No Mercy (2007) - Background

Background

Eight professional wrestling matches were featured on the event's card. Matches were planned with predetermined outcomes by WWE's creative staff and featured wrestlers playing characters for the entertainment of the audience. All wrestlers were from either Raw, SmackDown, or ECW—the three brand divisions to which WWE assigned its employees.

The main leading rivalry scripted into the event on the Raw brand was between John Cena and Randy Orton over the WWE Championship. At WWE's August pay-per-view event SummerSlam, Cena successfully defended the championship against Orton, and the following night on Raw, one of WWE's primary television programs, Orton interfered in Cena's match with King Booker and cost him the match. After the match ended, Orton attacked Cena's real-life father, in storyline, by kicking him in the head. As a result of Orton's actions, the two met in a championship match at WWE's September pay-per-view event Unforgiven, in which Cena was disqualified for ignoring the referee's commands; as per WWE rules, a title can only change hands via pinfall or submission, Orton was not awarded the title. Following their match, Cena's father gained revenge on Orton by kicking him in the head the same way Orton had done to him earlier. Later in the night after the event went off the air, authority figure Jonathan Coachman made a rematch between the two at No Mercy in a Last Man Standing match, which involves two competitors fighting until one can not stand up on his feet before the referee counts to ten. On the October 1 episode of Raw, Cena legitimately tore his right pectoral muscle during a match with Mr. Kennedy, though the injury was blamed on television on a post-match attack by Orton. Due to the severity of his injury, Cena was forced to vacate the title. Although Cena's match against Orton was canceled, World Wrestling Entertainment Chairman Vince McMahon stated that there would be "a new WWE Champion crowned at No Mercy".

The main storyline on the SmackDown! brand was between Dave Batista and The Great Khali over the World Heavyweight Championship. Their rivalry began in July when Khali issued a challenge to the SmackDown roster, which Batista answered. Khali won the World Heavyweight Championship, he interfered in a match pitting Batista against Kane for the chance to fight Khali at The Great American Bash for the championship, which caused the match to end in a no-contest. As a result of Khali's actions, Long announced that at The Great American Bash, Khali would defend the championship against Batista and Kane in a Triple Threat match, in which Khali was victorious and retained the championship. At SummerSlam, Batista defeated Khali by disqualification, however, as per WWE rules, he did not win the title. The following month at Unforgiven, Khali faced off against Batista and Rey Mysterio in another Triple Threat match in which Batista pinned Khali to win the championship. The same week on SmackDown!, Khali announced that his rematch for the World Heavyweight Championship would take place at No Mercy in two giant wooden structures that make up what is known as a Punjabi Prison; the winner in the match is the first to climb out of the structures.

Another staged rivalry was on the ECW brand between CM Punk and Big Daddy V over the ECW Championship. This rivalry began when ECW authority figure Armando Estrada announced an "Elimination Chase to No Mercy", involving Elijah Burke, Tommy Dreamer, Kevin Thorn, and Stevie Richards. Over a three-week period, Richards, Thorn, and Burke were eliminated, with Dreamer winning the number one contendership. Estrada, however, revealed that Big Daddy V was also a contender, and he quickly defeated Dreamer to earn the chance to fight Punk for the title.