WWE No Mercy 2001: 5 Awesome Things And 5 That Sucked

2. Steve Austin Retained The WWE Title Against Kurt Angle And RVD

Any time Austin had a match with Angle it was always good. Austin was the heel and Angle was the face during this period. Just like WWE loved doing ladder matches too often in this era, they also loved doing triple threat matches. RVD's role was that of a guy that was supposed to be with Austin in the Alliance stable, but he was also doing his own thing because fans loved him as a high flyer. There were times in the match when Austin worked with RVD to work over Angle, but it really didn't last that long. They basically followed the standard triple threat match format where two guys go at it, then the third guy breaks it up and they repeat that. There was a big spot with RVD going for a Five Star Frog Splash, but both guys moved out of the way. The finish saw Vince McMahon get involved. Since it was a No DQ match, he went into the ring and Austin (who was in the Alliance) with a Steel Chair to the back of head. It was a chair shot that cut Austin hard way. He was bleeding. Austin has talked about it and how painful it was. RVD hit the Five Star Frog Splash, but Angle saved and hit the Angle Slam on RVD. Shane McMahon made the save. That led to Vince attacking Shane. More on that in the "sucked" part. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-A3m9zfVi4 If WWE put the title on RVD in the match it wouldn't have been that surprising because based on crowd reactions he really deserved it. However, it was the right move to keep the title on Austin. Austin hit the Stunner on RVD (who really didn't sell it right) and then retained the WWE Title after 16 minutes of action.