WWE No Mercy: Baron Corbin vs. Jack Swagger full match preview

Kickoff Match

Realizing he probably couldn't fill four hours with only six matches (plus... CURT HAWKINS), General Manager Daniel Bryan is giving a couple of hosses a chance to settle their differences on the pre-show.

The Road to No Mercy

When he couldn't hinder the newly signed Jinder Mahal on Raw, former World champ (yep, that's true... look it up) Jack Swagger saw the writing on the wall. His contract on Monday nights was up, he wasn't getting a ton of matches and he'd just lost one on television...

So he headed over to Tuesdays, where Daniel Bryan decided he wanted the collegiate amateur standout from Oklahoma on his roster.

Meanwhile, Baron Corbin was just walking around backstage bullying people on SmackDown. Sure, he rolled out to the ring and beat Apollo Crews when called on to do so, but mostly he was intimidating Kalisto onto the disabled list.

Swags is a babyface by virtue of the fact that people like to chant "WE THE PEOPLE", so he wasn't haven't it. That was the set-up for the first match between the two, which controversially ended in a win for Jack because the referee believed Corbin tapped to the Patriot Lock:

As General Manager, Bryan couldn't let that stand. Hopefully he hired a more competent referee for Sunday's pay-per-view (PPV).

What's at stake?

On the surface, this looks like a way to put a rising star in the Lone Wolf over a mid-carder with a decent resume in the All-American American. But Vince McMahon has always been enamored of the corn-fed Swagger, and his reputation with the locker room and the powers-that-be continue to earn him chances at moving up the card.

There's also a potential angle considering the GM's been involved in Jack's story a couple of time. Whether there's anything to it, Corbin's character is one who'd be quick to point fingers and make excuses if things don't go his way again.

Having turned around seemingly dead acts like Heath Slater and Dolph Ziggler, SmackDown's earned the benefit of the doubt. Can they resurrect Swagger while elevating Corbin?

We'll find out at No Mercy!