|Date: October 8, 2006
|Venue: RBC Center |City: Raleigh, North Carolina
|Attendance: 9,000 |Buys: 197,000
|Brand: Smackdown

|tweet me: @BastionBlogger

Tonight there could be No Mercy for World Heavyweight Champion King Booker as he is set to defend his title against three of the top Smackdown stars in a fatal four way match. Originally Booker was set to defend against Bobby Lashley after Lashley beat Finlay in a number one contenders match on Smackdown. Finlay took out Batista with his shillalah which set up two singles match for No Mercy. However Teddy Long announced one week that he was combining the two matches, making a fatal four way match for the World Heavyweight Championship. The only other title set to be defended tonight is the WWE Tag Team Championships. The new upstart team of KC James and Idol Stevens beat The Pitbulls to become number one contenders to the titles held by Paul London and Brian Kendrick.

The first match announced for No Mercy came when Mr Kennedy claimed to have beaten everybody on Smackdown and demanded that Teddy Long let him go to Raw. Teddy Long told Mr Kennedy that there is a man that he hasn’t defeated in the form of The Undertaker. Since then The Undertaker has played mind games with Kennedy, going as far as to electrocute him with his own microphone. The feud between Rey Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero rages on, Chavo now has Vickie Guerrero in his corner as his business manager. The two meet tonight in a falls count anywhere match. Matt Hardy and Gregory Helms will also meet again tonight and newcomer to Smackdown Montel Vontavious Porter (M.V.P) makes his long awaited debut tonight.

In a dark match prior to the event Jimmy Wang Yang defeated Sylvan Grenier.

A video package kicks us off hyping up tonights main event. Michael Cole then welcomes us to No Mercy and he and John “Bradshaw” Layfield discuss the main event before throwing to the Spanish commentary team.

Matt Hardy vs. Gregory Helms

This is the second PPV meeting between these two men. Helms defeated Hardy at the Great American Bash a couple of months ago. Both men fighting out of their hometown tonight. Matt Hardy has a 2-2 record at No Mercy PPV’s whilst Helms is 0-1. Helms wrestles in a do-rag, Hardy has a plaster on his nipple. Helms hits a firemans carry in the early going but Hardy takes him down with a shoulder block. Helms tries for a few technical moves, takedowns and hammerlocks but he can’t take the bigger Hardy down. Matt Hardy is the man that has wrestled the most amounts of PPV matches without main eventing a PPV in history up to now. Helms takes Hardy down and lays in the boots. Matt hits a suplex and hits some lefts and rights, a reverse elbow and an elbow drop for a one count. Hardy then clotheslines Helms out of the ring before flying out at him with a plancha. Back in the ring and Matt hits some boots and gets another one count. Helms drops Hardy on the top turnbuckle to slow the pace.

Gregory Helms hits a neckbreaker for the first near fall of the night. Hardy hits an elbow and goes up to the second rope but Helms brings him back down to the mat with a side Russian leg sweep from the middle rope. The current Cruiserweight champion Helms applies a front face lock. The title isn’t on the line tonight, Hardy is a bit porky for the Cruiserweight title. The division is suffering because of the title not being defended though. Helms hits a facebuster (codebreaker) for a near fall. Of the two I definitely think Helms deserves to win but can Hardy bounce back from consecutive PPV losses to Helms? Hardy hits an inverted DDT similar to the slop drop. The two men get to their feet and exchange right hands. Hardy wins the slugfest and hits clotheslines and a bulldog for a near fall. Matt hits a powerslam and then a legdrop off the middle rope for another near fall. Matt motions for the  twist of fate but Helms counters it for a near fall. Helms hits three unprettiers and then heads to the top but Hardy sees him coming and hits him with a right hand.

Hardy hits a side effect for a near fall and follows that up with another side effect for another near fall. Hardy hits a third and then goes up top for a moonsault but Helms gets his knees up. Helms misses with a shining wizard and Hardy rolls him up for a two count. Helms counters a twist of fate and takes Hardy out with a shining wizard but Hardy kicks out! Helms pops Hardy on the top rope, Hardy fights Helms off but the Cruiserweight champion drops Hardy on the top rope. Helms then goes up top and hits a shining wizard on Hardy as he straddles the top rope! Helms pins Hardy but Matt gets his foot on the bottom rope. Hardy hits the twist of fate and gets the three! Matt Hardy beats Gregory Helms tonight!

Rating: 6.75/10

Sharmell is backstage telling King Booker that everything will be ok. William Regal then shows up and says he is at Booker’s service. Booker says Regal can aid him tonight by convincing Finlay to stand aside tonight. Regal says he won’t let Booker down.

Paul London & Brian Kendrick (c) vs. KC James & Idol Stevens – WWE Tag Team Championship match

This is a PPV debut for James and Stevens who are joined by their manager Michelle McCool. London has a 0-1 record at No Mercy PPV’s, everyone else in this match is making their No Mercy debut. The tag team champions are joined by Ashley. Paul London and Idol Stevens start the match and London hits a big hurricanrana and tags in Kendrick. Kendrick and London hit a double team for a near fall and Kendrick tags London back in. London hits a stomp from the top and tags Kendrick back in. London fires Kendrick at Stevens for a near fall. Stevens hits a right hand and tags in KC James. James lays into London and then tags Stevens back in. All four men now get involved, London and Kendrick clear the ring and then fly out at their opponents! Back in the ring and Kendrick hits a suplex on Stevens. London goes to the top but KC James knocks him off to the outside.

Back in the ring and Stevens gets a near fall before applying a chinlock to London. I’m not convinced by the challengers at all. London gets out of the chinlock and avoids an elbow drop. Stevens tags James who hits a kneedrop to the spine for a near fall. KC James applies a chinlock and then hits a backbreaker for a near fall. James tags Stevens who hits a headbutt to the ribs of London, a snapmare, a knee to the back and then a modified abdominal stretch. Nobody wants James and Stevens to win this. London gets out of the hold but Stevens stops him from making a tag before tagging out himself. London avoids a splash in the corner and nearly makes the tag but Stevens pulls Kendrick off the apron. London finally makes the tag to Kendrick and he hits everything moving with elbows, dropkicks and forearms. Kendrick attempts sliced bread number 2 but Stevens shakes the ropes, stopping it from happening. James then hits a superplex for a near fall.

Stevens throws London out of the ring whilst in the ring London hits a tornado DDT on James. Michelle McCool puts James’s foot on the bottom rope, Ashley gets involved distracting the referee allowing Stevens to hit a big time backbreaker on Kendrick. James gets a near fall. McCool gets involved again and so Ashley lays into her. In the ring London launches Kendrick into James and Stevens, Kendrick hits sliced bread on James and London hits him with a shooting star press. Kendrick hooks the leg and gets the 3! London and Kendrick win the match and retain their tag team championships tonight! Well deserved.

Rating: 6.5/10

William Regal is backstage looking for Finlay when he bumps into Vito who is skipping in a dress. Regal shows him how to skip but is disgusted when Vito lifts up his dress to wipe down his face. Regal storms off but walks right into a catering trolly, getting the contents of Mexican food all over him!

Teddy Long is out to the ring where a huge box sits in the middle of the ring. Long says that it’s somebodies birthday and then announces that it’s a 26th birthday for the undefeated Miz! The Miz comes out looking happy and acts like a clown for a bit. Teddy says that Miz has been hitting on one of the Smackdown divas and then introduces Layla! Layla walks out in lingerie and heels. The Miz says his birthday wish is for Layla. Layla sits The Miz down and then gives him a lapdance before blindfolding him. The box is then risen and out steps Big Dick Johnson who gives The Miz another lapdance! The Miz takes off his blindfold and is mortified.

Marty Garner vs. M.V.P.

This is an in-ring debut for M.V.P. Montel Vontavious Porter. He’s dressed in very interesting gear, an all in one bodysuit. Porter gets on the mic before the bell and talks himself up. Marty Garner is announced as his opponent. Absolute jobber. Garner is known as the guy who took the Pedigree a few years ago head first. MVP slaps him before the bell. Porter seems very happy with himself. Garner fights back with a couple of right hands but MVP hits a big clothesline before ramming Marty’s head into the mat. MVP lays in some stomps and then hits a facebuster. This was a terrible squash match. Pointless, disappointing, rubbish.

Rating: 2.5/10

William Regal is backstage walking out of the shower. Vito follows him out and laughs at the size of Regals penis. Regal leaves but walks down the corridor naked and bumps into Teddy Long. Teddy Long isn’t happy and tells Regal that he’ll be in a match later so he better get his gear on. Presumably against Vito!

The Undertaker vs. Mr Kennedy

This is a first PPV meeting between these two men. Undertaker is the only man that wrestled on the very first No Mercy PPV that will be wrestling tonight. He has a 1-5 record at No Mercy PPV’s so not good. Mr Kennedy has a 1-0 record at No Mercy PPV’s, he beat Hardcore Holly at last years event. Kennedy gives us his usual spiel before the bell. Kennedy is actually undefeated on pay per view going into this match, he’s beaten Hardcore Holly and Batista. A win tonight would give him the joint best PPV of anyone in history up to now, three wins from three along with Max Mini. It’s a non title match tonight. Undertaker runs at Kennedy as the bell rings but Kennedy gets out of the way. Kennedy runs right into a big boot and Undertaker works the left arm. This was the first match announced for this pay per view. Undertaker goes for old school but Kennedy rips his arm away and exits the ring. Undertaker follows and smashes Kennedy’s wrist into the ring steps.

Back in the ring and Undertaker lays in some boots. Undertaker then lifts Kennedy up by his arm before smashing him back down into the canvas. Outside the ring and Undertaker drives Kennedy’s shoulder into the ring post. Back in the ring and Undertaker tries for old school but Kennedy shakes the ropes and then takes Undertaker down with an arm drag. Undertaker hits a big boot to Kennedy’s shoulder and then attempts old school again, this time hitting it. Undertaker hits a flatliner for a near fall. Mr Kennedy takes off one of the turnbuckle pads but Undertaker Irish whips him into the other corner and takes him down with a clothesline for a near fall. Undertaker chokes Kennedy in the corner but misses with a running big boot in the corner. Undertaker falls out to the apron where Kennedy shoves him down to the floor below. Kennedy lays in some stomps on the outside and then rams Undertakers head into the barrier.

Kennedy goes up to the apron but Undertaker catches him and rams him into the ringpost. Back in the ring and Undertaker gets a near fall before Kennedy throws him out of the ring. Undertaker gets back into the ring but Kennedy forces him into the mat with a DDT for a near fall. Mr Kennedy is looking to be the first man to have won at both the 2005 and 2006 No Mercy events. Only Bobby Lashley and Batista can match that tonight. Kennedy hits a running boot to The Undertaker in the corner for a near fall. Kennedy hits a couple of elbow drops but still can’t keep Undertaker down. The two men slug it out and Undertaker clotheslines Kennedy out of the ring. Undertaker then hits his trademark legdrop on the apron. This match has slowed right down. Back in the ring and Mr Kennedy hits a piledriver on Undertaker! I thought that move was banned. Really shocked to have seen that move. Kennedy applies a headlock to Undertaker but Undertaker gets out of it with a side suplex. The two men slug it out before Undertaker hits a huge flying clothesline. Undertaker hits a couple more clotheslines in the corner, snake eyes and then a running big boot.

Undertaker hits a legdrop for a near fall and then motions for a chokeslam. Kennedy holds on to the referee and then kicks Undertaker in the middle section before taking the dead man down with a swinging neckbreaker. Kennedy misses with an enzeguri and Undertaker punishes him with a chokeslam! Undertaker sets up for a last ride but Kennedy gets out of it. Kennedy then bulldogs Undertaker onto the exposed turnbuckle before hitting a clothesline. Kennedy heads to the top and hits the Kenton bomb but Undertaker kicks out at 2! Kennedy grabs his United States title but Undertaker drops him with a right hand. Undertaker grabs the title and smashes it into the face of Mr Kennedy! That means Mr Kennedy wins the match! Another disqualification win for the newcomer! Undertaker lays into Kennedy after the match, finishing him off with a tombstone. Undertaker then hits referee Charles Robinson with a Tombstone! A third PPV victory from three for Mr Kennedy though!

Rating: 7/10

Next up is a video package for the personal rivalry between Chavo Guerrero and Rey Mysterio.

Rey Mysterio vs. Chavo Guerrero – Falls Count Anywhere match

This is the 4th PPV match between these two men, Chavo has won 2 of the previous 3 and Mysterio has won just the one. Chavo makes his No Mercy debut tonight but Rey Mysterio has a terrible 0-4 record at this event. Chavo is joined by his business manager Vickie Guerrero. The two men go straight for one another as an “Eddie” chant breaks out. Rey hits a dropkick, some right hands and then misses with a second dropkick. Mysterio goes to the top but Chavo hits him with a right hand and goes up for a superplex but the two men slug it out at the top and both men fall down to the floor below. Mysterio hits a dropkick on the outside but Chavo throws him into the barricade. Chavo screams at Rey and takes him up the entrance ramp where he looks to hit a powerbomb but Mysterio hangs on to the set and hits Guerrero with a hurricanrana for a one count. Chavo hits a gorybomb on to the barricade and then tries to throw Rey into another barricade but Mysterio reverses it.

Mysterio lays Chavo across a barrier and then legdrops Chavo but looks like he hurt himself more. Mysterio hits a flying head scissors and then tries for a bulldog but Chavo swings him into a barricade for a near fall. The two men are fighting within the crowd now and Chavo swings Mysterio into chairs. Chavo then battles Rey up the concrete arena stairs but Rey kicks Guerrero back down them. Rey hits a seated senton but Chavo takes Rey down with a clothesline. Chavo whips Rey into a barricade but Rey kicks him back. Mysterio then hits a modified 619 around some stairs. Rey climbs up the stairs and dives down with a cross body for a three count! Rey wins the match! I’m not sure how much I liked this. I’d prefer to see them go at it in the ring.

Rating: 5/10

Chris Benoit vs. William Regal

This is a first PPV meeting between these two men. Chris Benoit returns to Smackdown as the surprise opponent for William Regal. I got suckered right in, I thought it would be Vito! William Regal has a 1-0 record at No Mercy PPV’s, Benoit has a 3-1 record. Benoit gets a good pop. The two men lock up hard and Regal takes Benoit down with a headlock. Benoit gets out of it and takes Regal down momentarily with a wristlock. Benoit attempts an abdominal stretch but Regal blocks it. Regal hits a takedown and tries to pin down Benoits shoulders for a three but can’t. The two men chain wrestle around the ring, Benoit has a body scissors locked on and Regal eventually gets out of it and rubs his boot in Benoits face. Benoit hits a couple of big chops and Regal fires back with left hands. Benoit hits a German suplex and tries for a second but Regal blocks it. Benoit hits some headbutts and then a second German suplex. Benoit heads to the top and hits a flying headbutt to Regal who is bleeding from the head.

Regal falls out to the apron but manages to kick Benoit in the head. Regal then bounces Benoit off the apron. Already this year on PPV we’ve had Benoit vs. Finlay, Regal vs. Finlay and now Regal vs. Benoit. Back in the ring and Regal hits a kneedrop. Benoit tries to lock on the sharpshooter but Regal fights him off and hits a running knee to the face for a near fall. Regal applies an abdominal stretch but Benoit gets out of that. Regal then tries to lock on his Regal stretch but Benoit fights him off. Regal then applies a hold I’ve not seen before but it looks brutal. Benoit gets out of it but it’s still advantage Regal. Benoit manages to take Regal down and looks on the Crippler Crossface! Regal quickly taps and this one is all over! Chris Benoit wins the match in a classic wrestling match. I really enjoyed this one.

Rating: 8/10

King Booker and Sharmell run into Regal after his match and ask him if he spoke to Finlay. Regal says he didn’t get chance to speak to Finlay but he’ll try and find him now. Finlay then shows up. Finlay then tells King Booker that he came to fight and take the World Heavyweight Championship. Booker blames Regal and calls him pathetic and useless. Booker slaps Regal and Regal lays Booker out with a big right hand.

There’s a VT next for the fatal four way main event.

Batista reminds Bobby Lashley backstage that the name of this pay per view is “No Mercy”.

King Booker (c) vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Batista vs. Finlay – Fatal four way match for the World Heavyweight Championship

It’s a first time fatal four way match between these men. Booker has a 0-4 record at No Mercy events, Lashley has a 1-0 record whilst both Batista and Finlay make their No Mercy debuts. Batista and Lashley quickly dispose of Finlay as the bell rings and then double team King Booker. Finlay gets back into the mix and disposes of Bobby Lashley before going after Batista. Finlay takes Batista down and King Booker looks to go after Finlay but Finlay convinces him otherwise. Booker and Finlay then double team Bobby Lashley, sending him back out the ring before concentrating on Batista. Lashley gets back into it again and throws Finlay out of the ring before going after King Booker. Lashley hits a spinebuster in Booker for the first near fall of the match. Finlay drags Booker out of the ring and the two men then double team Lashley, ramming him into the apron.

Back in the ring and Booker hits a big side kick on Batista and Finlay lays into The Animal with stomps. Finlay then takes Booker down with a clothesline! Finlay throws Batista out of the ring and then throws Batista into the ring steps. Finlay hits Booker with a snapmare and then more boots. Finlay hits Lashley with a baseball slide and then goes back to laying into King Booker. Batista gets involved, breaking up a pinfall attempt but Finlay takes him down with an armbar. Lashley gets back in the ring but Finlay takes him down with a leglock. Finlay turns that into a half Boston crab but Booker breaks that up with a kick to Finlays face. Booker gets a near fall on Finlay, broken up by Batista. King Booker hits a big kick on Batista for a near fall. Booker and Batista slug it out and Batista hits a side slam for a near fall. Lashley clotheslines Booker out of the ring and then backdrops Batista out too. Finlay runs at Lashley with a chair but Lashley fights him off and takes Finlay down with an elbow and a clothesline.

Lashley military presses Finlay and then looks for a spear but the little bastard emerges from under the ring and low blows Lashley! Finlay then smashes Lashley with the shillalah and pins him but Booker breaks it up! Batista fires up and takes down Finlay and Booker with clotheslines. Batista hits a jackhammer on Booker and then clotheslines Finlay out of the ring. Batista and Bobby Lashley are left in the ring and stare each other down. Batista hits a spear for a near fall but Lashley gets back into it with a spinebuster. Blood is pouring from the head of Batista now. Lashley hits a couple of clotheslines on Batista, a belly to belly suplex and then throws him out of the ring. King Booker hits Lashley with a Book end and gets a near fall. Batista gets back in the ring and spinebusters all three opponents and then hits Finlay with a Batista bomb. Lashley then takes out Batista with a spear. King Booker rolls over and covers Finlay and gets the 3! King Booker retains his World Heavyweight Championship in a decent fatal four way match.

Rating: 7/10

And that was No Mercy 2006. 7 matches and overall it felt like a pretty good show. Matt Hardy and Gregory Helms kicked off the show and had a better match than their previous encounter at The Great American Bash. This feud has been quite steady, it hasn’t really elevated to a personal level which it probably should have. Hardy picked up the win which will probably put an end to the feud. Helms can then go back to the Cruiserweight division and Hardy can go back to jobbing to the likes of Mr Kennedy and M.V.P. Paul London and Brian Kendrick then retained their WWE Tag Team Championships against a less than convincing KC James and Idol Stevens. I’m definitely not sold on those guys. I like Kendrick and London but the Smackdown tag team division is really poor at the moment. There needs to be a new team to give them a challenge but they’ll probably put together two random Smackdown stars to challenge them next. The first two matches were really solid matches though, worth a watch.

Next up was Marty Garner against M.V.P. I mean, what was this? Was this supposed to be a joke? Put him over Tatanka or something, not this guy. This was terrible. Although it’s good to know he’s alive, there were rumours that Triple H had killed him with a botched pedigree. M.V.P has a star quality to him, he’d be a good fit for the United States Championship for sure. Mr Kennedy, the current United States Champion, beat The Undertaker in a non title match by disqualification. This was a very interesting result. I like Mr Kennedy so I’m enjoying his push. They obviously think there’s legs with this feud and I’m sure it’ll continue for a couple of months and probably end with a gimmick match. Casket or Hell In A Cell I’d expect. Again, a decent match and back to back PPV match for Kennedy in which he’s ended up bleeding all over the shop.

Rey Mysterio beat Chavo Guerrero in a match that could put an end to their rivalry. Chavo is getting a lot of screen time at the moment and he is a good hand but he’s a bit of a charisma vacuum. The match itself took place in the crowd for the most part and to be honest I didn’t enjoy it that much. They have put on better match in the past when just sticking to the ring. I think this feud has definitely elevated Chavo though and he could easily be a United States Champion in the near future. Following that was the surprise match between William Regal and the returning Chris Benoit. They definitely suckered me into thinking Regals opponent was going to be Vito. As it happened Benoit returned to a huge pop, and the two men put on a clinic. I really enjoyed this match, it was a great technical match much like Benoit had with Finlay a few months ago. I expect this to be a one off but I would love to see it again.

Then ion the main event King Booker retained his World Heavyweight Championship when he pinned Finlay. This was definitely the right result, King Booker has been fantastic. It also keeps Batista and Bobby Lashley as potential opponents for Booker and I think Batista will have another big match in the future with Booker. I don’t think Lashley is ready for the title yet though. Survivor Series is the next big stop for Smackdown and you can bet all four of these men will be involved. Overall a really good show, besides the MVP crap.

Overall Rating: 61.07/100 (ranked joint 60th out of 200)

Match Of The Night: Chris Benoit vs. William Regal
Worst Match Of The Night: Marty Garner vs. M.V.P.
Surprise Of The Night: Chris Benoit returns
Worst Booking Of The Night: Marty Garner
Superstar Of The Night: King Booker
No Mercy 2006 Will Be Remembered For: The last minute main event change