WWE No Mercy 2007
I originally wasn't planning on writing about this pay-per-view, in fact I was doing a bit of research on different title reigns and their was a mention of this show and its three WWE title matches.
THREE WWE TITLE MATCHES? ON ONE SHOW?
I totally forgot about this pay-per-view, even though I loved it at the time and was extremely excited for it to happen. Basically, the RAW previous to this show had a match between the then WWE Champion, John Cena, and Mr. Kennedy. During this bout, John Cena tore his right pectoral muscle
(At the 1:40 mark, you can see Cena give Mr. Kennedy an awkward hip toss)
The injury caused a huge issue as Cena was set to defend the WWE title against Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing Match that Sunday at WWE No Mercy 2007. John Cena was expected to be out 6-8 months. The WWE Championship was vacated and it was announced that a decision for the title would be made by Vince McMahon at No Mercy.
The show started with Vince McMahon, alongside William Regal, stating that he was there to give the fans what they want..all the while, the AllState Arena filled with 13,000 Chicagoans were chanting Y2J, Y2J, Y2J...they were quickly shut down as Vince replies, "I'm not gonna give you that..."
The reason why the crowd was chanting this was because previous to this event, WWE had been playing mysterious hype videos about a 2ND COMING...they went on for several weeks but fans had already figured out that it must be for the soon-to-be returning Chris Jericho.
However, Chris Jericho wasn't set to return to action till December for the Armageddon pay-per-view. Although a return in the city where he originally debuted for the WWF might have helped his 2007 run start off a bit hotter.
After cutting off the Y2J Chants, Mr. McMahon simply announces that Randy Orton is the NEW WWE Champion.
This is actually Randy Orton's very 1st WWE Championship victory...and he didn't beat anyone for it. William Regal announces that Orton is still required to defend the WWE title tonight but he may choose his opponent. The crowd picks up the Y2J chants, and Vince angrily cuts them off again. You can tell that Vince was visibly upset that the audience had already known that Jericho was set to return.
Triple H comes out and challenges Orton to a WWE title match. Randy quickly says No. HHH quips back saying "I don't blame you, if I was you, I wouldn't want my 2nd title reign to be shorter than my 1st" making reference to HHH ending Orton's 1 month World Title reign. HHH then continues to goad Vince about being an old insecure man. This makes Vince pissed off enough to make HHH vs. Orton for right here, right now. This pay-per-view is kicking off with an impromptu WWE title match, which has to be a first.
This was an exciting way to start off the night, very unpredictable. The crowd is loud and emotionally invested into this bout. The action goes back and forth, until Orton hits probably his sickest 2nd rope DDT. After this, Randy goes for a RKO, gets pushed off into a pedigree attempt, which Orton reverses as well. Next thing you know, Triple H rolls up Orton, 1, 2, 3!
TRIPLE H WINS THE WWE TITLE in the opening match. Randy Orton's first WWE title reign lasted a whole 20 minutes. In the 1st 30 minutes of this show, we have had 2 new WWE Champions.
After this match, we get a 'special' 6 Man Tag Team match. You can tell that this pay-per-view was totally altered due to John Cena's injury.
Jeff Hardy (IC Champion), Paul London, and Brian Kendrick vs. Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch (Tag Champions), and Mr. Kennedy
I enjoyed London and Kendrick as a tag team, and if they would have been in today's tag division they might have had more success. They were multi-time tag team champions, but never featured. Mid to Late 2000's was definitely a down period for tag wrestling. This was a fun bonus match for the crowd, but it is telling that the IC Champion and Tag Champs are in a non-advertised matchup. Then again, a lot of this pay-per-view is essentially a non-advertised matchup. Mr. Kennedy leaves No Mercy victorious after a Green Bay Plunge from the top rope on Paul London.
(The Green Bay Plunge)
Backstage, Vince tells Triple H that his matchup with Umaga is still on as advertised, but it is now for the WWE Championship! In less than an hour, we have had the WWE title awarded to Randy Orton, then the WWE title won by Triple H, and now a WWE title match made for later on in the night. Next up is the ECW World title match. This was during an odd period in WWE in which their were three "World" titles, the WWE title for RAW, the World Championship for Smackdown, and the ECW World Championship for the ECW brand.
So not only are we getting three WWE Championship matches tonight, they also have an advertised World Title Matchup & up next the ECW Championship is on the line as CM Punk defends against Big Daddy V, formerly known as Viscera...formerly known as Mabel.
Before you could even get settled in, this match is quickly DQ'd by Big Daddy V's manager, Matt Striker. Once Punk took Big Daddy V off his feet, Striker immediately got the match thrown out. This was done to continue the feud, and most likely for time constraints in the night. I assume originally this match would have had at least 10 minutes. Punk, who was spitting up blood, had to be carried out by the refs after Big Daddy V's attack.
Next up we transition to a Pizza Eating Contest between MVP and Matt Hardy.
...Pizza Eating Contest...Let me explain.
Over the past several weeks, MVP & Matt Hardy, the Smackdown Tag Team Champions, had been having these non-wrestling competitions to decide who was better. These contests included arm wrestling, football, chess, basketball, push ups, and even a live boxing exhibition on Saturday Night Main Event... with Evander Holyfield!
But back at WWE No Mercy 2007, their upcoming contest was a Pizza Eating Contest. The host Taz brought out the "Judges" for this Deep-Dish Eating competition.. Melina & Maria. Beforehand, MVP notes that he is Mr. FedEX and that he always delivers, so he guarantees a victory in this contest. Both men have 2 minutes to eat as many slices as possible. Taz tries to interview both men during the eating contest...both men just mumble at Taz as their mouths are filled. MVP barely finishes 1 slice as Matt downs 2 huge deep dish slices. Matt Hardy looks sick afterwards and proceeds to throw up on MVP's nice white jacket.
Pretty gross odd segment, but it continued the slow build of the MVP/Matt Hardy feud. While they were the WWE Tag Team Champions, MVP was also the US Champion so they were eventually building to these tag team partners finally going at it over MVP's singles championship.
After this segment, we switch back to the RAW side of things with the 2nd WWE Championship matchup of the night, Umaga vs. Triple H. In the build up to WWE No Mercy, HHH had been insulting Mr. McMahon over being found to be Hornswoggle's biological father (...Yep)
so Vince used the savage Umaga as a wrecking machine to take out the Game, Triple H. With Triple H winning the WWE championship earlier in the night, this matchup was made into a title match.
This was a solid albeit short bout that had Umaga no-selling any damage to his head and taking out HHH's ribs. Umaga stayed on the attack until he ended up head first into the ring pole and getting hit with a pedigree for the 3-count. HHH leaves with the WWE title, holding his possibly broken ribs.
The Smackdown side of things continue as Rey Mysterio is set to face Finlay. This match is based off Finlay attacking Rey Mysterio backstage without provocation. Finlay focuses on Rey's left arm/shoulder as this match stays at a slower pace than you'd expect from a Mysterio match. It doesn't really pick up till Rey gets on offense and quickens the pace. Finlay exposes a ring post so the ref can be distracted while he grabs his Shillelagh club. However, Mysterio cuts him off and drops the dime from the top rope causing Finlay to fall backwards out of the ring and smack his head. The ref calls for a stretcher. The crowd even cheers for Finlay as Rey shows remorse for hurting Finlay. Then out of no where Finlay jumps off the stretcher and ambushes Mysterio. This helps set up for their Stretcher Match at Cyber Sunday 2007.
Backstage, the doctor is checking on Triple H's ribs as Vince walks in. Mr. McMahon announces that Orton has requested his rematch clause tonight. Vince states it'll be a Last Man Standing match for the WWE Championship... "I mean, that is of course, if you can stand at all..."
We get our first Woman's matchup, which pits challenger Beth Pheonix vs. Candice Michelle (c) for the Woman's Championship.
Beth stays in the control for the majority of the matchup, playing up the role of the Power Diva. Candice has a few moments with a huge cross body and some lucky roll ups but to no avail as Beth fisherman suplexes for the decisive win and the Woman's title. Afterwards, Beth cuts a quick promo saying the era of the 'Glamazon' has begun.
Up next was the World Heavyweight Championship matchup, Batista vs. The Great Khali in a Punjabi Prison Match.
Essentially it is a cage within a cage, made out of "steel reinforced" bamboo and the only way to win is to escape both cages. Inside the 1st cage are four doors that competitors can call for to be opened and they will stay opened for 60 seconds then shut closed for the remainder of the match. For the outer cage, you must climb up and over to escape and win the World Championship. The match type has only been used twice in WWE and this is the last one they have done; it is also the 1st that the Great Khali will be competing in. The 1st Punjabi Prison match was supposed to be Khali vs. Undertaker at Great American Bash 2006; unfortunately Khali had elevated liver enzymes and was not medically cleared, so he was replaced by Big Show.
Khali calls for the 1st door, but Batista stalls Khali and stops him from escaping. Khali does the same when Batista calls for the 2nd door. Khali uses a leather strap on Batista for a bit before calling for the 3rd door. Batista hits a huge spine buster but is unable to escape in time. The 60 second time limit may have been to much as both men have to stall awkwardly for the majority of the minute each time a door is opened. A 30 second time limit would have worked much better.
This matchup must have been impossible to view live as when the camera panned to an outside view you could barely see anything going on inside the ring. I actually went to Great American Bash 2006 and I remember during the Punjabi Prison match the audience had to basically watch on the titantron for most of the match.
Batista decides to just climb over rather than call for another door, but is cut off by Khali. Khali uses the vicegrip submission on Batista and calls for the 4th door. However, Batista hits a lowbrow on Khali and begins crawling towards the 4th and final door. Khali gets up and closes the door early on Batista as he is trying to escape; now the only way for them to escape the 1st cage is to climb over. Khali successfully climbs over the 1st cage while Batista is still laid out. Khali begins to climb the 2nd cage as Batista is over the first structure. Batista jumps from the 1st cage to the 2nd cage to try and catch up with the Great Khali. Its a race to who will get down first and Batista hurries enough to win the 'race' for the World Championship.
...and one last time, we go back to the RAW side for the main event, a WWE Championship matchup once again, between Triple H and Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing Match. This is HHH's 3rd match of the night, and the 2nd match of the night for Randy Orton. Orton starts off by attacking the injured ribs of Triple H. Orton stays in complete control for quite awhile as HHH was unable to continue any offense even after getting a lucky hit in. Randy grabs some camera cables to attempt to choke out Triple H, which today would be a big No-No in WWE as that is an offense that got Daniel Bryan originally released in 2010.
Orton eventually brings HHH out to ringside to RKO him through a table but ends up being reversed and tossed off to the side. After a close 10 count for both men, Hunter uses the ring steps to knock Orton door for a 9-count in this Last Man Standing match. A chair is brought into the fold by HHH, but is stopped and Orton lands a DDT onto the folding chair. This is followed up by a vicious RKO on a setup chair.
HHH gets back up at the 9-count, bloodied and defiant, gives a DX crotch-chop motion to Orton before falling back down. Randy backs up to prepare for a punt that gets blocked and leads to Hunter hulking up before a sickening clothesline. The action continues on the outside with HHH continually hammering on the challenger, including a chairshot while Orton has his head setup in the stair steps. The match still continues so HHH sets up for a pedigree on the RAW announce table but instead receives an RKO for his trouble. This leads to a 10-count and AGAIN, the NEW WWE CHAMPION, RANDY ORTON. We end the broadcast how we started it, with the announcement of Randy Orton as the WWE Champion.
Let's quickly recap the events of the WWE title tonight... the WWE title was stripped from an injured John Cena, awarded to Randy Orton, who proceeded to lose it to Triple H, who successfully defended it against Umaga, before losing it to Orton in a Last Man Standing match. On top of this, there were also three other championships defended tonight. This was a jam-packed night that was instigated by John Cena's injury. It was an exciting unpredictable night that was unlike any other WWE pay-per-view I have seen. Most WWE PPV's have matches that are heavily hyped for weeks, while WWE had to scramble to decide what to do last minute with the unexpected Cena injury. John Cena was rumored to lose the WWE title to Orton at No Mercy, so WWE still got the result they planned on but the route they took was unique. Cena was expected to be out 6-8 months but actually returned early and won the Royal Rumble 2008 as a surprise entrant. Randy Orton went on to feud with Shawn Michaels and the returning Chris Jericho before going on to face John Cena & Triple H in a triple threat at that year's WrestleMania.
'Till Next Time!
