Throwback Thursday: Looking back at WWE No Mercy 1999
Each and every Thursday I will look back at a different pay-per-view event from the past via the WWE Network. Want to see a certain event covered? Send your suggestions to @VaughnMJohnson on Twitter.
Last time, I covered the WWE Survivor Series 1995
WWE No Mercy 1999
Date: Oct. 17, 1999
Venue: Gund Arena (Now Quicken Loans Arena), Cleveland, Ohio
Some random notes
This was the first time No Mercy was pay-per-view in the United States, but it was not the first No Mercy event.
The first No Mercy event was a pay-per-view exclusively for the United Kingdom that took place on May 16, 1999.
For whatever reason, WWE decided to make it a full-fledged pay-per-view five months later.
With Smackdown recently going live, it is fitting to note that this event took place merely two months after the show debuted on the UPN Network.
When looking at the card, you may notice a couple of names were missing. First on that list was The Undertaker, who was nursing a groin injury. He didn't return until Judgment Day in May of 2000, which is when he debuted his "American Badass" persona.
Another name was Chris Jericho, who had debuted with WWE two months prior. Despite his momentous debut, WWE quickly ran out of ideas for Jericho and left him off No Mercy. He essentially got a "DNP – Coach's Decision" on this night.
Jericho wouldn't be left on the sidelines for very long, as he was entered a storyline with Chyna over the Intercontinental championship. By the beginning of 2000, Jericho was among the top babyfaces in WWE.
With that said, let's get to the matches.
The Godfather def. Mideon
Mideon was formerly Phineas I. Godwinn before the Ministry of Darkness kidnapped him and converted him to the dark side. The same goes for Viscera, who formerly went by Mabel.
The Godfather's ladies were nice to look at, but were not all that bright. For one, they stood right next to Viscera throughout the match, as if he wasn't a massive, scary man that was a proud member of a satanic cult.
On top of that, they spent the entire match smiling, even while the Godfather was getting his butt kicked.
The match was forgettable and the Godfather won.
WWE Women's championship – The Fabulous Moolah def. Ivory
On this night, Moolah won her eighth and final WWE Women's championship. She was in fact the very first WWE Women's champion all the way back in 1956. She held on to it for the next 10 years.
Forty-three years after becoming the very first champion, she defeated Ivory to win it again at the age of 76. I'm not sure what it did for Ivory or the title in general that she lost to a woman that was old enough to be her mother, but whatever.
For what it is worth, Moolah didn't get much offense in and won in fluke fashion.
To her credit, Moolah and even Mae Young — who was even older than Moolah by a few months — got quite physical during the match and took their share of bumps. Young took a few bumps from the ring apron to the floor.
Hardcore & Crash Holly def. The New Age Outlaws via disqualification
The New Age Outlaws were the WWE Tag Team champions, but lost them only days earlier to The Rock and Mankind on Smackdown.
Gunn, who was and still is a full-grown man, wore a choker during this match.
I always thought the Hardcore and Crash Holly's gimmick of being super heavyweights that allegedly weighed in at a combined 800 pounds was quite funny. They even went to the ring with a scale to prove that they were indeed super heavyweights.
This match was nothing to write home about and went for a long time just to end in disqualification.
WWE Intercontinental championship (Good Housekeeping match) – Chyna def. Jeff Jarrett
The reason why this was dubbed a good housekeeping match because Jarrett was going on a crusade against women, saying that they were all weak and belonged in the kitchen.
During the build to the match, he beat Chyna with every kitchen appliance you could think of, including a toaster. He even went to the ring for this match with an actual kitchen sink.
I'm all for empowering women, but this storyline was quite ridiculous for the Intercontinental championship. Speaking of the Intercontinental title, I never liked the oval-shaped design of the title belt during this time period and I was so, so glad that WWE went away from it in favor of the current/classic one.
Chyna was still aligned with Triple H at the time and even used his theme song during her entrance. The weird thing was that Triple H was slowly becoming the biggest heel in wrestling. Meanwhile, Chyna was over as a babyface despite her allegiance to him. The on-screen relationship between Chyna and Triple H didn't last much longer after this event.
Chyna also brought some household items of her own to the ring and used as many of them as possible, including salami, fish, brooms, trash cans, tongs and of course the kitchen sink.
Jarrett even used the Intercontinental championship to help gain the win over Chyna, but referee Theodore Long restarted the match because the Intercontinental championship — believe it or not — was not a household item.
Shortly after the match was restarted, Chyna hit Jarrett with his own guitar, which I didn't know qualified as a household item, and pinned him to become the first woman to win the Intercontinental championship. She remains the only woman to hold that distinction.
It is a real shame that Chyna's historic exploits were all but ignored by WWE over the years before her untimely death. Granted, Chyna had her share of ups and downs over the years, but she was an integral figure during the most prosperous time in WWE's history. She was a pioneer for women in wrestling, as she accomplished things no other woman even thought of doing, including being the Intercontinental champion.
Jarrett's title reign was not the only thing to end on this night, as his WWE career also ended after this match. Jarrett's contract with WWE expired the day before the match. Because of that, he was able to command and receive a rather large sum of money to take part in the match.
Jarrett never had any intentions on renewing with WWE and appeared on World Championship Wrestling television the very next night.
The Rock def. The British Bulldog
Bulldog looked weird wearing blue jeans and coming out to anything but his the song he used for years in WWE.
This match was way, way too short. It was much shorter than the tag team match and the Intercontinental title matches.
With the level of talent that was in the ring, this deserved to be at least a little bit longer. Because of that, it was largely forgettable.
Ladder match – The New Brood def. Edge & Christian
The winner of this match would not only win $100,000, but also the services of Terri Runnels. However, no one remembers that.
The thing everyone remembers was that this match changed how fans viewed the ladder match forever. It was already historic heading in, as it was the first tag team ladder match.
All of the crazy tag team ladder matches that became one of the calling cards of the "Attitude Era" that followed spawned from this match. All of the crazy TLC matches and even Money in the Bank have this match to thank for setting the bar.
Edge and Christian and the Hardy Boyz, who were part of the New Brood, did things that no one had ever seen before and went from just four anonymous young guys on the roster to overnight sensations. No one had ever seen people take the chances these four men took. The fans in Cleveland stood in awe on several occasions with their collective jaws on the floor, as they applauded the exploits of the young daredevils.
Matt and Jeff Hardy won in storyline on this night, but all four men won in reality and it helped launch four Hall-of-Fame careers as a result.
It is crazy to think that a match that was supposed to be all about Runnels turned out to be anything but.
Val Venis def. Mankind
Apparently, Venis had stolen Mr. Rocko, which was The Rock's version of Mr. Socko, had tucked it down his trunks.
The Rock never used Mr. Rocko, but it still meant a lot to Mankind, which explains why Venis stole it. During the match, Mankind shoved his hand down Venis' trunks and yanked out Mr. Rocko. His possession of Mr. Rocko was only temporary, as Venis stole it right back and stuffed it back into his trunks.
Mr. Rocko came into play for the finish, as Venis used the sock to put a vice grip on Mankind's testicular region. Mankind passed out from the pain and fell on his back, which caused his shoulders to be counted to the mat.
Four-corner elimination match – X-Pac def. Bradshaw, Kane & Farooq
This match was every man for himself, but it involved two tag teams. Everyone knows Bradshaw and Farooq were partners, but Kane and X-Pac had a good run together as well.
Even though it was every man for himself, the match essentially played out like an ordinary tag team match. Bradshaw and Farooq went against each for a short time, but worked together to beat down X-Pac most of the match.
Eventually, eliminations did come. The first to go was Bradshaw by way of a choke slam from Kane. Kane was the next to go after X-Pac caught hit him by surprise with a spinning heel kick from the top rope.
X-Pac eventually found a way to eliminate Farooq to gain the unlikely victory.
WWE championship (Anything Goes match) – Triple H def. Steve Austin
Triple H came out for the match with a sledgehammer, which he had used earlier in the night to attack The Rock. Vince McMahon came out behind him, however, and took it away.
Triple H was not happy about this development and expressed that emotion by punching Vince McMahon in the face. Austin didn't feel like waiting around much longer and ran up on Triple H to get the match started outside of the ring.
Before these two even made into the ring, they brawled into the crowd and used a variety of weapons. Austin even used one of the boom cameras to hit Triple H. They repeated the spot during the six-man Hell in a Cell match at Armageddon the next year.
These two finally made their way to ringside and even got into the ring for a little bit. Triple H shed some blood, but came away with the victory thanks to an unlikely assist from The Rock.
The Rock came down to the ring with a sledgehammer to gain a measure of revenge on Triple H, but mistakenly hit Austin. Triple H then got a hold of The Rock and hit him with the pedigree. He then pinned Austin to retain the WWE championship.
After the match, Austin attacked Triple H and brawled with him all the way backstage. Triple H managed to slip away into a limousine thanks to Chyna.
This was Austin's last pay-per-view match until No Mercy the next year. Austin was dealing with some ill effects from the severe neck injury he suffered back in 1997 and the wear and tear required surgery. Before No Mercy, Austin hadn't had a match since SummerSlam in August.
Austin did appear at Survivor Series the next month where he was scheduled to take part in a triple threat match for the WWE championship, but he was written off television after being hit by a car during the event.
He did not appear at the ensuing WrestleMania, but did show up to Backlash in April to help The Rock defeat Triple H for the WWE championship.
A little more than a month after this match, Triple H kidnapped Stephanie McMahon and married her in a drive-thru in Las Vegas, which began the allegiance between the two that eventually turned into a real-life marriage.