WWE No Mercy : Review

Another pay-per-view by the worlds biggest Wrestling company has come and gone - this time it was No Mercy - the pay-per-view that had one of the coolest stage set designs returns for it's 2017 version.

The event featured top talent from the company yet felt more like a slightly bigger Raw episode.

The pre-show was - well a pre-show - generally something I have never cared to watch and the company doesn't take any time to really make me want to invest the time to make me care. Sorry Apollo Crews and The Drifter.

Moving on...

First Up : INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH : JASON JORDAN VS. THE MIZ (c)

This match kind of took a bit to get into for me, but once it did it was a great opening match. In fact this was one of the highlights for the No Mercy pay-per-view. The match had a good amount of back and forth and successfully told a great story. The interference at the end by the Miztourage was a perfect way to end the match and having Miz retain by the skin of his teeth was perfect. Unforuntatly Jason Jordan isn't ready yet for the IC title - and more so to the point it does not appear that the "universe" wants him to have the title. Allowing Miz to retain in his home town was perfect as the crowd was fully behind the "heel" in this match up.

The interview immediatly following his loss was cringe worthy though and Jordan seems to be suffering from the same fate that The Rock suffered from early in his career - it appears that Jordan is far too nice and just doesn't know how to cut a good promo. This was likely the start of Jordan's downfall in my mind - not sure why the company broke up the pair before making sure they were both solid on the mic but hey -- we will see how this experient works out.

RATING : 6.5/10

Second Match : Finn Balor vs Bray Wyatt

This is unfortunatly a low point for the pay-per-view , this match up was boring, too long, repeative, and given away on Monday night as well as a Summerslam match up. Bray seems to have fallen off the map ever since his loss to the Undertaker a few years back - it seems like the company has given up on this guy and just uses him as an enhancement talent which is unfortunate. Balor on the other hand is still hot as shit (body and look wise) but it starting to feel stale as the company has had Balor in a good feud in some time now. The company has teased a Bullet Club which hardcore fans would freak over but others may not get (as NJPW is a niche market atm).

This means that both men in this match didn't have any real importance on any level for any furture script and it was noticed. Balor won this match but you wouldn't be the only one who couldn't care.

RATING : 4/10

Third Match : RAW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH - Cesaro & Sheamus VS Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose

The lead up to this match was great and the match delivered. I'm was not a huge fan of the pairing of Sheamus and Cesaro but recently they have included a bit of comedy in their pairing and it makes for a good watch. The match up between 2 former members of the Shield and the european connection made for some really good TV. The match got heated about 5 minutes in as Cesaro took a brutal face smash on the turnbuckle and smashed out his 2 front teeth - the man continued to wrestle for the rest of the match and helped to make the match that much more brutal. This honestly could have ended up being another bore but the 4 man gave their all and it showed. Kudos to everyone involved.

RATING : 7/10

Fourth Match : FATAL 5 WAY FOR RAW WOMENS CHAMPIONSHIP : Alexa Bliss (c), Bayley,Nia Jaxx, Sasha Banks and Emma

This match unfortunately did not live up to expectations. I'm not sure if WWE limits women on the moves and what not but this match fell flat for me. Alexa Bliss is a great Champion but the rest of the women aside from Nia Jaxx are just filler at this point. Bayley can't seem to get her momentum back from her NXT days, Emma has stopped and started to many times and now has the Dolph Ziggler syndrome while Sasha Banks hasn't been used correctly in a while.

This allowed Alexa to retain which in all honesty is the best decision. It's really sad to see this division suffer so much from poor planning, execution and writing which is really what has got these women out of the woods.

Here is hoping the Women's revolution continues with a bigger bang!

RATING : 5/10

FIFTH MATCH : John Cena VS Roman Reigns

Here's the thing with this match - no matter what you likely won't like the outcome. Reigns has just not built himself up enough with the audience for them to embrace him like they did John Cena as the company man - in fact it appears that much like were John Cena has been in the past 5 years is where Roman Reigns has ended up at early in his company man career.

When John Cena comes out to the ring - the "John Cena Sucks" chants start up - as the superstar is looking to wind down his career this jab at him originally confused and frustrated the 15x Champ but as time went on he realized any reaction is a good reaction - and most importantly his Merchandise was still the hottest selling thing regardless of how many adults hate him, his character or his stupid catch-phrases - Young kids on the other hand LOVE this guy; and this is why WWE has made him the face of the company for over a decade now.

The same could not be said for Roman Reigns. When the Shield broke up Reigns was the one who got the Shields entrance music and was immediatly placed in the top tier - at the time this happened - fans were not high on him. The company hasn't taken the time to create a real connection with the star to the fans and honestly Reigns own mic work ability has been the main reason for this. Paired with a predicable move set the match up between these 2 was a boo fest from the get go and not a lot it is their fault.

In my mind - John Cena is in fact a GOOD WRESTLER. His matches with Kevin Owens prove that HE CAN wrestle out of the box that he usually confines himself to and he is good at selling. His promo skills weren't the best when he was first introduced to us via Kurt Angle but since then he has had great war of words with The Rock and many others - this has given him the experience needed to make sure when he does grab a mic - he knows what he is going to say and say it with conviction.

The most recent ramp up for this fued showed Cena not only knows how to work the mic but also how to get under a stars skin while breaking the "fourth wall". Reigns was picked a part for everything everyone already suspected - Cena brought to light the fact Reigns can't cut it as the top guy which is why Cena is back, Reigns doesn't sell, Reigns isn't liked, Reigns can't wrestle, Reigns has all the time in the world to make it work and can't pass a drug test and lastly and most harshly - he can't cut a promo to save his life. In fact during a promo between the 2 of them - Cena called out Reigns as he struggled to retort back - this made Reigns just look weak in every way most people already believe.

Reigns has not learned any of this.

The match up had Reigns win over Cena which was a passing of the torch moment but really felt more like Vince has decided to push forward with Reigns even though the "universe" is dead set against it. The constant boo's for both men proved this is the wrong track.

Rumors started that John is basically retiring (like the Rock ) and will be more of a backstage guy - this was fueled by the fact that Cena stayed in the ring for a good 5 minutes after the match - seemingly waiting for a "Thank You Cena" chant which was muted. The match itself wasn't too bad at all - it's just too bad that it had to feature Reigns.

RATING : 7/10

SIXTH MATCH : Crusierweight Championship Match : ENZO AMORE VS NEVILLE (C)

This was a fail all around - Enzo getting pushed into the Crusierweight Division sucks for him as no one seems to care about the division because the company doesn't seem to have a lot of confidence in the brand.

Enzo won the belt which is unfortunate because I think this new heel Neville is much better than his previous persona and he seems to be fully into it.

Hopefully something decent comes out of this.

RATING : 5.5/10

SIXTH MATCH : UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH Braun Strowman VS Brock Lesnar (c)

This was the last match of the night and it delivered. What you expected to happen - happened although their previous encounter with Samoa Joe was exceptional better match. Overall the end of this match was the perfect end to what clearly will continue on and hopefully creative has something in the works for Braun as he is the next big thing - literally.

RATING : 7/10

OVERALL RATING : 6/10

#2017 #WWE #tv #review #wrestling #wwenetwork