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Welcome to Mr. Tito's PHAT WWE Backlash 2016 Review exclusively here at LordsofPain.net / WrestlingHeadlines.com. In fact, this column has been prepared during the Pay Per View and instantly posted after the end of the end of the event. "INSTA-COLUMN" as I've called it... For tonight, keep in mind that I'm watching the show 100% on the Apple iPhone as I do want to watch the Debate #2 trainwreck between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump... Thus, if a small detail is missed, I was probably shocked at the Presidential Debate that I was witnessing. Heading into WWE No Mercy, I was quite pumped... LOVED what I saw from the Triple Threat dress rehearsal between AJ Styles, John Cena, and Dean Ambrose at a houseshow that I attended on 9/26/16. AJ Styles working as a heel, Dean Ambrose working both as heel and face ("tweener"), and John Cena as the babyface worked amazingly well at the houseshow that I attended. As I've seen from other houseshows, that match has repeatedly headlined so thus these guys are ready to go. Ditto for AJ Styles vs. Dolph Ziggler which is also all over houseshows. It is GREAT to see that both the World Title and Intercontinental Title have matches that actually matter on a Pay Per View together. LOVE the Smackdown brand and its roster... I hope that it delivers by doing "more with less" compared to the bloated but directionless RAW roster. Mr. Tito's PHAT WWE No Mercy 2016 Review Curt Hawkins came out... During his promo in the ring, they had sirens playing and I could have sworn that Scott Steiner was about to come out. Nothing to see here as I guess he'll show more on Smackdown. LOVE Jerry Lawler in his heel role on the pre-game show. It's like he put on an old pair of pants and they still fit. From everybody that has told me, they said that his heel character was doing quite well on Smackdown before he was pulled after the Brand Split. Hmmm... I do enjoy seeing Lita as a panelist... She looks great in her older age. Ascension/Vaudevillains vs. American Alpha/Hype Bros. Right before your eyes, the Ascension seem to be improving and finding a role while Hype Bros are catching on as a babyface. There's some decent Tag Team depth on the Smackdown roster though besides the Usos, hard to see a dominant standout tag team. Thus, it gives the other teams the opportunity to step up and fill that need as a top babyface team. Might be just me, but American Alpha seem to have some growing pains for their WWE promotion. They are still good but they aren't connecting with a larger audience as they did for the intimate smaller NXT ones. Ditto with the Vaudevillains, although they are much more about their gimmick than Alpha. At the very least with the Vaudes, they can always find work because someone has to put over the babyfaces. Alpha were brought in as the next "Team Angle/World's Greatest Tag Team" and they aren't quite catching on with a bigger WWE audience. Too much repetitiveness of Gable being "face in peril", in my opinion. Gable had more of a role in the team's offense in NXT. Like most other matches, Jordan gets the hot tag, clears house, but this time is leads directly into Alpha/Hype winning the match with finishers hit. FUN 8 man tag match, I must say... Always a fresh body in the ring and it works. Great experience for many of the teams to operate as, well, teams. [ *** ] That was the pregame show... I tuned in about 10 after and that's what I saw. The OPENING MATCH was for the WWE Title between AJ Styles (c) vs. Dean Ambrose vs. John Cena. This was moved as the hot opener to not just try something different, but to avoid the 9pm to 10:30pm loss in viewership caused by debate #2. That's convenient of the WWE, to be honest... Gotta maximize viewers for the biggest wrestling title on the planet. John Cena comes out first, then Dean Ambrose, and the "CHAMP THAT RUNS THE CAMP" AJ Styles comes out last... Tradition, baby! Crowd is PUMPED for this unique live experience of WWE Title as the hot opener. LONG video promo played just after AJ Styles hits the ring... What, we couldn't play this BEFORE the wrestlers hit the ring? I'm sure all 3 wrestlers are just standing in the ring, doing nothing... For the first time ever, I actually heard the announcing crew mention that Triple Threats are no-disqualification matches. "THIS IS AWESOME" chants heard before the ring bell... AJ going with the red color tonight instead of the usual blue. Another comment... I like how the Pink Rope is in the middle between 2 blue ropes... Makes the ring look classy. Dean Ambrose sets the tone by punch both Cena and AJ Styles immediately... Lots of back and forth between the 3 to start with each guy selling pain and exhaustion early. Cena hits a double German on both Styles/Ambrose. That was great. Cena is showing incredible strength in this match (although Styles is smaller, Dean is lean). CRAZY reversal of the Attitude Adjustment and then into the Pele Kick by AJ Styles. Then, Styles hits a DDT and Reverse DDT at the same time on Cena/Ambrose. Then, Cena hits a perfect Sunset Flip Bomb (am I calling that right) on AJ Styles? Then, AJ hits a sick Powerbomb that he derived from a Torture Rack on Cena. WOW... So much talent in that ring right now! Nice sequence where Dean was on Cena's back with a Sleeper and Cena was using Ambrose as a battering ram to crush AJ Styles in the corner. Later, AJ Styles hits this Atomic Bomb looking Faceplant on John Cena. THAT should become his finisher, God that was sick! Cena sells that move and Ambrose/Styles now go at it. Double clothesline and now Cena hits the 5 Knuckle Shuffle on both. Attitude Adjustment on Dean but 2 count only... STF on Ambrose but Styles breaks it. I LOVE that Suplex on the ring apron by AJ Styles and then Styles nails a 450 splash on Ambrose. Styles is BRINGING IT tonight. Styles tried the Phenomenal Forearm, Dean blocked it and tried Dirty Deeds DDT... Rake of the eyes by Styles, Styles Clash on Ambrose, but Cena pulled Styles off during the pin to lock him into the STF. LOVE IT! Crazier sequence when John Cena legitimately tried an Attitude Adjustment on BOTH competitors at the same time and that was broken up for some crazy strikes (AJ kicking Cena, Ambrose CRUSHING Styles with a Clothesline). Beautiful reversal of the Attitude Adjustment by Styles into the Calf Crusher! The match's ENDING had AJ Styles tapping out when Dean Ambrose and John Cena both had submission holds on Styles and Styles tapped... BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! Referee called off that finish and restarted the match! What? Dirty Deeds DDT on Cena but AJ Styles pulls the referee away (remember, NO DQ). Cena attacks Dean who is distracted with AJ Styles after that referee pull... Attitude Adjustment from the top BUT AJ Styles sneaks in the ring with a Steel Chair and cracks John Cena to RETAIN the WWE Title. [ **** 1/2 ] Of course that was amazing... Controversial finish but I'm OK with that... It's going to keep their feud alive and AJ, the heel, can continue to BRAG about repeatedly beating John Cena. Nikki Bella vs. Carmella is up next and this ensures that John Cena can get back to the hotel room early to truly "defend the title". I like this little feud as Carmella is doing better as a heel and Nikki is selling like a champion for her. That's how you do it, folks... Ohhh, I never saw anyone toss another wrestler into the LED board that is now in place of the ring apron. Carmella is working well as a heel here, as she's torturing poor Nikki here with some psychology by working on the neck. Some good crowd heat for it, too... Then, Nikki Bella hits a mistimed Spear and the announcer calls it as an "Explosive Tackle". That's like Ravishing Rick Rude once calling a gimmicked table in ECW as "Solid Oak Table". Uh huh. That "Explosive Tackle" seemed to stop the comeback momentum that Nikki could have had... Then, Carmella hits a Flatliner and then her Code of Silence submission. Nikki escapes but eventually Carmella slaps it on again... Nikki makes it to the ropes and Carmella repeatedly screams "are you kidding me?". Her anger over Nikki making it to the ropes distracts Carmella enough to get picked up and slammed by the Rack Attack 2.0 for Nikki to win. [ **1/2 ] I thought Carmella's in-ring work was great but Nikki couldn't sustain a strong comeback against the heel. Nikki will live to see another day, but I have to admit that I'm really impressed with the progression of Carmella. The heel turn was the right medicine to fix her sluggish babyface start on the main WWE roster. Backstage, Miz insists that he'll renegotiate his Smackdown title once he causes Dolph Ziggler to retire. Up next, Usos vs. Heath Slater/Rhyno (c) for the Smackdown Tag Titles. And these guys start just before the 9:00pm timeframe for the Presidental Debate. Good luck, WWE... Usual format here for Slater/Rhyno matches which is kinda getting old... Slater is the "face in peril". CRAZY body slam by Health Slater off the top rope. Hot tag hit and yet another successful babyface comeback to win a tag match. I'm actually surprised here that Slater & Rhyno got the win here. Nothing remarkable here. [ *3/4 ] Baron Corbin vs. Jack Swagger is next... This match was nearly a carbon copy of what I saw on the 9/26/16 houseshow. Used the ring apron for a distraction and then Corbin used the eyepoke to his advantage. OK big man match, [ **1/4 ]. To my SHOCK, Miz (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental Title is up next and isn't the Main Event. With Career vs. Title, I expected there to be enough "sense of urgency" to headline. Oh well. Damn Miz, as IC Champion, came out first... Come on, WWE! Match is full of energy and these two know each other well for repeatedly wrestling each other for the past few months. Oh, and chemistry developed from those KFC commercials... Can't forget that (sarcasm). Great back and forth throughout this match and fans were eating up the drama. Counter into the Zig Zag popped the fans out of their chairs. Spirit Squad invades the match, referee throws them out, and an upset Miz is distracted enough to walk right into a PICTURE PERFECT Superkick by Dolph Ziggler. That was FANTASTIC and finally, a big moment for Dolph Ziggler. [ **** ] Fans are going bonkers and Miz is in the ring selling how upset he is at the loss. Beautiful... Should have been the Main Event! Now, LET ZIGGLER HAVE A DAMN WINNING STREAK! Alexa Bliss comes out to talk some smack on her injured opponent, Smackdown Women's Champion Alexa Bliss... As I figured, since Nikki already had a match, Naomi gets the nod to face Alexa. LOVE her entrance! Bliss was working Naomi over for much of the match but then Naomi steals the win at the end. OK match, but remember, it was thrown together last minute due to Becky's injury. Happy to see Naomi getting some love,though, as she has had bad luck with pushes with freak injuries and other circumstances. [ ** ] The MAIN EVENT is Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt... Not a bad main event as long as these two can pull off a great match together. The match doesn't have much energy, however... Both guys have been out with injuries and therefore probably couldn't rehearse their match much on the road. Match felt like a typical WWE match where they brawl around the announcer tables and the barriers. Lights go dark and Luke Harper appears to help Bray Wyatt get the win. COOL, Smackdown gets Harper! That's good news to end the show! [ **1/2 ] LAST WORD: Heading into this show, I was quite proud of how BOTH the WWE Title and Intercontinental Title matches were hyped. It's very rare when both titles matter on a card. Both title matches delivered HUGE!! The rest of the card was just OK to be honest and I was expecting more from the Tag Title match. It's mostly a 2-match show and those two matches are more than worth your time. [ B+ ]. SO JUST CHILL... 'TIL THE NEXT EPISODE! Comments and feedback are welcome. Follow and Tweet me @titowrestling or login in below to post comments. © Mr. Tito and LordsofPain.net/WrestlingHeadlines.com - 1998-2016
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