Dave Meltzer's No Mercy Review

[Enigma 0]

WWE NO MERCY POLL RESULTS

Thumbs up -- 67 (39.9%)

Thumbs in the middle -- 51 (30.4%)

Thumbs down -- 50 (29.8%)

 

BEST MATCH POLL

Paul London vs. Billy Kidman -- 140

JBL vs. Undertaker -- 17

Kurt Angle vs. Big Show -- 14

 

WORST MATCH POLL

Eddie Guerrero vs. Luther Reigns -- 62

JBL vs. Undertaker -- 34

The Dudley Boys & Dawn Marie vs. Rico, Charlie Haas, & Miss Jackie -- 27

Booker T vs. John Cena -- 18

Spike Dudley vs. Nunzio -- 12

 

There has been a saying in WWE seemingly for generations that go something like this: How goes the Garden, goes business. Of course, times are very different from when Vince Sr. used to say that, because the Garden was the key profit center for the company. Now, because of its history, the company still considers it as its most important arena stop, but arena shows are far down on the list of where company profits come from.

 

Still, as much as this shouldn't be a surprise, the idea that the Meadowlands (Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, NJ) drew 10,000 paid for a PPV show (a little under $700,000) and MSG drew an estimated 7,500 for a live Raw the next night is just the latest point hammered home about the loss of popularity. What is worse, our poll indications, which are usually fairly accurate, seem to show No Mercy on 10/3 from East Rutherford, will likely fall well below the recent "bottom level" of PPV shows of 220-235,000 buys. Our response level was down 21% from Judgment Day, which was the low point for this year. One show is not cause for concern, but there is nothing on the horizon, no angle, no match-up, no wrestler coming in, that is going to change things. And that's the scary part, because you can't fool yourself into thinking things fell from the top and now they are steady. And unlike declines in the past, not only is there no easy answer (bring back a star from the past, signing someone from the rival company, or a can't-miss guy in training), nor even a hard one.

 

There is a recognition that good wrestling matches, or even great matches, aren't going to turn business around. Sure, you can bring back Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, and Mick Foley, and in the past, all have meant one huge return buy rate. But this time, in all three cases, it'll be diminishing returns from last year.

 

So they are reaching; tranquilizer guns, miscarriages, seemingly killing Paul Bearer, and now Undertaker. Worse, in the past when they've staged those special effects car wreck scenes where somebody should die, the audience live usually applauds, I guess feeling they are seeing something spectacular. This time, when the show ended with the idea that Heidenreich had driven a truck into the hearse Undertaker was in, it was dead silent, and then people began to boo, and it wasn't the right kind of booing. Then, there was a "bullshit" chant. Once again, they gave the audience something it didn't want to see. It's a hard audience to please, but that's a cop out to a degree, because if you give the audience a great show, they love it. But it's harder when there are no new match-ups and no new talent people care about. But when you get to the point that PPV is nothing special, which happened to WCW, that's a hard thing to turn around. For the good of the business, nobody should want the brand extension to end. It does allow for, in theory, more people to get pushed and have jobs, as well as allows for two different types of TV shows, even if that isn't always the case. But Smackdown's future doesn't look bright. They've done a good job of protecting Heidenreich by not having him wrestle on TV, and he's got a good look, but there's a moment of truth and it's a far harder audience to bluff. Worse, killing Undertaker came off as such a replay. They just did it a year ago to build for WrestleMania. The car crash stunt was right out of 2003 with Kane and Shane McMahon, and before that, a needless 2002 angle with The Rock and Hulk Hogan that actually detracted from a sure hit. It's become like when Vince Russo was booking WCW at the end, and you had the guy falling from a great height into a gimmicked pit far too often in the hopes of getting fans to chant "Holy Shit" like they did in ECW, where guys did bumps with far less in the way of safety measures. The problem was people had seen it, they knew the gimmick, as they did here, and nobody really cared.

 

It was the old jump cut and having two hearses, one with Undertaker, and the empty one that got hit. It was filmed at about 3 p.m. that afternoon. Last year, the gimmick was teasing the end of people's career to draw buy rates, including heavy hitters like Vince, Steve Austin, and Jim Ross. In one case, Stephanie McMahon, who lost to Vince, has actually been gone from TV for almost a year now. This year, it's the death teases, although they just did it on 6/28 with Paul Bearer.

 

As a show, No Mercy looked uninteresting on paper. The general reaction was in the middle. There were no great matches, but certainly no awful matches either. John Cena won the U.S. title, but was only in for two shows (PPV and Boston), before heading back to Australia to film "The Marine." He dropped the belt immediately on Smackdown to Carlito Caribbean Cool, who knocked Cena out with his chain to start a new program. I guess the idea was Booker, who is probably turning, can lose before the turn because of the idea your losses are forgotten when you make the switch. JBL worked hard in the main event but he's a disaster as champion. The New York crowd was hot for a lot of the characters on the show, and then JBL came out with the belt in the main event and it was quiet. He and Undertaker were able to get the crowd into their match by the finish with the blood and broken tables, even if people hated the finish. But the people were not into it until the blood. When it was over, there was no great match to talk about and nothing that made you feel you did anything but watch a decent show. When you have four hours of TV, which is usually decent, PPV has to be better than decent, and the same guys in the same basic spots on the card working the same style matches is getting old. They are trying, if anything, too hard. They rushed Heidenreich on because they were looking for a big guy for Undertaker. Gene Snitsky may have only been planned for a brief stay but the character is working, although whether he'll be able to stand the test of time after people really see him wrestle is a question. They've done the weeks of vignettes for Carlito and Simon Dean. Carlito is a smaller guy who is nothing more than a decent worker and has never shown charisma before, although the vignettes gave him the best chance he could have, and clearly they are giving him a big-time push. Dean is a bona fide character, different from the pack, but the gimmick seems to limit him to prelim level. They need more movement of Raw to Smackdown to freshen up the top. The idea should be when a PPV is over you should be looking forward to seeing the new angles created play out next month. Even though I thought there was nothing wrong with this show, when it was over, I don't think anyone had those emotions when it came to the next Smackdown show.

 

The next PPV is Taboo Tuesday on 10/19 in Milwaukee, an experiment in a lot of ways. This will be the first PPV in WWE history where people won't know the title matches going in. The plan is to book a hot Raw on 10/18 in Chicago to spur last minute voting. They will also have voting in the Bradley Center the night of the show. I think conceptually they've done a good job with making this feel like a different show, but the Tuesday is a big question mark. The results of the voting won't be announced until the PPV is underway. While clearly people are going to be led, and already have been, the story is they are willing to change if the legit results are different. The line-up, as it stands right now, is HHH vs. Chris Benoit, Shawn Michaels, or Edge. As noted, they are hoping for Michaels, but have not tipped their hand or pushed. Thus far on TV, Benoit has gotten no push, and was the guy left laying for Randy Orton to make a save in a TV match he didn't win with Batista. Michaels got a good TV win over Christian, while Edge got actual physical contact cleaning house on HHH in the first segment of the show. In his later interview, he pushed the idea the other two had gotten tons of matches with HHH and tons of title matches in their career, and he's gotten zero world title matches (well, at least recently) and zero matches with HHH, as well as listed his titles won and noted his last IC title he never lost. Chris Jericho will defend the IC title against anyone else on the roster, although TV was pushing Rhyno for the slot. Ric Flair vs. Orton will be either falls count anywhere, a submission rules match, or a cage match (one would think a cage). Eric Bischoff vs. Eugene will be loser becomes a servant for the winner, loser wears a dress, or loser gets his head shaved (they are strongly pushing hair vs. hair). Kane vs. Snitsky will be a chain match, a chair match, or a pipe match (strongly pushing a pipe match). There is also a Battle Royal for the Women’s title with fans voting on what the women will wear. There is also a Carmella DeCesare vs. Christy Hemme match, although they haven't listed the possible stipulations for that (Jeff Garcia on a pole? Loser spends a night in jail? Loser gets a restraining order put on them?).

 

A. Mark Jindrak pinned Scotty 2 Hotty in 2:45 after a left hook when he ducked a bulldog in the Heat match. The good thing is the crowd was into everything.

 

1. Eddie Guerrero pinned Luther Reigns in 13:21. Crowd was hot for Guerrero opening the PPV. Jindrak was at ringside interfering. Guerrero climbed up the ropes and did Spanky's sliced bread #2 finisher. Still, Reigns looked green. Overall, it was an acceptable opener. Guerrero got a retractable police baton from a gimmicked security guard and put it in his boot. He dropkicked Reigns into Jindrak but missed a frog splash. With the ref distracted, he hit Reigns with the baton (no mention of this being a tribute to Ray Traylor, if it was. Traylor has never been mentioned on a broadcast except for graphics before Raw and Smackdown this week). Guerrero got the pin with a frog splash. *1/2

 

2. Spike Dudley pinned Nunzio to retain the cruiserweight title in 8:48. The Dudleys were in Spike's corner and Johnny Stamboli was in Nunzio's corner. Michael Cole's new thing is to say Nunzio is a protege of Billy Robinson, as Joey Styles also used to say in ECW. For younger fans, they probably need to mention who Robinson is and why that's significant to his style. D-Von interfered, shoving Nunzio off the top rope. Nunzio did a great block of a la magistral into his own cradle. Nunzio did his Sicilian slice (legdrop off the top) finisher but Spike got his feet on the rope. Spike took a nasty back drop on the floor. Both Dudleys interfered at the finish as Bubba crotched Nunzio on the post and Spike pinned him. **3/4

 

3. Billy Kidman pinned Paul London in 10:36. This was impressive, because the people weren't into these guys at the start, nor seemed to get into their snug Japanese style work with the hard kicks to the back. But they had the best match on the show and at least got themselves over to the live crowd. London got another bloody nose, as his nose appeared to be busted from a TV spot with Booker. London did a moonsault from the middle rope over the top rope onto Kidman on the floor. There was some good near falls by London. Kidman teased doing a shooting star press, but then walked off. They noted Kidman would be fired if he got counted out, so he reluctantly got back in. London then did this awesome looking shooting star, but Kidman got his knees up. Kidman then did a shooting star, crashing with his knees on London's chest, which was clearly by design. London bit a condom filled with blood or however they did it and had tons of blood coming from his mouth to sell internal injuries. They put London on a stretcher and strapped him in. Kidman then attacked him, and with London unable to move, gave him another shooting star press. Wouldn't you know it, the crowd cheered Kidman like crazy for it. London went out on a stretcher. I don't think they could have done much better in this situation. ***1/2

 

4. Kenzo Suzuki & Rene Dupree beat Rey Mysterio & Rob Van Dam in 9:13. It started with Suzuki saying Bruce Springsteen was from New Jersey, and started singing "Born in the USA." Boy did that ever die. Cole claimed Suzuki used to play baseball with Ichiro Suzuki. I have no idea if it's true, but most of Cole's recent trivia has been correct. He also said Suzuki once won the Young Lions tournament in New Japan Pro Wrestling. That was in 2000, and Suzuki beat Shinya Makabe in the finals in a tournament Masakazu Fukuda was scheduled to win, but Fukuda ended up dying from a brain hemorrhage a short time earlier. Mysterio and RVD did a double flip dive. Mysterio's didn't quite reach Suzuki and he landed on the back of his head on the floor like he'd been power bombed. He looked shaken up for a while, but was working fine later in the match. RVD was shoved off the top rope by Dupree into the barricade. Mysterio & Van Dam kept the match entertaining. Finish saw Mysterio hit the 619, but as he set up dropping the time, Dupree tripped him. RVD did the running flip block off the apron onto Dupree but Suzuki pinned Mysterio using the ropes. This result was changed and the original plan for the match was the title switch. **3/4

 

5. Big Show beat Kurt Angle twice. I guess we'll find out, but this seemed to build up JBL vs. Show as the next title program, and for Angle to do this so clean and put Show over so strong, Angle should have a title win in the planning stages. The first match went 3:45 with Show, being used smarter than at any time since WCW (except for maybe the heel turn under Heyman period with Lesnar, although Lesnar threw Show around so much he destroyed Show's back). He works like a monster. He's shaved his head so he looks scarier, but there are way too many guys with shaved heads these days. Angle got almost no offense in, and just walked out for the count out. Teddy Long came out and told Angle he'd be fired if he didn't get back in the ring and there had to be a clean finish. Angle countered a choke slam into an ankle lock which was a nice looking transition. When Show kicked out, Angle took out ref Brian Hebner. Angle went for a chair but Show punched it into his face. Show did a one-man flapjack and a choke slam for the pin in the second match at 9:25. ***

 

6. John Cena pinned Booker T to win the U.S. title in the final of the best-of-five series in 10:20. This best-of-five thing was a disappointment, if only because it brings up natural comparisons to Magnum T.A. vs. Nikita Koloff and Booker vs. Chris Benoit, which were both memorable. This never got momentum, probably because the matches weren't special. They noted that because it was a best-of-five, that a title could change via DQ or countout. Booker got out of an FU and hit the book end for a near fall. Booker went for a chair, but ref Charles Robinson told him if he used it he'd be DQ'd, so he put it down. Booker missed an ax kick and Cena won clean with the FU. **1/4

 

7. Rico, Charlie Haas, & Miss Jackie beat The Dudleys & Dawn Marie in 8:47. This is the traditional death spot on the show, with the idea you have a cold match after a hot match and before the main event. This worked really well as a comedy interlude. They way rushed this Jackie vs. Dawn Marie angle with the idea that Dawn wants Haas off Haas & Jackie being engaged. Dawn was the center of attention, with her shirt that said Charlie loved her being ripped off by Jackie and she worked most of the match in her bra. At another point, Jackie momentarily pulled down her shorts. There was a comedy spot where Bubba wanted to French kiss Jackie. For some reason, he closed his eyes, and Rico kissed him. No tongue. Bubba found out and acted like he was going to vomit. Bubba walked out of the match. Rico was on the top rope when Bubba came back out and swept Rico's leg and he crotched himself. This was the 30th time on the show they had someone trip someone on the top rope. Bubba set up the wazzup spot, which needs a new name, but what commercial is hot these days? D-Von refused to come off because Rico would enjoy the head in the groin spot and D-Von freaked out. Finish saw Jackie spear Dawn while Rico pinned D-Von after a moonsault. **1/4

 

8. JBL beat Undertaker in a last ride match in 20:35. Crowd was into the match early with Undertaker on top. JBL came back with aggressive brawling after hitting Undertaker with the ring steps. Undertaker used a triangle and JBL tapped. I don't know what it is about Undertaker and submissions, but the crowd dies for them. They at least tried to establish it in a match where JBL could tap, but people still didn't care. They didn't really even tease Taker winning with JBL being out, as he took JBL out of the ring, but JBL revived and reversed a whip, sending Taker into the ring steps and he did the smashing his knees on the steps spot. JBL even took a backdrop, when Undertaker reversed a piledriver, off the top of the ring steps to the floor. They brawled in the crowd. Undertaker gave JBL a tombstone on the ring steps. JBL juiced heavy. JBL came back with a hard chair shot to Taker's head, as they tried to recreate his hot Los Angeles match with Guerrero. Undertaker came back to choke slam JBL through the Spanish announcers' table and then carried him to the hearse near the entrance way. Heidenreich came out of the back of the hearse wearing big red gloves and started throwing punches, and then did the ether on a towel gimmick to smother Undertaker. Undertaker was put in the hearse, but before he could get far, the camera in hearse showed Undertaker sitting up. Yes, ether doesn't work on him, and he came out the door and started pounding on Heidenreich. JBL laid him out with a clothesline. Yes, one clothesline is greater than ether. Just don't let Jim Cornette know. He was put in the hearse and this time it drove away. Fans hated this finish, and it didn't appear to be the right kind of heat. They cut to the pre-tape, where it was revealed Paul Heyman was driving the hearse, and he parked it and ran out, putting it in position for a truck driven by Heidenreich to crash into it. As much as JBL shouldn't be champion, he sure worked hard here. The match wasn't bad, but it's wasn't close to the level fans expect from a WWE PPV main event. After the show went on the air, JBL told the booing audience that they lived in a state where the governor was a child molester. **1/2

[SamoaRowe 0]

Even if it was considered mediocre, I still want to own this dvd. I suppose it's because I'm biased towards Smackdown, but this show sounds like it did more to establish the current Smackdown roster than people give it credit for.

[JoeDirt 0]

Plus, you can't go wrong with Paul London on PPV.

[JoeDirt 0]

Apparently this show got 180,000 - 190,000 buys, which is one of the lowest EVER for the WWE.

[Guest Tjhe CyNick]

Yeah thats what it got. I guess JBL is done.

 

But I wonder if that cools them off Taker getting the main event spot at Mania. I mean if they were going to do a title chase story with him, it cant be encouraging when this title chase only did 190K buys.

 

Then to add to their problems, the other planned main event (HHH vs Orton) didn't do much better the month before.

[SuperJerk 0]

Kind of makes you wonder if they're even interested in drawing new business. You gotta admire them with trying to build stars out of Orton and JBL, but niether guy was picked by the fans to be a star. REAL stars shouldn't need prolonged super-pushes to get over.