with. The crowd seemed kind of slow getting into some of the matches. Even during the two excellent bouts they didn't really get heated until the last few minutes, but in both cases it was more like they were watching intently, like in an All Japan match where they study things and then get excited when the time limit starts to get close.

The show opened with Kane encountering Undertaker backstage. He sardonically asked UT how his week was. UT just glared at him.

CHRIS JERICHO & CHRISTIAN defeated BOOKER T & GOLDUST in 8:45 to retain the RAW World Tag Titles. Jericho was doing an angle where he was scared of Booker and kept avoiding tagging in against him. Booker went to work on Christian with lariats and kicks. Goldust sent Christian out to the floor and then vaulted Jericho out on top of him. Jericho hit a missile kick on Goldust. Goldust and Christian did some good standard spots together. Goldust was actually wrestling here rather than just doing his usual routine. Booker hot tagged in and finally got to go against Jericho, scoring some near falls. Goldust delivered shattered dreams to Christian and then sent Jericho head first into Christian's crotch. Jericho hooked the walls on Goldust but Booker broke it up. Booker nearly pinned Jericho with a scissor kick, with Christian making the save. Booker missile kicked Jericho and did the spinaroonie. Jericho went for a lionsault but, in a scary moment, the ropes broke and Jericho took an unexpected bump. Goldust bulldogged Jericho. Booker began chasing Christian, who fled through the crowd. Meanwhile, Jericho gave Goldust a bulldog on one of the title belts and pinned him after a moonsault (with the lower ropes broken, he couldn't do a lionsault). A solid opening match.

While the ring crew fixed the broken ropes, Sho Funaki interviewed Al Wilson (Torrie's dad, not the 70's pop singer who had that hit called "Show And Tell"). They showed footage of all the recent incidents where Al was caught in compromising situations with Dawn Marie. Al kept stammering, trying to explain things. I think stammering is a side effect of a viagra overdose. Finally, Al said, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman". It was far more believable than when Clinton said the same thing. Of course, how could it not be?

TORRIE WILSON beat DAWN MARIE in 4:40. Not good, but both are pretty so that made it watchable. Torrie dropkicked Dawn before the bell. They were trying to do a real match but the crowd just wanted to see T & A. They did a lot of near falls. The ref got tangled up with them at one point, on purpose so he could feel them up. Torrie won with a neckbreaker, and said the win was for her dad. Dad was probably happy with the result, since every time Dawn loses to Torrie, she puts out for Al afterward.

Jonathan Coachman interviewed Rob Van Dam. RVD did a funny Ric Flair imitation where he called himself a chair smashing, frog splashing, risk taking, yinging yanging, van daminating dude. This was done in the same style as Flair's "kiss stealing, wheeling dealing" promos, complete with the Flair strut. Brock Lesnar happened to walk by, accompanied by Paul Heyman & Tracy. Coach ran after them, saying that even though he's a RAW guy, he needed to ask them some questions. Lesnar & Heyman ignored him, but Tracy went off on Undertaker, calling him a liar and a scumbag. Jim Ross called her a jezebel. Lawler, who was right, said she's hot.

ROB VAN DAM defeated RIC FLAIR in 7:59. This match pretty much settled it. Flair needs to hang it up and stop wrestling a regular schedule. He just couldn't keep up with RVD here, making this the weakest match on the show other than the women's matches. RVD hit Flair with a thrust kick on the floor and a legdrop from the apron across the security rail. Flair did his heel begging routine. Flair once again failed to make it over the turnbuckle when he did his flip into the corner. Lawler went off again on Flair's age, predicting Dawn Marie will come on to him next. Flair probably does need to be reminded of his age, but not by Lawler. Flair did his trademark chops and began working on RVD's leg as a prelude to setting up a figure four. RVD reversed the figure four, and Flair made the ropes. RVD scored some near falls. Flair went to the top and, as always, got bodyslammed off. RVD hit the rolling thunder but Flair made the ropes. RVD then won with a kick and a very high frog splash.

Eric Bischoff caught Big Show talking to Stephanie backstage. He seemed to be wanting to jump to Smackdown, which he can't do without Bischoff's consent. Steph excused herself when she saw Bischoff. Bischoff began yelling at Show. Show complained that he hasn't wrestled on a PPV in months and hasn't headlined one in years. He accused Bischoff of holding him back. Show was acting like he's a potential headliner being misused. Bischoff kept yelling at him, so Show slammed him into a bunch of carts and threatened to snap his neck like a twig next time. I guess this will lead to something on RAW.

JAMIE NOBLE beat TAJIRI to retain the Cruiserweight Title in 8:15. Both guys traded kicks early. Tajiri did a neat flip out of the ring, followed by a kick to Noble's head. Noble got Tajiri up on his shoulders and then dropped him hard. Lots of near falls throughout. Tajiri hit a scary looking tornado DDT. Tajiri also threw a series of rapid kicks, like a kickboxer might throw. Tajiri went for a pin after a tarantula and a big kick but Nidia distracted the ref by kissing him. Noble came back with a powerbomb. Tajiri went up for a victory roll, but Nidia interfered, causing Noble to fall on Tajiri for the pin. Afterward, Tajiri grabbed Nidia and kissed her. She liked it, so Noble got mad and kissed her himself, allowing Tajiri to lay him out from behind with a kick. A solid cruiserweight match, and it was good to see the title highlighted on PPV.

Backstage, Chris Benoit told Eddie Guerrero that nephew Chavo was being beaten up by Kurt Angle. Benoit led Eddie to a door. From behind the door, banging noises could be heard, along with Chavo yelling for help. Eddie figured it was all a set-up, and said he's too smart to fall for something like that, and said it was someone imitating Chavo's voice. He refused to go in the room. Finally, the door flew open and Chavo came flying out. Angle had indeed beaten him up, and then threw him out the door. Angle & Benoit laughed and walked off, leaving Eddie to tend to his battered nephew. Funny stuff!

HHH beat KANE to retain the RAW World Title and unify the IC Title in 16:11. Kane used power moves to thwart HHH. Kane dominated for the first few minutes, hitting lariats and other basic moves to score several near falls. Lawler was harping like crazy about the murder allegation, which made the whole match seem like a bad joke even though they were doing a basic, solid match. Kane bumped out and HHH posted him. HHH scored some twos with standard moves like a neckbreaker and a spinebuster. HHH hooked the sleeper but Kane suplexed his way out of it. Kane hit a boot to the face, but Lawler was busy talking about semen in Katie's body. Flair ran in, and Kane walloped him. Flair really looks bad in this role. HHH used the title belt on Kane but only scored a two count, which popped the crowd and they came to life for the rest of the match. Hurricane ran in and attacked Flair. HHH rescued Flair by pedigreeing Hurricane on the floor. I thought managers were supposed to rescue wrestlers, not the other way around. Kane scored a near fall with a powerslam. HHH blocked a chokeslam. The ref got bumped. Kane chokeslammed HHH through the announcers' desk. Flair chopped Kane, who didn't sell. Did I mention how bad Flair looks in this role? Flair got the sledgehammer but Kane took it from him. HHH came back in and got the hammer just as Kane was lifting him up for a move. HHH hit Kane in the ribs with the weapon. Kane still managed to chokeslam HHH. The ref was still out, so a second ref ran in, but Flair slugged him up. Kane chokeslammed Flair. HHH nailed Kane again in the ribs and hit the pedigree as the ref revived and counted the pin. So Kane went through the most moronic and degrading angle of the year, and ended up with no belts (after originally going for three). HHH is still king on RAW. The work was okay in this match but all the interference and the bad commentary hurt it badly.

Stephanie called Tracy into her office, and acted like they were having a private "girl talk" type of conversation. I guess Tracy didn't see the cameras there. She also didn't notice that Undertaker was hiding in the room. Anyway, Tracy admitted to Steph that her affair with UT was back before he was married and that Heyman had her lie about it. She said she now wants "Mark" back and doesn't care that he has a pregnant wife. UT emerged and called her a lying bitch for claiming their affair was recent. Steph told Tracy to hit the bricks, babe. UT said he owes Stephanie one.

KURT ANGLE & CHRIS BENOIT defeated EDGE & REY MYSTERIO JR. in the finals of the Smackdown World Tag Titles tournament in 22:02. Kind of interesting that the two big Smackdown matches got higher billing than the two big RAW matches. It was a good thing, too, because they were the show stealers. Angle did some good mat stuff with Mysterio, including tossing him hard across the ring. Mysterio came back with fast kicks, smacking Angle to make him mad. Edge came in and armdragged Angle. Benoit hooked a headlock on Edge, who broke free and hit a backbreaker. Edge and Benoit traded hard chops. Edge ducked a Benoit lariat and speared Angle off the apron. Angle and Benoit were working well together, which was part of the storyline that they are starting to respect each other after prior distrust. Angle tied Edge up in a chinlock before hitting a belly-to-belly suplex. Matches like this are really great for re-establishing actual wrestling holds as the real deal. Benoit hit his multiple German suplexes on Edge. Edge superplexed Benoit. There were near falls throughout all this. Mysterio hot tagged and hit a spinning headscissors on Benoit. He kicked the hell out of both Angle and Benoit. Mysterio did a springboard legdrop on Benoit, who was dangling over the ropes. Benoit hooked the crossface on Mysterio but Edge saved. Benoit caught Mysterio on the 619, which was cool. Benoit had Mysterio up but Edge missile kicked Mysterio and he fell on Benoit for a near pin. The crowd heat finally started to pick up. They got a ton of near falls on Mysterio, who kept kicking out after high suplexes and hard backdrops. Edge gave Angle a big backdrop and then speared Benoit. Edge hoisted Mysterio up and he gave Angle a huracanrana off the top. Benoit went for a diving headbutt on Edge but Edge rolled clear and Angle took the hit. There was a huge pop when Angle kicked out of Edge's pin attempt. Edge went for a spear but Benoit tripped him and hooked the crossface. Mysterio made the save with the 619. Angle gave Mysterio the Olympic slam. Angle went for an ankle lock on Edge, who blocked it and scored a near fall with a roll-up. Edge speared Angle but again only scored two. Edge helped moonsault Mysterio out onto Benoit on the floor. The closing sequence, which was awesome, had Angle block and Edgecution and hook the ankle lock. Edge reversed it into an ankle lock of his own, but Angle reversed it again and Edge tapped out. Excellent match! And it was great that there was no interference from Eddie & Chavo so the match stayed pure.

The doctor shot UT's broken arm up with pain killer. He didn't want to do it, claiming it was unethical, but UT insisted. It wasn't nearly as eerie as that time Akira Hokuto got shot up with pain killer before a match on that Japanese video. But then, she really was being shot up with pain killer.

TRISH STRATUS defeated VICTORIA to retain the Women's Title in 5:32. This was put on here in this spot to separate the two great matches. They both worked like crazy as always. Lots of brawling with some pretty stiff kicks. Some of the wrestling moves didn't quite click. Trish hit a huracanrana. Lots of near falls as they kept going at each other pretty hard. Victoria blocked the stratusfaction but Trish still managed to roll her up for the pin. Victoria booted Trish hard in the face afterward.

Rikishi appeared at The World and predicted UT would win the Hell in the Cell since it's his specialty match. Footage aired of Rikishi bumping off the cage in his Hell in the Cell match a couple of years ago.

BROCK LESNAR defeated UNDERTAKER in the Hell in the Cell to retain the Undisputed WWE World Title in 27:16. Undertaker swung at Lesnar with his cast, with Lesnar avoiding. UT finally landed a blow across the ribs and Lesnar sold it. UT stalked Lesnar on the floor, with Heyman yelling from outside the cage to try and keep Lesnar on track. Lesnar went after the broken arm but UT walloped him with the cast and he juiced. On the floor, UT took command as Heyman was in a state of panic. He repeatedly rammed Lesnar into the cage and raked his face across it. UT kept pounding Lesnar with the cast and delivering lariats. A stiff, brawling style that really got over. The live crowd, again, wasn't that hot at first, but they were following the match intently. Heyman was up against the cage shouting instructions and UT kicked him. Heyman juiced, as it was set up to look like the cage cut him. Lesnar was sent crashing into the stairs. UT charged Lesnar but he sidestepped and UT careened into the cage. Heyman sort of tied UT to the cage with a leather belt and Lesnar mauled him. Lesnar used a chair on the broken arm. Lesnar tossed UT into the ring and, after a struggle, removed the cast. He stomped UT's broken arm. Lesnar hung from the cage top and kicked UT. UT mounted a comeback that sent Lesnar out to the floor. UT hit a tope through the ropes. UT further bloodied Heyman by using his tie to ram him into the cage. UT tried to use the stairs but his arm gave way and he dropped them. Lesnar then hit UT with the stairs and he juiced one of the biggest gushers in PPV history. Blood was just spurting out. Lesnar stomped the arm some more. UT, despite all the blood, blocked the F5 and hit a chokeslam. Huge reaction when Lesnar kicked out at two. UT delivered a last ride and this time Lesnar made the ropes to break the count. Lesnar blocked a tombstone piledriver attempt and hit the F5 for the pin. Awesome match, and very dramatic, and they did it without going to the cage top and doing the dangerous stuff. Tazz & Michael Cole put over huge that Lesnar was going to be a legend. Cole said UT made Lesnar famous, but not in the way he intended. Lesnar climbed to the cage top and hoisted the belt as the bloody UT watched in defeat from inside. UT put Lesnar over so well that it actually sort of justified last month's screwjob ending.

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