PPV Rewind: WWE No Mercy (2002)

#6 Edge & Rey Mysterio vs Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit - Tournament finals for the WWE Tag Team Championship

Edge & Rey Mysterio vs Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit

The match kicks off with Rey Mysterio and Kurt Angle in the ring. Kurt takes down Mysterio with an arm drag. Kurt takes down Mysterio, then goes behind and paint brushes (smacks) the head of Mysterio as he attempts to psyche him out. Kurt Angle picks up Rey Mysterio with the Double Leg Takedown, tossing Rey Mysterio across the ring. Kurt with the go behind waist lock as Rey stomps on Kurt’s foot to counter, then hits a low-level dropkick to the knee and a running leg drop to the head. Mysterio flies off the top rope and hits a Front Flipping Headscissors, then smacks the head of Angle as the “Olympic Gold Medalist” gets pissed off. Edge is tagged in. Edge takes down Kurt Angle, as Kurt reverses with the hammerlock then the Irish whip shoulder block by Kurt then a series of Arm Drags and a Dropkick to Angle. Benoit gets tagged in.

Benoit takes down Edge with the shoulder block, then Edge counters and hits the knee lift to the midsection of Benoit. Edge follows up with a Gutbuster for the two count. Edge rams the knees to the chest of Benoit, then softens him with a Side Backbreaker for another near fall. Edge and Benoit exchange Knife Edge Chops. Edge catches Benoit off the ropes and connects with the Flapjack, then the Oklahoma Rollup for a two count.

Angle kicks Edge in the back, as Benoit whipped him into the ropes. Benoit bounces Edge off the ropes yet again, except Edge ducks Benoit and Spears Angle off the apron. Benoit gets the near fall as Angle takes the cheap shot to allow Benoit to get in a quick elbow drop, then another two count. Benoit tags in Angle. Angle applies a Sleeper Hold with the Body Scissors.

Edge connects with a stiff right hand, as Edge hits a boot to the face. This unfazed Kurt Angle, as he hits the Belly-to-Belly Suplex. Kurt and Benoit double team Edge, as Benoit is tagged back in. Benoit delivers a Knife Edge Chop to the corner on Edge, then Irish whips him sternum first to the opposite turnbuckle.

Benoit hits a series of Short-Arm Knee Lifts to the midsection on Edge. Chris Benoit connects with a series of German Suplex’s, then takes a cheap shot to Rey Mysterio on the apron. Benoit climbs the top rope and gets crotched, as Edge takes him down with a Superplex.

Edge makes the hot tag to Rey Mysterio. Rey Mysterio hits a forearm shot to Angle then a headscissors to Benoit followed up by a Baseball Slide Dropkick to the corner of Benoit. Rey hits a big dropkick to Angle to the floor. Benoit draped over the middle rope as Mysterio hits a leg drop off the top rope for a near fall as Angle beaks up the pin. Benoit counters a Springboard Bulldog into the Crippler Crossface. Edge breaks up the hold. Edge rams Angle to the steel steps outside the ring as Rey Mysterio goes for the 6.1.9. This gets countered by Benoit as “The Crippler” has Mysterio hoisted in a Powerslam position only for Edge to dropkick Mysterio onto Benoit for the cover and near fall. Mysterio climbs the top rope and gets caught with a Belly to Belly Suplex.

Kurt Angle is tagged in. Kurt stomps away at Rey Mysterio. Kurt connects with the Vertical Suplex. Angle goes for another suplex, but Mysterio counters it into a front suplex. Angle catches Mysterio off the ropes with a Belly to Belly Suplex for a two count. Tags in Chris Benoit. Benoit with the T-Bone Suplex for another two count. Benoit with a series of Knife Edge Chops to Rey Mysterio. Mysterio kicks Benoit in the face, then takes him down with a head scissors to the turnbuckle, head first. Edge and Angle are tagged in. Edge comes in with a series of clotheslines to both Angle and Benoit. He connects with a Back Body Drop to Angle. Edge-O-Matic (Inverted Facebuster) to Benoit for a two count. Double Team Spear and Bronco Buster sequence by Edge and Rey Mysterio to Chris Benoit in the corner. Edge puts Angle on the top rope, then catapults Mysterio to Kurt Angle as Mysterio hits the Hurricanrana for a near fall. Benoit goes for a Diving Headbutt but inadvertently hits Kurt Angle by accident.

Angle hits a German Suplex to Edge. Mysterio hits the boot to the face off the catapult by Edge. Chris Benoit applies the Crippler Crossface to Edge out of nowhere. Edge tries to fight out of it as Mysterio hits the 6.1.9. to Benoit to break the hold. Angle hits the Angle Slam to Mysterio, then applies the Ankle Lock to Edge.

Edge counters this into a near fall attempt as the crowd erupts. Edge hits the Spear as Benoit pulls Edge off Kurt Angle to save the match for his team. Baseball Slide to Chris Benoit as Rey Mysterio hits a Moonsault off Edge’s shoulders to Chris Benoit outside the ring. Edge attempts the Edgecution but its countered into the Ankle Lock by Kurt Angle.

Edge counters into an Ankle Lock of his own. Angle counters it again to another Ankle Lock and Edge has no choice but to tap out. Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit are crowned as the first ever new WWE Tag Team Champions for the SmackDown Brand!

Match Rating: 4 Stars (What a match! Very exciting match from bell-to-bell. Ton of action. Lots of technical and high-flying maneuverers and spots. Amazing performance by all four men. The crowd was on the edge of their seats, as was I, watching this match progress. A very beautiful and well-crafted tag team match that should be viewed by all wrestling fans. Very good stuff, and an excellent finish.).