10 “Say What?” moments from No Mercy 2017 

So, WWE’s No Mercy 2017 is in the books and it's fair to say that it’s received a mixed response from the fans on social media.

There was a lot of buzz surrounding this Raw-exclusive pay-per-view, largely due to the two main event, ‘WrestleMania worthy’ matches of Roman Reigns vs. John Cena and Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman.

No Mercy also had a fairly healthy undercard, which made this event one of the most anticipated in recent memory. Therefore, expectations were high and in a lot of people’s opinions, including mine, it fell some way short of those expectations.

A number of head scratching booking decisions and surprising moments did at least get the fans talking about the event, and with that in mind, here are 10 “Say What?” moments from WWE’s No Mercy 2017.

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#1 Role reversal

Did Jason Jordan plant seeds for a heel turn in his post-match interview?

The opening match of the night saw The Miz, along with his ‘Miztourage’, defend his Intercontinental Championship against Kurt Angle’s baby boy, Jason Jordan.

Rather predictably, the face and heel dynamic of this match did not go how WWE officials would have hoped. Jordan got a largely negative reaction from the Los Angeles crowd and the audience in attendance were firmly behind The Miz.

It’d be too far to expect a face turn for The Miz on the back of this, especially since this isn’t the first time he has received this sort of support from the WWE Universe recently.

But as for Jordan, he did seem to plant the seeds for an imminent heel turn during his post-match interview and that could exactly what he needs to establish his new character, which clearly hasn’t connected with the fans thus far.

#2 No Demon, no problem

Finn didn't need the Demon to defeat Bray Wyatt at No Mercy

The fact that Finn Bálor was facing Bray Wyatt yet again at No Mercy was a “Say What?” moment within itself, especially since Finn would not be using his ‘Demon’ persona. Therefore, this just felt like a watered down version of their SummerSlam match last month.

The absence of the ‘Demon’ did not prevent Bálor from picking up another victory over Wyatt; even a pre-match beat down from Bray wasn’t enough for the ‘Eater of Worlds’ to overcome the former Universal Champion.

It was probably the right decision for Bálor to get the win at No Mercy, but you have to wonder where this leaves Wyatt, who has become one of the stalest characters on the entire Raw roster.

#3 Toothless aggression

Cesaro didn't just lose his match at No Mercy, but his teeth too!

One of the highlights from last night’s show was the Cesaro & Sheamus vs. Ambrose & Rollins match, which, maybe not necessarily by design, became an absolute war between the two talented tag teams.

This was evidenced by the fact that Cesaro left the match without his two front teeth, after losing them by overshooting a toss into the corner and smacking them off the ring post.

This left Cesaro with a bloodied face the remainder of the bout, which added to the drama of the match. The other participants weren’t shy of getting physical either and the four men all looked like they were giving everything in order to walk away with the Raw Tag Team Championships.

Ambrose & Rollins ultimately retained their belts in what was arguably the match of the night.

#4 Bliss retains

And still Raw Women's Champion...

The fatal-5-way match for the Raw Women’s Championship was one of the most intriguing bouts on the No Mercy mid-card. With the late addition of Bayley to the match, along with the dominating Nia Jax involved, it was hard to predict who would be victorious in this multi-woman contest.

It was a decent showing for all five women at No Mercy, Nia was dominant for a large portion of the match and her four opponents had to work together to take her down on more than one occasion.

In the end, the defending Champion, Alexa Bliss, overcame the odds to hold on to her title and see off all of her biggest competition from Raw’s women’s division in one fell swoop.

Could a match with Asuka be next for Bliss when the ‘Empress of Tomorrow’ debuts at next month’s TLC pay-per-view?

#5 Reigns survives 4 AAs

Cena with one of four Attitude Adjustments to Roman Reigns

The first of the double main events for No Mercy was the colossal clash between Roman Reigns and John Cena.

The controversial, ‘shoot style’ promos between Reigns and Cena over the last few weeks had got the fans buzzing about the match and they were intrigued to see who would get the victory when the two most polarising figures in WWE finally came face-to-face in a wrestling match.

It was therefore quite fitting that the bout divided opinion on social media, with some fans loving the match and others, including myself, feeling underwhelmed by the encounter.

The biggest talking point from the match itself was that Roman Reigns kicked out of regular Attitude Adjustment, a super AA from the second rope and then back-to-back AAs from Cena later in the match.

But was Reigns able to recover from the four AAs to eventually get the win over Cena?

#6 Is Reigns really the ‘Big Dog’ in his yard?

"It's my yard now"

Roman Reigns did go on to conquer John Cena after hitting a Superman punch/spear combo to defeat him cleanly in the middle of the ring.

WWE would like you to believe that this was a passing of the torch from Cena that cements Reigns as the top guy in the company. But in reality, has Reigns shown enough in this feud to be able to call himself the top dog?

For me, he hasn’t.

Reigns clearly struggled in his face-to-face promos with Cena on Raw and then had a fairly average match last night at No Mercy. It would be harsh to say Reigns has had a poor few weeks, but it hasn’t been great.

If anything, this feud has shown that while Reigns is a very talented performer, he is a long way away from being the face of the company. The ‘passing of the torch’ moment last night felt contrived by WWE rather than a genuine moment of Reigns rising to the top.

#7 John Cena's final farewell?

Does John Cena still believe in 'Never Give Up'?

The most talked about moment from No Mercy came just after the Cena vs. Reigns match and the post-match moment between the two performers.

After Reigns had left the arena, the focus switched to John Cena, who was still sat in the ring, similar to how Reigns left The Undertaker after their WrestleMania match in an apparent retirement angle for the ‘Deadman’.

Is this the same situation for John Cena?

It did come across as a farewell for the 16-time World Champion, at least for the time being. This was followed up by an emotional appearance from Cena on the Raw Talk after No Mercy, where he seemed to suggest that his in-ring career is winding down.

Could John Cena be heading into his own retirement angle at next year’s WrestleMania?

#8 Naïve Neville

Is Neville still at the top of the mountain in the Cruiserweight division?

The Cruiserweight Championship match was oddly placed between the Reigns vs. Cena and Universal Championship match at last night’s show and went on longer than most people were hoping for.

Neville dominated for most of the match until a baffling booking decision made him look stupid and opened the door for Enzo to take advantage.

With Amore beaten down on the outside of the ring and the referee’s 10-count at 8, Enzo then realised he wouldn’t get back in the ring in time to break the count so grabbed the Cruiserweight Championship belt.

Therefore, instead of Neville, a 13-year veteran of the industry, waiting a mere 2 seconds to claim victory, he exited the ring, breaking the count and keeping Enzo alive in the match.

It at this point that the outcome that many fans had feared in this match began to look inevitable…

#9 Certified G, bona fide champ

Enzo has more than a 'cuppa haters' nowadays

After getting back in the ring, Enzo waited until the referee’s back was turned to kick Neville in the crown jewels and roll him up for the pinfall victory and become the new Cruiserweight Champion.

That’s right, Enzo Amore defeated Neville for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.

This decision has upset a lot of fans that see this as the final nail in the coffin of an already dire Cruiserweight division.

I have to admit that I agree with that opinion. Neville was the only good thing about the division and made the belt feel as prestigious as it could, now that that has gone the Cruiserweights have nothing.

What do you think? Can Enzo save the Cruiserweight division or is the beginning of the end?

#10 One F-5 to beat Strowman

Lesnar surprisingly defeated Braun Strowman fairly comfortably at No Mercy

A great main event can often save a lacklustre pay-per-view, as evidenced by last month’s SummerSlam, which was headlined by a fantastic fatal-4-way match for the Universal Championship.

Unfortunately, the No Mercy main event did not deliver in that respect. The highly anticipated match between Universal Champion Brock Lesnar and challenger, Braun Strowman, went under ten minutes and left a lot to be desired.

It was a typical Lesnar match with a number of big moves and not a lot of story which, like the Samoa Joe bout at Great Balls of Fire, ended very prematurely.

Strowman had dominated Lesnar in the build-up to this match yet was beaten far too comfortably by the ‘Beast’ with just one F-5 after nine minutes.

This was a very flat ending to an already underwhelming PPV and leaves you wondering where the hell Braun Strowman goes from here.

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