No Mercy '99

Legacy Review

No Mercy '99

October 17, 1999 from the Gund Arena in Cleveland, OH

Commentary: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

This is a historical show right off the bat, as it's the first WWF PPV after the departure of Vince Russo to WCW. Still, these ships aren't turned around right away and with the commercial success WWF has had the past couple of years they preferred to tinker rather than fully overhaul, so Russo's massive influence on the product would still be felt for a while even with him not there.

The Godfather def Mideon (w/Viscera) in 7:31- Has, uh, anyone told Mideon or Viscera the Ministry of Darkness has been dead for months? Because they haven't changed one little bit. While the usual ho shenanigans are going on commentary starts talking about Mideon and dead animals and I don't even want to know where they're going with that. Lockup! In the first match! My God Russo really is gone. A stalemate off that leads to shoving that leads to slugging. Godfather hits a powerslam. Hook kick. Godfather sets up for an early Ho Train but pulls out when he sees Viscera is getting close to the women. Mideon attacks from behind and Godfather gets knocked around on the floor. Jawbreaker from Mideon back in and he goes into his usual dull offense. In other words, straight to the chinlock. Godfather gets a sunset flip but Viscera distracts the ref. Clothesline from Mideon. The heel 2 on 1 stuff continues until Godfather makes a small comeback and goes for the Ho Train again. Mideon gets a boot up and hits another clothesline. He pounds Godfather down in the corner and Viscera gets more shots in. Godfather dodges a Mideon elbow off the second rope. Clotheslines. Slam and legdrop for 2. He goes for a Vader bomb but Mideon gets his knees up. They fight on the floor again and Viscera runs into the post. The Ho Train hits. Godfather follows up with a quick roll up, and that gets the pin. Not good, but not the worst I've seen from either guy. It felt like a short Raw match stretched twice as long as it needed to be. 3/4*

 

WWF Women's Championship: The Fabulous Moolah (w/Mae Young) def Ivory (c) in 3:01- At 76 years old, The Fabulous Moolah is wrestling for the women's title on a PPV. She was the most successful women's wrestler in history to this point, having held versions of both the WWF and NWA women's titles for literally decades. But, SEVENTY SIX YEARS OLD. I already know I'm going to need a Lawler mute button for this match. Ivory dropkicks Moolah from behind before the bell for a quick 2 count. Snap mare/legdrop combo for 2. Moolah forearms back and gives Ivory some classic hair flips. In the corner Moolah very gently puts her knee up and Ivory sells it like a tennis ball bouncing off a wall. Or a LeBron James flop. Moolah goes all the way up to the BOTTOM rope and tries a splash that Ivory in theory dodges but she still got hit. They fumble around for a good while trying to get in position for Young to break up a leverage pin. Young takes multiple shots off the apron while Moolah gets tossed out the other side. Ivory tries a tope suicida but gets no launch and just kind of flops on top of Moolah. Moolah tosses Ivory over the barricade. Ivory hits a crossbody coming back over. Young takes more shots. Ivory gets the belt. Young grabs her to stop her from using it and goes down again. She's taken more bumps than anyone in this match. Moolah rolls Ivory up in slow motion, and Ivory acts like a turtle stuck on its back as Moolah somehow pins her to win the title. At 76 years old, Moolah just won the women's title. And you wonder why no one took women's wrestling seriously back then. DUD

 

The Hollys def The New Age Outlaws by DQ in 10:11- On the Smackdown before this show the Hollys cost the Outlaws the tag titles to the one night only after years apart reuniting Rock N Sock Connection (much to the Rock's chagrin at being forced to keep teaming with Foley). The Outlaws jump on the floor and it's on. Gunn takes Hardcore out on the floor, then joins Dogg in the ring to beat down Crash. Crash tries to slide under Dogg but Dogg gives him his dancing jabs. Gunn takes a charging Hardcore out and Dogg hits the kneedrop. Off a speed run Crash gets Dogg over the top to the floor. Hardcore quickly hops down to jump him. Back in Hardcore his a looooooong delayed suplex. Dogg tries to fight back but Hardcore dreadlocks pulls him back down. If he wears those things.....it's like in football, if you choose to have long hair outside your helmet you can get tackled by it. Hollys double back elbow for 2. Hardcore tries coming off the top but Dogg gets a boot up. Crash cuts the tag off. Dogg stays in peril. He takes Hardcore down with a shoulderblock, but Hardcore quickly bounces back up with a dropkick. He always had one of the prettiest dropkicks in the business. More Holly quick tags. Hardcore goes up top again and gets crotched. Dogg gives him a superplex. Tags on both sides. Gunn runs wild. Press slams. Stinger splashes. He hits Crash with a jackhammer but the ref is distracted. Hardcore slides a chair in. Gunn Fameassers Crash on the chair! The ref sees it and calls for the DQ! Great trap. Clever finish, but after the jump start most of the match was fairly uninspired formula tag stuff. The Outlaws stopped doing things like "giving max effort" about five title reigns ago anyway. The Hollys would defeat RockNSock the next night on Raw to win the tag titles for the first time. *3/4

Good Housekeeping Match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship: Chyna def Jeff Jarrett (c) (w/Miss Kitty) in 8:37- This is the culmination of the long Jarrett/Chyna, or more accurately Jarrett vs all women, feud. There's household appliances and utensils all around the ring and on the floor. Anything that is a "household object" can legally be used in the match. Jarrett comes out with the kitchen sink. Always like that. Kitty's outfit tonight is......damn. The upgrade from Debra to Kitty is so huge if you tried to calculate it the calculator would explode. Chyna brings a broom and trash can with her. She pulls Jarrett out to the floor to get things started. Clothesline from Chyna in the ring. Inverted atomic drop and suplex. Jarrett takes some trash can shots. They go to the floor and Chyna checks out what's on the catering table. SAUSAGE SHOT! That's hardcore. She clotheslines Jarrett with a broom. Frying pan shot. Toilet seat over Jarrett's head. I can hear Dusty's "She got a commode lid!" echoing across from another company. More trash can shots. Chyna unpeels a banana and shoves it in Jarrett's face. Jarrett gets run into the post and takes more trash can shots. Chyna clears one of the catering tables off. Jarrett dodges an elbow off the apron and Chyna crashes through the table! Jarrett covers on the floor for 2. Oh, guess it's falls count anywhere too. Chyna takes a trash can shot. Jarrett throws a fish on her! That's not how you do the Fish Slapping Dance. Ironing board shot for Chyna. Corner whip and Chyna does the Trips flip to the floor. Jarrett and Kitty do a bit of recipe mixing while Chyna's down. Jarrett gets some flour but Chyna throws it back in his face. Kitty gets slopped with the eggs and milk combo she was cooking up. Jarrett chop blocks from behind. Figure four! Chyna gets to the ropes. Kitty gives Jarrett some cooking tongs. He comes off the second rope but Chyna low blows him. COOKING TONGS TO THE NADS! That man's going to need an ice pack when this is over. Jarrett takes a pot to the head. Chyna gets a couple of pies and throws them on Jarrett. If you get desperate, a pie in the face....Kitchen sink shot! Jarrett kicks out! Damn, that was a good near fall. Chyna gets a cake and sets up for the Pedigree. Jarrett counters (with Chyna's ass destroying the cake, there's future website material some people would sadly be interested in) and slingshots her right into ref Teddy Long. Kitty gets the title belt for Jarrett. He nails Chyna, covers, and gets the pin. Everyone thinks the match is over and Jarrett leaves. But wait! Long chases him down on the apron. The belt wasn't a household object! It's not legal! He orders Jarrett back. Fink makes it official, this match MUST CONTINUE! Jarrett snaps and tries to put the figure four on Long. Chyna gets Jarrett's guitar and nails him with it! Chyna gets the pin and wins the title! She becomes the first, and still to date only, woman in WWF/E history to win a men's division title. Reasonably fun and certainly unique match. Right after this Jarrett would join Russo in hopping back to WCW. **3/4

 

The Rock def "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith in 6:20- Bulldog's cost Rock multiple WWF Title matches so this is Rock looking for some revenge. During the build Rock gave Bulldog a Rock Bottom onto, I kid you not, a giant tray of dog shit. No tag belt for the Rock on his entrance. The less he has to do with Foley the better as far as he's concerned. As soon as the bell rings we're slugging it out. Bulldog gets 360 clotheslined to the floor and we do the standard floor brawling for a bit with chairs, stairs and the announce table. When they get back in Bulldog goes right to the chinlock. Rock fights out but takes a knee to the gut for 2. Off a corner whip Bulldog flips upside down into the corner. Rock hits a swinging neckbreaker for 2. Bulldog hits a not very delayed suplex. Back to the chinlock and it goes all the way to arm drops. Rock fights out and they half blow a backdrop spot. Bulldog uses the opening from Rock pushing Hebner away to hit a Greco Roman cock punch. Rock gets tied up in the ropes. Bulldog charges. Rock gets free and dodges. DDT from Rock for 2. Bulldog ducks a clothesline, scoops, and hits the powerslam! But they're at the edge of the ring and Rock gets a foot on the rope at 2. Another scoop. Rock squirts free. Rock Bottom! Elbow pad off, People's Elbow, and it's over. That would have been an OK Raw main event. Bulldog, past his prime and barely ever a main eventer anyway with a Hirooki Goto like career of always losing world title matches, is clearly not on Rock's level now and everyone knew it. *1/2

 

T.I.T. Finals Ladder Match: The New Brood (w/Gangrel) def Edge & Christian in 16:30- TIT stands for Terri Invitational Tournament. Saying TIT is more fun. After not doing anything for months Terri (nee Runnels) decided to offer herself....er, her managerial services to one of these two young stud teams, with the winner decided by a best of 5 series. They're tied with two wins each and this is the deciding match. In addition to Terri as a manager, prize #2 for the winner is what's suspended above the ring for this ladder match: a bag containing $100,000 cash. Sorry, Terri's not hanging above the ring. As amusing as that would be. This is also the first ever ladder match in WWF history that wasn't one on one. 2v2 standoff under the bag to start. E&C win the first exchange. They go for the ladders and get jumped from behind. Back in the ring E&C take the Hardyz out again, and again they get jumped as they go for the ladders. This time the Hardyz win the exchange in the ring. They tell Gangrel to get a ladder. He does, but ref Tim White stops him. White throws Gangrel out! Talk about nipping the problem in the bud. Good reffing, Tim. That's why you're in the HOF. While that's going on Edge backdrops Jeff out of the ring! Matt 360 clotheslines Edge. Jeff gets a ladder. Edge dropkicks the ladder into him! Matt hits a clothesline off the apron on Edge. Christian springboard splash onto Matt! Finally Christian is the first one to get a ladder into the ring. They go into a rotating climb and get pulled down run. Matt tips the ladder over while Edge is on it. Everyone starts taking ladder shots. Christian pins Jeff in the corner with the ladder, then runs up it and dropkicks him! Damn. Matt gets whipped into the ladder. He dodges a double team and Edge flies into the ladder. Christian reverse DDTs Jeff off the ladder! Matt back suplexes Christian off the ladder. Edge powerbombs Matt off the ladder. Edge starts to climb. Jeff comes off the top rope with a shotgun dropkick to take him and the ladder down! Edge gets slammed on the ladder. Jeff swanton bomb! Christian gets whipped into the ladder and the Hardyz double team launched leg lairat hits. They clothesline Christian with the ladder. Another corner ladder setup. Jeff climbs the top rope, then leapfrogs over the ladder with a legdrop on Christian! The crowd is really getting into it, likely realizing they're seeing something special. Matt moonsault onto the ladder on top of Christian! While that was happening Edge went over and got the second ladder. Tag team ladder match you see, that means two official ladders. He hits Matt while Jeff climbs the other one. Edge tosses his ladder onto Jeff to knock him down! Matt takes another ladder shot. Jeff is slingshot into a ladder! So is Matt. Edge climbs. Matt tosses the other ladder and everything collapses. A Christian crossbody off the top takes the Hardyz and a ladder out. Matt takes a ladder right in the crotch. And then E&C baseball slide it into him even harder! Jeff gets sandwiched inside a ladder. Edge wheelbarrow slams Christian into the ladder that Jeff is in the middle of. Matt is flapjacked into a ladder in the corner. Jeff hits Christian with a Twist of Fate. Both ladders are set up in the middle. Edge hits Jeff with a Downward Spiral off the ladder! Edge climbs. Matt joins. Twist of Fate off the ladder! Christian and Jeff climb up the same ladder. Christian reaches across and slams Jeff off! Edge throws a ladder right in Matt's face! Matt goes 360 to the floor off that. Edge stacks both ladders up in the corner and E&C set Jeff up to superplex him onto them. Matt makes a save. He and Christian slug it out. Jeff comes off the top rope onto the ladder stack, ricocheting one into Matt and Christian's faces! The crowd is borderline bonkers now. Edge spear on Jeff! Both ladders are set up again. All four climb. Both ladders go down and everyone falls into the ropes! There's bodies everywhere. A damn car crash indeed, JR. Another setup and climb, but this time one ladder is in the middle and the other is just off center. Edge gets just inches away from the bag. Matt goes up to join him while Christian and Jeff fight on the other ladder. Edge fights Matt off. Matt bounces off the ropes into the non-centered ladder and it goes down. Christian goes down with it, but Jeff manages to step over onto the other ladder! Jeff fights Edge off and Edge goes down! Jeff gets the bag of money to win the match! Amazing. What's great is that it's not just a bunch of spots strung together, everything in the match is logical and fits completely within the story and psychology. All four of these guys are now fully made men, and a whole new subgenre of the ladder match has been born. The Dudleyz joining the fun, triple threat ladder matches, the creation of TLC, and eventually huge multi-men ladder matches like Money in the Bank, this where it all started. ****1/2

In the back the Hardyz celebrate with Terri, their third manager since they started in WWF. Gangrel is nowhere to be seen. In fact the next night on Raw the Hardyz would turn face and join E&C in attacking Gangrel, ending the New Brood. Of course Terri wouldn't last long either. After that we cut to a long clip from Heat (there's been a lot of long clips and video packages on this show but none of the ones before now were really worth mentioning) of Mick Foley getting attacked by Val Venus in a bathroom while trying to find the Rock and flogging his book. I always thought Foley was the unquestioned master of selling his own books, until KENTA started pushing his autobiography in New Japan and took it to a whole new level of genius.

The Rock comes out to grace us with a promo. He challenges the winner of the main event, says all the standard Rock catchphrases, and leaves. Just as he's about to disappear behind the stage Triple H attacks him with the sledgehammer! You can tell it's the rubber sledge because Trips is giving him full swings. Rock does the stretcher job out of the arena. It's a Raw segment on PPV, something they'd managed to avoid doing for a while. A backstage attack would have been more efficient. Still, cooling the crowd down after that awesome ladder match isn't the worst idea, and it does lead into something in the main event.

 

Val Venus def Mankind in 9:26- Venus comes out with the copy of Foley's book he appropriated earlier. Out on Thursday, get your copy before they're gone! JR says he's read it and Lawler actually has a funny line, "I was gonna ask who wrote it for him, but now I'm asking who read it to you". Before coming out Mankind checks on his best friend forever Rock. He tells Rock "I'm carrying this out for you!", holding up the tag belt. Rock, naturally, doesn't care. Venus tries to jump with a baseball slide but Mankind sidesteps him. Some typical minor floor brawling follows. Mankind hits a running kneelift in the ring. He goes for the running corner knee but Venus gets a boot up. A back elbow puts him back down and the knee hits on the second go. Crotch legdrop from Mankind. He starts to go for Socko, but then changes his mind and starts rooting around in Venus' tights like one of Venus' co-stars. Part of the catalyst for this feud was Venus carrying around his mocking version of Socko called "Mr. Rocko", which is of course bigger than Socko. That's what Mankind's going for. Not the Big Valbowski. I hope. Mankind slowwwwwwly gets Rocko out in an image that would do gangbusters on a "no context wrestling" account. That sets Venus off and he takes control. Some more back and forth floor brawling follows. Mankind smashes Venus' face into a chair. Venus back suplexes Mankind onto the chair! Minor Foley bump. Mandible Claw! Venus runs the back of Mankind's head into the post to get free. He gets the chair but ref Teddy Long won't let him use it in the ring. Mankind takes the opening to slug back. Venus gives him a Russian leg sweep onto the chair for 2, then pounds away with some elbows. Mankind tries for the double underhook DDT. Venus counters with a leg takedown and smashes Mankind's head on the mat. Cover for 2. Clothesline to the back of Mankind's head for 2. Kneedrop to the back of the head. Can't fault him for staying focused on one body part. Corner clothesline/bulldog combo from Venus. Elbow drop off the second rope to the back of the head. Mankind appears out. Instead of covering Venus goes up for the Money Shot. Mankind dodges! The double underhook DDT hits for 2. Here comes Socko! Rocko is also out. DOUBLE CLAW! Rocko's testicular claw wins out, Mankind goes down, and Venus gets the pin! After the bell Mankind beats Venus down, gets Rocko, double fists and Venus has no interest in that, bailing from the ring. Perfectly acceptable match. I think Foley was interested in trying to help elevate Venus, hence the loss, but guys like Venus' time was quickly coming to an end with Russo gone. **1/2

Back to the Rock, who refuses to take the trip to the local medical facility.

 

Four Corners Elimination Match: X-Pac def Kane, Faarooq and Bradshaw in 10:08- Best friends and tag partners Kane and Pac were starting to have issues while feuding with the Acolytes, so this was booked as a 4 way instead of a tag match. This is two guys legal and you have to tag rules however. As soon as everyone's in the ring it's on. Bradshaw catches a Pac plancha, posts his back and slams him on the floor. The Acolytes double team on Kane. Former scab ref Jimmy Korderas finally gets order with the Acolytes doing straight quick tag work on Kane until Kane drops Faarooq with an enzuguri. Pac tags himself in and wants to go at it with Kane! He shoves Kane! Kane doesn't want to do it. Finally he takes some swings. Pac dodges and hits his corner kicks. Kane comes out of the corner with a clothesline to a pretty big pop. Bradshaw tags himself in to go after Kane. Pac tags Faarooq in and The Acolytes have zero issue going at it. As JR says, it's a regular Saturday night for them. Faarooq hits Bradshaw with a tackle and tags Pac back in. Pac runs right into a Clothesline from Hell! Korderas is with Faarooq, then Kane breaks the pin up. Pac faceplants Faarooq but Bradshaw quickly tags in. The Acolytes continue to keep Pac in peril. Bradshaw goes for the fallaway slam, but Kane comes in, big boots him, and Pac falls on him for a 2 count. Faarooq backbreaker on Pac for 2. Powerslam for 2. Bradshaw hooks on a bear hug. Pac gets free but runs into a big boot. Bradshaw sets up the back superplex. Pac fights free. Tornado DDT! Pac doesn't want to tag! Kane literally pulls him into the corner by the tights and tags him. Clothesline off the top rope on Bradshaw. Big boot on Faarooq. 360 clothesline. Chokeslam on Bradshaw! Pin and Bradshaw is gone. Pac sneaks up to the top rope. Spinning heel kick off the top on Kane! Pac pins Kane! Faarooq jumps Pac from behind and tosses him out. Pac fights out of a powerbomb through the announce table and DDTs Faarooq on the floor. He goes for the bronco buster. Faarooq cuts it off with a spinebuster! After a fight on the top rope Faarooq comes off the second rope, right into the X-Factor! Pac gets the win! Another perfectly acceptable match. Like most of these two guys legal 4 way matches involving two pairs of established partners it had an identity crisis as most of it was worked like a straight tag match. **1/4

 

No Holds Barred Match for the WWF Championship: Triple H (c) def "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in 21:53- Things have turned a complete 180 as now Vince is stacking the deck in Austin's favor. This is Austin's first match since Summerslam. On screen it was because of a knee injury but I'm pretty sure he wasn't really hurt, it was just maintenance and rest time because of his neck issues. He was still on TV doing stuff the whole time. Vince comes out during HHH's entrance and takes the sledgehammer away! HHH punches Vince out! Austin charges out and it's on. Both guys legit slip and fall when they get on the uncovered hardwood floor. Huge slugfest in the aisle. HHH gets knocked around the stage area. Austin climbs the hockey rink wall and comes off with a clothesline. HHH takes several guardrail shots. They go into the mandatory late '90s crowd brawl and the camera loses them for a bit. Austin finds a crutch and uses it. After getting back to the stage area Austin appropriates the crane camera and hits HHH with it! HHH gets suplexed in the aisle. Austin crotches him on the ringside barricade and clotheslines him over, setting off crowd brawl #2. HHH backdrops out of a piledriver attempt in a very tight space. Austin counters a Pedigree attempt and slingshots HHH right into ref Mike Chioda, and both go over the barricade! Austin takes a stair shot. Finally they get in the ring for the first time in the match. Austin ducks a clothesline! Stunner! There's no ref! Austin tries to drag Chioda back in the ring. HHH tries to ambush but Austin catches him. He goes for another Stunner. HHH pushes out and Austin runs into Chioda, knocking him off the apron into the barricade! That's two nice bumps Chioda's taken tonight. Pedigree! Again, no ref. Hebner runs in and counts. Austin kicks out! HHH and Hebner get in a shoving match with Hebner giving HHH an earful. Austin Thesz Press. Elbow drop for 2. HHH goes over the top to the floor. Chioda gets carried out before he can get tossed around again. HHH takes an announce table shot and flops over it, cutting off JR's headset. Austin continues pounding and HHH is bleeding a little. Austin chokes him with JR's headset cord. They get back in the ring and JR is back on. Ground and pound from Austin in the ring and a cover for 2. Then HHH gets tossed right back out. Stair shots. Noise! More cable choking. HHH grabs the bell and whacks Austin with it! Another bell shot. HHH suplexes Austin onto the Spanish announce table! Which didn't break. Slugfest back in the ring. HHH hits a back elbow. Austin dodges a kneedrop. HHH chop block to Austin's bad knee. The knee gets posted. HHH starts picking the knee apart. You're seeing in real time the start of the transition from late Austin style brawling to HHH's more traditional wrestling in the main event scene. Austin fights back but HHH plants him with the facebuster for 2. He tries multiple covers and gets frustrated when Austin keeps kicking out. HHH goes out and gets a chair. Austin gets the jump before HHH can use it. HHH then cuts a chairshot off and hits a clothesline. He goes up top but Austin chops the hell out of him. Superplex! They have a fight over the chair. Austin wins. Chairshot to HHH's head! Austin wears HHH out with the chair over and over! Just like what HHH did to him at Summerslam. HHH gets a low blow to cut it off. Rock is out! Taped ribs and all. He's got the sledgehammer! HHH ducks and Rock hits Austin with the sledge! Pedigree on Rock! HHH covers Austin and gets the pin! Damn, that was WAY better than I remembered. The all brawling main event style was starting to wear a bit thin at this point, but they worked the No Holds Barred stip great, told a good story, and Austin and HHH had fantastic chemistry right from the start that would only get better. This really helped cement HHH as a legit main eventer too, something that lots of people still had questions about at this point. The overbooking is par for the course in this era and in this case works fine. ****

The Austin/HHH fight continues in the back. Chyna saves HHH, gets him in a limo and they drive away as the show ends.

Unfortunately whatever was being planned had to be scrapped. Soon after this Austin's neck flared up again for real, necessitating surgery and coming very close to ending his career. To write him off TV they ran the infamous "Austin gets run over" angle at Survivor Series, and Austin would be out nearly a full year. More on that next time.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- As usual there's crap to wade through on the undercard. Everything outside the women's match isn't too bad, but none of it is particularly good. However, at the top you've got a massively historically important and truly great ladder match, plus the first of many Austin/HHH classics that also represents the start of a minor style transition in the main event scene. This is easily one of WWF's best PPVs of the year.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B+