WWE No Mercy 2016: Best and Worst Booking Decisions in PPV's History

Ahead of WWE No Mercy 2016, Vince McMahon and the creative team need to fire up the pay-per-view's archives, to relive the glory of Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels and suffer through the agony of Rikishi vs. Steve Austin again.

No Mercy's history is a clear indication of which plays to keep in the booking playbook and which ones to tear in half. Big wins work. So do bold moves that help propel Superstars.

Veering off into the ridiculous, on the other hand, is a surefire road to failure.

Hopefully, WWE keeps that in mind when drawing up a game plan for No Mercy on Oct. 9, the first edition of the PPV since 2008. Bray Wyatt's battle with Randy Orton doesn't need any simulated deaths. The Triple Threat match for the WWE World Championship doesn't need any attempted vehicular homicide.

Before we see what the revived event brings, let's reflect on the high and lows of No Mercy booking, presented in chronological order.

Best: Chyna Wins the Intercontinental Championship (1999)

The journey to Chyna's victory was lined with slapstick and silliness, but it resulted in a history-making moment.

The late powerhouse defeated Jeff Jarrett in a gimmicky Good Housekeeping match to win the Intercontinental Championship, becoming the first (and last) woman to ever hold that title. That result made No Mercy far more noteworthy and cemented Chyna's status as a mold-breaking female wrestler.

Chyna was the right woman to make that bold move with, too.

The Ninth Wonder of the World was big and powerful enough to convincingly hang with the men. She had a special air about her, and this title win took advantage of that.

Had Jarrett's reign continued, the status quo would have rolled on. WWE instead braved the scrutiny it would receive for upending tradition, creating buzz aplenty along the way.

Worst: Fabulous Moolah Wins the Women's Championship (1999)

The Fabulous Moolah is a Hall of Famer and one of the most accomplished women's wrestlers of all time. Still, she had no business being in the ring in 1999, much less beating anybody for a title.

She was 76 years old at the time and could barely move.

WWE booked her to beat Ivory for the Women's Championship anyway. The bout stank. John Powell of SLAM! Wrestling wrote, "No disrespect to Moolah, but this could very well be the worst match I've ever seen."

Beyond the quality of the bout, WWE further damaged the prestige of the women's title. The company turned it into the centerpiece of a joke. Imagine Larry Hennig coming out of retirement today and claiming the Universal Championship on PPV.

Worst: Steve Austin Tries to Run over Rikishi (2000)

Credit: WWE.com

The Steve Austin-Rikishi feud is one many fans would like to forget.

The over-the-top, overwrought storyline led to Austin battering Rikishi in a one-sided affair at No Mercy 2000. This came a year after a mystery assailant ran over Stone Cold with a car. Rikishi admitted to the crime; Austin made him pay in blood.

In Austin's hunt for revenge, he adhered to the eye-for-an-eye philosophy as he attempted to collide into Rikishi with his truck. Police officers pulled up just in time to prevent an onscreen murder.

Authenticity wanes when vengeance in wrestling moves toward the homicidal. Fans can buy into a guy breaking a rival's ankle or throwing him off a cage, but smashing a man against a wall with a speeding vehicle is too much to take.

This all came off as outrageous and misplaced in the WWE world. 

Best: Chris Jericho's Career-Changing Win (2001)

Two years after Chris Jericho debuted on Raw and jawed with The Rock, he outlasted him at No Mercy to claim the WCW World Championship.

Up to that point, Jericho had been an upper midcarder and an intercontinental champ, but he wasn't presented as a headliner. Knocking off The Rock changed that. This was the biggest win of his WWE run, a stepping stone to garnering more gold and spotlight in the years ahead.

Jericho's upset gave the PPV a newsworthy moment.

And WWE wisely teased a rematch between the two. Jericho won with plenty of help in the form of a steel chair and Stephanie McMahon. The Rock held up that chair, a symbolic gesture to his foe that he didn't beat him decisively.

Best: Billy Kidman Goes Nuts on Paul London (2004)

Credit: WWE.com

Billy Kidman transformed in front of the audience at No Mercy 2004.

Against his former friend and tag team partner Paul London, Kidman showed off a darker side. He injured his opponent's ribs and pounced on him with a Shooting Star Press. After the medics strapped London to a stretcher, Kidman came crashing down on him again.

"You made me do that!" he yelled at the fans.

That turn of events turned an ordinary match into a catalyst for character change. Kidman came out of the PPV with a solid supply of momentum.

Unfortunately, an injury to his orbital bone derailed his heel turn, but coming out of No Mercy, he had people talking, wondering what was next for him.

Worst: The 'Death' of Undertaker (2004)

John "Bradshaw" Layfield vs. Undertaker ended No Mercy 2004 in groan-inducing fashion.

The WWE Championship contest ended in a messy, overbooked climax. Heidenreich emerged to help JBL beat up Undertaker. They shoved him into a hearse and a truck rammed into it backstage.

Flames roared from the smashed vehicle, implying the end of The Deadman.

This was another example of how scripted death doesn't belong in wrestling. PWTorch's Wade Keller summed up the story's ineffectiveness when he wrote, "The finish was lame." He also added, "The post-match angle was corny."

Those aren't the type of descriptors one wants used about a PPV main event and world title bout. The ill-advised venture into action-movie territory tainted No Mercy, turning it into a laughingstock event.

Best: Making Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels Battle in a Ladder Match (2008)

Animosity spilled over in 2008's rivalry of the year—Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels.

WWE wisely threw kindling onto the flames of that feud at No Mercy by booking the enemies in a ladder match. The company played up the gimmick bout as being Michaels' home turf, reminding fans of how he popularized the use of ladders in a wrestling ring.

The stipulation also allowed Michaels and Jericho to ramp up the violence. They bashed each other with steel. Jericho lost a tooth during the war.

Lewis Howse of WhatCulture.com wrote, "Both men took existing ladder match tropes and spots and performed them with added bitterness and hate."

This was a case of WWE pushing all the right buttons with a hot storyline. Jericho and Michaels' skill was certainly pivotal to this being such a great match, but WWE put them in position to pull off the classic.