WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? WHAT?
That's what you normally heard Stone Cold saying to Vince McMahon when he didn't want to pay attention to it, but I mean - COME ON! What did WWE do in No Mercy?
First of all, how long will HHH be a champion and how long will Jeff Hardy be a number 1 contender? I'm sick of seeing their matches so often, with the same result. If Hardy cannot be a champion, then remove him from the line and bring somebody else to challenge HHH.
Secondly, Shawn Michaels lost the ladder match to Jericho? Shawn is a bigger legend than Jericho. How many times will he lose matches, let Jericho injure him, and then come back to lose again? He lost to Cena at the main event of Wrestlemania 23 but then he defeated Cena at Raw in a non-title match. He lost to Jericho at No Mercy but then he defeated him at Raw in a non-title match. Is that WWE's way of saying to him that "you are better than the champion but we won't give you the title"? That's what they always did to Undertaker, but looks like Shawn has been added to the screw-up list which ironically he helped build for Undertaker when he defeated Undertaker in the first ever classic hell-in-a-cell match with help from Kane, who beat his brother.
Last and MOST importantly - the point I wanted to discuss. How the hell can Big Show defeat Undertaker by a KO? The WWE have spent decades making Undertaker the greatest legend in the history of the business and making his character the most dominant ever, a man who is not human, who cannot be hurt because he is already dead, and a man who cannot be conquered cleanly without any interference or cheating.... how can he lose a match by KO? It is true that the match was not clean, and that Big Show used the exposed steel of the turn-buckle to hurt Undertaker in the head, but did the live audience realize that is what happened? Or did they think that Big Show simply knocked down Undertaker with his punches? That would be UNBELIEVABLE for anybody who has followed wrestling for 2 decades.
If they are trying to make their matches look more 'real', then this was an even bigger mistake. The Undertaker, in his real skills, can execute so many quick mixed-martial-arts moves on Big Show before Big Show (I prefer calling him Big SLow) can even figure out what hit him.
The Undertaker has defeated Big Show so many times in the past (including the grandest stage of them all - Wrestlemania) using different moves each time. The Undertaker mentored Big Show during the ministry-days and helped him become famous by tagging along with him, becoming tag-team champions. Big Show copied his finisher move, the choke-slam. The Undertaker said in an interview that he considers the Big Show to have the right capability, but he was unhappy about the fact that Show was very SLow, had low stamina and could not stand in the ring for more than 10 minutes due to his huge bulk. Big SLow took his advice and during his hiatus, worked on getting better and came back weighing 50 pounds less, looking much better than earlier. In a statement - we can say that the Undertaker created Big Show, and he as well will destroy him.
Undertaker has lost his last 5 matches at No Mercy, mostly through interference. Hence, I am not surprised that he lost this one too. But why did he lose this one? Once again, the WWE are to blame. Every time they plan a long title reign for him nicely, they screw it equally well by giving him brutal matches which injure him as he does not take drugs unlike most other wrestlers. They made him win the Royal Rumble 2007 and win the title from Batista, after which he was going to hold the title as long as he wanted. But they gave him bloody matches like the last-man-standing match and the steel-cage match with Batista, resulting in him getting injured because he does not take drugs unlike the others. Therefore, his long title reign had to be curtailed, and this allowed Mark Henry and Edge to attack him, and steal the title. He returned and took revenge from Mark Henry, but they again gave him bloody matches like the hell-in-a-cell match against Batista, and the elimination chamber. Though he won the title back from Edge, he again needed time off due to a knee injury. And why am I not astonished about that - if a man works his a** off for more than 18 years to build a company and build an industry, giving the most difficult finisher tombstone piledriver on guys as big as Mark Henry and taking their entire body-weight on his knees when he brings them down, obviously it will have an impact on the knee.
So, Undertaker again needs time off to heal his nagging injuries. Why did the WWE screw up yet again like they did last year and earlier this year? Why did the WWE call Undertaker back at Summerslam for a brutal hell-in-a-cell match with Edge when he had not entirely healed? Knowing Undertaker, he will do anything which is best for the business. He came back to culminate the rivalry with Edge because it made sense to do so at a big PPV like Summerslam, and because Edge also needed a break. Due to these reasons, he made his return despite being injured and I can't stop praising him for that. It was easy to figure out that his knee is not fine, because he did not do the old-school top-rope walk in the match against Edge. I mean, you expect to see that in every Undertaker match, don't you? He's so perfect at doing it. After that match, he has not been in action on Smackdown but has been only doing promos. That is what led me to believe that his knee is not entirely healed and he will perhaps lose the match to Big SLow to take some more time off. Yes, a clean defeat was not acceptable, so they made sure the cheap-shot from the steel of the exposed turn-buckle is the reason why Undertaker lost, but still - a knock out was way too much to tolerate!
Though Undertaker has been in action in house-shows and dark-matches which are not shown on TV, he has been mostly doing tag-team matches and that would definitely make you believe that he is not completely healed. He delivered a tombstone to Vickie on Smackdown, which I thought was a message to his fans that his knee is fine - but I guess he still needs time to nurse and heal it. Now when he comes back after getting healed, I hope they don't put him through bloody and brutal matches again - though I can't help understand what other option they have. He is the only one who can do all kinds of matches, be it hell-in-a-cell, inferno, casket, steel-cage, elimination-chamber, last-ride, last-man-standing, etc. He has been in both the annual hell-in-a-cell matches the last 2 years, and that is because the greatest rivalries are settled at hell-in-a-cell - obviously, any great rivalry still inevitably requires Undertaker to be a part of it. WWE are at a severe talent crunch if they cannot find better guys than Batista and John Cena to carry the torch when Undertaker, HHH, Michaels and Kane retire.
And what's up with the Masked Kane? Is he coming or is he not coming? Though Kane is portrayed as a heel (bad/ evil/ villain character) right now, I really would not support Rey Mysterio. Yeah the kids would support Mysterio, but who cares about the un-knowledgeable opinion of children? If anybody has seen the Masked Kane, they know that next to Undertaker, he was the most dominant and explosive force in WWE history. He created terror in the hearts of his opponents, much like Undertaker did in the past. Kane, now, is not as big as a threat as he was earlier but I hope that he returns with the mask and becomes his dominant self once again as he was earlier. He beat everybody during those days - Stone Cold, HHH, Batista, etc. But now he has started losing to HHH, Batista and even Mark Henry. I hoped the Masked Kane to return by helping Undertaker in this match in case La Familia interfered. Anyway, that was not to be. But maybe he will make a return at Wrestlemania! WWE have shown signs of his return to the fans now, and they will all be waiting to see him back for once. Who knows Paul Bearer might be by his side too.
As for Edge, I think he will return soon and feud with La Familia. He will perhaps turn face (good character), because he has "paid for his sins" by "burning in hell" after Undertaker sent him to hell after the hell-in-a-cell match and called upon the flames. But there will not be any alliance between him and Undertaker, and no - the ministry is not returning, sorry.
My prediction about Undertaker is that he will perhaps return at Survivor Series or Armageddon. Big SLow might win the title from HHH, because he has got a very high push right now by beating Undertaker. Since he has formed an alliance with Vickie, it would make sense to sell the alliance by making it look strong and by giving him the title win from HHH. Regardless of whether Big SLow is champion or not, Undertaker will return and defeat him. I think that it will be a casket match, so that Big SLow and Vickie can be locked in it and burnt (as Undertaker told Vickie that he will send her to hell too). I guess Undertaker is not winning the title this year now, so maybe he will take some time to heal his injuries, make a good return and then win the Royal Rumble next year. That would be a good way to give him a nice title reign. The WWE belt looks awful because of the spinner that John Cena introduced in it to make it a waste.
I hope that Undertaker goes for the World Heavyweight Championship belt after winning the Royal Rumble next year, because it is bigger and looks better - a big guy like Undertaker can carry it very well. Maybe that Shawn Michaels would've won it by then and it will be a classic match at Wrestlemania if Undertaker challenges him for the title, that too in his real hometown of Houston. Apart from taking his streak to 17-0 (which is listed as the greatest record in the history of the WWE at http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/wwerecords/) and adding another legendary name to his list of victims, he would've also created the record of winning the World Heavyweight Championship 3 times in a row at Wrestlemania - a hat-trick, another record to be proud of. And this time, WWE - don't give him bloody matches that injure him.
I have concluded that the WWE don't want to keep their loyal veteran wrestling fans happy, and it is not long before the fans who helped them become so big stop appreciating them. If they have any sense left, I hope that they give Undertaker a long title reign soon which he has deserved and earned more than anyone else.

