WWE No Mercy 2006 preview

It's WWE No Mercy pay per view weekend and you have to ask yourself, really who cares? The line-up is less than thrilling, so much so that WWE have seen fit to change the main event less than a week before the show. Not a single match on the show feels like a genuine main event, even with the rearranged line-up. The rematch of Booker T vs. Batista from Summerslam was the original choice for the main event, but after their lacklustre match at Summerlsam this was changed to Booker vs. Lashley. These two had some decent matches when Lashley was US Champion, but he is nowehere near ready for a main event role without there being something of a back up. At a dual-brand (or should it be tri-band these days) show that would be fine, but not when this match is supposed to be selling the show. The same is true of Batista vs. Finlay which was the other match of note to be merged into the now fourway main event. Now Finlay has been a revelation since her returned, but he is not a main eventer. His in-ring skills will certainly help caryy Batista to a decent match, but would you pay to see this? I thought not.

Then you have the least logical of all the matches on the show. Undertaker vs. Ken Kennedy. The first title defense from the new US Champion on pay per view is against.... the Undertaker?!?! Unlike Raw who are using their secondary belt as a great way of getting over their young talent, on Smackdown it is almost completely ignored and Kennedy is put in with Undertaker in the veign hope that this might bring Kennedy up to his level. Surely it would have made more sense to let Kennedy work his way up to the top spot by having decent matches rather than put him in with Taker, who should be helping to bolster the main event as he is one of the few 'stars' they have left on Smackdown.

The you have Rey vs. Chavo in a falls count anywhere match. The tasteless exploiation of the Eddie Guerrero name contnues, but ofrtunately this match seems to have fallen off the radar a little bit over the last few weeks, perhaps it's because the fasn have stopped caring about either man. What was once the focus of the brand is now an after thought. On the good side this measn this stupid angle will soon run it's course. On the bad side, it means two of the brand's best wrestlers are not being used to put on good matches. Let's hope that this changes sometime soon!