Review of WWE No Mercy

For once I was looking forward to a Smackdown p.p.v. The two cruiserweight matches looked promising, especially Kidman vs. London. I also was interested in Big Show's return. And when it was all said and done, No Mercy proved to be an improvement to previous SmackDown p.p.v.'s.

Match 1: Eddie Guerrero vs. Luther Reigns.

• It's obvious that Reigns is a rookie but Eddie makes him look good. In the middle of the match Reigns goes for a swinging neckbreaker but Eddie uses the ropes to counter it to an inverted DDT. Nice. After using a foreign object, Eddie hits the Frogsplash for the pin. Overall a good opener but some mistakes – like a dropkick that wasn't near Reigns' head – prevents me from give this match a higher rating.

Match Rating: 2/5

Josh Matthews interviews the legendary Dawn Marie. I'm getting ice cream... Sorry to anyone who cared what Dawn had to say.

Match 2: Nunzio vs. Spike Dudley. Cruiserweight Championship.

• Fast-paced and well worked match, despite these two having different wrestling styles. Spike is doing a great job as a heel. Good match except for the ending – a poor screwjob, of which we have seen way too many in this division as of late.

Match Rating: 4/5

Promo for the Kidman/London feud. This is a nice angle.

Match 3: Billy Kidman vs. Paul London.

• Incredible match. London shows some fantastic spots like a slingshot off the top rope into a moonsault! Kidman hits a gutbuster and the old powerbomb counter he always did in WCW. Match ends when London tries the shooting star press and Kidman gets his knees up. Kidman then hits a Shooting Star Press of his own for the pinfall. One of the best matches of 2004. I want to see more matches like this.

Match Rating: 4/5

Bradshaw interview. JBL says that the only way Undertaker is going to win is over his... dead body. Pretty funny.

Match 4: Rene Dupree & Kenzo Suzuki vs. Rey Mysterio & RVD. Tag Team Championship.

• I can't believe WWE lets RVD rot away in the mid card like this. Smackdown's tag division is so pointless with these type of teams that make absolutely no sense. They need to drop the tag division and get Rey into the cruiserweight division, Dupree into the US division, RVD into the WWE Title division and release that no-talent jackass Kenzo Suzuki. The fact this guy is holding a title makes me sick. Match is not bad but not good either.

Match Rating: 2/5

Match 5: Big Show vs. Kurt Angle.

• Nice and well worked match. Big Show tosses Angle around for most of it. Angle lets himself get counted out but Theodore Long comes out (what a surprise huh?) and demands the match restarted. After getting only brief offense in, Angle loses cleanly after a Chokeslam. So, if Angle was going to job anyway what was the point of making him look even weaker by having him running away through the crowd after five minutes? "It was a nice touch to the match" I read in a review. Hell no!

Match Rating: 3/5

Match 6: Booker T vs. John Cena. US Championship.

• Let's face it. These two don't have much chemistry in the ring and the feud itself isn't very good either. Booker gets the early advantage but Cena comes back with clotheslines and shoulder blocks. Bulldog from Cena and then the Five Knuckle Shuffle. 2 count. Since Cena has done all of his moves Booker T gets on the offense. Cena kicks out of The Bookend and decides to go for the only move he has left; The F-U. 1-2-3, new champion. Match was only ten minutes which felt very anticlimactic since it was the final match of the series. Basically this is what we can watch (and have watched) for free on Smackdown.

Match Rating: 2/5

Match 7: Dudleyz and Dawn Marie vs. Charlie Haas, Rico and Miss Jackie.

• Man, Rico is a funny guy. He cracks me up every time I see him. It's hard to rate this match because there isn't much actual wrestling in it. You can tell than Haas is the best wrestler in the ring. Fairly entertaining as a time filler. Thank God for Dawn Marie's ass.

Match Rating: 3/5

Match 8: The Undertaker vs. Bradshaw. WWE Championship.

• Undertaker gets the first punches in. Has Undertaker ever been dominated in the beginning of a match? WWE has realized these two can't have a great wrestling match so this turns out to be more of a street fight. Personally I think JBL's character worked better when he feuded with Eddie. And Undertaker still looks and wrestles more like The Biker than The Deadman. Highlight: A Tombstone Piledriver on the steel steps. Otherwise it's nothing we haven't seen before. Incredibly poor and predictable interference when Heidenreich comes out from the hearse. Bradshaw retains. So, that match wasn't good to begin with and it ended up horribly.

Match Rating: 2/5

The Good: The cruiserweight matches lived up to their expectations. Nice to see two CW matches on the card. Big Show vs. Angle wasn't bad either. Compared to Great American Bash, this p.p.v. was definitely an improvement.

The Bad: RVD is inexcusably underused. The Booker/Cena feud will be forgotten in a month. Main event was a letdown. And honestly, are any of you interested in a feud between Undertaker and Heidenreich?

No Mercy Rating: 3/5