No Mercy 2006 Review

No Mercy 2006 Review


I found this one quite cheaply in a shop, so I thought I'd give it a watch. I've heard it was one of the better PPVs that year and one of the better single-brand PPVs overall. Does it hold up today if that's true? Let's find out.




Matt Hardy vs Gregory Helms
On paper, this looked like a filler match, but who would've known that they would almost steal the whole damn show! The feud seemed to be built on both guys hitting each other in the balls on Smackdown, but luckily it's the in-ring work that was more memorable. A great opener with some nice nearfalls and some good counter-wrestling. Find this one if you can, it's worth a look. ***1/2


Backstage, King Booker wants William Regal to help him out. Booker was pretty good at putting his opponents over here.



Paul London & Brian Kendrick vs KC James & Idol Stevens
The Tag Titles are on the line. Idol Stevens is also known as the Intellectual Saviour, Damien Sandow. It's strange seeing him without his majestic beard. Just a standard tag match here with nothing really standing out, except for the amazing athleticism of London and Kendrick. It was still pretty damn entertaining too. **1/2



Backstage, Regal gets covered in food.



The Miz is out to celebrate his birthday. I think if somebody during this time met a time traveller that told them that Miz would be WWE Champion, they would have vomited on the spot. This is a pointless segment except for a very sexy looking Layla. I can see why people hated the Miz at this point. He was fucking annoying. And of course, Big Dick Johnson comes out to embarrass Miz. Couldn't they have just added five minutes to the opener?



MVP vs Marty Garner
This is MVP's debut match. Since it's a show people are paying for, they could have at least gave MVP someone from the actual roster to fight. The crowd does turn on the match quite quickly. Just a total squash here. DUD


Backstage, Regal runs into more shenanigans. Teddy Long puts Regal in a match later on.



Undertaker vs Mr Kennedy
This was during Kennedy's run of beating former World Champs. It was a great way of making him look good, and a good idea in general, but the fact that some wrestlers didn't like working with him and that he kept hurting himself led to his firing in 2009. This feud would continue to December. Solid match that started pretty boring but got more entertaining as it went on. Always nice to see a classic piledriver. Even if it looks pretty dangerous. The DQ finish ruins it a bit, but it was still quite good. **3/4



Rey Mysterio vs Chavo Guerrero : Falls Count Anywhere
The fan sign in the crowd put it best 'Let Eddie RIP'. Yes after almost a year they were still milking all that they could out of Eddie Guerrero's tragic death. This would be Rey's last PPV match until Summerslam 2007, ten months later. These guys have great chemistry, so this was almost guaranteed to be good. They made good use of the stipulation, as they were barely in the ring at all. Fun little match here. ***




Chris Benoit vs William Regal
Quite the impromptu match here. If they were smart they would have advertised this match, as it would have gotten pure wrestling fans excited for it. This was Benoit's return match. Two stiff workers going at it. Regal was busted open after a nasty headbutt from Benoit. The only thing I didn't like about this match was the amount of time it got. Take away the pointless Miz segment, the MVP squash, give the time to this match and you have a classic. Very stiff technical bout. It's not often that an impromptu match is the best of the night, although Armageddon would do the same two months later. ***1/2



King Booker vs Finlay vs Bobby Lashley vs Batista
World Heavyweight Title is on the line. To be honest, the only challenger that looked to have a chance of winning the Title was Batista, but that didn't stop it from being a fun match. I do wish Batista had won this, so that we wouldn't have to see their bad match at Survivor Series. This was very entertaining, with every guy getting an opportunity to look good, and they took it. Great fatal four way. ***1/2



7.5/10. Very good show here as there wasn't a lot of garbage apart from the pointless Miz segment and the MVP squash, but those didn't last long anyway. You have three great matches, an entertaining Falls Count Anywhere match and a solid Taker/Kennedy match. Watch this one if you get the chance.