6 Ups And 9 Downs From WWE No Mercy 2016
Leading off with your closer? Not the best idea...
When you can easily say that a U.S. presidential debate was more entertaining than a WWE PPV, you know the company is in trouble.
Granted, the debate did involve a WWE Hall of Famer, but it still doesn’t excuse how off No Mercy was Sunday night. Opening the event with the main event – WWE World Championship triple threat – was a strange move. Presumably, this was done because the debate (which started an hour after the PPV started) was going to suck the oxygen out of WWE, but leading with the match sucked all the oxygen out of the live crowd. Plus, with a streaming WWE Network, fans could have watched the PPV at any time after the debate (as this writer did).
Regardless of match order, No Mercy was a disappointment. Becky Lynch did not compete, negating a Women’s Championship match. Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton competed in a dull, sloppy match that wasn’t worthy of the main event spot it occupied. And the rest of the PPV could have easily been broadcast on an episode of SmackDown… with one exception. We’ll leave that one as a pleasant surprise.
So what won over the crowd and what should have vanished into the ether? Let’s get to it…
Downs...
9. Glow Needs To Go
That header is not a knock against Naomi’s entrance itself. Her blacklight-infused entrance is unique and awesome.
However, her persona that goes along with it absolutely should be shelved. Yelling, “It’s glow time!” or asking the crowd to “Feel the glow!” during a match is just ridiculous, and it means nothing, no matter how many backstage segments they might do trying to explain it. Nikki Bella’s “Fearless” tagline is odd but mostly inoffensive. John Cena’s “Hustle, loyalty, respect” is odd as well, but it has been part of his persona for years.
Naomi’s entire character seems to be tied up in “glow time,” which just doesn’t make sense. Now if she started talking about lighting up her opponents as she fires off a series of kicks… that might work.