WWE No Mercy 2017: Most Controversial Moments in PPV's History

WWE No Mercy is coming up on September 24 and promises to be a big night for the company. The funny thing is, only two matches have been booked thus far. But those two matches are of massive main event-caliber.

Brock Lesnar will defend the WWE Universal Championship against Braun Strowman. While this match has been a long time coming, it's also been a juggling act for the company. Could Strowman's career move along at just the right pace, allowing him to get stronger while building him as a legitimate title threat in the eyes of the fans?

Or would Lesnar overshadow him at every turn?

The good news for WWE is that everything has worked out perfectly. Not only have fans accepted Strowman, they're popping for him nearly every time The Monster Among Men is in the ring. Strowman is the real deal, and he will give Lesnar all he can handle at No Mercy.

The second main event of the night pits John Cena against Roman Reigns. While no championship is involved and no career-defining stipulation is attached, it's still a battle for the ages. The face of WWE vs. WWE's new top guy—it will certainly be a momentous night for the company.

But the response to Reigns vs. Cena has been overwhelmingly negative so far. Many fans want nothing to do with this match and believe it's just a waste of time. The outcome seems to make little difference, as there seems to be little reason for the bout to happen in the first place.

A controversial match of this nature could unsurprisingly have a controversial finish. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time controversy has reigned at No Mercy.

There have been 12 editions of the pay-per-view, and while no long-lasting controversial moments have littered No Mercy's history, a handful is certainly worth remembering.

Eddie Guerrero's Last No Mercy (2005)

Eddie Guerrero went to No Mercy with one goal in mind: to get his opponent over. 

This was one of the major reasons why Latino Heat was so respected among his peers and among the fans. Guerrero was a consummate professional, a guy who cared more about honoring his craft than he did about protecting his spot.

Guerrero elevated everyone he worked with, and that included Batista, his 2005 No Mercy opponent.

Batista himself was protected to a certain extent at the side of Triple H on Monday Night Raw. The Animal was red-hot when he turned on The Game, and he took that momentum to SmackDown. Batista became the top guy on the blue brand, so now it was up to him to rise to the occasion.

Batista had the charisma and he had the drive to succeed, but he didn't exactly have the ring work to go along with it. WWE had to book him against the right talent who could accentuate his positives and hide his negatives.

Guerrero was definitely the perfect choice to challenge Batista and his World Heavyweight Championship.

The two men had a very memorable feud, and their match at No Mercy is worth a revisit. But even though fans remember this one fondly, they may not remember it was Guerrero's last pay-per-view before his untimely death just one month later.

No Mercy was a shock more than it was a controversy because no one could have predicted this would be the last time fans would see Latino Heat on the PPV main event stage. The wrestling world lost a true legend as well as a class act when Guerrero died, and his memory has lived on since then.

Batista's career was better because of Guerrero, and this match at No Mercy certainly stands out as one of the bouts that helped define The Animal as a main event performer. 

AJ Styles vs. John Cena vs. Dean Ambrose Starts the Show (2016)

John Cena vs. Dean Ambrose vs. AJ Styles is a main event anywhere in the world. The key words here are "main event."

But when they went on first at No Mercy in 2016, fans were more than a little surprised. What was WWE thinking? Why book three top stars in the curtain jerk match, leaving the last match up in the air? Of course when the bout started, fans no longer cared why it was happening first.

This was a fun match, even if it was a bit clunky toward the end.

Styles was the WWE champion, and he brought everything he had to this match. Longtime fans of The Phenomenal One loved his title reign, as Styles was finally getting his due on the worldwide stage of WWE.

Ambrose was still one of the most popular Superstars in the company, and many fans were surely hoping to see The Lunatic Fringe go home with the gold. Cena always delivered in high-profile main events of course, and this match was no different.

But then controversy happened once again.

Ambrose had Styles locked up in the champ's own Calf Crusher submission, and Cena had Styles cinched up with the STF at the same time. Styles tapped out, meaning a new WWE champion had been crowned, but the referee did not call the match.

Rather than stop and try to figure out what to do next, the ref kept the bout going.

The three men continued to battle, and even though the champ pulled the ref out of the ring and later used a steel chair on Cena, Styles was never disqualified. He picked up the pin and win. The heel of the match had gotten away with a cheap victory, leaving fans wondering what had happened.

It was a top-notch bout, and one that would have ended the night perfectly. But the booking was messy, and the crowd was certainly curious why there was a need to manufacture such controversy. It's not that every match needs to transpire in the same way, but this one really didn't need the extra fluff that went along with it.

Randy Orton Is Handed the WWE Championship by Default (2007)

When WWE champion John Cena went down with a torn right pectoral muscle in 2007, his impending title defense against Randy Orton at No Mercy was scrapped. Would there be a tournament? Would the championship be decided in a multiple-man elimination match or a Battle Royal perhaps?

Fans didn't know the answer, but they did know that Vince McMahon promised a new champ would be crowned at the pay-per-view. He was right. The title was handed to Randy Orton.

Once again the company seemed to devalue its top title, which has been a complaint from the WWE faithful for years. When belts are just randomly given to Superstars without having to earn it, fans typically groan and shake their heads in response.

After all, if WWE doesn't take the titles seriously, how can its fanbase?

But then Triple H came to the ring and challenged the newly crowned WWE champion to a match. Not only did McMahon agree; it was booked to happen first. 

So now the guy that didn't have to work for the industry's top championship was forced to defend it on pay-per-view the same night he gets it, without any build of any kind. He also had to defend it in the curtain jerk, not the main event.

Orton lost the title that night.

Maybe this one could be referred to as controversial, with a heavy dose of ridiculous. Though WWE often gets it right when it comes to the gold, there are moments like this one when it all just goes to pieces. The intent may have been to switch it up and try something different, but it seemed to fall just a bit short.

Orton had great heat, and Triple H got over. For WWE, it was mission accomplished. But for fans that had grown tired of such gimmicks, it was just another bit of nonsense.

Chyna Defeats Jeff Jarrett for the WWE Intercontinental Title (1999)

When it comes to historic yet controversial moments in WWE, this one is surely near the top.

No one disputed Chyna's ability in the ring. She had come a long way since her days as Triple H's muscle and in a very short time had become one of the most popular female performers in the company. Not only was she improving and physically capable of holding her own, she was also extremely over with fans.

Chyna was a star and WWE obviously wanted to capitalize on it.

But winning the Intercontinental Championship was something else altogether. For the first time in WWE history, a female Superstar had crossed over and won what had been a top men's championship. If it was going to happen, it definitely should have been Chyna. If it was going to be Chyna, there was no better time for it to happen.

However, even though she broke ground and paved the way for so many female performers that followed, none of them followed into the men's division. The notion of men versus women in WWE was a foreign concept at the time, as it is now.

It seemed as though WWE pulled the trigger on making history, with no intention of progressing beyond it.

Pro wrestling purists were surely upset at the move, if for no other reason than it devalued the prestigious Intercontinental Championship. The fact the title change took place in a ridiculous Good Housekeeping Match didn't help matters at all.

Had Chyna won the belt in a serious contest, perhaps it would have made a difference. Then again, perhaps it wouldn't.

Either way, there was no denying that Chyna was doing her part and inspiring a new generation of female stars along the way. Whether or not the controversial title match should have taken place is up for debate, but it's definitely a moment in time that WWE fans will never forget.

Tom Clark can regularly be seen on Bleacher Report. His podcast, Tom Clark's Main Event, is available on iTunes, Google Play, iHeart Radio, Amazon Android, Windows Phone and online at boinkstudios.com.