October 18th 2001 | Bell Centre – Montreal, Quebec | TV Rating: 3.6
The Good
The show is bookended by two good things. Whilst the opening Chris Jericho /Stephanie McMahon/ The Rock promo is little more than WWE opening promo by numbers it is entertaining. Apart from the obvious “jokes” at Stephanie’s expense. Still, life was different in 2001. Chris Jericho Returns to Canada, which is nice too. The main event between Kurt Angle and Rob van Dam is a lot of fun and you can even forgive the non-finish given that it somewhat ramps up the intrigue for the Triple Threat title match for Steve Austin’s WWE Title on Sunday.
The Rock & Chris Jericho against Justin Credible & Raven is only a set up for Jericho’s heel turn (signposted a mile off, even though we’re in Canada) but that angle is a good one with Jericho returns. Vince’s return is also a “moment” as he’s been away for a few weeks… even if it begs the question of why no-one “missed” him for the past however many weeks he hadn’t been on TV.
The Bad
Nothing. Nothing at all. Seriously Apart from the Stephanie stuff, maybe.
The Indifferent
Hurricane, Molly & Lance Storm Vs The Hardy’s & Lita, and D-Von Dudley Vs Tajiri are little more than short matches to “hype” bouts set for No Mercy but they’re not offensive in any way. Just matches that are fine.
Similarly, Booker T & Test teaming up to take on their No Mercy singles opponents The Undertaker and Kane isn’t exactly enthralling but in it’s own way it does what it needs to in terms of hyping up the PPV. Tazz Vs Maven part III isn’t all that much, but it’s nice to see Maven pick up the win.
Overall
We can’t exactly praise the “wrestling” on this show although none of it is awful and nothing really drags it down. But as the last show before the No Mercy PPV this does a decent job of selling a lot of the matches on that show and the whole show itself holds together as a very entertaining slice of WWE action.