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No Mercy XII


Dolfan in NYC

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Loved Miz/Ziggler once again. Great payoff to the long rivalry even if it was tough to see Miz's awesome reign come to an end.  Loved all the near falls and call backs with the hairspray to the eyes and exposed turnbuckle. Ziggler finally hitting the Superkick which he never hit in the other matches to get the win was perfect. Great win for Dolph, glad he's sticking around. Definitely should've headlined the show. Pretty good WWE title match as well. Glad Rhyno/Slater retained.

Really liked Nikki/Carmella. The right finish with the way the feud had gone with Carmella pinning Nikki previously at most every turn. I think Carmella is awesome and continues to improve. On the other hand, thought Alexa/Naomi was a bit disappointing and they had a couple missteps despite Alexa looking good. Alexa losing was rather bizarre after establishing her on another month's build to a title match.

Thought Orton/Wyatt was kinda disappointingly dull. Figured maybe something big planned with them headlining but nothing new. Finish felt abrupt. Decent show overall but a step back from Backlash.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Web Conn said:

Alexa vs Naomi was just there for me. No fault of their own just we where all expecting Becky vs Alexa and we got this. One thing that bothers me is Naomi went over though. They announced earlier that Alexa was still number one contender and facing becky in a month in Scotland, then they proceed to have the number one contender for the Smackdown Womens Title lose to a perennial mid carder. WWE booking sure can be frustrating.

 

Another pretty good show all things considered.

I've seen a few people make the above comment but I think there is a reasonable 'out' here in terms of both Kayfabe and booking.

Alexa had been preparing for Becky. Until tonight the match was on and so everything in her mind was dealing with Becky and the submissions. Becky is then confirmed out so Alexa assumes she has the night off and will be awarded the title. Bryan and Shane say that she is still #1, is going to get her shot regardless, but they have a replacement match for her tonight.

From a kayfabe POV Alexa coulnd't have properly prepared for this match where as the replacement, Naomi, had a couple of hours head start in scouting/warming up. This meant that Alexa was off her game a little while Noami was super focused.

Also Alexa doesn't have a reason to go at 100% for this match, she has a title match locked in and doesn't need to be getting hurt where as a win for Naomi could be the start of a push to a woman's title match.

This leads to the booking - There is now some doubt thrown into the title match. Becky could retain and go face v face against Nikki or Alexa could win in which case Naomi has a legitimate argument for a title match having beaten Alexa on PPV. 

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41 minutes ago, Go2Sleep said:

The most Ziggler thing will be when he loses the rematch on SD, then goes back to being irrelevant for a year plus.

The most Ziggler thing would be suffering a concussion on Smackdown, then jobbing to Baron Corbin in eight seconds the next week.

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I only watched the Triple Threat and Miz/Ziggler due to other commitments but they were both very good. The Triple Threat lost so much momentum at the tapout. I really didn't like that. Miz vs Ziggler was awesome. Great storytelling throughout. It felt like a huge fucking deal when Ziggler won but now they have to capitalize on it. He can't just go into a feud with Baron Corbin or something like that.

Kenny is clearly looking for a contract by making sure everyone sees his physique.

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I loved the Miz/Ziggler match. Hopefully this time it works out for Ziggler. I don't hate him and he's been pretty good lately.  I wanted to see The Miz keep the I.C. title for a while longer but I'm sure he'll be fine. 

Triple threat world title was fun.

I don't mind Alexa losing to a surprise opponent. Some will say it's poor booking and I get that but I saw it more as a take on what would happen in MMA.  Like Naomi was Michael Bisping.

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I must be the only one who thinks Naomi goddamn deserves it and she has always been end game when it came to Smackdown. She is the most athletic, has a pretty over entrance, and is a pretty convincing face when she does get to talk. She has been overlooked way too many times and while booking wise, her losing to Alexa Bliss hurts Alexa's cred, the issue with Smackdown women's division right now is that they need to build more than 3 contenders and Naomi and Natty being put over as threats makes it more interesting until Asuka destroys everybody. I want that title on Naomi and while I am coming around to Alexa Bliss, I really want to see Naomi with a title.

The best match of the night was the Triple Threat. I thought I was tripping when they opened the show to that match.  AJ was great like always and they tried a few spots that just did not mesh as well as they hoped due to the position of everyone, but it worked altogether. The submission spot was confusing while iI get the ref not counting the tap out, I don't get why John Cena went for the STFU if only to continue his feud with Dean. It was the one convoluted spot that did not make sense. You should just knock them off or something. It doesn't make AJ look weak that two submission holds were applied on him at the same time. The finish was abrupt, again, but I get the feeling that is what they are going for. AJ is taking shortcuts to win when he really does not have to. It is not that he cheats because he has to but because he can.

Dolph and Miz had an okay match. It was great for the Miz, but Dolph has these habits, man, that never seem to go away. Kind of disappointed that Dolph got the W, but I am sure it is back to mediocrity for him.

Bray and Orton fucking sucked and thank god for Luke Harper coming back because he has always been the workhorse of the Wyatts.

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I would have been so much more interested in Ziggler finding a way to come back from retirement than I am in him as Intercontinental champion again, especially considering how much the Miz has been killing it for the past few months.  Here's hoping Miz wins back the belt quickly (like, on SmackDown this week, if we're lucky).

Unless they're getting re-signed, the Spirit Squad interference was fucking stupid and took away from the match.  Maryse could've done the interference by herself and been ejected and it would've kept things a lot tighter in there.

The actions after the tapout made no sense, and would've been even more confusing to the live crowd, as the bell rang but no decision or referee's intention was announced and they just went back to it, especially when it looked like the ref was telling Cena and Ambrose to continue themselves, which would indicate Styles was eliminated from the match.  Very poorly thought out and even more poorly executed.  I'm happy Styles went over, although I see Cena getting a quickie reign in the next short while so that instead of chasing Flair's record, he can chase breaking the record, which is far more interesting.

Honestly, after the main event I could barely pay attention to the show - I alternated between it on my laptop and playing Final Fantasy XIV. 

 

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Dolph is annoying as fuck

BUT

That was a great storyline,build,match and payoff. Should've been the main event. What next for Miz?

AJ Styles is the man. Great match. I think AJ holds the title til Mania where Cena takes it off him for no.16

 

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8 minutes ago, peterien said:

 

AJ Styles is the man. Great match. I think AJ holds the title til Mania where Cena takes it off him for no.16

 

I was thinking the same thing the other day. And with Cena going away to film the 2nd season of American Grit it means they will have to hold off on AJ vs Cena 3 atleast for the rest of the year. Although I don't think Flairs record should be tied or broken.

Also when it comes to Naomi winning, it's not that I don't think she deserves a win or isn't over. It's that Bliss is the number one contender and they have another month of build towards the title match and I don't think Bliss should be losing.

Now if Naomi gets added to the title fight in Scotland or has a mini feud with Bliss where she bumps her out of the number one contender spot and faces Becky in Scotland then yeah I'm all for it. But the WWE has a tendency of ignoring things like this and just keep on keepin on like nothing happened and Naomi will be back shaking her butt in nothing matches and I don't want that to happen. I'd rather her win end up meaning something.

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The world championship match had some great psychology, with Cena and Ambrose trying to outdo each other while knocking off Styles for the belt.  It was on its way to being a near classic, but the double submission really hurt the rest of the match.  Still very good, all the same.  Wow, that clothesline Cena nailed Ambrose with was brutal.  It made JBL perk up, to put it in perspective.  Those two are going to rip each other apart at some point.  We can praise Styles forever, and it still wouldn't be enough.  He's an absolute joy to watch.

The IC match should have main evented, considering the great buildup for it.  Miz is in a rarefied zone.  Too bad all his work was wasted on Ziggler.  This victory will likely lead to nothing for Ziggy.  He'll be in the same position as always.  I can only assume that they put the belt on him so Corbin can get it down the road.  But it's such a shame for Miz to reach wrestling god status only for all his efforts to be given to the one guy who can't use those efforts in any meaningful way.

The Usos really should have won the tag titles.  Slater is a fantastic story, but his angle as it is has an expiration date.  I'm guessing that it'll lead to Rhyno eventually turning heel on him.  But again, to see the Usos transform themselves and it all go for nothing is frustrating to watch.  How many times can they club America Alpha in the knees before it gets boring?

LUKE HARPER! YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH!  Thank goodness for him, because that match was dull.

I have no problem with Alexa losing.  She became the #1 contender on a fluke.  Carmella had knocked out Nikki Bella and was going for the pin when Alexa pushed Carmella out of the way and vultured the win.  And I assume they want Naomi to look credible--or is she just there to be chumped out all the time?  I really think that's what too many fans want, for Naomi to be fodder trash. Fuck that noise.

Nikki-Carmella was better than I thought it would be.  The Bella Hammer will never get old.

Corbin-Swagger was okay.

Not that good of a PPV.  Too disjointed and really dragged at times.

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I was hoping that Luke Harper was going to knock out Bray Wyatt after Wyatt got the win. I still hope he does that on SD and the story they go with is Harper sees that Wyatt is ineffective without him so he tries to take over the Family and makes Bray HIS follower instead of Harper following Bray.  But then, having a Harper Family makes me think that Thelma and Vinton would be right around the corner. However, replacing Sister Abagail with Sister Eunice might be pretty entertaining.

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Naomi has zero baby face charisma. I really liked her in Team Bad, but as a face she's just high spots. The fore arm of death should be Nikki's finish. I missed Harper's return due to Bray/Orton being so boring I had to turn it off.

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More thoughts;

Just watched the main, Bray is a whole pile of meh for me, i just dont get him at all and his hair is fucking ridiculous.

What was with that backstage bit with Orton and the mirror? 

Mauro/JBL/Otunga works really well imo.

Who does AJ face at SS? Im kinda done with him V Ambrose and Cena's gone for a bit. 

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I know the general consensus here is that Ziggler sucks and I certainly had similar thoughts up until this angle started, but that match last night made me come back around on the guy. Now it matters what they do with Ziggler from here. I loved that match. Absolutely loved it. I went from not really caring about Ziggler leaving at the start of the match to not wanting to see him lose. Had the curtain jerking "main event" not had the weird double submission moment at the end, I would have said that was the better match, but match of the night was Ziggler vs Miz. Just an incredible match.

The triple threat was one of the best I've seen. They cut back on having one guy taking a nap and had more interaction with all three guys at the same time. Really good, creative wrestling. AJ Styles is the best in the world. That guy is so damn good. And Ambrose keeps up the streak of WWE shows with someone diving through the ropes, fucking that up, and nearly dying. Please, PLEASE just stop that spot. Ban that spot already. It's too damn dangerous. As for the end of the match, had the announcer said, "the referee has said this match can't end with a double submission so this match must continue!" It's also weird because I would normally think you'd want the top face of the three to be the one to submit so that you pop the crowd in the arena by making them think the face had a second chance. Instead they go with AJ being in that spot, who despite being the heel, was liked more than Cena or Ambrose. Still, if there's less confusion with the finish, that's the match of the night. My one other complaint was that the match was no DQ and there wasn't any weapon use until the finish.

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Mix and Dolph should've gone on last. They earned it. And it would have sold the stipulation better, and it would've made Dolph and Miz a bigger better deal. And they shouldn't have used the Spirit Squad if they couldn't get all of them.

that aside, it was an excellent match and the best match of the night. I can't believe I'm saying that for a Dolph / Miz match in 2016.

If Harper is back just to take Rowan's spot as Bray's lackey, it's a waste. It's time for Harper to rebel, or at the least, be equals with Bray.

AJ needs a new challenger for the interim, and save a falls count anywhere no DQ for him and Dean at Survivor Series.

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Miz is in a weird spot where he can't really be transitioned up the card unless he feuds with Ambrose, but that means Orton would have to transition into a title program, and maybe Bray goes after Ziggler? Very curious to see where the booking goes from here.

If they're going to make this new Hawkins character Eli Drake, they really should have just hired Eli Drake. I like Hawkins, but unless they push it so much further and make this ridiculously over the top, I don't see it getting over.

The Slater/Rhino team seems like something out of Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain and I love it.

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