"Review of WWE's No Mercy PPV"

WWE was caught in a pickle heading into the No Mercy PPV when John Cena was injured on Raw, and thus had to surrender the WWE championship. Cena held the WWE title for over a year, and seeing him drop the title in the ring would have meant something. I never like seeing a wrestler being handed a title, and watching Vince McMahon simply giving the WWE belt to Randy Orton, really left a band taste in my mouth, but so did most of the No Mercy PPV.

As of late, Raw has been so boring, I rarely look forward to seeing it. The show always starts off with the same typical long winded promo. So when I plunk down $39.95, I’d like to see something different. The show opened with Vince McMahon and William Regal strutting down to the ring. The “No Chance Hell” music was perfect since it felt like I had zero chance of liking the PPV opening.

Whatever happened to deciding a vacant title by holding a tournament? I realize WWE’s roster is pretty weak right now, but rather than watching Triple H wrestle three times, how about allowing the top four contenders to decide the new champion in a series of matches? McMahon was all about giving us the fans what we wanted right? I don’t believe seeing Orton being awarded the company’s top title is what the fans truly wanted to see.

Does WWE have a wellness policy? I really wondered that after watching the No Mercy PPV. Those that shrunk have gotten noticeably bigger. A top star that should have gotten suspended, yet again, ended up with the WWE title twice. What was Orton’s punishment for being linked to the Signature Pharmacy investigation? I guess WWE is confident Congress won’t t lead their investigations into hearings. The state of the business sickens me. Orton is rewarded for his ill advised decision making with the WWE title. TNA doesn’t even have a wellness policy, and won’t lift a finger when their champion is arrested for a DUI.

WWE treated us to a bonus match, great, just what I wanted to see, a meaningless six man tag match. How about giving us the Matt Hardy and MVP vs. The Undertaker and Kane match that was teased at the Smackdown tapings? I didn’t care about the match, so it was hard to care about the finish. Of course, they gave the pinfall victory to Mr. Kennedy and his big mouth.

CM Punk vs. Big Daddy V. Are you kidding me? Why was this even on the PPV? Big Daddy V is not a creditable opponent for Punk. Let Punk wrestle. I may not be a big Punk fan, but by judging his Ring of Honor matches, the guy can wrestle. This was a train wreck, and I paid $39.95 to see it. Don’t we always appreciate DQ finishes on shows we pay to see?

Since you flew Tazz to Chicago to call a two minute match, you had to give him something else to do, right? Sure, let him host a pizza eating contest for MVP and Matt Hardy. Again, Vince McMahon gives the fans what they wanted to see. I know we all assumed that a pizza eating contest was the next logical competition for MVP and Hardy, right? I paid $39.95 to see Hardy throw up on MVP. This PPV made me want to throw up.

What happened to the push of Umaga? WWE needs to create new stars, and it seemed for a moment they had something with Umaga, but he just seems like just another mid carder. I honestly expected a little more from this one, and perhaps we would have gotten to see it if they hadn’t booked Triple H to wrestle three times.

If the pizza eating contest and lame ECW title match wasn’t enough for get your money’s worth, they gave us a stupid ending to what should have been a great match. Finlay fakes an injury to beat up Rey Mysterio. Wasn’t he just wrestling him in the ring? Why would Finlay have to fake an injury to sneak attack Mysterio? Are you sure the TNA creative department didn’t write this show?

Remember when we all were praising Candice Michelle for improving in the ring? Well, she has regressed. What a terrible women’s match, Michelle and Beth Phoenix had no chemistry, and surprise, no one cared about the match.

Ripping the Punjabi Prison match would be too easy. I don’t like Bastistaberg or The Great Khali. I don’t like the concept of the match, after all, it’s convoluted enough to fit perfectly on a TNA PPV. With that said, this match was better than I expected. After seeing two Punjabi Prison matches now, paying $39.95 each time, I never want to see the bamboo structure ever again!

And finally, they gave us the unadvertised main event. I have to give Triple H a lot of credit, he worked incredibly hard in this match. Orton is a mid card talent as an in ring performer, but Hunter brought out a good brawl for Orton to follow along with. This was a great main event, but certainly didn’t save the show, especially on a night I had to see Orton capture his second and third WWE titles.

I don’t like giving PPVs with a strong main event a thumbs down, but in this case, I have no choice. Much of what they presented wouldn’t have made for a decent Raw or Smackdown show. The only good match on the PPV was the last man standing match.

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