WWF No Mercy, St. Louis, MO
Request via Ko-fi. This is a ladder match with Christian defending the Intercontinental championship against Edge, his former tag team partner and, for the moment they are still pretending, his brother. Christian does a promo backstage with Lilian Garcia, doing interviewer duties, where he talks about everyone saying Edge would graduate to being a big singles star, and brings up Mark McGwire three years prior having broken the home run record, only to now be “beaten, broken down, and his record shattered by a better man.” Over 20 years later, Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds are still not in the Hall of Fame.
This is also right toward the end of the WWF vs Alliance deal, and Christian had joined the Alliance because of his general jealousy toward Edge. Edge is in his Rob Zombie entrance phase. Christian’s music is a fan favorite but I hate how the drums sound on it so much, it drives me insane. It sounds like that “Mad Drummer” dude playing live; not that it’s bad drumming, it just sounds bad on a recording. To me.
Jim Ross and Paul Danger are on the commentary, which was a good period for WWF commentary despite the messy TV, which, well, boy, we sure were spoiled back then, because 2001 WWF TV has major issues but beats the shit out of the last seven years of WWE TV.
This is a brawl right away, and they head out into the crowd because that was a very “in” thing to do in this time period. People were mad for it. Can’t do it as much now because you never know what absolute goober is around who thinks they’ve been having conversations with you via an Instagram catfish account.
The first ladder to get involved is balanced on the ring steps and the barricade, and Edge TASTES THE STEEL first. They both wind up standing on it, but Edge fights Christian’s suplex (?) attempt off and Christian crotches himself through the ladder, which is quite a spot. I know he’s a great professional who figured out a way to do it without crushing his nuts, and man, he didn’t give away that secret with how he does it. But he’s also not vomiting so I know his nuts are OK.
First attempt to climb is from Christian, and Edge has to come back in from ringside to cut that off. The commentary on this match is really good, because they effectively harp on their points in the WWE style, but without becoming goofball cartoons either way; Heyman has respect for Edge’s ability, he just sides with Christian, and vice versa for Ross.
Then as I’m saying that, Jim Ross does his bit about “they say these guys know how to fall,” as he attempts to fight the WWF’s own years-long push of “it’s entertainment,” playing a major role in the curtain being drawn back and secrets given away freely in an attempt to get a larger percentage of the general population to at least respect the athleticism and showmanship and toughness of wrestlers. That worked out, sort of, in the sense that I think less people truly loathe pro wrestling than they used to, but also less people truly love it than they used to, so it also bit them in the hindquarters a bit. But then they are very rich from television deals so who’s to say what is good or bad, though most likely the TV money would still have rolled in as it has, because that’s likely far more due to the changing television and streaming landscape over the last 20 years than anything else.
I’ve mentioned before that wrestling, and WWE in particular, really burned out the ladder match over about a 10-year period starting in 1994 with Ramon-Michaels at WrestleMania X. By late 2001, they’d pretty much taken all the steam out of the gimmick, but they also reached some dizzying heights with Edge, Christian, the Hardy Boyz, and the Dudleys from 1999-2001.
This match is working against the incredible expectations resulting from those matches, and in truth, they can’t compete with that stuff. The good thing, though, is both Edge and Christian know that, and they aren’t trying to top those matches. They are more on the Ramon-Michaels tip, but brought into a new era of risk-taking, and also they’re both a lot more willing (and able) to take big bumps than Scott Hall.
So there’s plenty of highlight reel stuff, and the time removed from this being current helps, too, in a way. There are less ladder matches these days, really not that many at all, and this plays a bit more fresh. That comes with both of these guys once again being in-ring regulars on major U.S. TV in 2022.
Edge hits a flying splash on Christian, lying on a ladder balanced between two chairs. The match slows down into a war of attrition from there, and it’s about big spots and then recovery and resilience. Mostly it feels like Christian is just a half-step ahead of Edge, who is usually playing catch-up. Edge’s best desperation move is jabbing Christian in the nuts with a chair; Christian’s groin and balls are taking quite a beating in this one.
Christian gets laid out face down on top of two ladders, and Edge “conchairtos” him while standing on a third ladder. It’s a weird, forced spot, but it gets the reaction they want, and it knocks Christian out and down to the canvas, allowing Edge to grab the belt for the win.
It’s a good match, borderline great in nuts-and-bolts, and they definitely worked hard and all that. But it’s an early days example of the diminishing returns on the big ladder match, too; it lacks the freshness of the stuff from 1994-95 or so, and the awe-inspiring madness of the 1999-01 E&C/Hardys/Dudleys stuff. It’s similar to the Royal Rumble ’01 match between Benoit and Jericho in that regard.
Tape Machines Are Rolling 
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