(Wait... What!?) WWE World Championship Match Going On First!? - No Mercy 2016 Quick Ramble

Just hours before the Kick-Off Show WWE Tweeted that that the WWE World Championship Match (AJ Styles [c] vs John Cena vs Dean Ambrose) will be the first match of the night to start off the main portion of the Pay-Per-View. A lot of people are speculating that this is due to the fact that some shenanigans are going to occur in the match but I think there are a few other explanations for this move.

1. Dolph Ziggler Will Retire - Although I predicted Ziggler to go over and capture his fifth Intercontinental Championship this may be a sign that he is going to retire and will go on with Miz to close out the show. If Dolph Ziggler is going to retire after so many years of service and as a former WWE Champion it would be nice, for once, to have a good send off where he gets his moment as the final face of the PPV before it goes off the air with a heartfelt goodbye speech. No Mercy is even in one of Dolph Zigglers hometowns so it may be the perfect send off (unless he's back from being billed from Hollywood, CA to Cleveland, OH and this was just a pointless sentence). (Authors Note: He's from Hollywood, Florida... my mistake!) Getting a proper goodbye isn't really something we get in the WWE anymore. Wrestlers are pretty much pushed until they physically can't wrestle their last match proper so getting an actual retirement match would be nice for once.

2. Brock Lesnar Returns - The next Smackdown PPV will be one of the big four, Survivor Series which is one of the four shows Brock Lesnar actually wrestles in. I would not be surprised for them to go for Randy Orton vs Brock Lesnar II especially after the way their Summerslam match ended. This would also make perfect sense for Lesnar to show up, cost Orton the match which gives Bray the victory, which he desperately needs and would counter balance the loss he received to Kane on Orton's behalf. Lesnar is one of the biggest draws in WWE history and they need a solid month to hype up any match he is in since he doesn't do much leading up to the shows. This gives WWE about five weeks to bring in a big draw for Survivor Series 2016.

3. WWE Is Worried About the Presidential Debate - Now, I'll be honest I don't really pay attention to WWE's weekly television ratings as they become less and less important with Youtube becoming so prominent. However, last months debate took place during Raw and I would not be surprised if Raw suffered massively because of it. The Presidential Debate is somewhat of a soap opera in and of itself these days with Donald Trump becoming a literal cartoon villain. I don't really keep up with politics but I do know Donald Trump said some pretty misogynistic things over the last week that have garnered him a lot of heat which will certainly bring in the numbers for the Debate now more than ever. It's like a comedy, people want to tune in to watch him crash and burn and WWE might be worried that they won't be able to retain viewership as the night goes on so instead they want to keep fans interested by putting the biggest match on first. People will stick around for a 25 minute match to see who walks out with the belt and then flip over to the debate once the bell rings but WWE are probably hoping to keep a few more of those flipflop viewers. I don't think that there will be any surprise title changes, it's way too soon to take the belt off of Styles (it's his first flipping title defense for crying out loud) and Cena or Ambrose would literally be booed out of the building if he loses. I think this is just to get viewership before the Presidential Debate.

WWE No Mercy 2016 - Predictions!

No Mercy has returned after an eight year hiatus from the company's main spread of Pay-Per-Views as the second exclusive Smackdown branded show. It still is somewhat of a shock to see a Pay-Per-View so quickly again after having one just two weeks ago, even back when WWE had the original brandsplit we only had one PPV a month with the brands having 8 full weeks to flesh out big story lines. With a little less than twelve hours before the show is set to kick off here are my predictions for the night's festivities!

Pre-Show - Baron Corbin vs Jack Swagger

Prediction: Baron Corbin

Baron Corbin just can't seem to get off the pre-show can he? Stuck in another vanilla feud with a guy no one really cares about (has Swagger even done anything since his barely a feud with Alberto Del Rio when he returned with Zeb Colter? I don't see any reason why they would give a win to Jack Swagger as the company has already sort of put their money on Baron Corbin in terms that they want him on TV but just never quite know what to do with him. This feud won't be giving him anything for the fans and will continue to make him just another boring mid carder no one cares about. Jack Swagger isn't really seen as a huge star so putting him over won't give Corbin the prestige he needs to get the fans interested in him. No matter what this match is a loss for Corbin, pinfall or not. Maybe third time is the charm and Corbin will actually get paired with someone the fans care anything about or at least a match they can get into that isn't on the pre-show.

Curt Hawkins vs TBD

Opponent Prediction: Apollo Crews

Win Prediction: Apollo Crews

This can go one of two ways. Curt Hawkins is being reintroduced to the Universe as a "Chuck Norris facts, look at all the amazing things I can do" shtick. I'm pretty sure he is going to be a heel because I refuse to believe that WWE is SO out of touch that they truly believe that this is how a face would act. This is definitely a lower card comedy heel gimmick that is meant to just be annoying rather than heat generating. As with Jinder Mahal and the Shining Stars, he will probably be relegated to jobbing duty soon enough.

The question is less of "is he going to win" and more "who is the opponent he is going to lose to?". If he is in fact a heel, one would assume that he would be paired with a baby face. However, if you look at the roster for Smackdown everyone is either in a tag-team or currently in a feud and on the card already. Apollo Crews is the only face currently on the roster that is not in a storyline at the moment. So either it is going to be Crews or another star is going to return or debut alongside Hawkins.  Another thought I had would be a Luke Harper return however I think this won't be the case because I think they will save Harper to return to help Bray and I am also not entirely sure on the timetable of his injury recovery although I know he has been out for an awful long time.

Even though this Curt Hawkins' big return and he's gotten a lot of vinette's I still don't think that he is going to win this one as either Crews or a returning/debuting star will go over him. Honestly, we want better for returning stars but he's just going to be a glorified jobber like the rest of the old Low-Carders WWE have managed to persuade.

Nikki Bella vs Carmella

Prediction: Nikki Bella

Personally, not a huge fan of Nikki Bella and I believe she's very much like her old man in the fact that she won't be putting over newer talent. She just recently returned from a career threatening injury and hasn't really done anything with it. She won her return match even though she was on a full heel team while acting like the returning hero. Since then she has lost consistently due in large part to Carmella. She's lost so much that I think she will take the win over Carmella at No Mercy and then put her over at a later PPV if the feud continues to go on.

Rhino and Heath Slater [c] vs The Usos

Prediction: Rhino and Heath Slater Retain

I for one am not really into this feud. I don't really like Heath Slater's character portrayal. I know it is meant to be making fun of him but it is just very childish humor (oh all southern people are stupid, have overweight wives, live in a trailer park and have a million kids they can't pay for hardy har har) and it doesn't make me laugh at all. I was happy with Heath finally getting his push but I lost all interest as soon as the skits started going. Heel or not I still don't care about the Usos either. They aren't particularly charismatic and their wrestling hasn't changed much in the last three or so years. I don't see WWE ending the title reign of Slater/Rhino so quickly when it still has a lot of momentum although I honestly wouldn't be surprised seeing how they've treated their low-card jobbers in the past (I'm looking at you Zack Ryder).

The Miz [c] vs Dolph Ziggler (Title vs Career)

Prediction: Dolph Ziggler Becomes NEW Intercontinental Champion

Now, I fought with this one. Usually, when it comes to X vs Career Matches unless we know the talent is intending to leave the company or has an injury, you can tell which way the match is going to go outright. However, I haven't really been keeping up with the latest news because I like my wrestling spoiler free! My original gut feeling was that Ziggler was going to lose. He's been acting like he doesn't intend to renew his contract with the WWE, he's demotivated and probably sick of the company that keeps jerking him from World Heavyweight Championship Main Events to Pre-Shows with Baron Corbin and back again, I personally wouldn't be at all surprised if he did walk away. However, looking at the other title matches, Heath/Rhino and AJ Styles are sure to retain, so unless WWE intends to have a clean sweep of retentions Dolph has to win. The more I gave this possibility thought the more I liked it. I like Dolph Ziggler in the mid-card, especially around the Intercontinental Title because that is the type of Championship he was really built for. He's a work horse that can put the PPV on his shoulders and deliver a classic 25 minute match on any given night. I also really like the stuff Miz and Dolph are putting on at the moment. Miz is being an amazing heel and along with Maryse he is probably reaching the Golden Age of his career. He has also held the IC title and gotten away with it multiple times using dirty tactics so to see Ziggler win the gold and have Miz chase it for a while.

Becky Lynch [c] vs Alexa Bliss (CANCELLED)

Original Prediction: Becky Lynch Retains

(Note: Becky Lynch has been pulled from the No Mercy card as of this morning with an "Undisclosed Injury" and will be out for an unknown length of time. As of now, WWE hasn't disclosed if she will be stripped of the title or any plans to change the current match.)

Becky is out with an injury of unknown severity. WWE jumped on Sasha's back injury and stripped her way earlier than necessary so hopefully they are taking the correct precautions before just writing her out of story line. Since it wasn't reported last night (although I'm not entirely sure if WWE does House Shows on the Saturday before a PPV) it's really unclear as to what the heck happened between Tuesday and Sunday morning. Hopefully it isn't anything serious and we get our Irish Lass-Kicker back soon. Becky was a shoe in for this anyway, I saw her keeping the title pretty much forever or until Nikki wanted her turn with it. Hopefully they will have Naomi vs Alexa (or really anything really) and not just cutting the match out entirely because two women's matches is always a good thing! Especially if they both go over two minutes!

Bray Wyatt vs Randy Orton

Prediction: Randy Orton

God, I'm going with my head instead of my heart. I want Bray Wyatt to win so badly it physically hurts me to say this. With how WWE have portrayed Bray Wyatt so far in essentially his entire run of the WWE I see them putting over Randy Orton. Not that he needs it, mind you but they had him lose pretty brutally to Brock Lesnar who he then couldn't get back at because Lesnar is invisible in the WWE unless it's Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, Summerslam or Survivors Series (weird super power ain't it?) and had to be written out of Backlash after he didn't clear his concussion tests. Bray Wyatt did lose to Kane at Backlash and has been made kind of a fool of on Smackdown. He's talking nonsense that no one really cares about anymore, which is a real shame because Bray Wyatt is one of my favorite promo guys in the WWE right now, he's walking out of matches and just acting like an idiot. Hopefully, WWE will do the right thing and have Randy put him over but after having lost so viciously to Lesnar I think he's cashing in his clause and taking the win tonight. The only way I see Bray winning is if Luke Harper makes a surprise return and the Wyatt's get back together but once again not entirely sure if Harper is even cleared yet.

AJ Styles [c] vs Dean Ambrose vs John Cena

Prediction: AJ Styles Retains Pinning John Cena

AJ Styles is winning, there's no doubt about that. I also believe that AJ Styles will pin Cena because Cena seems to be in the last big run of his career and is doing a really good job of putting over the newer guys. Although, for me, that still doesn't make up for the years and years of burying he has done it's a step in the right direction. I feel like AJ Styles may become John Cena's kryptonite where no matter what Cena does he just can't seem to beat him, Dean could easily be pinned as well, WWE are certainly sending him back to the mid card after this since he has pretty much lost all of his momentum and his title reign was turned into a punch line. Hopefully, WWE will pair Dean back together with Bray Wyatt and we can ignite an actual feud that puts these two on the map. I wouldn't be surprised to see Randy challenge for the WWE title next. Although some might find it boring, I actually still really like Randy and I would love to see Styles vs Orton at least once with Styles going over and beating another long standing WWE figure along his meteoric rise to the top.

Final Thoughts

Match of the Night: Miz vs Dolph Ziggler OR Triple Threat Title Match

If I had to bet money I would say the IC title match will be easily the match of the night. I fully expect it to go on for 25+ minutes with a lot of false finishes to give it an epic feeling for a possible final match for Ziggler. Miz and Ziggler work really well together and I believe they will do the title proud. However, any match that AJ Styles is in easily has potential to be Match of the Night. The man is Phenomenal after all and in over 14 years of wrestling very rarely does he have a bad match or an opponent he can't make magic with. He's one of a kind.

Worst Match of the Night: Carmella vs Nikki Bella

I don't think it's fair to consider the pre-show match for this or it would definitely be Corbin v Swagger. We've seen Usos v Heath/Rhino before and it was an okay match and I expect that whoever Curt Hawkins is against will end up being a squash match anyway so I expect the worst match of the night to be Nikki vs Carmella. It has a lot to live up to now that it is most likely going to be the only women's match on the card due to Becky's injury and Nikki Bella has improved a lot in the ring but she is no Trish Stratus. Carmella still is a bit green and I just don't know if Nikki is good enough to carry the match the quality we were expecting from Lynch and Bliss. Having the secondary women's match now being the only one may leave a sour taste if it ends up being bad or just average when you have Sasha vs Charlotte Main Eventing Raw just 6 days prior and tearing the house down. To be fair, I don't think it will be a terrible match, there's just not a lot of candidates for this honestly because the card is stacked and none of the matches should be bad in theory. So the least great match on a super great card isn't really a bad thing.