The 2007 No Mercy was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was the 10th No Mercy and took place on October 7, 2007, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois, held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brand divisions. This was the first No Mercy since 2002 to feature multiple brands after WWE discontinued brand-exclusive PPVs following WrestleMania 23 in April, also making it the first No Mercy to feature ECW, which was introduced as a third brand in May 2006.
Nine professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the event's supercard. The scheduled main event from the Raw brand was scheduled to be WWE Champion John Cena defending his title against challenger Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing match; however, on the October 1 episode of Raw, Cena legitimately tore his right pectoral muscle, causing the match and the title to be canceled and vacated, respectively. As a result, the main event turned into three matches as Triple H competed in all those three matches that night for the WWE Championship, where he first defeated the newly-crowned champion Randy Orton (Orton was awarded the title by Mr. McMahon in the beginning of the show), later defeated Umaga to retain the title, and then, on the last match of the card, he lost his title back to Orton in a Last Man Standing match. The predominant match from the SmackDown! brand had World Heavyweight Champion Batista defeating challenger The Great Khali in a Punjabi Prison match. The primary match from the ECW brand was ECW Champion CM Punk defeating challenger Big Daddy V by disqualification. Also on the undercard, Finlay and Rey Mysterio fought to a no contest.
The 2007 No Mercy event had an approximate attendance of 12,500 and received approximately 271,000 pay-per-view buys. This event helped WWE obtain a pay-per-view revenue of $19.9 million. When the event was released on DVD, it reached a peak position of nineteenth on Billboard'''s DVD Sales Chart.
Production Background
No Mercy was first held by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as a United Kingdom-exclusive professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event in May 1999. A second No Mercy was then held later that same year in October, but in the United States, which established No Mercy as the annual October PPV for the promotion. The 10th event was held on October 7, 2007, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois. While the previous four years's events featured wrestlers exclusively from the SmackDown! brand, the 2007 event featured wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brands as following WrestleMania 23 in April, brand-exclusive PPVs were discontinued. As a result, this was the first No Mercy since 2002 to feature Raw as well as the first to feature ECW, which was introduced as a third brand in May 2006.
Storylines The card consisted of eight matches which resulted from scripted storylines involving wrestlers from either Raw, SmackDown!, or ECW — the three brand divisions to which WWE assigned its employees.
The main storyline on the SmackDown! brand was between Batista and The Great Khali over the World Heavyweight Championship. Their rivalry began in July when Khali issued a challenge to the SmackDown roster, which Batista answered. After Khali won the World Heavyweight Championship, a match between Batista and Kane to determine his challenger at The Great American Bash resulted in a no-contest due to Khali interfering. As a result, general manager Theodore Long scheduled Khali to defend the championship against both Batista and Kane in a triple threat match at The Great American Bash. Khali retained the championship. Batista defeated Khali by disqualification at SummerSlam but, as per WWE rules, Khali retained the title. The following month at Unforgiven, Khali faced off against Batista and Rey Mysterio in another triple threat match, in which Batista pinned Khali to win the championship. The same week on SmackDown!, Khali demanded that his rematch for the World Heavyweight Championship at No Mercy would be a Punjabi Prison match.
Another rivalry was on the ECW brand between CM Punk and Big Daddy V over the ECW Championship. This rivalry began when ECW authority figure Armando Estrada scheduled an "Elimination Chase to No Mercy", involving Elijah Burke, Tommy Dreamer, Kevin Thorn, and Stevie Richards. Over a three-week period, Richards, Thorn, and Burke were eliminated, with Dreamer winning the number one contendership. Estrada, however, revealed that Big Daddy V was also a contender, and he quickly defeated Dreamer to earn the chance to fight Punk for the title.
The Women's rivalry on the Raw brand was between Candice Michelle and Beth Phoenix over the WWE Women's Championship. Shortly after returning to WWE as a villainess, Phoenix won a battle royal to become the #1 Contender for Candice's Women's Championship. Phoenix received her title opportunity at Unforgiven, but she was defeated by Candice. However, on the September 24 episode of Raw, Phoenix pinned Candice in a mixed tag team match, and as a result, she earned her another shot at the Women's Championship, which would take place at No Mercy.
Canceled match The main rivalry leading into the event on the Raw brand was between John Cena and Randy Orton over the WWE Championship. At WWE's August pay-per-view event SummerSlam, Cena successfully defended the championship against Orton, and the following night on Raw, Orton interfered in Cena's match with King Booker which Cena won by disqualification. After the match ended, Orton attacked Cena's real-life father, in storyline, by kicking him in the head. As a result of Orton's actions, the two met in a WWE Championship match at Unforgiven, in which Cena was disqualified for ignoring the referee's commands; as per WWE rules, a title can only change hands via pinfall or submission, Orton was not awarded the title. Following their match, Cena's father gained revenge on Orton by kicking him in the head the same way Orton had done to him earlier. Later in the night after the event went off the air, authority figure Jonathan Coachman made a rematch between the two at No Mercy in a Last Man Standing match. On the October 1 episode of Raw, Cena legitimately tore his right pectoral muscle during a match with Mr. Kennedy, though the injury was blamed on television on a post-match attack by Orton. Due to the severity of his injury, Cena was forced to vacate the title. Although Cena's match against Orton was canceled, World Wrestling Entertainment Chairman Vince McMahon stated that there would be "a new WWE Champion crowned at No Mercy".
Event +Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:English commentatorsJim Ross Jerry Lawler Michael Cole John "Bradshaw" Layfield Joey Styles Tazz Spanish commentatorsCarlos CabreraHugo SavinovichInterviewerTodd GrishamRing announcersLilian Garcia Tony Chimel RefereesScott Armstrong Jim Korderas Marty Elias Chad Patton Mickie Henson John Cone Mike PoseyMike Chioda Charles Robinson
Before the event began and aired live on pay-per-view, a dark match was contested between Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes. Holly defeated Rhodes via pinfall to win the match.
Preliminary matches
The pay-per-view opened with no intro graphics, and an in-ring segment featuring Raw General manager William Regal and WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, who awarded the WWE Championship to Randy Orton due to John Cena's injury, causing Cena to vacate the title. McMahon informed Orton that he would have to defend the title that night; Triple H then came to the ring and challenged Orton to a match for the title, which Orton rejected. McMahon, however, relented to Triple H's request and made the match, which became the opening contest of the event. The first match, therefore, pitted Orton defending his title against Triple H. During the match, Orton attempted an RKO, but the move was countered by Triple H into a Pedigree attempt, only for Orton to counter with a back body drop. The match ended shortly after when Orton placed Triple H in the ring turnbuckle and tried to tackle him; Triple H moved out of the way and rolled up his opponent for the pinfall. In result, Triple H became WWE Champion.
After that, Jeff Hardy, Brian Kendrick, and Paul London faced Mr. Kennedy, Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch in a six-man tag team match. In the early stages of the match, all six men wrestled inconclusively until Kennedy executed a second rope rolling fireman's carry slam, known as a Green Bay Plunge. Kennedy pinned London to win the match for his team.
In a backstage segment, Vince McMahon informed Triple H that as he had previously been booked for a match against Umaga, the match would still take place that night, with the added stipulation of being for the WWE Championship.
Next, CM Punk defended the ECW Championship against Big Daddy V, who was accompanied by Matt Striker. Soon after the match began, Punk knocked down Big Daddy V with a dropkick. Striker then jumped in the ring and attacked Punk, which caused a disqualification victory for Punk, by which he retained his championship. Following the disqualification, Big Daddy V attacked Punk.
After this, a pizza eating contest between Matt Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) occurred in the ring. Tazz was the host and Maria and Melina were the judges. In order to win the competition, one competitor had to eat more slices of pizza than the opponent in two minutes. Hardy finished two slices in the time limit and then proceeded to vomit on MVP, who didn't finish any, which won Hardy the competition.
Main event matches
In the next match, Triple H defended the WWE Championship against Umaga. Both men performed a variety of wrestling maneuvers, including a DDT from Triple H onto Umaga, and a Samoan drop from Umaga onto Triple H. Umaga attacked Triple H's ribs throughout the match, but Triple H gained an advantage when Umaga missed a hip attack. Umaga attempted to splash Triple H, who was standing at the turnbuckle, but Triple H moved and Umaga crashed into the ring post. Triple H then performed a Pedigree for the pinfall, thereby retaining his championship.
After that, Finlay faced Rey Mysterio. Both men performed many offensive maneuvers through the match, but Mysterio gained the advantage when he kicked Finlay as he hung from the ropes, followed by a Leg drop, sending Finlay to ringside area and striking his head. In result of an injury, Finlay was stretchered out of the ring, and Mysterio won the match via referee stoppage. However, as Finlay was being stretchered out, he sat up and attacked Mysterio.
While Triple H had his ribs iced, Vince McMahon stated that Randy Orton was invoking his rematch clause. McMahon scheduled a rematch for the same night and also decided that it would be a Last Man Standing match.
The next match, Candice Michelle defended the WWE Women's Championship against Beth Phoenix. The match ended when Phoenix slammed Michelle to the mat, before a cover for the pinfall, winning Phoenix the Women's Championship.