Coming live from the Staples Centre in Los Angeles, California is WWE No Mercy. All the championships on the Raw brand will be hotly contested, including a mammoth main event between the monster, Braun Strowman, and the Beast Incarnate, the reigning, defending, undisputed Universal Champion, Brock Lesnar. These two have thrown each other all across every arena they’ve faced off in, and tonight will be no different. Also on the card is a Wrestlemania worthy match-up, as the 16 time World champion John Cena will go one-on-one with The Big Dog, Roman Reigns, after several weeks of some very real back-and-forth promos between the two. Will John Cena prove he is still the man to beat in the WWE, or is the WWE now well and truly Roman Reigns’ yard? The tag team championships will be on the line as Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose face off against former champions The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus), while the Raw Women’s Title is on the line in a five way match, as Alexa Bliss defends against Sasha Banks, Nia Jax, Emma and the newly returned Bayley. All this, and much more, at WWE No Mercy.
+ Alexa Bliss (c) vs Sasha Banks vs Bayley vs Nia Jax vs Emma (WWE Raw Women’s Championship): this was really, really good. All five women had their time to shine, and the crowd was into the idea (either for or against) any of the five getting the win, which made for a great atmosphere. Easily the best women’s match in recent memory, especially since all of the new call-ups
+ Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins (c) vs Cesaro & Sheamus (WWE Raw Tag Team Championships): this was a really rough (in a good may) match, most noticably when Cesaro had both of his two front teeth knocked out. These two teams have such fantastic chemistry (and dammit, Cesaro is one of the best in the WORLD right now) that it is always a joy to see these two go back and forth forever. Admittedly, a few smaller moments were too far in the ‘big move but not a finish’ direction, but whoc ares because this was so damn good
+ The Miz (w/ Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas) (c) vs Jason Jordan (WWE Intercontinental Championship): I’m not a fan of the Kurt Angle storyline surrounding Jordan, but damn if he isn’t fantatic in the ring. The Miz has been on fire the past year, and this was a really good match to open the show
+ Apollo Crews (w/ Titus O’Neil) vs Elias: this was the kick-off show, and while the match was about average, it was Elias’ pre-match concert that was, as always, one of the highlights of the show. Crews is, and always has been, a great athlete, but Elias has the look and in-ring skills to be a huge star sooner rather than later
– Brock Lesnar (w/ Paul Heyman) (c) vs Braun Strowman (WWE Universal Championship): this was the slow and plodding pace that favours these two (opposed to either Reigns/Cena or the cruiserweight matches earlier). Both men looked like absolute beasts, but this match was far too short for what it should have been. A very unexpected ending also left a relatively poor taste in my mouth, and frankly I expected much more
– John Cena vs Roman Reigns: this was a really disappointing match. I know these two are mostly known for their brawling, but this match was basically just punch-whip-drop-rest repeated for the first ten minutes until the finisher spam begun. One big moment near the ending was fun, but for the most part this was exactly as you would expect it to be, which was not the best it could have been
– Neville (c) vs Enzo Amore (WWE Cruiserweight Championship): Enzo dressing like Beetlejuice was the most enjoyable I’ve found him in a long time. This was a slow, plodding match (and the crowd chanting “this is boring” seemed to agree), and the longer it went the worse both men looked. Enzo is a hell of a talker, but Neville is just in a league of his own in the cruiserweight division, and should not have to stoop to Enzo’s level
– Finn Balor vs Bray Wyatt (Man to Man): this was a specific “no spooky shit” match, so they immediately had killed half the fun of each character. Wyatt used his big boi power to his advantage, and Balor was the quicker man, but for the most part this was such a waste of time for both men who should be doing much better things. I really hope this is the end of their rivalry
> It might have just been me, but my WWE Network stream was really laggy throughout this whole show. Only ever for, say, five seconds, but enough to take me out of the matches a few times
Should you watch this event: This was a stacked card, especially for a B-level event. The tag match, women’s match and Intercontinental Championship match were all good, but all of the others were disappointing, especially after the huge amounts of hype leading up to them. This was a show of two halves, and the first half was significantly better than the second.
MoshFish Reviews 