“Let’s Shoot, Cowboy”: Let’s get right into it and talk about the interaction between Roman Reigns and John Cena.
Unfortunately, WWE elected to kill off Talking Smack where The Miz cut memorable promos at the expense of Daniel Bryan. WWE needs more segments like this – passionate and blur the lines between work and shoot. John Cena brought out the best promo from Roman Reigns in years. Both men sounded like a conduit for fan frustrations in their own way. Reigns = “John Cena is a part-timer that steps on talent” (Not sure, as Cena has lost to Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura, and AJ Styles to name a few).
Cena = “I can’t leave because there’s nobody that can carry the torch.” In a way, he’s right. Love him or hate him, anytime John Cena returns to either of the two brands, ratings go up. WWE has not be able to find the next guy yet as they continue to reject Roman Reigns. Can we finally get a FULL heel turn for Roman Reigns, by the way? This match alone makes No Mercy a must see. They are put in these tag team situations much like The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin were in their second Wrestlemania build up. That almost killed the heat. After what each men said to each other, why would they work together?
The Miz Gets A Hardy Boy: The Miz has been on the money with trying to bring back the Intercontinental Champion to prominence. However, he needed a fresh opponent and that he got. The 15-man battle royal was a good point to showcase a lot of talent. The front runner was presumed to be Finn Balor and I think that happens down the road. Jason Jordan is another guy who had a strong showing, but yes, Jeff Hardy was the winner. There were rumors of another Jeff Hardy singles run in the works. What this means for Matt Hardy is not clear. The waters surrounding the “Broken Hardy” gimmick are still murky at best and eventually, the nostalgic feel is going to wear off on this run. Perhaps, a new feud with the Miz and Miztourage will give it the new life it needs.
Enzo’s 205 Live Debut: Listen, it’s a start. Enzo is in a place where he can be on the offensive and it can be believable in some point. The match with Noam Dar was serviceable, but how long can that last where guys will have to prop up where Amore fails in the ring? Now, I don’t know so much in terms of a match when it comes to Neville. This guy has been the most consistent champion in terms of quality on the Raw brand. While the “Smack talker, Skywalker” will give a much needed jolt of star power that 205 Live needs, Neville can match him in the promo department. I’m just not sure if Enzo can match him from a ring standpoint other than being trounced like he was against Big Cass.
Suplex City, B*tch: A Paul Heyman promo would be able to sell salt to a slug – basically any combination that you can think of. There are very few many that dwarf Brock Lesnar, but Braun Strowman is a legitimate contender to overpower him. There was no Strowman this week, but this promo did enough to keep interest in the match that pits the unstoppable force and the immovable object against each other.
Team Rude No More: I know that people were upset that Sasha Banks dropped the title here, but there’s a story. Corey Graves stated as Banks was coming down to the ring that she has never successfully defended her title. Losing it here might perhaps trigger a future heel turn. Does Sasha need that edge to finally be able to defend the title once she gets it back? Just to note, Alexa Bliss has not only won the Women’s Title on both brands, she’s won it twice on both brands. That’s legendary stuff.
Nia Jax presents a different type of dynamic. Alexa has been able to wrestle her way out of all challengers thus far, even showing some new moves in the Sasha Banks match. This is a fresh feud that presents a new problem for Alexa’s stature as Nia Jax should be a dominant force in the division. Well, that’s until a certain undefeated champion heals up and moves to the brand.
Don’t Let The Tag Feud Go Stale: There was bound to be a down turn with Rollins/Ambrose vs Sheamus/Cesaro. I honestly would not call it a down turn, it was just there. Both members of each team had a singles match and split the victories. It didn’t hurt anyone in the process and shows that each team is strong.
