WWE No Mercy 2007 Review

Match 1: WWE Championship - Randy Orton (c) vs. Triple H
Since John Cena has been placed on the shelf with an injury, a new champion was set to be awarded at this show. Vince McMahon opened up the night and awarded Randy Orton the belt as the Chicago crowd goes wild. Orton gets the luxurious choice of picking his opponent before he gets interrupted by Triple H. Vince McMahon makes the match happen and here we go, the opening match for the show is for the WWE Championship. Does anyone remember the last time a PPV started with a WWE Championship match? That would be an interesting fact. Really good opening match here that saw some very good exchanges between the two. Orton did his best to slime out of the match but Triple H wasn't having any of it. Both men tried to hit their finishers but were both unsuccessful. Triple H rolled up Orton to score the surprise win and capture the gold from Orton. Orton's second reign was that much shorter than his first. Great match here. Lots of things to be mentioned. Jim Ross on the call was amazing which is a given. I like the fact that they didn't hit their finishers, saving it up for the main event. And also, I liked the finish. Not only did Orton lose, but he let it slip through his finger tips. It went from being his apex moment to his worst moment. The whole roller coaster of a PPV starts here.
Winner: Triple H
Rating: ***1/2

Match 2: Paul London, Brian Kendrick & Jeff Hardy vs. Lance Cade, Trevor Murdoch & Mr. Kennedy
This is the bonus match of the night as Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch have a secret weapon in Mr. Kennedy. Some fast action throughout with no team being the clear favorite. Jeff Hardy's style definitely blends nicely with the team of Paul London & Brian Kendrick. However, their opponents are no slouch as the wild card in Mr. Kennedy is able to plant London off the top rope to score the win for his team right before Kendrick ran in to break the count. Fine match here to settle the crowd a little bit after the big title tornado.
Winners: Lance Cade, Trevor Murdoch & Mr. Kennedy
Rating: **3/4

Match 3: ECW Championship - CM Punk (c) vs. Big Daddy V
CM Punk gets an enormous ovation from the Chicago faithful as he takes on Big Daddy V. Did they really not have a better opponent for him here? Regardless, this match was two minutes of Big Daddy V beating down Punk before Punk managed to turn the tides and bring Big Daddy V off his feet. Matt Striker runs in and attacks Punk from behind as the referee called for disqualification. Big Daddy V then attacked Punk afterwards as Punk needed assistance being taken to the back with blood pouring out of his mouth. Why did Striker intervene and act surprised when the referee called for the disqualification? Stupid finish to a stupid match that had no business on the card.
Winner: CM Punk
Rating: 1/4*

Match 4: WWE Championship - Triple H (c) vs. Umaga
After Triple H's championship win earlier in the night against Randy Orton, Vince McMahon forces The Game to compete in the match that was originally advertised against Umaga. This time, for the WWE Championship. Triple H begins to show signs of fatigue as Umaga seems to be a little too much for Triple H to overcome after having to beat Orton less than an hour ago. They do a great job of centering the match around that and around the weakened ribs of Triple H. Jim Ross lets the audience know that there is certainly a method to Umaga's madness. Triple H is able to escape and land a Pedigree for the win. The Game does a masterful job of selling the injury afterwards. But his night isn't even close to being finished...
Winner: Triple H
Rating: **1/2

Match 5: Finlay vs. Rey Mysterio
I always felt like SmackDown was such a consistent brand during these years. One of the biggest reasons is due to the focus of the action in the ring. Two guys you know who were going to bring it on a nightly basis were Finlay and Rey Mysterio. Definitely felt like the momentum from Mysterio's big summer return was fading. Thankfully, he scored a spot on the card here with the Irishman. Finlay's rugged offense clashed well with Mysterio's fast offense as the two had some great exchanges here. Finlay then faked an injury as he took a nasty fall to the floor. They did a great shot with Finlay opening his eyes for a quick second to check his surroundings before going back to faking the injury. The stretcher gets pulled out for Finlay as Mysterio shows sympathy before Finlay gets out of the stretcher and beats down Mysterio. Cool finish to the match that sets up another match down the road. Another nice addition to the PPV.
Winner: n/a
Rating: **3/4

Match 6: Women's Championship - Candice Michelle (c) vs. Beth Phoenix
Candice Michelle has to have the most annoying theme song in the WWE at this time. But credit where it's due, she looks amazing and improved immensely in the ring in 2007. Very quick match that saw Beth Phoenix hit a cradle suplex to score the win and championship. A dominant performance from Phoenix before declaring this era hers. Match was what it was, nice to see Phoenix get rewarded for her work.
Winner: Beth Phoenix
Rating: 3/4*

Match 7: World Heavyweight Championship - Punjabi Prison - Batista (c) vs. The Great Khali
I like how they billed the Punjabi Prison as The Great Khali's specialty match yet he's never actually been in one. Regardless, he looks to recapture the gold against Batista here in the co-main event of the night. For those who are unaware of the match, there are two bamboo prisons holding the combatants. They must escape the first one through timed doors before they get locked. If that's the case, they must climb the first prison and climb once more out of the second one. Simple. Right? Right? I'm pretty confident the Chicago crowd had no idea what was going on. They built the foundation of the match within the first prison as Batista did his absolute best to escape but to no avail as Khali was too much. Smart idea to do this when taking into consideration Khali's limited moveset. JBL did a great job at making Khali seem impossible to beat as Khali climbed over the first prison. It was quite the sight to see with Khali almost looking like he was King Kong climbing a skyscraper. But before Khali was able to exit out of the second cage, Batista climbed the first prison and jumped to the second one! That was pretty daring. The two had a race to exit the cage before Batista ultimately beat him to the bottom. Credit to Batista for carrying Khali to a good match. I like how they centered the match around Batista doing his best to escape before Khali was able to climb over the first fence. Batista's leap of faith was a sweet spot which unfortunately gets forgotten about. The ending sequence as the two raced to the bottom was a heart-racing sight to see. Definitely the surprise of the night.
Winner: Batista
Rating: **1/2

Match 8: WWE Championship - Last Man Standing - Triple H (c) vs. Randy Orton
For the third time tonight, Triple H makes his way to the ring as Vince McMahon allows Randy Orton to invoke his rematch clause in a Last Man Standing match. This is easily the most spectacular Last Man Standing match I have ever seen and easily the best match these two would ever go on to have. There were so many brutal and cool spots perfectly spaced out throughout the match and you absolutely felt the animosity between the two. Unlike their first match of the night, they seemingly went for the kill every chance they got. From Triple H tossing Orton through a table, to Orton hitting an RKO through a chair and to Triple H defiantly crotch chopping Orton with blood pouring down his face, this was a war. Something about hearing Triple H slamming the steel steps into Orton's head before hitting him with the steel chair as his head was stuck in the steps was just something else. Something about Triple H blocking Orton's punt and giving him a death stare was just something else. And finally, something about Jim Ross on the headsets was more than something else. I will more than happy to say that this was the call of his life. His voice elevated the brutality and ambiance of the match to another level. If you don't believe me, go back and give this a watch. The ending itself was brilliant. Orton hit the RKO to Cena on top of the announcers table on an edition of Raw that put Cena out of action. Tonight, Orton did the same thing to Triple H and this time, captured the WWE Championship in the process. Triple H nearly beating the count made things that much more dramatic. An excellent display of storytelling and incredible spots along with Jim Ross on the call bump this match to *****. Wow.
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: *****

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
People seem to be very split on this show. Some hated it and were more than fed up of seeing Triple H in three separate occasions. Some were able to put that aside and enjoy the match quality and show in general. I'm on the latter. Aside from the disgraceful ECW Championship match, this was one of WWE's best PPV showings of 2007 and really had a different twist to things compared to what the entire year had held. I liked the unpredictability and roller coaster of a ride the show took us on. The main event remains the best Last Man Standing match I have ever seen. Simply put, watch that match!
Rating: 7.5/10