WWE No Mercy, North Little Rock, AR
This is a requested review. This show also had the incredible Edge/Rey Mysterio vs Angle/Benoit tag match that I’ve reviewed before, in the old fashioned style. Also, did you know that to this day this is still the only WWE pay-per-view ever held in the state of Arkansas? Actually, it’s the only wrestling pay-per-view ever held in the state of Arkansas, I think. WCW never had one, neither did NWA-Total Nonstop Action, and they certainly won’t now that they’re a local Canadian indie on a cable channel nobody cares about. Quite probably the only pay-per-view of any kind held in the state of Arkansas.
Lesnar’s WWE championship is ON THE LINE. This is his first Hell in a Cell, where Undertaker is the truest veteran of all. The two had gone to a double DQ at Unforgiven the month prior, and later Brock Lesnar broke Undertaker’s hand with a propane tank. The whole story went off the rails when they introduced “Traci,” allegedly Mark the Undertaker’s mistress, introduced by Paul Heyman. Taker acknowledged knowing the woman, you know, biblically, but not in the last seven years, since he’d met his wife Sara. And later anyway Stephanie rules Undertaker can use his dangerous arm cast in the match at No Mercy. There were fights and blood and whatnot and now we’re here.
2002 Brock now legit looks like Brock Lesnar through one of them toddler filters y’all keep putting on Stephen A and Max. Taker’s in his “You’re Gonna Pay” theme days, Dead Man Inc. and all this.
Lesnar is the first man busted open, right on the forehead thanks to Undertaker’s cast. This evens the playing field a bit, as the blood loss begins slowing Brock down; he’d been exhibiting his speed and agility advantages, and he’s also inexperienced, as keeps being noted, not just in the Cell but in terms of major adversity in a big time match, at least compared to Undertaker, who has been there and done it all already.
Taker takes over and dominates for a bit, with Heyman squealing ringside outside of the cage. Undertaker goes up top and does some kind of kneedrop across Brock on the apron, but it looks like shit, and the angle was bad, and it’s probably just as well. Heyman tries to reach through a camera hole on the cage to hit Taker, screaming about him being a bastard, but Taker kicks him from inside the cage. And Heyman is busted open! Why not?
Finally Lesnar springs to life and just manhandles Undertaker from the post to the cage, bashing his old back into both. After a long struggle that has sections, Lesnar finally gets the cast off Undertaker’s right hand and targets that even further.
Undertaker eventually joins the juice party on a shot to the head with the steel steps from Lesnar. Undertaker’s rallies are spirited but desperate, and he tries to even the score by attempting to break Lesnar’s hand to match his.
Undertaker stays in the match, gets some good near falls, but his blood loss drastically outpaces Lesnar’s, and he gets too weak to keep fighting the younger man off. The finish is awesome, Undertaker going for the tombstone, Lesnar reversing the position, then hoisting Taker up into the F5 for the clean pin.
When it’s over, Lesnar exits the cage, alpha-style, retrieves HIS belt, and climbs up to the top of the cage to roar out to the masses, high above them all.
Back then lots of people cranked on Lesnar-Angle matches but Lesnar-Undertaker matches were always better. Because of their backgrounds there was always this sense that Lesnar and Angle needed to Do Amateur Wrestling Stuff but being honest, I don’t care if he legit can, which obviously he can, I’m not trying to watch a 300-pound freak athlete roll around trading positional advantages. The Lesnar-Angle matches had more than that, of course, but those sections always felt a little soft and dry to me, and their iron man match in particular was kind of a chore in spots, at least in my memory, I haven’t watched it in forever.
This match is raw physicality, a true brawl start to finish. Undertaker’s psychological advantage gives him the early leg up, but Lesnar being the younger, stronger, faster man conquers all, added to the fact he proves capable of dealing with the inherent barbarism of the Cell. With this win, he looks all but unstoppable, which Michael Cole shouts about while Lesnar celebrates on top of the cage.
“Can ANYONE stop the youngest WWE champ in history?!” Cole asks. Well, yes. Give it a month.
Tape Machines Are Rolling 
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