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WWE No Mercy 2016: The Wrong Main Event

October 12, 2016 | Posted by Justin Watry

Hi, I’m Justin Watry. You may remember me from such classic columns as March 2012’s “WWE WrestleMania 28: Sheamus Should Defeat Daniel Bryan in Less Than a Minute” and October 2015’s “WWE NXT: Bobby Roode, You’re Next.”

Reader Feedback

Going forward, I will be doing ‘reader feedback’ only once a month. Going to scale back on all the junk. Still not sure how I will go about replying to comments in late October. Any ideas?

Backstory

WWE No Mercy was on Sunday night. Pretty simple and straight forward here – my review of the event! Let’s do this…

Didn’t see the kickoff show. I did correctly predict the Curt Hawkins nonsense though. Yay me?

WWE World Title – Okay, three things to note here about the main event triple threat match starting the show.

1. It is rare, but John Cena has begun pay-per-views before. Heck, so have “main events.” No Mercy in 2007 instantly came to mind, as did the Elimination Chamber bouts in the past. Or even CM Punk vs. The Undertaker in 2009! I am ALL for changing up the script once in awhile. AJ Styles retaining was obvious and didn’t have as much intrigue as The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler…or even the long awaited Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton clash.

2. Yeah, the lineup change was probably due to the NFL game AND Presidential debate airing on television. However, I don’t believe that is the whole story. As mentioned above, WWE has experimented with pay-per-views before, so it is not JUST because of other programs. There were other bouts on the card that had fans interested. Why not give a test run to other feuds in the main event picture?

3. What a match! You knew the champ was going to retain, but the question was “How?” John Cena made no sense and already did the Ric Flair story line last year and fell short. Dean Ambrose? Please. I was ahead of the curve on that title reign being a bust, and I doubt WWE goes back to him anytime soon. All we needed to know was who took the pinfall loss. That ended up being Cena. Again. Very, very interesting. Read into that what you will.

NIkki Bella vs. Carmella – Well, with Cena returning to the backstage area, of course Nikki Bella was going to be nearby. I picked the Total Bellas star to win at No Mercy, and she did. That was the correct decision. She had been beat down by Carmella enough the past month or so.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles – Meh. A comedy duo that was thrown together won the initial tournament to crown new champs. Now, they defeated a team that turned heel and have a ready made feud with the eventual title holders in American Alpha. Yet, Rhyno and Heath Slater were victorious. Not a fan of it last month. Not a fan of it now. You could still do all the funny junk and story line with Heath Slater without including title belts. Be creative, it can be done.

Baron Corbin vs. Jack Swagger – Both guys should likely be doing more right now. Swagger has always had the talent and accolades to back it up. Corbin? I have high hopes for him on the main roster after seeing him improve in NXT over the years. This mini-feud is fine. WWE Smackdown LIVE could use a couple new stars bumped up the card. Swagger and Corbin would be solid choices for a chance to shine.

IC Title – Why is this not the final match? The main event? The show stealer? The battle with all the intrigue? Regardless of the outcome, it has the most steam heading into No Mercy. Baffled by the decision to have The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler NOT close the show. I thought it was virtually guaranteed once the triple threat was named the opener. Boy, how wrong was I? Either way, best match of the night with the best moment of the night. Really felt this would have been an epic main event that gets remembered for a long time. Now? Sure, it was still awesome and cool…but wow, shame on WWE for missing an opportunity. Congrats to Dolph. I wrote in my preview I’d like to see another round of Miz/Cena. Perhaps that is the next new/fresh story line on Smackdown? It’s been a few years. I wouldn’t mind. Bumps up The Miz and allows Cena another chance to lose before taking time off…

Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss With Becky Lynch out, WWE scrambled to put on a last second replacement. Naomi coming out to wrestle Alexa Bliss was not what I had imagined. Disappointing to say the least. It’s too bad because with that came another baffling decision – Naomi beat Bliss! Yep, shocking for the sake of shocking. She was NOT in the Smackdown Women’s Championship picture at all. Bliss has momentum before No Mercy (even though she was going to lose). Get better Becky, the division needs to be back on the right track.

Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt – Alright, IF this was truly going to main event the show, WWE had to have known a Luke Harper return moment was not enough to save it. I figured we’d get an all out brawl throughout the arena, a No Holds Barred clash, and many huge spots. Nope, average Bray/Orton showdown with some hocus pocus, and BOOM! There is Luke Harper, back on the side of Wyatt. Haven’t the WWE Universe sat through this already? Too bad. Randy Orton loses, and a rematch is probably in the cards for Survivor Series. Not the best of efforts from Smackdown LIVE, despite a few highlights on the WWE Network special.

Overall: Can’t win them all. Smackdown LIVE is usually better than Raw. Not on Sunday night though. My hunch is Heck on a Deck will top No Mercy. Then the wrestling world finds out what is planned for Survivor Series in Toronto. What’s next? Who’s next?

Self Promotion

Watch Big Brother Over The Top on CBS All Access.

NFL season is finally here! Colts over Packers is my Super Bowl pick, *please don’t* write that down.

Tons of columns posted last week – find them on my Twitter account! Speaking of…

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article topics :

No Mercy, WWE, Justin Watry