6 Major Booking Mistakes WWE Made At No Mercy
5. Misjudging The Audience
The Miz and Jason Jordan put on a solid opening match at No Mercy, with the babyface showing his athletic prowess and the heel using the numbers game to his advantage.
But the Californians in attendance ignored the clear face-heel dynamic in front of them. The majority of the 16,000 crowd were firmly behind The Miz and booed Jordan’s every move.
Sometimes the audience unfairly sabotages a match to protest against the product, but this rebellion was easier for WWE to foresee as the event was in Miz’s adopted home state.
The Intercontinental Champion was always going to have the backing of the Los Angeles people and WWE’s failure to recognise this made it a lose-lose situation for Jordan, who had an impossible job winning the fans over. There was a time when Jordan pulled off back-to-back rolling northern lights suplexes, and the crowd still booed his attempted pinfall.
Throwing one half of American Alpha into this hostile situation, in his first pay-per-view singles match, when he is already battling the stupidity of the Kurt Angle’s son storyline, was an ill-advised move on behalf of WWE creative. Jordan handled himself well, showing that this match-up could have been far more effective on another night, at another venue.