After losing to Finn Bálor’s Demon persona at SummerSlam, Bray Wyatt embarked on a plan to get a rematch sans face paint. Finn agreed to another round, which WWE began calling a “Man vs. Man match”.
Pouring fake blood on him didn’t work, so maybe beating up Goldust en route to No Mercy would?
One thing certainly did work was The Eater of Worlds strategy of attacking Bálor before the match began. Finn’s entrance isn’t as elaborate without make-up, but it still involves a lot of standing and posing (and a new gray jacket!), and Wyatt took advantage to seemingly injure the Irishman’s ribs.
Ribs first goes @FinnBalor as @WWEBrayWyatt ambushes the Irish Superstar before the match even begins! #WWENoMercy pic.twitter.com/nSAzfnyd0V
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) September 25, 2017
Wyatt wasn’t done pushing buttons, either. Grabbing a microphone to call Finn a “coward” got the former Universal champion to shrug off the advice of officials trying to get him backstage to the trainer’s room.
Once the match officially began, adrenaline carried Bálor to a flurry of early offense:
After a pre-match assault, @FinnBalor is bringing the FIGHT to @WWEBrayWyatt... MAN-TO-MAN! #WWENoMercy pic.twitter.com/KgZmwMRcms
— WWE (@WWE) September 25, 2017
But Wyatt continued to target the ribs, and adding Finn’s surgically-repaired shoulder to his list of targets. He also kept up the mind games, arching into his signature pose to freeze Bálor before he could launch his Coup de Grâce finisher.
The man from Bray is in shock over @WWEBrayWyatt's mind games... #WWENoMercy @FinnBalor pic.twitter.com/x4A3YSyJKn
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) September 25, 2017
It was a hard-hitting affair with several nearfalls for both men, but in the end, none of Bray’s tricks mattered. Finn fought through his damaged ribs to land the Coup de Grâce and pin Wyatt without his Demon.
Get complete No Mercy results and coverage of every match on the card by clicking here.