After the success of Smackdown Live’s first brand-exclusive PPV Backlash, Smackdown Live will look to continue producing the goods with their second brand-exclusive PPV, No Mercy, which airs this Sunday.
Backlash had a number of shocking moments that made the PPV successful, such as AJ Styles’ WWE World Title win and Becky Lynch’s emotional Women’s Championship victory, and No Mercy will look to provide fans with a number of similar or potentially different shocks to make it a success like Backlash was.
Whether it is a shock world title win, heel turns, or a number of upset wins, here are 7 Possible Shocks We Could See at No Mercy.
#7 Carmella beats Nikki Bella
After a flat first few weeks on the main roster as a babyface, Carmella’s heel turn on Nikki Bella has reinvigorated her character. Attacking and pinning Bella on a number of occasions, Carmella has been ruining the first weeks of Bella’s return to the ring and has avoided Bella gaining revenge every time.
WWE logic hints that Nikki will finally gain her revenge this Sunday at No Mercy by beating Carmella, right? Although many fans want to see this happen, a win here for Carmella would allow this feud to continue until Survivor Series, which would provide Bella the bigger stage to gain the much-anticipated revenge on the Princess of Staten Island.
Instead of rushing to the babyface triumph, Carmella could gain even more credibility by beating Bella on the second PPV straight. This rivalry could be given a longer story which leads to the winner of the overall feud gaining a ton of momentum, going on to challenge for the Smackdown Women’s Championship (most likely Bella).
#6 Rhyno turns on Heath Slater, turns heel
Unfortunately, much like Kane’s victory over Bray Wyatt at Backlash, this is a shock that would leave a sour taste in the fans’ mouths. WWE have been prone to booking these types of outcomes before, despite them almost always being the wrong decision.
Heath Slater and Rhyno’s short run as a tag team has only just gained traction, and even if the duo drops the titles to the Usos this Sunday, it shouldn’t be the end of the Beauty and the Man Beast. Despite what the fans think, WWE may have a different idea.
Rather than giving the team a compelling road back to the titles, they may just break up the duo by having Rhyno attack Slater after the bout. Although this would be a horrible booking misstep, which there has been plenty of in WWE before. Unfortunately, I can see this happening despite the backlash it would receive from fans.
If Slater loses the titles for the team by being pinned, expect Rhyno to hit him with the Gore.
#5 Alexa Bliss beats Becky Lynch for the Smackdown Women’s Championship
After finally overcoming the odds, Becky Lynch captured the Smackdown Women’s Championship at Backlash to become the inaugural champion. The underdog story finally reached its pinnacle, so surely WWE wouldn’t cut the legs out from underneath her title reign?
Sadly, we have seen such events occur before in WWE. Zack Ryder’s emotional title win at Wrestlemania 32 was followed by a devastating title loss to the Miz the next night. Christian’s first world title reign was ended in just three days by Randy Orton.
Dolph Ziggler’s incredible world title win the night after Wrestlemania 29 was followed up by a loss in his first title defence. The message here is that WWE often treat their underdog champions with less credibility, and this could possibly be the case with Lynch.
If no other big shocks are planned for Sunday, a shock women’s title switch may be on the cards, and Bliss may walk away with the championship, clean win or not. We will see at No Mercy if Becky Lynch is more than a transitional underdog champion, but don’t be surprised if Bliss wins her first title in WWE on Sunday.
#4 Dolph Ziggler wins the Intercontinental Championship
Now, a large majority of you may argue that the most shocking outcome of the Career vs Title Match between Ziggler and Miz would be a potential retirement for Dolph, but to be honest, it wouldn’t be all that shocking to see Ziggler leave the company right now.
Whether he is transitioning into a backstage role, spending more time on his stand-up comedy or indulging in some much-needed rest after ten years on the road, it may just be Ziggler’s last match for a while in WWE this Sunday.
What would be more of a shock would be a fifth Intercontinental Title victory from the Show Off, who arguably doesn’t need another reign with the championship. Although it seems viable that Miz could gain a lot of heel heat by ending Ziggler’s career this Sunday, WWE usually adds this stipulation to give more fire to a final match in a series.
If Ziggler isn’t actually leaving WWE at this time, a shocking fifth Intercontinental Title win could be on the agenda. Due to the unpredictability of the Showoff’s future and this match overall, a Ziggler title win would be incredibly shocking were it to occur this Sunday.
#3 Randy Orton beats Bray Wyatt comfortably
As much as it hurts to admit this is a potential shock outcome for this Sunday, it is entirely possible seeing WWE’s treatment of Bray Wyatt and his character in the past year and a half.
Without a singles victory on PPV since Battleground 2015, Wyatt has lost a lot of credibility due to poor booking and nonsensical character work, claiming he is a ‘god’ despite losing the majority of his matches. Surely, WWE must see that they are wasting Wyatt with these losses and that he is in dire need of a win?
Sadly, WWE have continually booked his character like this, and as much as fans may expect him to rectify his recent failures with a win over The Viper, another loss to a veteran may well be on the table.
Rather than a close battle, we may witness a glorified squash on Sunday, much like at Survivor Series 2015 when the Wyatts lost to the Brothers of Destruction (two 50-year-old men) in 10 minutes. Despite the necessity of a win for Wyatt or a hard-fought loss, WWE may be lazy and book a quick win for the Viper.
#2 Dean Ambrose reclaims his WWE World Championship
Despite WWE’s best efforts to present all three competitors as potential winners in the triple threat for the WWE World Championship this Sunday, the majority of fans have AJ Styles pencilled in to retain, with John Cena being a possible winner as well.
Dean Ambrose, however, isn’t being looked at as a likely winner for this Sunday. Even though he has been wonderful in the build-up towards this bout, cutting some blistering promos on both Cena and Styles as the angry, focused tweener, he is still being overlooked for a possible second world title win.
But, what if WWE were to pull the trigger on another Dean Ambrose WWE World Title reign? Granted, AJ Styles’ fans wouldn’t be too happy (myself included), it would still provide an extremely shocking moment for the main event of No Mercy, something that was missing from the main event of Raw’s most recent brand-exclusive PPV Clash of Champions.
Even though AJ Styles and John Cena are the favourites this Sunday in the main event, don’t rule out a shock win for Ambrose. If Ambrose loses, well, there could be an even bigger shock after the match.
#1 Dean Ambrose Turns Heel
I was considering putting John Cena winning his 16th World Championship at the top of this list, but many fans have predicted that outcome and the shock factor wouldn’t be as big if it does occur.
A Dean Ambrose heel turn, however, would provide arguably the most shocking moment of the night and would be unexpected even though it has been rumoured by some fans. If WWE are planning to have John Cena written out of storylines rather than suddenly leaving TV again, a Dean Ambrose attack on Cena after the match would be wonderful.
It would be the best way to make Ambrose look incredibly dangerous with his new heel persona by injuring the Cenation leader. Not only would the Cena fans embrace Ambrose with boos for taking out their guy, but the heel turn would provide a shocking face/heel turn on PPV, something that is increasingly less common these days.
Rather than having Cena simply leave to film his new TV series, have Ambrose embrace his inner heel, putting Cena on the shelf with a brutal attack that would catapult Ambrose to top heel alongside Styles, in addition to providing an incredibly shocking moment at No Mercy.
Thanks for reading! Do you think any of these will happen, or do you have a possible shock of your own to contribute? Leave it in the comments below, I will reply!
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