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
Finn Bálor vs. Bray Wyatt
Reactions: Bray’s pre-match assault played a huge part in how this match unfolded. Bálor was in a constant state of extreme discomfort as Bray targeted his injured ribs. Bray’s control of his mere mortal foe resulted in some entertaining moments, such as him landing a second Uranage that was followed up by a Senton Splash. Bálor continuously battled back against Bray in a triumphant display of pure valor. Bálor’s Finlay inspired offense was also cool to witness. This bout never seemed to slow down, which did it a ton of favors. While it may have looked like an injured Bálor would be taking the big loss tonight, he managed to fend off Bray and defeat him for a second time. This was a good match that started out hot and stayed that way the whole way through.
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose (c) vs. Cesaro and Sheamus (WWE Raw Tag Team Championship)
Reactions: All the respect in the world goes out to Cesaro for his efforts here. He ended up losing some teeth after getting flung right into the ring corner post. All the action that took place before this unfortunate accident was pretty exciting. Then the match took a turn for the better due to Cesaro’s even more fiery than usual nature. Sheamus and Cesaro gelled incredibly well as usual, while Ambrose and Rollins pulled the crowd into the match due to their hot tags and constant counters to the big man’s dup offense. The craziest moment of this match definitely has to be Cesaro’s top rope Powerbomb with Rollins right into Ambrose on the mat. Both teams have developed a great chemistry with each other that’s led to them delivering two high octane bouts. The hot finish here closed out a strong title defense from Ambrose and Rollins. Hopefully Sheamus and Cesaro don’t meet their end as a pairing due to Sheamus’s errant Brogue Kick…
Rating: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
John Cena vs. Roman Reigns
Reactions: This one certainly delivered on its promise of providing a big match feel. While the match’s opening moments were a bit too slow for my tastes, it eventually gained traction over time. Reigns looked more dominating than usual as he cut off Cena’s usual offense during several intervals. Cena had a hard time mustering any type of offense at first, but he soon began tearing down his dream match foe. Once Cena got some fire in him, the match became all the more better. Reigns and Cena landed all types of big moves on each other and soon got into a war that erupted into multiple finishers. The crowd was heavily invested in this dream match and it added to the overall quality of his bout. The top rope AA and the double sequenced AA moments were both amazing, plus Reigns’ announce table spear blew everyone’s mind (Reigns’ took a nasty spill when he landed right on his head, too). It looked as if Cena would be the victor here, but Reigns held onto his spot as WWE’s “Chosen One” after laying into Cena with his Superman Punch/Spear combination. The hot crowd, crazy near falls, constant taunt/jaw jacking from both men and insane moments shared between Reigns and Cena did enough to make this match worthwhile.
Rating: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Brock Lesnar (c) (with Paul Heyman) vs. Braun Strowman (WWE Universal Championship)
Reactions: While this match was good, it ended on such a simple note. I expected far more carnage than what was given to everyone here. All the action primarily took place within the ring, which was fine. But after witnessing the chaotic brawl that both men were embroiled in during the main event of Summerslam, I expected so much more here. Lesnar’s “Suplex City” shtick has been losing its luster lately and causing his matches to become a bit less special over time. Strowman’s moments of control provided the best moments of this bout, but there simply wasn’t enough of them. This match didn’t go long and it wasn’t as crazy as it should have been. This was just fine. A “fine” rating for a match of this caliber is kind of a letdown…
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
Match of the Night
Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose vs. Cesaro and Sheamus!
Final Verdict
Thankfully, this year’s No Mercy was a breeze to sit through. It only featured eight matches, which is a nice change of pace from the usual WWE PPV with far too many meaningless bouts tacked onto it. Cena vs. Reigns, the Fatal 5-Way Women’s title match and the Tag Team Championship match helped keep this show from bombing. The main event was decent, but it didn’t really deliver on its promise of serving up a monster brawl. Everything else on the card was average or good (except that massively underwhelming Cruiserweight Championship match). Nothing shocking went down, though. However, this was simply a show that was filled with decent to good bouts that didn’t overstay their welcome.
Final Score: 3 out of 5 Stars
