WWE Night of Championship 2012
Our pre show main event sees Ryback (73) squash Jinder Mahal (57). Mahal has to eat his words for losing so easily, and Ryback can move onto another feud.
Christian (88) carries Antonio Cesaro (60) in a solid opener for the IC championship. Christian's IC run still has legs to it, and Cesaro is still a project, autopushing as an opener. He's definitely got the in-ring talent, but I'm worried that he might have just gotten a poor destiny roll. Both men will be moving on to different things for No Mercy.
Drew McIntyre (78) and Zack Ryder (78) put on equally sufficient performances in this rushed US title feud. Alex Riley was supposed to get this shot, but I wasn't giving him a multi-year deal. Drew goes through the guy he was meant to face at No Mercy, so I'll have to get a bit creative for Drew's upcoming feud.
Ziggler (95) and Swagger (91) keep their tag team gold in their rematch with The Usos (Jimmy - 65, Jey - 64). Vickie Guerrero provides the distraction here, and The Usos show excellent chemistry. Right now, AAP are just too gold to lose the gold, and will defend their gold against representatives from RAW at No Mercy.
Just who the hell is JBL talking to? Find out on Smackdown!
Brock and Heyman drop the bombshell that they're free agents - they don't belong to Raw or Smackdown! I've always really liked the idea with a floating brand split, similar to one that they had when the split started in 2002. So, while Brock is Mr. MITB, he's not signing as a Raw or Smackdown superstar. Brock and Austin were great unscripted, but Miz let us down, struggling to keep up.
Next up is an awkward triple threat. I'll be honest, I wasn't sure where to fit in Cena (99) on this card, and in a Hogan-like moment, he gets a big win in the Kofi (81) and R-Truth (82) feud that only loosely involves him. But, with Truth getting a shock win on the go-home Raw, I figured Cena should get his win back. Kofi & Truth still has legs, while Cena will move on to bigger things.
Kharma (73) dominates Kelly Kelly (63) to retain. K2's still has a minor injury, so this was kept short. Kharma's still running through Divas that are beneath her in quality, but I'm hoping to get her some more serious competition soon.
CM Punk (97) retains against Mark Henry (91) in a great match. I was slightly worried about Mark's stamina, but he made it 16 minutes without any issues. Even though Mark will take a step back for a bit, I've got a lengthy plan for him that I don't think would have worked on Smackdown. Punk has a huge match in line for No Mercy - one that I'm very interested in seeing how it pans out.
In the MOTN, Sheamus (95) retains over Orton (96), Wade (84), and Cody (93). Cody was really off his game, and I think that's the only thing that held it back from being a perfect match. Really happy with this match, since Smackdown's roster is handicapped at the start of the save. Nice to see the brand figure itself out, and great to see this match deliver big time and deserve to main event.
That's our show! No Mercy is replacing Hell in a Cell next month, and I'll aim to bring that match type back when it's appropriate.
Looks like Beejus, Big Boss Man, and Asaemon all scored 6 on this PPV. Carrying over from our last PPV, here's where everyone stands:
Beejus - 15 (+6)
Asaemon - 11 (+6)
Big Boss Man - 6
Again, no prizes until Survivor Series.
