10 Incredible Matches That Make No Mercy WWE’s Best Ever B-Show
3. Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit Vs. Edge & Rey Mysterio (2002)
It remains perhaps the finest gimmick-free tag team match in company history, but the scars of this and similar wars cut deep into WWE's future.
Waging war shortly before the term was coined, a quartet from the famed 'SmackDown Six' assembled a contest that gave the blue brand's brand new tag team title belts an absolutely perfect launch pad on 2002's choice No Mercy undercard.
With two extended heat segments on both Edge and Rey Mysterio in place of the traditional lone beatdown that normally takes place throughout the body of a WWE doubles duel, Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit looked drilled and decisive despite occasional missteps exposing the fragility of their union.
Keen to steal the show if not a victory, the future 'Rated-R Superstar' and 'Biggest Little Man' wrestled with a point to prove, coming together for some exhilarating combination attacks that generated a host of late near-falls before the more experienced duo were able to score the victory.
15 years is a long time in any athletic endeavour, but the consequences of the insane style employed here and for the weeks and months that followed are felt upon reflection of where all four careers are today. Ignoring the tragedy that befell the Benoit family, Edge and Angle are both retired for their own good, whilst Rey Mysterio winds down his career away from the glare of WWE's rigorous schedule.