WWE No Mercy: AJ Styles defies the odds, Dolph Ziggler fights for his career

SACRAMENTO, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Careers and championships were on the line Sunday during Smackdown's second pay-per-view event, WWE No Mercy.

Taking place from the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif., No Mercy started off with a bang as for the first time in WWE Network history, the WWE Championship match went on first with AJ Styles defending his title against Dean Ambrose and John Cena.

The Triple-Threat bout saw all three Superstars pulling out their most devastating finishing moves in an effort to capture the gold. At one point, Cena and Ambrose locked in submission maneuvers simultaneously on Styles who was forced to tap. Hever, the referee quickly made sure the match continued as no winner could be determined.

As Cena eventually regained control with victory within his grasp, Styles then took advantage of the no disqualification rules and slammed the Cenation leader with a steel chair for the three count.

"Steel chair comes into play, and The #PhenomenalOne @AJStylesOrg pins @JohnCena to retain the @WWE World Championship! #WWENoMercy," the company wrote on Twitter alongside a clip of the hard-hitting moment.

The second main event of the night saw Dolph Ziggler putting his career on the line against The Miz for his Intercontinental Championship.

Ziggler who has been on a losing streak recently and who has been defeated by The Miz previously due to interference from his wife Maryse, put on a flashy performance that saw the Show Off able avoid all of The Miz's dirty tricks.

Once Maryse and former members of Ziggler's Spirit Squad were banned from ringside by the referee, Ziggler nailed The Miz with a Superkick in order to become the new WWE Intercontinental Champion.

"HE'S DONE IT! @HEELZiggler remains on #SDLive as he comes a 5-TIME #ICChampion at #WWENoMercy!," WWE noted on Twitter alongside a photo of Ziggler celebrating with his new title.

Other highlights from No Mercy include Nikki Bella defeating Carmella, Heath Slater and Rhyno retaining their Smackdown Tag-Team Championships against The Usos, Baron Corbin beating Jack Swagger, Naomi winning against Alexa Bliss after Smackdown Women's Champion Becky Lynch was unable to compete due to an illness and Bray Wyatt besting Randy Orton after the reappearance of Luke Harper.