This Sunday (September 24), Monday Night Raw hosts its first brand-specific Pay-Per-View since before SummerSlam, No Mercy. Coming off the heels of the biggest party of the summer, No Mercy has a surprisingly exciting card lined up, including two matches that could headline WrestleMania.
Apollo Crews vs. Elias Samson
Just a few hours ago, WWE announced that on the Kickoff Show, Apollo Crews of Titus Worldwide will be facing The Drifter, Elias Samson. Samson has been entertaining since joining the main roster and he was just one match away from being in No Mercy’s Intercontinental Championship match against The Miz. Crews was the first member of Titus Worldwide but in no way the most successful. Titus O’Neil helped Akira Tozawa capture the Cruiserweight Championship, so this could be the start of Crews finally making up for being called up to the main roster too early.
Prediction:
The Drifter has been on a roll as of late and this match will help keep him relevant and successful. It wouldn’t be surprising if Crews never gets a true push during his WWE tenure. Winner: Elias Samson
Bray Wyatt vs. Finn Balor – Man to Man
At SummerSlam, Bray Wyatt faced Demon King Finn Balor, who had not been seen since SummerSlam of 2016 when he defeated Seth Rollins to become the first-ever WWE Universal Champion. Wyatt claims that it was not a legitimate victory since it wasn’t just Finn Balor the man, but instead, it was the Demon. Wyatt challenged Balor to a match without any of the face paint or mind games, and he has used Goldust over the past few weeks to prove his point.
Prediction:
Both men in this match are struggling to get back into the main event scene, so the winner should be who could benefit more from it. Wyatt needs all the help he can get and a win here proves that he is not speaking gibberish all the time (just most of the time). Winner: Bray Wyatt
John Cena vs. Roman Reigns
Last year, John Cena competed in a series of dream matches against AJ Styles, with those being some of the best matches of the year (including at the Royal Rumble earlier this year). Now, Cena faces the man closest to taking over his role as the face of WWE: Roman Reigns. Cena came to Raw specifically to fight Reigns and the two have been cutting very personal promos on each other in the subsequent weeks. Cena thinks that Reigns is just a poorly made copy of him, and Reigns uses Cena’s own words against him for his part-time status.
Prediction:
Unless WWE is telling a bigger story than just this match, it seems like there is no reason for John Cena to win here. Reigns retired the Undertaker at WrestleMania and has defeated Braun Strowman, so a win here helps him solidify his place as “The Guy,” while proving his claim that Cena is “all talk.” Winner: Roman Reigns
The Miz (c) vs. Jason Jordan – Intercontinental Championship
At SummerSlam, The Miz didn’t defend the Intercontinental Championship and was very vocal about how much he hated that. Raw General Manager Kurt Angle decided to make it up to the Miz by finding him a challenger. Jason Jordan, Angle’s son, earned that opportunity by defeating The Hardy Boyz, The Miztourage, and Elias Samson in the main event of Raw last week. This makes a ton of sense, considering that Miz has been insulting Jordan and Angle for weeks beforehand.
Prediction:
Over the past few weeks, Jordan has been slowly getting more liked by the WWE Universe by putting on great performances in matches against John Cena and Roman Reigns, as well as the #1 Contender’s Match. This will probably be another instance where Jordan has a great showing, but can’t get the job done. Winner, and STILL Intercontinental Champion: The Miz
Neville (c) vs. Enzo Amore – Cruiserweight Championship
It is still kind of a shock that Enzo Amore is part of the Cruiserweight Division, but since WWE moves at such a fast pace, there is no choice but to get used to it. Just a few weeks ago, Amore was still feuding with his former best friend Big Cass until Cass tore his ACL. Instead of just taking Amore off of television for a while, WWE decided to make the most of the situation. Moving Amore to the Cruiserweight Division puts more eyes on 205 Live while giving Amore a serious program that focuses on in-ring competition and not just character.
Amore knew going into the new roster that he was not as skilled as everyone else. The whole point of 205 Live is to feature some of the best in-ring talent that WWE has to offer (Neville, Cedric Alexander, and Drew Gulak just to name a few), and Amore is definitely more of a “Superstar” than a wrestler. Amore cheated his way to a title match, stealing wins in almost every match he has been in over the past month.
Prediction:
Unfortunately for Amore, it is very hard to cheat and win a championship unless there is some outside interference. Neville is one of the best wrestlers in the world and after soundly defeating the likes of Austin Aries, Jack Gallagher, and Akira Tozawa, SmackTalker Skywalker should be no problem. Winner, and STILL Cruiserweight Champion: Neville
Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose (c) vs. Sheamus & Cesaro – Raw Tag Team Championships
Like The New Day and The Usos on SmackDown Live, Sheamus and Cesaro have been battling with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose for the Tag Team Championships for a couple months. What started off as a pretty good story between Rollins and Ambrose has turned into the entire tag team division fighting every week for no real reason. On a positive note, at least the Hardy Boyz were in the Intercontinental Championship picture for a little while.
Prediction:
Frankly, Sheamus and Cesaro make for a better tag team, but it is time to freshen things up and the only way to do that is to create new opponents for the current champs. Winners, and STILL Raw Tag Team Champions: Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose
Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax vs. Emma vs. Bayley – Raw Women’s Championship
After capturing her third Raw Women’s Championship from Alexa Bliss at SummerSlam, Sasha Banks had her title reign cut short at just over a week when Bliss successfully used her contractually obligated rematch. Of course, Banks would then have another rematch of her own, which she cashed in for Hell in a Cell. The following week, Nia Jax and Emma defeated Bliss and Banks in an unusual tag match to insert themselves in the match. Finally, Bayley (Bliss’ original opponent for SummerSlam before getting injured) returned and her performance convinced Kurt Angle to make it a Fatal Five-Way.
Prediction:
There is only a 20% chance that Alexa Bliss is walking out of No Mercy still the champion, so there will probably be a new titleholder by the end of this match. Looking at the entire field, the favorite here is easily Nia Jax. Winner, and NEW Raw Women’s Champion: Nia Jax
Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Braun Strowman – WWE Universal Championship
This is the second “WrestleMania worthy” match of the show, and it lives up to that claim. Brock Lesnar is Brock Lesnar, so anything he does is going to be a huge deal, and Braun Strowman has easily earned the MVP award for Monday Night Raw in 2017. Ever since the Universal Championship Fatal Four-Way match at SummerSlam, Strowman has been dominating Lesnar at every opportunity, making the Beast Incarnate the underdog for the first time since facing the Undertaker at WrestleMania XXX.
Prediction:
It is the year of Braun Strowman, and this is the perfect way to continue his incredible journey. There can be a rematch at Survivor Series and then Strowman can move on to feuding with one of the several main event-level Superstars on Monday Night Raw. Winner, and NEW WWE Universal Champion: Braun Strowman
