No Mercy (2005)

Nine professional wrestling matches were featured on the event's card, which were planned with predetermined outcomes by WWE's script writers. The buildup to these matches and scenarios that took place before, during and after the event were also planned by the script writers. The event featured wrestlers and other talent from WWE's SmackDown! brand, a storyline expansion in which WWE assigned its employees.[2] Wrestlers portrayed either a villainous or fan favorite gimmick, an on-screen character, for the entertainment of the audience.

Batista, who defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Eddie Guerrero

The main rivalry heading into No Mercy was between Batista and Eddie Guerrero over the World Heavyweight Championship. On the September 16 episode of SmackDown!, Palmer Cannon, a miscellaneous on-screen authority figure of SmackDown!, a portrayed match maker and rules enforcer, announced that Guerrero was the next challenger to Batista's World Heavyweight Championship.[3] Guerrero, who had recently portrayed a manipulative character, came out and claimed he was now more about compassion than manipulation.[3] Two weeks later, on the September 30 episode of SmackDown!, Guerrero, as part of the scripted events, accidentally hit Batista with a folding chair while attempting to hit MNM tag team member Joey Mercury.[4] The following week, Batista showed Guerrero the footage of him hitting Batista last week. Batista, as part of their storyline, then proclaimed that he would hurt Guerrero if he were to revert to his villainous character.[5]

The feud between The Undertaker and Randy Orton and "Cowboy" Bob Orton began at SummerSlam. At the event, Randy faced off against Undertaker. During the match, "Cowboy" Bob (disguised as a fan) came into the ring and interrupted the match. Following this, Randy pinned Undertaker after he jumped and pulled Undertaker's head down over his shoulders, a move dubbed the RKO, to win.[6] After the match, Randy peeled off the latex mask of the fan and revealed him to be his father, "Cowboy" Bob.[6] On the September 16 episode of SmackDown!, Undertaker defeated Randy. During the match, "Cowboy" Bob drove a U-Haul truck down to the ring and unloaded a casket. As Undertaker went to put Randy inside the casket, he opened it and found a mannequin of himself inside.[3] Despite this distraction, Undertaker pinned Randy after he hit him with the Tombstone Piledriver.[3] The following week, druids wheeled out a casket. Undertaker appeared on the TitanTron and urged The Ortons to look inside. The Ortons opened the casket and found mannequins of themselves inside. Undertaker then proclaimed that this would be their fate at No Mercy.[7]

At the previous SmackDown! brand pay-per-view event, The Great American Bash, The Legion of Doom (Road Warrior Animal and Heidenreich) defeated MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro) to win the WWE Tag Team Championship.[8] After both teams got involved in a storyline between Melina (Melina Perez), who was also a member of MNM, and Christy Hemme, The Legion of Doom and Hemme versus MNM was announced for No Mercy.[4]

The storyline over the WWE United States Championship began when Booker T, Orlando Jordan, and Christian each explained why they thought they deserved a title match against the champion, Chris Benoit.[4] Theodore Long, SmackDown!'s on-screen general manager/authority figure, then announced that Benoit could choose who he wanted to face for the title. After Jordan won a Triple Threat match, also involving Booker and Christian, Benoit decided that he would face all three men in a Fatal 4-Way match between the four at No Mercy.[4]

Before the live broadcast of the event began, William Regal and Paul Burchill defeated Paul London and Brian Kendrick in a tag team match that aired on the Sunday Night Heat pre-show.[9]

The rivalry between Batista and Eddie Guerrero ended after Guerrero unexpectedly died due to heart failure on November 13, 2005.[12] Their feud was planned to continue, as Guerrero would have gone back to his heroic character and won the World Heavyweight Championship.[13]

The Undertaker would not be seen on-screen until Survivor Series after being burned inside a casket at the event.[14] After being the sole survivor in his elimination match, Randy Orton celebrated his victory with his father, "Cowboy" Bob Orton, and wrestlers from the SmackDown! brand. During the celebration, druids brought out a casket and set it up in an upright position.[14] Lightning then struck the casket and set it on fire. Undertaker emerged from the flaming casket and attacked the SmackDown wrestlers.[14] The Ortons, however, escaped the attack. This set up a Hell in a Cell match between Randy and Undertaker at Armageddon. Undertaker defeated Randy and ended their storyline that had lasted nearly one year.[15]

After successfully retaining the WWE United States Championship at the event, Chris Benoit started a rivalry with Booker T. Booker defeated Benoit for the title on the edition of October 21 of SmackDown! to begin their feud.[16] The following month, on the edition of November 24 of SmackDown!, a match between Benoit and Booker for the title ended in a no-contest after both men's shoulders were on the mat while pinning one another.[17] Theodore Long then vacated the title and announced that the two would face off against one another in a "Best of Seven series" for the title, in which the winner would be the man who won four matches over the other first.[17] Booker defeated Benoit in the first match at Survivor Series,[14] and eventually won the vacant title after Randy Orton, Booker's replacement due to a legitimate injury to his ankle at a house show,[18] defeated Benoit in the seventh and final match in January.[19] Booker began his fourth reign as United States Champion.[19]

The event received 219,000 pay-per-view buys, which was greater than the 193,000 buys the previous year's event received.[20] The promotion's revenue was $18.8 million, which was greater than the previous year's revenue of $18.5 million.[20] Canadian Online Explorer's professional wrestling section claimed the event was "unmerciful" and that it left fans "begging for mercy".[2] They rated the overall event, as well as the main event, a five out of ten.[2] None of the matches received a rating higher than a five out of 10. The match between Bobby Lashley and Simon Dean was rated a three out of 10, the lowest overall.[2]

The event was released on DVD on November 8, 2005.[21][22] The DVD reached a peak position of fourth on Billboard's DVD sales chart for recreational sports on December 3, 2005.[23] It remained on the chart for four consecutive weeks, until December 24, when it ranked ninth.[24]

• Official No Mercy 2005 website