No Mercy 1999

[adam7398]

Does anybody remember this show?

 

I've been watching the UK-only pay-per-views during the last few weeks, and this show really sticks out. Strangely, people never seem to mention this one. They always go on about how great One Night Only was, or how awful Capital Carnage was, and then you have the mediocre shows like Insurrextion 2000.

 

But, this show is woeful, which is sort of surprising considering how hot the WWF were at the time. Firstly, they made the great decision of running b-level house shows back in America during the same weekend, so they left half of the roster at home.

 

WWF @ Richmond, VA - Coliseum - May 16, 1999 (10,712; sell out)

Matt & Jeff Hardy defeated Brian Christopher & Scott Taylor

Kurt Angle defeated Terry Taylor

Test defeated Albert

The Big Show defeated Mark Henry in a slam match

The Road Dogg defeated Owen Hart

Val Venis & Jackie defeated D-Lo Brown & Ivory

The Rock defeated the Big Bossman

WWF Hardcore Champion Al Snow defeated Hardcore Holly

WWF IC Champion the Godfather defeated Goldust

Ken Shamrock defeated 8-Ball

 

 

Now, I suppose some people might think, well yeah, The Rock and Big Show were the two big stars who they left in America to work the house shows, but the rest are midcarders, so who cares? The thing is, at this time, mid-1999, people wanted to see Road Dogg, The Godfather, D'Lo Brown, Al Snow, Val Venis and others. I'm not saying they were draws, of course not. People were paying to see Steve Austin, Undertaker, Mankind etc, but unlike now when I don't think people could care less if Jack Swagger was on the show, the midcarders were a big part of the show. They wanted to see Road Dogg doing his "ladies and gentleman, boys and girls" schtick. They wanted to see The Godfather and the ho's. They wanted to see D'Lo doing his head bop thing. They wanted to see Al Snow is some crazy hardcore brawl. I know that might sound cheesy, but in mid-1999 people loved that stuff. Yeah, they were paying to see Austin, Rock, Undertaker, but the mid-carders where a big fun part of going to see the WWF at the time.

 

So, what did they put on for us?

 

No Mercy 99 - Manchester, England - Evening News Arena - May 16, 1999

 

Tiger Ali Singh pinned WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Gillberg in a non-title match with a kick to the back and a reverse neckbreaker at 1:04 as Gillberg played to the fans after hitting the spear

 

Viscera & the Acolytes defeated Edge, Christian, & Gangrel at 13:47 when Bradshaw pinned Gangrel with the Clothesline from Hell after Shane McMahon, who watched the match from the aisle, sent Mideon to ringside who hit a DDT on Gangrel on the floor before rolling him back inside; after the bout, Shane cut a promo saying the string of victories at No Mercy had only just begun

 

Steve Blackman defeated Droz via submission with a modified armbar at 7:50 following a shoulderblock; prior to the bout, a Blackman vignette was shown

 

WWF Tag Team Champion Kane defeated Mideon via disqualification at 4:35 when Shane McMahon, Viscera, and the Acolytes interfered and assaulted Kane after Mideon sustained the chokeslam; after the bout, X-Pac cleared the ring with a kendo stick; moments later, Shane cut a promo from the aisle, saying the path of destruction would continue and X-Pac was next

 

Nicole Bass (sub. for Sable) pinned Tori at the 27-second mark by placing one foot on Tori's chest after hitting a chokeslam; prior to the bout, Sable cut a promo saying she had a chest cold and would be unable to compete, then said Bass would be her substitute before leaving ringside (Sable's last appearance for 4 years)

 

WWF European Champion Shane McMahon pinned WWF Tag Team Champion X-Pac at 8:27 after Triple H, who came ringside moments earlier, hit the Pedigree on the challenger after an interfering Chyna blocked the Bronko Buster with a low blow; Chyna came out early in the bout and attacked Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco, who were at ringside to support X-Pac.

 

Billy Gunn pinned Mankind following a piledriver and Fameasser onto a steel chair at 11:27; prior to the bout, the Undertaker, the Acolytes, Viscera, and Mideon assaulted Mankind during a backstage interview, with Taker attacking Mankind's leg with a steel chair; moments later, after making his entrance, Gunn demanded to be announced as the winner via forfeit but Mankind soon limped out

 

WWF World Champion Steve Austin defeated the Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) and Triple H (w/ Chyna) in a no holds barred match at around 18:20 by pinning Triple H with the Stunner after hitting the Stunner on an interfering Chyna; late in the bout, X-Pac, Kane, the Brood, and Mankind came out and battled with the Corporate Ministry - who came ringside moments earlier - all the way to the back

 

And, so we were treated to Tiger Ali Singh vs Gillberg. Droz vs Steve Blackman. Kane vs Mideon. Nicole Bass vs Tori. Even the matches involving the big names, like Austin vs Undertaker vs Triple H, was crap. It comes to something when The Brood versus The Acolytes and Viscera is the best match on the show! I remember it also only lasted like two hours and five minutes. We used to get the good pay-per-views for free, and then paid

[LCJ]

I was at this show and you're right. It really was woeful. Felt ripped off. Had a good seat but that didn't stop the fact that the card was just poor. Tiger Ali Singh vs Gillberg on pay per view for crying out loud! Still, Austin and Foley were both there who were both hugely over at the time and that kept the majority of the crowd happy. British pay per views were a waste of time/money which is probably why they no longer have them. I think the idea of TV tapings over here seems to work much better.

[sockospice]

It was the first show I was ever front row for and I remember watching purely to see if I could see myself on tv, because the in ring stuff was pretty dire. I think I enjoyed it at the time though, as I was a fan of The Brood.

[adam7398]

I was at this show

 

 

It was the first show I was ever front row for

 

I was just talking to a friend on IM, who also went to the show, and whilst we were chatting he mentioned that he got to the arena late - during the Corporate Ministry promo - and he was just wondering if he missed the dark match?

 

So, seeing as though you guys went to show, was there a dark match? If you can remember...

[britishwrestlinglegends]

I was there. It was shit. I used to go to ever WWF tour prior to this, but eventually sussed out that they took the piss! Giving the UK half the show for TWICE the price of their customers in the States. Dont know if it was this show or Capital Carnage? But Vince McMahon came out & cut what i believe was a totally racist promo against the Asian Community for no apparent reason? If anyone could send a link, i feel it would make for interesting viewing?

[adam7398]

I was there. It was shit. I used to go to ever WWF tour prior to this, but eventually sussed out that they took the piss! Giving the UK half the show for TWICE the price of their customers in the States. Dont know if it was this show or Capital Carnage? But Vince McMahon came out & cut what i believe was a totally racist promo against the Asian Community for no apparent reason? If anyone could send a link, i feel it would make for interesting viewing?

 

That Vince promo was at Capital Carnage. He wasn't at No Mercy, so that's another name to add to the list!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWXqKHQT-oo

 

It's not the best picture quality.

[JNLister]

No discussion would be complete without this classic BBC News story:

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/596294.stm

 

An elderly wrestling fan whose hero was taking a beating in a televised bout has dialled 999 to request urgent police intervention.

 

Nora Cuthbert, 64, called Edinburgh police after watching "Stone-Cold" Steve Austin come a cropper against "Triple H" in a World Wrestling Federation bout broadcast live from Manchester on cable TV.

 

Ms Cuthbert, a retired caretaker, pleaded with officers to step in to save the wrestler from injury.

 

Bemused officers said that the fight was largely choreographed and no genuine assault was taking place.

 

But Ms Cuthbert was adamant that she was right to ask for police help.

 

She said: "He was getting a real battering and there was blood everywhere.

 

"It just wasn't fair, Triple H never plays a fair game and he was hitting poor Mr Austin with a hammer.

 

"People say it is not real and it is all staged, but I knew it was real and he was hurt and I wasn't going to stand by and watch it happen."

 

A police spokesman said: "I'm quite sure it was not a police matter from start to finish.

 

"It was an unusual call and, with the gentleman being in Manchester, there was little we could have done - even if it had been a real assault.

 

"The woman was really worried and officers tried to reassure her.

 

"We take every call seriously but felt in this instance it was not an emergency situation."

 

Main memory from the night was not expecting it to end after just 2hrs 10 and thus worrying that the Billy Gunn match was going to go about 40 minutes. In the end they just wrestled the first 12 minutes of a 40 minute pace match.

[Loligan]

Add another name to the list of UKFF'ers there live. I actually felt sorry for my Dad having to drive from Glasgow to Manchester and back on the same day to see that shitty show.

[ratedrpoed]

yea got this ppv on disc & it is bad.

 

no rock, big show, shamrock etc. + sable's last wwf appearance

[Rosler28]

fantastic show. this got me back into wrestling

[Ant]

What made the situation worse for me was reading the results of the April UK house shows. Those cards were loaded.

[King Pitcos]

Yeah, the Attitude Adjustment tour was pretty cracking (although I'd rather Gillberg than Blue Meanie or Brooklyn Brawler).

 

I was there. It was shit. I used to go to ever WWF tour prior to this, but eventually sussed out that they took the piss! Giving the UK half the show for TWICE the price of their customers in the States.

 

Were pay-per-views only $15 in the US in 1999? That's an insane mark-up from then til now.

 

I remember in Power Slam's coverage of this event, they mentioned someone in the crowd had a sign saying "I'd rather be in Richmond."

[WWFDVDMAN]

I was there it was my third ever wwf event, first bein in 93. I was so pumped for this ppv, watchin superstars that morning with the rundown of the card.

 

I had a sick ministry symbol sign too, and i had good seats too, loved the corporate ministry promo along with mankind askin if its acceptable to say wanker.

Matches were ok apart from droz/blackman and gillberg/singh.

Sable was hot live.

Kanes pyro was hot too, literally could feel the heat.

I was only 13 at the time so i was hooked on the attitude era, triple threat main event was good but predictable too.

 

After the camera stopped triple h had a fake pair of plastic tits in the ring.

 

The opening video was great too, someone got a youtube link for it?

[stewart]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFL7zTM0GBk

[Thunderplex]

I was at this one. The worst part was the tits sat behind and in front of me. me. The ones behind me were chanting "Bradshaw's a peadophile", then whenever a heel cam on, one of them cheered, while another one shouted "No justin, we don't like him"

 

The one in front had a couple of signs, and as soon as I sat down, he turned to me and said "Your going to see fuck all tonight 'cos I'll have me signs up all the time". I informed him that it was going to be very difficult to hold signs up with broken arms...........