Yet another pay-per-view is in the books and this time, the Smackdown exclusive No Mercy didn’t quite deliver as well as its predecessor. Unlike Backlash, No Mercy really lacked excitement throughout the night. It seemed as if the card was laid out wrong, but that doesn’t mean that some of the matches weren’t good. It was just an average pay-per-view, and with that, there were a lot of high and low points in the show. It might have actually hit its potential just because of the lack of star power, however, it was still a watchable show.

First, there were some cancellations and replacements throughout the night. The Women’s Championship match between Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss was cancelled due to Lynch suffering from an undisclosed injury. Instead, Bliss ended up wrestling Naomi in a losing effort in what was an absolutely atrocious showing from both women. They both wrestled very sloppily, and Alexa taking a loss here was not the smartest move due to the fact that she still holds the title of number one contender. Curt Hawkins was also advertised to wrestle his first match since his return, but instead, he cut a promo on the pre-show and that was all we saw of him. A match that was supposed to be on the pre-show took the place of the Hawkins match on the main card. That match was Baron Corbin vs Jack Swagger. Just hearing those two names in the same sentence could make someone snore. As boring as the match was, Corbin was the right person to win, and hopefully he can now go on to bigger and better things. Goodness, this night was just a confusing cluster, and these few instances showed it.

Now, for the matches that actually kind of mattered. The first of those being Nikki Bella vs Carmella. Honestly, this match wasn’t the worst. It was just a tad bit boring, but it did good for what it was given. These two had been locked in a heated rivalry ever since Nikki returned at Summerslam and it has been decently entertaining. However, the decision to have Nikki win was sort of questionable. This could have been an opportunity to make a new top heel with Carmella, but Nikki winning means that she is still the dominant force that she was once was. It did end up being an acceptable end to the match, but their feud may not be over.

The Smackdown Tag Team titles were also up for grabs in a match between the champions, Heath Slater and Rhyno, and their challengers, The Usos. This match was just kind of average. It was nothing too exciting at all, just a sort of run of the mill match where the result didn’t really matter. The Usos have been doing a great job as heels and it probably would’ve been nice to see them as they champs so that they could go into a feud with the up and coming American Alpha, but it was fine to see Slater and Rhyno retain. They’ve been doing a good job as champions so it wasn’t a bad move to have them retain.

The first of the best matches of the night was the WWE World Championship triple threat that had AJ Styles defending against John Cena and Dean Ambrose. Styles is absolutely still on fire, so it was smart for him to retain in this match. It was twenty minutes of great wrestling from all three men. Ambrose and Cena had Styles in a simultaneous submission to which Styles tapped, but the match was restarted due to there not being a clear winner. The finish was a bit odd due to Styles utilizing a chair on Cena, but it was a heel tactic that still kept him the champion. Styles should have a nice, long, and healthy title reign and that is what is looking like so far.

What should’ve been the actual main event of the night was the Title vs Career Intercontinental Championship match between The Miz and Dolph Ziggler. If Ziggler were to lose, he would’ve had to retire from the WWE. However, that was not the case because Dolph defied the odds by beating The Miz. He overcame interference from Maryse as well as his old team in the Spirit Squad to pick up the victory and the title. It was a thrilling emotional roller coaster with great wrestling and storytelling in between. The match of the night for sure. Although it was upsetting to see The Miz lose his title that he had done such a great job with, it was okay to have Dolph win because he has really made himself relevant once again.

What was the actual main event was the match between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt. This feud had been confusing, but all Bray Wyatt feuds are. Wyatt showed dominance throughout the match which really made him look strong for once. And he actually got a win on pay-per-view! Granted it came with some help from a returning Luke Harper, but it was still important for Bray to win if WWE wanted to continue to make him a legitimate threat. It was great to see Harper back also, so this match was definitely a solid main event. Bray should stay on the winning path for the foreseeable future and Randy should go into a feud with the likes of a Dean Ambrose or an AJ Styles.

No Mercy was an average pay-per-view at best. The matches just weren’t as marquee as they should’ve been, but it was good. Raw’s Hell in a Cell has a great chance of outshining No Mercy, especially with the three major matches already set up. However, No Mercy was solid, but no better than that.