Cajundome
Lafayette, Louisiana
October 3, 2002
Commentators: Michael Cole & Tazz
Ring Announcer: Tony Chimel
Coming off the heels of arguably the greatest Smackdown of all time, how could you possibly top it? You can't, but Smackdown General Manager Stephanie McMahon on WWE.com promised a huge surprise for tonight's show. What could it be? How will The Undertaker respond to Brock Lesnar leaving him a bloody mess last week? Will Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit have another match together at No Mercy? Now we have to go search for clues. Before that, we have our customary dark matches and Velocity taping. We'll just go with the dark matches here.
Dark Match 1
Little Guido vs Funaki
Once again, Little Guido from ECW gets a tryout with WWE and he must be impressing because he's being booked again and again. Funaki gets the win here with a roll up.
Winner: Funaki by pinfall
Dark Match 2
Val Venis vs Shelton Benjamin
OVW rookie Benjamin is inches away from being on TV full time, he just needs the right gimmick and spot to open up. Venis gets the win here via submission.
Winner: Venis by submission
Now let's get on with the show. The show opens with Stephanie McMahon's big announcement. Edge will take on Kurt Angle. Matt Hardy takes on The Undertaker in a Falls Count Anywhere match, Chris Benoit will face Rey Mysterio and a tag team tournament will be held to crown new WWE Tag Team Champions......what? Get this, Vince wanted TWO sets of tag team champions yet only one singles title per show. Rather than keep Kane and The Hurricane as WWE Tag Team Champions, they are now the World Tag Team Champions and the winners of this tournament will be the WWE Tag Team Champions. It wouldn't be for a long time before writers came to their senses and just called them Raw & Smackdown tag titles. Anyway, the finals will be at No Mercy and the first round starts right now.
Match 1
Los Guerreros (Eddie and Chavo) vs Mark Henry and Rikishi
Kind of an odd pairing of Mark Henry and Rikishi but two 400 pounders would ordinarily be hard to beat. The Guerreros waste no time and attack before the bell even rings. Eddie works over Rikishi with Chavo pounding on Henry. They go to whip the fat guys into each other but they get reverse whipped into the corner and splashed by Henry & Rikishi. Henry press slams Eddie into Chavo and Rikishi hits a double clothesline. Henry and Chavo leave as Cole sings Eddie's praises for his performance last week. Eddie dropkicks Rikishi as Cole says another first round match has Billy and Chuck facing Reverend D'Von and Deacon Bautista. Eddie ducks the line and narrowly avoids Rikishi's backside, but foolishly goes for the sunset flip. Rikishi goes to sit on him but Eddie escapes and tags in Chavo. Rikishi gets rid of Eddie and hits a samoan drop on Chavo. Rikishi savate kicks Eddie and Mark tags in. Chavo sticks and moves with Henry only for Mark to throw him over the top rope one handed. Mark goes for a press slam on Eddie but Chavo chop blocks him. Chavo works over the left leg and Eddie helps out from the outside. Chavo kicks away at the leg and Eddie tags in with a hilo. Eddie takes over on the left leg and hits a dropkick it. Chavo tags in and hits a dropckick to the ribs. Apparently we get another worthless bikini contest with Dawn Marie and Torrie Wilson later as well with Tazz as the host. Henry kicks Chavo into the corner as the crowd chants "Eddie sucks." Eddie tags in and taunts Rikishi before applying a modified ankle lock. Referee Mike Sparks stops Rikishi from entering the ring which allows Chavo to waffle Henry in the leg with a steel chair. Eddie applies Tequila Sunrise and Henry gives it up to end the match. Los Guerreros cheat to win....something Eddie wanted four years ago. Henry rolls around in pain as that was smart strategy by Eddie and Chavo. Rikishi wasn't even a factor after the initial shine. Just goes to show how little the office thought of Henry and Rikishi at this point as they get utterly dominated by two guys half their size.
Time of match: 5:16
Winners: Eddie and Chavo by submission
Back from commercial we get a replay of the Guerreros cheating to win. Henry had to be helped to the back and we cut to Torrie Wilson and some old guy. They bump into Billy and Chuck and Torrie introduces the old guy as her father, Al. Yes, this is the start of THAT angle. Dawn Marie walks up and introduces herself to Al while saying she's competing against Torrie in a bikini contest. Why Torrie would bring her real life father to see that, you'd have to ask Paul Heyman. Speaking of Heyman, he's with Brock Lesnar in the back watching tape of Lesnar taking out The Undertaker last week. Heyman says Brock is going to have to give Taker a rematch at No Mercy and there will be a stipulation attached. Matt Hardy walks up and says its not gonna be a Falls Count Anywhere Match because he's gonna take out Taker this week. Lesnar and Heyman look at him funny as we cut to Undertaker on his bike. Back from commercial the Boot of The Week is Taker squashing Matt Hardy and Lesnar hitting him with a chair. Not exactly a boot.
Match 2
Matt Hardy vs The Undertaker in a Falls Count Anywhere Match
Remember that storyline in WCW where Billy Kidman "beat" Hulk Hogan and crowed about it? They're essentially doing that with Matt and Undertaker. Bell rings and immediately Taker corners Matt and beats the daylights out of him. Taker punches him all around the ring then drops a leg on Hardy when he's prone on the ring apron. Taker throws Matt into the timekeeper's table and continues to punch away at him. Taker heaves Matt onto the announce table as Cole & Tazz retreat. Matt blocks a chokeslam but Taker counters the Twist of Fate, pushing Matt into the barricade. Taker clotheslines Matt over the barricade and continues to beat him up in the crowd. Matt staggers near the entrance and throws a drink at Taker before punching him. Matt hightails it out of there with Taker in hot persuit. Hary ambushes Taker but gets rammed into production crates. Taker continues to beat around Matt who runs by a wooden palate of popcorn and tries to escape through a green door. The door won't open and Taker says Matt has nowhere to run or hide. Matt climbs to the top of a storage cage when Brock Lesnar appears out of nowhere and ambushes Taker. Taker fights back with right hands and sends him into the cage. Hardy eats a knee to the ribs but Lesnar catches him and hits an F-5 onto the palate of popcorn....which shouldn't hurt at all. Hardy rolls Taker over and covers for 1...2....3? Yes, Taker took exactly one bump and it was enough to beat him yet he kicked out of everything at Unforgiven. Horrible writing but we're not finished!
Time of match: 4:45
Winner: Matt Hardy by pinfall
After the match, Heyman says to leave and shakes Matt's hand for a job well done. Brock doesn't listen to Paul and instead crushes Taker's hand with a propane tank. Heyman freaks out, grabs Matt and Brock and leaves while Taker rolls around in pain. Brock sends a statement to the Deadman. Back from break we get an ad for the upcoming Survivor Series and the trainer is with Taker. He's icing his hand and Mark "Dorkus Malorkus" Lloyd asks Larry the trainer how he looks. Larry says his hand might be broken and they'll know later. On to the next match.
Match 3
Crash Holly vs Jamie Noble (with Nidia) for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship
Good call to have this after the Taker match. Bell's gone and Noble starts with an arm ringer. They both reverse each other and Noble rams Crash into the corner. Noble heaves Crash in the corner but a charge eats elbow. Nidia grabs the leg and Jamie gets a knee to the back. Noble taunts the crowd and gets a forearm to the back. Noble covers for a deuce and rams Crash into the corner. Noble chokes Crash on the second rope and drops a series of elbows on the back of Holly. Crash gets in a camel clutch but gets up and rams Jamie back first in the corner. Crash rallies with a clothesline and a back elbow smash. Crash flapjacks Noble and goes for a powerbomb but Nidia hops on the apron. Holly hits an O'Connor Roll to knock Nidia off the apron for 1...2...nope. Crash goes for Crash Landing but Jamie blocks it. Crash tries a sunset flip but Noble gets the knees down and holds the rope for 1...2....3 to win the match. The crowd absolutely did not give a damn about this match and its a shame, it was good for crash style.
Time of match: 3:35
Winner: Noble by pinfall (still Cruiserweight champion)
Dorkus Malorkus is with Kurt Angle who asks if he regrets losing last week. Angle says being the best means never having to say sorry. Angle said he didn't take the fall, Chris Benoit did. Angle says he's a Mozart symphony and he's a work of art. Angle spots Edge and Edge walks up only to say "You don't suck, but you're not perfect." Kurt says the gold medals says he is, Edge says his shiny bald head proves he's not. Angle says he's been waiting for payback and they're up next. Edge says "After you" and Kurt sucker punches him. On to the next match.
Match 4
Kurt Angle vs Edge
The big rematch from the Hair vs Hair match although Cole says Edge may not be 100% not just from the sucker punch but due to the match with Eddie Guerrero last week. They lock up to start and Kurt uses his amateur skills to get the upper hand. Edge catches Kurt with an arm-drag and they trade arm ringers. Edge once again gets the upperhand and drops a leg on the left arm. Kurt rolls him up for a two count but Edge doesn't let go of the hold. Kurt finally powers out of it but runs into an elbow and yet another arm drag. Kurt fights out of it with right hands but Edge turns the tables with boots in the corner. Edge ducks the line and hits a spinning heel kick, covering for a two count. Angle backdrops Edge to the apron but Edge snaps Kurt off the top roe. Kurt bails outside and Edge throws him back inside. Edge rams Kurt shoulder first into the ring post which sends Kurt to the floor. Kurt climbs on the apron and a eats a right hand. Back inside Edge locks in another arm bar but Angle hits an Angleslam on Edge over the top rope to the floor. Kurt drops Edge throat first onto the barricade, gets in to break up the count then stomps on Edge outside. Back inside Kurt kicks him full force in the ribs and delivers a snap suplex. Kurt works over Edge in the corner but Edge starts fighting back. A charge in the corner by Angle eats boot but he recovers for an overhead belly to belly suplex on Edge. He covers for a deuce then wraps his legs around Edge's legs while applying a chin lock. Edge powers out of it but Edge eats a knee to the ribs. Angle clubs away on Edge and covers for 1...2...no. Angle locks in an abdominal stretch but Edge fights out of it with a hiptoss. Edge rolls up Angle for 1...2...noooo. Angle hits a back suplex and covers for a deuce. Angle goes for a bearhug waistlock on the mat before Edge powers out of it. Edge hits a huge overhead belly to belly suplex and both men are down for a nine count. Angle and Edge get up just in time and slug it out in the center. Edge hits a flying forearm and rallies with clotheslines. A backdrop stuns Angle and a face plant gets a deuce when Edge covers. Edge's savate kick stuns Angle and Edge goes for the spear....only for Kurt to catch him and heaves him directly into referee Mike Chioda. Edge hits Edge-cution and hooks the leg but there's no referee. Angle gets a low blow and hits the Angleslam. Referee Mike Sparks runs to the ring and counts 1...2...noooooo. Angle goes for the ankle lock but makes it to the rope. Edge snaps Angle off the top rope and goes upstairs. Angle gets shoved off once but hits the superplex. Both men bridge and 1...2....3 to end it. Kurt's music hits and Mike Sparks raises Kurt's arm in victory....but wait! Referee Mike Chioda woke up in time to see Edge bridging and declares HIM the winner. The referees argue and Sparks shoves Mike. Mike levels him with a right hand and the other referees run in to calm them down as we got to commercial. Back from commercial, Cole says the match was restarted during the break and all the other refs are gone. Kurt hits a belly to belly on the floor and rolls Edge back inside. Kurt ties Edge's arms in the top rope and taunts the irate crowd. Kurt hits a spear to Edge and a normal football tackle. A third tackle attempt is dodged as Kurt goes flying out of the ring. Kurt crawls on the apron but Edge spears him all the way into the barricade. Edge goes up to the top rop and planchas Kurt on the floor. Kurt rolls in the ring as Edge goes up to the top again. Edge hits a missile dropkick and covers for 1...2....nooooooo. Kurt staggers into Edge-o-matic and Edge gets 1....2...nope. Kurt catches Edge with a german suplex. Kurt does it twice more as Chris Benoit strolls to the ring. Kurt is momentarily distracted but goes back to work with german suplexes. Kurt continues to point at Benoit but runs into a boot from Edge. Kurt counters a sunset flip with the ankle lock. Edge kicks Kurt to the floor and Kurt grabs a steel chair. Chioda checks on Edge and Kurt slides inside with the chair. Benoit hops on the apron and Kurt takes a swing at him....only for Chris to drop down and the chair hits Kurt in the head on the ricochet. Kurt turns around INTO THE SPEAR! Edge covers for 1...2....3 and that's officially the end. Edge wins in a match arguably better than their Hair match earlier. Benoit laughs his ass off as he leaves as Edge celebrates. The match officially went 20 minutes and if it wasn't for the unnecessary ref fight/false finish, that would have been up there with Edge/Guerrero the week before. Edge has put on the best match of the night two weeks in a row and was gaining steam.
Time of match: 21:26
Winner: Edge by pinfall
Back from break we get an unnecessary Rey Mysterio montage before highlights of Edge's victory. An irate Kurt Angle is in the back looking for Benoit and finds him in the locker room. Los Guerreros hold Benoit back with smirks on their faces with Albert, John Cena, Shannon Moore and Billy Kidman holding Kurt back. Stephanie McMahon runs in between them to break it up. Stephanie says next week Kurt and Chris are PARTNERS in the tag team tournament. If they fight in the ring they're suspended without pay for a year. Angle says fine, no touching....and sucker punches Benoit. Stephanie SCREAMS at Kurt and now the "no touch" rule is in effect. We cut to Heyman and Lesnar and Heyman hypes him up by saying he ended Hulk Hogan's career and the WWE title from The Rock. All of a sudden Matt Hardy comes in and says he beat Taker with Mattitude. He says if Taker can't compete at No Mercy, then Matt is the number 1 contender by default and HE should get the title shot. Matt thinks its a great idea and leaves to tell Stephanie. Heyman sarcastically says "I'd be very careful, he'd KILL you." Brock laughs as Billy and Chuck make their way to ringside. Back from commercial we get a Raw Roulette advertisement. They're pushing it HARD....but then again, its better than no hype at all.
Match 5
Billy & Chuck vs Reverend D'Von and Faarooq
It was originally supposed to be Deacon Bautista but for some reason they switched last second to Faarooq. Billy gets on the mic and asks Faarooq why he's associating with "this sorry son of a bitch!" Faarooq grabs the mic and waffles Billy with it and its time to get it on. D'Von heaves Billy over the top rope and Faarooq pounds away on Chuck. Faarooq hits a snap suplex and covers but the referee was distracted by Billy Gunn. D'Von tags in and they isolate Chuck Palumbo. Chuck heaves D'Von and Faarooq tags in to knock Billy off the apron. Chuck rallies with right hands but Faarooq takes him down and pounds away. Faarooq stomps on Chuck in the corner and D'Von tags in for more damage. D'von tells Billy to "suck it" and continues to pound away on Chuck. D'von scoop slams Chuck and Faarooq tags back in. Faarooq holds Chuck for the wazzup headbutt but Chuck reverses it with a victory roll and Billy throws D'Von off the top into Faarooq's gonads. Faarooq tags D'Von but Billy finally gets the hot tag. Billy rallies with forearms to D'Von and backdrops him. Billy sends Faarooq in the corner but D'Von stops the momentum. Faarooq sets up Billy for a back suplex and D'Von turns it into a neckbreaker. Chuck cleans out Faarooq but D'Von covers Billy for 1....2...nope. Billy goes for the fameasser but runs right into a Faarooq spinebuster. Faarooq runs over to stomp on Chuck as D'Von covers Billy for the 1..2.....3 to end the match. The makeshift team wins over the ex-tag team champions. What happened to Bautista? Oh don't worry....you'll see him again REAL soon. Formulaic tag match but it got the job done of advancing Faarooq and D'von.
Time of match: 4:07
Winners: D'Von and Faarooq by pinfall
Dawn Marie walks up to Al Wilson shows off her bikini to him. Al says she looks good and Dawn thanks him before walking off. Ugh, we'll be right back after these messages. Back from break we cut to Tazz in the ring.
Match 6
Torrie Wilson vs Dawn Marie in a Bikini Contest
Torrie won a contest last week over Nidia but the ex-ECW alumnist Dawn Marie wants her shot against Torrie. Torrie enters with a lolipop and Tazz explains the rules. Dawn goes first and unlike Nidia, looks like she's done this kind of "dancing" before. Torrie's turn and she wears one significantly smaller than what Dawn is wearing. Torrie wins and heaves her lolipop in celebration. Dawn offers a handshake then slaps her across the face. Dawn then heaves Torrie outside to get some heat back. Cole "Talk about sore loser! That was uncalled for! Dawn Marie is a witch." Normally this would be a waste of time but at least it established a feud between Torrie and Dawn....yay.
Winner: Torrie Wilson
Back to Heyman and Brock walking in the back and an irate Stephanie comes up to say she's been on the phone with The Undertaker. Stephanie says his hand is broken but insists on facing Brock for the WWE title. Stephanie says she's picked the stip but Heyman butts in "Let me guess, one arm tied behind the man's back!" Brock says "How about thumb wrestling?" Stephanie stones them both and says the stipulation is HELL IN A CELL. Heyman and Brock's expressions drop as Heyman just realized what Brock has gotten himself into. The main event of No Mercy is set. We go to break and when we come back the "Color of The Night" (the hell?) is Rey Mysterio winning last night's triple threat match.
Match 7
Chris Benoit vs Rey Mysterio Jr
Rey pinned Chris last week so they rumble one on one tonight. Bell's gone and Chris wastes no time kicking and punching Rey. Chris gets in a backbreaker as Cole says if Kurt and Chris hit each other in a match, they'll be suspended a year. Uh oh...the key word is "in a match". Chris heaves Rey into the corner but a charge eats boot. Tazz brings up these two never actually wrestled in WCW, how would he know? Benoit sets up Rey on the top turnbuckle but Rey counters a razor's edge with a hurricarana. Rey uses speed tactics to wheelbarrow bulldog Benoit. A cover gets a deuce and Chris sets up Rey on the top rope only for Rey to use his legs to send Benoit over the top to the floor. Rey hits a springboard hilo to the floor, throws Chris back in and covers for a two count. Benoit catches Rey with a backbreaker and sends him into the corner again. Chris delivers a back suplex and covers for 1...2..no. Benoit backdrops Mysterio and kicks at him in the corner. Benoit has a unique hold using Rey's own hands against him but Rey counters with a hold of his own. Rey flips over into a sunset flip but only gets a one. Chris hits a left arm lariat and rams Rey's head into the buckle. Chris chops Rey and repeatedly rams Rey into the corner. Chris locks in a surfboard but Rey powers out of it...only for Chris to catch him and german suplex him. He covers for 1...2...nope. Chris again hits a big clothesline and stacks Rey for a two count. Rey hits a big dropkick as Cole & Tazz say Benoit hasn't missed a beat since he got back from neck surgery. Rey catches Benoit with a right hand and goes for an asai moonsault, but Chris catches him mid-air. Benoit goes for snake eyes but Rey rolls out of it and hits a spinning heel kick. Rey hits a dropkick to the chin of Benoit on the ground. Rey hits a split legged moonsault and covers for a deuce. Rey counters a german suplex and hits an enziguiri to send Chris onto the middle rope. Rey goes for the 619 but Chris catches him. Benoit hits a shoulderbreaker and calls for the diving headbutt. Chris dives almost the full length of the ring and hits it. He covers for 1..2....NOOOOO, somehow Mysterio kicked out. Benoit locks in the Crippler Crossface but Mysterio was near the rope anyway to break it. Rey counters a german suplex with two dropkicks to the legs then hits a second rope legdrop. Chris slinks onto the second rope and Rey hits the 619. Chris ducks the West Coast Pop but somehow Kurt Angle appears out of nowhere and snaps Chris' head off the second rope. Chris staggers into a hurricarana with a bridge by Rey for 1....2....3 to win the match. Second week in a row Rey uses Angle and Benoit's hatred against each other to win the match. Another great match to cap off the night with Benoit using holds and Rey's lightning speed to counter what he could. They were called the Smackdown Six (Eddie & Chavo Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Kurt Angle, Edge and Chris Benoit) and so far they've rocked the last couple of shows, great effort by Rey and Benoit.
Time of match: 10:50
Winner: Mysterio by pinfall
After the match Angle and Benoit unload on each other with right hands and Angle hits a german suplex followed with an ankle lock. Benoit counters with a Crossface and Angle taps. The referees and agent Fit Finlay try to separate them but fail miserably. Benoit and Angle stare at each other as we fade to black. When you follow one of the best shows ever, a let down is inevitable....well this wasn't that much of a let down. Sure Undertaker vs Hardy was booked terribly and bikini contests are a waste of time, but the Cruiserweight match was a fun few minutes, Edge vs Angle stole the show and Rey and Benoit rocked too. The Smackdown tag title tournament is heating up with D'Von and Faarooq along with Los Guerreros advancing. Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle better get along next week or else! Taker's hand is broken but he's got Lesnar at No Mercy in Hell In A Cell. Things are looking good for Smackdown. Tomorrow night the stars of Raw are working a house show in Boise, Idaho for some ungodly reason so I'll see you there.
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