10 Things You Didn't Know About WWE In 2016
4. The Reason No Mercy's Main Event Went On First
Vince McMahon and, in recent years, Triple H have always been big on reminding audiences that competition for them is every other form of entertainment rather than a wrestling show on the other side.
It's been a particularly convenient go-to following NXT's battering by AEW Dynamite in the Wednesday Night Wars, though oddly a narrative they forget when telling the story of the Monday Night one for the umpteenth time.
Regardless of the company-mandated bullsh*t, they know when they're beat and this was most definitely the case as the 2016 presidential race heated up. In an unprecedented move, the organisation acknowledged a potential crushing and moved the main event of October's No Mercy to the show's opening slot.
A prior debate between candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump had done 100,000,000 views just weeks earlier, crushing everything in its path. With this October one due to start an hour after No Mercy, WWE made the choice to make the AJ Styles/John Cena/Dean Ambrose WWE Championship match the curtain-raiser.
They needn't have worried - the show wasn't stolen by this or the evening's headliner pitting Bray Wyatt against Randy Orton. An unbelievable Intercontinental Title Vs Career battle between The Miz and Dolph Ziggler was the best of the lot, and was a far more satisfying experience than the miserable circus masquerading as global political discourse on the other channels.