10 Incredible Matches That Make No Mercy WWE’s Best Ever B-Show

There's little to fondly remember about the WCW/ECW Invasion angle of 2001 for those that had to live through every repellent week of repetitive television and wanton title belt abuse, but the surprising inclusion of Rob Van Dam in the main event conversation at the behest of Alliance overlord Stone Cold Steve Austin did at least enliven a particularly pallid period.

Stone Cold Steve Austin and Kurt Angle's summer rivalry over the WWE Title afforded audiences a phenomenal SummerSlam match, rewarding Unforgiven follow-up and decent television finale, but Austin's cynical capturing of the in-ring subtext grossly impacted Kurt's ability to remain an effective opponent.

Willing to look silly on television, Austin was less keen on extending the courtesy to pay-per-view, ordinarily gobbling up the majority of offence and hamstringing babyface comebacks with misplaced shadows of his babyface supremacy.

Van Dam was an anomaly even 'The Rattlesnake' couldn't work around. With dynamic offence only previously encountered by his ECW faithful, 'Mr Monday Night' was less a breath of fresh air and more an entire conditioning unit. Bothering and then beating Stone Cold in the run-up, Rob turned in a sensational display in the tantalising triple threat topliner, far removed from the transitional opponent than he actually was.

Galvanising nearly all of the babyface support from an audience tired of WWE's sagging presentation in general, it wasn't long before the sharks circled, and repeated defeats in the aftermath of this clash left him demoted and demotivated for virtually the full remainder of his run.