No Mercy(2016)

No Mercy(2016) was a pay-per-view that took place on October 9th, 2016, live from New Orleans, Louisiana. The event was hosted by the SmackDown brand, and the main event was a match between Cesaro and AJ Styles for the WWE Title.



Background
This was the first pay-per-view of the series to bear the No Mercy name, and the second SmackDown-exclusive pay-per-view. This event also served as the Season 1 Finale of SmackDown.

After Cesaro defeated Randy Orton in the main event of Summerslam to become the new WWE Champion, it was up to SmackDown GM Teddy Long to find a new contender. Orton got that opportunity, but lost to new SmackDown acquistion Stone Cold Steve Austin. However, Austin was forced to defend his contendership against AJ Styles, who had never received his championship shot given to him by NXT GM William Regal, as Regal had suspended him. Styles defeated and injured Austin with the Styles Clash, doing the same to Bret Hart the next week. Styles took out Cesaro's partner Tyson Kidd just days before the event, leaving Cesaro to swear vengeance on his challenger. After Orton lost his match, he went on a brief hiatus, returning to SmackDown a few days before the event. That night, former WWE Champion The Rock also returned, vowing to settle the score with Orton, challenging the Viper to a Last Man Standing Match.

After Dolph Ziggler captured the United States Title at Summerslam, he entered into a feud with Kevin Owens, the man he pinned via roll-up to win the belt. Teddy Long made the match a No Holds Barred Match, so the two could work out their issues. Paige made her SmackDown debut against the Women's World Champion Natalya, defeating her in decisive fashion to capture the belt. Teddy Long signed a rematch for the two to take place at the event. With one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions, Cesaro, busy with the main event, Long started the SmackDown Tag Team Invitational, an eight team tournament with the winners gaining a tag title opportunity. The finalists were The Vaudevillains and American Alpha. On the September 30th edition of SmackDown, Long announced a six pack challenge for an undetermined championship opportunity.

Event
Three titles changed hands at the show, with Kevin Owens winning the United States Title, before announcing that he would be taking the belt with him to Raw. Tyson Kidd suffered a serious neck injury at the hands of AJ Styles, and forced the WWE Tag Team Titles to be declared vacant. The winners of the SmackDown Tag Team Invitational, American Alpha, were given the belts in reward. In the main event, Styles became the new WWE Champion, rolling up Cesaro and using the ropes for leverage.

Paige successfully defended her belt against Natalya, and Randy Orton defeated The Rock with an RKO through the announce table that kept The Rock from answering the ten count.

In the opener, Matt Hardy debuted his "Broken" persona, winning the championship opportunity.