By Richard Gray on October 6th, 2008
WWE held their No Mercy pay-per-view last night from the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. While I will be the first to admit that the pay-per-view seemed like it could end up a throwaway effort with a lot of talking and some questionable booking, the final three matches of the show made it a very good effort from the company. Below are my thoughts in the order in which they occurred at last night’s pay-per-view.
The show opened with Matt Hardy vs. Mark Henry for the ECW Championship. Creative had to be careful in this match as they did not want Henry to come off as weak although it was way too early to do another title change. I felt that goal was accomplished with a good paced match for an opener that saw Hardy steal the win to retain his title. Mark Henry’s size limits what he can do in the ring but I felt that he had a good showing against Hardy. The crowd was hot for the opener which is always a plus.
Candice Michelle came into last night’s pay-per-view off some of the worst matches of her career, showing a considerable amount of ring rust. Last night she proved that those matches were a fluke as she looked much better in her match for the Women’s Championship against Beth Phoenix. Candice worked her quick, almost high flying style against the more powerful Beth Phoenix and looked very credible. This match not only continued the Glamarella angle but made both women look well. Beth got the win and retained her title which I felt was the right outcome.
Prior to his match with Rey Mysterio, WWE did another cheesy backstage promo with Kane. This reminds me so much of what TNA did with Black Reign Dustin Runnels that it makes my stomach hurt. Kane was finally starting to get momentum this summer and they’ve turned this into another kid-friendly cartoon angle. As for the match itself, Mysterio proved just how awesome that he is with all of his high spots and versatility. The outcome was very predictable with Kane getting disqualified as obviously Mysterio was not going to lose his mask and they didn’t want Kane to appear weak.
The backstage stuff between MVP and Big Show was kind of out of the blue but it led to MVP coming out and complaining about not being on the No Mercy card. This led to Randy Orton coming out, making the segment even more random, with Orton dressing down MVP. Finally Priceless and Manu came out along with Kofi Kingston and CM Punk later in the segment which led to a big brawl. It appears that something is in the works for Survivor Series between Team Orton and Team Punk although we’ll have to wait a couple of weeks to see what happens. Some wrestling fans may not be happy with the talking segment on the pay-per-view although I did not have a huge problem with it because No Mercy is a B-level pay-per-view and they obviously wanted to keep some of the names not featured on the card in the spotlight.
JBL vs. Batista was the worst match of the night. Creative booked JBL to be inferior to Batista, with him getting on the mic after the match and admitting that his heart was not in it. Obviously they scripted the promo to try and salvage JBL as a main eventer, but a lot of his momentum was killed last night. Batista has made it well known that he wants more of the spotlight and it looks like WWE is willing to give him what he wants. It seems like only a matter of time until Batista wins the World Championship and he made JBL look like a job guy last night. I liked the segment with Cryme Tyme after JBL’s rant with all of the divas getting in his new limousine. Not only did it give the divas a chance to get shown on pay-per-view but they had Sgt. Slaughter get in the limo decked out in full G.I. Joe gear which made it that much more funny.
Big Show had his best match since returning to WWE last night against the Undertaker. A lot of people may take a bout like this for granted but I truly appreciate just how good these big men made the match look. It’s not easy for a match featuring two giants to appear believable and realistic but last night’s match was and it was a lot of fun to watch. The live crowd didn’t like it, but I enjoyed the MMA style knockout finish with Big Show losing it on Undertaker. I didn’t expect Undertaker to lose clean and he didn’t but it would have been the wrong move to put him over clean as it would have stopped the angle in its beginning stages.
Say what you want too about Jeff Hardy but he is a big asset for WWE. His match with Triple H last night was one of the best bouts that I have seen on a WWE pay-per-view all year. Hardy changed it up a little bit, utilizing more mat wrestling but the slow build made for one heck of a go-home sequence. Hardy hit Twist of Fate and the Swanton Bomb, even losing his shirt, but Triple H was able to steal the win by reversing Hardy’s pin. I liked how it was booked in that Hardy could hit his finishers yet Triple H was still able to defy the odds. Jeff Hardy shaking Triple H’s hand after the match was a nice touch to keep both as faces. It looks like Hunter will move on to something with Vladamir Kozlov but Hardy remained credible as a top guy on SmackDown.
The match of the night and one of the best matches of 2008 was the ladder match main event between Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels. Michaels is absolutely insane for working a ladder match with his triceps injury but he delivered yet another clutch performance. Jericho lost a tooth early on in the match but it didn’t affect his spots and made the match that much more believable. It looked like Jericho tweaked his knee after landing on it after getting thrown off a ladder to the outside, but I have not heard of a serious injury. Great work by both as the match stole the show with Chris Jericho retaining. I completely expected Jericho to retain not only because it’s too soon for a change but because of the uncertainty of Michaels working with a semi-serious injury.
In conclusion No Mercy was a very good pay-per-view. The final three matches alone made it worth the $40 price tag. The only bad thing on the entire event was Batista vs. JBL because Batista was booked to be so dominant. Candice Michelle was really the only question mark on this stellar card and she more than delivered in the Women’s Championship match. Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy and Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels were two of the best matches that you will see this year. An event like No Mercy goes to show just how a company can have straight up wrestling matches without goofy gimmicks and put on over two hours of very good wrestling. People backstage knew that WWE delivered last night and I could not agree more.
Tags: Batista dominates, Beth Phoenix retains, Chris Jericho retains, JBL jobs, Ladder Match, Match of the year Candidate, Matt Hardy retains, Triple H retains
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October 6th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Sgt. Slaughter was some funny shit! Great PPV,even if the outcomes were obvious.
October 6th, 2008 at 10:31 am
it sounds like a good pay-per-view, can’t wait untill it comes out on DVD.
October 6th, 2008 at 10:46 am
i could barely watch the final scene with jericho and hbk on the ladder that was my favourite ppv and match of 2008
October 6th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Jericho and Michaels want medals for their fued. The ending with both pulling on the WHC was tense and could easily have gone wrong if Jericho had lost his grip. Outside of Undertaker-Edge & HBK-Y2J, HHH v Hardy was comfortably match of the year. I completely agree that Hardy’s mat wrestling and the slow build made the finish even more spectacular. Even though i was sure HHH would retain, when Hardy hit TOF & Swanton then covered i was so suprised he would win, and it made HHH reversing the pin even more suprising. If Hardy doesnt take the title at WM25 then Vince has dropped the proverbable ball of the milenium
October 6th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Wow, pretty good show, this. A few downers here and there but overall it was one of the best PPVs of the year.
Hardy vs. Henry was surprisingly good, since we’re talking about a match with Mark “ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ” Henry here. Good opener match and they managed to do with Hardy what they failed to do with Punk - legitimizing him by having him go over somebody bigger than him (or in Punk’s case, anybody but JBL would be good). Great opener as I said.
Glad to see Candice not looking as uber-shite as in earlier times. Definitely the best Candice match I’ve seen, not that that’s really saying much. Any other decision than to have Beth go over would have sucked. I loved the counter during the finish though.
Kane vs. Rey Mysterio was a bit boring, as predicted. We’ve seen it all before…and I’m still pissed about them FUBARing the angle…it FUCKING sucks. Ah well, nasty end spot there though. I could have done without the match.
I 100% loved the MVP/Priceless/Orton mic stuff. MVP is quite possibly ready to be a main eventer right now. Orton seemed a bit out of place in the segment though, for some reason. I almost forgot he was there. And Rhodes is also improving like hell on the mic. As far as mic work goes, MVP is in WWE’s upper echelon. Hell, even his ring work is top notch when he’s given an opponent he can mesh well with. Most Valuable Player may become a truth for WWE sooner rather than later.
JBL vs. Batista was a complete waste of my time. JBL was booked as a complete jobber throughout the match and lo and behold we have Batista in the goddamn main event picture again. Just retire already baldy…however, the post-match promo was legend. JBL is also one of the best mic workers in WWE. Jesus, that felt real. And Sgt. Slaughter partying with the Divas in JBL’s limo? XD
Big Show vs. Undertaker was also pretty much a standard match. No particularly memorable things about it.
But all that would be (un)forgiven with the next match - the best match of the card and one of the best singles matches of the year 2008. I was so damn into each and every second of it, which has not happened since the HIAC at SummerSlam. Jeff Hardy got so close you can taste it…GOD. Bit of a weird finish though…as the guy said earlier, Jeff should win the championship at WM25!
Michaels vs. Jericho…I don’t know. It just wasn’t as good as I expected it to be. It felt like more of a series of spots and bumps than a wrestling match…I usually like that, but it didn’t work 100% this time. Don’t get me wrong, it was a great match but there was just something missing I couldn’t put my finger on. But those bumps were damn nasty! Jericho even broke a tooth! Hmm, remember what happened to the last Chris with a chipped tooth? As I said, definitely not as good as it could be and just something about the entire match that didn’t click. Oh well.
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No Mercy was a good PPV. It had some pitfalls and some oh-so-wonderful GODDAMN AWESOME MOMENTS. I walked away from my chair happy. But Jeff vs. Triple H was the best match of the night. Make no mistake.
9.7/10
October 6th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
“Glad to see Candice not looking as uber-shite as in earlier times. Definitely the best Candice match I’ve seen, not that that’s really saying much. Any other decision than to have Beth go over would have sucked. I loved the counter during the finish though.”
It was the best match she’s had since she returned, but she’s had better. The one that comes to mind immediately is the Unforgiven 2007 match with Beth as they got about double the time they had last night, and it was a pretty good match.
Sorry if this gets posted twice. I tried earlier, and the post didn’t show up.
October 6th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
I thought what made No Mercy was the crowd. I think that is what sucked most about Unforgiven was that the crowd was dead.
Personally, to make a tense moment out of predictability is great. We all new that Jeff Hardy and HBK were going to lose but the way that the finishes played out was brilliant esp. on the Ladder Match. For a split second, I honestly thought that maybe Jeff was going to win.
October 6th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Good blog and analysis as always Richard.
I loved No Mercy and cannot wait to share my full thoughts on Saturday.
Just quickly though both Hardy vs HHH and Michaels vs Jericho were OUTSTANDING!!!
Even though I was almost certain both champs were retaining the matches were just so gripping I was on the edge of my seat throughout!
Jeff came so so close and gave us one of the finest wrestling displays of his career. How hot were the crowd and how much did they pop for him when he nailed that Swanton!!!
The ladder match was everything I had hoped for and the ending was spectacular. After the Cade interferance I thought just for a split second HBK was going to win it but then Jericho stole it at the last.
Also MVP’s mic work was once again outstanding. I really think he showed that he could work as a cocky face once again last night with his running down of Orton and teaming up with Punk and Kofi.
Great Show, Order the replay and buy the DVD!!!
October 6th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
As buff said, theres two things that make or break a PPV. Edge of your seat matches like Jeff vs HHH and the ladder match and a hot crowd all night. If the crowd seems dead on tv it tends to carry on in the home viewer. I heard boring chants only during the MVP segment and even then only when Rhodes was on the mic. All in all a great show. How do you guys think Cyber Sundays gonna get built up?
October 6th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
very good PPV better than I thought it be. If the undertaker and big show have matches like then I don’t mind the feud going longer.Do you think they will do rey vs kane -if kane wins rey takes his mask off but if rey wins kane must put his mask ( with hair)back on.
October 6th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Also, did anyone else notice that Manu has a lisp? While he was talking, I really couldn’t take him serious b/c of it.
October 6th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
He must be getting a case of Rhodesitis.
October 6th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
This PPV was predictable as hell thats why I didn’t even cast any predictions for this one. But all I have to say is this…If Hardy is involved in anything less than the main event for WrestleMania 25 then we all know that Vince has truly robbed Hardy and has something against him!!!
October 7th, 2008 at 12:03 am
i hope so RVD i hope so lol.
missed the PPV plan on seeing it on Dailymotion heh. The last 2 matches seem like a must see to me. I’m also beginning to lose my liking for Batista. He needs to cut better promos in my opinion and stop being in the damn title picture over and over again. It could have been Punk going for the rematch at CS
October 7th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Thanks everyone for the feedback, I always enjoy reading it!
October 8th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
hey i hope all of you dont mind but for a once off thing im doing.
HBK REACTS:to HK-47 are you serious about the HBK/jericho match that was one of the best matches you will see this whole year everything was perfect about it.You say something was missing what could it have possibly been because here I am at this minute watching it again and all i can see that is missing is HBKs splash lol
So that was HBK REACTS hope you all enjoyed it
October 8th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
(This is the artist formerly known as Guy Landau) am i the only 1 that thinks the MH1 vs. MH2 match sucked? it had no flow, no “rhythm” to it and had many botched spots!
anyway, the PPV Poll is: DO YOU THINK MVP SHOULD TURN FACE? i think he can definitely draw good heat (pops) as a face, as long as his turn is timed right.
i actually agree with HK-47, although the match was phenomenal i also felt it was just a bunch of spots, not a match.
BTW Rich, great WZR show last night, can’t wait ’till next week! how can i listen to it live now with the new site and whatnot? now that it starts 3 hours earlier and therefor reasonable for me to listen to it live without it ending in an AM time here in Israel…