WWE No Mercy 2017 Results: Highlights, Analysis, and Grades

Source: WWE.com

John Cena vs. Roman Reigns

Result: Roman Reigns defeated John Cena via pinfall

Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars

First things first, one of the signs in the crowd shows just how much things have changed over the past decade. Here it is, in all its glory:

One of the things we’ve been talking about since he made his way to Raw is that John Cena has been acting all weird and goofy. Right off the bat, a dumb crowd chant of “You both suck” led Cena to wander away from the ring. Reigns went to get him, and Cena sold on a level not seen since Shawn Michaels, circa SummerSlam 2005. I don’t know what’s up with him lately, but at very least it’s interesting.

Reigns had the upper hand for much of the early parts of the match. But much of that part of the match was honestly kind of boring. I completely get that they were going for a big fight feel, but it didn’t come across like either guy really believed it. I mean, Reigns sitting on a chinlock? You don’t do that in a big fight. Everything you do in a big fight needs to cause major punishment to your opponent. Just wearing him down a little bit doesn’t really make sense to me.

Honestly, things didn’t really seem to pick up for me until the first AA/Roman kick out. There was no way this match was going to end that quickly and on the first finisher. So there wasn’t a whole lot of drama. But that’s where the big fight feel actually started to have some meaning.

The near falls picked up in intensity for both superstars. Notably, Reigns kicked out of the “super AA” from the middle rope. It was frustrating for the crowd, who was mostly pro-Cena for the majority of the match. Cena himself was clearly stunned, heading out to the floor to clear off both the Spanish and German announce tables.

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And somehow, WWE figured out how to have one guy spear another through a horizontal table. I get what they were going for, but Reigns basically DDTed himself. It was an all or nothing kind of spot, and I’m not sure how it landed. Also, it’s less tables for Braun and Brock to destroy later in the show.

Reigns went for a spear, but Cena caught him with an AA – then rolled through for yet another, but Roman still kicked out. Yes, after four AAs, Reigns was still alive, and Cena must have been thinking, “Huh, is this what it’s like to wrestle me?” And while Cena was shocked that someone was as resilient as him, Reigns connected with a Superman punch and a spear for the victory. After the match, Cena raised Roman’s arm in victory, with both superstars coming to respect the other. And Cena stuck around for a quasi-curtain call. Cue speculation on his “retirement.”

For a WrestleMania quality match, it was a bit uneven in my opinion. The second half was a clear improvement over the early part. But it took too long to really get to the “big fight feel” that was hyped for so many weeks.