No Mercy 2005 No Mercy 2005 was the eighth annual No Mercy professional wrestling pay - per - view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) . The event , presented by Sony ' s PlayStation 2 , took place on October 9 , 2005 at the Toyota Center in Houston , Texas and featured wrestlers and other talent from WWE ' s SmackDown ! brand . Nine professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the event ' s card . Three of the four championships exclusive to the SmackDown ! brand were contested for ; one was lost while the other two were retained . The main event was a standard wrestling match , in which World Heavyweight Champion Batista defeated challenger Eddie Guerrero ( in the latter ' s last ever PPV before his death ) to retain his title . One of the featured preliminary matches was a 2 - on - 1 Handicap Casket match between The Ortons ( Randy and " Cowboy " Bob ) and The Undertaker . The Ortons won the match after placing Undertaker inside the casket and closing it . Another primary preliminary match was a standard match between John " Bradshaw " Layfield ( JBL ) and Rey Mysterio , which JBL won . The event received 219 , 000 pay - per - view buys , which was greater than the 193 , 000 buys the previous year ' s event received . The event was claimed to be " unmerciful " by Canadian Online Explorer ' s professional wrestling section , as they rated none of the matches higher than a five out of ten . When the event was released on DVD , it reached a peak position of fourth on " Billboard " ' s DVD sales chart for recreational sports . It remained on the chart for four consecutive weeks . Background . Nine professional wrestling matches were featured on the event ' s card , which were planned with predetermined outcomes by WWE ' s script writers . The buildup to these matches and scenarios that took place before , during and after the event were also planned by the script writers . The event featured wrestlers and other talent from WWE ' s SmackDown ! brand , a storyline expansion in which WWE assigned its employees . Wrestlers portrayed either a villainous or fan favorite gimmick , an on - screen character , for the entertainment of the audience . The main rivalry heading into No Mercy was between Batista and Eddie Guerrero over the World Heavyweight Championship . On the September 16 episode of " SmackDown ! " , Palmer Cannon , a miscellaneous on - screen authority figure of SmackDown ! , a portrayed match maker and rules enforcer , announced that Guerrero was the next challenger to Batista ' s World Heavyweight Championship . Guerrero , who had recently portrayed a manipulative character , came out and claimed he was now more about compassion than manipulation . Two weeks later , on the September 30 episode of " SmackDown ! " , Guerrero , as part of the scripted events , accidentally hit Batista with a folding chair while attempting to hit MNM tag team member Joey Mercury . The following week , Batista showed Guerrero the footage of him hitting Batista last week . Batista , as part of their storyline , then proclaimed that he would hurt Guerrero if he were to revert to his villainous character . The feud between The Undertaker and Randy Orton and " Cowboy " Bob Orton began at SummerSlam . At the event , Randy faced off against Undertaker . During the match , " Cowboy " Bob ( disguised as a fan ) came into the ring and interrupted the match . Afterwards , Randy pinned Undertaker after he jumped and pulled Undertaker ' s head down over his shoulders , a move dubbed the RKO , to win . After the match , Randy peeled off the latex mask of the fan and revealed him to be his father , " Cowboy " Bob . On the September 16 episode of " SmackDown ! " , Undertaker defeated Randy . During the match , " Cowboy " Bob drove a U - Haul truck down to the ring and unloaded a casket . As Undertaker went to put Randy inside the casket , he opened it and found a mannequin of himself inside . Despite this distraction , Undertaker pinned Randy after he drove Randy ' s head into the mat in an upside down position , a move called the Tombstone Piledriver . The following week , druids wheeled out a casket . Undertaker appeared on the TitonTron and urged The Ortons to look inside . The Ortons opened the casket and found mannequins of themselves inside . Undertaker then proclaimed that this would be their fate at No Mercy . At the previous SmackDown ! brand pay - per - view event , The Great American Bash , The Legion of Doom ( Road Warrior Animal and Heidenreich ) defeated MNM ( Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro ) to win the WWE Tag Team Championship . After both teams got involved in a storyline between Melina ( Melina Perez ) , who was also a member of MNM , and Christy Hemme , The Legion of Doom and Hemme versus MNM was announced for No Mercy . The storyline over the WWE United States Championship began when Booker T , Orlando Jordan , and Christian each explained why they thought they deserved a title match against the champion , Chris Benoit . Theodore Long , SmackDown ! ' s on - screen general manager / authority figure , then announced that Benoit could choose who he wanted to face for the title . After Jordan won a standard wrestling match between three wrestlers , also involving Booker and Christian , Benoit decided that he would face all three men in a match between the four at No Mercy . Aftermath . The rivalry between Batista and Eddie Guerrero ended after Guerrero unexpectedly died due to a heart failure on November 13 , 2005 . Their feud was planned to continue , as Guerrero would have gone back to his villainous character . The Undertaker would not be seen on - screen until Survivor Series after being burned inside a casket at the event . After being the sole survivor in his elimination match , Randy Orton celebrated his victory with his father , " Cowboy " Bob Orton , and wrestlers from the SmackDown ! brand . During the celebration , druids brought out a casket and set it up in an upright position . Lightning then struck the casket and set it on fire . Undertaker emerged from the flaming casket and attacked the SmackDown wrestlers . The Ortons , however , escaped the attack . This set up a Hell in a Cell match , a match that is contested in a roofed cage inside the ring , between Randy and Undertaker at Armageddon . Undertaker defeated Randy and ended their storyline that had lasted nearly one year . After successfully retaining the WWE United States Championship at the event , Chris Benoit started a rivalry with Booker T . Booker won a # 1 Contender ' s four - way match on the October 14 edition of SmackDown ! , which saw Sharmell begin a heel turn by helping Booker win . Booker defeated Benoit for the title on the following week after Sharmell delivered a low - blow to Benoit , cementing Sharmell as a heel . Booker made a villainous turn of his own on the October 28 edition of SmackDown ! ; admitting he knew about his wife ' s involvement all along . The following month , on the November 24 edition of SmackDown ! , a match between Benoit and Booker for the title ended in a no - contest after both men ' s shoulders were on the mat while pinning one another . Theodore Long then vacated the title and announced that the two would face off against one another in a " Best of Seven series " for the title , in which the winner would be the man who won four matches over the other first . Booker defeated Benoit in the first match at Survivor Series , and eventually won the vacant title after Randy Orton , Booker ' s replacement due to a legitimate injury to his ankle at a house show , defeated Benoit in the seventh and final match in January . Booker began his fourth reign as United States Champion .