His impending feud with Steve Austin, hopefully climaxing with a title match at Survivor Series, will be spectacular. Both guys have great chemistry with each other as we have seen, with Austin portraying the paranoid leader magnificently while Rob Van Dam continues to impress in his easy-going slacker role. While I'm discussing Austin, I sometimes think we take the Bionic Redneck for granted, but the fact remains that's he's the most consistently intriguing and engrossing character in wrestling at the moment. The two weeks following his defeat to Kurt Angle and subsequent absence were clearly the worst episodes since the post-Wrestlemania debacles and his return to action has injected quality into the product.

Not only does the Main Event angle have definite potential, the semi-main has perhaps even more. The Rock and Y2J have developed a very intense feud in the space of two weeks and I'm hopeful that their No Mercy encounter is only the beginning rather than the end. At this point I'd say the crowd is split 60-40 towards Rocky, although he was definitely displaying heelish tendencies this week. It's pretty exciting to watch, actually. I've seen reports suggesting that they should turn Rock heel but I have to say that such an occasion would be absolutely disastrous. Ratings are already plummeting, mainly because of Austin - the most popular wrestler of the past fiftteen years - turning heel. To have Rock, the second most popular guy in the previous fifteen years, follow him to the dark side would be a rather bizarre decision. That's not to say they should never turn Rock heel, he certainly operates better in that role, but they must have Austin see the light first; they can't have them both being heels.

Back to this interesting Rock-Jericho feud. There are many ways in which this angle could be played out, but here's how I would book it (I'm writing this on Sunday afternoon so the PPV hasn't happened yet): Tonight's (yesterday's) match will hopefully be an epic 25 minute bout with a relatively split crowd. Near the end, there is the obligatory ref bump and Steph bounces down to ringside. It looks like she tries to throw Rock a *insert foreign object of your choice here* but Jericho intercepts it and wipes the Rock out with it. The crowd isn't sure what to make of this, but sadly for Jericho the ref is still 'unconscious' and when he finally revives, a dazed Rock is waiting with a Rock Bottom and it's over... no because Steph pulls the ref out the ring! The crowd is confused, Jericho looks mad, and Rock is still barely conscious. Jericho stands over the fallen Rock and the crowd is getting loud because they don't know whether he'll assault Rocky or Steph who has now entered the ring because the semi-conscious ref is now lying face-down again and Jericho starts walking towards Steph to the crowd's delight and then he takes the chair and smashes... the Rock's skull in (booo) and then Steph joins in with weak kicks and such like and then Steph wakes the ref while Jericho covers him and Jericho is the new WCW Champion and to cement his heel turn Jericho turns and hugs Steph! Run-on sentences rule.

So now you have the beginnings of a legendary feud. Heel Jericho reveals on Raw that he was incapable of 'winning the big one' with only the backing of the vile fans, so he decided to swallow his pride and have Stephanie help him etc. They can then carry on their heated rivalry and have a rematch at Survivor Series which Jericho also wins. Two victories, albeit dubious ones, over the Rock are certainly required to elevate Jericho from this no-man's-land between upper mid-card and Main Eventer which he's been trapped in for the past year. I hope it's as good as I think it will be.

(PRE-EVENT THOUGHTS: No Mercy should be an interesting event, as there's some matches that look good on paper. Rock v Jericho is much anticipated, and even though I'm fully expecting Jericho to go over, I'm waiting to see just how it's done. Edge v Christian could be very good, and I'm hoping in terms of match quality that it can finish close to the level of Jericho v Benoit from the Royal Rumble earlier this year. The main event, which has to see Austin retain the WWF Title, is a real test for RVD. Getting from scratch all the way to the top in 3-4 months in the WWF is extremely impressive, and if RVD can keep his strong momentum, who knows where he'll be by the time Wrestlemania rolls around. For the UK fans, maybe getting down to William Hill for a bet on RVD to win the Rumble in January could be a good idea...)

An interesting but short video package opens up the PPV detailing Austin, Angle and RVD going into tonight's match. The set is once again unique, as usual for all WWF PPV's. The Hardy Boyz music hits, and the show starts...

Good action in this one throughout, and there was always something to keep your eye on. Not a dull second. The match was a great opener, and got the crowd hot straight away through the use of a number of near falls. The end came when Matt pinned Hurricane after a Swanton Bomb by Jeff.

Regal talks to RVD backstage. When questioned, RVD tells Regal he's not on Vince McMahon's side, but he's just looking out for himself.

A limo pulls up, and out steps... Vince McMahon. McMahon tells Michael Cole that he's here tonight to "make an impact".

Fairly decent action, but Kane has definitely lost a step, and looks slower than he once did. Test won the match via pinfall after hitting Kane with a low blow and a big boot. After the match, Kane destroyed referee Nick Patrick with two choke slams and a powerbomb.

(ANALYSIS: This match, while nothing spectacular in terms of in-ring quality, did a good job of putting over Test. The end result took nothing away from Kane as a cleanish finish was made out to be somewhat of a screw-job due to the post-match attack. It would be good to see Test move up the card in the near future - his performance brought this match up a notch.)

The Coach knocks on Steve Austin's dressing room door, but Debra answers. In a comedic type segment, Austin sends clearly audible messages to Debra about Angle, RVD and Vince, which she then repeats to Coach.

Stacy Kiebler talks with Matt Hardy backstage. Stacy shows Matt her lingerie (facing away from the camera shot), and he tells her that it is "real good". Stacy leaves, and Lita appears seconds later, not knowing of the meeting moments before...

Like me, were you wondering what a lingerie match actually consisted of? Well, both competitors simply wrestle in their lingerie. That's it. Torrie won a short match after hitting Stacy with a sloppy looking Tajiri-style back-spring elbow, rolling her up for the pinfall victory.

Michael Cole interviews Kurt Angle backstage. Vince McMahon enters, and wishes Angle luck. Angle tells McMahon he doesn't need luck, and says he's going to win the WWF Title later in the night.

Christian is interviewed by Lilian Garcia in the dressing room area, and he runs down St. Louis in general.

Hardly any mat wrestling at all in this match, as everything was dominated by ladder spots. The finish saw Edge hit a one-main conchairto on Christian on top of two ladders, which led to him grabbing the title belt hanging above the ring.

(ANALYSIS: The match didn't get close to the level of Benoit v Jericho from the Rumble. Basically, there was a big time gap after each spot, which got boring (I actually spotted someone in the front row yawning), especially considering the match went over 20 minutes. That method works well in the TLC matches where there are 4 other people to fill gaps between spots, but not in singles competition. The final word - while the spots were good, too much time was wasted with rests.)

Spike Dudley is shown at WWF New York, with the main objective of the segment showing that he has all but forgotten about Molly.

This was just the standard booked WWF tag team match, with decent action but nothing special. During the match, Tajiri accidentally spewed green mist at the referee, which allowed Rhyno to run in and Gore the Big Show. Less than a minute later, Tajiri was pinned after being taken out by a 3D.

Backstage, Rhyno tells William Regal that the reason behind his actions in the previous match were because he's fed up with people treating the Alliance like a joke.

In the dressing room area, Shane McMahon, Test and Booker T discuss Booker's upcoming match. Booker says that Undertaker will be "one dead sucka".

This was a solid match that passed time quickly. The flow reminded me of Triple H v Undertaker from Wrestlemania, although it didn't have as much heat going in. Undertaker picked up the pinfall victory after nailing Booker T with a Last Ride out of the corner.

(ANALYSIS: Booker T jobs again on PPV, this time to the Undertaker. All I ask is: Why? Booker has to pick up a big PPV victory soon, or he's just going to keep sliding downhill.)

Coach approaches Chris Jericho backstage, but Jericho quickly ends the exchange by stating that he has to "go and win the big one".

(ANALYSIS: Thus far, there's been nothing special on the card, although a few matches have been good. The final two matches now have to give a little extra, which they have the potential to do...)

The match started very well, and just kept getting better. Late on, Stephanie ran to ringside and slid a chair into the ring while Jericho had Rock locked in the Walls of Jericho. Jericho broke the hold, and Rock brought Steph into the ring and Rockbottomed her. Jericho then hit Rock with Jeff Jarrett's Stroke onto the chair, and pinned him to win the match and title. After the match, a Rock attack on Jericho was teased, but Rock instead handed him the steel chair used in the match finish, and left.

(ANALYSIS: There's a unique type of heat between Jericho and The Rock, and impressively, it's all been built up within a few weeks. The match blew away all six previous matches, and was of a real PPV quality. I don't think it could have been much better, although Stephanie's involvement meant absolutely nothing on the night, and a 100% clean finish would have been a better decision, and could have made a classic match. Top performances given by both Rock and Jericho, and Jericho already seems like a deserving champion after playing a comeback role during the match (this one match gave him a huge boost). I hope this feud isn't cut off here.)

It was announced that the match had no disqualifications. About 10 minutes into the match, Vince McMahon came to ringside and shortly after, took out Austin with a steel chair shot to the back. As Angle had RVD covered, Shane McMahon came to ringside and broke up the pinfall attempt. Vince then took out Shane by the announce table, as inside the ring, Austin nailed RVD with the Stunner and picked up the victory via pinfall.

(ANALYSIS: RVD is over HUGE. Really HUGE. From here, the WWF should have a RVD / Austin angle planned for Raw, with Vince somehow involved. The match was short for a WWF PPV main event (about 10 minutes), but still achieved, and was entertaining. RVD needs to dump the Hardcore Title as quickly as possible. Maybe he should hand it off to either Hugh Morrus (who has lost a lot of weight) or Mike Awesome.)

(OVERALL ANALYSIS: WWF No Mercy 2001 was an above average event, with Jericho v Rock stealing the show. From here, I'd like to see Test continue his push, to feud with the Undertaker, RVD to feud with Austin, and of course Rock and Jericho continuing their battle too. Still, there's so much else that could either be added to the WWF as it currently is, or used in the second product, whenever it starts up...)

Next PPV: Survivor Series - 18th November 2001 in Greensboro, NC.

This comes from FMW's website: Eiji Ezaki, best known to wrestling fans as Hayabusa, was attempting to hit a "Lionsault" during a match this weekend for FMW, when his feet came tangled in the bottom ropes, and he came down, his head hitting full force on the mat, he was taken from the ring in the stretcher, and brought to a local hospital, where as of now, he has not shown any signs of improvement, and is paralyzed from the neck down.

Pictures from the incident (not for the squeamish) - http://web2001.kakiko.com/eigen/hayabusa1.htm

JAPAN

New Japan: In major results from the 10/7 Tokyo Dome show before a totally worked crowd of 61,000 - Tokimitsu Ishizawa (aka Kendo Ka Shin) defeated Masayuku Naruse in a mere 26 seconds to raise the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title. Ishizawa is getting a massive push now because he downed Ryan Gracie in a Pride shoot fight and we all know that Antonio Inoki has a massive hard on for any kind of shoot fighters. Kensuke Sasaki made his grand return to the promotion following his March walk out and was promptly jobbed out to IWGP Champion Kazuyuki Fujita in just over 6 minutes; this booking decision is so bad that it defies belief. And finally in the main event, the team of Yuji Nagata and Jun Akiyama defeated Hiroshi Hase and Keiji Mutoh in a dream inter-promotional match when Nagata pinned Hase. It was said to be an awesome match even though Mutoh damaged his knees again when hitting a moonsault on Akiyama. On the subject of Mutoh and his knees, he's set to get his knees drained once again any day now in order to make it through the rest of the year (he really should retire or he's going to end up in a wheelchair). And in one final note, long time mid card wrestler Osamu Kido is set to retire on 11/2 at the Yokohama Bunka Gym, his final match will see him tag with Riki Choshu to take on the legendary 80's tag team of Tatsumi Fujinami and Kengo Kimura.

All Japan: The big news coming from All Japan in the last couple of weeks is the very strong rumour that Toshiaki Kawada is unhappy. It's been said that Kawada could virtually quit the promotion at any time since he isn't under contract at this time, and reasons for his unhappiness tend to centre around Tenryu's booking style and the fact that he's been pushed as the number two guy in the promotion behind Tenryu. It's not all bad news this week though; former FMW star Masato Tanaka recently joined Tenryu's WAR faction, and is set to become a permanent fixture in the promotion. The upcoming Budokan Hall show line-up on 27/10 was also changed this week - Toshiaki Kawada is currently booked to face FMW booker Hiromichi Fuyuki instead of Gen'ichiro Tenryu. Tenryu was scheduled to wrestle Hayabusa on the show, but those plans, due to Hayabusa's injury, have to be scrapped now.

NOAH: The promotion crowned the first ever GHC Tag Team Champions this past week when Vader and Scorpio defeated the team of Akitoshi Saito and Jun Akiyama in the tournament final. The finish saw Vader pin Akiyama after a choke-slam in order to build up their upcoming singles match on 12/2. Shinjiro Ohtani has been the working the current "Tug of War" tour on loan from Zero-One/NJPW. As part of their inter-promotional deal, New Japan will allow Yuji Nagata to work the NOAH tour in January.

Indies: A bombshell was dropped this week when Battlarts owner Yuki Ishikawa announced that he was shutting down the promotion in November and allowing the entire roster to move on before re-launching the promotion next spring. Ishikawa, who's tight with Inoki, is set to work with Pride and NJPW, while red hot Junior prospect Ikuto Hidaka will probably also end up in New Japan. The rest of the roster such as Alexander Otsuka and Mohammed Yone may end up in All Japan if they are lucky, while the likes of Katsumi Usuda and Takeshi Ono will probably float around the indies as freelancers. It's a shame Battlarts is going under, they were one of the best promotions in Japan during the last couple of years. And finally on a depressing note, former WCW jobber Van Hammer is currently working the Big Japan tour as a favour to CZW owner John Zandig; he must have some serious dirt on BJPW owner Shinya Kojika if bums like Hammer are getting regular work.

MEXICO

EMLL: Black Warrior defeated Negro Casas on Friday night to raise the Leyenda De Plata trophy. Warrior is apparently over huge as a face at the moment and should be set for a main event push in the next few weeks. Antifaz Del Norte suffered a serious head injury this past week when he was struck down with a brain bruise. He's expected to be out for up to a month. 9/28 PPV is starting to do the rounds on the tape trading circuit if anybody wants to check it out, apparently the show is said to be solid but not particularly brilliant.

AAA: The big news in AAA this week has been the news of AAA boss Antonio Pena's arrest last weekend. The story goes that Pena was arrested in Orizaba after he and his gang of flunkies (security staff, ring girls etc) started a fight with a gang of EMT's in a restaurant at 6am in the morning. Apparently tables, chairs and bottles were flying everywhere before police broke it up and arrested everyone.