Poorly-Booked Finish Plagues Otherwise Stellar WWE No Mercy PPV

The Raw-exclusive pay-per-view WWE No Mercy 2017 was as stellar of a pay-per-view as the WWE has seen this year for about the first two and a half hours with quality match after quality match.

The opening match of the night between The Miz and Jason Jordan for Miz’s Intercontinental Championship was a very solid and entertaining match from start to finish, with Miz successfully retaining his championship. This was the correct move and the finish keeps this feud’s potential still open in the near future.

That match was followed by Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt, and the two put on a very solid match of their own despite Wyatt jumping Balor from behind before the match even started. But with Balor once again getting the win over Wyatt, it further solidifies Wyatt’s lack of importance and this loss will be very hard to come back from in his quest for legitimate significance on Raw.

The Raw Tag Team Championship match followed, and what an awesome match it was between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins and Sheamus and Cesaro. These two teams put on one of the best tag team matches of the year that included an incredibly nasty spot where Cesaro was launched into the corner and a pair of his teeth were knocked out with blood spewed everywhere. At the end of the day, Ambrose and Rollins retained their titles in arguably the match of the night.

The Raw Women’s Championship Fatal 5-Way between the champion Alexa Bliss, Bayley, Sasha Banks, Nia Jax, and Emma was one of the best women’s matches in recent memory with fast-paced, hard-hitting maneuvers from start to finish. Bliss eventually retained her championship in a true gem on the No Mercy card.

One of the two matches everybody was talking about followed with John Cena’s battle with Roman Reigns and despite the match starting out slow, it picked up in intensity quickly and the two put on a great match. After an array of near falls and big spots, Reigns pinned Cena to get the win and establish himself as “The Guy.”

For as quality of a pay-per-view as No Mercy was up to this point, it would all drastically change in the final two matches of the night. The Cruiserweight Championship match followed Cena vs. Reigns when Neville defended his championship against Enzo Amore.

The match itself was average at best and the WWE knowingly threw the match on directly after the Cena vs. Reigns match, knowing the WWE universe would be exhausted after its conclusion. That in itself hurt the Cruiserweight Championship match, but the ending is what hurt it the most.

Enzo temporarily distracted the referee to hit a low blow on Neville and get the pinfall victory to win the Cruiserweight Championship. Yes, a guy that has been on 205 Live for approximately one month dethroned the lone dominant force in the division with a low blow. It would have been bad enough to have Enzo win clean, but having him win with a low blow is as bad as it gets.

This only further proves that 205 Live’s credibility is in serious question, and no matter if Neville gets the championship back or not, this stain will not go away. This match was followed by the main event which pitted Brock Lesnar against Braun Strowman for the Universal Championship. And while it was arguably the most anticipated match of the night, it did not live up to expectations.

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Strowman hit Lensar with several of his patented running powerslams and dominated much of the match before Lesnar made a comeback. After one F5 by Lesnar, the less than ten-minute match was over and Lesnar retained his championship.

So, the Monster Among Men can walk away from getting backed into a semi while in the back of an ambulance, but can’t kick out of one F5?

The booking makes Strowman look weak and that was the worst thing that could have happened to one of the WWE’s fastest-rising stars. He still will likely remain a major factor on Raw, but this was his big opportunity and the company treated it poorly. Lesnar’s one-on-one matches are all becoming the same ten-minute or less, suplex after suplex, one F5 repeats, and it doesn’t do Lesnar or his opponent any favors.

All in all, No Mercy was a very good show with several standout matches. But what a lot of people will remember is the final two matches and how poorly-booked they were along with being probably the two weakest matches of the night.

Next: Potential for Angle vs. Miz at Survivor Series

“It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish” is the old saying, and the WWE finished a stellar pay-per-view on a very sour note that should leave a bad taste in the WWE universe’s collective mouths.