brand divisions. The event took place on October 20, 2002, at the Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas. It was the first No Mercy held following the introduction of the brand extension, as well as the first No Mercy held under the WWE name after the promotion was renamed from World Wrestling Federation (WWF) to WWE in May. To date, it is the only WWE pay-per-view event ever held in the state of Arkansas
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as a United Kingdom-exclusive pay-per-view (PPV) in May 1999.[2] 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.[3] The 2002 event was the fifth event under the No Mercy name and was held on October 20 at the Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas.[4] It was also the first No Mercy held under the WWE name as the promotion was renamed from World Wrestling Federation (WWF) to WWE in May.[5] It was also the first No Mercy to be held after the introduction of the brand extension in March, in which the promotion divided its roster between the Raw and SmackDown! brands where wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform.[6] The 2002 event in turn featured wrestlers from both brands.[4]
The main rivalry from the SmackDown! brand was between
Hell in a Cell match.[9][unreliable source?] On the October 10 episode of SmackDown!, Lesnar and Heyman found an unorthodox but very effective way to distract The Undertaker leading up to their match. Heyman and Lesnar escorted a young woman to the arena, causing speculation to swirl about her identity. During the segment, Heyman tipped his hand as he explained that the woman – Tracy – would show just what kind of man The Undertaker was. As The Undertaker made his way to the ring, Tracy found herself in the ring staring face to face with him. She erupted into a fury and accused The Undertaker of lying to her and sleeping with her for three months. She stated that she had no idea that The Undertaker was married and his wife Sara
was pregnant and apologized to Sara, saying she hated that the news had to be broken that way. The Undertaker claimed that he had never even seen Tracy before, much less had an affair with her. But all that earned him was a slap to the face from her that ended the segment. Moments later, The Undertaker attempted to convince Sara over the phone that he was innocent until it became obvious that Sara was not buying his alibi. Sara also got a call from Lesnar as Lesnar told Sara in a mockingly insincere tone that he was concerned for her state of mind. Toward the end of the show, The Undertaker would vent his frustrations on Lesnar at the end of the evening as he assaulted him, using the cast on his broken hand as a weapon. On the October 17 episode of SmackDown!, The Undertaker admitted in an interview that he lied about not knowing Tracy and that he knew Tracy, but insisted that it was years before he and Sara even met. Tracy, however, begged to differ, and let McMahon know that she and The Undertaker had been together as recently as ten days earlier. Lesnar and Heyman, with their own axe to grind, demanded that McMahon prohibit The Undertaker from wearing his cast during their upcoming match. Intent on exacting vengeance upon Lesnar, The Undertaker attacked Lesnar with the cast, bloodying him in the process. Despite that, McMahon affirmed that The Undertaker would be permitted to wear the cast.
The main rivalry from the Raw brand was between the
Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match as The Hurricane had been attacked earlier that evening (by Triple H and Ric Flair) and was thus unable to compete. As Kane celebrated his title defense in the TLC match, Triple H and Flair came out with Triple H stating that he knew all about Katie Vick and accused Kane of killing her. On the October 14 episode of Raw, after Kane and Hurricane lost the World Tag Team Championship to Jericho and Christian, Kane addressed the crowd and admitted that he was somewhat responsible for Vick's death, however, he claimed that it was an accident. According to Kane, he was simply driving her home from a party because she had too much to drink. Triple H soon came out to interrupt. He stated that Kane's story was only partly true and that Kane apparently forgot to mention that he too had been drinking. In addition, Triple H mentioned that at Katie's autopsy, doctors found traces of Kane's semen, leaving Triple H to accuse Kane of necrophilia. Toward the end of the show, Kane attempted to gain revenge on Triple H as he got to the ring, but Triple H quickly escaped. Kane then attacked half of the Raw roster by Chokeslamming
them and then stared down at Triple H as they were set to square off in their title unification match at No Mercy.
Another predominant rivalry from the Raw brand was between Rob Van Dam and Ric Flair. At Unforgiven, Flair interfered in Van Dam's World Heavyweight Championship match against Triple H. During the match, Triple H tried to attack Van Dam with a
sledgehammer but Flair interfered in the match and snatched it from Triple H. Flair turned on Van Dam by hitting him with the sledgehammer and allowed Triple H to win the match.[10] As a result of the betrayal, Flair turned heel. On the September 23 episode of Raw, Triple H and Flair defeated Van Dam and Bubba Ray Dudley in a tag team match. After the match, Van Dam attacked Triple H and performed a Diving Legdrop on Triple H through the announce table.[12][unreliable source?] On the October 14 episode of Raw, Eric Bischoff announced that Van Dam would wrestle Flair in a match at No Mercy. Later that night, Triple H defeated Van Dam in a Canadian lumberjack strap match after Ric Flair nailed Van Dam from behind with the World Heavyweight title belt while the referee was distracted.[13][unreliable source?
]
The secondary rivalry from the SmackDown! brand heading into No Mercy was between the team of
Reverend D-Von and Ron Simmons defeated Billy and Chuck in the second match.[9] The other two matches of the quarterfinal round took place on the October 10 episode of SmackDown!, as Angle and Benoit defeated John Cena and Billy Kidman, and Edge and Mysterio defeated Brock Lesnar and Tajiri.[14][unreliable source?] On the October 17 episode of SmackDown!, the semifinal round took place, where Angle and Benoit defeated Los Guerreros, and Edge and Mysterio defeated D-Von and Simmons.[15][unreliable source?
] This set up the final round match pitting Angle and Benoit against Edge and Mysterio to crown the new champions at No Mercy.
The third rivalry from the Raw brand heading into the event was between the team of Chris Jericho and
Big Show in a Steel Cage match. After the match, Jericho attacked Booker T.[16] On the October 14 episode of Raw, Booker T retaliated by attacking Jericho before Jericho and Christian's World Tag Team Championship match against Kane and The Hurricane. However, Jericho and Christian managed to win the championship. After the match, Bischoff announced that Jericho and Christian would defend the titles against Booker T and Goldust at No Mercy.[13]
The third rivalry from the SmackDown! brand heading into the event was between
valet Nidia was involved in a backstage confrontation with Rey Mysterio and Noble was not there to support her. She then confronted Noble, enabling the security guard to ask what the problem was. Nidia responded by slapping Noble's water bottle out of Noble's hand onto the guard, prompting him to remove the two out of the arena for the night. On that evening, Noble was scheduled to team with Tajiri to take on Edge and Rey Mysterio in the quarterfinals to crown the first WWE Tag Team Champions but since Noble got removed from the arena, he was replaced by Brock Lesnar in the tag team match. Edge and Mysterio still managed to win the match and advance to the semifinals.[14] On the October 17 episode of SmackDown!, Noble's tag team partner Tajiri served as the special referee in a match between Noble and Nidia. Noble won the match. After the match, Tajiri tried to help Nidia to her feet but she slapped him on the face, enabling Noble to attack Tajiri from behind. As a result, Noble and Nidia kept their alliance.[15]
This led to a match between Noble and Tajiri for the Cruiserweight Championship at No Mercy.
The
Divas rivalry from the Raw brand heading into the event was between Trish Stratus and Victoria over the WWE Women's Championship. At Unforgiven, Stratus defeated Molly Holly to win the title.[17] On the September 23 episode of Raw, Stratus defeated Molly and Victoria in a Triple Threat match to retain the title.[12] On the September 30 episode of Raw, Victoria attacked Stratus from behind backstage before their title match. Stratus, however, defeated Victoria by disqualification to retain the title after Victoria nailed Stratus with a steel chair.[11] On the October 7 episode of Raw, Victoria attacked Stratus after Stratus retained the title against Stacy Keibler in a Bra and Panties match.[16]
This led to a title match between Stratus and Victoria at No Mercy.
The Divas rivalry from the SmackDown! brand heading into the event was between Torrie Wilson and Dawn Marie. On the September 26 episode of SmackDown!, Wilson defeated Nidia in a Bikini contest via crowd reaction. After the contest ended, Wilson was confronted by Dawn in a backstage segment.[8] On the October 3 episode of SmackDown!, Wilson introduced her father Al Wilson to Billy and Chuck. Dawn started getting affected towards Al shortly thereafter. Later that night, Torrie defeated Dawn in a Bikini contest. After the contest ended, Dawn was about to shake Torrie's hand but instead she slapped her down and tossed her out of the ring.[9] On the October 10 episode of SmackDown!, Torrie defeated Dawn in a Lingerie contest. Afterword, Dawn wanted to shake Torrie's hand this time but Torrie this time declined and walked away as if it looks like she wasn't going to fall for another trick to an assault that happened to her the previous week. Backstage, Dawn continued to attract Al towards herself, which led to a match between Torrie and Dawn at No Mercy.[14][15] On the October 17 episode of SmackDown!, Dawn and Matt Hardy defeated Torrie and Rikishi in a mixed tag team match. Moments later, Torrie started looking for her dad until she went to the Women's locker room and found him in a shower with Dawn.
kicking Jericho's head. Booker performed a missile dropkick on Jericho. Christian grabbed a title belt and attempted to hit Booker with it but Booker stopped the attempt. Jericho attempted a springboard dropkick, but the middle rope broke. However, Jericho delivered a one-handed bulldog on the title belt on Goldust and performed a Lionsault to retain the title.[19][18][20][21][unreliable source?
]
The second match of the event was between
Dawn Marie. The ring was being repaired during Dawn's entrance, as the middle rope broke down during the previous match. Torrie started the match by attacking Dawn with punches until Dawn left the ring. As Dawn returned to the ring, she started arguing with the referee. Torrie took advantage of the situation and performed a swinging neckbreaker on Dawn to win the match.[19][18][20][21]
superkick for a near-fall. Tajiri followed by applying a Tarantula on Noble and attempted a Buzzsaw Kick but missed the move. However, he slammed Noble's face into the turnbuckle and then performed a Buzzsaw Kick but before he could pin Noble, Noble's managerNidia climbed the apron and kissed the referee. Noble took advantage and delivered a GibsonDriver to Tajiri for a near-fall. Noble attempted to pin Tajiri with a victory roll. Nidia helped Noble in pinning Tajiri to retain the title. After the match, Tajiri delivered a Buzzsaw Kick to Noble.[19][18][20][21]
The fifth match of the event was the
sledgehammer and tried to attack Kane with it but Kane grabbed it from Flair and hit him with it. After knocking out Flair, Kane focused on Triple H and tried to hit him with it, but Triple H low blowed Kane and took the weapon. Triple H attempted to hit Kane with the sledgehammer but Kane avoided the move, delivered a chokeslam to Triple H and attempted to pin him, but the referee was still out. A new referee came in to make the count, but Flair pulled him out to prevent the pinfall. Flair then climbed the top rope to distract Kane but Kane performed a chokeslam on Flair. Triple H took advantage and performed a Pedigree on a Kane to retain the World Heavyweight Championship and unify Kane's Intercontinental Championship into the World Heavyweight Championship.[22][19][18][20][21]
The sixth match was a tag team match to determine the first-ever
bronco buster on Benoit. Edge performed a hurricanrana on Angle. Benoit attempted a diving headbutt on Edge but Edge avoided the move and Angle received it. Edge took advantage and pinned Angle for a near-fall. Mysterio entered the ring and kicked Angle in the face. Benoit applied a Crippler Crossface on Edge from behind but Edge knocked Benoit out of the ring and tossed Mysterio onto Benoit outside the ring. Angle attempted to apply an ankle lock on Edge, but Edge countered it and applied the ankle lock on Angle instead. Angle countered the hold and applied his own ankle lock on Edge, making him submit. As a result, Angle and Benoit became the first-ever WWE Tag Team Champions. The match was later named Match of the Year by Wrestling Observer Newsletter.[19][18][20][21]
The final match on the undercard was for the WWE Women's Championship in which Trish Stratus defended the title against Victoria. Stratus and Victoria started the match in the ring and they quickly fought to the outside. Trish clotheslined Victoria but Victoria fought back and slammed Stratus on the guardrail. Back in the ring, Victoria performed a Diving Legdrop on Stratus. In the end, Victoria made a pinfall attempt on Stratus but Stratus countered it and pinned Victoria with a roll-up to win the match and retain the title. After the match, Victoria assaulted Stratus until the referee stopped her.[19][18][20][21]
Main event match
The main event was a
mounted punches on The Undertaker but The Undertaker performed a Last Ride and attempted to pin Lesnar, but Lesnar put his hand on the rope, avoiding the pin. The Undertaker attempted a Tombstone Piledriver but Lesnar countered and performed an F-5 to win the match and retain the WWE Championship.[23][19][18][20][21]
Aftermath
On the October 24 episode of SmackDown!, the show's newest acquisition Big Show challenged Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at Survivor Series. Later that night, The Undertaker cut a promo and showed his respect for Lesnar on their Hell in a Cell match at No Mercy. However, the promo was interrupted by Big Show, who attacked The Undertaker and injured him by throwing him off the stage.[24][unreliable source?] Lesnar's managerPaul Heyman continuously advised Lesnar to get out of the title match against Big Show at Survivor Series because Heyman thought that Lesnar could not defeat Big Show, but Lesnar intended to wrestle Big Show.[25][unreliable source?][26][unreliable source?][27][unreliable source?] At Survivor Series, Big Show defeated Lesnar to win the WWE Championship, after Heyman betrayed Lesnar and helped Big Show win the title.[28]
