6 Major Booking Mistakes WWE Made At No Mercy
2. Braun Going Down Easily
WWE stuck with its recent formula of short, hard-hitting slugfests for Brock Lesnar’s latest one-on-one title match - an approach which worked at WrestleMania and Great Balls of Fire.
His encounter with the 'Monster Among Men' went less than 10 minutes, time in which Strowman had a chance to get in plenty of offence, including a pair of running powerslams. But it took only one F5 from the Universal Champion to put him away at the Staples Centre.
It was not an effort in defeat befitting of the behemoth that WWE have built Strowman to be. This is the same Braun Strowman who walked away on his own two feet when Roman Reigns trapped him inside an ambulance and crashed him into a production truck in July.
This lacklustre finish made Strowman look weaker than Lesnar’s previous opponents - Goldberg, Samoa Joe, and Reigns, who took more punishment before going down for three. It also gave Strowman little scope for a rematch, despite Lesnar’s next foe being unclear.
What is more certain is that Lesnar is heading towards Reigns at WrestleMania 34, and that the results of the two main events at No Mercy were designed to strengthen both men.