I decided to take a break from all the NWA action I have been watching lately. After a couple weeks away I decided to switch gears and watch something newer. A few years ago I purchased a bunch of late 2006 DVDs from the old CD Plus store. They were selling for $5 each so I bought all the ones they had. I have about 5 PPVs from that era that I plan on watching over the next little while.
First up is No Mercy 2006, a Smackdown PPV, being held in the home of the defending Stanley Cup champs the Carolina Hurricanes. The fans in Raleigh are surprisingly pumped and help create a great atmosphere for what turned out to be an exciting PPV! I was so surprised, given the lineup, just how good this event was! In 2006 I truly hated the WWE, like full-on hated it, something I hadn’t felt since late 1999. All the DX crap sucked and they completely buried the Raw roster in pointless comedy segments and matches. There was the awful Vince McMahon-Shawn Michaels feud stinking up Raw each week and a ton of other garbage. What I didn’t realize at the time was that Smackdown was quite the opposite. By 2006 Smackdown was definitely considered the B show and was being used to groom wrestlers to be brought up to Raw. Because it was a simpler show, the storylines were way more compact and were all about the basics – titles, respect, winning matches, etc. There was still a lot of garbage and the brand felt pretty thin, but it produced some good things, such as this PPV.
I had low expectations for this DVD, but it turned out to be great; the 2hrs 40mins sped right by and I greatly enjoyed all of the action on this card. Michael Cole and JBL were the commentators and did a surprisingly great job. JBL in particular really worked hard to get over the importance of the matches, the titles, and the action in the ring.
1. Matt Hardy pinned WWE Cruiserwight Champion Gregory Helms in a non-title match with a kick to the mid-section and the Twist of Fate at 13:08 after avoiding a low blow
What a way to start the show! This match was purely about respect, as Hardy and Helms are both from North Carolina and both claimed to be the best wrestler from the State. They of course grew up and trained together, which JBL greatly emphasized during this match. The action was non-stop and the crowd in Raleigh was going crazy. Helms was a really solid worker and though I’ve never been much of a Hardy fan he really brought it in this match. See, this is all wrestling needs to be – two great workers, with a backstory going into the match, putting on a show in the ring. Why is it so hard for the WWE to consistently book good things like this? I was hoping Helms would win, but Hardy puts him away convincingly as the crowd goes crazy.
There were a lot of Smackdown style segments in between matches. This was kind of a waste because they could have added another match or two to fill the PPV. The show was totally centered around King Booker, who is absolutely hilarious in this role. He tells William Regal to find Finlay and take him out of the main event. Booker plays the King gimmick so over the top that it’s ridiculously funny.
2. WWE Smackdown! Tag Team Champions Paul London & Brian Kendrick (w/ Ashley) defeated KC James & Idol Stevens (w/ Michelle McCool) at 9:36 when Kendrick pinned James with a Shooting Star Press from Kendrick’s back after James sustained the Sliced Bread #2
Wow! Another awesome match! I should have been watching Smackdown, not Raw, since I missed a lot of these great workers like London and Kendrick. I barely remember the team of James and Stevens, I don’t think they lasted too long. Despite their shitty indy names, James and Idol are not too bad in the ring. I wonder why they got canned? Really though, they should have come up with better names, since these screamed WCW. London and Kendrick are simply explosive and unleash some lightning fast offense. The pace is relentless and they take constant high risks. The champs pick up a great win. Oh and Michelle McCool still sucked as the nerdy manager – no personality.
A series of “hilarious” William Regal comedy occurred as he was looking for Finlay. He found Vito skipping while wearing a dress (remember that horrible gimmick?). Regal tried showing him his skipping skills, seriously, and Vito lifted his dress to wipe his forehead with it, showing off his big bulge in his tight underwear – ha-ha-larious – except not. Regal stopped skipping and turned to leave, grossed out, only to fall into a cart of mustard and ketchup. As dumb as all this was, Regal was the man. He was so much fun to watch.
Back in the ring it was time for the Miz’s birthday celebration. Miz was new in the company and was under the “hoo-rah!” image that we laughed so much about at the time. Miz is so fucking irritating (still is) and JBL is hilarious as he completely buries him on commentary. A giant gift box is in the ring (oh no) and Teddy Long introduces his first present, Layla, who’s coming to dance for him. She gives the Miz a lap dance (which he oversells by acting like a complete dumbass) then blindfolds him. She opens the box and Big Dick Johnson comes out! Gross! Big Dick grinds against Miz and takes off his blindfold. Of course Miz goes crazy and we all laugh. Or not. At least Layla looked great.
3. Montel Vontavious Porter pinned Marty Garner at 2:30 with a modified Rocker Dropper
For weeks MVP and Teddy Long were trying to reach a deal to get him on Smackdown and he was finally signed to debut at No Mercy. MVP comes out to a longer version of his funny music (1,2 hear the clock tickin’) and his surprise opponent is jobber Marty Garner. Yup, a jobber match on PPV. JBL is hilarious on commentary as he buries MVP as a joke and a guy who doesn’t deserve to be on Smackdown. This is like an old Superstars match as MVP shows off his moves and spends a lot of time posturing and jawing with the crowd. Obviously MVP picks up the win and JBL is irate.
More William Regal nonsense backstage. He’s taking a shower when Vito walks in naked. Regal runs away from him and ends up naked in the hallway. He runs into Teddy Long who punishes him for this crap by putting him in a match later in the show against a surprise opponent.
4. WWE US Champion Ken Kennedy defeated the Undertaker via disqualification at 20:31 when Taker punched the champion in the face and then hit him in the face with the title belt, which Kennedy had brought in the ring; after the match, Taker dropped Kennedy with the tombstone and then did the same to referee Charles Robinson
Lonnnnng ass match. I really don’t know why Kennedy was pushed so hard. For all his charisma he was pretty bland in the ring. Still this was a pretty good match that was a little slow at points. I don’t know why this had to go 20 minutes though. The story was that Kennedy was trying everything he could to put away the Undertaker but couldn’t get the job done. He finally gets desperate and grabs the US title. Undertaker grabs it from him and blasts him in the face earning the DQ. Why? Because he’s the Undertaker and he doesn’t care, according to JBL. Undertaker beats up Kennedy and the ref after the match. Weak ending.
5. Rey Mysterio pinned Chavo Guerrero (w/ Vickie Guerrero) in a falls count anywhere match at 12:11 with a crossbody from the crowd down onto Chavo, near one of the exits
This feud is such a memory. That summer we had gone to see Summer Slam 2006 in the theatre and I remember these guys having a great singles match. The story was that Chavo was pissed that Rey Mysterio was leeching off of Eddie Guerrero, which was totally true. This match was awesome – just an old school brawl all through the crowd. Chavo beats the crap out of Mysterio through most of the match and smashes him into the hockey boards, chairs, the guardrail, etc. I was pissed when the Halloween costume won the match with a lame looking dive off of a staircase onto Chavo.
6. Chris Benoit defeated William Regal via submission with the Crippler Crossface at 11:17
Regal’s surprise opponent turned out to be Chris Benoit who had taken a few months off for injuries. Benoit looked completely psycho here. No emotion in his eyes, and his face was all gnarled and weird looking. Benoit just looked wrong by this point in his career. Despite his appearance, this match was AWESOME. Despite having no storyline, these two guys beat the ever loving shit out of each other. Stiff chops, brutal submission moves, suplexes, punches, etc. Two masters in the ring putting on an old school classic. Halfway through the match, Benoit busted Regal opponent hardway with a stiff headbutt. Blood was flowing down Regal’s face. JBL was awesome on commentary putting over how great this match was, how old-school and hard hitting this was. Benoit makes Regal tap to pick up a huge win.
7. World Heavyweight Champion Booker T (w/ Sharmell) defeated Batista, Bobby Lashley, and Finlay at 16:53 by pinning Finlay after Batista dropped Finlay with the sit-down powerbomb and was then speared by Lashley
These four way matches have always been a staple of Smackdown PPVs. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this turned out to be great! All four guys wrestle in top gear and the action is non-stop, with endless power moves and brawling. Batista gets busted open and bleeds all over the place adding to the drama. Finlay looks great here as the evil fighting Irishman who punishes his opponents. Lashley has no charisma, no personality, and really wasn’t deserving to be in this spot. Vince was trying to force him down our throats but he never reached the expected heights. King Booker (who’s music is hilarious) picks up the sneaky win after Batista plants Finlay with a Batista Bomb but gets speared by Lashley, allowing Booker to crawl over and get the pin. Exciting stuff!
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