6 Ups And 9 Downs From WWE No Mercy 2016

2. AJ On A Roll

Aj Styles
WWE.com

Who would have thought a year ago that AJ Styles would debut in WWE at the 2016 Royal Rumble, go on to beat John Cena at SummerSlam, win the WWE World Championship the following month and then beat Cena for the third consecutive time to retain the title Sunday?

But that’s exactly what has happened in 2016. Sure, Styles used a chair at No Mercy, waffling Cena to gain the pinfall, but all’s fair in a triple threat, where there’s no DQs. Along the way on this journey, Styles has been consistently having tremendous matches, and he, Cena and Dean Ambrose delivered a great opening bout, unloading on each other and giving fans fits with several false finishes.

In the end, AJ resorted to the chair when it became apparent that he couldn’t topple his opponents without an equalizer. Styles has now beaten both men multiple times, solidifying his position as the top guy on SmackDown.

Advertisement
Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.