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ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY... The WWF No Mercy 1999 event was held on October 17th, 1999 (16 years ago). It is an interesting "changing of the guard" event because it's technically the last one of the Stone Cold Steve Austin PEAK years era and also proved to be the last Vince Russo era booked show. As you'll recall, this was Jeff Jarrett's last WWE match ever as WWE actually let his contract expire, along with Vince Russo's, and they were both off to join and revamp World Championship Wrestling (WCW). With Austin's neck getting worse and WWE losing its top writer, this show was an end to one of the quickest growing periods in pro wrestling history. WWE's growth from late 1997 through No Mercy 1999 was remarkable and then to have BOTH Steve Austin and Vince Russo gone by the next Pay Per View (Survivor Series 1999) put the WWE in danger. But the WWE's bench was deep by late 1999... The MAIN EVENT of this show was actually Triple H vs. Steve Austin which saw Triple H winning the match. That finish is interesting because there was some reported heat just 2 months earlier at SummerSlam 1999. For whatever reason, Steve Austin had issues with putting over Triple H at that event but seemed to have no problems dropping the WWE Title to Mick Foley (Mankind) instead. This could have been a big night for Triple H as SummerSlam is one of WWE's top shows and the Triple Threat main event actually had then Minnesota Governor Jesse "the body" Ventura as the special guest referee. The spotlight was HUGE on this event yet we didn't see Triple H win the WWE Title. He actually beat Mankind on the following night during RAW to help emphasize Steve Austin's issues with putting over HHH but WWE's wishes for Triple H to be champion. This began a history of Austin being paranoid about Triple H becoming a larger influence in the WWE and it would worsen considerably during 2002. During the course of 1999, the WWE wanted to expand its television programming and they did so by introducing WWE Smackdown on the UPN channel (UPN would later merge with the WB Network to form the "CW" Network). Head writer Vince Russo, already tasked with writing storylines for the 2 hour Monday Night RAW show, 1 hour Sunday Night Heat, and 3 hour monthly WWE Pay Per Views, was beginning to be burned out by work. He reportedly approached Vince McMahon several times about reducing workload but McMahon was relentless. Vince McMahon is a workaholic and expects everybody working for him to be as well. Furthermore, Vince Russo wanted more credit for the success of the WWE instead of just having an increased workload dumped on him from Smackdown. For whatever reason, VP of Talent Relations Jim Ross let Vince Russo's contract expire and Russo was working on a day-to-day basis for a while. WCW was dropping in the ratings fast and also recently let Eric Bischoff go as its manager. Thus, an opening was created and Vince Russo jumped at the opportunity to possibly save WCW. Jeff Jarrett's contract was also allowed to expire... In fact, it did so before WWE No Mercy 1999 but the storyline build up between Jarrett and Chyna needed to have a big ending. WWE, during late 1999, was experimenting with Chyna being able to legitimately wrestle against men and wanted to try her out as the Intercontinental Champion. Vince McMahon wanted WWF No Mercy 1999 to be that crowning moment... However, there was a real threat of Jeff Jarrett leaving the WWE before that event. After all, his contract did in fact expire... There were reports that Jeff Jarrett demanded a large sum of money to appear and lose to Chyna at this show. If true, this would explain the extended heat that Vince McMahon has for Jeff Jarrett and easily explains McMahon verbally burying Jarrett on the last ever episode of WCW Monday Nitro during March 2001. Also why Jeff Jarrett has NEVER been back to WWE since No Mercy 1999. All of this drama, however, is actually forgotten because of 1 match that stole the show and overshadowed anything that happened. The LADDER MATCH between Edge/Christian vs. the Hardy Boys is one of the most influential and beloved matches of all time in the WWE. It took what was great about the Ladder Match, mostly done by singles wrestlers before, and added multiple layers of excitement that have never been matched to this day. While someone like Shawn Michaels was a great bumper and took amazing risks in his ladder matches, they were nothing in comparison to the daredevil moves attempted by Edge, Christian, Matt Hardy, and Jeff Hardy at No Mercy 1999 and then later for the TLC matches which raised the bar even further (which also included the Dudley Boyz). It's a good chance that Edge, Christian, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, Bubba Ray Dudley, and D'Von Dudley will have many debilitating injuries when they are older because of the breathtaking ladder matches they wrestled. And the 1999 No Mercy match is the one that started it all... The Hardys vs. Edge/Christian Ladder Match was actually the finals match of the "Terri Invitational Tournament" (T.I.T., ya get it?) in which Terri Runnels held a wrestling exhibition between the 2 teams to determine WHO would receive her managerial services. Seriously... Many of you might find that idea ridiculous now, but those 4 wrestlers weren't that well known yet... Yet, Terri Runnels (before known as "Marlena", Goldust's former manager) was a well known non-wrestling female personality. During 1997-1999, WWE did well with non-wrestling females having various roles with Terri, Sunny, and Sable with many others to soon follow. They were the true founding mothers of what you see now in the WWE with the Divas. Busting the door that Miss Elizabeth created wide open, Terri, Sunny, and Sable... But, by late 1999, those 3 actually lost some steam or were gone from the WWE. Sunny, Terri, and Sable helped fill some drawing power that was lacking by male wrestlers during 1997-1998. By 1999, the WWE bench of male wrestlers thickened and the need for those 3 lessened. During October 1999, Hardys and Edge/Christian were like blind men at an orgy... They had to feel things out in the WWE. Matt and Jeff Hardy served as enhancement talent during much of 1998 before eventually catching the eye of WWE officials for how they performed as a team and their ability to take bumps. They would seen obtain a manager in former tag team wrestling great Michael PS Hayes and by June 1999, they would win their first WWE Tag Titles. A few months later, they'd drop PS Hayes and join the wrestling vampire Gangrel to become the "New Brood". The original "Brood" was Gangrel with Edge/Christian. Edge debuted with the WWE first during June 1998. Eventually, Edge feuded with Gangrel and soon, his "brother" would debut and align himself with Gangrel. His name was Christian... Edge eventually obtain the notion of "if you can't beat them, join them" and the Brood was born with Edge, Christian, and Gangrel. Their entrance with the fantastic theme song and the rise from the stage through a flaming circle was a sight to behold. With time, they'd drop Gangrel and when the Hardys joined Gangrel to become the "New Brood", a feud was naturally created... Then, Terri Runnels offered $100,000 and her managerial services to both teams if they would do battle in a Best-of-5 tag teams series fought with the 5th and deciding match being at WWE No Mercy 1999. With the series tied at 2-2, they decided to do something special for the last match. The $100,000 was in a bag that hovered above the ring as the prize to capture with a ladder. The stage was set and all Edge/Christian and the Hardys had to do was execute... And that they did. They completely stole the show and gave wrestling fans new moves and death defying acts that they've NEVER seen before in a wrestling match. And the match was close to flawless, too... As Edge/Christian mentioned recently on their Stone Cold Podcast, they couldn't exactly rehearse these matches. Too dangerous... They discussed their ideas with the Hardys on the road and backstage at WWE events. Provided that nobody tried a high risk Tag Team ladder match before, they were innovating on the fly. Provided that wrestling fans have never seen Tag Team Ladder Matches before and due to Edge/Christian/Matt/Jeff still being newer midcarders, the expectations for this match were actually low... The ridiculousness of winning Terri as your manager by winning this match actually kept expectations low as well. Afterward, when the Hardy Boys won this ladder match, fans attending WWF No Mercy 1999 gave Hardys and Edge/Christian a standing ovation. WWE officials must have realized that they had a star-making moment here and had Edge/Christian and the Hardys come out on the following night during Monday Night RAW for an in-ring promo and another standing ovation. Those 4 wrestlers have become made men and their starpower would only grow for years to come. As noted above, they would go on to wrestle far more dangerous yet exciting Ladder Matches in the form of Tables, Ladders, and Chairs (TLC) matches with the Dudley Boyz at future big event including 2 Wrestlemanias and a SummerSlam. After wrestling for several years as tag wrestlers, all 4 would go on to some singles success. The No Mercy 1999 match established the Hardys and Edge/Christian as instant stars and made the Ladder Match the most famous gimmick match that the WWE has to offer. Don't believe me? WWE now has TWO Pay Per View events that are Ladder Match specific in Money in the Bank and TLC. The Money in the Bank event now serves as an important part of the WWE's year with the briefcase winner obtaining a WWE Title shot at the wrestler's choosing. Thanks to the Hardys, Edge/Christian, and Dudleyz, the WWE figured out that more bodies equals more chaos to draw fans into ladder matches. The Money in the Bank event features 6-7 wrestlers and the higher volume of wrestlers is always sure to create great moments. Hardys and Edge/Christian created that great formula during No Mercy 1999. What are you doing right now?!? Go check out WWF No Mercy 1999 on your WWE Network! As a bonus, you get to see Fabulous Moolah become the WWE Women's Champion at the tender age of 76. Seriously... And you guys have problems with the Bellas being Divas Champion. SO JUST CHILL... 'TIL THE NEXT EPISODE! Comments and feedback are welcome. Follow and Tweet me @titowrestling or login in below to post comments. © Mr. Tito and LordsofPain.net/WrestlingHeadlines.com - 1998-2015
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