Flashback Thoughts: WWE No Mercy 2002 (w/Justin C)

Columns, PPVs, Reviews, Top Story

 

No Mercy 2002

 

Hello Everyone. It is Day 3 of my 5 Days of columns. It is another version of my Flashback Thoughts. This time I take a look at No Mercy 2002. I was debating back and forth between this one and No Mercy 2008. I LOVE the HBK/Jericho match from that show, but I’ve seen that enough times so I decided to go with this show.

 

World Tag Team Championship: Chris Jericho and Christian (c) vs Goldust and Booker T

-Two of my favorite comedic pairings ever. Plus this should be a good match.

-I liked the beginning of Christian’s old theme music: “Christian! Christian! At last, you’re on your own!”

-Real good action so far in this match.

-Jericho goes for a kick off the middle rope but it breaks. All parties involved do a good job of making it up on the fly after.

-Jericho bulldogs Goldust onto the belt, then hits the Lionsault for the win. Solid 10 minute opening match.

 

-Oh man, Funaki interviewing Al Wilson. I completely forgot this storyline happened around now. Thankfully, they just replayed everything from the storyline so now I’m unfortunately caught up.

 

Dawn Marie vs Torrie Wilson

-And now I get to sit through this? Awesome.

-At least it is reminding me that Dawn Marie was pretty good looking back in her prime.

-Torrie wins with a swinging neckbreaker.

 

Ric Flair vs Rob Van Dam

-While this match should be good, I’d almost rather see a 10-15 minute video clip of these two partying together rather than a match.

-Flair looks like he’s aged about 20 years when you compare him now to what he looked like in 2002.

-It is really sad watching Miz apply the Figure Four now when you see Flair do it here.

-RVD wins after the Five Star Frog Splash. Another short but solid match.

 

-Backstage, Big Show asks Stephanie McMahon for help because he hasn’t been on a PPV since July. See Show, you should have seen it coming a long time ago. Asking her for help can only mean bad things.

 

WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Jamie Noble (w/Nidia) vs Tajiri

-See, there were way too many Titles during the brand split. They should have kept one midcard title and only had one tag title.

-Noble and Nidia were a great combo back in the day.

-It’s a shame the WWE doesn’t like this kind of action. I mean, would you rather see Tons of Funk wrestling or a solid Cruiserweight Division lead by Sami Zayn?

-Tajiri lands his kick to the head, but Nidia distracts the ref by kissing him. Noble hits the Tiger Bomb on Tajiri but he kicks out.

-Nidia grabs Noble’s leg, allowing him to heep his balance and roll up Tajiri and pick up the win. Tajiri kisses Nidia after the match. Noble then says he’ll sho him how a real man kisses. While he’s kissing Nidia, Tajiri kicks him in the back of the head. Fun stuff.

 

-Backstage Chris Benoit tells Eddie Guerrero that Chavo is getting beat up by Kurt Angle. Eddie sais it sounds more like a girl’s voice, but it ends up being Chavo.

 

Champion vs Champion: Triple H vs Kane

-It is Winner Take All. The IC Title, no matter what, is gone after the show. Kind of like it is now. #sarcasm

-I love that they are showing a video package of the history of the Title. But it is gone after the show, so why should we care?

-First Al Wilson, now Katie Vick. Talk about a bad time for storylines in the WWE.

-Triple H was still getting cheers during this time period even after being handed the World Title? Guess I forgot that.

-A good crowd can make a match better and that is what this crowd is doing. They are in to every move and cheering for Kane.

-Ric Flair comes out to aid HHH. Kane throws the ref out of the way. He eventually takes out Flair, but HHH Uses the World Title Belt as a weapon. HHH gets a two count. The Hurricane comes out to take out Flair, but HHH eventually Pedigrees Hurricane.

-Another ref bump. This time, both men go to the outside and Kane chokeslams HHH through the ever reliable Spanish Announce Table.

-Kane grabs the sledgehammer away from Flair, but HHH hits a lowblow. Kane goes for a Tombstone but HHH hits him in the gut with the Sledgehammer. Kane ducks another shot and hits a chokeslam. Another ref comes out but Flair pulls him out of the ring.

-HHH then spears Kane into the corner and hits the Pedigree to pick up the win. There were a lot of bells and whistles going on in that match, but it was still okay.

 

-Completely forgot about the Tracy/Undertaker stuff too. I love how she tells Stephanie “confidentially” that she was making the affair stuff up and was going along with what Paul Heyman told her to do. Hey, uh, there is a camera RIGHT THERE. Taker comes in and calls her a bitch and leaves.

 

WWE Tag Team Championship: Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit vs Edge and Rey Mysterio

-Ah yes, the days of the Smackdown Six. Fun times.

-I could watch these four wrestle all day. Good action between Rey and Angle to start.

-Of course, I just cringed a little watching Chris Benoit take a superplex from Edge.

-Just a great sequence of near falls. Benoit counters a 619 beautifully.

-An awesome spot where Edge tosses Rey over his shoulders and hurricarranas Angle off the turnbuckle.

-Benoit applies the Crossface but isn’t the legal fan. Edge gets to the ropes, so Rey comes and hits a 619 on Benoit. Angle applies the Ankle Lock but Edge gets a roll up for two.

-I seriously cannot keep up with these last couple minutes. Edge gets Rey in Powerbomb position but instead Rey hits a moonsault to the outside on Benoit.

-Kurt applies the Ankle Lock in the ring but Edge counters into one of his own. Edge goes for the Edgecution but Kurt counters into an Ankle Lock and Edge taps.

-Yeah, everyone go watch that mater at some point this week. It’ll be better than whatever else you had planned for that 20 minutes anyways.

 

Women’s Championship: Trish Stratus (c) vs Victoria

-I don’t know if there is anything these two women can do to get the crowd even half invested in this match after the last one.

-Could you imagine if there were two women’s matches on on a PPV nowadays?

-Trish wins with a rollup, but Victoria lands a nasty looking kick to the face after the match.

 

WWE Championship: Brock Lesnar (c) w/Paul Heyman vs The Undertaker

-Over 10 years later and we might get to see this rematch agin at Wrestlemania. Weird huh?

-Remember when a match like this added more to a rivalry? Now it is just used for another stupid gimmick PPV.

-Undertaker dominating early, using the cast on his broken arm to bust Lesnar open.

-Lesnar regains control after tossing a charging Taker face first into the Cell. He then ties Taker’s hand with Heyman’s belt and hits multiple chair shots onto the cast of Taker.

-Heyman, as per usual, is great on the outside with his screaming at Lesnar. “Brock we’re losing!”

-Brock grabs the steps and rams them into the head of Taker twice. Taker does a nasty blade job.

-Taker hits the Last Ride on Lesnar but he grabs the ropes to stop the count.Taker goes for the Tombstone but Lesnar counters it into an F5 to pick up the win. A solid, bloody brawl that you will not see in the WWE for a long time. (aside from Cena/Lesnar last year)

That was a fun show to watch. Every match was good in its own ways. Lesnar/Taker was an all out brawl. The Smackdown Tag Match was all kinds of awesome. The opening tag and RVD/Flair were solid. The Cruiserweight Match was a good look back on what that division could have been capable of. Even the World Title Match was watchable thanks to the crowd getting involved in it and being into every near fall. The two women’s matches didn’t drag down the show at all. It is a show I wold recommend watching if you havent seen it in a while.

 

Until Next Time,

 

Justin C

 

Follow Me On Twitter @JCWonka