No Mercy (2018)

the logo for WHEI No Mercy 2018

**No Mercy (2018)** was a professional wrestling pay per view event produced by War Hawks Entertainment Inc. for their SmackDown brand. It took place Sunday, September 30, 2018 from the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri. It was the first event in the WHEI No Mercy chronology. It was also the first SmackDown branded pay per view of season 3 and the fourth pay per view of season 3 overall.

At the event Bayley defeated sAnitY's Nikki Cross to retain the WHEI SmackDown Women's Championship in the main event. Afterward the two shook hands seemingly turning Cross into a face in the process.

Also at the event Daniel Bryan defeated Sami Zayn to retain the WHEI WWE Championship in a rematch from SummerSlam.

## Background

The card consisted of matches resulting from scripted storylines that play out on WHEI's SmackDown brand. Storylines are played out on the War Hawks' weekly show on Twitch *Friday Night SmackDown Live.* Wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters as they built tension that lead to a match or series of matches leading into the event.

The primary feud heading into the event was between Daniel Bryan and Sami Zayn with the two feuding over the WHEI WWE Championship. At SummerSlam Bryan defeated Zayn to win the vacant championship after previous champion Finn Balor was stripped of the title following being drafted to LWL. On the 6th episode of SmackDown of season 3 Sami Zayn defeated Kenny Omega to get a rematch for the title.

A secondary feud heading into the event was between The New Day's Big E and Cody Rhodes with the two feuding over the WHEI United States Championship. On the season 3 premire of SmackDown, Big E defeat Roderick Strong to win the title. On the SmackDown after SummerSlam E defeated Cody to retain the championship, however the following week Cody was given another shot at the title after he defeated Dolph Ziggler in a #1 Contenders match to face Big E. In the following weeks, Cody faced New Day member Kofi Kingston, and Big E faced Matt Jackson with the stipulation being if the champion or challenge won, the other members of New and/or The Young Bucks would be banned from ringside for the match. Cody defeated Kingston on the 7th episode of SmackDown, and therefore New Day was banned from ringside. The next week Matt Jackson defeated Big E in singles action therefore allowing the Bucks to be at ringside for the title matcht at No Mercy.

Another secondary feud heading into the event was between SmackDown General Manager Ironman and Eric Young with the two feuding over the WHEI Hardcore Championship. On the third episode of season 3 of SmackDown Ironman won an 8 Man Battle Royal to win the championship. On the first episode of SmackDown following SummerSlam Eric Young defeated Will in a #1 Contenders Hardcore Match to earn the right to face Ironman at the event. After the match he had a brief staredown with the champion.

The tag team feud heading into the event was between the Outsiders (Scott Hall & Kevin Nash) and Sanity (Killian Dane & Alexander Wolfe) with the two teams feuding over the WHEI SmackDown Tag Team Championship. At SummerSlam, the Outsiders defeated the Authors Of Pain (Akam & Rezar) to win the title. The episode of SmackDown after SummerSlam, The Authors Of Pain lost their rematch, negating their shot at No Mercy. The following week, The Outsiders came out to stop Sanity from attacking SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley, setting up a match between them at the pay per view.

The women's feud heading into the event was between Bayley and Nikki Cross with the two feuding over the WHEI SmackDown Women's Championship. Cross was awarded the championship during the season 3 premire and had been defending it since. After being left off the SummerSlam card in favor of the Women's Tag Team Championship match, Ironman promised her he would make her a priority at No Mercy, giving her the main event. The following episode of SmackDown however, Cross lost the championship to Bayley, but was immediately granted a rematch after Cross' Sanity teammates threatened to attack Bayley.

Another feud heading into the event was between Absolution (Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville) and Girls With Flair (Charlotte Flair & Mariya WGP) with the teams feuding over the WHEI Women's Tag Team Championship. On the 6th episode of SmackDown of season 3 Rose and Deville defeated The IIconics (Billie Kay & Peyton Royce) to earn a future shot at the titles. The next week Ironman announced they would recieve their shot at No Mercy.

As a result of the budding feud between New Day and the members of Bullet Club on the SmackDown roster Ironman decided to put Woods and Kingston in a tag team match against the Young Bucks at the pay per view to give them a chance to blow off stream.

## Event

### Preliminary matches

The pay per view opened with a match between Cruiserweight Tag Team Champions The New Day (Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston) against The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) despite both teams being eligable the titles were not on the line. After a very competitive back and forth match Kofi hit a Monkey Flip followed by a Diving Cross Body from the top rope for on Matt for the win for his team.

Following that was a hardcore match for the WHEI Hardcore Championship between champion and SmackDown General Manager Ironman and Eric Young of Sanity. After a short match which involved fighting outside the ring and in the seats with the fans Ironman hit an F-6 on Young on a steel chair with his head smacking against the steps to win the match and retain the championship.

Then was a match for the WHEI SmackDown Tag Team Championship pitting champions the Outsiders (Scott Hall & Kevin Nash) and Sanity (Killian Dane & Alexander Wolfe). After a long and brutal back and forth match Hall hit the Outsiders Edge on Wolfe to win the match and retain the title for his team.

After that was a match for the WHEI Women's Tag Team Championship where Absolution (Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville) challenged Girls With Flair (Charlotte Flair & Mariya WGP) for the title. After a long competitive match with lots of tags in and out Charlotte locked in the Figure 8 on Sonya who tapped to win the match and retain the title.

Next was a match for the WHEI United States Championship between champion Big E and Cody Rhodes. While the other members of New Day were banned from ringside, The Young Bucks were not. After dominating the match for most of it and with no help from the Bucks Cody hit the Cross Rhodes to win the match and the title.

The penultimate match was for the WHEI WWE Championship pitting new champion Daniel Bryan against Sami Zayn in a rematch from SummerSlam. Despite dominating the entire match and hitting the Blue Thunder Bomb on Bryan, Zayn was unable to capture the title as Bryan eventually locked in the Yes! Lock to win the match and retain the championship much to the surprise of Ironman.

### Main event

The main event was for the WHEI SmackDown Women's Championship in which Nikki Cross challenged Bayley for the title. After a back and forth match with many great spots Bayley hit Cross with a Bayley-To-Belly to win the match and retain the title. After the match Cross and Bayley shook hands which seemingly turned Cross face.