I’ll be here tonight to write live results for tonight’s WWE Smackdown pay-per-view event, No Mercy. The main pay-per-view portion of the show starts at 8e/7c, so join me for all the action. John Canton’s review will be posted on Monday morning.
I joined the pre show pretty early. Curt Hawkins made his debut. Horrible theme song, don’t know why they didn’t go with his old one that they used during vignettes. He voiceovers his own entrance though, so that was funny. He did nothing besides say that his debut match would be this Tuesday, live on Smackdown.
Alexa Bliss was told by Shane and Daniel Bryan that she will get her title shot on November 8th. That’s exactly one month from yesterday when the news came out. I know people are saying it’s not a suspension, but that sure smells like a suspension for Becky.
The Hype Bros and American Alpha vs. The Ascension and The Vaudevillians
This is a pre-show match. Crowd has filled in quite nicely it looks like, and they’re loud, so that’s good to hear. They love Zack Ryder so this is easily my favorite crowd of the year. Standard 8-man tag match. Ryder was the babyface in peril for most of the match. Jason Jordan got the hot tag, the best one in the business, and did what he does best. After everyone hit their finishers, American Alpha got the win with Grand Amplitude on Aiden English.
Winners: The Hype Bros & American Alpha
The intro video still had Becky Lynch in it, so this obviously came last minute to the company.
WWE Title Triple Threat Match: AJ Styles (c) vs. John Cena vs. Dean Ambrose
Huge boos for Cena’s entrance, good ovation for Ambrose but there were a smattering of boos, and a massive ovation for Styles. This match started hot and never really let up. Cool spot early with a double German Suplex, Cena on AJ while AJ had Dean. Cena and AJ went one on one a lot during the match. Ambrose was the odd man out a lot. All three men busted out moves that they either rarely do or never have done. The crowd was white hot for all of it. Cena was the first to hit his finisher with the AA on both guys separately, but AJ rolled to the floor and Dean managed to kick out. Cena took a snap suplex from AJ on the apron, which is a bump he absolutely doesn’t need to be taking, so props for that. Dean had the Calf Crusher on AJ and then Cena hooked on the STF on the other leg. AJ ended up tapping out and the bell rang, but no winner was declared. Cena and Dean kept fighting and I guess the match isn’t over because Dean hit Dirty Deeds on Cena and got a two count before AJ pulled the ref. They shouldn’t have rang the bell so quickly, the crowd is clearly confused. Cena hit a Super AA on Dean but then AJ came in the ring with a steel chair and somehow one shot to the back was enough to take out Cena for the win. Great match until the last three minutes and then it fell off the rails.
Winner: AJ Styles retains
Nikki Bella vs. Carmella
Nikki is apparently trying to be like her man and now wears jean shorts to the ring. Trust me when I tell you, Nikki pulls it off much better. Carmella continued her strong work as of late, showing off a nice mean streak to start the match while working over the neck of Nikki. Nikki hit a nice Beautiful Disaster kick since Cody don’t call me Rhodes isn’t in the company anymore. Carmella kicked out of the Bella Buster and then went for the Code of Silence but Nikki escaped, twice. Nikki then hit the TKO, that she’s calling the Rack Attack 2.0 and got the win. Shame for Carmella, but I’m not surprised.
Winner: Nikki Bella
Smackdown Tag Title Match: Heath Slater and Rhyno (c) vs. The Usos
Jimmy Uso came to the ring wearing a hat with the tags still on them, so clearly he plans on taking it back to the store afterwards. Looked like this was going to be a short match as the hot tag to Rhyno was about 2-3 minutes in. However, Rhyno just ended up being the babyface in peril instead. Heath made the hot tag that the fans were really into. Jey Uso hit the most massive Samoan Drop i’ve ever seen on Heath. Heath countered an Uso splash with a powerslam from the second rope. Good near fall. They go after Heath’s knee and Heath clearly tapped out by mistake to the Lasso from El Paso, as in he was trying to sell the hold but tapped out in doing so, but the ref didn’t count it and Rhyno hit a Gore to break it up. Rhyno became the legal man and hit one more Gore for good measure on Jey and gets the win.
Winners: Heath Slater and Rhyno retain
Jack Swagger vs. Baron Corbin
Congrats to Baron for getting off the pre-show and congrats to Swagger for getting on a PPV altogether. This was a basic, hard-hitting match you’d expect from these two. First match the crowd wasn’t into. Corbin hurt Swagger’s hand with the steel steps and it prevented Swagger from hooking on the Patriot Lock. Swagger hit a great looking Lariat and then finally got the Patriot Lock on. Corbin grabbed the apron to break it. The ref got distracted by putting the apron back, so Corbin poked Swagger in the eye and then hit him with the End of Days. This feud will continue.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Career vs. Intercontinential Title: The Miz (c) w/Maryse vs. Dolph Ziggler
Ok, allow me to rant for a minute. If you’re going to open the show with the WWE Title match, then you sure as hell better let this match close the show! Any other decision is inexcusible! This match is the best storyline in WWE right now and has EARNED that right. I don’t care if Bray or Orton has something insane planned for their match. They have done nothing to warrant going last. This is ridiculous.
As for the match, The Miz dominated early. He mocked Daniel Bryan a couple times with a tease of the surfboard submission and then did the trio of running dropkicks in the corner on Ziggler. The crowd is buying into almost every near fall, which is great to hear. Miz locked on the Figure Four for quite awhile but Ziggler managed to get the ropes. Ziggler hit the Rough Ryder, shoutout to you Broski. Miz exposed one of the top turnbuckles, which Ziggler ran into. Miz turned it into a slingshot Powerbomb but Ziggler just barely kicked out. Miz mocked Daniel Bryan again with the YES! Kicks but Dolph ducked one and turned it into a Zig Zag. Another great near fall. Maryse sprayed Dolph in the face with the perfume again and Miz hit the Skull Crushing finale, but this time Dolph got his foot on the rope. Miz kept after Dolph’s leg but ended up pulling off Dolph’s boot. Dolph hit a Superkick with the bare foot. Before he could cover Miz though, Maryse called for Mikey and Kenny of the Spirit Squad. They distract the ref, Ziggler hits Mikey with a Superkick but Miz hits another Skull Crushing Finale. Ziggler kicked out! This match is incredible. The ref kicked out everyone from ringside finally. The Miz argued with the ref and then turned right into a Superkick… Dolph Ziggler wins! They shouldn’t have had to steal the show since they should’ve been last, but they stole it anyways. Fantastic work.
Winner: New Intercontinential Champion, Dolph Ziggler
Alexa Bliss vs. Naomi
I’m sorry everyone, but I used this match to turn it to the Rangers/Blue Jays game for a minute. Obviously this match is just filler and in a bad spot on the show. I would assume if Becky wasn’t hurt, Nikki and Carmella would’ve gone here. I turned it back on in time to see Naomi reverse a cross armbreaker into a pin attempt and actually got the win. Because that’s something WWE would do.
Winner: Naomi
Quick Plug: Before we get to the main event, I just want to give a quick plug for my podcast The Match Beyond, which you can catch on TJRWrestling and iTunes every Monday. Be sure to check out last week’s episode with “Limitless” Keith Lee, and then this week’s episode will drop tomorrow with Hank and Mark McAllen. We talk about Impact Wrestling, Gimmick Matches in WWE, & the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. If that wasn’t enough, next week’s episode will have Charlie Haas as the guest for an interview you do not want to miss.
Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton
Wyatt’s entrace starts at :17 past the hour, so typical PPV time would say we have about 25 minutes left. Both men avoided each other’s finishers early in the match. Bray knocked Orton off the apron onto the barrier outside to take advantage of the match. Bray dominated for a while after that. The story was that it seemed Bray had managed to get in Orton’s head. Bray kept going for Sister Abigail but could never hit it. Bray went for a running senton on the steel steps outside, but Orton moved and Bray took the steps full force. Orton went for the RKO in the ring, but the Wyatt effect happened and when the lights came back on, Luke Harper was in the ring. Orton didn’t know what to make of it and turned right around into Sister Abigail and that was it. That was literally the reason they had this match go last. Wow. This match wasn’t even good.
Winner: Bray Wyatt
K-Tank’s Final Take: The two matches this show was built on, delivered. Go out of your way to see those matches. Everything else was what you’d expect. The last two matches suffered greatly having to go after Ziggler and Miz, and they deserved it. I guarantee you even Bray and Orton would say they shouldn’t have gone last. Thanks for following along tonight & don’t forget to check out The Match Beyond podcast!