5 Biggest Winners & Losers From WWE No Mercy 2016

4. Carmella

Opening No Mercy with the WWE Title match was always going to set the show off to a hot start, but it meant certain death for whoever had to follow. Cena, Styles, and Ambrose set an impossibly high standard, and in order to maintain the fans’ energy and keep No Mercy rolling, the second match had to be exciting.

Nikki Bella and Carmella were charged with this daunting task, and they failed. It was a functional match, but one completely devoid of big moments, and the crowd were dead as soon as Carmella’s music hit. The heel turn has brought big improvements to Carmella’s work, but the fans had worn themselves out through the Triple Threat, and just couldn’t muster the energy to get vocal for SmackDown’s second most important female feud.

It’s a bitter loss for Carmella, who had dominated the feud until last night, but couldn’t get the job when the chips were down. Nikki’s win is logical, as it feels like she’s dropped match after match lately: she has ultimately proven Carmella wrong, and should now move towards something bigger. Moreover, the crowd’s widescale apathy to Carmella’s mid-match dominance doesn’t bode well: you could hear a pin drop as she exerted her will on Nikki, proving she has a long way to go to win the SmackDown audience over.