WWE No Mercy 2016 Matches: Full Breakdown and Preview of PPV Card
The second SmackDown-exclusive pay-per-view, No Mercy, is upon us, and nearly every match on Sunday's card will be the result of something that occurred at the first one, Backlash.
AJ Styles follows up his WWE World Championship win over Dean Ambrose by defending against The Lunatic Fringe and his other primary rival, John Cena.
Dolph Ziggler puts his career on the line against the man who cost him the Intercontinental Championship last month, The Miz.
The Usos attempt to wrest the tag team titles away from the team that beat them in a tournament final in September, Heath Slater and Rhyno.
Nikki Bella will seek to end her ongoing feud with Carmella, and Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt will finally battle in singles competition.
The show will affect the future of the SmackDown brand while simultaneously wrapping up some of this fall's most significant programs.
Here is what fans can expect from Sunday's extravaganza.
Nikki Bella vs. Carmella
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Nikki Bella's return at SummerSlam this past August should have been an important moment for the reality television star and former Divas champion. She was coming back to the squared circle after months of rehabilitating her neck and was eager to return to the top of the women's division on SmackDown.
Carmella had other plans.
The once-popular NXT babyface underwent a character change and brutally assaulted Bella at every turn.
Then, to add insult to injury, she eliminated the former titleholder from Backlash's Six Pack Challenge Elimination match, costing her an opportunity to become the first SmackDown women's champion.
The assaults continued in the wake of that historic match, and now, the two women enter No Mercy more eager than ever to bring their differences to a head.
The Breakdown
There is no way Bella is losing this match.
The feud has run its course, as evidenced by the lack of creativity surrounding it lately. There have been sneak attacks and screwy tag match finishes, but no reason has been given for Carmella's change in attitude. On Sunday night, her quest to put an end to Bella comes to a crashing halt, thanks to the Total Bellas star and her new TKO finisher.
That outcome sets her up in championship contention and for a title match showdown with Becky Lynch, providing SmackDown Live with a hotly anticipated championship program.
Prediction: Nikki Bella
Jack Swagger vs. Baron Corbin
2 of 7
Jack Swagger received his (10th?) opportunity at a renewed push this last month, making the jump from Monday Night Raw to SmackDown and immediately running afoul of The Lone Wolf, Baron Corbin.
Most recently, on the October 4 episode of SmackDown Live, Swagger scored a controversial victory via submission after the referee mistook Corbin inching toward the ropes for tapping out. An irate Lone Wolf protested to no avail. On Sunday, he will have the opportunity to end any debate as to who the superior competitor is.
The Breakdown
Swagger is a Superstar whose potential disappeared years ago when he stupidly got himself arrested just prior to WrestleMania 29. Always a great hand capable of strong in-ring performances, he has a place on the Tuesday night roster, but not as a more credible threat than Corbin.
The former NXT star has undeniable presence, a mean and nasty attitude and a crushing in-ring style that meshes the big-man offense of days gone by and the athleticism that fans expect from modern-day Superstars.
He has a significantly brighter future than Swagger—a future that should be enhanced by a victory Sunday night.
Where that leaves Swagger going forward is a bit of a mystery. Perhaps he could hang out in the locker room with the wasted Apollo Crews before forming a tag team of generic super athletes.
Or something like that.
Prediction: Baron Corbin
SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match: Heath Slater and Rhyno vs. The Usos
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One of the most interesting stories in all of SmackDown Live through the first month or two of the brand extension was the rise of Heath Slater. The perennial jobber seized an opportunity presented to him and in the process became one of the most unlikely breakout stars.
After being given the ultimatum of winning the SmackDown Tag Team Championships or continuing on without a WWE contract, Slater found a partner in Rhyno and proceeded to win the gold at Backlash.
The team they defeated? The Usos.
Jimmy and Jey underwent a character makeover prior to that match, turning heel and brutally assaulting Chad Gable, costing American Alpha the title shot they earned. Their loss to Slater and Rhyno resonated with them, and in the weeks that have followed, they have appeared more vicious and aggressive than ever before.
Sunday night, they will attempt to add another reign as the top tandem in the sport to their resumes by beating the mismatched champions.
The Breakdown
The Slater story has stalled, and as a result, so has all of the momentum he and Rhyno had built over the last month. Sunday night, their run comes to an end, courtesy of The Usos.
Jimmy and Jey have a ready-made feud with American Alpha waiting for them, while Slater would benefit from the renewed interest of SmackDown Creative, which has apparently hung him out to dry in recent weeks.
As for Rhyno, there will always be room for The Man Beast in WWE, even if it comes as the rival of The One Man Rock Band.
Prediction: The Usos
SmackDown Women's Championship Match: Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss
4 of 7
After making history at Backlash by winning the SmackDown Women's Championship, Becky Lynch found herself targeted by new No. 1 contender Alexa Bliss.
The former NXT star won the right to challenge Lynch via victory over Nikki Bella, Carmella, Naomi and Natalya in a Five-Way No. 1 contender's match and since then has wasted little time in attacking the champion both physically and verbally.
Continually referring to Lynch as someone who lucked into the title and a "natural-born loser," Bliss has developed into an effective villain ahead of Sunday's high-profile title match. Lynch, the consummate babyface, has built sympathy for herself by bumping around, losing tag matches and helping to develop Bliss into a legitimate threat.
The Breakdown
Josh Nason of F4WOnline.com reported Sunday morning that Lynch is out of No Mercy due to an undisclosed injury.
This would mark the second consecutive SmackDown pay-per-view affected by a late-breaking injury. Worse yet is this particular injury and the problem it creates for the women's division.
If Lynch is forced to the sidelines for a significant amount of time, a championship still in its infancy will be left in limbo, and the plans that have already been formulated will be for naught.
Unfortunately for Bliss, the injury could also derail her momentum just as she was beginning to find her feet as a main roster character and performer.
Intercontinental Championship Match: Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz
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The most emotional match of Sunday's No Mercy pay-per-view will pit WWE intercontinental champion The Miz against Dolph Ziggler. If Ziggler wins, he is the new champion and simultaneously exorcises the demons of repeated losses.
If The Showoff is unsuccessful, though, Miz will be left to bask in the glory of having retired one of his greatest rivals on live television.
Ziggler has been spectacular over the last month, expressing himself both with tears and pure anger as he was forced to endure ridicule and mockery at the hands of The Hollywood A-Lister. Sunday night, he will have the opportunity to silence his critics and, potentially, the IC champion with a single superkick.
If he does not, one of WWE's most consistently great performers will wrestle his final match under the bright lights of Vince McMahon's sports-entertainment empire.
The Breakdown
It is so rare to find a midcard match in today's WWE that is as significant, hot and anticipated as a main event. WWE puts so much effort into the marquee matches while typically throwing together the undercard bouts at the last minute.
It is a testament to the talents of both Ziggler and Miz that in 2016, some 10 years after each made his television debut, they are still significant pieces of the SmackDown puzzle and prepping for such a high-profile match.
Miz is the intolerable heel, a loudmouth who has spent months backing up his words by retaining his championship. Ziggler is the the babyface who is just one big win away from turning around his luck. Add in the retirement angle and you have a simply story that fans can invest themselves in emotionally.
Ziggler wins here, only because he still has plenty to accomplish in WWE, especially given his expanded role on Tuesday nights. Miz will recover, as he always does, because he is wrestling's best and purest heel.
Prediction: Dolph Ziggler
Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt
6 of 7
One month after their originally scheduled bout, Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt will do battle in a match born of cryptic promos and mind games but little else.
There is still no clear-cut explanation for why Wyatt targeted Orton, or why The Viper even bothered to respond. Instead, it feels like a placeholder feud for both men, with neither having any other direction to speak of.
The Viper is still fresh off his SummerSlam massacre at the hands of Brock Lesnar, while Wyatt is seeking a win that will finally establish him as a legitimate and credible main event star in WWE. Neither can really afford a loss at this point, but that does not concern the writing staff, who will move forward with the feud.
The Breakdown
It is disappointing to see Wyatt in a position where he is assured to lose another significant match. The Reaper of Souls began his WWE stint as one of the most intriguing and compelling characters in the industry. Since then, he has been beaten down and de-emphasized by a broken creative process that favors generic babyfaces over an interesting villain who could be used to enhance the good guys.
Sunday night, he will eat a RKO and fall victim to another marquee star.
Rather than using Orton to lend credibility to Wyatt, the writing staff will put The Viper over The Eater of Worlds for reasons that amount to building Orton, a future Hall of Famer, for a WWE World Championship match.
Prediction: Randy Orton
WWE World Championship Match: John Cena vs. Dean Ambrose vs. AJ Styles
7 of 7
AJ Styles defeated Dean Ambrose to capture the WWE World Championship just weeks after pinning John Cena clean in the center of the ring. The hottest wrestler in the industry, Styles has risen to the top of WWE quicker than anyone could have imagined.
Sunday night, he will be forced to defend his title against both Cena and Ambrose, proving that his wins over those men were no flukes.
The most interesting element of the bout, though, is not Styles or the returning Cena. No, that element is Ambrose, who has rediscovered his edge in recent weeks. He has attacked both of his No Mercy opponents and unleashed controversial opinions about the franchise star of the company. He has brought an attitude to the feud that had been missing over the last year, and as a result, he is a far more interesting character.
Sunday night, the three highest-profile stars on the SmackDown brand will battle for the right to be the top dog on Tuesday nights. Will Styles retain? Will Ambrose regain? Will Cena make history, tying Ric Flair's unfathomable 16 reigns?
The Breakdown
Styles will leave with the WWE Championship Sunday night. He is far too hot to waste a championship reign on four weeks, just to put Cena or Ambrose over again. Do not cut off his momentum for the sake of adding to Cena's resume or trying to rebuild Ambrose in the wake of his disappointing title reign.
How Ambrose performs will be the question. Is he a heel? Will he remain a babyface, or is SmackDown's writing staff headed for a "shades of gray" character with him?
Prediction: AJ Styles
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