[narrator] After a long hard day,
Susie relaxes with her favorite magazine
while Jim unwinds in his comfy slippers and a nice pipe.
There's little Billy reading a book. [sighs]
Look at them, lost in their perfect little world.
Susie has no cares,
Jim has no worries,
we have No Mercy.
["All Nightmare Long" playing]
[Triple H] One more shot at the brass ring.
[Ross] The odds may be too great.
Rey Mysterio will unmask if he loses.
The Undertaker against the world's most dangerous right hand.
[Chris] I'm going to finish you off forever.
♪ 'Cause we hunt you down Without mercy ♪
[Shawn] I'm going to have no regrets about what happens to you.
[Big Show] I crushed The Undertaker's spirit.
[Jeff] I'm gonna be reaching for your WWE Championship.
[Michael] Rey Mysterio must unmask if he loses to Kane.
[music fades]
[narrator] Jim, Susie, Billy,
welcome to No Mercy.
["All Nightmare Long" playing]
[song ends abruptly]
[song resumes]
[narrator] And now, WWE presents No Mercy.
[explosions]
♪ 'Cause we hunt you down Without mercy ♪
[crowd cheering]
♪ Feel us breathe upon your face ♪
♪ Feel us shift, every move we trace ♪
[Todd] We are live at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon,
where tonight there will be four championship matches
from all three WWE brands.
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to what will undoubtedly be
an unforgettable evening.
This is No Mercy.
[crowd cheering]
-[song fades] -["Some Bodies Gonna Get It" playing]
-♪ Whoa, hey ♪ -♪ Step up ready? ♪
♪ Whoa hey, whoa hey ♪
-♪ Whoa, hey ♪ -♪ Yessir! ♪
♪ Somebody gon' get They ass kicked ♪
♪ Somebody gon' get their wig split… ♪
[Todd] And our first match tonight is the ECW main event.
There is your challenger.
He is The World's Strongest Man, Mark Henry.
Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Todd Grisham,
and filling in tonight for Matt Striker,
WWE Hall of Famer, Jerry "The King" Lawler.
And Jerry, it's very rare that the champion
is such a big underdog like Matt Hardy is tonight.
[Jerry] Well, Todd, you just gotta look at this man that is--
and I--and I'd say man,
Mark Henry entering the ring,
anyone who steps in the ring against The World's Strongest Man
is gonna be an underdog, simple as that.
[Todd] Well, Mark Henry weighing nearly 400 pounds
and it is solid muscle, I can assure you of that.
Mark Henry not lacking at all in the confidence department either.
-♪ Woooah yeah! ♪ -[crowd cheering]
["Live For The Moment" playing]
♪ I can slap a tornado ♪
[Todd] There is the champion, Matt Hardy.
A huge fan favorite tonight, but like we said,
the underdog make no bones about it.
Matt Hardy a large weight disadvantage, strength disadvantage,
but what Matt Hardy does have the edge in
is his heart, his desire, and his will to win.
[Jerry] Well, you're right.
Todd, you said looking at Mark Henry, he looks like a very confident man,
but tonight, Matt Hardy has to be confident as well.
He has to believe in himself.
He has to believe that he can beat that behemoth, Mark Henry.
♪ I can dry up a sea, yeah ♪
♪ When I live for the moment ♪
[bell ringing]
The following contest is scheduled for one fall
and it is for the ECW Championship.
[crowd cheering]
Introducing first the challenger from Silsbee, Texas,
weighing in at 392 pounds,
"The World's Strongest Man",
Mark Henry.
[crowd booing]
[Todd] Wow.
And from Cameron, North Carolina,
weighing in at 236 pounds,
he is the ECW champion,
Matt Hardy.
[crowd cheering]
[Todd] Can you imagine being in Matt Hardy's shoes
staring across the ring,
knowing you have to somehow, someway
beat someone the size of Mark Henry to retain your title?
[crowd chanting] Hardy! Hardy!
[Jerry] Well, you know, I can tell you from experience,
I've been in the ring with Mark Henry.
As a matter of fact, if my memory serves me well,
remember, I get hit on the head a lot,
-but I think I was in… -[bell ringing]
[Jerry] …Mark Henry's first match when he came here to the WWE
and I've never experienced anything like it.
I mean, I have never been in the ring with anybody with that
kind of physicality and that strength.
[Todd] And probably still feeling the effects of that match.
[Jerry laughs] Years later.
[Todd] We've seen signs of strength from Matt Hardy or Mark Henry
rather recently bending a frying pan in half,
not many people on the planet can do that.
[Jerry laughs]
[Todd] Also, Mark Henry slammed nails bare-handed into two-by-fours.
[crowd cheering]
-[Jerry] Oh. -[Todd] And those bowling ball
size shoulders laying waste to Matt Hardy
-here in the early going. -[Atlas] Get up, Matt!
[Jerry] Well, Matt may have to go back to the drawing board
because that strategy is not gonna work.
It's like running into a brick wall.
[Todd] Well, what would your strategy be if you're Matt Hardy?
[Jerry] I'll be honest with you.
Sometimes in a match-- when you're in there with Mark Henry,
you gotta to think with your legs.
You gotta run some. I mean, you know, it's the old saying,
sometimes you live to fight another day
and you have to stay away from Mark Henry.
Hopefully, you know, maybe he'll tire down,
maybe he'll wear down a little a bit as the match goes on…
[crowd chanting] Hardy! Hardy!
…but I don't think you can try to be overly aggressive against a guy like Mark.
[Todd] Perhaps the old Muhammad Ali, "Float like a butterfly,
-sting like a bee." -[Jerry] Yeah.
-And then run… [chuckles] …again. -[indistinct]
[Todd] Well, right now, it's all Mark Henry
as our referee in charge,
Mike Posey, trying to, uh, discipline Henry,
but good luck with that
because Matt Hardy targeting that left leg.
[Jerry] Well, I-- did I just say you have to think with your legs?
Maybe you have to think about Mark Henry's legs as well. Wow.
-[crowd groaning, cheering] -[Todd] What a clothesline
from the man that Flex magazine recently declared
"the second strongest man to ever walk the planet earth."
[crowd cheering]
[Jerry] And that clothesline to Mark Henry is so effortless.
It's like, you know, it's like nothing in his repertoire,
but it's so devastating.
[Todd] When Matt Hardy became ECW champion back at Unforgiven
winning that Championship Scramble,
but as Mark Henry will tell you,
Hardy never pinned The World's Strongest Man.
[Jerry] Oh, believe me, Mark Henry has told me that many times.
[Todd] And Tony Atlas reinforcing it.
Earlier today, he came out and spoke to me,
said, "Mark Henry has not been pinned by Matt Hardy."
[Jerry] Oh, look-- look at this.
[Todd] Hardy again going downstairs.
[groans]
[Jerry] Well, looks as if possibly and I-- I say still possibly…
-[Todd] Oh. -[Jerry] Oh, I may have spoke too soon.
I was gonna say that maybe Matt Hardy has found a vulnerable point.
[Todd] Well, again, Hardy walking right into that clothesline.
Come on!
[Jerry] Well, it's so distracting as well, when you're in there,
you're trying to concentrate on what you're gonna do to this…
[Todd] Woah!
[Jerry] …this World's Strongest Man.
You got Tony Atlas out there screaming at the top of his lungs.
[crowd cheering]
[Jerry] Hey, look, look, there's the…
[Todd] Whoa!
Man, Hardy has found his target
and it's that left leg and relentlessly,
-Matt Hardy continues to fire away. -[screaming]
[Jerry] But that last move was pretty effective.
I mean Matt drove his-- the point of his knee
right into the side of the thigh of Mark Henry.
Mark's gonna have trouble staying afoot now.
Five! Come on, man.
-[grunts] -[Todd] Oh, boy.
Henry just throwing Matt Hardy down as if he were nothing.
[Jerry] I said Matt's gonna have to be a little confident,
but it's hard to get confident or feel confident
because at any given time-- look at-- look at what Mark Henry can do,
just swat you away like an insect.
[Todd] Mark Henry so methodical, so deliberate,
but it seems that in the early going here,
Matt Hardy has taken Henry out of his game plan a little bit.
[Jerry] Well, I mean just look, look into your screen right now,
that's something you don't see very often.
-Mark Henry on the mat. -[Atlas] Get up. Come on.
[Todd] Henry visibly limping at this point,
but still able to get that right boot up and level Matt Hardy.
[Atlas] Shake it off!
[Jerry] And that's what's-- you know, that's what's so devastating
about Mark Henry, what with the aggressive…
-[Todd] We have a cover here. -One, two--
The shoulders are down and Hardy kicking out and--
[Jerry] Watch this. Watch once again the boot right to the face.
That's what I was gonna say about Mark Henry is so--
it's deceptive in the-- in the sense,
when you see someone this big, this strong,
yet he's as agile as a cat at times.
[Todd] Very flexible, got that boot up six feet in the air.
[Jerry] He's gonna have trouble climbing up those ropes looks like
-and hopefully… -[Todd] Look out. Oh!
[Jerry] Oh.
Man, that could crush your sternum and break all your ribs.
[Todd] What Tony Atlas told me that Mark Henry's training regimen
was specifically targeted to peak for tonight's match.
-And so far… -[Jerry] Wow!
[Todd] …Mark Henry's cardio training has paid off.
He looks very fit outside of that left knee now causing problems.
[crowd chatter]
[Todd] Look at those biceps.
-[crowd chanting] Hardy! Hardy! Hardy! -[grunts]
[grunts]
-[Jerry] Oh, man. -[Todd] Just--
I mean, just to look at this, it's almost a--
it's almost like a hopeless situation for Matt.
-[crowd booing] -No.
[Todd] And Mark Henry has called Matt Hardy's title reign a fluke
and has vowed to win tonight and return the championship
to where he feels it rightly belongs,
around his massive waist.
But easier said than done when you're in the ring
-with the man who never does. -[crowd member whistling]
[Jerry] Well…
[Todd] Oh. Oh.
[Jerry] We know Matt Hardy's resourceful.
He's gonna have to be resilient tonight as well.
[Todd] No one gives a bear hug quite like Mark Henry.
[Jerry] Except maybe possibly a real bear.
[Todd chuckles]
-[crowd cheering] -[groans]
[Todd] Listen to these WWE fans responding.
[crowd cheering]
They're in the champion's corner, that's for sure.
-[Jerry] Oh, look at this. -[crowd cheering]
[Todd] Hardy.
[Jerry] Matt's reversing but I don't think Matt's got the strength.
[screams]
-[Jerry] Oh! -[Todd] Oh, oh!
[crowd cheering]
Matt Hardy escapes with his life.
[Jerry] He would have been squashed like a bug.
-[Atlas] Come on, Mark. -[grunts]
[Todd] And Hardy now coming back with some rights and lefts of his own.
[Atlas] No.
[Jerry] Once again, that strength of Mark Henry--
[Todd] Oh!
[crowd cheering]
[Jerry] And now maybe Mark Henry's got a little over confident,
walked right into the big boot.
Now, Matt is on the offensive, another elbow.
[Todd] From the second rope. Again, Matt Hardy using a--
-[Jerry squeals] Hey! -[Todd] Was that a Side Effect?
It was a 400-pound Side Effect.
The champion nearly got the win.
[Jerry] Oh, man, I thought Matt Hardy had him.
[crowd cheering]
[Todd] Are you surprised by what we're seeing here
from the champion, King?
[Jerry] Honestly? Yes, I am.
[Todd] Oh, and just like that, Mark Henry levels it.
[Atlas] Shake it off, Mark.
[Todd] But look at the damage that has been done to that left knee.
Mark Henry has that look of frustration on his face.
Oh, the splash.
[Jerry] Well, that did it. Oh, wait a minute.
[Todd] Yeah, unable to cover now.
[Atlas] Come on, Mark.
[Jerry] Henry came down with, well, at least half his weight on that leg.
[Todd] Here we go. One, two--
Was it a-- that was a two. So close.
[Jerry] Matt not able to kick out, but just able to get his left shoulder
inches off that mat.
[Todd] And had that knee not bothered Mark Henry
and if he was able to make that cover a little sooner,
we might have a new champion.
[crowd chanting] Hardy! Hardy! Hardy!
[Jerry] Oh, look at the strength, just catching Matt mid-air,
but look at Matt-- oh, hey! Woo-hoo!
[Todd] Here we go, ladies and gentlemen,
-it was the Twist of Fate. -[crowd] One, two, three--
-And Matt Hardy has done it. -[bell ringing]
["Live For The Moment" playing]
[announcer] Here is your winner
and still the ECW champion,
Matt Hardy.
[Jerry] Absolutely amazing. Wow!
♪ I can dry up a sea ♪
[Todd] Matt Hardy felt he had to win tonight
to validate his ECW Championship
and win, Matt Hardy did.
[Jerry] I mean, there's absolutely no way to underscore
how big a victory this is for Matt Hardy.
Maybe the biggest of his life.
[Todd] Absolutely.
Hardy retains his ECW Title
with an emphatic Twist of Fate
against "The World's Strongest Man", Mark Henry.
[Jerry] This is certainly not the way Mark Henry thought his night would end.
Let's check it out one more time.
-Mark Henry was in complete control but-- -[Todd] Oh!
[Jerry] That could have ended the match,
but, like you said, he came down and landed on that knee
and then pushed Matt off.
I thought it was over here.
And then the Twist of Fate.
[crowd cheering]
[crowd] One, two, three.
[bell ringing]
[Todd] So, No Mercy gets off to a rousing start for Matt Hardy
and his legions of fans all around the world.
And there can be no doubt in anyone's mind including Mark Henry
that Matt Hardy is the true and deserving ECW champion.
I'll tell you what, I'll tell you what, J.R.,
right now, congratulations to Matt Hardy.
By hook or crook, the man walks out retaining his championship.
An awesome game plan was set going into Matt Hardy would wrestle
his match by Mark Henry's.
Congratulations to Matt Hardy.
And speaking of Hardys, how will Matt's brother, Jeff, do tonight
as he challenges the incomparable Game for the WWE Championship.
And that is the nature of our WWE mobile text question.
"Who, ladies and gentlemen, are you pulling for
-in tonight's WWE Championship match?" -["All Nightmare Long" playing]
♪ Hunt you down All nightmare long ♪
♪ Feel us breathe upon your face ♪
♪ Feel us shift… ♪
[Tazz] It's gonna be very interesting, J.R., to see how our fans vote here.
♪ Hunt you down All nightmare long, yeah ♪
Ladies and gentlemen, joining me at this time,
current WWE Champion…
and challenger.
[crowd cheering]
Now, Jeff, your brother, Matt,
just successfully retained his championship.
Are you ready to have your own championship moment tonight?
You see, the only thing that Jeff might be winning tonight
is possibly he could win this mobile text messaging
for who your favorite is for tonight.
See, I've just voted myself and I want you to know, Jeff,
in our match, I'm rooting for you.
[crowd laughing]
You know what, that's killer, man, but I wouldn't worry about texting,
I would worry about the challenge
that's standing right in front of your face.
[crowd cheering]
Don't get yourself all worked up, Jeff.
Listen, I don't mean any disrespect.
You know, I'm a big fan of yours and I'm being serious here.
You got all the talent in the world,
you got every God-given gift there is to have.
I just wanna see you put it all together.
I wanna see you bring it all together on one night
and be everything that you can be,
and I'm not doing that, Jeff, because I'm some good Samaritan.
I'm doing that because when I beat you,
I wanna know I just didn't beat Jeff Hardy,
I beat the absolute best that you have.
[crowd cheering]
You know what, I appreciate that. I truly do.
And you can take credit for my performance tonight,
but you know what, I'll take pride in taking your title.
[crowd cheering]
["Glamazon" playing]
[bell ringing]
[announcer] The following contest is scheduled for one fall
and it is for the WWE Women's Championship.
Introducing first from Buffalo, New York,
she is the WWE Women's Champion, Beth Phoenix, "The Glamazon."
[Michael] Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to our first Raw matchup of the evening,
Beth Phoenix to defend the Women's Championship.
You see Santino Marella accompanied Beth to ringside,
must have convinced Beth to let him come out here tonight,
because remember what happened on Monday,
Beth Phoenix told Santino, King, I've to get back on a winning streak
and whenever you're at ringside with me, there's too many miscues.
[Jerry] How did Santino talk his way out here to ringside
with Beth Phoenix tonight? I don't understand it.
[Michael] Well, part of Glamarella, of course.
Santino likes to call them the hottest couple in the WWE.
[Jerry] A version of Barbie and Ken.
["What Love Is" playing]
♪ Let me show you How to move your body ♪
[announcer] Introducing the challenger,
from Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
Candice Michelle.
[Jerry] Now, wait a minute, Michael.
You say Glamarella is the hottest couple?
They may be the hottest couple,
but, man, Candice Michelle has gotta be the hottest diva.
[Michael] Well, I didn't say that Santino did.
But I do agree with you on the Candice point.
Number one contender for the Women's Championship,
-Candice Michelle, big night for her. -[Jerry] Oh, wait, wait, wait.
Let me enjoy this. Whoa!
[Michael] Candice has worked so hard to get back into the ring
following a shoulder injury caused by Beth Phoenix some months ago.
That cost Candice much of 2008
and what a way for Candice to-- well, repay Beth tonight
by taking the Women's title.
I think Santino just told you not to steal his Intercontinental Championship.
[Jerry] Oh, that, oh.
I thought that was the Women's title, it looked like.
[Michael] Well, remember Beth Phoenix and Santino won their respective titles
back at SummerSlam in the same matchup.
-The first ever Winner Takes All match. -[song fades]
Beth winning the Women's Championship and Santino the Intercontinental title.
[crowd chatter]
[bell ringing]
[Michael] Candice Michelle has worked so hard to get back to this point.
And she's not gonna be bullied around by Beth.
[Jerry] What's Beth Phoenix think she's gonna do?
[Michael] And Candice quickly first cover the matchup,
hooks the leg, and a kick out. You're not gonna…
[Jerry] Candice is wasting no time getting physical here.
[Michael] And she looks-- trying to put this match away early,
-not let Beth get the physical advantage. -[Jerry] Look at this move.
-One-- -Look, look, look.
[Michael] Oh, kick out by Beth at one.
WWE Women's Championship is on the line.
Candice with another cover and another near fall for Candice Michelle.
[Jerry] Santino's in shock. Look at this.
-He don't know what's going on. -[Michael] Oh, enziguri.
[Jerry] I don't think Beth Phoenix knows what's hitting her yet.
[Michael] Candice with a great game plan, King, in the beginning here.
[Beth groans, grunts]
[Jerry] Man, don't you just love aggressive women?
[Michael] Well, Candice has to stay on the attack
to have a chance in this matchup.
[Jerry] Uh-oh, here's Beth Phoenix showing her strength now.
[crowd cheering]
[Michael] Oh, there's the power of the Glamazon.
It was back at No Mercy last year, Beth Phoenix won the Women's Championship
-for her first time. -[screams]
[Jerry] Santino was actually sweating here, he's wiping his brow.
[Michael] And a direct kick from Beth Phoenix
into the repaired shoulder of Candice Michelle.
That was the one Beth injured back in December.
-[Jerry] Oh. -[Michael] Candice still fighting back.
[Jerry] It's the nose of Beth Phoenix that Candice injured not long ago.
Wait a minute, watch out here.
[Michael] Oh, and the injured shoulder yet again.
Speaking of good game plans.
[crowd booing]
[Michael] Again, King, Beth trying to re-establish herself
as the dominant diva.
Does she have to Snapmare, goes into the cover
and a kick out by Candice.
Big victory in a Tag Team matchup that Candice was involved
in Monday night on Raw.
Beth continuing to the target the injured shoulder
-of Candice Michelle. -[screams]
She's gonna give up any second.
-[Jerry] Santino was saying that… -Oh!
-…Candice is gonna give up any second. -That's gotta kill!
[Michael] I wish Beth would've left him back in the locker room.
-[Jerry] Yeah. -[crowd chanting] Candice! Candice!
[Santino] Oh, [indistinct] …huh?
[Jerry] You know what, when you watch this…
Let's go.
…maybe Candice should give up rather than risk more damage to that shoulder.
[Michael] Well, it's about the Women's Championship.
I asked Candice earlier today why she continues to come back,
to battle back, to work so hard,
she said because she loves it. Plain and simple.
Come on, none of that, come on. Loosen that hold.
-Right on target. -Come on.
[Michael] Beth, look at the look on her face.
You're doing a great job.
-It's the power of the Glamazon. -[screams]
And Candice…
-screaming in agony… -[Jerry] Hey, hey, hey.
[Michael] …and a counter into the cover and a kick out.
-Tried to surprise Beth there. -[groans]
[Jerry] Oh, man.
Nice shot. Oh, look at those forearms.
-[Michael] Oh, Candice. -[Jerry] Whoa.
[Michael] Great counter to the jaw of Beth Phoenix.
And Candice trying to build momentum.
[crowd cheering]
[Jerry] I'm glad Candice didn't give up earlier.
[Candice] Come on!
[Jerry] Come on, Candice.
[Michael] The WWE Universe behind Candice…
-[Jerry] Yeah! -…with a spinning heel kick to the jaw.
Here's the cover. Will we crown a new women's champion--
-and a kick out by Beth at two. -[crowd booing]
Candice stunning Beth Phoenix for just a moment.
-[Candice screaming] -[Jerry] Oh, no, no, watch it. Oh.
[Michael] Oh, face first.
Candice went for the Russian leg sweep and Beth countered.
[crowd chatter]
-[Michael] What is Beth gonna… -[crowd booing]
[Jerry] Well, there's no telling, but it's not gonna be good.
She's got evil intentions.
[Michael] King, I'll tell you, I cannot recall
the last time Beth Phoenix has gone to the top rope.
-[Jerry] But Can-- Oh. -[Michael] Perhaps that's the reason why.
[Jerry] That may be the last time Beth Phoenix goes to the top rope.
[Michael] And this could be the opening that Candice Michelle needs.
-[Candice yelling] -Santino pleading with Beth.
-[Jerry] Ooh. -[Michael] Oh.
[Jerry] Drop kick to the back of her head.
[Michael] Candice trying to pull the champion
-toward the middle of the ring. -One, two--
[Jerry] And there's the-- hey, look, look. Come on, Santino.
-[crowd booing] -[Jerry] Oh, oh.
[Michael] Candice may have been closing in on a victory.
[Jerry] And Santino not only-- look at this.
[Michael] Well, paid for it.
[Jerry] Santino not only pulled Beth's…
-[Michael] Oh. -[Jerry] …foot under the top rope,
he pulled her completely out of the ring,
-slamming on the floor. -[referee] Two!
Three!
[Michael] And inadvertently Santino's distraction…
[referee] Four!
…may have cost Candice Michelle.
[Jerry] Well, 'cause it certainly made
-Beth Phoenix mad. -What were you thinking?
[Michael] Look, Santino-- hey, wait a minute,
-Candice could steal one here. -One, two--
Oh, almost another miscue for Glamarella.
And Santino's arm got caught up in the leg of Beth Phoenix
-and Candice almost took advantage. -[screams]
[crowd cheering]
[Michael] Glamarella may have been over.
[Jerry] Santino's having trouble breathing.
-[Michael] Oh, the power. -[Jerry] Oh, no. Oh.
[crowd] One, two, three--
[Michael] And it's lights out for Candice Michelle.
-[bell ringing] -Beth Phoenix retains the Women's Title.
Yes.
[announcer] Here is your winner and still the WWE Women's Champion,
Beth Phoenix, the Glamazon.
[Jerry] Well, Beth Phoenix can thank her lucky stars
that Santino, he almost cost her the title.
[Michael] Well, it's miscues like that,
Santino was asked to stay in the back in the first place.
[Jerry] Well, no, I think he's actually taking credit for the win.
Let's check out this involvement of Santino.
I think he just tried to pull Beth's foot under the rope,
but he pulled her completely out.
[crowd booing]
[Jerry] And then Candice, oh, with a dropkick right to Santino.
[Michael] With that slight distraction cost Candice big.
[Jerry] And this devastating move.
-[Michael] The power of the Glamazon. -[Jerry] Man.
-[crowd] One, two, three-- -[Michael] I think it's fair to say, King,
that Beth Phoenix is well on her way to re-establishing herself
as the dominant diva in World Wrestling Entertainment.
[Jerry] Look at Santino, so proud-- oh, come on.
You're the best!
Glamarella.
[song fades]
Tonight, the story ends, Rey.
Tonight, you learn the truth about yourself
and in turn about everyone else as well.
I can already hear you people screaming for him.
I can hear your empty faith and I understand why.
Without Rey, you're all forced to see a false mask of courage
that you cower behind just like your little hero, Rey Mysterio.
Well, tonight, Rey, the façade that you call pride,
the charade that you call courage,
it all gets destroyed.
And it won't just be your mask that I rip off.
It will be everyone's.
You and Rey will finally see yourselves
for what you really are…
monsters.
-["Booyaka 619" playing] -♪ Booyaka, Booyaka ♪
[Jerry] Oh.
♪ 619, 619 ♪
♪ Booyaka, Booyaka ♪
♪ That's my pueblo, that's my pueblo ♪
♪ Booyaka Booyaka 619 ♪
♪ Booyaka Booyaka, that's my pueblo ♪
♪ Booyaka Booyaka 619 ♪
♪ Booyaka Booyaka, Rey Mysterio ♪
♪ Booyaka Booyaka 619 ♪
♪ Booyaka Booyaka, that's my pueblo ♪
♪ Booyaka Booyaka 619 ♪
♪ What you gonna do When we come for you? ♪
♪ Ya llego el Rey Mysterio ♪
♪ Bato cabron de San Diego ♪
[bell ringing]
[announcer] This contest is scheduled for one fall.
Introducing first from San Diego, California,
weighing in at 175 pounds,
Rey Mysterio.
[Michael] Well, King, tonight for Rey Mysterio
offers an opportunity for him to exorcise his demons
or a demon in Kane.
Months of physical and mental torture at the hands of the Big Red Machine
had begun over the summer with that parking lot assault
and it has just snowballed for weeks.
♪ Rey Mysterio ♪
[Jerry] Well, look at this connection that Rey Mysterio has with his fans,
especially his young fans.
We're gonna take you back to two weeks ago on Monday Night Raw
and show you a couple of examples of the physical toll
that Kane has put on Rey Mysterio over the past few months.
Outright vicious and violent.
Oh, look at that, kick to the ribs.
[Jerry] I mean, just kicked out of mid-air.
[Kane grunts]
[Jerry] And the strength of Kane demonstrated once again.
You're a coward. You hide behind a mask.
[Michael] Well, if Rey Mysterio loses to Kane tonight,
he will have to take off that mask.
And on WWE mobile After the Bell,
Rey Mysterio said, "I don't hide from anything."
"The mask is a part of me, it's part of my tradition,
it's who I am, it's who I believe in."
And he needs to take a stand here tonight against Kane.
[Jerry] Well, that's what Kane's all about.
-[explosions] -He wants to take it away from Rey. Oh.
["Veil of Fire" playing]
[announcer] And making his way to the ring,
weighing in at 323 pounds,
Kane.
[Michael] And moments ago, Kane calling not only Rey Mysterio
but all of our WWE fans "monsters" who he will expose
when he takes off Mysterio's mask here tonight.
[Jerry] Well, this match certainly has at least one monster in it.
[Michael] The demented and conflicted Kane.
That sick smile and one can only wonder what thoughts are going through his mind
over the damage he may inflict tonight.
King, before this matchup ever get started,
I had the opportunity to talk to Rey Mysterio earlier today
about the mask he is wearing tonight.
He said, "Well, he's always changing and the mask represents that."
"And those colors, the blue and gold, are the colors of the Latin warriors
that the Aztecs wore in their day."
"They used these colors to gain strength."
-[bell ringing] -And Mysterio symbolizing those colors
in that mask he wears specially made for tonight's matchup.
[Jerry] Well, Rey Mysterio is gonna need to call on that Aztec strength
tonight in this match with the Big Red Monster, I can assure you.
[Michael] Almost the look of disbelief in the eyes of Mysterio.
The power of Kane.
-Both men former champions. -[grunts]
[Jerry] You know, one thing we got to keep in mind,
the Aztecs became extinct.
I hope that's not in Rey's future. Look at this though.
-[crowd cheering] -[Michael] And if Rey keeps that up.
And this is what Mysterio has to do, has to keep the big man off-balance.
-And he cannot do that. -[crowd cheering]
[Jerry] Oh.
[Michael] That is like running head first into a brick wall, ladies and gentlemen.
[Jerry] They could be contented, just rip that mask himself
right off of Rey's head.
[crowd chatter]
[Jerry] Take a look and then listen to this boot to the face…
-[Michael] Oh! -…of Rey Mysterio.
[Michael] Rey Mysterio, doing the wise thing, King,
catching a breather, staying out of harm's way,
trying to regain-- gather himself and then go back on the attack.
[Jerry] I don't know if it's so much catching a breather,
as it is, just like we said, trying to pick that spot
where you can get some momentum.
The worst thing-- the last thing Rey needs to do
-is let Kane get a full head of steam. -[groans]
[Michael] Well, Mysterio's got to dictate the pace,
that's what he's doing thus far.
Drop kick to the spine. Kane's in trouble.
[Jerry] Hey, 619.
[Michael] Oh. Kane quickly into a massive clothesline.
[referee] What do you say Rey, huh? You had enough?
Come on, Rey.
[Jerry] The referee checking to make sure Rey's still conscious after that.
[Michael] Watch it, hear that impact.
[crowd cheering]
But remember, King, Mysterio the biggest underdog of all time,
once a World Champion,
battling back challenges from men of all size.
And he hopes to do it here again tonight.
And there's a fight in the heart of Mysterio.
[Jerry] And those boots to the head,
putting a mark on Kane. I just--you know,
I've just been thinking about this all day,
I hope that Rey doesn't have to suffer
the humiliation of having to take that mask off.
-[crowd cheering] -[Michael] Uh-oh.
Again, Mysterio, helpless for a moment.
Mysterio fighting back, hey.
[Jerry] Oh.
[crowd cheering]
-[Michael] Kane staggered for a bit. -[referee] Keep it in the ring, Rey.
Keep it in the ring.
-[Michael] Oh, and this-- oh. -[Jerry] What…
-Kane caught Mysterio. -[Jerry] In mid-air.
Hey, hey.
Mysterio's locked in the sleeper.
[Michael] The fight still in, Rey Mysterio.
-[Jerry] Oh. -[Michael] Oh.
-[crowd member squealing] -[cheering]
-[Michael] Mysterio's spine… -[woman] Come on, Rey.
-Come on, Rey, get up. -…bending and cracking over the barricade
-and then he came down on the steel chair… -[man] Come on, Rey.
…which was behind that barricade, and suddenly, Kane in complete control.
-[woman] Come on, Rey, get up. -[Jerry] Kane just reaching back.
Rey had that sleeper, I thought locked in pretty well.
Rey just-- Kane just reached back and manhandled Rey.
Watch this again.
Watch way Rey's back just bend nearly in half.
[crowd cheering]
Mysterio says Kane has not broken his spirit over the past few months,
-that it's alive and well. -[Jerry] Well, it almost cost his back.
-I can tell you, he's still not through. -[crowd groaning]
[Michael] We've talked about this earlier, King,
the one thing Mysterio has on Kane is the quickness in the aerial attack,
but if you take the back out, Mysterio's not gonna be able to fly.
[crowd member] Rey, put him to sleep!
[Jerry] Well, not when-- you know when-- all things being equal,
-I would have try to-- -Seven!
I don't know which means more
in a match like this, that quickness, that agility
or strength and power that Kane possesses.
[Michael] Well, power is winning out.
[Jerry] I would-- yeah, I would almost have to lean towards
the strength and the power.
[Michael] And Kane is stalking the man he once called,
a slithering little slime,
a fungus in the marshes of everyone psyche.
-[grunts] -[Rey screaming]
-[Michael] And this unbalanced monster. -Ask him, John.
[referee] Come on, Rey, what do you say?
[Jerry] There's absolutely no telling what goes on
-in that troubled mind of Kane. -He says no.
-Come on, Rey. -[Michael] One thing we do know
-…is that he loves to inflict pain. -[groans]
[grunts]
[Jerry] Yeah, he's ecstatic right now, man.
-Kane, watch the mask! -[Michael] And Kane…
-[referee] Come on, Kane. -[Rey screams]
[Jerry] And Kane is inflicting pain on-- not only on Rey Mysterio right now,
but everyone in this arena,
everyone all over the world that's watching.
[Michael] Rey trying to hang on. Kane will--
looks like he's trying to just rip the mask-- the mask off of Mysterio.
[crowd cheering]
[Jerry] Just look at those eyes. You know what Kane said,
he feels that the whole world, everyone in the world wears…
-[all groaning] -…a mask.
[Michael] Well, he says the reason that Mysterio and everyone wears masks
is because they have no courage, they have to hide behind those masks.
-[Jerry] Uh-oh. Here we go. -[Michael] Kane into the cover.
-If Mysterio loses… -One, two-- Two!
…he'll take the mask off, but he kicks out at two.
[Kane] What you got, Rey? You can end it right now.
Come on, Rey.
End it now.
[Jerry] Oh.
[Michael] Kane's obsession with Mysterio, King,
Kane-- when Kane first took his mask off years ago
and that the WWE fans did not accept him,
that they jeered him and ridiculed him and were repulsed by him.
And he can't understand inside that twisted mind,
why our fans embraced Mysterio.
-[Jerry] I-- Oh. -[groans]
I can't, for the life of me, figure out what's going in Kane's mind.
When he came back with that-- with that burlap sack…
-Come on, Rey. -I just knew, I felt in my heart
that Kane had his own mask
-inside that burlap bag. -[referee] Come on, Rey. Talk to me.
And instead, no, it was Rey's.
-Look at the look. -Give it up, Rey.
-Come on, Rey. -[Jerry] Oh.
[Michael] Mysterio, nice shot to the jaw, now to the head.
-[crowd cheering] -Kane stunned a bit.
[Jerry] There's no quit in Rey Mysterio.
[Michael] But does Mysterio have anything left?
That back has absorbed a tremendous amount of punishment.
[crowd chatter]
[both grunting]
[Michael] Oh.
[yells]
-[Jerry] Oh! Look at that. -[Michael] What a counter.
[Jerry] Whoo-hoo, man.
[Michael] And that's the kind of swashbuckling move
that'll get Mysterio back into this match, from out of nowhere.
Kane is stunned. Can Mysterio take advantage right there?
[Jerry] Watch this one more time. This is absolutely amazing.
[Michael] That is what Rey Mysterio is all about, ladies and gentlemen.
One of the reasons he became World Champion.
[Jerry] That might have silenced a few of those voices in Kane's head.
[Michael] Ooh.
Again, power winning out at every turn
-by the seven foot, over 300 pound, Kane. -Let's go.
[Jerry] I'm certain we've seen that
-Rey can hit some fantastic moves… -Come on, Kane, back it up.
…but it's hard, so hard for Rey to maintain…
-…for the whole world to see. -[referee] Come on, Kane.
[Jerry] And he's gonna try to rip that mask off for the whole world to see.
Look at he's-- ripping at it.
[Michael] Mysterio, he gives away nearly a 150 pounds to Kane,
trying to stay in this matchup, pull off a miracle,
-top rope moonsault. -[Jerry] Whoa!
-[Michael] Could this be it? -[crowd cheering]
[Jerry] I think Rey's knee came down right across the head of Kane.
-Kane maybe… -One…
-[Michael] Kane… -[Jerry] …maybe out.
Watch this knee.
Yes.
-[crowd cheering] -Three!
[Jerry] Kane may be out.
-Four! -[Michael] Oh, Kane is stunned,
Mysterio down from the minutes and minutes of punishments he's taken.
-Who will be first to their feet? -Five… Six!
-[groans] -Mysterio looking to take advantage.
[Jerry] He's got to somehow be able to sustain this offense.
Take that leg out.
[Michael] Cut Kane down to his size.
Big kick echoing through the Rose Garden.
-Oh. -[Jerry] Oh.
[crowd cheering]
[Michael] Here's-- can Mysterio do it?
Hook-- here's the cover and a kick out at two
by The Big Red Machine.
[Jerry] Momentum has definitely swung though in the-- in the favor of Rey.
-Uh-oh. Oh, no. -[Michael] Oh.
[Jerry] Well, and just like that.
[Michael] A thunderous side slam to Mysterio.
-Two! -[Jerry] No, it didn't get him.
[Michael] Two and a half, got the shoulder up.
Remember what's on the line here for Rey Mysterio,
a loss means he has to unmask here tonight, live.
[crowd chattering]
[Jerry] Uh-oh.
Well, the unmasking maybe momentarily.
-[Michael] Mysterio up high, drops-- -[Jerry] He escaped.
-[Michael] Oh. -[Jerry] Oh. What--
[crowd member whistling]
[Jerry] Rey was able-- was Rey able to turn that into a DDT?
[Michael] Looks like he hurt his own knee though.
Looked like he went for a-- an arm drag,
may have turned into a half DDT.
Mysterio tweaking the knee as he came down.
[referee] Get back to the ring, Rey.
-[Michael] Oh, that big splash, top rope. -One, two--
[Michael] Does Mysterio have enough-- and a kick out at two.
[referee] Two, Rey.
[Jerry] Boy, Kane just gets seconds to recover.
He just still has so much strength that's gonna be next to impossible
for Rey to hold him down for a three-count.
[Michael] Mysterio, on a gimped knee,
climbs to the top rope, doing what he does best.
And he's caught by the right hand to the jaw.
[Jerry] In mid-air.
[Michael] That could be the knockout blow for Kane.
Here's the cover, shoulders down,
and Mysterio digs down deep to roll the shoulder up.
[Jerry] Watch this, this uppercut.
-[grunts] -Good grief.
[Michael] Looks like he caught him just below the chin.
[yells]
[Michael] The quickness of Mysterio, Kane's hung up.
[crowd whistling]
[Michael] Could be Mysterio's opening yet again, King.
He's had a couple of them in the matchup.
-[yells] -[Michael] 619 to the back of the leg.
Come on, Kane. Back in.
[Michael] And Mysterio on the attack.
[Jerry] You got to give it to Rey Mysterio.
He is as resourceful as they come, hitting that 619.
-[Michael] Look at this. -[Rey] Oh, no.
-[Michael] Mysterio. No. -[Jerry] The chair.
[bell ringing]
Come one Kane, that's enough.
[Michael] Oh, my God.
That's enough, Kane.
-[panting] -[crowd booing]
[crowd chatter]
-[man] Freak. -Get outta here.
-You got to go now, that's enough. -[Michael] Mysterio from the top rope,
and Kane swinging for the fences, like Manny Ramirez,
nearly took off Mysterio's head with that steel chair.
[Jerry] Well, Rey's hurt.
[crowd booing]
[crowd chatter]
[Michael] Well, we need some help out here.
We're gonna show you again, ladies and gentlemen.
Well, I saw Kane grabbing that chair.
-Oh. Oh. -[bell ringing]
Mysterio never saw it coming.
And that demented and morbid laugh.
[Jerry] Can he be proud of himself after that?
The knee pad. Slide it down.
-[referee 2] Easy there. Easy. Easy. -Rey.
-Come on Rey. -[referee 2] Easy Rey.
[Ross] Well, ladies and gentlemen, while the…
-I can't feel my legs. -[Ross] …Rey Mysterio's being attended to.
[referee] Rey, come on.
[Ross] Man, this doesn't look good for Rey.
[Tazz] No, not at all.
[crowd chattering]
[Ross] As we mentioned earlier tonight, ladies and gentlemen, still to come,
two of Friday Night SmackDown's most popular superstars
will compete for the WWE title.
Who are you rooting for?
Who are you rooting for on our mobile text voting?
♪ 'Cause we hunt you down Without mercy ♪
[Ross] There you see the information.
Remember, standard text voting rates apply, Tazz.
[Tazz] I don't know, J.R. I mean Triple H earlier was rooting
for a texting for Jeff Hardy.
That was kind of weird.
[Ross] Well, Jeff Hardy had a great deal of confidence
as we saw earlier here tonight.
♪ Hunt you down All nightmare long, yeah ♪
I realize that I'm not in the match tonight.
No, I know that.
But what would you have me do about that?
I don't even know if Vickie Guerrero's here tonight.
Well, you know, don't worry about it.
I will take care of it and then I'll call you back.
[crowd cheering]
What do you want?
I need to see Vickie Guerrero, is she in here?
Yeah, Vickie's here.
Well, then tell her that SmackDown's franchised player
needs to have a word with her.
Let me get this straight.
After everything that Vickie Guerrero has been through,
when she was brutally, viciously attacked
and Tombstoned by The Undertaker,
and you wanna bother her tonight on her first day back?
Well, I feel that she and I can relate to each other right now
because I'm in lot of pain too.
You realize how badly my career has been suffering lately on SmackDown?
Listen, Montel, okay?
-I'm focusing on The Undertaker. -Okay.
You keep bothering me, I'm gonna focus on you.
[Vickie] Big Show.
-Yeah. -[Vickie] Big Show.
Bye.
-Hey, but wait, wait, just a minute. -[slams shut]
All right. All right. Okay.
Three weeks from tonight, US Airways Arena, Phoenix, Arizona,
it is the most interactive pay-per-view of the year
and it is so much fun, Cyber Sunday.
I love Cyber Sunday.
I have my laptop right here in front of me
and I'd love to pull it here in Cyber Sunday
and just I'm all over that information, so probably…
-Oh, you like to vote, I know that. -Oh, yes.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, coming up next,
we're gonna find out who the number one…
["I'm Comin'" playing]
[Jerry] Sounds like we're gonna find out, uh,
that MVP is coming out of here for some reason.
[Michael] Well, you heard him on the telephone just moments ago,
MVP complaining that he's not in a match here tonight,
and demanding to see SmackDown General Manager, Vickie Guerrero,
because, in his words, his career is suffering on SmackDown.
[Jerry] Well, he got no sympathy from the Big Show, did he?
♪ I got the juice ♪
♪ Offer the leash to let the dog loose ♪
♪ Don't make me call up the crew ♪
♪ Now they gettin' scared When I call up my troops ♪
♪ I'm the One like Neo, cocky like T.O… ♪
[Michael] MVP was not scared to be here tonight.
But he has joined us in the Rose Garden.
I need everyone's undivided attention
because I have a very important statement to make.
[crowd booing]
If you're the Cleveland Cavaliers, you don't sit LeBron James.
If you're LA, you don't bench Manny.
[crowd responds]
And if you're Vickie Guerrero, you do not come to No Mercy
-and not have a match for MVP. -[crowd responds]
-That just defies explanation. [crowd responds]-
Now, let's say that that Tombstone
that Undertaker gave Vickie Guerrero affected her head,
but this isn't the first time that this has happened.
[crowd responds]
I will say however that it is the last.
[crowd responds]
You see, the entire WWE universe revolves around me.
[crowd cheering]
And if you people and Vickie Guerrero can understand--
♪ I hear voices in my head ♪
♪ They counsel me, they understand ♪
♪ They talk to me ♪
[Michael laughs] Well, uh, speaking of not scheduled to be here,
Randy Orton.
[Jerry] And speaking of someone who thinks the entire universe
revolves around him, Randy Orton.
[Michael] The former World Champion,
tried to seize the spotlight as of late as he recovers from a shoulder injury.
♪ …questioning your faith ♪
♪ I have a voice that is my savior… ♪
[Jerry] That is a cool shirt.
[Michael] Orton says the age of Orton will be back
sooner rather than later.
Not a good night thus far for Mr. MVP.
♪ I see heroes dying ♪
♪ I taste blood that's dryin' ♪
♪ I feel tension risin’ ♪
♪ I hear voices in my head ♪
♪ They counsel me, they understand ♪
♪ They talk to me ♪
[Jerry] Well, Michael, this could be very interesting right here.
[crowd cheering]
[Jerry] These two are gonna be very confrontational, I would suspect.
[inaudible]
I don't think we've actually met,
Randy Orton.
And what you're claiming to be,
I am.
[crowd chanting] RKO! RKO! RKO!
Now, did you ever take a minute to ask yourself,
maybe there's a reason
why this happens to you every month?
You're, uh-- you're wrong actually.
I do know who you are.
It's just that I didn't recognize you without your shoulder sling
and your folder with your MRI results.
[crowd cheering]
Randy, the reason this happens to me
is because Vickie Guerrero is incompetent.
See, I am the playmaker,
but it's hard to be playmaker
when there's nobody giving me the ball.
Well, I think is obvious that if you were given the ball,
ever given the ball, that you'd drop it.
I've seen you in action, MVP.
I think the last time was WrestleMania,
where I went on to win the main event.
And while you did what you do best,
you lost.
[crowd cheering]
You know, Randy, um,
I just wanna bring you up to speed on something.
I'm not on Raw and I don't work for Mike Adamle,
so there are no repercussions for me knocking you out right now.
[crowd cheering]
And from what I understand,
everybody in the Raw locker room would love me for doing it.
[crowd chatter]
[inaudible]
["Priceless" playing]
-[Michael] Keeps getting interesting. -[Jerry laughs]
[Michael] The World Tag Team Champions now,
Cody Rhodes, and Ted DiBiase, along with their buddy, Manu.
[Jerry] This is getting more and more interesting.
Now, I started to say maybe cooler heads will prevail,
but into three hot heads if they ever were.
[Michael] Well, we saw it back in Unforgiven,
when these--those three gentlemen ambushed CM Punk,
Randy Orton kicked him in the head, cost both the World Championship.
[Jerry] I think this might be getting more confrontational.
♪ I'm worth more Than you could know ♪
♪ 'Cause all you know Is what you see ♪
♪ 'Cause you're all blind to who I am… ♪
Hold up, Montel.
You're not actually letting what Randy said offend you, are you?
I--after all, that's what he does.
You know, something, Orton, I think we've figured out who you are.
[crowd chanting] Boring. Boring.
And you're not boring, but you're that guy…
[crowd chanting] Boring. Boring. Boring.
Excuse me.
-[crowd booing] -[Jerry] Something must boring.
As I was saying, you're that guy who graduated high school,
but you didn't get into college,
so you just hung out at your old school,
and in your old town, trying to be cool.
Let him coast on his reputation, MVP,
because at this point, it's all he's got.
Why don't you ask CM Punk
if I'm coasting on my reputation?
Hey, the only reason you even had a chance to kick CM Punk in his head
is because we attacked him first.
We did the damage.
All you did was pick up our scraps.
You know, I can see you guys are trying real, real hard to impress me
and maybe-- just maybe, once you've accomplished
half, half of what I have,
I'll begin to take you a little more seriously.
-[crowd cheering] -[microphone thuds, feedback]
There he goes, ladies and gentlemen, Randy Orton.
[crowd cheering]
The WWE's so called most valuable commodity,
coming soon to a WWE ring near you sometime in the year 2012.
Hey, I got to tell you guys, I like the way you handled that.
You got a little style about yourself.
If I ever get drafted over to the red team,
-maybe we could get together-- -Hold on.
Hold on, MVP.
I see where you're going with this and, uh, how can I say this?
I don't know who your father was,
but I know who he was not.
He was not one of the greatest superstars in WWE history,
which means you're not even in our class.
Oh, hold it, wait. Not in your class?
I am the highest paid entertainer in the history of SmackDown
and I make more money than all three of you combined.
Not in your class?
Hey, genius, my father is the million dollar man.
The last time I worried about money was-- oh, let me think about it,
never.
So why don't you get out of our ring
and we'll catch you at the next pay-per-view
that you've been shut out of.
[crowd chatter]
[inaudible]
[Michael] Wow.
-Is MVP being put in his place? -[MVP] I just want you guys to know
that I will remember this conversation.
[Michael] Well, put in his place.
Not a great night for MVP,
starting with him complaining about not being in a match.
["This Fire Burns" playing]
[Michael] And-- oh.
The former World Champion, CM Punk and his buddy, Kofi Kingston.
[Jerry] It may be going from bad to worse for MVP.
[crowd cheering]
I'm serious, dude. I'm serious, dude.
I've got a little bit of an idea.
I know-- I know most of the time we don't see eye-to-eye. Okay?
But you're not on this pay-per-view and you wanna be, right?
You wanna be on this pay-per-view? Those three guys right over here
and got into a little bit of the deep end and they dissed you.
-They dissed you. -They dissed me.
-They dissed my man, Kofi, over here. -[crowd cheering]
Okay? So you see what I'm saying,
there's two of us, two plus one, there's three.
-There's three of them. -I got where you're going with this.
-There's three of us. -I'm getting it.
-I'm feeling this shit. -[Jerry] Wait a minute.
-[Michael] Could, uh… -You see what I'm saying, right?
-[Jerry] CM Punk? -[Michael] Did he just…
-Are you ready to do this? -Are you ready?
Are you guys ready? Come on, let's go.
[Michael] Did he just talk MVP to join in forces?
[crowd cheering]
-[Jerry] Well, I think he did, yeah. -[Michael] Here we go. Uh-oh.
[Jerry] Oh, no. [laughs]
[Michael] Well, talking about…
[Jerry] It did go from bad to worse for MVP.
[Michael] Real worse.
Kofi Kingston outsmarting MVP.
Not the night that MVP wanted.
Now look at Punk and Kingston going after DiBiase and Rhodes
as Manu and MVP going at it on the outside.
Oh!
[Jerry] I don't know what's going on, Michael.
[indistinct]
[Michael] The World Tag champs sent packing.
[Jerry] Oh.
[Michael] Well, remember King, a couple of weeks ago,
CM Punk said he was gonna start his road to retribution,
targeting the man who cost him the World Championship.
Screaming my point boys.
[Michael] Well, the World Tag Team champs and Punk's target
here tonight at No Mercy.
[Jerry] I'm just glad that Kofi Kingston and CM Punk
came out here and got all these interruptions out of the way.
-["This Fire Burns" playing] -All right.
♪ All I've ever wanted ♪
-♪ Was destiny to be fulfilled… ♪ -[Jerry] Wow.
♪ It is in my hands… ♪
[Tazz] Well, I'll tell you what, right now, baby,
it's time to thank Metallica for "All Nightmare Long,"
the official No Mercy theme song, great band,
great tune, no doubt, J.R.
[Ross] A little chaotic around here at the--
-at ring side, I'll tell you that. -[Tazz] Hell, yeah.
[Ross] And ladies and gentlemen, still to come--
and I want to point out, the World Champion number one contender,
we'll see the results of your text voting before the WWE title match.
Who are you rooting for, the WWE Champion, The Game,
or the number one contender, Jeff Hardy?
["All Nightmare Long" playing]
[Jerry] Well, there you see HBK and Y2J.
These guys are getting ready for what's gonna be the battle of their lives
right here tonight at No Mercy.
[Michael] The Ladder Match for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Shawn Michaels, number one contender, Jericho is your champion.
We're live tonight on the West Coast Portland, Oregon,
of course, still daylight out here on the West Coast.
This is No Mercy, live from the Rose Garden.
And King, the winner of the Ladder Match will be challenged
by the winner of our next match for the World title at a future date.
[bell ringing]
["Longhorn" playing]
[Jerry] Well the sound of the closing bell can only mean one thing,
that long, long limousine of JBL's.
Did you know that limousine doesn't have turn signals on it?
-[Michael] Why? -[Jerry] Well, he says he's so rich,
he doesn't have to tell people where he's going.
["Longhorn" playing]
[bell ringing]
[announcer] The following is a number one contender's match
for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Introducing first, from New York City,
John "Bradshaw" Layfield.
[Michael] King, the scowl on JBL's face tells the story.
A rough few weeks, both personally and professionally for JBL.
You mentioned the closing bell on Wall Street, I understand
JBL's lost a lot of money, of course, being involved
in the stock market, but also professionally here in the WWE,
he is demanding respect.
He feels like he's being made fun of by all the superstars
in recent weeks, but he can correct all that
with a win over Batista tonight.
[Jerry] Oh, that would put-- I think that would put a smile
on the face of JBL.
He wants-- he wants to be the number one contender.
And that's what this match is all about.
-[Michael] But who will be the champion? -[Jerry] That's the question.
[Michael] We're gonna find that out later on in that epic Ladder Match
between Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels.
JBL trying to scratch and claw his way back to the top,
WWE Champion at one time, the longest in SmackDown history,
claims tonight begins the start of his time.
[crowd chatter]
[Jerry] We may need a government bailout
-before this match is over. -[Michael laughs]
That--
That mug, he's-- he is so mad.
-["I Walk Alone" playing] -[crowd cheering]
[Jerry] Here we go.
♪ Yeah ♪
[announcer] And from Washington, DC,
weighing in at 290 pounds,
Batista.
[crowd cheering]
♪ Yeah ♪
[explosions]
[Michael] Well, you know, King, many people believe that Batista
is the rightful World Champion.
He had last month's Championship Scramble won.
He had the World Championship won before Chris Jericho snuck in
and in many people's estimation, stole the title from The Animal.
[Jerry] Well, that--that's all factual,
but Batista's not a guy who lives in the past.
Batista has forgotten about that.
Batista is thinking about nothing but this match tonight with JBL
and becoming the number one contender after beating JBL.
This is to determine the number one contender
for the World Championship
and they are watching all over, the WWE Universe,
all over the world to see who will be the number one contender.
Watching live in the United Kingdom, and Canada, places like Austria,
Germany, and Saudi Arabia, and France,
all trying to figure out who's gonna win this battle of two power houses,
JBL and Batista.
[Jerry] Boy, how ironic could this be?
Batista from Washington, DC,
JBL was just telling me today how all of Wall Street's problems
are caused by Washington.
-Well, the man from Washington… -[bell ringing]
Batista, may be causing JBL some more problems.
[Michael] He may offer JBL that bailout he was thinking about earlier.
[Jerry] Well, I think he have-- he'll bail JBL out here tonight,
one way or the other.
[crowd chanting] Batista! Batista!
[Michael] In 2005, JBL and Batista engaged in a rivalry
-over the WWE Championship… -One, two, three--
…some classic battles.
That rivalry renewed here on Raw.
[Jerry] JBL has wasted no time going on the offensive,
with those big right hands, but here comes The Animal.
[Michael] The three-time heavyweight champion.
[both grunt, yell]
Who said JBL's got the best clothesline around?
[grunts]
This match will be akin to a bar room brawl between these two men.
I mean nothing fancy here.
-Hard elbows like that for Batista. -[groans]
-[Jerry] I just think… -[Michael] A cover-- there's a cover,
first one in the match, hooks the leg and a kick-out.
-Two. -[Jerry] Whoever wins that Ladder Match
later on tonight, Jericho or HBK,
is gonna have one of these guys breathing down their neck.
[Michael] You know, the champion?
[Jerry] Don't ask me-- Well, don't ask me which one I'd rather face.
No. I'd rather someone else be the number one contender.
[Michael] Batista's been on this mission, as he likes to call it,
-to regain that World Championship. -[crowd chanting] JBL sucks!
He's come so close, so many times.
Oh. This could be the start.
And JBL. Oh. That looked like a spear.
-[Jerry] Spear! Spear! -[crowd cheering]
[Michael] JBL was going for that Clothesline From Hell
and Batista from out of nowhere exploding with the spear
and the veteran move by JBL rolling out of harm's way.
[Jerry] I thought this match was gonna be over early.
It was like the stock market, ups and downs, ups and downs.
[Michael] JBL setting up for the Clothesline From Hell.
[crowd cheering]
[Jerry] Instead he got the spear from Batista.
Now watch out here, Michael.
-Look out. [groans]
-One! -[Michael] Told you it was gonna be
-physical, hasn't disappointed. -[referee] Two!
Batista driving the kidneys of JBL into that apron.
-Let's get in. Now, come on. -[Jerry] You know where your kidneys are?
[Michael] Yes.
[Jerry] Well, the anatomy expert-- Oh, man, Batista.
[Michael] And JBL took advantage of the moment…
-Hey! -…and suddenly the brawler is in control.
But when JBL gauged the upper hand like this, it's downright scary,
rugged and brawny.
[crowd chatter]
[Michael] Again, winner of the match becomes number one contender
-for the World title. -[Jerry] Here we go.
[Michael] Will it be JBL?
Into the cover and a kick out at two by The Animal.
[Jerry] You're not gonna pin The Animal with that--
with just a move like that, not in a match this important.
[Michael] Off the neck breaker, the near 300 pounder drops the elbow.
Cover, shoulders down with the hook to the leg and Batista squirmed out.
[groans]
[Jerry] Well, you said that right.
When JBL drops an elbow on you, you know, you-- it's-- it's--
we don't even call it right.
We say he's dropped an elbow, but in reality he drops
all of his body weight across your neck and your chest.
It's a crushing blow to say the least.
[Michael] Now, JBL's using all his body weight to wear down Batista.
Referee Jack Patton in perfect position
to make sure that arm doesn't slip down into a choke.
Batista realizes he's got to get back to a vertical base.
I think the slower pace in the match is gonna favor JBL so far,
King, but only for a moment.
[crowd cheering]
[Jerry] That may slow down JBL.
[Michael] The very least it buys Batista some time.
[referee] Come on, now. What do you say?
[Jerry] Well, when you weigh-- when you're over 300…
-One! -…and near 300 pounds,
-everything you do… -Two!
and when your opponent is that big as well,
-everything is magnified. -Three!
[grunts]
When you weigh 300 pounds and get dropped on the back of your head,
the way JBL just did by Batista,
it's like falling off a second story building.
[Michael] A slugfest favoring The Animal.
Uh-oh. Ooh.
[crowd cheering]
[Jerry] JBL tried for reversal, but he would have wished he hadn't.
[Michael] Now, Batista gonna quicken the pace.
[crowd cheering]
Talk about that body weight, it's magnified when Batista
gets that full head of steam and crushes his opponent in the corner.
You're a 300-pound man at full speed.
-Look at the power. -[crowd cheering]
[Michael] Batista driving JBL to the mat.
[crowd cheering]
[Jerry] And you got to think if Batista wins this thing,
when he becomes the number one contender no matter who faces him,
with Shawn Michaels or Chris Jericho,
I think Batista would have to be the favorite. Oh.
[Michael] He was going for the spear again and JBL…
[Jerry] Or maybe JBL would be the favorite-- no, wait a minute.
Spinebuster. I'm back on Batista's team.
[Michael] And the intensity has returned to the eyes of The Animal.
[crowd cheering]
The volatile and passionate Batista
could be closing in on the number one contendership.
[Jerry] Batista signaling he wants to end it right here, Batista Bomb.
-[Jerry] He hit it. -[crowd cheering]
-[Michael] The Rose Garden is shaking. -[crowd] One, two, three.
-[Michael] Batista is… -[bell ringing]
…the number one contender for the World title.
-[announcer] Here is your winner, Batista. -[crowd cheering]
[Michael] I know Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho
got other things to worry about right now, King.
But the winner of that Ladder Match might want to go back
and take a look at the tape and see how dominant Batista was
here tonight at No Mercy.
["I Walk Alone" playing]
Number one contender.
[Michael] Batista has one thing on his mind.
And that is to regain the World Heavyweight Championship.
What a performance by The Animal.
[Jerry] Well, he's got one more performance
that he's gonna have to pull off
but will it be against Shawn Michaels or Chris Jericho?
Earlier in this match, the spear made a huge difference
gaining momentum for Batista.
And then next, spinebuster.
[Michael] But Batista would cap it all off with a thunderous Batista Bomb.
[crowd] One, two, three.
[Michael] Batista told me earlier today
that he wanted to make a statement tonight.
That he wanted to send a clear message to everybody in the Raw locker room
that he was closing in on a World title.
I think he did just that.
[Jerry] Without a doubt.
That quick. That quick,
when he hits that Batista Bomb, it's over just that quick.
[Michael] The man of few words makes a mighty big speech
here tonight at No Mercy.
[Jerry] Can we see that Batista Bomb one more time?
Watch this, Michael.
That's a 300 pounder Batista's lifting and slamming down to the mat.
-That jars every bone in your body. -[yells indistinctly]
Very, very impressive match.
[Michael] Well, JBL stocks are crashing by Batista here tonight at No Mercy.
It has been a miserable…
[Jerry] Wait a minute, I think
JBL just asked for a microphone.
[crowd booing]
[Jerry] What can he say at this point?
[groans]
[groans] This… [pants] …has been the most
unbelievable week…
of my life.
I really believed I was gonna beat Batista
and go on to face Michaels or Jericho and be World Champion again.
But I got-- I got--
I got to be--
I got to be honest with you, my fans, because I know
you expect that from me, that's why you love me.
[crowd booing]
[Jerry] He was knocked senseless.
And this really hurts to say…
but I got to admit,
my heart wasn't in this tonight.
After the week on Wall Street…
I got to say that…
this is the most traumatic week of my life
and I've got to tell you from the bottom of my heart…
I am the happiest most blessed man alive
and I wanna thank you--
I wanna thank you and our wonderful Congress.
-[Jerry] What? -For shelling out billions
and billions of dollars
so that people like me
could keep all of our money, because my good friends,
Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi,
they understand that rich people like me make the world go round
and I employ people like you and the good of the country
is what's good for me and saving my money.
[crowd booing]
It may cost you $10,000 per household based upon my projections,
but I wanna thank all of you, I wanna thank Senator Obama,
I wanna thank Senator McCain for voting for me and protecting my money
with this bail out and from the Layfield family,
to all the great taxpayers in this country
who have put their money, risked their future,
so that I could keep my penthouse apartment on Central Park.
I got to tell you, from the Layfield family to all of you,
I love you.
Thank you.
And now as I get in my limousine and go back to New York,
don't think I'm gonna forget
this backwoods wonderful city and all of you people.
God bless you all, God bless America,
and most of all, God bless me.
[Jerry] Oh, my gosh.
Does he think our fans voted for that bail out?
Does he think any of our fans wanted to cover some
$700 billion in Wall Street's last--
[man] Yo, yo, yo, yo. Shad Gaspard and JTG…
-[Michael] Now what? -[man] It's Cryme Tyme.
-["Bringin' Da Hood T U" playing] -♪ Brooklyn, Brooklyn ♪
♪ We're bringing it, bringing it ♪
♪ We're bringing the hood to you ♪
♪ We're bringing it, bringing it ♪
♪ Whatcha gonna do? ♪
♪ We're bringing it, bringing it ♪
♪ Whatcha gonna do? ♪
♪ We're bringing it, bringing it ♪
[Jerry] JBL didn't think his week could get any worse.
Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo.
-Yo! -[both] Yo!
JBL, what's really good? Shad, tell him.
Ayyo, JBL since taxpayers bailed you out,
we decided to bail out
-your brand new limousine. -[laughs]
We're gonna hook it up, playboy.
You didn't pay your taxes right?
[Shad] Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna pay my taxes.
-[JTG] That's tight. -[Shad] I'm gonna go
get on my taxes. I'm gonna pay them-- I'm gonna pay them.
But yo, tonight we gonna take out this brand new limousine
out in the town with a couple of females.
We gonna make it do what it do, playboy.
-You know what I'm saying? -We gonna make it do what it do.
♪ Ayyo, ladies ♪
♪ Breathe in, breathe out ♪
♪ If you're a diva girl, Go on let it out ♪
♪ Breath out, breath in ♪
-♪ Come on, come on, let's get… ♪ -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[Shad] ♪ Breathe in, breathe out ♪
♪ Where the divas at, Where the divas at ♪
♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪
♪ Drop it ♪
[Shad] ♪ Everybody don't let out ♪
♪ Breathe out, breathe in ♪
♪ Come on, come on, Come and get in ♪
♪ Breathe in, breathe out ♪
♪ If you're a diva girl go on Let it out ♪
♪ Breathe out, breathe in ♪
Come on. Oh, Sarge.
-[overlapping chatter] -Money, money, yeah, yeah.
Come on, Sarge.
Money, money, yeah, yeah.
♪ Yo, money, money, yeah, yeah ♪
♪ Money, money, yeah, yeah ♪
♪ We got to have money, money, Yeah, yeah ♪
[women cheering]
That's how we do-- oh, oh, oh.
Ayyo, J-- ayyo, J, how we do, how we do?
When I say, "money," you say, "yeah."
-Money. -Yeah.
When I say, "money, money," you say, "yeah, yeah."
-Money, money. -Yeah, yeah.
♪ Money, money, yeah, yeah ♪
-♪ You got to get it ♪ -♪ Money, money, yeah, yeah ♪
-[JTG] ♪ You got to want it ♪ -[Shad] ♪ Money, money, yeah, yeah ♪
[crowd cheering]
[crowd chattering]
Well, J.R.-- I mean JBL's week might have started horribly
and it ended just as bad.
Did you see the Sarge get in the limo with the divas?
You got to love the Sarge.
-Sarge got bailed out. -Yeah.
We're not-- we're not for Sarge here at Portland, Oregon,
but as the King would say, "One can't grieve forever for JBL."
Now, ladies and gentlemen, are you ready for business to pick up
here tonight because two of the heaviest hitters in WWE history
are gonna get it on here tonight.
And this is a match, as far as The Undertaker is concerned,
about retribution.
We'll show you what we mean as we take you back to Unforgiven.
[Big Show] For the Unforgiven, Vickie and I made up a plan.
[dramatic music playing]
[Vickie] The Undertaker threatened to take my soul.
Please.
You didn't take anything.
[Big Show] This a true power couple.
Vickie can help get me where I wanna be.
I can help Vickie get what she wants.
And what she wants is an apology from you, Undertaker.
Slap him, Vickie, slap him.
[menacing music playing]
[music fades]
What are you gonna do if The Undertaker shows up here tonight?
-[Vickie] If he shows up? -[Big Show] Uh-huh.
[Vickie] I'm gonna make him get on his knees
and make him apologize for everything that he's done to me.
Kiss my feet and apologize.
[man] Vickie, I'm sorry.
[laughing]
[Big Show] Undertaker, you may be above many things, but no one is above me.
Where are you, Undertaker?
Are you having second thoughts?
You will apologize because if you're not sorry now,
I will personally make sure you will be.
[bell tolls]
[suspenseful music playing]
[crowd cheering]
Oh, my God.
You need to help him.
Please go help him now.
[groans]
Hurry, hurry.
[grunting]
[bell tolls]
-[dramatic music playing] -[choir vocalizing]
[whimpers]
-[vocalizing continues] -[growls]
[inaudible]
[Undertaker] Vickie Guerrero, I promised you
that I was coming for you.
[music ends]
[crowd cheering]
-["Crank It Up" playing] -♪ Well, it's the Big Show! ♪
♪ It's a big bad show tonight… ♪
[Tazz] Here he comes, baby, the largest athlete in the world.
Look at this, J.R.
[bell ringing]
[announcer] This contest is set for one fall.
Approaching the ring standing at seven feet tall,
weighing 441 pounds,
the Big Show.
[Ross] A man with the most damaging right hand ever in the WWE,
an organ-damaging right hand,
441 pounds with an 84-inch reach,
a 25-inch neck.
[Tazz] And talk about power couples,
Big Show and General Manager, Vickie Guerrero.
Like it or not, what an amazing,
more or less, backstabbing action at Unforgiven
by Big Show and Vickie Guerrero.
[Ross] And how do you attack a man off his feet
when his feet are a size 18 6C.
That's what The Undertaker has to deal with here tonight.
[song ends]
[crowd chatter]
[Tazz] Well, I tell you, I've seen some brutal knockouts in my day
when Big Show knocked out The Undertaker at Unforgiven.
It was unbelievable, J.R.
[crowd chatter]
["Rest In Peace" playing]
[crowd cheering]
[Ross] And so we begin, ladies and gentlemen.
[crowd cheering]
[Ross] We are in the midst of Rose Garden in the Pacific Northwest.
[announcer] And his opponent from Death Valley,
weighing 299 pounds,
The Undertaker.
[Ross] One of the most spellbinding, mesmerizing moments
in all of sports entertainment
has wrapped it arms around us.
As this sasquatch himself has come out to Pacific Northwest.
The Demon of Death Valley,
the black-clad warrior is here tonight
to seek retribution
against the cyclopean, Big Show.
[Tazz] Oh, J.R., the Big Show doesn't seem intimidated one bit, not at all.
[Ross] The Undertaker certainly may possess unworldly powers,
but we know that the Big Show's right hand
is unworldly as well.
And yes, there is no-- seemingly no intimidation
in the eyes of the Big Show.
[Tazz] Well, the immortal one has been known to wreak havoc
on his opponents in deadly fashion, J.R.
Can he do it tonight?
[song continues]
[Ross] It's one thing to stand before The Undertaker
and not be intimidated.
It's another thing to stand before the Deadman
as the Big Show is now because, Tazz,
we have both seen some men's spine
turn to jelly when they go face to face with The Undertaker.
[Tazz] Well, no doubt about it, J.R.
Just Undertaker entering an arena,
he wins half of the battle half of the time.
I'm not sure if that's the case right now with the Big Show.
[crowd cheering]
[thunder rumbling]
[music fades out]
[Ross] Referee Charles Robinson.
Man looks like a…
-Ring the bell. Let's go. -[bell ringing]
[Ross] A diminutive man and here we go.
-[Tazz] Oh, man. -[Ross] And the strikes start early.
[Tazz] I had a funny feeling this thing would break down right from jump street.
-Oh. -[Ross] And the--
there's a good shot right to the ribs by the Big Show landing on The Undertaker.
[Tazz] A massive body blow by the Big Show.
[Ross] And The Undertaker retaliates with a thunderous right of his own,
a succession of rights and a striking blow with the head.
-[Tazz] Whoa! -[Ross] And The Undertaker,
that's a beautiful counter.
[Tazz] Absolutely because bad intentions were on the mind of the Big Show.
[Ross] The tree limb sized arm of the Big Show about to crash down,
but that running knee from the 441 pounder striking the Deadman.
[Tazz] He got in the good right in the ribs, J.R.
And boom, another one…
[Ross] And another shot.
And both shot to the ribs and in the kidney area.
[Tazz] Massive fists driven into the ribs.
Ooh. Oh.
[Ross] And The Undertaker in the security wall.
The wall moved cracked and popped or was that The Undertaker's body?
[Tazz] But we've heard that Big Show say he's gonna crush The Undertaker's spirit.
[crowd chatter]
[Tazz] And the power here of the Big Show.
[Ross] The Undertaker a near 300 pounder.
And the Big Show just smacked the ring post.
[Tazz] That might have been the most important reversal
-for The Undertaker of this match so far. -Six…
[Ross] The referee was up to a six-count, the count was broken.
Another blow out of self-defense and the flexibility and the power
of The Undertaker with that boot.
And look at those hard shots.
[Tazz] This is where you do not want to be if you're the Big Show.
Good God almighty, look at these blows by The Undertaker.
-[Ross] Malignant right hands. -[Tazz] Oof.
[Ross] And a stiff kick right to the temple.
Five!
[Tazz] When was the last time we've seen the Big Show
lay down like this here.
-[crowd cheering] -[Tazz] Uh-oh.
[Ross] The Big Show in hopeless state at the moment.
[Tazz] Oh, man. Oh, man. Oh!
[Ross] And The Undertaker well, of course,
agility and athleticism,
able to deliver that knee drop
or the leg drop right to the heart on the chest.
[Tazz] And Big Show cowering in the corner.
Trying to regain himself here.
[Ross] The mammoth Big Show…
-[Tazz] Oof. -[Ross] …have a mammoth heart
and a will to survive here tonight.
[Tazz] And The Undertaker is just-- wow!
Driven with rage in a big way.
[Ross] Undertaker thrown to the corner with that velocity with one arm.
But look at this, with the speed.
Oh, gosh almighty, with high impact.
[Tazz] Out of nowhere, I thought The Undertaker
was just about to drop the Big Show. Uh-uh.
Big Show with a counter.
[Ross] He bailed the clothesline
that took down The Undertaker.
[Tazz] We've heard the Big Show say, "Undertaker--"
well, watch this, tremendous counter here.
-Oh. -[Ross] Boom!
[Tazz] How many athletes alive can drop The Undertaker like that?
-Look at the body blows here. -[Ross] More shots.
Hard right hands into the ribs.
[crowd chatter]
[Tazz] It seems to me from where I sit, looks like the--oh.
The Big Show got a game plan to work on the rib-- the rib area here--
watch out.
[Ross] And the Big Show dropping 441 on The Undertaker.
-[Tazz] This might be it. -[Ross] A cover
and The Undertaker barely able to get his shoulder up
and yes, the object of The Undertaker's anatomy is his ribs
being singled out by the Big Show.
[Tazz] Quick hands of The Undertaker-- look at the--
again the powerful body blows,
those shots to the ribs and stomach of The Undertaker.
[Ross] First it was rights, now lefts.
[Tazz] Oh!
[Ross] And more impact on the ribs and the legs sweep and the--
-One, two-- -Are we gonna--
A near fall created by the biggest athlete in the entire world, the Big Show.
[Tazz] The Big Show laid all of his body weight
on top of the Deadman.
Oh, you got to be careful here Big Show.
[Ross] Big Show got within striking distance.
And was willing to take a couple of shots.
To give a couple of back.
[Ross] We've heard the Big Show say The Undertaker is above a lot of things
but you're not above me.
[crowd cheering]
[Ross] Now, look at The Undertaker.
-[Tazz] Oof. -[Ross] Striking back
of serious heavy hitting blows.
-[Tazz] Again the power-- oh, oh, oh. -[crowd cheering]
[Ross] Under-- Undertaker trying to hook the head.
[Tazz] Big Show trying to-- trying to get out of the hold.
[Ross] And that mass and that the bulk,
just the density of the Big Show
and a headbutt now takes The Undertaker down again,
but it was the Big Show's bulk,
that 441 that drove The Undertaker backed into the corner.
-[Tazz] Well, look at this. -[Ross] Look at this.
Are you kidding me or what?
Uh-oh. [chuckles]
[crowd booing]
[Ross] Big Show on the second rope as we see.
[Tazz] Oh, my God.
[crowd cheering]
[Ross] The Big Show bomb didn't detonate on the anatomy of The Undertaker,
but it took a lot out the-- of the Big Show.
[Tazz] That's good thing for The Undertaker
that he got out of the way. Oh!
What a-- just nonstop action amongst these two big behemoth.
[Ross] Something's got to give here.
The Undertaker so stout of heart
fighting back and now going to the Big Show's body.
-Upstairs and down. -[Tazz] Yeah, don't let The Undertaker--
you cannot let him build momentum with his fist, deadly.
[Ross] What an intense pace by these two huge two men.
Oh, man.
-[Tazz] The speed here. -[crowd cheering]
[Ross] Big Show swung and missed twice,
but The Undertaker scores with his clothesline
and the sit up from The Demon of Death Valley,
with fire in his eyes.
[Tazz] Here comes the Deadman. Oh.
-One, two… -[Ross] A cover.
[Tazz] Can he…
[Ross] And Big Show's right shoulder shoots off the canvas.
[crowd member whistling]
A match that's all about retribution may end up being about survival.
[Tazz] Well, I agree with that definitely.
How much more can either of these athletes take the pounding on each other here
from the opening bell.
[crowd cheering]
[Tazz] Oh, yeah, buddy, here we go.
A little Old School.
[Ross] Look at the balance.
-Oh! -[Tazz] Oh.
[Ross] The Big Show counter, chokeslam.
[Tazz] God.
[Ross] What a chokeslam from this immense…
[Tazz] He's gonna beat him. He's gonna get him…
-[Ross] Big Show got the cover. -[Tazz] He got-- he gonna beat him.
-[Ross] He got… -[crowd cheering]
[Ross] Man, I thought it was three.
It looked like three.
Felt like three,
but The Undertaker able to survive.
[Tazz] I mean, this never happened before where-- look at this.
[crowd cheering]
[Tazz] That was the Old School, now is the chokeslam.
Just misses the victory, does the Big Show.
[Ross] That goliath like grip of the Big Show
able to take The Undertaker down
and snatch The Undertaker literally in mid-air.
[Tazz] If you're The Undertaker, you cannot let the Big Show
build more confidence.
-[Ross] Right hand. -[Tazz] Uh-oh.
-[Ross] Watch the right hand. -[Tazz] He got to be careful. Oh.
[crowd cheering]
[Ross] Big Show trying to-- Undertaker…
[Tazz] Uh-oh.
[Ross] Big Show and The Undertaker,
a test of will and strength, leverage.
[Tazz] Uh-oh. Will the Big Show hit the-- counter.
[Ross] Oh, my God. What a DDT.
[Tazz] Oh, my God.
[Ross] An amazing DDT.
[Tazz] That's it. It's over. That's it.
-One, two-- -[Ross] The arm's over.
[crowd cheering]
[Ross] Somehow, someway.
[Tazz] What an amazing strength by The Undertaker.
Look at this counter into that DDT.
[Ross] There was strength, there was technique and there was leverage.
The ring sense of The Undertaker
to plant this immense, Big Show.
[Tazz] I can't believe Big Show actually kicked out of that though.
Oof.
Talk about heavy hitting blows, look at this.
[Ross] Big Show trying to cover up wisely.
The Big Show covering in the corner.
[Tazz] Look the Big Show's down and then The Undertaker.
[Ross] And the intimidating presence of The Undertaker.
[crowd booing]
[Tazz] Hey, what's Big Show doing here?
Turnbuckle pad?
[Ross] The Undertaker rammed into the steel
of the exposed top turnbuckle.
The Big Show using all the strength to…
-[Tazz] Oh! -[Ross] Right hand.
[Tazz] Oh, my God, oh, man!
[Ross] Good God, what a right hand.
The Undertaker turned right into the biggest right hand…
-[Tazz] Oh, man. -[Ross] …perhaps he's ever seen.
[Tazz] Yeah. But The Undertaker was distracted by ref.
Big Show just ripped that turnbuckle pad off.
Utilized it just-- he's headed for the sternum--
[Ross] Another portentous, nasty right hand…
-[Tazz] Oh, man. -[Ross] …by the 441 pounder.
[Tazz] How can anyone withstand not just one but two?
[Ross] Oh, no, no. Undertaker's out.
-The Undertaker-- oh, my God, man. -No. No. Back up. Back up.
-Ring the bell. -[Ross] The Undertaker's unconscious.
-[Tazz] Oh. -[bell ringing]
[Ross] And a cheap shot after The Undertaker was knocked out.
[crowd booing]
Raise my hand.
-Hey, is he out? -He's out.
Raise my hand.
[crowd booing]
-♪ Well, it's the Big Show! ♪ -[Ross] Ladies and gentlemen…
[announcer] The winner of this match, the Big Show.
[Ross] The Big Show has won this match via knockout.
[Tazz] I-I-I-I can't believe what I just saw.
I mean, the power, the intensity, the--
how nasty those punches, not one but two,
and then the third, J.R., God almighty.
[Ross] There is not a human being alive today
that can withstand the ravaging right hands of the Big Show.
[Tazz] I'm in shock.
And I think The Undertaker is too.
This is where it all started.
Big Show had the, you know, the piece of mind
to pull off the pad of the turnbuckle and then watch this here.
[Ross] Oh man.
[Tazz] Face first in to the steel-- the exposed steel.
[Ross] Well, that's what gave The Undertaker--
that's what put him at a distinct disadvantage, the steel
and the right hand followed it up.
But the exposed turnbuckle turned the corner.
[Tazz] That was the first one-- here, bam, is the second one. Holy cow.
And then the cheap shot rabbit punch to the back of the skull.
[Ross] The Undertaker was already knocked out.
[Tazz] I know. I had-- oh.
[Ross] This is a cheap, cheap shot…
-[bell ringing] -…by the Big Show.
♪ What you have for me ♪
[Ross] Big Show mighty proud of his accomplishments
as The Undertaker still trying to find his equilibrium and to--
and to get back up after three,
three nasty portentous right hands.
[crowd cheering]
[crowd chanting] Taker! Taker! Taker!
Taker! Taker! Taker!
[crowd chatter]
[crowd chanting] Undertaker!
[Tazz] Did you see a glaze in the eye of The Undertaker.
[crowd chatter]
[Tazz] He's still out.
[crowd chanting] Undertaker!
Undertaker!
[chant fading] Undertaker!
[Tazz] J.R., he's back on his feet, but barely.
[crowd cheering]
[Ross] That's the most respected man in the annals of the WWE
having to pull himself up by the ropes merely to stand and…
If I hadn't seen what I had just witnessed
in all my years sitting here at ringside,
I don't think I would've believed it.
[crowd chatter]
[man] Undertaker!
[Ross] Well, there's the WWE Champion
on his way to the ring, ladies and gentlemen,
to defend out the WWE Championship,
the most coveted prize in all of WWE.
And throughout the evening we have been asking you
to send us your text vote on our text question,
WWE mobile, who are you-- who are you rooting for tonight?
Here are the results-- your results.
[Tazz] Wow!
Hey, I'm personally a little surprised at that.
That--that's pretty cool.
[Ross] These two men have a long history.
Let us take you back to the WWE Championship Scramble
at Unforgiven.
[dramatic music playing]
[Ross] This is a 20-minute time in the match.
Anyone can be pinned at any time.
The man that is the current champion at the end of 20 minutes
will be WWE Champion.
[Triple H] That Championship Scramble match
was one of the most difficult matches
that I have ever been in in my entire life.
[Ross] Jeff Hardy with the Swanton.
Hardy out of nowhere is the current WWE Champion
and The Game cannot believe it.
[Triple H] But yet, as always, I found a way.
[Ross] It's almost over.
Oh, my God, I can't believe it, with a second left.
[Triple H] Only one man walked into Unforgiven as champion
and walked out as champion.
[Ross] Who will be the new number one contender?
We're gonna find out in this Fatal 4-Way main event.
One pin, one submission ends it.
And the winner goes to No Mercy to meet The Game for the WWE title.
[Tazz] Look at Hardy.
[Ross] Oh, my God.
Oh, my God, Hardy just Swanton two men.
[crowd] One, two…
[Ross] To three, Jeff Hardy showed no mercy tonight.
Hardy is the number one contender and will meet Triple H.
I respect the fact that you put your body on the line
like no other superstar in the history of this business has done.
I respect the fact that night after night,
you reach right there to try to grab that brass ring,
but you're just always one second away.
It's kind of the story of your life, isn't it Jeff?
["All Nightmare Long" playing]
[Jeff] Congratulations, Game,
you have motivated me, you have fired me up,
you have made me better.
[Ross] Oh, Jeff Hardy sent a direct message
to Triple H for this Sunday.
♪ 'Cause we hunt you down Without mercy ♪
♪ Hunt you down All nightmare long, yeah ♪
♪ Luck runs out ♪
♪ You crawl back in, But your luck runs out ♪
[Ross] If The Game goes down at No Mercy,
it will not be without a hellacious fight.
[Triple H] One more shot at the brass ring.
At No Mercy, I'm not going to be reaching for the brass ring,
I'm going to be reaching for your WWE Championship.
[song ends]
[crowd cheering]
["No More Words" playing]
[crowd cheering]
[explosions]
[Ross] Well, certainly, ladies and gentlemen,
this match is not about brass rings,
this match is about the most coveted championship
in all of the WWE, the WWE title.
This will be Jeff Hardy's first ever one-on-one match at No Mercy.
But let's not forget the career this young man has had,
sixteen titles he has won in the WWE,
four Intercontinental titles,
and the first time, Jeff Hardy ever won the Intercontinental title,
it was against, you got it, Triple H.
[Tazz] And you know something, it's going to--
we've hear Jeff Hardy say to Triple H how, "You've motivated me,
you fired me up, and you have made me better."
It's almost like a mutual respect between these two superstars.
Jeff Hardy now seems to be in the zone, J.R.
to capture the WWE title tonight, we'll see.
[Ross] I talked to Jeff Hardy today,
he seemed to be extremely confident,
not overbearing, not arrogant,
but confident in his ability
to exercise his game plan tonight
and leave No Mercy as the WWE Champion.
[crowd cheering]
[Tazz] J.R., Jeff Hardy said earlier right to Triple H's face,
"I'm gonna take pride in taking your title tonight."
[song ends]
[crowd cheering]
[crowd chatter]
["The Game" playing]
♪ It's time to play the game ♪
[crowd cheering]
♪ Time to play the game ♪
♪ It's all about the game And how you play it ♪
♪ All about control And if you can take it… ♪
[Ross] Indeed it is all about the game and how you play it.
And how will Jeff Hardy play The Game tonight?
The Cerebral Assassin is an honor student in wrestling,
no doubt about that, a complete student of The Game.
And is so prideful of being a 12-time WWE Champion.
[Tazz] And Triple H brings the seek and destroy demeanor
which makes him
one of the most dominant champions, in my opinion,
in the history of the WWE.
[Ross] Just a year ago at No Mercy,
in a span of less than three hours,
The Game wrestled three WWE title matches in one night,
won two of them,
an unheard of feat.
[crowd cheering]
[Ross] And a raucous ovation here in the Rose Garden
for the King of Kings.
Tazz, in your opinion,
what does Jeff Hardy have to do tonight
-to win the WWE title? -[Tazz] I think--
I think Jeff Hardy has to do what has brought him to the dance
and that's bring a high impact, high aerial assault to Triple H,
that's what he's got to do.
[Ross] Jeff Hardy must be a manic man in motion
to derail the most dominant champion in the WWE.
[song ends]
[bell ringing]
This contest is set for one fall
is for the WWE Championship.
Introducing first, the challenger,
from Cameron, North Carolina,
weighing 225 pounds,
Jeff Hardy.
[crowd cheering]
And his opponent, from Greenwich, Connecticut,
weighing 255 pounds,
he is the current WWE Champion,
Triple H.
[crowd cheering]
[Tazz] That's what's about right there.
[Ross] Scott Armstrong, the referee,
it was interesting to see that overwhelming text vote
in favor of Jeff Hardy.
However, here in the Rose Garden,
it might just be me, Tazz,
but it seems like the crowd here in the Rose Garden,
watching our event live, kind of favor the champion.
[bell ringing]
[Tazz] The bell has rung, it's go time, baby.
I'm getting goosebumps already.
[Ross] Got that.
[Tazz] Respect-- oh.
[Ross] And Jeff Hardy shook hands with the champion,
-turned his back-- it could be over. -[Tazz] Whoa, whoa.
[chuckles] Cerebral Assassin,
got to be careful with him, man.
[Ross] Jeff Hardy already…
[crowd chanting] Hardy! Hardy!
…being the victim, if you will, of certainly The Game's mind games.
[Tazz] It's not often that your opponent tells you he's a big fan of yours.
You're the number one contender of the champion,
he's a little big fan of yours,
you've got every God-given gift there is known,
and, you know, is pulling for-- for the challenger
which is like you said, head games, mind games, by The Game.
[Ross] Nice leap up moments ago by Jeff Hardy,
but he finds himself, the challenger does,
back into the overhead wristlock.
[Tazz] Again, that's the quickness to get off his feet by Jeff Hardy.
[crowd cheering]
[Ross] And Hardy not in that predicament long.
[Tazz] Well, I think Triple H tried to block the side headlock takeover,
to no avail.
Jeff Hardy was able to pop his hip and get The Game over.
[Ross] Jeff Hardy, a seven-time Tag Champion,
four-time Intercontinental Champion as we've mentioned,
but never a WWE Champion.
[Tazz] Triple H has told the challenger-- has told Jeff Hardy,
"I respect the fact you put your body on the line
like no other superstar in the history of this business,
but when it comes to WWE title,
there's nothing more important for The Game than that."
[Ross] Ooh. Hardy got countered,
and uses speed and quickness and that's what's going to--
I think be able to take Jeff Hardy to the promised land,
the ability to create up-tempo offense,
-the eagerness to take a chance. -[groans]
-One, two-- -[Tazz] I guess that's the pin cover
by Triple H trying to stack Jeff Hardy,
I understand, I'm gonna give my opinion here,
I'ma little surprised at Jeff's offense here
by utilizing take downs with Triple H,
I didn't expect that from the challenger.
[Ross] And perhaps the champion didn't either.
[crowd cheering]
[Ross] Certainly is as we know
there is no chance that is off limits for Jeff Hardy,
but him out mat-- wrestling The Game
quite frankly would surprise me.
[Ross] Thus far we've seen Jeff Hardy being pretty successful at it.
[crowd cheering]
[Ross] Hardy with the momentum-- from the ropes,
taking down the champion, going back to a very basic side headlock.
[Tazz] Well, Triple H told Jeff Hardy earlier,
I wanna beat you at the best of what you bring with what you have
and Jeff's bringing the best to Triple H thus far.
-[groans] -[Ross] Hard reverse elbow
and Hardy's own momentum coming off the ropes caused him that time,
a very well placed elbow.
[Tazz] Yeah, well, in the big thick massive shoulder of Triple H,
could've been the difference-maker right there.
That could be the turning point in the match.
We'll have to see.
Uh-oh. [shrieks]
[Ross] Jeff Hardy creating some unique offense…
-[Tazz] Whoa! -…and taking The Game over.
-[overlapping chatter] -Keep your eye on Jeff Hardy.
[Tazz] Yeah, talk about reckless devil-may-care. Watch out!
[Ross] And the ultimate risk taker,
with a running clothesline, right off the apron.
-Hardy's own body paid a price there. -[crowd chanting] Triple H!
But perhaps not as a big a price as-- has been paid by the champion.
[Tazz] Here, watch the impact yet again. The Game gets drilled
right in the side of the head, towards his ear area.
That's a good way to knock someone out a little bit, but…
[Ross] Triple H trying to get to a vertical base.
[Tazz] And he would have been hurting.
[Ross] And Hardy again continues his unorthodox offense
over the top leg drop, hook of the leg got a near fall.
[Tazz] And again, move to this,
back to that side headlock takeover.
Jeff Hardy, very surprising offense in my opinion.
[Ross] Jeff Hardy is throwing off-speed pitches
when The Game, perhaps has been looking for fast balls.
[Tazz] Well, I think that's a good analogy,
and I agree with it.
Triple H has got to try to get through a vertical base
and maybe attack the grip,
break the grip of the side headlock of Jeff Hardy.
[Ross] Tazz, could Jeff Hardy been using this mat wrestling
in the early morning to setup something else later on.
[Tazz] Oh, yeah, I definitely think that could be, J.R. for sure.
And I don't know if Jeff Hardy is savvy enough
to pull something like that off?
[crowd cheering]
[Tazz] It could be a sound strategy.
[crowd member whistling]
[Tazz] Oof.
[Ross] Triple H uncharacteristically--
-some little quickly… -[Tazz] Whoa, whoa.
[Ross] …but Jeff Hardy lands on his feet.
Hardy seems to be, in the last few moments,
about a half-a-step ahead of the champion.
[Tazz] Oh, maybe now that-- that might've end it.
-[Ross] It's almost in. -[Tazz] It's the Pedigree right here.
[Ross] This is now--
-[Tazz] Whoa, whoa, whoa! -[Ross] Hardy--oh, fights out.
And for the second time The Game goes sailing over the top rope,
almost to the same, identical place he was just a few moments ago.
[overlapping chatter]
[Tazz] Tell you what, maybe for the past few weeks
that all the comments that-- oh, wait a minute, wait, wait-- What?
-[Ross] Oh, my God. -[Tazz] Oh, man.
[Ross] Hardy tried a Plancha,
attempted a Plancha, keyword "attempted."
You heard the splat of Hardy's lower back and spine
hitting the floor.
[Tazz] Well, many have commented that beating Triple H on the recklessness,
the way that Jeff Hardy lives his life
and the way he-- his wrestling style-- look at this.
-Look at this. -[crowd groaning]
How do you explain that?
Here's another angle. Oh, my God.
[Ross] We are talking about Jeff Hardy's eagerness
-and how costly it can be. -[man] Ten seconds.
[Tazz] Triple H one step ahead of Jeff Hardy there.
Had the wherewithal to move out of the way,
crashed and burn with the number one contender.
-One! -[Ross] Triple H, I'm sure will be content
-to win this match via count out… -Two!
…and that's exactly what referee, Scott Armstrong,
is effecting at this moment.
[Tazz] I can't say I blame the champion… [chuckles]…
-but a win's a win to retain championship. -Four!
-[Ross] Without a doubt. -[groans]
[Ross] Referee's got a ten-count, he's up to five.
[Tazz] Uh-oh.
[crowd chatter]
[Ross] And The Game, works now the count has been broken
as Triple H not content to wait on a count.
-Here's a cover. -[Tazz] Whoa, whoa.
-One, two… -[Ross] And the count is a three--
no, it is a long two.
[Tazz] You got to be careful now if you're Jeff Hardy,
you do not wanna let Triple H bring that offense,
he possesses a potent, a vigorous offense.
[Ross] Hardy can expect a lot of high impact offense here
focused on his lower back.
The Game won't make many mistakes when he gets the opportunity
to be in the driver seat.
There are a few in the WWE that had--
that are able to affect The Game plan
as expertly and as almost error free as Triple H.
[Tazz] Well, pinpoint right to the lower back,
the exact spot which Jeff Hardy missed with that huge Plancha over the top rope.
And The Game has pinpointed the lower back spine region of Hardy.
[Ross] And now the kick out--
-Can Hardy kick out? -One, two--
[Tazz exclaims indistinctly]
[crowd cheering]
[Tazz] Yeah, look here-- this is-- this is the offense we're talking about,
right to the lower back
exactly where Hardy landed
sailing over the top rope moments ago.
-[Ross] Hardy seems fine. -[groans]
Trying to retaliate against the Cerebral Assassin
but what shape is Hardy's back in?
-[groans] -[Tazz] Oof.
[Ross] The Game, again high impact.
[Tazz] Got him here with a facebuster-- ooh.
-[Ross] The far leg got hooked… -[crowd cheering]
…and Jeff Hardy willed his way out of a pinning predicament.
[Tazz] Well, I think Jeff Hardy verbally has exemplified in the past few weeks
his desire to become WWE Champion.
Let's see-- but Jeff's in trouble.
[Ross] A wasted motion.
[Tazz] Oh, man.
[Ross] And Hardy instinctively able to get his shoulder up
and The Game locking eyes with the official.
[Ross] Referee was in a quite position, had a very consistent count,
but it's the resiliency and the will to be WWE Champion
that is keeping Jeff Hardy in this match.
[Tazz] Well, Jeff Hardy is known for being very resilient
in regards to absorbing punishment
and we're witnessing that right now, J.R., in a big way by the champion.
Let's go, come on, get out of the corner.
[both groan]
Hey, hey, hey, out of the corner, man.
[Ross] Shoulder blocks driving the air out of the number one contender
for the WWE title.
[Tazz] Like I tell you from experience when you're sucking air, man
when you cannot breath during the match
you just can't move too well, and it's hard to be effective.
[Ross] And the abdominal stretch.
[Tazz] Again, this will pull apart your ribs-- ribcage area,
your intercostal out of your lower back.
Great strategy by the WWE Champion.
One of the long standing submission maneuvers
in sports entertainment, the standing abdominal stretch.
[Tazz] It's been around for so many years because it's so effective.
[groans]
Your opponent is in such an awkward position,
body bent where it's not supposed to bend,
and you have all the leverage in the world that you could see
by Triple H here.
[crowd cheering]
[both scream]
[Ross] And Triple H having an unfair advantage.
[Tazz] Referee could not see it.
Hey, come on-- [indistinct]
You cannot hold onto the rope, you know that.
[Tazz] As if The Game didn't have enough leverage with the abdominal stretch.
When he pulled that top rope, for those who don't realize,
it gives a little bit more leverage, a little more torque on the maneuver.
[Ross] And The Game knew exactly what he was doing,
he broke the count before the referee's five count,
he broke on four, did not want to be disqualified.
[Ross] And now the sleeper.
And The Game has gone from Wilbur Snyder's abdominal stretch
to Pat O'Connor's sleeper.
Studying the greats of The Game and mastering their techniques.
[Tazz] Again the leverage, Triple H has all his body weight,
his chest, his upper body leaning at the back of the head of Jeff Hardy.
Can Jeff Hardy mount an offensive to get out of this-- Uh-oh.
[Ross] Hardy's-- double leg takedown, that wrap around clothesline,
almost like a lariat if you will.
But Jeff Hardy's got to create some up-tempo offense…
-Two! -or strike with something big…
-and do it sooner than later. -Three!
[Tazz] Let's take another look right here.
Like you said a whiplashing type of lariat. Ooh.
Down goes the champion and what-- here comes Hardy-- ooh.
[crowd cheering]
[Ross] We've talked about the manic man in motion…
-Portland! -[crowd cheering]
…and the ultimate risk taker is starting to feel it.
[Tazz] He's got to hit.
-[Ross] There's the count-- a two… -One, two…
[Ross] …and The Game able to kick out
with his WWE title at stake.
And a low effective dropkick.
-[Tazz] Here we go, here we go. -[Ross] Hardy not wasting any time.
[Ross] I like that strategy.
You hit with offense and go for the cover.
[Tazz] Yeah, no wasted motion, zoning for the kill right away.
Don't let Triple H now-- you got to be careful,
don't let him mount more offense.
-Whoa, look at this. -[crowd cheering]
[Ross] With that velocity,
Jeff Hardy managed to muster up The Game,
went sailing over the top turnbuckle.
[Tazz] Tremendous reversal,
The Game, the champion lands very hard on the outside…
-[Ross] Oh, look out, look out there. -[Tazz] Oh, buddy.
-[Ross] And Hardy hits it. -[woman squealing]
This time Hardy puts his body at risk one more time,
and this time, Hardy may have hit the home run that he was looking for.
[Tazz] It's so rare that you see a superstar
miss a huge maneuver like that as Hardy did earlier
and then come back with the confidence to hit it
this late in the match, impressive.
[Ross] The issue is that Jeff Hardy cannot win the title via count out.
But look at this, amazing.
[Tazz] Yeah, look at that, you-- you got to be kidding me,
that is just all of Jeff Hardy's body--
look at that, right into the face and upper body of Triple H.
[Ross] Hardy, fearless.
[Tazz] Both back in the ring now,
Jeff Hardy, the opportunity is knocking.
-[Ross] WWE title at stake. -[Tazz] Oh.
[Ross] Hardy's got to do anything and everything he can
to win this title and it could be here, it could be now?
[crowd exclaims]
[Tazz] Jeff Hardy very rarely gets frustrated,
he doesn't look frustrated now.
He looks focused.
-[grunts] -[Tazz] Oh, wow. Holy cow.
[Ross] And that was a slobberknocker and a clothesline,
big time impact by the WWE Champion…
-[Tazz] This might do it. -[Ross] …arm over, that's a cover,
it's a-- another two count.
[Tazz] Tell you what, you know, I dare you to find someone
who deliver anymore-- more impact than we just witnessed
with the clothesline, but--
well, Hardy goes for the Twist of Fate-- watch this impact, boom.
[Tazz] Oh, good God, man.
[Ross] Two of Friday Night SmackDown's greatest Superstars
going for the most coveted title of WWE,
and what a match-up,
what a main event here tonight at No Mercy.
[crowd chatter]
The Game has slowed the pace somewhat…
and strikes back again with the high impact.
[Tazz] Watch out. Oof.
[Ross] And Triple H at his feet,
-then paid for it. -[Tazz] Oh, man.
[Ross] Facebuster suplex.
[Tazz] Out of nowhere.
-[Ross] And Hardy with a half nelson-- -[Tazz] He's gonna get it, tried to--
[Ross] Trying to hook the leg couldn't quite get the leg hooked.
-[Tazz] Oh, whoa. -[Ross] Jeff Hardy very frustrated
that he couldn't hook the leg and get the three-count.
[Tazz] Both men trying to win this match so badly,
leaving it all in the ring, what a match.
[Ross] Great effort and great reason why.
We're glad you're with us, ladies and gentlemen,
around the world here for No Mercy.
-[Tazz] Watch out. -[Ross] Oh, what a counter.
-[Ross] The Game I think caught-- -[Tazz] Wow!
-[Ross] I'm not sure exactly what-- wait-- -[Tazz] Here we go, here we go.
-[Ross] Triple H is covering. -One, two…
[Tazz] He got him-- oh, oh.
[Ross] Well, referee's count is right on the money, every single time.
That was a hell of a counter in my book.
[Tazz] It was phenomenal, it looked and so quick.
It looked like Jeff Hardy was attempting Whisper in the Wind,
and Triple H just driving Hardy back on his back
which has been injured throughout this match.
[Ross] Hardy's back has got to be knotting up on him.
-And-- oh. -[Tazz] That's not gonna help.
[Ross] The AA Spinebuster is not gonna hurt--
help things here, right, Tazz?
[Tazz] I think The Game is in the zone right now, baby.
[Ross] The Spinebuster will see the collateral damage
it will have on Jeff Hardy's attempt to become WWE Champion.
[Tazz] I think I got a funny feeling of what's next.
It's Pedigree time.
-[Ross] And-- -[Tazz] Whoa.
Hardy counters the Pedigree.
[Tazz] Look at this.
[Ross] And-- oh. Ring post.
The Game's head hit the ring post.
-[Tazz] He's going to-- oh. -[Ross] Whisper in the Wind.
The Whisper in the Wind.
-We can have a new-- -[Tazz] New champ, new champ.
-[Ross] Oh, God. -[Tazz] Oh, man.
-[crowd groaning] -[Ross] You can't get any closer,
and not be the WWE Champion
than that exchange with Jeff Hardy
and the reigning champion.
[Tazz] Take a look at this. Face first goes The Game,
and the quickness of Jeff Hardy,
to drill Triple H of Whisper in the Wind
one second away for a new champion.
-One, two… -[Ross] Look at this.
The referee's hand was inches away,
and Hardy again creating offense.
[crowd cheering, roaring]
[Ross] Jeff Hardy looking to grab that brass ring,
to make history…
[Tazz] Here goes Hardy. Here he goes.
[Ross] Oh, Hardy miss the Swanton
and will that be the beginning of the end…
[Tazz] Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh.
[Ross] Again, he fighting for the Pedigree.
-[Tazz] Whoa, look at this. -[Ross] Hardy fought-- Oh!
Twist of Fate, Twist of Fate.
[Tazz] Jeff Hardy bringing his A game.
Hardy going where he belongs here.
[Ross] My God, Hardy turned the Pedigree.
-Hardy-- -[Tazz] He's doing it.
[Ross] Hardy hits-- Jeff Hardy hits.
-Swanton. Swanton. -[Tazz] Hardy's gonna do it here.
-[Ross] The legs is up. -[Tazz] Oh, what a counter.
-[crowd] One, two, three! -[bell ringing]
[Ross] Oh, my God. Oh, my God, what a counter.
[Tazz] Oh, man.
["The Game" playing]
[announcer] The winner of this match,
and still WWE Champion,
Triple H.
[Tazz] Ho, ho, man. Whew.
Wow. What a match.
[Ross] What a main event, ladies and gentlemen.
My God, I cannot believe the counter.
Jeff Hardy…
hits the Twist of Fate, hits the Swanton.
[Tazz] Well, victory was just steps away
and seconds from Jeff Hardy.
Triple H, just second-- a second away to losing to Jeff Hardy, J.R.,
just, boom, just like that The Game wins. Wow.
[Ross] An amazing-- an amazing athletic contest
by two phenomenal, phenomenal athletes,
representing Friday Night SmackDown.
Jeff Hardy, it looked like it was to be Hardy's night.
He countered a Pedigree, not once but twice.
[Tazz] I'm telling you, Jeff Hardy was so close.
So, so close, he misses this one here.
He misses this Swanton bomb.
But Hardy fought back in it, he fought back in it
and The Game looked to capitalize.
But, look at this counter.
Yeah, this is when-- this is when we thought it was over then boom,
and a Twist of Fate was so close right here was Jeff Hardy.
[Ross] And another chance, another chance--
[Tazz] Oh, he nails it.
[Ross] And that time the Swanton hit him.
That hooligan under the-- under the headlamps, the count.
-[crowd] One, two, three! -Right there, there, there.
[Tazz] Unreal counter.
Tremendous match sense by the WWE Champion
to realize where he was.
Great match by both individuals.
[Ross] Wow.
Man, that was one of the most competitive,
compelling WWE Championship matches
I can ever remember seeing.
[Tazz] I agree with that. No doubt about that.
I tell you, Jeff Hardy--
God, I just feel for the guy, he was so close.
[Ross] Hardy showing his respect, and his class
as does the WWE Champion.
Jeff Hardy, on more than one occasion,
was no more than a second away from leaving this arena,
as the WWE Champion.
An amazing-- an amazing match-up.
["The Game" playing]
[Ross] Certainly, ladies and gentlemen, that closing sequence,
worth yet another look.
How can you ever forget this?
Jeff Hardy, he missed the Swanton.
It looked like it would be over, Tazz.
[Tazz] Oh, yeah, but then an amazing counter by the number one contender,
countering the Pedigree.
-Twist of Faith. That's unbelievable. -[Ross] Look at this turn of events.
You've countered your champion's best maneuver.
You hit him with Hardy's biggest, biggest maneuver.
We all thought it was over.
[Tazz] And you see, he's got a hold-- he had it all here now.
-[Ross] Hey, watch this! -[Tazz] Snatched away.
It's just a second away and then… Triple H…
-[bell ringing] -…had the ability to counter with a match.
-[Tazz] Oh, my God. -[Ross] What a physical, grueling match,
and then…
-[announcer speaking indistinctly] -…a touch of class
for Friday Night SmackDown's best.
[announcer] …Triple H.
What a match, congratulations.
-Thank you, sir. -I thought he had you.
Just a matter of time, right?
That's why you are who you are, buddy.
-Congratulations. Great. Good job. -Thanks, sir. Thank you.
[pants]
[crowd groaning]
[speaking in Russian]
Congratulations.
[heavy breaths]
Now, the Moscow Mauler, Vladimir Kozlov,
making quite the impression, but again, congratulations to Triple H
retaining the WWE Championship.
But ladies and gentlemen, coming up next,
it is the main event for the World Heavyweight Championship
in a Ladder Match.
[Jerry] Without a doubt. There you see it.
Chris Jericho, the World Heavyweight Champion.
Shawn Michaels wants the gold and this is so personal.
[Michael] Yeah, a match more personal,
more emotional than any in recent memory.
This time the World title is at stake.
-[suspenseful music playing] -[Jericho] I am Chris Jericho
and I'm the new World Heavyweight Champion.
For those of you who didn't see Unforgiven,
let me explain to you exactly what happened.
I faced the wrath of the self-righteous hypocrite named Shawn Michaels.
He mauled me,
the tip of his belt discolored the flesh of my back.
Shawn's hand might have been raised as the winner,
but that match was an unsanctioned match.
That means it's not official,
so, in essence, what has Shawn Michaels really accomplished?
Nothing.
What did I accomplished?
[Michael] Hey, now what?
[Jerry] Jericho just got a pinfall on Kane.
With two, one,
-it's over. -[buzzer buzzes]
[Michael] Jericho is the World Champion.
What in the world…
[Jerry] What happened?
A horrible night for Chris Jericho
has turned into the night of his life.
[Adamle] Congratulations.
Um, celebrate now because I need you to start focusing on numbers.
Numbers? [scoffs]
If you wanna make it in this job,
you have to learn to take care of your champion.
I'm your most valuable asset on this show.
You need to take care of me.
Chris, I hear you,
but I was approached by someone else.
And that someone had an idea for a title match
that was so exciting,
I couldn't pass it up.
Let me introduce your opponent,
at No Mercy for the World Heavyweight Championship.
[tense music playing]
["Sexy Boy" playing]
♪ I think I'm cute… ♪
[Shawn] I know what you're thinking, Chris,
what more can you and I possibly do to one another?
That is not only thrilling,
but will allow me to permanently disfigure you.
There's a match that some people say I revolutionized.
At No Mercy,
it is gonna be "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels
versus Chris Jericho
for the World Heavyweight Championship in a…
Ladder Match.
[Jericho] Here's a newsflash for you,
I have won more high profile Ladder Matches
than Shawn Michaels has ever appeared in,
in his entire life.
And now Shawn has trapped himself in a corner
because in his quest to feed his ego,
Shawn has requested a Ladder Match,
and all that's done is given me a weapon of destruction.
There is not another man on this planet
who knows how to maim and hurt somebody
with a ladder more than me.
At No Mercy,
the very last thing that you will all see is this,
Chris Jericho still…
the World Heavyweight Champion.
[song ends]
["Break The Walls Down" playing]
[explosions]
♪ Come on ♪
♪ You know I got ya, yeah ♪
♪ One, break the walls down ♪
♪ Break down the walls ♪
♪ For those about to rock, I'm what ya want ♪
♪ Baby, you know you're Judas And I'm your priest… ♪
[Michael] Ladies and gentlemen, the World Champion Chris Jericho
has built a legacy on his own
in the Ladder Match.
Four times in his career he has been successful
in high profile Ladder Matches with titles on the line.
He's been involved with tables, ladders, and chairs,
two Money in the Bank matches.
He has the experience that hasn't stopped from walking under the ladder,
he will not be intimidated.
[Jerry] It is not superstitious,
but this is all about the World Heavyweight Championship,
and it's a Ladder Match, Michael.
And what that means is…
that championship is hung high above the ring as you can see right there.
The only way you win this match
is to climb that ladder and get the gold.
Pitfalls don't count,
you can't be disqualified, counted out.
None of that matters.
It's about climbing the ladder, grabbing the gold.
[Michael] And the other part of the equation is,
-you can use the ladder as a weapon. -[Jerry] Oh, man.
[Michael] As Chris Jericho demonstrated on Raw last Monday night.
You can use that ladder as a battering ram in Jericho's words,
as he looks up at the World title hanging 15 feet above the ring.
[crowd booing, cheering]
[crowd chanting] Y2J! Y2J! Y2J…
["Sexy Boy" playing]
♪ I think I'm cute ♪
♪ I know I'm sexy ♪
♪ I've got the looks ♪
♪ That drive the girls wild ♪
♪ I've got the moves ♪
♪ That really move 'em ♪
♪ I send chills ♪
♪ Up and down their spines ♪
♪ I'm just a sexy boy ♪
♪ Sexy boy ♪
♪ I'm not your boy toy ♪
♪ Boy toy ♪
-♪ I'm just a sexy boy ♪ -[explosions]
♪ Sexy boy ♪
♪ I'm not your boy toy ♪
♪ Boy toy… ♪
[Michael] In the home of the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers,
you are looking at a true trailblazer,
one of the greatest superstars of all time, Shawn Michaels.
And it was in Madison Square Garden in WrestleMania X
that Shawn Michaels set the bar
in a sense, in a rebel and he revolutionized the Ladder Match.
A stairway battle that has become part of sports entertainment more.
You were there that night, Jerry "The King" Lawler,
you experienced the start of this revolution.
[Jerry] Well, that's-- that's right.
I guess that's factual
but… not according to Chris Jericho.
Jericho says that he is the man
who has won more Ladder Matches than Shawn Michaels has ever been in.
[Michael] Shawn Michaels driven by passion
and a desire to punish Jericho.
The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels
has promised Chris Jericho the worst is yet to come.
[song ends]
[bell ringing]
[announcer] The following is a Ladder Match
and it is for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Introducing the challenger
from San Antonio, Texas,
The Heartbreak Kid,
Shawn Michaels.
[crowd cheering]
[announcer] And weighing in at 226 pounds,
he is the World Heavyweight Champion,
Chris Jericho.
[crowd booing]
[crowd chatter]
[Jerry] Both men standing under the gold. There's the bell.
[Michael] And we are on the way.
Months and months of these two men embroiled in a personal rivalry
has come down to this for the World Heavyweight Championship.
And King, you are looking at two of the…
greatest sports entertainers in history in this match-up.
Impressive resumes for both.
Shawn Michaels, a three-time WWE Champion,
a World Champion, Intercontinental champion.
Chris Jericho, the first WWE undisputed champion,
an eight-time Intercontinental champion.
[crowd chatter]
[Michael] Shawn Michaels went for Sweet Chin Music early.
It'd been a… [indistinct] …would have been easy to pull on the ladder,
climb to the top and grab the gold.
[crowd chatter]
-[slaps hard] -[all groaning]
[Michael] Shawn Michaels would love to take his time
and punish Jericho here tonight while the taking the title.
With shoulder first into the steel post
and you can hear the crack here in the Rose Garden.
[crowd chatter]
[Jerry] Well, brutal in any way,
Shawn would wanna take his time.
He's out one more time.
-[crowd cheering] -[groans]
[Michael] Look at Jericho,
remember no pitfalls or submissions in this matchup.
[Jerry] Whoa, look at the strength of Shawn Michaels.
[crowd cheering]
[Michael] In backslide position there, but again, without a pitfall,
Michaels' released Jericho with a strike right in the head
to The Heartbreak Kid.
The type of strategy to be employing in this type of a Ladder Match game.
-[Jerry] Well… -[groans]
you know, the strategy--
the strategy to achieve the outcome that you want is simple,
you've got to climb that ladder, you've got to get up there
and get to go before your opponent, but you can't figure the strategy
that either one of these men are going to use
-because this is so personal. -[crowd chatter]
-[Michael] Do anything along the way. -[Jerry] These men truly detest
each other, there's an example lying right there.
I mean, they don't-- certainly, why do they wanna become--
and be the World Heavyweight champion but you can tell by this move right here
that Chris Jericho and vice versa,
Shawn Michaels will risk and do absolutely anything to--
as they said, maim, hurt,
permanently disfigure their opponent.
Come on, Michaels.
[crowd chatter]
[Michael] The main thing is to win the World Championship.
-[Jerry] Watch that ladder. -[Michael] And you've got to climb
the ladder to get-- and Shawn Michaels doing the Ladder Match shows why
as he takes out Jericho.
[Jerry] And that's just a little quick example of what
we're going to see in this match, and you see that ladder
already set up right outside the ring but I don't know if we've been able to see
or if you can see out of the corner of your eyes,
look, all around the ring, there are ladders.
-[indistinct] -[groans]
[Michael] Shoulder injured earlier on in the match-up.
Again, the victim of the attack that time on the steel post.
And Jericho now going to drag the ladder into the ring perhaps,
grab the opportunity to climb 15 feet to the title.
[Jerry] Well, perhaps as you said earlier, use it as a weapon,
I think that's what Jericho has in mind right now.
[crowd chatter]
[Michael] And I believe Jericho's stall bounced off the ladder.
Great move by Shawn Michaels.
[crowd chatter]
-[man] Get him, Shawn. -[woman] Come on, Shawn.
[Michael] He would love to take the title from Jericho,
we all know how much being champion means
for the narcissistic Jericho.
[Jerry] Shawn Michaels is smart, I mean, he set Jericho up on that last--
but now look at-- a little outsmarting there from Jericho.
[Michael] And Jericho, pull it for the Walls of Jericho.
Again, you cannot win by submission, but if you can wear your opponent down
and keep him down, it makes it easier to climb the ladder.
[Jerry] Right. That's not about winning the match,
that's about setting up to win the match.
[man] Come on, HBK!
[Michael] So much has gone on between these two men in recent months,
the eye injury to Shawn Michaels,
the accidental striking to Shawn Michaels' wife by Jericho
back at SummerSlam,
the unsanctioned match back at Unforgiven.
[Jerry] Oh. And here tonight for the World title.
[Jerry] Oh.
And the ladder blasted right into the face of Jericho.
[Michael] That will drive some teeth out of your mouth.
With the ladder up under the chin of Jericho.
[indistinct]
[Jerry] Oh, I couldn't tell where it hit him.
But let's see here, oh, right on the side of the temple.
[Michael] With Shawn in control,
trying to set that ladder up, again, the object to the match
is to climb the ladder to get to the championship.
[Jerry] And there is a ladder in the ring,
the ladder in play, here we go.
[Michael] It will be Shawn Michaels to make the first attempt
to unhook the championship
-hanging above the ring. -[crowd cheering]
Michaels' closing in,
Jericho realizing what's going on,
preventing Michaels from getting to his title.
[Jerry] I think as you can see it, Jericho…
already busted lips from that ladder.
Look out here.
[Michael] Jericho, as Michaels roll through,
let's do-- turn Michaels to his belly again
-to the Walls of Jericho. -[Jerry] Oh, look at this. Here we go.
[Michael] Shawn Michaels, he's gonna go to the top of the ladder
-trying to get to the World Championship-- -[Jerry] Got his hands on it-- oh.
[Michael] And Jericho…
[Jerry] Oh, man, Shawn Michaels
literally hung out the ground on that top rope.
[Michael] A desperate yet effective move by the champion, Jericho.
Michaels was fingertip away from getting to the title.
[Jerry] This match-- these Ladder Matches can be so brutal.
Look, the disfiguring has already begun.
This is my favorite shot here.
[Michael] That is how close Shawn Michaels was.
[Jerry] We call that the Wile E. Coyote cam.
Let's see how far Shawn Michaels fell.
It just keeps getting smaller and smaller.
[Michael] And Jericho, instead of using the ladder--
[Jerry] Oh, watch out, watch out there.
[Michael] That's a battering ram that he did there…
-for the ribs of-- -[Jerry] Oh.
-[Michael] Lower back of Shawn Michaels. -Oh, God.
[Michael] And Michaels has his back and rib injuries throughout his career.
-[Shawn] Oh, God. -[Jerry] Now, there it is.
Jericho, tasting his own blood already in this match
as he's going to add fuel to the fire.
[Michael] Battering ram right in the ribs.
[crowd cheering]
[Michael] Jericho with his obsession to step out of what he calls
the shadow of Shawn Michaels,
to win this match and take his rightful place
as one of the greatest champions ever.
[crowd cheering]
Oh, God.
[Michael] That's what this match is about for Jericho.
[Jerry] Shawn Michaels' in a lot of pain,
he may have a broken rib right from the-- shot from the side arrow.
[Michael] You know went for the reverse, but he didn't have enough.
And hung up on the top rope.
Watch out, Jericho is going for the running bulldog
at Shawn Michaels' counter
and it's Jericho now in trouble.
[Jerry] Woah, woah, woah.
[Michael] Jerry, Jericho's knee and leg are wrapped around inside that ladder.
[crowd cheering]
[Jerry] That unforgiving ladder.
[Michael] There's no bend in that ladder.
[Jerry] Watch this one time.
The only thing that hampers--
Oh-- is that right leg of Jericho.
[Michael] And now Shawn Michaels
in a recent interview said
the best thing about jumping off the ladder is the roar of the crowd,
is roaring in the control here against Jericho.
Looking to punish the man
who has just attacked Michaels in every turn.
[crowd cheering]
[Jerry] And I think Shawn Michaels realizes,
you know, he wants to hurt Jericho.
He's made no bones about that.
And he won't apologize for it either.
But I think he realizes that--
as you said Jericho is so narcissistic.
-[Michael] On the other-- -[Jerry] Oh.
That one of the ways he can hurt Jericho most
is to take that World Heavyweight Championship away from him.
[Michael] And this is where the veteran Shawn Michaels is so dangerous.
-[Jerry] Hey, hey, hey. -[Michael] And saves with a man
he retired at WrestleMania.
Shawn Michaels with a figure-four leglock,
-vintage Ric Flair. -[Jerry] Well, this won't win the match,
but it sure could make it hard for Jericho to climb a ladder.
[Michael] It will wear down the already injured knee of Chris Jericho.
-Oh. -[Jerry] Oh, man.
[Michael] How resilient was that?
[Jerry] Oh.
[referee] Are you all right?
[Michael] The sickening fun.
Jericho hit the wherewithal
to bounce the ladder off the post
and into the face of The Heartbreak Kid.
[Jerry] Well, if Jericho has the wherewithal then--
I would climb the ladder right now.
Michaels…
that was devastating.
Watch this right into the face of Shawn Michaels.
[Michael] Oh, in the face again.
[crowd cheering]
Shawn, can you still continue?
Shawn, is everything all right?
[Jerry] And that's Shawn Michaels holding that eye
that's been injured earlier by Chris Jericho.
[Michael] You spoke about that earlier on.
Chris Jericho attacked the eye for months
causing Shawn Michaels to miss a ton of action,
almost forcing Shawn Michaels to retire.
[groans]
The eye injury and then, the plethora of other injuries
-Michaels has suffered in his career. -[groans]
Listen and watch the impact.
[crowd cheering]
[Michael] And, look, oh, Chris Jericho,
going at his skull after that injured eye,
face down in the steel ladder.
[crowd cheering]
-[screams] -[Jerry] Michaels didn't see this coming.
Oh, but he sure feels it.
[Michael] And it might be Jericho who permanently disfigures Michaels,
not the other way around as Shawn had predicted.
[Jerry] Well… I thought we--
we're gonna see the last of Shawn Michaels.
He was-- he came here to hang it up.
Let's watch this one more time and listen. Oh.
-[screams] -[crowd cheering]
[Michael] And it's Chris Jericho making his first attempt
to climb the ladder,
to get to his World Championship.
But the injured knee may have slowed Jericho down enough.
Will it allow Shawn Michaels time to counter defensively?
And it does. And now it's Jericho, but he landed on his feet.
-[Jerry] Oh. -[Michael] And went back on the attack.
[Jerry] Well, that's what Jericho was doing,
what you call defensive climbing.
You know he knew-- he saw that Shawn Michaels was to his knees
and gonna be able to do something with that ladder, so.
[crowd chatter]
[Jerry] Look how early climbed into the end.
As we said Shawn able to knock that ladder over-- oh.
[Michael] Well, look at how Jericho has strategically placed
that ladder on the top rope.
[Jerry] You know what, I think Shawn's vision is impaired.
You give me an offense, huh.
[Michael] The Great American Bash that visual impairment
caused the match to Shawn Michaels
and Jericho togged him in the eye.
-[Jerry] He's aiming on Shawn's head. -[Michael] Oh, no.
[crowd cheering]
[Michael] It's Jericho who feels the ladder's wrath.
[Jerry] Look out-- look out, Shawn.
Jericho had every intention of ramming
Shawn Michaels face first into that ladder.
[Michael] And with Jericho fallen and thrown outside the ring,
it could be Shawn Michaels' golden opportunity with that ladder.
[crowd cheering]
[Michael] You could feel the tension building among the WWE fans.
[Jerry] But look at this.
[Michael] But Shawn Michaels hell-bent on maiming Jericho.
[Jerry] I think without a doubt, Shawn could have set that ladder up
and climbed up and got the championship, like you said.
[crowd chatter]
[Jerry] He so intent on destroying Chris Jericho.
Wait a minute.
That ladder's even bigger than the other one.
[indistinct chatter]
[Michael] One can only wonder what goes through the mind of Shawn Michaels.
-[man 1] Look up. -[man 2] Let's go Shawn.
-[Jerry] No, not again. -[Michael] Oh.
[crowd cheering]
-Oh! [man] One more time!
[Michael] Steel ladder crushing not once,
not twice, but three times to the champion.
[Jerry] Jericho telling us about the scars in the encounter.
[crowd cheering]
[Michael] We've seen that look in the eye
of Shawn Michaels only a few times in his career.
[crowd chatter]
[Michael] Shawn Michaels who throughout his career
has always been in the eye of the storm.
[crowd chatter]
-[grunts] -Oh, my God!
[Michael] And he's about to unleash a hurricane on Chris Jericho
and Shawn Michaels with Jericho down and on the announce table to our left.
Shawn Michaels climbing to the top.
[crowd cheering]
[Jerry] Shawn, I don't know if this is a good idea.
[Michael] But Jericho is still…
[Jerry] Shawn Michaels, I don't believe realizes…
[crowd chatter]
-[Jerry] Oh, no. -[Michael] What in the world? No.
[crowd cheering]
[Michael] Jericho and Shawn tattering.
No, both fell!
-[crowd cheering] -[groans]
[groans]
[Jerry] Well, that-- that did the damage,
but I don't think that's exactly what Shawn Michaels had in mind.
He took as much of that impact as Chris Jericho did.
Both men down.
[Michael] Well, which one of these superstars
will be able to capitalize if any of them?
[Jerry] Look at-- Oh.
Well, watching it again,
I think maybe Jericho took the brunt of the fall.
[Michael] Pieces of that announce table, screws are out loose.
[Jerry] Yeah, Shawn Michaels landing
with Jericho's body between him and the table.
[Michael] But it's Shawn Michaels, the first to stir.
Shawn Michaels, the first to try
somehow to desperately get back into the ring,
to somehow set up the ladder,
to somehow grab the World title.
[crowd cheering]
[man] All right.
-Shawn Michaels to your knees, son. -[Jerry] Now, I think that--
I think that Shawn Michaels could do that.
I think that Shawn Michaels could get to the ladder and get--
if he could get in the ring but…
[Michael] You see the look at Chris Jericho's eyes
as he peered in over our announce table, King?
-Just a glassy look. -[Jerry] Yeah.
His eyes are completely glazed over.
I don't know if Chris Jericho knows where he is right now.
[Michael] Well, he better find out where he is quickly
because his World Championship hangs in the balance
literally, 15 feet above the ring.
[man] Come on, Jericho.
[crowd cheering]
[Jerry] Oh, what in the-- what in a world is Shawn gonna do now?
[crowd cheering]
[Michael] You're asking the wrong man.
The Heartbreak Kid to the top rope.
-[Jerry] What is Shawn Michaels-- -[Michael] Oh!
But this time, it's Jericho who countered.
[crowd chatter]
[Jerry] Oh, man. Shawn's straddled at top turn buckle.
-[crowd chatter] -What?
[man] Come on, Jericho.
[Michael] What a physical battle
between two great superstars from Monday Night Raw,
Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels,
for the World Championship.
[crowd cheering]
[Michael] Jericho first at the top of the ladder,
Shawn on the top rope.
[crowd chatter]
[Jerry] What is Jericho gonna try to--
he's gonna get the suplex or superplex Shawn
into the ring that--
[Michael] I believe that's what he was thinking.
[crowd booing, cheering]
-[Jerry] Shawn. Oh. -[Michael] Shawn!
How good must that have felt for The Heartbreak Kid.
[Jerry] Well, it's not through yet.
[Michael] Shawn Michaels top rope,
Chris Jericho in trouble,
that steel ladder aimed to the heart.
-[yells] -[Jerry] Oh, that ladder into the heart
-of Chris Jericho. -Oh, God. Oh, God.
-[groans] -[crowd cheering]
[Jerry] Man, and Shawn may have cracked his own arm on that.
What was he thinking?
[Michael] Well, that's how much punishing Jericho
and winning the World Championship means for Shawn Michaels.
[crowd cheering]
[Jerry] One more time. Look at Jericho fall.
And then, let's see, what Shawn's elbow-- oh, yes.
-Oh, he hit the ladder. -Oh, God.
[crowd chatter]
[Michael] That Shawn Michaels…
could be tuning up the band
which could spell the end of Jericho's reign as champion.
[Jerry] If Shawn Michaels could hit that Sweet Chin Music
that could buy him enough to time to set the ladder up,
climb up and get the World Heavyweight Championship.
-But don't ever count-- oh. -[Michael] Oh.
[crowd cheering]
[Michael] Michaels pulls it in for Sweet Chin Music
and the resilient Jericho using the ladder again
as a defense mechanism.
Almost used it like an offensive line,
protecting him as Michaels went in for the super kick.
[Jerry] What did I say? You don't ever count out Jericho.
[crowd cheering]
[Jerry] One more time, look at that.
[crowd cheering]
[Michael] And it's Chris Jericho.
The remorseless Jericho.
Did a Lion Assault to the steel ladder
into the ribs and chest of Shawn Michaels.
[crowd cheering]
[Jerry] This match is so unpredictable
because I think even these guys don't know what they're going to do next.
That ladder presents opportunity after opportunity.
-[man] Let's go, Shawn. -And pulling out all the stops.
[Michael] As Michaels thrives in pain,
Jericho plots his next strategy
in a match-up that's had twists and turns since the beginning.
[Jerry] Oh, no.
Jericho pinning Shawn Michaels under that ladder.
[Jericho] You see my offense, Michaels, huh?
You see my offense, huh?
[crowd chatter]
[Michael] And as Michaels is pinned under the ladder,
it may allow Jericho time to climb to the top
and retrieve the World title.
Michaels is helpless. Jericho with all his weight on the ladder.
[Jerry] I don't think Shawn can get out of there.
-I don't think he could… -[Michael] No, he's in prison. He's--
[Jerry] Hey, hey, hey, hey.
[Michael] But he can do this.
Jericho realizing he's in trouble.
[Jerry screams] Look at the strength-- oh, my God.
[Michael] He's gonna fall.
-[Jerry] Oh, my God. -[crowd roaring]
[Michael] From some near 15 feet in the air.
[screams in pain]
[referee speaks indistinctly]
[groans]
[Michael] And Chris Jericho may have blown out the knee on the fall.
[Jerry] If he didn't, that's a miracle.
How would he not break his leg or ankle?
[Michael] Can you imagine what Jericho is thinking and feeling--
[Jerry] Watch this. Watch how far-- Oh.
[Michael] And the WWE Universe willing Shawn Michaels on,
trying to get Michaels to set up the ladder
and get to the top and grab the gold.
Jericho is nearly-- he's nearly out of it, King.
[Jerry] Well, Shawn Michaels has fulfilled his promise.
He has truly revolutionized this Ladder Match.
I've never seen a move like that.
He was pinned under that ladder.
[Michael] And Shawn Michaels…
trying desperately to climb that ladder
to get to the gold as the champion still
crawling his way toward the ring.
It's desperate times for Jericho.
Michaels is there.
He's a hand away.
Shawn Michaels a hand away to becoming the World Champion
-and a desperate Jericho. -[Jerry] Watch it. Watch it. Watch it.
-[Michael] Can Shawn do it? -[Jerry] Oh, man.
[Michael] It's Jericho.
[crowd chatter]
-[Jerry] Oh, what a nightmare. -[Michael] Oh, what a nasty fall.
[Jerry] Shawn was close. He had his hand, all he had to do…
Well, he's just set and done, but all he had to do
was finally unsnap that championship belt
and get it in his grasp but…
[Michael] But this seesaw battle has now shifted back to the champion.
And Jericho looking to climb the ladder.
It's Michaels who's down and out now.
It's Jericho with the advantage.
[crowd cheering]
[Jerry] How is Jericho able to climb?
I thought he surely he had broken his leg
or blown his knee completely out and he may have.
[Michael] Jericho on one leg climbing the ladder.
It's Shawn Michaels on the defensive.
It's a race to the top. It's a race to get it.
-[Jerry] Jericho's got it. Jericho-- -[Michael] Jericho is there.
Michaels is there as well.
-These two great superstars. -[Jerry] Oh.
[Michael] Face to face at the top of the ladder,
near 15 feet above the ring.
[crowd cheering]
[Jerry] Oh, now, these men are just trading blows.
[Michael] First man to fall
will lose the World title.
Almost both men down.
[Jerry] Oh, Jericho's hung up.
[Michael] The Cade, what the hell?
[Jerry] It's Lance Cade.
[Michael] It's Jericho's buddy, Lance Cade.
-[Jerry] What is this? -[Michael] Lance Cade.
[Jerry] Jericho hung upside down and without Lance Cade's aid,
Shawn would already be the champion.
[Michael] And there's no disqualification,
the referee's helpless, can't do anything about it.
Sweet Chin Music.
-But Jericho… -[Jerry] Jericho's up.
[Michael] Jericho's righted himself.
The champion's climbing.
The champion near the top.
Shawn Michaels in a race to get to the title.
-[crowd cheering] -Michaels counters.
Michaels has the goal.
-[Jerry] No, Jericho. -[Michael] Now, it's Jericho.
Now both men do.
[crowd cheering]
[Michael] It's unstrapped. The championship's been unhooked.
-[Jerry] Who's got it, Jericho? -[Michael] Shawn's got it.
[Jerry] No, Jericho.
[Michael] They both got it.
Shawn's got it and Jericho's got it.
-Both men tattering at the ladder. -[Jerry] Look at this…
-[Michael] The championship… -[Jerry] It's a tug of war.
-[Michael] …hangs in the balance. -[Jerry] Holy marbles.
[Michael] Shawn with two hands.
Jericho with…
[crowd cheering]
[Jerry] Jericho pulling with his entire body weight.
[Michael] Shawn trying to get the other half of the title.
[crowd cheering]
-[Michael] What a dramatic moment. -[thuds]
[Jerry] Oh, heads up.
[Michael] And Jericho…
-retains the championship. -[bell ringing]
[crowd cheering]
["Break The Walls Down" playing]
[announcer] Here is your winner
and still the World Heavyweight champion,
Chris Jericho.
[Jerry] My gosh. What a war.
[Michael] Jericho in the right place at the right time again, well timed.
But somehow Jericho retains the title.
[Jerry] Well…
you can say he's lucky, if you want to.
And that maybe true.
But both Jericho and Michaels had the title in their grasps,
but Jericho somehow-- watch this again.
Jericho comes down with it.
[Michael] One of the most dramatic moments in Ladder Match history.
-[Jerry] Oh. -[Michael] An inverted headbutt
allows Jericho to grab the gold
and retain the championship.
[Jerry] Battered, bloodied, bruised…
but still the World Heavyweight champion.
[Michael] Jericho claimed that winning this match-up
would allow him to take his rightful place as one of the greatest champions ever.
Chris Jericho, retaining the World Heavyweight title
with the win over Shawn Michaels.
[Jerry] What a match.
♪ For those about to rock ♪
♪ Set the clock ♪
[Michael] I mean, between Triple H and Jeff Hardy,
and now Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels,
I don't think you can get two better title matches on one night.
[Jerry] Let's look one more time.
Shawn Michaels had the match won
and Lance Cade knew it
-and that's why he showed up. -[groans]
[Michael] He was obsessed with it.
And then, again the dramatic closing moments.
Just watch. Just watch and listen.
[crowd cheering]
[Jerry] I think Shawn actually pulled Jericho in… to that…
-[bell ringing] -…like you said in inverted headbutt.
Oh, man.
[Michael] Jericho, at the right place, at the right time again.
He continues to do it week after week
as the World Heavyweight champion.
[Jerry] Well, you can say that lady luck's smiling on him.
Look at his teeth-- are broken…
bloodied…
bruised…
but he still is the World Heavyweight champion.
[Michael] Such a disappointing night for The Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels,
who put on one heck of a battle
against the reigning champion, Chris Jericho.
♪ Step into the light And then you'll know… ♪
[Michael] Thank you for joining us for No Mercy.
[Jerry] Oh, man.