8 HUGE WWE No Mercy 2017 Predictions You Need To Know
Back From The Dead
'The stage is set, and we're ready to go!'
Not my words, but the words of Shakin' Stevens. And though his recent Twitter excitement related to an unlikely comeback tour, the 1980s pop institution and headlock aficionado could well have been talking about an incredible card that threatens to steal end-of-year-awards from the quartet of 'Big Four' blockbusters WWE traditionally loads up with high profile encounters.
In matches pitting Universal Champion Brock Lesnar against Braun Strowman and John Cena against Roman Reigns, WWE have willingly presented two combinations most fans consider worthy of a place on a WrestleMania card. Perplexingly, many have actively complained that the bouts are taking place now, but this perhaps just reflects WWE's careful manipulation of its fanbase over the years to almost bottle up expectations for big occasions only.
The assessment is correct of course - these are enormous encounters, but it's worth remembering when trapped within a disparate three hour edition of Monday Night Raw that it's sometimes just best to let the good times roll.
Wrestling is supposed to be escapist anyway, and there is no point in living through such times unless you actually live through them. There will come a time in the future where the days of Braun Strowman tipping anyone and anything over on the flagship show will be fondly collected on DVDs and documentaries alike. Get on the bandwagon before he treats it like an ambulance and obliterates that too.
8. Bonus
Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows are undeservingly perhaps the most mishandled act on Monday Night Raw. Seemingly booked with the knowledge that they can remain over despite countless losses, the former 'Club' members always look within a week or so of a monstrous babyface turn before heel goons are needed to take pinfalls to fill segments.
Talented and teflon, they remain a weekly highlight on the microphone even if they're almost never allowed to back up their hilarious dialogue with more than one win in a row. With No Mercy set to draw the most eyes towards a pay-per-view perhaps since WrestleMania, it would be a deserved treat to see the New Japan standouts rewarded for their efforts with a contest against the team that inadvertently bumped them down the pecking order.
Though most may have already forgotten, it was Gallows and Anderson that took the belts into the 'Show of Shows' that Matt and Jeff astonishingly left with after a blinding four-team ladder match.
Since then, the grizzled young vets have provided endless landing practice for the high flying North Carolinians, and with both units frozen out of the main show tag title scuffle, it seems the least WWE could do to offer them a match and a much needed win for the 'Good Brothers' over good brothers.