Intercontinental Champion The Miz def. Jason Jordan

LOS ANGELES — Jason Jordan’s big break remained just out of reach at WWE No Mercy, as Raw General Manager Kurt Angle’s son fell short in his bid to take the Intercontinental Title from hometown hero The Miz, bringing his impressive month to a heartbreaking close.

The loss aside, however, this was far from the three-handkerchief weepie Miz promised to hand Jordan during a confrontation with Angle on the No Mercy Kickoff panel. In fact, Jordan built nicely upon his performances against Finn Bálor, Roman Reigns and John Cena, using his scientific know-how to manhandle Miz about the ring in the opening moments while The Miztourage panicked at ringside.

Jordan’s dismantling of The Awesome One was ice-cold and efficient, and seeing their ringleader hoisted for an astounding stalling suplex was too much for The Miztourage, who surrounded Jordan and allowed Miz to get back into the fight with a boot to the face and a couple of tackles into the barricade and ring apron. Using a combination of his veteran instinct and good old-fashioned ruthlessness, The Awesome One pushed the rules as far as possible and slowly chipped away at Jordan with his simplistic but effective offense.

Jordan got an unlikely assist as he began to claw back — “Who’s your daddy?” chants from the WWE Universe that threw Miz off — but Angle’s son began to show signs of frustration, punctuating his wrestling with wild punches and pounding the mat when his double Northern Lights suplex only notched a two-count. When The Miztourage pulled the champion to the outside for a breather, Jordan took out all three, suplexing Bo Dallas into Curtis Axel and Miz before resuming his ruthless campaign against the Intercontinental Champion.

The young Superstar slowly began to hit all his signature markers en route to a potential victory — charge into the ropes, singlet straps down — but The Miztourage ended up swinging the match. First, Dallas attempted to interfere, and while Jordan quickly dispatched him, the ref was too preoccupied with Bo to see Jordan’s rollup attempt. The official also missed a cheap shot from Axel that sent Jordan stumbling into the fateful Skull-Crushing Finale for three.

Jordan seemed as disappointed in himself as anybody during an in-ring interview after the match, taking himself to task for failing to overcome the odds, and promptly requested a rematch. Jordan’s sportsmanship faltered ever so slightly, however, when he revealed he harbored no respect for the champion and used the WWE Universe’s famous chant for his father — “You suck” — to describe his true feelings for The Awesome One.

Tough night, kid. But that’s Hollywood for ya. Better luck next time — and there will most certainly be a next time.