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No Mercy 2017 will take place at the Staples Center this Sunday with a host of widely anticipated matches on the card. While Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman for the Universal title will headline the card, an equally important match is the deeply personal encounter between John Cena and Roman Reigns.
With seven matches and five Championships on the line, this edition promises to be a blockbuster, especially considering the fact that No Mercy 2016 featured Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt with no title on the line in the main event.
This list takes a look at five little-known stats about the PPV.
#1 This is the first No Mercy to be exclusively RAW branded
While the 2017 edition of No Mercy will be the 13th overall, it will be the first time that the red brand of WWE will host it exclusively. The event was a SmackDown branded one for four years after the original brand split in 2002.
While the 07 and 08 editions had RAW, SmackDown and ECW brands, the return of the concept in 2016 saw it become a SmackDown branded event once again.
While the '16 edition was also held in California — at the Golden 1 centre in Sacramento — this year's edition will take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
#2 Brock Lesnar has appeared only in the main events of the PPV
No Mercy 2017 will be headlined by the Universal Championship match between Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman. Lesnar holds the enviable record of being in the main event of every No Mercy PPV that he has been a part of.
In fact, Lesnar successfully defended the WWE title in all his previous appearances. The 2002 and 2003 editions of the PPV saw Lesnar defeat The Undertaker — in a Hell in a Cell match and a Biker Chain match respectively.
#3 No Mercy was the first PPV where John Cena tapped out
No Mercy 2003 saw John Cena and Kurt Angle battle each other in a PPV match for the first time, and in the finish of the match, the Olympic Gold Medalist made the then heel Cena submit to the Ankle Lock. It was the time that Cena had submitted on pay-per-view.
Angle would make Cena submit once more at next year's No Way Out before Cena began his meteoric rise to the WWE's main event scene. Cena has seldom submitted since 2005 — when he won the WWE title for the first time.
No Mercy 2017 sees Cena battle Roman Reigns who doesn't have a submission move in his arsenal.
#4 First ever Fatal 5-way at No Mercy
No Mercy has had numerous multi-person Championship matches. Two Triple threat and one Fata Fourway matches have headlined the PPV over the years — but the 2017 edition will be the first to have a Fatal 5-way match.
Alexa Bliss will defend her RAW Women's title against Nia Jax, Sasha Banks, Bayley and Emma at the PPV which would be a first. The last five No Mercy PPVs have seen just two Women's title matches with the champion and the challenger winning once each.
This edition provides Little Ms.Bliss with a great chance to assert her dominance over the division.
#5 The IC title has always changed hands at No Mercy
The best match on last year's No Mercy was a Title vs Career match between the then (and now) IC Champion The Miz and Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler would eventually come out on top after a number of false finishes, but a year, it is the Miz who is again defending the IC title heading into No Mercy.
Mike Mizanin might just be the hardest working guy in the WWE. Coming to prominence even after getting eliminated from the Royal Rumble by Hornswoggle is nothing short of legendary, and the Miz has definitely carved out a niche for himself in the WWE.
The Miz has been more or less in the IC title hunt ever since Wrestlemania 32 and has had feuds with the likes of Zack Ryder, Dean Ambrose and Ziggler for the belt. Will Jason Jordan be able to thwart the Miz this time around?
The historical odds are stacked in favour of Jordan. All four times the IC title was previously defended at No Mercy, the Challenger picked up the belt.
The trend started in 1999 when Chyna beat Jeff Jarrett to claim the crown. 2001 saw Edge win the gold against the champion, Christian, while the World Heavyweight Champion, Triple H, defeated IC Champion Kane to unify the belts in 2002.
The next time the IC title was on the line at No Mercy was the aforementioned match between the Miz and Ziggler when the latter picked up the victory.
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