No Mercy 2007

No Mercy 2007 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which took place on October 7, 2007 at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. It was the 10th annual No Mercy event and starred wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown! and ECW brands.
Nine professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the event's card, which featured a supercard, a scheduling of more than one main event. The first main event featured wrestlers from the Raw brand in a Last Man Standing Match, a match where the first person unable to respond to a ten count by the referee lost. The match was between WWE Champion Triple H and Randy Orton. Orton won the match and became the WWE Champion. The other main event featured wrestlers from the SmackDown! brand, in which defending World Heavyweight Champion Batista defeated challenger The Great Khali in a match in which a large wooden structure known as a Punjabi Prison surrounded the ring. Two featured bouts were scheduled on the undercard. In a standard wrestling match between wrestlers from the Raw brand, WWE Champion Triple H defeated Umaga to retain his title. The other was a standard match between wrestlers from the SmackDown! brand in which 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.
==Background==
Eight professional wrestling matches were featured on the event's card. Matches were planned with predetermined outcomes by WWE's creative staff and featured wrestlers playing characters for the entertainment of the audience. All wrestlers were from either Raw, SmackDown, or ECW—the three brand divisions to which WWE assigned its employees.
The main leading rivalry scripted 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 (PPV) event SummerSlam, Cena successfully defended the championship against Orton, and the following night on Raw, one of WWE's primary television programs, Orton interfered in Cena's match with King Booker and cost him the match. 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 championship match at WWE's September pay-per-view (PPV) event 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, which involves two competitors fighting until one can not stand up on his feet before the referee counts to ten. 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
The secondary rivalry heading into the event on the Raw brand was between Triple H and Umaga. On the September 3rd episode of Raw, Triple H fought both Umaga and Carlito in a handicap match which ended in a disqualification when Umaga and Carlito ignored the referee's orders. After the match, Carlito got a steel chair but Triple H took it and bashed both Carlito and Umaga. When his chair shots had no effect on Umaga, Triple H used his sledgehammer to assault Umaga with it bloodying and putting him out of action. At Unforgiven, Triple H defeated Carlito. In the next four weeks, Triple H continued to feud with Carlito but also feuded with Vince McMahon. On the October 1st episode of Raw, a match was made between Triple H and Umaga at No Mercy. That night, McMahon defeated Triple H by DQ with Carlito as the special guest referee. After the match, Umaga attacked Triple H but when Carlito knocked Triple H out of the ring, an angry Umaga chased Carlito out of the ring until Triple H grabbed his sledgehammer again and McMahon pulled Umaga out of the ring.
The main storyline on the SmackDown! brand was between Dave 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. Khali won the World Heavyweight Championship, he interfered in a match pitting Batista against Kane for the chance to fight Khali at The Great American Bash for the championship, which caused the match to end in a no-contest. As a result of Khali's actions, Long announced that at The Great American Bash, Khali would defend the championship against Batista and Kane in a Triple Threat match, in which Khali was victorious and retained the championship. At SummerSlam, Batista defeated Khali by disqualification, however, as per WWE rules, he did not win 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 announced that his rematch for the World Heavyweight Championship would take place at No Mercy in two giant wooden structures that make up what is known as a Punjabi Prison; the winner in the match is the first to climb out of the structures.
Another staged 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 announced 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 Divas rivalry on the Raw brand was between Candice Michelle and Beth Phoenix over the WWE Women's Championship. One month after returning to WWE as a heel, 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. The following day on Raw, Candice and Mickie James defeated Melina and Jillian Hall, while Phoenix stood at ringside glaring at Candice. The following week, Phoenix pinned Candice in a mixed tag team match, which earned her another shot at the Women's Championship. The rematch was announced for No Mercy.
==Event==
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===
After the dark match, the pay-per-view event began with 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, which had caused 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 of the night, therefore, featured WWE Champion Randy Orton defending his title against Triple H. During the match, Orton attempted to perform a jumping Cutter, called the RKO, but the move was countered by Triple H into an attempt to a modified facebuster, referred to as the Pedigree. This move was countered by Orton, who used a back body drop. The match ended shortly after when Orton placed Triple H in the ring turnbuckle and missed an attempt to tackle him, which allowed Triple H to perform a roll up pinning maneuver, which allowed a cover for a pinfall. As a result, Triple H won the WWE Championship.
The following bout was a six-man tag team match between Jeff Hardy, Brian Kendrick, and Paul London and Mr. Kennedy, Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. In the early stages of the match, both teams wrestled inconclusively until Kennedy put London on his shoulders and executed a second rope rolling fireman's carry slam, a move referred to as a Green Bay Plunge. Kennedy then covered London for a pinfall, winning the match for his team.
A backstage segment then occurred, where Vince McMahon announced that as Triple H 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.
The third contest was a standard match for the ECW Championship in which the champion, CM Punk defended against Big Daddy V, who was accompanied by Matt Striker. Soon after the match began, Punk dropkicked Big Daddy V with the soles of both feet, which knocked Big Daddy V down. 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 CM Punk before leaving the ring.
An in-ring segment then took place—a pizza eating contest between WWE Tag Team Champions Matt Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP). The competition was hosted by Tazz and judged by Maria and Melina. In order to win the competition, one competitor had to eat more slices of pizza than the opponent in a two-minute time limit. Hardy finished two slices in the time limit and then proceeded to vomit on MVP, who did not finish any, which won Hardy the competition.
===Main event matches===
The next match was the featured preliminary match from the Raw brand: a standard match for the WWE Championship, where Triple H defended the title against Umaga. The match saw both men perform a variety of wrestling maneuvers, including a DDT from Triple H onto Umaga, and a Fireman's carry 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 jump belly first on Triple H, but Triple H moved and Umaga was sent into the ring post. Triple H then performed a Pedigree on him, which allowed him to cover Umaga for a pinfall, thereby retaining his championship.
The fifth contest was the featured preliminary match from the SmackDown brand, which saw Finlay versus 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 jumping and landing his leg across Finlay's face, a move called a leg drop, sending Finlay to ringside area and striking his head. As a result of a staged injury, Finlay was placed on a stretcher and brought away from the ring, and Mysterio followed. Finlay, however, got up and attacked Mysterio, ending the match in a no contest.
A backstage segment took place, with Triple H seen having his ribs iced. Vince McMahon then made the announcement that Randy Orton was using his rematch clause to allow him a rematch for the WWE Championship that night. He also added that it would be a Last Man Standing match, a match in which the goal is to incapacitate the opponent long enough for a full 10-count.
The next bout was for the WWE Women's Championship, in which the champion, Candice Michelle, defended against Beth Phoenix. The match ended when Phoenix slammed Michelle to the mat, followed by a cover for the pinfall, winning Phoenix the Women's Championship.
The seventh match was the main event from the SmackDown brand, a Punjabi Prison match for the World Heavyweight Championship, in which the champion, Batista, defended his title against The Great Khali. In the match, two giant wooden cages surrounded the ring, and, in order to win, a competitor had to escape both structures. After both men prevented the other from escaping, Khali utilized a leather strap as a weapon. Batista later used the leather strap and attempted to climb over the first cage structure, but Khali stopped him and squeezed Batista's head with both hands, known as a Vise Grip. The Great Khali then called for a door to be opened but was stopped from going through when Batista struck him with a low blow. The match ended when Khali climbed over the first structure and began climbing the second. Batista then climbed the first structure, and as Khali climbed the outer cage, Batista jumped from the first cage to the second. Batista then climbed over the outer cage to the ground below and retained the championship.
The main event from the Raw brand was a Last Man Standing match for the WWE Championship, in which the champion, Triple H, defended his title against Randy Orton in his third match of the night. The two men fought extensively on the outside of the ring, both taking advantage of the stipulations regarding the Last Man Standing match, in which there are no countouts or disqualifications. At one point, the two men were positioned on top of one of the announcer's tables, where Orton attempted to execute an RKO on Triple H, who countered the move and sent Orton through another of the announcers' tables. Triple H followed this by striking Orton with the steel ring steps. The men returned to the ring, and Orton performed a DDT and an RKO on Triple H, both of the moves involved Triple H's head striking a steel chair. The competitors returned to the outside of the ring again, and Triple H struck Orton with a steel chair. They returned to the top of the announcer's table, and Triple H attempted to perform a Pedigree through the table on Orton. Orton countered this into an RKO onto the table. The referee began a count and reached ten before Triple H could rise; as a result Orton won the match and subsequently regained the WWE Championship.
==Aftermath==
The next night on Raw, during an appreciation ceremony held by Vince McMahon for Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels returned from a five-month hiatus and superkicked Orton in the face to end the show. At Survivor Series in November, Orton defeated Michaels in a match to retain his WWE Championship. That same month, on the November 16 edition of SmackDown!, Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) and Matt Hardy lost the WWE Tag Team Championship in a match against John Morrison and The Miz.
Umaga lost the WWE Intercontinental Championship to Jeff Hardy on the September 3 edition of Raw. Afterward, Umaga started a feud with Triple H, and they faced off in a Street Fight a month later at Cyber Sunday. At Cyber Sunday, CM Punk retained his title after defeating The Miz. The following month, at Survivor Series, Punk defeated Morrison and The Miz in a Triple Threat match to retain the ECW Championship.
Batista resumed his feud with The Undertaker, which led to a match against Batista at Cyber Sunday, with Steve Austin winning a fan poll to become the special guest referee. Batista won the match and retained the title. After Cyber Sunday, The Undertaker challenged Batista to a Hell in a Cell match at Survivor Series. Batista won the match following interference from Edge. As a result, Edge then became part of the rivalry, and the three men faced each other in a match at Armageddon. Edge won the match, and the championship, to end the feud.
Candice Michelle used her rematch clause for the Women's Championship on the October 22 edition of Raw in a two out of three falls match against Beth Phoenix. After Phoenix won the first pinfall, Candice failed to execute a move correctly from the top rope, causing her to fall on her neck, shoulder and face. As a result, Candice suffered a legitimate cracked clavicle, and Phoenix retained the title.
After suffering a torn right pectoral muscle during his match with Mr Kennedy the week before No Mercy and taking part in the post match attack by Randy Orton. John Cena was placed out of action for four months to a year so he could have time off for surgery the following day. Surgeons found that his pectoralis major muscle was torn completely from the bone, estimating at the time to require seven months to a year of rehabilitation. As a result, Cena was stripped of the WWE Championship by Mr McMahon on the October 2nd episode of ECW on Sci Fi. While Cena was absent, Randy Orton was awarded the WWE Championship at No Mercy and for the rest of the year he would engage in title defenses against Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho and Jeff Hardy. Cena made his return at Royal Rumble during the Royal Rumble match. Entering the match as the thirtieth entrant he immediately won by last eliminating Triple H and earned a WWE title shot at WrestleMania. Instead of waiting until WrestleMania, Cena challenged Orton at No Way Out in February. Cena won the match by disqualification but Orton retained the title.
===Reception===
The event had an approximate attendance of 12,500, the maximum allowed. The event resulted in 271,000 pay-per-view buys, higher than the previous year's event. The promotion's pay-per-view revenue was $19.9 million. Canadian Online Explorer's professional wrestling section rated the entire event 7.5 out of 10 stars. The rating was higher than the No Mercy event in 2004, which was rated a 6 out of 10 stars. The Last Man Standing main event match from the Raw brand was rated a 9 out of 10 stars. The SmackDown! brand's main event, a Punjabi Prison match for the World Heavyweight Championship, was rated a 6 out of 10 stars.
The event was released on DVD on November 6, 2007. The DVD reached a peak position of nineteenth on Billboard's DVD sales chart for recreational sports on January 19, 2008. The average customer rating for the DVD from Amazon.com was four out of five stars.
==Results==
;
;
*Dark Match: Hardcore Holly defeated Cody Rhodes (5:00)
*Triple H defeated Randy Orton (c) to win the WWE Championship (11:06)
*Mr. Kennedy, Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch defeated Jeff Hardy, Paul London & Brian Kendrick in a Six Man Tag Team Match (8:05)
*CM Punk (c) defeated Big Daddy V (w/ Matt Striker) by disqualification to retain the ECW Championship (1:37)
*Triple H (c) defeated Umaga to retain the WWE Championship (6:33)
*Finlay vs. Rey Mysterio ended in a No Contest (9:00)
*Beth Phoenix defeated Candice Michelle (c) to win the WWE Women's Championship (4:32)
*Batista (c) defeated The Great Khali (w/ Ranjin Singh) in a Punjabi Prison Match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (14:47)
*Randy Orton defeated Triple H (c) in a Last Man Standing Match to win the WWE Championship (20:25)
==Other on-screen talent==
;Commentators
*Jim Ross
*Jerry "The King" Lawler
*Michael Cole
*John "Bradshaw" Layfield
*Joey Styles
*Taz
;Interviewers
*Todd Grisham
;Ring announcer
*Lilian Garcia
*Tony Chimel
*Justin Roberts	
;Referees
*Marty Elias
*John Cone
*Scott Armstrong
*Mike Posey
*Jimmy Korderas
*Charles Robinson
*Mike Chioda
==See also==
*List of WWE pay-per-view events
*WWE Event History
*No Mercy
==DVD release==
* No Mercy 2007 on DVD
==External links==
* No Mercy 2007 Official Website
* No Mercy 2007 at CAGEMATCH.net
* No Mercy 2007 at Online World of Wrestling
* No Mercy 2007 on WWE Network
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events
Category:No Mercy
Category:2007 pay-per-view events
Category:Events with Punjabi Prison matches
Category:Events with Last Man Standing matches