This easily could be the RAW portion of one of the "mega-shows". It is going to be very hard to predict who will win the majority of the matches and that is all we, as fans, can ask for. We need to be surprised. We need to be caught off guard. So many pay-per view shows have been extremely predictable but I do not believe you can label this one as such.
Cruiserweight Title Match: (C) Neville vs Enzo Amore
Since moving to 205 Live, the WWE has pushed Enzo as a formidable threat to the "King of the Cruiserweights".
It is amazing to me that Enzo went from a jobber on RAW to the main event scene of 205 live. It truly should be a smack in the face to the other guys on this "brand".
I really can't imagine they'd have Neville drop the strap here, but they have to keep Enzo relevant as the live audience is drawn to him. It sounds like he's been receiving a few more boos on the latest episodes, but either way, if they're booing him or cheering him they are paying attention.
Neville should go over clean and continue his reign as champ. I would be torn a bit on this if Neville hadn't just randomly lost the title recently but now that he's got it back I can't imagine him dropping it again this soon. Especially not to a guy that's been a joke over the last few months.
Finn Balor v Bray Wyatt
WWE has really dropped the ball on both of these guys. If handled correctly, at some point, these two should be battling for the Universal Championship.
Unfortunately, at this time, they are just battling for some random reason in a throw-away feud.
I'm a dreamer, but I know it will never happen.
We are going to play "dream scenario" here.
What I would like to see, to build towards Survivor Series, would be for Luke Harper and Erick Rowan to come out and help Wyatt at some point only to have Gallows and Anderson make the save for Finn. This would result in a double DQ but it would bring the Wyatt Family back as well as give Gallows and Anderson some help in getting over with the crowds and giving them the push they rightfully deserve.
Wyatt Family vs the Balor Club at Survivor Series.
In reality, that likely won't happen as I read recently that the WWE is repacking Gallows and he may be returning in a singles role in the near future.
I can see this going one of three ways.
#1) the dream scenario listed above.
#2) Balor winning and GoldDust somehow playing a role. Wyatt has eaten so many losses that another one really wouldn't matter at this point. Finn needs to be protected a little here as he has to stay over with the crowd and get back into the title scene soon. Maybe this win helps push him at least towards the IC strap.
#3) Samoa Joe comes back and attacks Balor and the match is either thrown out or Wyatt wins with interference from Joe.
Intercontinental Title: (C) The Miz vs Jason Jordan
I am beyond sad that the WWE broke up the American Alpha tag team as they were one of my favorite teams to watch in NxT.
They are grooming Jordan to be a major star with or without this goofy gimmick of being Angle's son. I still believe that this will all, eventually, result in a heel turn by Jordan reveling that it was all a lie and he was using Kurt to get a push. I could even see Corey Graves ending up being a heel manager / announcer like "The Brain" used to do.
As for this match, even though I believe it is too early to put the title on Jordan, I think he wins here. I believe the "Miztourage" will be breaking up soon and Axel eating the pin on Monday will be the start of the foundation cracking in the group.
The Miz is the best thing going right now but I do not believe he needs the title to get over, where as I think Jordan could use it to try and get people to take him serious.
Raw Tag Team Championship: Rollins & Ambrose vs Sheamus & Cesaro
This is a perfect example of having too much talent on one show. Each one of the superstars in this match have singles championship caliber ability but instead are doing great things as a team.
Cesaro might be one of the most talented performers I have seen in quite some time. I would love to see that team implode and he start move back into the singles title scene. Maybe a break-up and a trade to SmackDown would do him some good.
It's clear that the long-term plan is for Rollins and Ambrose to feud and have a heated program together. That being said, I do not believe that starts here.
This will be a really solid match but I see the champions winning and retaining their belts Sunday.
All WWE programming is putting on great tag-team feuds at the moment. This has been solid, Usos v New Day has been great on SmackDown, and the NxT pairing of O'Reily & Fish vs SaNity will be great.
Champs retain clean and maybe, just maybe, Sheamus and Cesaro start to go their separate ways.
Raw Women's Championship 5 Way: (C) Alexa Bliss vs Sasha Banks vs Bayley vs Emma vs Nia Jax
You know, WWE, you could just put multiple women's matches on the show...
It really seems like they only know one method of getting women on tv: throw them all together in one match.
It's really disappointing that this match will be thrown together and quite likely a complete cluster.
That being said, I'm not really sure who goes over here. I could see Nia pinning Emma to win the title and thus keeping Bayley, Sasha, and Alexa strong by not having them eat the pin.
All of these ladies are extremely talented but I am afraid you will not be able to see it in a match like this as there will be too much going on at one time.
Don't get me wrong, it will be a great match, but I do not think it is going to do anything to really elevate any of the women.
The crowd turning on Bayley is quite sad. However, it's pretty well understood that they are trying to treat her character like Daniel Bryan and, if memory serves me, it took a heel turn from Bryan to really start getting his feet on the ground within the main show.
Maybe Bayley does something to cost Sasha the title and we can have a semi-heel Bayley start a feud with her "best-friend" Sasha.
It won't be for the title, which is a shame, but those two need a nice drawn out feud to help get them back headed in the right direction.
Roman Reigns vs John Cena
I really am dumbfounded that this match will be done on "No Mercy".
This has WrestleMania main event written all over it.
I am trying to think of how this one will go, but I can't see it ending clean.
Maybe if Samoa Joe doesn't interfere in the Balor match he makes his return here.
These two will likely put on a pretty darn good match and the crowd will still boo it to death. Each performer here is much better than the "smart marks" give them credit for. Both are solid workers and could easily bring the best out of each other.
I just can't see either of them taking a clean pin here, thus leading to a future bout between the two at a bigger PPV.
Not sure how, but I see a no-contest happening here in some way, shape or form.
Universal Championship Title Match: (C) Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman
This match is going to be a slugfest, and I'm going to love it.
It has been a while since the WWE had two behemoths like this that they could throw together in the main event and know they are going to get a solid performance out of each.
The cage match that Braun had with Big Show a few weeks ago on RAW really showed how good the "Monster among men" can be when put in the right situation.
I'm going to go against the grain on this one. Most people that I have talked to think that Brock will retain here. I am going to take a different route.
With Brock taking the mic from Heyman several times over the last few weeks and really voicing his thoughts more and more, I feel Paul E turns on him and costs him the match somehow and Braun becomes the new Universal Champion.
Braun is the "Next Big Thing" in the WWE and Heyman likes to latch himself to the rocket in hopes that he can remain in the main event scene.
It may not last forever, as Brock is better when Heyman is in his corner, but I can see a swerve finish here and Braun walking out as the new Universal Champion and the PPV ending with him standing tall over a beaten and defeated Brock Lesnar.
What are your thoughts? Am I crazy? Do you agree?
Credit to wwe.com for the photos used in this write-up.
