WWE No Mercy 2017 results as Roman Reigns faced John Cena

WWE
Roman Reigns defeated John Cena before Brock
Lesnar survived the challenge of Braun Strowman at
WWE No Mercy 2017.
The Raw pay-per-view was shaping up to be a classic
going into the final stretch of matches at the Staples
Center in Los Angeles.
But the two huge clashes - rightly billed as
WrestleMania worthy encounters - didn't quite live up
to expectations, for different reasons.
After weeks of verbal jabs, Reigns and Cena waged a
back-and-forth battle, which had fans gripped and was
certainly a good contest.
But the absorbing action was spoiled to an extent by
WWE's overwhelming desire to present the unpopular
Roman as utterly invincible.
Cena - the current face of the company - hit the man
Vince McMahon sees as its future with his AA
finishing move a staggering four times.
That included a Super/Avalanche AA off the middle
rope, then two regular AAs back to back, yet Reigns
ludicrously kicked out of all of them.
Having earlier speared John through an announce
table, he then suddenly responded with a Superman
Punch and a spear for the win.
Post-match Cena raised Reigns' hand aloft in a
'passing of the torch moment', then bade fans what
was portrayed as a temporary farewell.
In the main event, the 6ft 8in behemoth Braun
Strowman took the fight to Universal Champion Brock
Lesnar like few men have before.
The Monster Among Men manhandled the Beast
Incarnate, absorbing German suplexes and nearly
toppling him with a running powerslam.
Ex-UFC Champion Lesnar was forced to turn to the
kimura lock submission he used to break the arms of
both Triple H and Shawn Michaels.
That bought him enough time to hit a succession of
German suplexes, only for Strowman to rally and
connect with another running powerslam.
Yet he couldn't make a cover and the crowd -
expecting the kind of wanton destruction normally
associated with Braun's matches - fell a little flat.
All of a sudden Lesnar lifted the monster onto his
shoulders and hit his F5 finisher for the win, leaving a
sense of what could have been.
It was not the all-action, explosive showdown that
many had predicted and seemingly took away from
Strowman's massive momentum in 2017.
Those two bouts sandwiched a shock Cruiserweight
Championship victory for microphone master Enzo
Amore against Newcastle's Neville.
The massively talented King of the Cruiserweights
toyed with Amore, who few saw as being anywhere
near his level, or championship material.
However, when Neville turned his back on Enzo and
went for a Phoenix Splash rather than his Red Arrow
finisher, he missed the challenger entirely.
Amore almost won with a great diving DDG, but then
resorted to grabbing the title belt, distracting the ref
and stealing the win with a low blow.
The Kickoff pre-show saw guitar-playing crowd
antagonist Elias defeat Titus Worldwide's Apollo
Crews thanks to his opponent's naivety and a Drift
Away.
But it was the following five contests that really
provided the bulk of the night's entertainment,
starting with a very good opening match.
Jason Jordan may have struggled to win over
sceptical fans since being revealed as the storyline
son of Raw general manager Kurt Angle.
But if he keeps performing like he did against
Intercontinental Champion The Miz, it shouldn't be
long before he manages to get audiences onside.
He hit a stunning double Northern Lights suplex and
then sent Miztourage member Bo Dallas flying into
Miz and Curtis Axel with a belly to belly suplex at
ringside.
The ever-brilliant Miz capitalised on a distraction
provided by Dallas and a cheap shot by Axel to cling
onto his title with an opportunistic Skull Crushing
Finale.
Next up Finn Balor proved he didn't need his Demon
King persona to defeat Bray Wyatt, in one of the best
matches of Wyatt's recent career.
The Eater of Worlds ambushed and injured Balor
before the bell rang, but calling him a coward fired up
the Irishman, who returned to engage in a heated
brawl.
Sporting new grey ring gear, he was made to look
tough by overcoming the odds and Wyatt's onslaught
before eventually triumphing with the Coup de Grace.
Cesaro and Sheamus failed to recapture the Raw Tag
Team Championship from Dean Ambrose and Seth
Rollins but they did steal the show in a great bout.
However, a title shot wasn't the only thing Cesaro lost
as he also ended the night with two less front teeth
after crashing into a ring post in a brutal accident.
The Swiss star has long been WWE's real superman -
an incredibly talented wrestler bizarrely overlooked for
singles glory - but here he proved he's also a true
warrior.
Covered in blood he continued to dominate a thrilling
war, which saw Sheamus hit White Noise on Ambrose,
before Ceasaro powerbombed Rollins on top of him.
Dean just kicked out and was able to trick Sheamus
into accidentally Brogue Kicking his partner, before a
Ripcord Knee from Seth and Dirty Deeds earned a
pinfall.
The majority of Raw's Women's Division then worked
a very good Fatal 5-Way match, which ended with
Alexa Bliss just about clinging onto her championship
gold.
Nia Jax dominated the action early on as she lifted
both Bliss and Sasha Banks onto her shoulders, squat
pressed them, then nailed a spectacular double
Samoan Drop.
The four other women soon teamed up against Nia, as
Emma and Bayley tried to powerbomb her off the
apron, then achieved it, thanks to synchronised kicks
from Bliss and Banks.
It was a stiff bump but Jax wasn't finished yet and
almost won with a legdrop on Sasha, only for Emma
to thwart her, in a frantic finale.
Finally Bliss managed to hit Bayley with a DDT to
clinch the encounter, which was a credit to all those
involved both on and off-screen.
Full Results
1. Elias defeated Apollo Crews (with Titus O'Neil) in a
singles match
2. The Miz (c) (with Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel)
defeated Jason Jordan in a singles match to retain
the WWE Intercontinental Championship
3. Finn Bálor defeated Bray Wyatt in a singles match
4. Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins (c) defeated Cesaro
and Sheamus in a tag team match to retain the WWE
Raw Tag Team Championship
5. Alexa Bliss (c) defeated Bayley, Emma, Nia Jax,
and Sasha Banks in a Fatal 5-Way match to retain the
WWE Raw Women's Championship
6. Roman Reigns defeated John Cena in a singles
match
7. Enzo Amore defeated Neville (c) in a singles match
for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship
8. Brock Lesnar (c) (with Paul Heyman) defeated
Braun Strowman in a singles match for the WWE
Universal Championship

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