Being a fan of professional wrestling is difficult at times. You are a fan of a combat sport that is at times barely even a sport, and you love entertainment that at times is more base than Jackass. Your passion isn’t respected by a large chunk of the world, and mentioning it inevitably brings up a scoff of “You know that isn’t real, right?” The saga of  a pro wrestling fan is a sad one at times.

However, when I was at No Mercy, I remembered why I love wrestling.

On October 9th, I attended my first live wrestling event, called No Mercy – WWE’s main pay-per-view for the month. The buildup for the event had been excellent – my personal favorite wrestler, Dean Ambrose, was in a title match at the event, and all the other matches on the card had been built up excellently.

I had planned to get into the event at the beginning of the pre show, to get my money’s worth from my ticket. Unfortunately, traffic prevented me from doing so, and when I arrived, I was afraid I would miss the opening match on the main card. These fears were redoubled when I scanned my ticket and was told that I had been “relocated.”

This word sent a chill of fear dancing up my spine – I had been looking forward to this event for months and now I wasn’t getting in. Heart palpitating, I went to where “relocated” people were supposed to go and I was handed a new ticket. My new ticket was located on the lower level.

My brain took a few seconds to process this – lower level? My original seats had been in the upper reaches of the arena. Lower level? How much lower? A flame of hope shot up within my soul.

I sprinted to the inside of the arena, looking for my new section. I shot through the curtain barring off section 106, and the energy in the arena hit me like a truck. A match was just about to begin – an eight-man tag team match –  and the crowd was so into it. Keep in mind, the main card hadn’t started yet. The crowd was on fire for a pre show match.

Thrilled to the bone, I found my seat – to my delight, it was almost in the front row of the lower level, and I had a perfectly close view of the entrance ramp and ring.

The tag match finished, and soon the opening pyro started off. The opening match on the main card was a Triple Threat match for the World Championship, and everyone in the arena couldn’t wait to see it. John Cena entered first, followed by Dean Ambrose and the champion, A.J. Styles. The match was fast-paced and explosive, with several entertaining spots – one of which was a triple suplex. The match ended when Styles hit Cena with a chair and covered him to retain the title.

After pouring its heart into the opening match, the crowd needed a bit of a rest, and the following match, a womens’ match between Nikki Bella and Carmella, gave them that – it was an okay match, nothing special. It unfortunately had to go after the incredible triple threat, which any match would have trouble following. Nikki Bella pinned Carmella for the win.

Next came the Tag Team Championship match, between champs Heath Slater and Rhyno and the Usos. This was another solid match, which brought the crowd to life after the women’s match  – mostly because of the popularity of the champs. After some good wrestling, Rhyno pinned Jey Uso for the win.

The next match was Baron Corbin vs Jack Swagger –  not much here, just a grudge match between two dudes who wanted to hit each other. Corbin picked up the win, which brought us to the match of the night – The Miz vs Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental Title.

This match was an absolute barnburner  – Ziggler, the crowd favorite, would have been forced to retire had he lost the match. This crowd did not want to see that. Miz cheated numerous times to try to retire Ziggler, but each time Ziggler found a way around it. The crowd got roped in further and further, and when Ziggler pinned Miz to win the title the roof came off of the Golden One Center. He gave me a high five post-match, which was the highlight of the night for me.

Unfortunately the way the card was paced ended the night on a slow note. The womens’ match that followed, between Alexa Bliss and Naomi, never got off the ground and was thankfully ended when Naomi pinned Bliss.

The final match was Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt, which was a good match that featured the return of Luke Harper – who had been out several months due to injury – but it shouldn’t have ended a show that featured the incredible Intercontinental Title match. An enjoyable bout ended when Wyatt pinned Orton, and that pin was the finish of the show.

Was the show uneven? Yes. However, I feel that was more due to the awkward pacing of the card than the matches themselves. The lows weren’t abysmal, just average – and the high points were mountains. I found myself out of my seat several times, jumping up and down in the aisle – especially during the Intercontinental Title match.

After the show, I thought to myself about everyone who dismisses wrestling purely because “It’s wrestling.” I finally had an answer for them – attend a show in person. No Mercy reaffirmed my belief in the squared circle, and I feel that it could make a few believers too.