WWE Battleground: CM Punk VS Ryback

[Jack-Hammer]

Last night's Raw saw the official announcement of Punk vs. Ryback for the inaugural Battleground ppv. As we also saw on Raw last night, Punk was eventually beaten down via the combined assault of Ryback and Curtis Axel before being gorilla pressed through a table by Ryback.

Somehow, I expect CM Punk to get screwed over by Heyman & company at Battleground. With the introduction of Ryback into this equation, it seems too soon for Punk to gain any significant ground. I've no doubt, however, that they'll make Punk look FAR stronger now than during his initial feud with babyface Ryback that began almost a year ago.

At Battleground, I expect Ryback to walk away with his first victory over CM Punk due to some sort of interference or distraction from Heyman & Axel.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

I hope you're right, Jack. Ryback's booking has been so awful he needs any win he can get. Plus if they plan on keeping Ryback with Heyman long term, he needs some sort of build up. Even Axel, who's terrible, got count out victories against Cena and HHH.

 

[Cash Carson]

This is Punk's "Sorry we made you job to Lesnar" match from WWE. No doubt he is winning this.

 

[MINISTRYrising]

Both men could do with coming away with a win, But I think Ryback could do with it a little bit more then Punk does. As for how the match will play out, I don't expect it to play out anything like it did last time around and I am fully expecting punk to come out of this looking strong. I personally think the match will end one of two ways, with either Punk lossing the match by Disqualification, or by Axel or Hayman coursing a distraction ringside allowing Ryback to pick up the victory.

 

[MCMG]

I don't think this match ends the feud. Hell in a Cell would be perfect as there are a number of booking scenarios and the fact Ryback has just been introduced means they can prolong it.

I wonder if they add a stipulation, for example if Punk wins then he faces Heyman inside Hell in a Cell. It makes no sense for Ryback to lose but Punk needs to beat him. Where does Curtis Axel fit in as well. This should be a solid match regardless of stipulation and I am very interested how they keep this feud going or indeed end it. I'll probably say that Ryback wins with some sort of rematch at Hell in a Cell.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

It's a strange match. Both really need a vctory here. It seems like Ryback hasn't won in months and Punk lost his last PPV match against Heyman & Axel.

I'm guessing Punk gets screwed and that then leads to a Hell In A Cell match between he & Heyman next month, which is wrong because a non-wrestler shouldn't be involved in that gimmick. Even if it is the logical conclusion of that feud.

 

[The Eighties]

Punk is a face and he's failed twice to follow through and lost at back to back PPV's, in fact he's lost at every PPV this year bar Payback, traditional booking logic says he wins this one as he is more important to WWE's bigger picture than Ryback, a guy I don't think will every be more than an undercard player.

However Punk is so over he's Teflon, he can take the losses and since this attempt number 5 to get Ryback over I'm guessing he'll win here. The match itself could be good, Punk is great at working the monster heel and Ryback can be decent in the ring at times.

 

[Wolf Pac]

I also think this will lead to a Hell in a Cell match between Heyman and Punk but I don't think Heyman will go it alone in the Cell, I see Ryback being his partner in the match to make the match challenging for Punk before Punk gets his revenge and wins. That being said, I'm picking Ryback here. No way should Punk beat Ryback at Battleground and Ryback still go into the Hell in a Cell match as Heyman's partner, what threat would he be to Punk then? Plus Ryback has had only one PPV victory since Punk ended his undefeated streak just one year ago, so Ryback needs get his revenge here more than Punk does.

So my prediction is Ryback wins this match, and then Punk goes on to face Ryback & Heyman in a 2-on-1 Handicap match inside Hell in a Cell, where I see a similar finish to the DX-Legacy HIAC match from 2009 with Punk locking Ryback & Axel outside the Hell in a Cell, leaving the Paulrus all alone with him inside the cage for him to finally exact his revenge and pick up the win.

 

[TheNew_ApexPredator]

I do see ryback coming out victories (with the help of paul and axel) so this feud can continue building.

I agree both guys need this win but it seems like Cm Punk will be reworded in the future because of his looses! Maybe to win the 2014 Royal Rumble?

 

[HBsam31]

Since they are attempting to get Ryback over one more time, I think that he will get the win here with Heyman/Axel interference. I think he really needs a win here. Punk needs one as well, but I agree that they will probably go at it at Hell in a Cell again. Ryback wins this one and the feud continues.

 

[Joker Ambrose]

I think they are going the way they went with Cena in 2012 saying he had a bad year and lost all major matches. I believe they are taking the same route with Punk so he can win the rumble and win the championship at wrestlemania. You know whats odd I don't remember Ryback beating any significant guy in his wwe run not one. He has lost all ppv matches. Creative has dropped the ball so badly with him and then wwe officials and creative dare say that he has failed. Don't get me wrong I am not a huge fan of his but you have to feel for him as he tries to work hard and his momentum has been completely deflated not due to a fault his own. Imo it will be a decent match largely due to Punk. Expect RYBACK to win here and then Punk to get a rebound victory at HIAC.

 

[LSN80]

Ryback wins this, I would expect. The only way he doesn't win this match and saves face is if he somehow loses the match but gets heat in the weeks leading up to the match by beating Punk down at every turn, then gets rolled up yet destroys Punk post-match. Still, even doing that wouldn't mean much if we follow the logic of the Paul Heyman/CM Pnk feud.

As Heyman pointed out, in a rare showing of logic within WWE, the only thing that truly matters is who gets the win. We're to forget that Punk was destroying Heyman, Heyman had his hands bound, and it took a Ryback spear through a table on Punk for Heyman to get the 1,2,3. Truly, as it should be, the only thing they've truly kept relevant is who won and who lost.

This feud does neither man favors, as Ryback has only beaten Jericho in the last year on PPV, so how much does a victory over him mean for Punk? Conversely, if the rumored plan is to have Ryback end the streak, how can they do anything but put him over here? "He loses to everyone and anyone on PPV, even after joining Heyman, but he's going to beat Undertaker?", would be the logic, and not bad logic at that.

On the other hand, it's recently been rumored that CM Punk is returning to the WWE Championship picture. How do they pull that off if Punk loses his third straight PPV bout? A decisive program victory, whether the program ends at Battleground or Hell In A Cell would do it, but Punk can't wrestle only PPV's, as he's been doing, lose, then come right back into the title picture.

Still, the Streak is undeniably bigger than the WWE Championship come Wrestlemania, and if Ryback is being lined up to even challenge Undertaker, he needs to start winning now. He'll start at Battleground, with a win over Punk when Heyman interferes. Ryback wins Round 1.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Neither guy "needs" a win. It's how it's booked. Punk has been booked well. Ryback will be a good villain. He's believable as a bully. Who would have thought a huge meathead could be a bully, crazy right?

I think this will be a war. If punk loses it will be screwy, if punk wins it will be out if desperation.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Like most of the matches on this PPV, I'm not really looking forward to this much. Punk probably gets the win because he would be more damaged by a loss than Ryback would. Going forward he needs it more, whereas Ryback will continue to get more disliked as a heel from associating with Heyman. Their matches last year were nothing to write home about, so I do not expect this to be any different. Hopefully Punk can get a decent match out of this. It probably goes on toward the end of the evening. Punk wins, but the Heyman feud might continue into Hell In a Cell regardless of if it's against Ryback or Axel.

DAGGER'S PREDICTION
CM Punk will defeat Ryback.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I seriously had no idea Battleground was this Sunday, until Heyman said "This Sunday" during the backstage promo with Ryback and Axel.

Anyway, Ryback wins with some help from Heyman, or Axel, or Heyman and Axel to keep this feud going. Sad to say, but I really hope this feud continues, because Heyman VS Punk is the best thing going on Raw right now. Ryback was a necessary substitute for Axel, because Axel is just too dull to care about.

Interesting to see what they do at HIAC, because last year they only had one Cell match at the PPV. If that happens again, it's a tricky toss up between Bryan VS Orton and Ryback VS Punk II in a Cell, because considering past events, you could say both feuds need to end in the Cell.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

How I see it, Heyman & Friends are looking good coming into this bout. CM Punk has been on the descending slope. To keep this feud going until Hell In A Cell, I think an unsatisfying finish has to happen.

Either a disqualification or a count-out.

A. Heyman, Axel, Ryback, or any combination get their hands on a weapon and strike Punk. Trying to intimidate him in a match that "has no rules", HIAC.

B. CM Punk grabs a weapon to defend himself in a possible 3 on 1 onslaught. Odds supposedly tipped in his favor as he says he wants Ryback in HIAC.

C. Due to interference, either Ryback or Punk are counted out, setting up the stage for a match that has no count-outs, HIAC.

My guess is a count-out. I don't see how both men can come out of this strong if either are pinned. Ryback needs to look like a viable contender to Undertaker's streak IF WWE is pushing for that, and CM Punk has been on the defensive side almost all throughout this feud. He has to look like he has a chance to get at Heyman. Have Punk go over Heyman's newest squeeze and then, if they can stretch it, have Heyman face Punk at Survivor Series with the stipulation that nobody can interfere.

Survivor Series to me seems like the perfect place to end this feud and have CM Punk go on to win the Rumble and challenging Triple H's authority. It writes itself.

 

[Carlito_Orton]

I went back and forth with this one trying to pick a winner and I'm going with Ryback. He just got paired up with Paul Heyman so I doubt he'll lose his first big match with Heyman on his side.

For a more detailed prediction I also made a simulation discussing this
[youtube]R6tOUVdTEII[/youtube]

 

[Mr. Book This Section]

The next match is CM Punk taking on Ryback. The Best vs. The… The… The most boring Monster in recent memory. He has no personality, nothing. With Paul Heyman and Curtis Axel at ringside, CM Punk will have to fight off three people.

My Prediction: I believe that CM Punk will defeat Ryback at Battleground and that will lead to him ending his feud with Paul Heyman. CM Punk will win hitting the G2S on the big man.

End Prediction: CM Punk def. Ryback

 

[El Rev sXe]

For me, Punk getting screwed one more time by Heyman and "his guys" seems totally logic, the big payoff should come for the next PPV, at Hell in a Cell where there is nowhere to run or hide and no one can interfere. That being said it is a shame that after Punk's war against Lesnar (imo, that was match of the year) he is having such flat matches with Curtis and now Ryback because let's face it, Ryback isn't a genius on the ring. Anyway a loss for Punk after Heyman and/or Axel interfere.

Anyway another loss for Punk building up the big victory adn feel good moment for the next PPV.