If Dolph Ziggler loses his match against The Miz at ‘No Mercy,’ he must retire from the company. (WWE.com)
Although it’s not the main event, this match between Dolph Ziggler and The Miz is arguably the most high-stakes contest of the entire evening. That’s because Ziggler has put his career on the line; if he wins, he gets the Intercontinental Championship, but if he loses, he has to retire. Ziggler has had many title shots in recent weeks and has failed each time, leading to The Miz mocking him for being unable to achieve seemingly any goal. Most recently, Ziggler had a shot at the Intercontinental Championship at Backlash, but he came up short (although to be fair, that’s mainly because Maryse interfered). This No Mercy match is being pitched as the grand finale to this storyline and Ziggler’s one last shot at greatness. Where is the WWE going with this? Surely Ziggler can’t actually retire, right? Will he win clean and end The Miz’s “never-ending” Intercontinental Championship world tour? Will some sort of shenanigans occur? Or is Ziggler really leaving us?
Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt
Randy Orton will face Bray Wyatt at ‘No Mercy.’ (WWE.com)
This has been a bizarre feud to say the least. During the past several episodes of SmackDown Live, Bray Wyatt has been playing mind games with Randy Orton, including leading him down a bunch of spooky corridors only to surprise The Viper with a cardboard cutout of himself with no eyes. Then there was a weird moment when Orton sat down in Wyatt’s chair, only for the video feed to cut back to Wyatt sitting there like nothing happened. Talk about confusing. Either way, this match was actually supposed to happen at Backlash, but it had to be cancelled when Orton sustained a legitimate off-camera injury. So what does the company have planned this time? Even though Orton constantly declares himself a god, he actually very rarely wins any matches. Will he change that this Sunday? Or will we continue to ask why we should be intimidated by a guy who mostly just sits in a dimly lit room speaking in riddles?
John Cena vs. AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose
The main event of ‘No Mercy’ will be a triple threat match between John Cena, AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose. (WWE.com)
No Mercy will conclude with this triple threat match between Dean Ambrose, John Cena and AJ Styles. After being defeated by Styles at SummerSlam and presumably giving up, John Cena finally returned in a recent episode of SmackDown, declaring that he’s finally ready to take back the title and become a 16-time champion. But Styles has proven himself to be a worthy opponent, putting his money where his mouth is when he defeated Dean Ambrose again in a recent SmackDown Live show. Ambrose also defeated John Cena not too long ago, so does Cena really still have what it takes? Can anyone take down AJ Styles? Or will AJ continue to be the face that runs the place, the champ that runs the camp, and so on?
