10 Ways WWE In 2017 Could Have Been COMPLETELY Different
3. Have Mercy
WWE were oddly castigated by a section of the fanbase for providing such a loaded card at September's No Mercy pay-per-view, with audiences almost annoyed that the company would dare present a double header of John Cena Vs Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar Vs Braun Strowman on a B-show.
Seemingly brow-beaten by the organisation, the dissenters were too short-sighted to consider that future big shows would force the creative heads to come up with something for a WrestleMania or SummerSlam, but they were partially right in asserting the importance of preserving the value of a first-time meeting, especially in the case of the Braun/Brock brawl.
The desperately boring battle came at completely the wrong time in Strowman's ascent up the card. Hotshotting Braun's first singles crack at Lesnar's title was completely reckless, unless 'The Monster Among Men' was set to win. Had they made it to WrestleMania together with Strowman's record still largely unblemished (outside of the long-forgotten defeats to Roman Reigns), the tense end would have justified the means.
Instead, a B-show pay-per-view had a C-show quality main event with a D-show payoff. Braun's just about impervious to hokey booking, but he's in much worse shape losing a legitimately competitive encounter.