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NXT No Mercy: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:30, 24 September 2023

WWE livestreaming event

NXT No Mercy
Promotional poster featuring Tiffany Stratton, Carmelo Hayes, Becky Lynch, "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio, and Ilja Dragunov
Promotion	WWE
Brand(s)	NXT
Date	September 30, 2023
City	Bakersfield, California
Venue	Mechanics Bank Arena
WWE Network event chronology
← Previous Payback Next → Fastlane
No Mercy chronology
← Previous 2017 Next → —

The 2023 NXT No Mercy is the upcoming 14th No Mercy professional wrestling livestreaming event produced by WWE. It will be held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's NXT brand division. It will take place on September 30, 2023, at the Mechanics Bank ArenainBakersfield, California. This will be the first No Mercy held since 2017, the first to livestream on Peacock, and the first to not be available on traditional pay-per-view.

This will also be WWE's first livestreaming event in which the company is not owned and controlled by the McMahon family, following Endeavor's purchase of WWE, which was finalized on September 12, with WWE subsequently merging with Ultimate Fighting Championship; the two companies still operate separately, but as divisions of a new entity called TKO Group Holdings.

Production

Background

No Mercy was first held by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE as a United Kingdom-exclusive pay-per-view (PPV) in May 1999.^[1] A second No Mercy was then held later that same year in October, but in the United States, which established No Mercy as the annual October PPV for the promotion until 2008.^[2] No Mercy was discontinued in 2009, but it was reinstated in October 2016 following the reintroduction of the brand extension.^[3] While the 2016 event featured wrestlers exclusively from the SmackDown brand division,^[3] the 2017 event was Raw-exclusive.^[4] Afterwards, the event was discontinued as following WrestleMania 34 in April 2018, WWE discontinued brand-exclusive PPVs, resulting in the reduction of yearly PPVs produced.^[5]

On July 27, 2023, WWE announced the return of No Mercy for their developmental brand, NXT. The 14th No Mercy was scheduled to take place on September 30 at the Mechanics Bank ArenainBakersfield, California. In addition to the WWE Network in most international markets,^[6] it will be the first No Mercy to livestreamonPeacock after the American version of the WWE Network merged under Peacock in March 2021. It will subsequently be the first No Mercy to not air on traditional PPV as NXT events ceased airing on PPV beginning in 2022.^[7][6]

From January 2023, there had been speculation that WWE had been placed up for sale.^[8] Hours before WrestleMania 39 Night 2 began, CNBC reported via multiple sources that a deal between WWE and Endeavor, the parent company of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) via Zuffa, was imminent. The deal involved a merger of WWE with the UFC into a new publicly traded company, with Endeavor holding a 51% stake.^[9] The sale was confirmed the next day on April 3, 2023,^[10] with the sale finalized on September 12, with WWE merging with the UFC to form TKO Group Holdings. The 2023 NXT No Mercy will in turn be WWE's first livestreaming event held in which the company was not owned and controlled by the McMahon family. WWE and UFC still operate separately, but as divisions of TKO.^[11]

Storylines

The card will include matches that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results are predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand,^[12][13] while storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television program, NXT, and the supplementary online streaming show, Level Up.

AtNXT: Heatwave, during a celebration with Meta-Four backstage after Noam Dar won the NXT Heritage Cup, Dar received a letter from the Heritage Cup Committee. The letter stated that on the next episode, a global number one contender’s tournament would start, and Dar would defend the Heritage Cup against the winner at No Mercy.^[14] On August 23 during WWE The Bump, the rules of the "NXT Global Heritage Invitational" were explained. The tournament would be a round-robin style tournament featuring two groups with four wrestlers in each group. Matches would have a 12-minute time limit, and victories would earn a wrestler two points, while a 12-minute draw earned both wrestlers one point. The winner of Group A would then face the winner of Group B on the September 26 episode of NXT to determine the number one contender.^[15] On August 24, the first two participants were revealed as Tyler Bate in Group A and Joe Coffey in Group B.^[16] Two days later, four more contestants were announced: Butch and Charlie Dempsey for Group A and Duke Hudson and Nathan Frazer for Group B.^[17][18] The next day, the last two contestants were announced as Axiom in Group A and Akira Tozawa in Group B.^[19]

On the September 12 episode of NXT, Baron Corbin praised Bron Breakker for (kayfabe) crushing Von Wagner's skull with the steel steps the previous week. Breakker said he did not attack Wagner to gain Corbin's approval and that he did not want or need Corbin's respect. Breakker then challenged Corbin to a match at No Mercy, which was later made official.^[20]

During NXT: Heatwave, NXT Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton named off a list of previous title holders and mistakenly claimed Raw's Becky Lynch as a former champion.^[14] At the main roster event Payback, Stratton appeared and apologized to Lynch.^[21] After Stratton’s successful title defense against Kiana James on the following episode of NXT, Lynch appeared and challenged Stratton to a title match the following week,^[22] where Lynch defeated Stratton to win the title for the first time in her career and making her a Grand Slam Champion.^[20] The following week, Lynch offered Stratton a rematch at any time of her choosing, which was scheduled for No Mercy. After Lynch and Lyra Valkyria defeated Stratton and James in a tag team match later that night, Stratton attacked Lynch, who challenged Stratton to an Extreme Rules match at the event, which Stratton accepted.^[23]

AtThe Great American Bash, Carmelo Hayes defeated Ilja Dragunov to retain the NXT Championship.^[24] Almost a month later, Hayes retained the title against Wes LeeatNXT: Heatwave.^[14] The following week, Dragunov stated that his goal was to win the NXT Championship, while on Instagram, Lee also expressed his desire to win the title.^[25] On the September 5 episode, a match between Lee and Dragunov was scheduled for the following week with the winner facing Hayes for the title at No Mercy,^[22] which Dragunov won.^[20]

On the August 29 episode of NXT, Mustafa Ali and Dragon Lee argued over who should challenge for the NXT North American Championship, held by Raw's "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio. A match between Ali and Lee, with Mysterio serving as the special guest referee, was scheduled for the following week with the winner facing Mysterio for the title at No Mercy,^[25] which was won by Ali after a fast count by Mysterio.^[22] On September 21, however, Ali was among the wrestlers who were released from their WWE contracts.^[26] WWE have yet to announce if someone will replace Ali in the match or if the match is canceled altogether.

Matches

NXT Global Heritage Invitational

Standings

Group A		Group B
Butch	5	Joe Coffey	6
Tyler Bate	4	Nathan Frazer	4
Axiom	3	Duke Hudson	4
Charlie Dempsey	0	Akira Tozawa	0

References

External links

• WWE NXT Official Website