No Mercy (2004) - Background

Background

The event featured eight professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed either a villainous or fan favorite gimmick as they followed a series of events which generally built tension, leading to a wrestling match. All wrestlers were from the SmackDown! brand – a storyline division in which WWE assigned its employees to a different program, the other being Raw.

The main event featured WWE Champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) defending the title against The Undertaker in a match where the objective is to place an opponent in a hearse located on the entrance stage and drive them out of the arena, dubbed a Last Ride match. The buildup to the match began after SummerSlam, Smackdown's previous pay-per-view event, where JBL defeated the Undertaker in a standard wrestling match, also called a singles match, via disqualification to retain his championship. During that week on an episode of SmackDown!, JBL wore a neck brace, to signify that he was recuperating from a chokeslam that the Undertaker gave him on top of his limo. On the August 26, 2004 episode of SmackDown!, Orlando Jordan, one of JBL's associates, defended the WWE Championship for JBL against the Undertaker. Undertaker won the match via disqualification following interference from JBL; as a result, JBL retained the title. Two weeks later, General Manager Theodore Long, a fictitious match maker and rules enforcer, announced that Undertaker would get another opportunity for JBL's title at No Mercy in a Last Ride match.

One of the featured matches was contested for the WWE United States Championship, in which Booker T defended the title against John Cena. At SummerSlam, Cena defeated Booker in the first series of "best of five" match. On the August 26 episode of SmackDown!, the second match was won by Booker, to even the series one-to-one. The following night at a SmackDown! live event, Booker defeated Cena to win the third match. On the September 16 episode of SmackDown!, Cena defeated Booker in the fourth match, making the series even at two wins apiece. The following week it was announced that the final series title match would be scheduled at No Mercy.

The other featured preliminary match was Kurt Angle versus The Big Show in a singles match. The buildup to the match began on September 9, 2004 during an episode of SmackDown!, where a Lumberjack match (a standard match where non-participating wrestlers prevent contestants from fleeing the ring) was scheduled between Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero. The match ended in a no contest when The Big Show marked his return to SmackDown! by interfering in the match, chokeslamming both Angle and Guerrero in the process. The following week, Big Show was given two contracts to choose from; one contract to face Guerrero and one contract to face Angle. Big Show signed the contract with Guerrero's name on it. After signing it, Angle and his associate Luther Reigns, threw Guerrero out of the ring and offered Big Show a handshake. Big Show, however, tore up Guerrero's contract and signed the one with Angle's name on it to face him at No Mercy.