WWE No Mercy

WWE No Mercy, also known as NXT No Mercy beginning in 2023, is a professional wrestling event produced by WWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. The first No Mercy was held on May 16, 1999, in Manchester, England, and was the only No Mercy event produced in the United Kingdom. A second No Mercy was then held in October that year in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Beginning with this second event, No Mercy became the annual October pay-per-view (PPV) until 2008. The event was then discontinued and replaced by Hell in a Cell in 2009. After eight years, No Mercy was reinstated in October 2016. However, No Mercy was again discontinued after the September 2017 event, as WWE reduced the amount of yearly PPVs held after they had ended the production of brand-exclusive PPVs following WrestleMania 34 in 2018. In 2023, WWE again revived the event, this time for its developmental brand, NXT, in September.

"WWF No Mercy" redirects here. For the video game, see WWF No Mercy (video game).
WWE No Mercy
NXT No Mercy logo used as of 2023
PromotionWWE
BrandsRaw (2002, 2007–2008, 2017)
SmackDown (2002–2008, 2016)
ECW (2007–2008)
NXT (2023–present)
First event1999 (UK)

The first four events were held when the promotion was still called the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). In May 2002, the promotion was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and in 2011, the "WWE" name became an orphaned initialism for the promotion. During the first brand extension, No Mercy was held exclusively for the SmackDown brand from 2003 to 2006. When the event was reinstated for the second brand extension in 2016, it was again SmackDown-exclusive and was then Raw-exclusive in 2017. It then became exclusive for NXT in 2023. In addition to traditional PPV, the 2016 and 2017 events were livestreamed on the WWE Network, and then just Peacock and the WWE Network beginning in 2023.

History
No Mercy logo used in the 2016 and 2017 events.

On May 16, 1999, the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF) held a pay-per-view (PPV) in the United Kingdom, specifically Manchester, England, titled No Mercy.[1] The pay-per-view market was relatively new to Britain at the time: before One Night Only in 1997, all pay-per-view events were broadcast for free on Sky Sports. The UK-exclusive pay-per-views were established to serve as promotion for the new delivery method, however, were booked and treated similar to house shows.[2] This first event would be the only No Mercy event produced in the United Kingdom, as the WWF held a second No Mercy later that same year on October 17, but in Cleveland, Ohio, United States.[3] No Mercy continued as the annual October PPV for the promotion (with the May UK PPV renamed Insurrextion, held until 2003) until 2008.[4] The event was then discontinued and replaced by Hell in a Cell in 2009, which became the annual October PPV.[5]

In March 2002, the WWF introduced the brand extension, where the promotion divided its main roster into two brands, Raw and SmackDown!, where the wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform[6]—in May 2002, the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).[7] The 2002 event, which was the first to be held under the WWE name, featured wrestlers from both the Raw and SmackDown! brands,[8] but from 2003 to 2006, the PPV was produced exclusively for wrestlers from the SmackDown! brand.[9][10][11][12] Following WrestleMania 23 in 2007, WWE discontinued brand-exclusive PPVs,[13] thus the 2007 and 2008 events featured wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands[14][4]—ECW was established as a third brand in 2006.[15]

In February 2010, the ECW brand was disbanded.[16] In April 2011, the promotion ceased using its full name, with the "WWE" name becoming an orphaned initialism for the promotion,[17] and in August that year, the first brand extension ended.[18] In July 2016, WWE reintroduced the brand extension, again dividing the roster between the Raw and SmackDown brands. No Mercy was reinstated that year for October and was again produced exclusively for SmackDown but was also the first No Mercy event to be livestreamed on the WWE Network.[19] The following year, it was moved up to September and produced exclusively for Raw.[20] This 2017 event would be the final No Mercy event held, as following WrestleMania 34 in 2018, WWE again discontinued brand-exclusive PPVs, resulting in WWE reducing the amount of yearly PPVs produced.[21]

During a conference call held by Shawn Michaels, the Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative, on July 27, 2023, WWE announced the return of No Mercy for wrestlers of the company's developmental brand, NXT. It will be the first to be streamed on Peacock, where the WWE Network service merged in 2021, in the United States. Unlike previous No Mercy events, it will not air on PPV as NXT's events ceased airing on traditional PPV beginning in 2022.[22]

Theme song

Jim Johnston, who was a long-time music composer for the promotion, wrote a song titled "No Mercy", which was used as a regular theme song for the events in 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2007.[8][10][12][14] For the 2016 and 2017 events, the theme song was by KIT and was also titled "No Mercy."[19][20]

Events
Raw-branded event SmackDown-branded event NXT-branded event
# Event Date City Venue Main Event Ref.
1 No Mercy (UK) May 16, 1999 Manchester, England Manchester Evening News Arena Stone Cold Steve Austin (c) vs. The Undertaker vs. Triple H in an Anything Goes Triple Threat match for the WWF Championship [1]
2 No Mercy (1999) October 17, 1999 Cleveland, Ohio Gund Arena Triple H (c) vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin in an Anything Goes match for the WWF Championship [3]
3 No Mercy (2000) October 22, 2000 Albany, New York Pepsi Arena The Rock (c) vs. Kurt Angle in a No Disqualification match for the WWF Championship [23]
4 No Mercy (2001) October 21, 2001 St. Louis, Missouri Savvis Center Stone Cold Steve Austin (c) vs. Kurt Angle vs. Rob Van Dam in a Triple Threat match for the WWF Championship [24]
5 No Mercy (2002) October 20, 2002 North Little Rock, Arkansas Alltel Arena Brock Lesnar (c) vs. The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match for the WWE Championship [8]
6 No Mercy (2003) October 19, 2003 Baltimore, Maryland 1st Mariner Arena Brock Lesnar (c) vs. The Undertaker in a Biker Chain match for the WWE Championship [9]
7 No Mercy (2004) October 3, 2004 East Rutherford, New Jersey Continental Airlines Arena John "Bradshaw" Layfield (c) vs. The Undertaker in a Last Ride match for the WWE Championship [10]
8 No Mercy (2005) October 9, 2005 Houston, Texas Toyota Center Batista (c) vs. Eddie Guerrero for the World Heavyweight Championship [11]
9 No Mercy (2006) October 8, 2006 Raleigh, North Carolina RBC Center King Booker (c) vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Batista vs. Finlay in a Fatal four-way match for the World Heavyweight Championship [12]
10 No Mercy (2007) October 7, 2007 Rosemont, Illinois Allstate Arena Triple H (c) vs. Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing match for the WWE Championship [14]
11 No Mercy (2008) October 5, 2008 Portland, Oregon Rose Garden Chris Jericho (c) vs. Shawn Michaels in a Ladder match for the World Heavyweight Championship [4]
12 No Mercy (2016) October 9, 2016 Sacramento, California Golden 1 Center Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton[lower-alpha 1] [19]
13 No Mercy (2017) September 24, 2017 Los Angeles, California Staples Center Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Braun Strowman for the WWE Universal Championship [20]
14 NXT No Mercy (2023) September 30, 2023 Bakersfield, California Mechanics Bank Arena Becky Lynch (c) vs. Tiffany Stratton in an Extreme Rules match for the NXT Women's Championship [22]
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

Notes
  1. The main event was advertised to be a triple threat match in which AJ Styles was to defend the WWE World Championship against Dean Ambrose and John Cena, but on the day of the event, the order of the match card changed due to the second United States presidential debate. This triple threat match, which was still advertised as the main event, instead opened the PPV so that it would not air at the same time as the debate. As a result, the singles match between Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton became the final match on the card.

References
  1. "WWF No Mercy". The Internet Wrestling Database. Archived from the original on February 26, 2009. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  2. "Episode 69: No Mercy 1999". Archived from the original on February 16, 2018. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  3. "No Mercy 1999: Venue". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on November 21, 2006. Retrieved December 22, 2008.
  4. "Portland Trail Blazers at No Mercy". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on October 8, 2008. Retrieved November 24, 2008.
  5. Caldwell, James (June 27, 2009). "WWE News: WWE changes the names of two more PPVs; Report on WWE fan input leading to changes". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on June 30, 2009. Retrieved August 3, 2010.
  6. "WWE Entertainment To Make Raw and SmackDown Distinct Television Brands". WWE (Press release). March 27, 2002. Archived from the original on April 17, 2010. Retrieved April 5, 2012.
  7. "World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Drops The "F" To Emphasize the "E" for Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on January 19, 2009. Retrieved August 28, 2008.
  8. "Alltel Arena – Little Rock, AR". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on November 28, 2006. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
  9. "No Mercy at Pro Wrestling History". Pro Wrestling History. Archived from the original on October 6, 2017. Retrieved November 3, 2008.
  10. "No Mercy (2004) Venue". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on December 23, 2008. Retrieved October 19, 2008.
  11. "No Mercy 2005". Pro Wrestling History. Archived from the original on January 27, 2007. Retrieved January 28, 2010.
  12. "No Mercy 2006 results". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved January 5, 2008.
  13. "WWE Pay-Per-Views To Follow WrestleMania Formula". World Wrestling Entertainment. March 18, 2007. Archived from the original on March 19, 2007. Retrieved November 25, 2007.
  14. "No Mercy sold out, but tickets will be released". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved November 21, 2008.
  15. "WWE brings ECW to Sci Fi Channel". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved June 2, 2006.
  16. Caldwell, James (February 4, 2010). "Caldwell's WWE Superstar TV Report 2/4: Complete coverage of Team Morrison vs. Team McIntyre six-man tag, awesome Bourne vs. Carlito match". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on February 7, 2010. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
  17. Sacco, Justine; Weitz, Michael (April 7, 2011). "The New WWE" (Press release). Connecticut: WWE. Archived from the original on May 3, 2018. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  18. Nemer, Paul (August 30, 2011). "Raw Results – 8/29/11". WrestleView. Archived from the original on November 6, 2016. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  19. WWE.com Staff (August 15, 2016). "Get WWE No Mercy 2016 tickets". WWE. Archived from the original on August 18, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  20. Johnson, Mike (May 11, 2017). "WWE No Mercy PPV 2017 details". PWInsider. Archived from the original on May 17, 2017. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
  21. Sapp, Sean Ross (February 17, 2018). "WWE Eliminates Single-Branded PPV Shows, Shuffles PPV Schedule". Fightful. Archived from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  22. Keller, Wade (July 27, 2023). "WWE announces date and location for NXT No Mercy event this fall, plus pre-take ticket info". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on July 29, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  23. "No Mercy 2000 results". World Wrestling Entertainment. October 22, 2000. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
  24. "No Mercy 2001 official results". World Wrestling Entertainment. October 21, 2001. Archived from the original on February 24, 2008. Retrieved September 19, 2010.
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