WWF No Mercy (UK) (May 1999)

From Manchester, England; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.

Opening Match: Tiger Ali Singh v Gillberg: Gillberg unloads right away, but quickly ends up getting press-slammed. He tries the spear, but Singh no-sells it, and hits an inverted cutter for the quick pin at 1:04. DUD

Six-Man Tag Team Match: The Ministry of Darkness v The Brood: Viscera starts with Gangrel, and Gangrel uses his speed advantage to stick and move, but Viscera no-sells him, and hits a bodyslam. Avalanche misses, however, but Gangrel stupidly tries a vertical suplex, and gets reversed for two. He dodges a legdrop, and hits a seated dropkick, then passes to Edge to help double-team the whale. Viscera uses his size to railroad Edge into the ropes, and tags out to Bradshaw. Powerbomb, but Christian saves, and Edge snaps off a dropkick. Drop-toehold/bulldog combo gets Christian two, and Faarooq tags in. He gets caught in an E&C double-team as well, but catches Edge with a spinebuster, then shoves him out to the floor for Bradshaw to post. Back in, the Ministry cut the ring in half on Edge, but he manages to get to Christian, and he comes in hot with dropkicks for everyone! Bodypress on Bradshaw, but he gets caught in a blockbuster, and the Ministry cut the ring in half on him now. Funny spot, as Faarooq tries to bash his head into the rail on the outside, but they're using a low fence style rail here (as opposed to the barricade style), and it screws up their timing - leaving Christian selling 'hitting' four feet of air. Even they realized how bad that looked, and quickly followed it up with a shot into the ring apron. Bradshaw tries a superplex to finish him, but Christian counters into a tornado DDT, and gets the tag to Gangrel. Six-way brawl breaks out in no time, and Mideon rushes in to DDT Gangrel on the floor, allowing Bradshaw a lariat for the pin at 13:47. Decent thanks to the Brood's fast paced stuff, and willingness to bump, but certainly nothing special. Basically the same as the Backlash six-man, only with Viscera and Mideon switching positions. *

Steve Blackman v Droz: Both guys play to the crowd for a bit, and Droz wins the initial lockup with a Greco-roman thumb to the eye. Jumping backelbow and a snap suplex get two, but a diving clothesline misses, and Blackman quickly capitalizes with a series of swift kicks, but Droz bails before he can follow-up. Steve baseball slides out after him, and hits a standing dropkick out there. Back in, Steve hits a backbreaker, but Droz blocks a rana with an inverted atomic drop, and he adds a clothesline. Stinger splash misses, however, and Blackman bodyslams him to set up a 2^nd rope elbowdrop - which also misses. Wow, a real back-and-forth seesaw matchup! Where's Vince to do commentary when you need him?! Droz schoolboys for two, but takes a Northern lights suplex for two. Droz with a powerslam for two, and he grounds him with a chinlock. They spill to the outside for Droz to hit an elbowdrop off of the apron, and back in, he bodyslams Steve to setup a 2^nd rope axehandle - blocked by Blackman with a sidekick. He immediately grabs Droz in an armbreaker on the mat, and that's good enough to finish at 7:50. Fun match; I always thought Blackman was underrated. * ¼

Kane v Mideon: Kane destroys him right away, and shoves him into the corner for a choke. Big legdrop, but a cross corner charge misses, and Mideon works his arm for a bit, but takes a short-clothesline as a counter to a wristlock. Mideon keeps after him with a chincrusher, but Kane starts no-selling, and hits a flying clothesline. Chokeslam draws the Ministry down, and there's a disqualification at 4:35. Would it have killed them to put fucking KANE over MIDEON clean on a UK-exclusive pay per view? Did fucking MIDEON really need that level of protection? Match was as good as you'd expect a Fake Diesel/PIG pay per view encounter to be. DUD

Tori v Nicole Bass: This is scheduled as Sable versus Tori, but Sable comes out to complain of a chest cold, and Bass (her bodyguard) replaces her - this marking Sable's last appearance in the promotion until 2003, by when she was significantly less attractive. Onto the match, as Tori charges, Bass no-sells, hits a chokeslam, and gets the pin with one foot across the chest at 0:27. I'm still not entirely convinced Bass is a woman, but I don't think anyone wanted to check. DUD

WWF European Title Match: Shane McMahon v X-Pac: X-Pac tosses Shane out of the ring right away, and when McMahon tries sneaking back in, X-Pac backdrops him out again. No one could ever say Shane wasn't willing to bump, that's for sure. He decides he's had enough, and bails, but disgruntled stooges Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco show up in the aisle to force him back. Inside, X-Pac hits his well executed sliding legdrop for two, as Chyna comes down, and beats up the stooges. The distraction allows Shane to clothesline his challenger out, and Chyna rams him into the ring post for good measure. Unfortunately, in Chyna's case, we did check if she was actually a woman, and none of us have slept since. In, Shane hits a vertical suplex to set up a 2^nd rope pointed elbowdrop for two. Backelbow, and McMahon slaps on a chinlock. X-Pac side suplexes his way out, and he cracks Shane with a spinheel kick. Chyna tries a distraction again, but it backfires, and Shane ends up taking lightning kicks in the corner out of the deal. Chyna saves him from the bronco buster with a chairshot, giving Shane a dramatic two count. Shane's bronco buster misses to allow the challenger the X-Factor, and cue Triple H. Chyna takes out the referee, and as X-Pac goes to deal with her, Triple H Pedigrees him for McMahon to pin at 8:27. Energetic, but it never really built into a proper match before the usual loads of overbooking began. ¾*

Mankind v Billy Gunn: Oh, right. The Billy Gunn main event singles push. Gunn tries a sneak attack on the floor before the bell, but Mankind is ready, and kicks his ass into the aisle before rolling him in for a ropechoke. Whip into the ropes, but it backfires as Gunn dropkicks his knee, then stomps him into the corner. Gunn works the knee in dull fashion, and Mankind rolls to the floor for a breather. Gunn follows, and whips Mankind over the rail, into the crowd. That short rail fucking their timing again, as Mankind overshot it. It looked awesome, but was significantly more dangerous. He manages to backdrop Gunn out there, and into the ring, Mankind hits a backelbow, but misses a legdrop - allowing Billy to go back to work on the knee. He wraps it around the post, but Mankind slides out, and suplexes him on the floor for his trouble. He rolls him in, but the knee prevents him from following quickly, and Gunn clips him. Figure four, though really, is anyone expecting MICK FOLEY to submit to a leglock – let alone a poorly executed one like this? Billy uses the ropes for leverage, but the crowd is not buying it, and Mankind finally reverses, so Billy grabs the ropes. He keeps after the knee, but Mankind knocks him into the corner with rights, and a cross corner whip sets up a running kneesmash. Double-arm DDT hits, and Mankind pulls out Socko to wake the crowd up - slapping on the Claw. Gunn uses a hiptoss to break, and follows with a piledriver onto a chair for two. Fameasser onto the chair, and that's enough for the pin at 11:27. I appreciated the psychology, but it didn't factor into the finish at all, and the match was really boring. ½*

Main Event: WWF Title No Holds Barred Triple Threat Match: Steve Austin v The Undertaker v Triple H: Pay per view debut of Triple H's short tights here, though he hasn't filled them out like he would in later years yet. Undertaker and HHH try attacking Austin in the aisle during the entrances, but Steve is ready, and he bodyslams Hunter on the ramp. He gets overwhelmed, however, and into the ring, Undertaker holds him on the mat in a headlock. Really? A resthold? In a No Holds Barred Triple Threat main event? Thankfully, it doesn't last long though, and they spill to the floor again. Undertaker keeps beating on Austin, with HHH hilariously trailing after them like a post puppy, and not adding anything. In fact, his only purpose here is to give Austin someone to make brief comebacks on, before 'Taker beats him down again. The brawl on the floor drags on for a long while, with only brief forays into the ring for no more than forty seconds at a time. So, basically the opposite of what a good match should be, where you spend the bulk inside, and make brief excursions to the outside. I get that they were making tons of money, and that you don't fuck with a good thing, but did we really need to see this exact formula every. single. month for years? But hey, I was a huge fan at the time, and I don't remember feeling as burned out as I do now on the style, so what do I know? It doesn't hold up so much now, though. Like, I'm watching this, but I'm not really bothering with play-by-play, because it's just all punch-kick. Finally onto the finish, as Undertaker goes for a Tombstone on Austin, but Steve counters into the Stunner, only for HHH to break up into the Pedigree, which Austin counters into a slingshot - firing Hunter right into a chokeslam from 'Taker for two. Awesome sequence. See, if the whole match were THAT, it would be awesome. Steve snaps off a Stunner on 'Taker for two, then one on HHH for two. Cue the Ministry for a beat down on Austin, but X-Pac, Kane, Mankind, and The Brood rush in for the save. Nice - at least all those cheap finishes earlier built to something. I appreciate that. With things clear, Hunter cracks Austin with a high knee, but Austin dodges a low blow from Chyna, and another Stunner finishes HHH at 18:20 - to a thunderous ovation. Well, let's see: I hate Triple Threat matches. I hate Attitude Era main events where they spend five minutes in the ring and the rest on the floor. And I hate 1999 Undertaker. I did like seeing Triple H playing Austin's bitch, however. Still, ½*

BUExperience: As noted elsewhere, with these UK-exclusive pay per views, it’s all about the match quality. In this case, it doesn’t deliver, and adds no historical significance.

DUD