W.W.E.:No Mercy, No Y2J

No Mercy aired last night from Chicago, Illinois and by and large it was a pretty good show. Vince McMahon and Raw G.M. Steven Regal strutted down to the ring at the opening of the pay-per-view where Mr. McMahon grabbed the microphone and drew the fan's ire by stating that he always gives them what they want, all the while the fans were chanting, "Y2J." McMahon quickly shot them down essentially saying that there will be a championship match for the W.W.E. title taking place, but it won't involve Chris Jericho.

McMahon goes on to declare Randy Orton the new champ in place of the injured John Cena. Orton comes down to the ring and grabs hold of the title like it is the holy grail itself. Triple H interrupts the festivities and hits the ring with a challenge to Orton. Initially reluctant, McMahon gives in after his manhood was challenged by Triple H (who is also his son-in-law). Vince McMahon screamed for a referee and for the bell to be rung so that right then and there Triple H would challenge Randy Orton for pro wrestling's most prestigious world championship, the W.W.E. strap.

This was a really good match with two of the best in the business going at it. Triple H wins, but does not have long to celebrate as backstage McMahon says that the originally scheduled bout between Triple H and Umaga would indeed take place, and that the W.W.E. title would be up for grabs. A few matches later Triple H defeats Umaga, thus ending their feud and probably Umaga's time on Monday Night Raw. Rumors abound that the "Samoan Bulldozer" will go to Smackdown in a trade for "The World's Strongest Man"Mark Henry.

Triple H, a.k.a. Hunter Hearst Helmsley, does not come out of this match with Umaga unscathed. No, it seems his ribs are pretty banged up. So enter Mr. McMahon. He now says that Randy Orton has demanded that his automatic rematch for the title would take place at the end of No Mercy. Oh yeah, in a "Last Man Standing" match!

The two face off against each other to conclude the evening in one of the better bouts I've seen in recent memory. They use every object in the arena to knock each other out. Both men come close to not making it to their feet by the referee's ten count on several occasions, however, in the end it would be Randy Orton who would make it to his feet before Triple H. So the W.W.E. Champ is Randy Orton.

The rest of the card was pretty good, there was a six man tag team match won by Mr. Kennedy and the W.W.E Tag Team Champions Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch over high-flyers Jeff Hardy, Brian Kendrick, and Paul London. The W.W.E. women's title changed hands when Beth"The Glamazon"Phoenix defeated Playboy centerfold, Candice Michelle in a match that was a great opportunity to go use the restroom or refill your glass with more soda.

Matt Hardy and M.V.P. had a pizza eating contest, which Hardy won but then ended up throwing up on M.V.P.

Batista defeated The Great Khali in a "Punjabi Prison" match. The ending was great, overall, neither one of these guys is very good. I'm not sure how Batista is World Champion, but he is at least for the time being.

No Edge and no Chris Jericho at No Mercy. There were reports that one or both would show up and involve themselves somehow in one of the main events. The fans were cheering for Jericho and holding "Y2J" signs up, to no avail. They did air one of those "Save Us" promos and I'm sure there will be a new one tonight on Monday Night Raw. I guess it makes sense that Jericho return at Cyber Sunday which is at the end of this month. Edge is scheduled to come back at the Survivor Series in November. So neither wrestler's return was pushed up. A bit disappointing to me.

THREE COUNTS
- The John Cena injury really hurts the W.W.E. The next couple of months they are getting some more guys back from injury such as the aforementioned Edge, Shawn Michaels, and Bobby Lashley. All through 2007 the promotion has had a depleted roster due to injury, suspension, or otherwise. Hopefully, Jericho will bring some more intrigue into the product.

- I have no idea why the W.W.E. wastes a guy like E.C.W. World Champ, C.M. Punk against the dangerously overweight Big Daddy V. Punk is from Chicago where the card was held and basically fought a five minute match against V, which ended in a disqualification of Big Daddy.

- Finlay faked being injured in his match against Rey Mysterio. Not quite sure where this one is going.

- Interesting promo for this Friday's Smackdown, The Undertaker will team up with his "brother" Kane against W.W.E. Tag Champs Matt Hardy and M.V.P. Look for their to be new champs, leading to some good matches for the U.S. Championship between current champ, M.V.P. and Hardy. I don't really watch Smackdown that much, mostly because I'm usually not home, I'd like to see this one, though.

- If you've read this far, I must confess that the logo above is from the 2002 No Mercy card. Basically, because I liked that logo better than the one used for this year.

Keep it in the Ring!