WWE No Mercy Review

The second Smackdown Live PPV since the brand split was a very interesting one to say the least. First off, we had the WWE World Championship main event kick off the show, witnessing the return of a superstar who hadn’t been seen since before Wrestlemania. We also saw a superstar revive his career by winning the Intercontinental Championship. All in all the PPV left us with many unanswered questions so let’s give a quick run down.

The Good

– The AJ Styles world championship title reign continues and we have seen yet again another amazing performance from him. Of course, without taking credit away from both Cena and Ambrose, overall AJ Styles has had a remarkable first year. He has not just accomplished everything that needed to be done in the organization within one short year, but as far as in ring matches go, AJ has been nothing short of spectacular. Everything that AJ Styles has touched since arriving in the company has turned to gold. And rightfully so, the WWE has seemingly made it a point to build the Smackdown Live brand around him. It’s going to be interesting to see who they have AJ defend his title against next as it seems that both Dean Ambrose and John Cena may take some time off. Randy Orton would be a fun feud as it’s something fresh and nothing we’ve seen before. It looks like his rivalry with Bray Wyatt is over, though, based on what transpired last night, when Wyatt beat Orton with interference from the returning Luke Harper. A NXT call up is possible, with Samoa Joe making the most sense as both him and Styles have long history in TNA, and he is more than ready to be on the main roster. As long as we don’t get a cookie cutter Kane, World Title rivalry where we all know what the end result will be, I’m pretty much ok with anyone they pit AJ against next.

– Dolph Ziggler has always been a wrestler on the cusp of greatness. The problem I’ve always had with him though, was not possessing his own identity as a wrestler. I always felt he would often “swagger jack” from other wrestlers rather then become his own man. Why become the next Shawn Michaels when you could become the first Dolph Ziggler? But after his feud with The Miz, it seems as if Ziggler has broken out of that and has discovered his own identity. I believe Miz deserves a lot of the credit for this as he brought the best out of Ziggler not only in the ring but as well on the promos. Miz in particular has shown that he should be on the main event level soon, while Ziggler has shown that the door hasn’t closed yet on his WWE career and that he can still reach his max potential. Their match at No Mercy stole the show, telling a great story in the ring with suspense and near falls galore. Dare I say they ended up stealing the show, while giving Ziggler a great moment. Ziggler dethroned his rival Miz from the Intercontinental Championship and made the championship mean something again once again which it has been lacked for many years now.

– The return of Luke Harper is a big boost for the brand. Before I get into this I just want to plug the GoodIfItGoes.Com’s owner, DeQwan Young’s,youtube video of the road to recovery with Luke Harper where you can see him break character and talk about his goals in pro wrestling and his rehabilitation. The one area Smackdown has lacked in is it’s roster depth, and having Harper on the brand certainly helps things out. I feel as if he has main event potential and is a stud of an in ring worker especially for his size. Although I would’ve preferred for him to break out the shadow of Bray Wyatt, all in all I’m very happy that he’s back.

The Bad

– As before, my main problem with Smackdown Live is the roster depth. I do feel that they are headed in the right direction building up new stars like Alexa Bliss and Baron Corbin, though. But in Corbin’s case, his win over Jack Swagger doesn’t do much for his career overall as Swagger has pretty much been a jobber for the past three years now. Another thing is the lack of depth in the Tag Team division. Yes, I am a fan of the pairing of Rhyno and Slater, but who knows how long they can keep it afloat before it gets stale. The Uso’s have been great since turning heel, adding a new dimension to their characters. American Alpha of course has always been great since NXT, but other than that their tag team division lacks depth. It was really shown how much depth they lacked when they called up The Headbangers for a short return a few weeks back to take part in their Tag Team championship tournament. At this point, NXT’s tag team division completely craps on Smackdown’s tag team division, and in all honesty that really shouldn’t be the case. I hope that NXT’s eventual call ups helps out the lack of the depth on the Smackdown roster but I believe that next months PPV Survivor Series will expose it.

– Becky Lynch being injured really hurts a women’s division that is still growing it’s legs. Luckily, she won’t be out for too long and the other women’s wrestlers can step it up with in her absence. In particular, giving Naomi a chance to shine as a top face woman’s wrestler is a great possibility. But once again, the lack of the roster depth is on full display with Becky’s injury as of now, where Nikki and Naomi are the only face woman’s wrestlers on the Smackdown Live! Roster.

– I was really disappointed in the match quality of the PPV other than the Triple Threat WWE Championship Match and the Intercontinental match. The rest of the matches were either very sub par or lackluster. The Orton/Wyatt match especially disappointed me as it was a match I had looked forward to for a long time. It was a very underwhelming outcome for what was suppose to be a dream match to some. The build up was decent but the match failed to deliver especially after being given the main event role. It looks like the feud isn’t over yet so hopefully they eventually find their chemistry with each other.

No Mercy Overall Match Review(Out of 5 Stars):

AJ Styles/Dean Ambrose/John Cena, WWE Championship Triple Threat – ****
Nikki Bella/Carmela – *1/2
Heath Slater & Rhyno/The Usos, WWE SD! Tag Team Championship – **
Baron Corbin/Jack Swagger – **1/4
Dolph Ziggler/The Miz, Intercontinental Championship Match – ****1/4
Naomi/Alexa Bliss – **1/4
Bray Wyatt/Randy Orton – **1/2

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