No Mercy 1999 - Gund Arena, Cleveland Ohio, October 17th, 1999

A very 1998-esque opening package welcomes us to No Mercy! (Because it has lots of war imagery, which they did a lot for Austin vs. McMahon stuff)

The PPV theme song is terrible - it's fast paced late 90s techno which is fine but massively dates this show. Not a huge amount for me to say as we get RIGHT into it with the first match. I guess nothing was kicking off on Heat this month. 

I have to put something at the start here so let's get the obvious out of the way - this is the last WWF PPV event with Vince Russo as the head writer. It’s difficult to sum up Russo’s impact and I kind of want to write a whole separate article about him but I’ll try my best here - his positives were that he wrote compelling, car crash TV where there was constantly something happening. Every show was exciting and he pioneered the idea of having a single, show-long story per episode which I love. He brought a lot of good to the table in his WWF tenure but it was always said that he needed someone reigning in his crazier ideas. His reason for leaving the WWF (along with his writing partner Ed Ferrara) was that with the addition of Smackdown he was now writing twice as much content as before with no increase in pay, which is actually fair enough. WCW offered him a small fortune to jump ship and he did. 

Russo’s negatives are a love of breaking the fourth wall and “worked-shoot” content that points a finger at the fakeness of wrestling. His treatment of sensitive issues, of women, and love of trying to shock people with things like incest, offend people on purpose if you will, is something that the WWF doesn’t need. He was starting to already lose control as sponsors and ad execs begged the WWF to tone itself down. Russo would go to WCW and with free reign to be his whole self, would create some of the worst storylines and content in wrestling history. He even put the world title on himself after making himself an on screen character. 

All in all, he won’t be missed.

The Godfather vs. Mideon (w/Viscera)

This match was booked by Vince McMahon at the last minute at the request of The Godfather after he was beaten down by Mideon and Viscera on Smackdown. And that’s all the build we’re getting. It’s nice to see The Godfather though - this is his first PPV appearance since Backlash in May.

Godfather starts fast but Mideon shuts it down and uses a long sleeper hold until the pimp fights out. He has a pin off a sunset flip but Viscera distracts the referee long enough to kick out.

That's how this match goes with The Godfather taking over until Viscera distracts and lets Mideon get in a cheap shot. 

Eventually, Godfather avoids a charge on the outside from Viscera, sending him crashing into the ring post. That lets him pin Mideon in the ring with a roll up in a short, nothing match.

Post-match, Godfather and the hoes dance with referee Tim White.

Some “earlier today” footage of Michael Cole catching Triple H coming into the arena and asking him about his actions on Smackdown. He is very proud of himself for pulling the wool over Vince and Austin’s eyes and making them think “they’d gone too far” and making them feel sorry for him. His grand plan is that Stone Cold is so angry he’ll make a mistake and maybe even get himself disqualified. That sounds like a great plan apart from this - Vince McMahon changed the match to be No Holds Barred earlier tonight on Heat (so it did kick off a little bit).

WWF Women’s Championship

Ivory © vs. The Fabulous Moolah (w/Mae Young)

In some pre-match comments Ivory makes more jokes about Moolah and Mae’s ages and promises an easy victory. 

I’ve kind of skirted this issue but now that she’s on TV regularly as a character I have to address Moolah. This is the last time I’ll mention it I promise but it’s difficult to talk about her and not think about her horrific real life actions that were exposed publicly in the late 2010s. I’ll try my best to just recap what she does and keep emotion and any praise of her to a minimum. As it happens. Mae Young would prove to be the breakout star from this 70+ year old double act anyway. 

Ivory starts aggressive but Moolah holds her own and uses snap mares by the hair. 

Ivory tries to cheat and use the ropes but Mae is there to stop her and gets punched off the apron for it. The two fight to the outside with Ivory doing a dive through the ropes onto her challenger. Mae Young gets punched in the face again and Ivory throws Moolah into the ring and gets her title belt to use as a weapon.

Young gets on the apron and pulls Ivory hair and gets clocked in the head with the belt but the distraction is enough for Moolah to roll Ivory up and become the WWF Women’s Champion.

This match was a short mess and a 70+ year old woman winning the title should be awful but why not give the title to someone who’ll at least have a little storyline with it. Ivory has done well as champion with more regular appearances and women’s title defences on TV since Summerslam but we need storylines and drama to make people care about the title and the division.

The New Age Outlaws (Roaddogg and Mr. Ass) vs. The Holly Cousins (Hardcore and Crash Holly)

This match was supposed to be for the WWF Tag Team Championships but like idiots, The Holly Cousins cost The New Age Outlaws the titles to The Rock and Mankind on Smackdown. They screwed themselves out of a PPV title match.

Since reuniting The Outlaws popularity has exploded. They are so popular with the crowd screaming their catchphrases along with them each and every time. JR puts them over hard as “the greatest tag team in WWF history” which at this point in time, given how many times they’ve won the titles and how many main eventers they’ve mixed it up with and even defeated for the belts, it's hard to argue. 

The Outlaws start fast and throw Crash around but when the match breaks down its - you guessed it - the heels working over Roaddogg. The action isn’t anything noteworthy but the fans are into it.

Roaddogg counters a jump from the top rope by Hardcore with a boot to the jaw but Crash tags in and stops the tag to Mr. Ass. This feels like the most I’ve seen of Crash in the ring since his debut.

Hardcore slams Roaddogg hard and they basically repeat the spot where he goes to the top rope and Roaddogg stops him. This time he follows up with an awesome looking superplex which gets a big pop (it was a rare move at the time).

Roaddogg finally gets the tag and Mr. Ass comes in on fire and throws both Hollys around. Hardcore slides a steel chair into the ring for Crash but Mr. Ass catches him and Fameassers Crash onto it. The referee sees it and rings the bell. Hardcore and Crash win via disqualification.

Roaddogg gives Hardcore a pumphandle slam onto the chair after the match.

Good Housekeeping Match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship

Jeff Jarrett © (w/Miss KItty) vs. Chyna

This one gets a good video package recapping the feud. This is definitely the highest profile the Intercontinental title has been for a while. 

The booking of Chyna has really bothered me lately. It’s like she’s on TV playing two characters at once. In her feud with Jeff Jarrett she’s the obvious babyface and is getting increasingly positive reactions from the fans too. It’s good stuff. She is however also playing a bad guy and Triple H’s head lackey. She does horrific things like help him break JR’s arm, beat up JR herself and help Triple H beat down and deceive Stone Cold Steve Austin. She’s basically as bad as Triple H and utter scum. But also a babyface. Very odd. I’m hoping it’ll become more streamlined and she’ll focus on her own singles career after this match.

The match starts fast and with the weapons there's plenty of props and crutches to hide the fact that Chyna can’t wrestle. It’s a very entertaining brawl as they go around the right hitting each other with toasters and coffee urns and the like.

Chyna tries to leg drop off the apron through a table but Jeff moves and she crashes through it which gives him control.

With Miss Kitty’s help, Jeff fills a mixing bowl with eggs and milk and flour but Chyna kicks the flour back in Jeff’s face and dumps the mix all over Miss Kitty’s head. She’s dressed in not a lot of clothes in this match and King has been relentless in commenting on it.

Jeff jumps Chyna from behind and locks the figure four in in the middle of the ring but she gets to the ropes and the referee breaks the hold. 

Jeff gets a pair of metal cooking tongs and tries to jump off the ropes to use them but Chyna counters with a low blow and then grabs him by the junk with them for a loud (mostly female) cheer from the fans. 

Chyna smashes a pair of pies in Jeff’s face and the two alternate stiff shots from pots and pans with comedy spots.

Chyna hits Jarrett with the kitchen sink for a close near fall. It sounds like the men in the crowd are behind Chyna in this one too.

She tries to Pedigree him onto a cake but he counters and slingshots her into referee Teddy Long, taking him out. 

Jeff asks Miss Kitty to pass him the Intercontinental title belt and he uses that as a weapon and covers for the one two three. Jeff Jarrett retains his title, to a muted reaction from the fans. Before he can leave, Teddy Long realises what happened and restarts the match - the Intercontinental title belt isn’t a household item so it wasn’t a legal weapon! 

I’d question why they did this false finish but I think they were having some fun with the fans who knew the story with Jeff (which I’ll talk about in a minute)

Jeff in a fury tries to put the referee in the figure four and Chyna blasts him with his own guitar - which is a household item - and pins him. Chyna becomes the first woman to win a men’s championship in what was a really good fun match. Afterwards, Miss Kitty leaves with Chyna.

So, I’ve hinted at it but I can now confirm - this is Jeff Jarrett’s last WWF match. I mean ever too, as the way he left the company upset Vince McMahon so much he was black balled for about 25 years. He even buried him by name when he bought WCW in 2001. Y’see, Jeff Jarrett’s WWF contract ran out a day or so before this PPV. Jeff Jarrett showed up on the day and demanded a $125k payout or he wouldn’t wrestle at the PPV and lose the title to Chyna. Vince had no choice and paid the money, and Jarrett rode off to WCW. Vince never forgave him. Jeff’s reasons for leaving were two fold - he was never going to main event in the WWF and wanted to try his hand elsewhere, but also Vince Russo who was also leaving for WCW was one of his biggest fans and the reason for his massive push all through 1999. That would continue with Russo booking Jeff in WCW. Much like Ken Shamrock last month, this is a huge loss for the midcard of the WWF as he’d been a mainstay and was featured prominently on most PPVs since the attitude era began. 

The British Bulldog vs. WWF Tag Team Champion The Rock

There’s a video package for this one too. I think that’s fair since the match includes The Rock who has become the second biggest star in the company behind only Stone Cold. He’s been on TV a lot more than Austin lately too. 

The Rock doesn’t bring his WWF Tag Team title belt out to the ring with him. He is not happy to be champion again - he doesn’t want to team with Mankind anymore.

The Rock dominates early and sends Bulldog upside down into the corner with a hard Irish whip. 

Bulldog does come back and hits a nice looking vertical suplex for a two count before locking in a sleeper hold with his big thick arms. 

He ties The Rock’s arms up in the ropes and goes for…i guess a running dropkick? But The Rock moves and he awkwardly lands on the ropes. The Rock spikes him with a DDT for a near fall.

The Bulldog rallies and hits his running powerslam finisher but The Rock gets his foot on the ropes to break the count. There is zero reaction for The Rock escaping Bully’s finisher.

The Rock just no-sells it and hits a Rock Bottom and People’s Elbow to win a short, nothing match that no one on Earth thought Bulldog would win. 

And so ends the ballad of main event British Bulldog. It’s a steady slide down the card from here (and rightly so, he’s useless and in terrible physical condition).

Earlier tonight on Heat, Terri Runnels explained what a ladder match is to Jerry Lawler while he looked up her skirt. Gross.

Tag Team Ladder match for the Managerial services of Terri Runnels and $100k prize money

Edge and Christian vs. The New Brood (Matt and Jeff Hardy w/Gangrel)

This is the final match in what was a best of five series. Terri Runnels was ditched by the Mean Street Posse and so offered her managerial services (and its implied all kinds of other services too) to the winners of this tournament. The first ever tag team ladder match for no reason other than these four men knew they’d have an incredible match, and management believed them. There is no way I’ll be able to do this justice but I’ll certainly try. 

Matt and Jeff take over control in the ring and ask Gangrel to bring them the ladder which he tries to do and so referee Tim White ejects him from ringside. 

This match is the debut of, among other things, the matte black ladders that the WWF/WWE would use for the next 20 years.

Christian is the first to try to climb but is yanked down by Jeff, who is in turn yanked off by Edge. Matt tips the ladder over on top of Edge, and then Christian uses it as a weapon on both Matt and Jeff. Christian gets the first big “gasp” of the match by running up the ladder as a ramp and drop kicking Jeff. 

Christian reverse DDTs Jeff off the ladder from about half way up and tries to climb but Matt is there to suplex him off the ladder. 

Edge powerbombs Matt off the ladder and tries to climb but is drop kicked off it by Jeff from the top rope. The fans started quiet but you can literally hear them picking up as the gasps and reactions become more frequent, with increasing chatter between the spots.

Jeff hits an amazing leapfrog over the ladder from the top rope into a leg drop which gets the first big round of applause from the crowd of this match.

Matt follows with a moonsault onto the ladder which hurts both men as Edge brings a second ladder into the ring and uses it to knock Jeff off the ladder. As amazing as it seems in hindsight, it was a huge novelty just seeing two ladders in the ring at once.

The two teams trade more big shots with the ladders and with both set up side by side in the ring, they pair off for some huge moves from a height - Edge with a flapjack on Jeff, Jeff with a neckbreaker on Christian, Christian with a hip toss on Matt. 

Edge and Christian set up the two ladders in a sort of see-saw and try to superplex Jeff onto it. The fans boo Matt for stopping the spot but a much cooler one is coming a Jeff jumps off onto the ladder which slingshots it up into Matt and Christian, knocking them both out of the ring. That same spoke broke Joey Mercury’s nose in 2007 so badly he needed life saving surgery and developed a brutal pain pill addiction. So yeah, dangerous.

I’m not recapping every move but the action really is non-stop. 

The finish comes in an awesome spot as the ladders fall and Jeff elegantly steps from a falling ladder onto another and grabs the symbolic bag of money from above the ring and dramatically falls to the mat! The New Brood won the $100k and now have Terri Runnels as their manager.

The fans give all four men a standing ovation after the match and rightfully so. A great match which blew everyone’s minds at the time. The innovation and sacrifices these four men made were life changing for everyone involved. 

To say this match was a game changer is an understatement. It put these four guys on the map, and the ladder match would become so closely linked and associated with all four of them for the rest of their careers. Tag team wrestling is about to take off in a huge way and these two teams are at the front of that.

Before the next match, The Rock comes out to the ring. He’s changed into his street clothes since his match earlier. A match he doesn’t even mention because The Bulldog was never on his level. He issues a challenge to whoever wins the main event - he doesn’t care if it's Triple H or Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock wants his shot at the WWF Championship. 

As The Rock leaves and reaches the top of the entrance ramp he’s ambushed by Triple H who hits The Rock in the stomach with a sledgehammer, and then another three big swinging shots to the ribs while he lays on the ground. The kinds of shots that if it was a real sledgehammer would have killed him. He’s quickly put on a stretcher and helped to the back.

Val Venis vs. WWF Tag Team Champion Mankind

The build to this one has been messy. Mankind’s attempts to befriend The Rock haven’t gone well as he gave him gifts like Mr. Rocko and a custom jacket. The jacket was destroyed by The Dudley Boyz, and Rocko was stolen by Val Venis (from a trash can) and used to stuff his tights. Mick tried to get it back and Val instead of giving it, taunted and beat up Mankind. This is them trying to push Val to the main event by having him mix it up with Mankind but instead of bringing Val up to Mick’s level, it's bringing Mick down. He’s so much better than this and much like with Bulldog and The Rock earlier, this marks the end of the attempt to push Val above his station. 

Earlier tonight on Heat while trying to give a copy of his new book to The Rock, Mankind happened upon Val in the bathroom. Val beat up Mick and stole his book. If you’ve never read Mick Foley’s first book I’d strongly recommend it. It’s amazing. 

Val Venis does come out carrying the book too, and skips his usual pre-match promo. I guess because he’s a “serious main event heel” now. Mankind is delayed coming out as he stops to check on The Rock. 

Mankind does have his WWF Tag Team title belt with him. He’s a proud member of the Rock n’ Sock connection. The match starts on the outside and Mankind takes control before they get into the ring.

Mankind beats Val silly and reaches into his tights to get Rocko. Val hits a low blow as Mick celebrates and reclaims it, stuffing it back down below.

On the outside Mankind sets up a steel chair and Val back-suplexes him onto it, crumbling it and bending it under his weight. Val focuses his offence on the back of Mick’s head which just wouldn’t be ok these days with the awareness of head trauma and the long term impacts of concussions.

After beating down the former WWF Champion, Val sets up for the Money Shot but he misses. Mick follows up with a double arm DDT but Venis kicks out. 

Mick locks in the Mandible Claw with Socko, and Val locks in a Testicular Claw with Rocko. The two men fade and collapse with Val on top for the three count to technically win this match.

After the bell, Mankind gets Rocko back and puts on both socks and Val runs away before being punished. Thank God this storyline is over. 

Four Corners Elimination match

Kane vs. X-Pac vs. Bradshaw vs. Faarooq

Random thing but the match graphic for this match is weird as due to their stances, all four men are sort of squashed into one side of the screen with a big gap to the left of Bradshaw. 

Kane enters first, followed by X-Pac. This match was X-Pac’s idea. He’s been determined to prove he’s not the weak link in his team with Kane and that he belongs in the land of the giants. 

Really he's just made himself look stupid multiple times as Kane honoured his request to not get involved in his matches, but then did save him from two on one beats after the match. That seems fair but X-Pac apparently also felt that that insulted his manhood? We’re getting into the period where the infamous “X-Pac heat” began, where people didn’t just start booing and disliking X-Pac, they really HATED X-Pac and “X-Pac heat” came to mean someone that makes people change the channel. The “wrong kind of heat”. He’s definitely not as popular as he should be given how hard he’s pushed and was always the least popular member of DX. I’ll let y’all know when I see it.

X-Pac makes Kane man up and fight him fair and square which he does, but Bradshaw and Faarooq need no encouragement and get into it with each other no problem.

The Acolytes tag in and out like this is a tag team match and wear down X-Pac with slams and endless bear hugs until he counters a top rope suplex attempt and hits a tornado DDT. Kane tags himself in and turns through both Acolytes and Bradshaw becomes the first man eliminated from a chokeslam by Kane.

Kane is eliminated seconds later by a spinning heel kick off the top rope. Kane is shocked but leaves peacefully as the match is now a one on one match between Faarooq and X-Pac. 

He counters a Dominator attempt through the announce table with a DDT on the floor and rolls Faarooq back inside for a Bronco Buster but runs right into a hard spinebuster. 

Farrooq tries for a slam off the top rope but X-Pac counters and then turns a diving Faarooq into the X-Factor to win this match. 

This match was nothing special but it capped off this whole X-Pac storyline with a victory for him and hopefully he and Kane can get back on the same page (spoilers - there is tragedy ahead).

Backstage, The Rock has refused to go to the hospital and has his ribs taped up by the medical personnel at the building. 

No Holds Barred match for the WWF Championship

Triple H © vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin

Great video package for this one (and you can hear the rubbish No Mercy theme song at the start of the video, just so you can all agree with me that it’s rubbish); 

My God did I love that “Oh Hell Yeah!” song as a kid. In fact, here’s a link to the whole thing as well;

For the first time since Summerslam, Stone Cold is in his real ring gear. This is only Austin’s second proper match since beating The Undertaker at Fully Loaded in July. Doesn’t that feel like a lifetime ago now? In the storyline it’s his knees and legs that are injured but in reality, it’s his neck. It’s been bothering him since Owen Hart broke it back at Summerslam 1997 and sadly it's finally caught up to him at the peak of his own popularity and just before the company's would explode in 2000.

Triple H enters with the sledgehammer but Vince McMahon is there to stop him and take it off him. Stone Cold charges and attacks Triple H at the top of the ramp and the bell rings. This No Holds Barred match must end in the ring but it can start anywhere.

They fight around the stage and production area and this one feels very heated. Austin dominates the WWF Champion and throws him around, slamming him into things and in a really fun spot, swings a massive boom camera around into Triple H’s head. There’s a great camera shot from the boom too. It’s fortunate that Austin’s trademark brawling style easily lends itself to him not taking any bumps.

They fight down to the ring but still don’t go into it. Instead, Austin clotheslines Triple H over the ring barrier and they go at it out in the crowd again. Austin sets up a piledriver and it is countered into a backdrop and Stone Cold takes a rough tumble. Triple H then sets up a Pedigree but Austin counters that and slingshots Triple H right into the referee and both men tumble back to ringside. Everyone saw it coming too - the referee stood right in his path.

Triple H rolls Austin into the ring and chokes him and at the seven or eight minute mark of this match they’re both finally in the ring. Stone Cold hits the Stunner and has the cover but there's no referee to count! Austin tries to get the referee up and Triple H hits the Pedigree. He now has the match won and when a second referee (eugh, Earl Hebner) runs down to count Stone Cold kicks out. 

He gets into a pushing match with Earl which gives the Rattlesnake time to recover and he gives Triple H one of the best looking Thez presses of his career plus a big elbow for another two count.

Some shots to the announce table and a choke with the electrical cord and Triple H is bleeding. Austin has been in control for a good 70% of this match. He mounts Triple H and hammers him with punches and then covers for another near fall. 

Triple H finally gets back in the fight by using the ringbell as a weapon on the outside not once but twice. Triple H suplexes Austin across the Spanish announce table and then drags him back to the ring.

The champion focuses his attack on Austin’s legs with a chop block and then wrapping his legs around the ring post. 

The two exchange moves and the control and Austin almost gets a victory off a superplex. He cracks Triple H with a steel chair to the head and then shades of Summerslam, hammers Triple H’s legs over and over and over with shot after shot from the steel chair. Austin has this match in the bag but as Triple H flails with a low blow to temporarily stop his assault, The Rock comes to the ring carrying the sledgehammer! 

He swings for Triple H who moves and The Rock inadvertently hits Austin in the gut. Triple H Pedigrees The Rock and then pins Stone Cold to win the match and retain his WWF title. 

Earl Hebner helps a bloody Triple H out of the ring and he stumbles and staggers up the ramp, blood running down his face and limply holding the WWF title belt above his head. He doesn’t get far as Stone Cold pops up and gives chase, brawling with Triple H into the backstage area! Austin isn’t done. He batters Triple H through the back, running him into concrete walls and steel supports until Triple H is finally able to get into a limo with new Intercontinental Champion Chyna and escape.