NXT No Mercy was the 14th No Mercy professional wrestling supercard produced by WWE. It primarily featured wrestlers from the promotion's NXT brand division. The event took place on Saturday, September 30, 2023, and was livestreamed from the Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield, California. This was the first No Mercy event held since 2017, the first to livestream on Peacock, the first to be held on a Saturday, and the first to not be available on traditional pay-per-view.
This was WWE's first livestreaming event in which the company was not owned and controlled by the McMahon family, as the company's sale to Endeavor was finalized on September 12, 2023, with WWE and Ultimate Fighting Championship merging to become divisions of a new entity called TKO Group Holdings. NXT No Mercy in turn marked WWE's first livestreaming event under TKO.
Seven matches were contested at the event, including one on the pre-show. In the main event, Raw's Becky Lynch defeated Tiffany Stratton in an Extreme Rules match to retain the NXT Women's Championship. In another prominent match, Ilja Dragunov defeated Carmelo Hayes to win the NXT Championship.
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. 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. No Mercy was discontinued in 2009, but it was reinstated in October 2016 following the reintroduction of the brand extension, which brought back brand-exclusive PPVs. Following WrestleMania 34 in April 2018, however, No Mercy was discontinued as WWE ended brand-exclusive PPVs, resulting in the reduction of yearly PPVs produced.
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 Saturday, September 30 at the Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield, California, marking the first No Mercy to be held on a Saturday. In addition to the WWE Network in most international markets, it was the first No Mercy to livestream on Peacock after the American version of the WWE Network merged under Peacock in March 2021. It was subsequently the first No Mercy to not air on traditional PPV as NXT events ceased airing on PPV beginning in 2022.
From January 2023, there had been speculation that WWE had been placed up for sale. 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. The sale was confirmed the next day on April 3, 2023 and was finalized on September 12, with WWE merging with the UFC to become divisions of TKO Group Holdings. NXT No Mercy was in turn WWE's first livestreaming event held in which the company was not owned and controlled by the McMahon family, and subsequently the first livestreaming event under TKO.
Storylines
The card included seven matches that were the result of scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the NXT brand, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television program, NXT, and the supplementary online streaming show, Level Up.