WWE No Mercy 2016 Review: Top Highlights and Low Points
The SmackDown brand's latest pay-per-view was No Mercy 2016 coming from the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California.
For a B-level event coming from the B-show, there was a surprising amount of potential behind this card.
Not only were all of the SmackDown championships supposed to be on the line, but careers were in the balance as well as Dolph Ziggler swore to walk away if he didn't dethrone The Miz, while Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt were set on a path of destruction for each other.
To cap it all off, the three biggest names on the brand—AJ Styles, John Cena and Dean Ambrose—would surely promise to be a great World Championship fight.
However, no pay-per-view is perfect, so there were bound to be both positives and negatives in how things were booked and what went down.
Which matches didn't quite live up to the hype? What segments far exceeded their potential? Were there more things to praise, or did the pay-per-view end up a bigger disappointment than anticipated?
It's time to look back on the results from No Mercy 2016 and single out the biggest highlights and low points of the evening, presented in order of appearance.
Low Point: Curt Hawkins Steps in the Ring
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There's a certain part of me that appreciates a troll, so even though it was easy to predict Curt Hawkins was going to literally just step into the ring and that would be it, I'll admit I wanted to chuckle at the idea.
However, an even bigger part of me is just annoyed about the situation.
Hawkins was decent in the ring, but his problem was that he was never particularly interesting, so when an angle is built around his lack of charisma, there's nothing positive to take away from it.
He's still carrying the cane, he's still stuck in 2007 with the Chuck Norris meme jokes and since he's being delayed for in-ring action, we've yet to see the only real benefit he can bring to the roster.
Delayed gratification only works if there is an actual payoff, but what is the likelihood stalling for two months is going to be worth it when he wrestles on Tuesday night?
Also, WWE needs to stop using pay-per-views to air segments that promote SmackDown as opposed to the other way around. The television shows should build up to the big events, not vice versa.
True, a match was never actually announced, but when people like Apollo Crews have absolutely nothing to do and a title match that was previously scheduled had to be taken off the card, WWE should have booked Hawkins to wrestle.
No Mercy should take priority over the television program, so why hold things off until then at the expense of the big event?
If it can be argued Hawkins wrestling isn't worth watching anyway, so fans shouldn't be upset that he did nothing but cut a bad promo, then why bother rehiring him and bringing him back into the fold to begin with?
Either he means something or he doesn't. If he is worth his contract, he should do something decent on the pay-per-view, not just tell everybody to wait another few days for what is probably not going to be worth watching SmackDown for.
Low Point: The SmackDown Women's Championship Match Is Cancelled
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The first thing that happened at No Mercy was Curt Hawkins saying he would be doing nothing, and if anybody was actually interested in seeing him perform, they would have to wait until SmackDown.
This was then immediately followed by a backstage segment that declared Becky Lynch would indeed be skipping the event, and the previously scheduled and promoted SmackDown Women's Championship match wouldn't happen.
Worse still, Alexa's title shot was pushed all the way until November 8!
This is the blue brand's second pay-per-view. Both No Mercy and Backlash have had a match cancelled at the last minute due to injuries WWE neglected to double check in enough time to figure something else out.
Sure, Bliss would have a replacement match, but without the title being on the line, it wasn't a suitable swap. You don't advertise filet mignon on the menu and then serve White Castle and expect your reputation to not be tarnished.
Their match meant nothing, and it was also painfully obvious who would end up going up against Bliss, as Naomi is literally the only babyface woman left on the roster.
Why bother having Bliss cut a promo about there being no competition with Naomi coming out as some sort of surprise when everybody could see it coming from a mile away?
Granted, it was a surprise to see Naomi get the win, but this was clearly done to give credence to a feud between the two for the next month, while Becky is unable to perform, which brings everything back to the main issue at play.
Considering the Raw Women's Championship just went through two title reigns to take the belt off Sasha Banks and then put it back on her because WWE didn't pay enough attention to her injury status, this means there are problems with how the company is handling everyone's health.
Not only are people being injured too often, but WWE's response to those injuries is also coming off poorly. It seems as though everything is being treated with an attitude of "well, it happens, deal with it."
If you actually cared about seeing Hawkins wrestle, you'll have to wait until Tuesday. If you aren't someone who hates women's wrestling and you were looking forward to the advertised title match, you'll have to wait an entire month.
It's never a good thing for an event to start off with two of these announcements.
Low Point: Eight-Man Tag Team Kickoff Match
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Is this all WWE can think of doing with the tag team division?
There's been a six-man, eight-man or sometimes even 10-man tag team match nearly every week since the Raw and SmackDown rosters have been split.
Whether it's an issue of laziness or inability to think of an alternative, there's been a rinse-and-repeat formula for weeks where every team not currently competing in the title match is just thrown together in a heels vs. babyface mashup.
The match wasn't horrible or anything of the sort, but it was the textbook definition of a pre-show match people can skip.
There were no stakes on the line, it's nothing that hasn't been seen week in and week out, there was nothing special about the in-ring action, and it ultimately served no purpose other than to eat up some time.
At least it was a match instead of another announcement that the SmackDown Tag Team Championship bout would be pulled from the card, but "it could be worse" is no highlight.
Highlight: WWE World Championship Match
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Whether it was a good or a bad decision to move this match to the start of the card to avoid the debate is up for debate until the viewership information is released, but ignoring that, this match was about as rock-solid as it could get.
The inherent goal for booking this was to figure out a way where all three men looked like viable champions, although somehow, AJ Styles would be able to retain.
That is exactly what happened.
With Cena and Ambrose forcing Styles to tap out, both of them won the match in a spiritual sense. As we all saw, though, that was an invalid finish, since there was not way to determine which of the two should be awarded the victory.
The actual finish of the match was a delicate organization, too.
When Cena took Ambrose out of the equation with the Attitude Adjustment from the turnbuckle, if Styles had stolen the pin and covered The Lunatic Fringe, it would have made Cena look like the rightful winner and Ambrose the biggest loser of the three.
However, having Styles introduce a chair to pin Cena, while Ambrose was incapacitated, means they are all on equal playing ground. Ever the heel, Styles didn't even technically cheat with the chair, as the match has no disqualifications set as a stipulation.
Going forward, both Ambrose and Cena have arguments to future title matches. Styles can also gloat and say he defeated both at the same time like he said he would.
This was well-planned and well-executed on all fronts.
Highlight: SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match
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While it may be an unpopular opinion to say this was the wrong call and will probably be looked back upon as a mistake, it can't be denied that there's an argument to be made that this was a highlight.
The match itself was fun, so where entertainment comes into judgment, this should be given a thumbs up.
Since it seemed like an inevitability new champions would be crowned, all Heath Slater and Rhyno fans were pleasantly surprised to see them retain the titles instead.
Shock value is a temporary thing, but if it gets the crowd to pop, there's a positive behind it nonetheless.
There still seems to be a ticking clock for their title reign, and No Mercy might be retroactively viewed as the right time to have pulled the trigger, but the future is unknown, and there may be different plans set in place other than what seems to be the obvious transition from The Usos to American Alpha.
So long as fans still find Beauty and The Man Beast an interesting act—evidenced by the crowd's positive reception in this match—it doesn't hurt to keep them champions.
Highlight: Intercontinental Championship Title vs. Career Match
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Why in the world was this not the evening's main event?!
This was arguably the best match of the entire night and one of the better matches WWE has put on thus far this year.
Every element fans could look for was present here: high stakes on the line and amazing action utilized to tell a great story.
The heels tried every trick in the book from outside interference, grabbing the tights, using the ropes, hairspray and exposed turnbuckles.
Dolph Ziggler was backed into a corner in more ways than one, but he stuck it out, and through it all, he was able to keep his job and win the championship.
This has been some of the best work Ziggler and The Miz have ever done, so if this was the end of the feud, it finished with a bang.
Those who think The Miz can't wrestle and the critics who complained about Ziggler, calling him boring and saying he can't connect with the WWE Universe anymore, definitely should be eating their words after their performances here.
Low Point: Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton
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Barring Luke Harper's return, which is more than welcome, nothing about this segment felt like it was good enough to be the card's main event—certainly not over the World Championship and Intercontinental Championship matches.
This would have been best suited as a mid-event breaking point rather than what fans were supposed to wait all night for.
Nothing about the match was particularly thrilling. These two men have decent enough chemistry that they weren't too awkward facing each other, but the chemistry for a truly entertaining fight just wasn't there.
It's also disappointing to see how after all this time away from WWE, Harper is coming back in exactly the same position he was for the entirety of his career in the company. This could have been a great opportunity for him to turn the tables and cost Wyatt the match, starting a feud with him instead of realigning and going back to square one.
If you're looking forward to seeing Orton fight Harper on SmackDown for the next few weeks until another match with Wyatt takes place, then you're probably jumping with joy, but if that sounds like it's not worth checking out, you might want to skip the blue brand for a while.
What do you think were the evening's highlights and low points? Is there anything left off this list you feel should have been included?
Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.
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