Here’s my final thoughts on WWE Raw’s No Mercy 2017!
Apollo Crews vs. Elias
Reactions: It still amazes me how hot the crowd is for Elias when he insults them with acoustic tunes. I love it! He’s a guilty pleasure of mines. Anyways, this Kickoff Match was par for the course. Decent action was delivered here and the match didn’t overstay its welcome. It was basic as it comes. Non-offensive, but nothing really worth going out of your way to watch.
Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars
The Miz vs. Jason Jordan (WWE Intercontinental Championship)
Reactions: The Miz smartly played to his home crowd, so it wasn’t a shock to see how well the LA audience responded to him. As for Jordan…it was nothing but crickets. As for how the match played out, it was a pretty good contest. Jordan looked like a world beater who looked like he was on the verge of winning at several points throughout the match. The Miz played his part well as the desperate champion who fought to win at all costs. The multitude of suplexes from Jordan coupled with Miz’s quick witted counters and the outside interference of Miz’s goons was fun to watch. Only problem with this bout is the fact that it felt like a preview of a rematch that will be even better. They really should have gone all out here since it’s a PPV and gotten more time to kick things into a higher gear. But at least it was still worth a watch. By the way, the ending seems to have alluded to Jordan’s growing frustration turning him to the dark side.
Rating: 2 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley vs. Nia Jax vs. Emma (Fatal 5-Way Match for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship)
Reactions: Now this was fun! The MVP of this 5-woman affair was definitely Nia Jax, who practically steamrolled everyone standing in her warpath. Her Double Samoan Drop was a thing of beauty, plus all the dominating offense she delivered soon after was impressive. Banks and Bayley got in each other’s way at several points, plus Bliss and Emma butted heads after their short-lived partnership ended. Banks and Bliss even dished out some damage to each other and harkened back to there previous bouts against each other. Car crash matches are definitely my thing and that’s exactly what this was. The closing moments were a flood of finishers and breathtaking near falls. Bayley just so happened to be the unfortunate victim of Bliss’ dangerous DDT once every other woman laid KO’d on the outside. Bliss retained here after competing in one of the more positively chaotic women’s bouts of 2017.
Rating: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Neville (c) vs. Enzo Amore (WWE Cruiserweight Championship)
Reactions: It’s so easy to listen to Enzo. But man…it’s a herculean task to actually sit through any of his solo bouts. Everything that happened before the bell rang was entertaining, but everything after it was just pure mediocrity. Neville just had fun beating Enzo into nothingness, but the slow pace of this bout was the complete anti-thesis of a worthwhile Cruiserweight contest. This match never got any better from the opening bell and was nothing to really remember or look back on fondly. Enzo’s top rope DDT and match ending dick kick was just “meh,” I guess. It really didn’t do enough to make everything that happened before it worth sitting through. So now Enzo’s the new Cruiserweight Champion. Yay?
Rating: 1 & a Half out of 5 Stars