Jack-Hammer
YOU WILL RESPECT MY AUTHORITAH!!!!
The WWE Championship main event is set and the other big match will probably be a rematch between Cena and Styles. So keep all general discussion here.
WWE Battleground General Discussion & Reviews Thread
- Thread starter Jack-Hammer
- Start date
This could shape up to be really fun card as WWE transitions towards the Brand Split.
We know we're getting the WWE WHC Triple Threat. Other teases....
- KO v. Zayn (blow off?)
- Cena v. Styles II
- Rusev v. Titus (intensity picked up)
- Wyatt Family/New Day
- Charlotte/Banks
We know we're getting the WWE WHC Triple Threat. Other teases....
- KO v. Zayn (blow off?)
- Cena v. Styles II
- Rusev v. Titus (intensity picked up)
- Wyatt Family/New Day
- Charlotte/Banks
This has potential to be the best Battleground PPV ever. The Wyatt Family/New Day match is kind of random. I figured New Day faces The Club and Bray targets somebody like Sheamus or Rusev.
The card looks like:
Reigns Vs Rollins Vs Ambrose.
Titus Vs Rusev
Miz Vs Cesaro
New Day Vs Wyatt Family
Charlotte Vs Sasha
Becky Vs Natalya
Cena Vs AJ Styles
About the results, Ambrose should retain. And so should Rusev. Miz should lose. And so should Charlotte.
Cena would win most probably.
Bray Wyatt could be a great mid card title contender. Rusev Vs Bray could be great for Sumnerslam.
Brand Split is surely going to cause the new circumstances. Change is comin'.
Reigns Vs Rollins Vs Ambrose.
Titus Vs Rusev
Miz Vs Cesaro
New Day Vs Wyatt Family
Charlotte Vs Sasha
Becky Vs Natalya
Cena Vs AJ Styles
About the results, Ambrose should retain. And so should Rusev. Miz should lose. And so should Charlotte.
Cena would win most probably.
Bray Wyatt could be a great mid card title contender. Rusev Vs Bray could be great for Sumnerslam.
Brand Split is surely going to cause the new circumstances. Change is comin'.
Random predictions:
- Ambrose and Rollins both pin Reigns (creating champions for each brand)
- Baylay won't be Sasha Banks' partner
- Orton and Jericho talk a lot but say nothing before the inevitable RKO
- Neither mid card championships change hands (hopefully)
- Anderson is made to look like Cass and Cena's bitch
- Owens vs. Zayn isn't the match of the night
- Ambrose and Rollins both pin Reigns (creating champions for each brand)
- Baylay won't be Sasha Banks' partner
- Orton and Jericho talk a lot but say nothing before the inevitable RKO
- Neither mid card championships change hands (hopefully)
- Anderson is made to look like Cass and Cena's bitch
- Owens vs. Zayn isn't the match of the night
WWE Championship Triple Threat - I feel like Ambrose and SD Live benefit the most from the WWE Title. The title brings a bit of early notoriety to the Blue Brand. If SD Live needs to create a new World Title then Ambrose can't be a contender as it would make the title obviously lesser than its counterpart. I have a feeling we get some swerve ending where Ambrose and Rollins pin Reigns setting up a total cluster.
Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens - Not overly invested in who goes over. Just looking forward to a kick ass match.
The New Day vs. The Wyatt Family - Seems that after seeing the monster Strowman in the Compound Brawl creative is back behind his singles push. He should look strong here. Bray gets the pin picking up momentum headed to Tuesdays.
John Cena & Enzo & Cass vs. AJ Styles & The Club - A lot of fans see Cena getting his ppv win back against Styles but I'm going with The Club. Anderson/Gallows need the victory much more than anyone else involved here.
Becky Lynch vs. Natalya - Natalya steals one. Feud rolls over to Tuesday nights.
Charlotte & Dana Brooke vs. Sasha Banks & ??? - Banks & Partner go over. If it is Bayley I really hope it is a one off with the Raw ladies. Bayley's talents are much more suited for SD Live. If it isn't Bayley it better be big or the crowd might make things very awkward.
Rusev (c) vs. Zack Ryder - Ryder's recent booking has been all over the map. He takes the loss here after a decent fight. Ryder bounces back with Mojo on SD Live. Rusev continues to roll.
The Miz (c) vs. Darren Young - DY wins but Miz walks with the IC Title. DY needs to stay hot but it is entirely to early to put a title around his waist. The premature title runs usually backfire and the characters become stale after a few weeks.
Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens - Not overly invested in who goes over. Just looking forward to a kick ass match.
The New Day vs. The Wyatt Family - Seems that after seeing the monster Strowman in the Compound Brawl creative is back behind his singles push. He should look strong here. Bray gets the pin picking up momentum headed to Tuesdays.
John Cena & Enzo & Cass vs. AJ Styles & The Club - A lot of fans see Cena getting his ppv win back against Styles but I'm going with The Club. Anderson/Gallows need the victory much more than anyone else involved here.
Becky Lynch vs. Natalya - Natalya steals one. Feud rolls over to Tuesday nights.
Charlotte & Dana Brooke vs. Sasha Banks & ??? - Banks & Partner go over. If it is Bayley I really hope it is a one off with the Raw ladies. Bayley's talents are much more suited for SD Live. If it isn't Bayley it better be big or the crowd might make things very awkward.
Rusev (c) vs. Zack Ryder - Ryder's recent booking has been all over the map. He takes the loss here after a decent fight. Ryder bounces back with Mojo on SD Live. Rusev continues to roll.
The Miz (c) vs. Darren Young - DY wins but Miz walks with the IC Title. DY needs to stay hot but it is entirely to early to put a title around his waist. The premature title runs usually backfire and the characters become stale after a few weeks.
This was easily the best show the Battleground PPV brand has ever produced. I didn't have particularly high expectations for the event overall. It exceeded all expectations. The two midcard titles and the WWE Championship all had their upcoming brand exclusivity determined. We also saw a great debut, and more.
Pre-Show: Usos VS Breezango
Breezango is growing on me but pre-show content is rarely if ever something that I care about. This part of the show was spent ordering pizza.
Charlotte & Dana Brooke VS Sasha Banks & Bayley
At first I found it odd that this opened the show, but to have Bayley make her main roster debut at the start of the show was a good call. Fun match to start things off.
New Day VS Wyatt Family
I liked that Xavier was having to (kayfabe) face his fears against Bray here. The Wyatts finally get a win on PPV.... when this version of the faction splits tomorrow with Strowman going to Raw. That had me scratching my head. The match was decent though and I've enjoyed this feud. Bray should still have Rowan as an underling moving forward from here. Strowman I couldn't care less about. Why were the tag titles not on the line here!?
Rusev VS Zack Ryder (US Championship)
Kinda boring. There was no way Ryder was going to win this and I was rooting for Rusev to retain. I wasn't happy to see Mojo afterwards either. Not a fan of the Hype Bros.
Kevin Owens VS Sami Zayn
This one was great. Even though they faced each other before, this is one of those feuds where they work so well together that it won't ever get old. I liked their NXT matches better however this was one of the better matches of the night, as expected.
Becky Lynch VS Natalya
I didn't like this as much as I expected to. They had a tough act to follow in Owens/Zayn though. I feel really bad for Becky at this point. She deserves so much better. They should make a new Smackdown exclusive title for the women on that roster and Becky should be the first one to win it.
Darren Young VS The Miz (Intercontinental Championship)
Stupid, stupid, STUPID. Miz should never have won back the Intercontinental Championship and I flat out refuse to cheer for Darren Young. The whole Bob Backlund thing is only entertaining due to Bob Backlund himself. Make Darren Young great? Yeah, no. "We're gonna make Bob Backlund great again!" is more like it. Young sucks, Miz sucks, the match sucked. It was my excuse to go to the pantry for snacks, namely some berry flavored sour gummy worms.
The Club VS John Cena, Enzo Amore & Big Cass
Loved this. The match was 2nd best of the night losing only to the main event. The promo by Enzo here before the match was excellent. I told a friend of mine who (for whatever reason) dislikes Enzo and Cass that he might change his mind after seeing this promo and match. Check it out if you missed it.
Randy Orton & Jericho segment
Orton gave one of his best promos in quite some time here. While I still don't expect him to defeat Lesnar at Summerslam, this helped make the upcoming match seem like the big deal it needs to be. As for the video package Jericho showed on Lesnar.... I haven't laughed that much at a Lesnar video package since the original unedited version of his "Blood, urine......... and vomit" promo from 2 years ago.
Yep, real intimidating there, Brock.
Dean Ambrose VS Roman Reigns VS Seth Rollins (Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship)
Excellent match and the best match of the night. I'd even argue it might be a match of the year candidate. I was fairly concerned that Roman Reigns would win it despite his suspension for the past month. Dean winning was 100% the right call. Smackdown needed that extra ounce of credibility going into the first week of the brand split. Casual fans will watch Raw anyway. Now you have to watch Smackdown to see the World Champion. Having both GM's and both commissioners out there to watch the action added to the big match feeling, as did showing the locker rooms of both brands watching the match together. Well done here, WWE. Well done.
Overall Thoughts
This event is the 3rd best of the year on the main roster for me. Money In The Bank and Wrestlemania were still better. The latter primarily due to having attended it in person. I expected the show to be mostly filler with it being the last night before the brand extension goes into full effect, it ended up being a really fun show. Check out the opener for Bayley's debut, the 6 man tag team match, and the main event for sure if you missed them. Owens VS Sami was good too.
Dagger's 2016 PPV Rankings
1. Money In The Bank 2016
2. Wrestlemania 32
3. Battleground 2016
4. Extreme Rules 2016
5. Payback 2016
6. Royal Rumble 2016
7. Fastlane 2016
Pre-Show: Usos VS Breezango
Breezango is growing on me but pre-show content is rarely if ever something that I care about. This part of the show was spent ordering pizza.
Charlotte & Dana Brooke VS Sasha Banks & Bayley
At first I found it odd that this opened the show, but to have Bayley make her main roster debut at the start of the show was a good call. Fun match to start things off.
New Day VS Wyatt Family
I liked that Xavier was having to (kayfabe) face his fears against Bray here. The Wyatts finally get a win on PPV.... when this version of the faction splits tomorrow with Strowman going to Raw. That had me scratching my head. The match was decent though and I've enjoyed this feud. Bray should still have Rowan as an underling moving forward from here. Strowman I couldn't care less about. Why were the tag titles not on the line here!?
Rusev VS Zack Ryder (US Championship)
Kinda boring. There was no way Ryder was going to win this and I was rooting for Rusev to retain. I wasn't happy to see Mojo afterwards either. Not a fan of the Hype Bros.
Kevin Owens VS Sami Zayn
This one was great. Even though they faced each other before, this is one of those feuds where they work so well together that it won't ever get old. I liked their NXT matches better however this was one of the better matches of the night, as expected.
Becky Lynch VS Natalya
I didn't like this as much as I expected to. They had a tough act to follow in Owens/Zayn though. I feel really bad for Becky at this point. She deserves so much better. They should make a new Smackdown exclusive title for the women on that roster and Becky should be the first one to win it.
Darren Young VS The Miz (Intercontinental Championship)
Stupid, stupid, STUPID. Miz should never have won back the Intercontinental Championship and I flat out refuse to cheer for Darren Young. The whole Bob Backlund thing is only entertaining due to Bob Backlund himself. Make Darren Young great? Yeah, no. "We're gonna make Bob Backlund great again!" is more like it. Young sucks, Miz sucks, the match sucked. It was my excuse to go to the pantry for snacks, namely some berry flavored sour gummy worms.
The Club VS John Cena, Enzo Amore & Big Cass
Loved this. The match was 2nd best of the night losing only to the main event. The promo by Enzo here before the match was excellent. I told a friend of mine who (for whatever reason) dislikes Enzo and Cass that he might change his mind after seeing this promo and match. Check it out if you missed it.
Randy Orton & Jericho segment
Orton gave one of his best promos in quite some time here. While I still don't expect him to defeat Lesnar at Summerslam, this helped make the upcoming match seem like the big deal it needs to be. As for the video package Jericho showed on Lesnar.... I haven't laughed that much at a Lesnar video package since the original unedited version of his "Blood, urine......... and vomit" promo from 2 years ago.
Brock Lesnar said:
Yep, real intimidating there, Brock.
Dean Ambrose VS Roman Reigns VS Seth Rollins (Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship)
Excellent match and the best match of the night. I'd even argue it might be a match of the year candidate. I was fairly concerned that Roman Reigns would win it despite his suspension for the past month. Dean winning was 100% the right call. Smackdown needed that extra ounce of credibility going into the first week of the brand split. Casual fans will watch Raw anyway. Now you have to watch Smackdown to see the World Champion. Having both GM's and both commissioners out there to watch the action added to the big match feeling, as did showing the locker rooms of both brands watching the match together. Well done here, WWE. Well done.
Overall Thoughts
This event is the 3rd best of the year on the main roster for me. Money In The Bank and Wrestlemania were still better. The latter primarily due to having attended it in person. I expected the show to be mostly filler with it being the last night before the brand extension goes into full effect, it ended up being a really fun show. Check out the opener for Bayley's debut, the 6 man tag team match, and the main event for sure if you missed them. Owens VS Sami was good too.
Dagger's 2016 PPV Rankings
1. Money In The Bank 2016
2. Wrestlemania 32
3. Battleground 2016
4. Extreme Rules 2016
5. Payback 2016
6. Royal Rumble 2016
7. Fastlane 2016
Jack-Hammer
YOU WILL RESPECT MY AUTHORITAH!!!!
Battleground Kickoff Show
1. The Usos vs. Breezango - I honestly enjoyed this match, it was quite entertaining and action packed for a bout that didn't last 6 minutes. What's more, the live crowd was really into it and both teams put out a good effort. Breezango is growing on me and this match made me want to see these two teams get 15 minutes or so at this pace; Breezango picked up the win and I thought it was the right call and it gave this bout a little more juice than what we usually get from a kickoff show match. **1/2
Battleground
1. Sasha Banks & Bayley vs. Charlotte & Dana Brooke - I was a little surprised as I didn't think they'd call up Bayley here, though JBL explained that his "sources" told him that this was a one time thing and that Bayley wasn't part of the main roster; so I'm guessing Bayley gets called up as a "free agent" or something once her business with Asuka is finished. At any rate, Bayley received a great response and the fans were into the match. The reception Sasha and Bayley were getting gave this match some additional juice and it came off as more than a standard women's tag team match. Sasha scored the win for her team by forcing Charlotte to tap via the Bank Statement, I liked how Charlotte sold the move and didn't tap in the first few seconds as it built some suspense in that she might get to the ropes or Dana might break it up like before. The focus of the story was Banks going over Charlotte and that's how it should be considering that Bayley isn't on the main roster yet and this foreshadows Charlotte vs. Sasha at SummerSlam for the title. **3/4
2. The New Day vs. The Wyatt Family - An entertaining six man tag team bout that told a fun story with Xavier Woods kind of overcoming his fear of Bray Wyatt. The crowd was really energetic for the bout and was into the story told. The match had a solid beginning that built to a strong middle and a satisfying end, though Big E scares the crap out of me whenever he does the spear though the ropes because he ALWAYS looks like he lands wrong when he hits the floor, he looked like he landed right on his head last night. The Wyatt Family scored the win with Wyatt himself hitting Sister Abigail's Kiss on Xavier Woods after Woods rallied to essentially handle the entire Family himself briefly. It's a little strange considering that the Wyatt Family went over considering they're split up via the WWE Draft but, at the same time, this could possibly set up something more for SummerSlam as, I think, that champions are going to cross brands at times? I'm still not certain on how it works with the titles. ***
3. WWE United States Championship - Rusev vs. Zack Ryder - I enjoyed this match a lot more than I expected, the energetic crowd was one of the reasons and Ryder presenting a strong challenge was the other. I never thought Ryder would win, but they were able to generate just enough doubt to make me at least consider the possibility a few times during the match. Ryder got in a lot of offense against Rusev, so he generally looked a lot better than what we're used to seeing from him and I thought teasing that he might break out of the Accolade was a nice touch before Rusev synched it in deeper and causing him to tap. The ending with Ryder's parter, Mojo Rawley, was kinda fun; I liked how Mojo was going off on Rusev like Scrat from Ice Age on meth while Rusev just stood there looking at him straight faced. **3/4
4. Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens - This match was excellent from top to bottom with great action and storytelling throughout. They really stepped up the intensity for this match and landed some killer spots and the crowd was energized from beginning to end. I think this could have been a 5 star bout if a title had been on the line as it would've given it just that little bit of extra juice. The match lastd around 19 minutes and I thought it could've gone twice that easily without overstaying its welcome. Zayn picking up the win was the right call as the loss didn't hurt Owens, he's scored a few victories over Zayn so Sami was due here. ****1/2
5. Becky Lynch vs. Natalya - This match was the come down bout for Zayn vs. Owens, it didn't have a chance of being as good, but the ladies still did a good job and the match told a good story. Becky is totally believable as this plucky, fiery babyface; Nattie's heel persona needs to be fleshed out more, she just needs more depth. Nattie scoring the win here after a valiant effort from Becky to get out of the Sharpshooer for the 2nd time was a cool segment that had the fans interested. **1/2
6. WWE Intercontinental Championship - The Miz vs. Darren Young - This was easily the low point of the show. Personally, I've enjoyed Miz's 5th run as Intercontinental Champion as it's easily his most meaningful title run since his WWE Championship run that began all the way back in late 2010, but the fire just wasn't here for this match. I get what they're trying to do with Darren Young, at least to some degree, but Young doesn't have the personality needed to keep from being overshadowed by Bob Backlund's antics. This match was just kinda weird in the sense that I was just waiting for Backlund to snap somehow and that's what happened. The match ended in what I guess was a no contest? No official word was given and the match just didn't really sink in with me. *1/2
7. John Cena, Big Cass & Enzo Amore vs. The Club - A fun 6 man tag team match with the crowd being thoroughly entertained by Enzo's schtick. Gallows & Anderson are a good tag team, but they're not as good as Dave Meltzer and his drones have hyped; they're pretty fun to watch inside the ring, don't get me wrong, but neither guy has all that much charisma and WWE has several teams who're just more fun to watch inside the ring. At any rate, a good effort here from all 6 men that eventually degenerated into the chaos expected for this sort of match. Cena scoring the win over AJ Styles after hitting an AA from the top rope was appropriate and it felt...well it felt better than AJ losing via a standard AA. This also sets up the return for Cena vs. Styles at SummerSlam and probably Enzo & Cass vs. Anderson & Gallows as well. ***
8. WWE Championship - Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins - A very strong main event to close the show with; it didn't have quite as much juice as Zayn vs. Owens, but it was a great match packed with action and enthusiasm from the crowd. I was expecting an overly booked mess here given that Bryan & Shane and Stephanie & Foley were all at ringside cheering on their guys and representing their brands; I figured that they'd get involved somehow and that the notion of keeping the focus on the wrestlers instead of "management" was already going out the window, but I was very, very pleasantly surprised that wasn't the case. Having them out there did give the impression that this was an important match in which the pride of each brand was on the line, so having them as cheerleaders worked. The fans absolutely booed the crap out of Roman Reigns, I don't think very many women were even cheering for the guy, and all of them meshed very well together. Reigns seemed like he was ultimately there to take the pin, which is what happened, and that's exactly what I think should have happened. Ambrose retains after hitting Reigns with Dirty Deeds just after Reigns nails Rollins with like the 500th Superman Punch of the night and a spear, so he was out of commission to break up the pin attempt from Ambrose. ****
Final Thoughts - I enjoyed this ppv quite a bit, it might well be WWE's best show of 2016. The only match on the entire card that didn't really click was the IC title match. The two 6 man tag team matches, Zayn vs. Owens and the WWE Championship matches were the ones expected to carry the show and they delivered while the rest of the card, minus the IC title bout, was quite solid. One thing I almost forgot about was the Highlight Reel segment with Jericho & Orton, which I thought was totally unnecessary. I get why they did it, given that Orton is on SmackDown and Jericho is on Raw, but I just saw no reason for it as it was just set up so Orton could deliver an RKO. Still, I thought it was a very entertaining show all around, even the kickoff show tag bout was fun all things considered.
Grade: A-
1. The Usos vs. Breezango - I honestly enjoyed this match, it was quite entertaining and action packed for a bout that didn't last 6 minutes. What's more, the live crowd was really into it and both teams put out a good effort. Breezango is growing on me and this match made me want to see these two teams get 15 minutes or so at this pace; Breezango picked up the win and I thought it was the right call and it gave this bout a little more juice than what we usually get from a kickoff show match. **1/2
Battleground
1. Sasha Banks & Bayley vs. Charlotte & Dana Brooke - I was a little surprised as I didn't think they'd call up Bayley here, though JBL explained that his "sources" told him that this was a one time thing and that Bayley wasn't part of the main roster; so I'm guessing Bayley gets called up as a "free agent" or something once her business with Asuka is finished. At any rate, Bayley received a great response and the fans were into the match. The reception Sasha and Bayley were getting gave this match some additional juice and it came off as more than a standard women's tag team match. Sasha scored the win for her team by forcing Charlotte to tap via the Bank Statement, I liked how Charlotte sold the move and didn't tap in the first few seconds as it built some suspense in that she might get to the ropes or Dana might break it up like before. The focus of the story was Banks going over Charlotte and that's how it should be considering that Bayley isn't on the main roster yet and this foreshadows Charlotte vs. Sasha at SummerSlam for the title. **3/4
2. The New Day vs. The Wyatt Family - An entertaining six man tag team bout that told a fun story with Xavier Woods kind of overcoming his fear of Bray Wyatt. The crowd was really energetic for the bout and was into the story told. The match had a solid beginning that built to a strong middle and a satisfying end, though Big E scares the crap out of me whenever he does the spear though the ropes because he ALWAYS looks like he lands wrong when he hits the floor, he looked like he landed right on his head last night. The Wyatt Family scored the win with Wyatt himself hitting Sister Abigail's Kiss on Xavier Woods after Woods rallied to essentially handle the entire Family himself briefly. It's a little strange considering that the Wyatt Family went over considering they're split up via the WWE Draft but, at the same time, this could possibly set up something more for SummerSlam as, I think, that champions are going to cross brands at times? I'm still not certain on how it works with the titles. ***
3. WWE United States Championship - Rusev vs. Zack Ryder - I enjoyed this match a lot more than I expected, the energetic crowd was one of the reasons and Ryder presenting a strong challenge was the other. I never thought Ryder would win, but they were able to generate just enough doubt to make me at least consider the possibility a few times during the match. Ryder got in a lot of offense against Rusev, so he generally looked a lot better than what we're used to seeing from him and I thought teasing that he might break out of the Accolade was a nice touch before Rusev synched it in deeper and causing him to tap. The ending with Ryder's parter, Mojo Rawley, was kinda fun; I liked how Mojo was going off on Rusev like Scrat from Ice Age on meth while Rusev just stood there looking at him straight faced. **3/4
4. Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens - This match was excellent from top to bottom with great action and storytelling throughout. They really stepped up the intensity for this match and landed some killer spots and the crowd was energized from beginning to end. I think this could have been a 5 star bout if a title had been on the line as it would've given it just that little bit of extra juice. The match lastd around 19 minutes and I thought it could've gone twice that easily without overstaying its welcome. Zayn picking up the win was the right call as the loss didn't hurt Owens, he's scored a few victories over Zayn so Sami was due here. ****1/2
5. Becky Lynch vs. Natalya - This match was the come down bout for Zayn vs. Owens, it didn't have a chance of being as good, but the ladies still did a good job and the match told a good story. Becky is totally believable as this plucky, fiery babyface; Nattie's heel persona needs to be fleshed out more, she just needs more depth. Nattie scoring the win here after a valiant effort from Becky to get out of the Sharpshooer for the 2nd time was a cool segment that had the fans interested. **1/2
6. WWE Intercontinental Championship - The Miz vs. Darren Young - This was easily the low point of the show. Personally, I've enjoyed Miz's 5th run as Intercontinental Champion as it's easily his most meaningful title run since his WWE Championship run that began all the way back in late 2010, but the fire just wasn't here for this match. I get what they're trying to do with Darren Young, at least to some degree, but Young doesn't have the personality needed to keep from being overshadowed by Bob Backlund's antics. This match was just kinda weird in the sense that I was just waiting for Backlund to snap somehow and that's what happened. The match ended in what I guess was a no contest? No official word was given and the match just didn't really sink in with me. *1/2
7. John Cena, Big Cass & Enzo Amore vs. The Club - A fun 6 man tag team match with the crowd being thoroughly entertained by Enzo's schtick. Gallows & Anderson are a good tag team, but they're not as good as Dave Meltzer and his drones have hyped; they're pretty fun to watch inside the ring, don't get me wrong, but neither guy has all that much charisma and WWE has several teams who're just more fun to watch inside the ring. At any rate, a good effort here from all 6 men that eventually degenerated into the chaos expected for this sort of match. Cena scoring the win over AJ Styles after hitting an AA from the top rope was appropriate and it felt...well it felt better than AJ losing via a standard AA. This also sets up the return for Cena vs. Styles at SummerSlam and probably Enzo & Cass vs. Anderson & Gallows as well. ***
8. WWE Championship - Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins - A very strong main event to close the show with; it didn't have quite as much juice as Zayn vs. Owens, but it was a great match packed with action and enthusiasm from the crowd. I was expecting an overly booked mess here given that Bryan & Shane and Stephanie & Foley were all at ringside cheering on their guys and representing their brands; I figured that they'd get involved somehow and that the notion of keeping the focus on the wrestlers instead of "management" was already going out the window, but I was very, very pleasantly surprised that wasn't the case. Having them out there did give the impression that this was an important match in which the pride of each brand was on the line, so having them as cheerleaders worked. The fans absolutely booed the crap out of Roman Reigns, I don't think very many women were even cheering for the guy, and all of them meshed very well together. Reigns seemed like he was ultimately there to take the pin, which is what happened, and that's exactly what I think should have happened. Ambrose retains after hitting Reigns with Dirty Deeds just after Reigns nails Rollins with like the 500th Superman Punch of the night and a spear, so he was out of commission to break up the pin attempt from Ambrose. ****
Final Thoughts - I enjoyed this ppv quite a bit, it might well be WWE's best show of 2016. The only match on the entire card that didn't really click was the IC title match. The two 6 man tag team matches, Zayn vs. Owens and the WWE Championship matches were the ones expected to carry the show and they delivered while the rest of the card, minus the IC title bout, was quite solid. One thing I almost forgot about was the Highlight Reel segment with Jericho & Orton, which I thought was totally unnecessary. I get why they did it, given that Orton is on SmackDown and Jericho is on Raw, but I just saw no reason for it as it was just set up so Orton could deliver an RKO. Still, I thought it was a very entertaining show all around, even the kickoff show tag bout was fun all things considered.
Grade: A-
I am a lot bit disgusted that this was a ppv, the wwe should have to pay people to watch it. Zayn vs Owens has been done so many times, I am thankful they did it again. Not because I wanted to see it but it was by far the beat match of the night.
Nothing unexpected, nothing to build to the next story and no fueds ended. Shield will want to go again, Wyatts won but non title #1Contendor.
Nothing happened, I feel cheated. At least we got to see Randy Orton promote his summer slam match Steroids vs Stoner.
Nothing unexpected, nothing to build to the next story and no fueds ended. Shield will want to go again, Wyatts won but non title #1Contendor.
Nothing happened, I feel cheated. At least we got to see Randy Orton promote his summer slam match Steroids vs Stoner.
JoeFromTomsRiver
Championship Contender
You should have known going into this that it was a placeholder event since the brand extension doesn't actually start until tonight.
You can't have a Russo swerve every single show. Most of the time good wrestling is all you need, tonight provided that. You had Owens/Zayn which you mentioned, the Shield triple threat was pretty good.Wouldn't of minded it to go another few minutes to be honest. The match was never going to live up to the hype though so, it's unfair to judge it on that. The divas matches are still infinity times better than they were ever. The Wyatts/ New day match could've even gone on longer. All in all I thought it was a successful show. Definitely better than a lot of their other ppvs this decade.
I gotta say though, I wasn't really expecting Becky Lynch to lose. Dean Ambrose could've easily lost his championship as well. I don't think the PPV was as straight forward as it could've been, but that's just me.
It wasn't bad, it just felt more like a special episode of Raw than a PPV event. It's only 10 bucks to watch it on the Network so it's hard to say the WWE "cheated" the fans. We got a couple of great matches and a couple of good ones out of it, it was really just the last event to get out of the way before the reboot can start properly on Raw tomorrow
Yeah I have to admit to feeling a little cheated too. A PPV which was available for me to watch for free, if I so chose, did not set the world on fire. I never understand comments like those expressed in the OP. The event was available on the WWE Network for free. If you didn't want to watch it, no one forced you to do so. If it was not meeting your standards or expectations, that's why they invented remote controls. This was a transitional PPV, which was largely affected by the brand split. Did anyone really expect anything monumental to happen? Because I sure as hell did not. But I thoroughly enjoyed the show.
The "surprise" debut of Bayley was tremendous, and was very well received by the fans in attendance. You can't fault WWE because people like ourselves go online and have things like this tipped off if not outright spoiled sometimes. Sets up Charlotte versus Sasha nicely for Summerslam, while giving us a glimpse of Bayley without calling her up to the main roster now to stay.
My disdain for Bray Wyatt and his family has been no secret to anyone who ever reads my posts (if anyone). The family is being split up, so did anyone expect anything substantial to happen here? Sure, Zayn versus Owens has happened a million times now, but you knew that in advance of the event and if you are bored by it, no one forced you to watch it. And I thought that match was phenomenal. Did anyone expect any thing different or better out of Rusev/Ryder? Or Miz/Young (which I enjoyed way more than I thought I would)?
Any time Becky Lynch is in the ring is perfectly fine with me, no complaints here. Orton returned to cut a promo, which I thought was decent if not somewhat quiet. Enzo and Cass continued to impress, while Cena expectedly defeated AJ while still making AJ look strong in the process. With the apparent dissolution of The Club (and imminent replacement by the Balor Club), did anyone here expect anything different?
And with the brand split and the recent suspension of Reigns, the main event really could not have played out any differently. You knew Reigns was not going to return from a Wellness violation and win the title back right away. You had to believe Ambrose was going to keep the title and take it to the revamped live SD. And I fully expect a new belt to debut on RAW, possibly even as early as tonight. What did you really think would happen here?
I thought the show was pretty good. Not the best of all time, but a solid plausible show. There's something to be said for simply watching the show, enjoying it for what it is, and keeping your expectations realistic and under control.
The "surprise" debut of Bayley was tremendous, and was very well received by the fans in attendance. You can't fault WWE because people like ourselves go online and have things like this tipped off if not outright spoiled sometimes. Sets up Charlotte versus Sasha nicely for Summerslam, while giving us a glimpse of Bayley without calling her up to the main roster now to stay.
My disdain for Bray Wyatt and his family has been no secret to anyone who ever reads my posts (if anyone). The family is being split up, so did anyone expect anything substantial to happen here? Sure, Zayn versus Owens has happened a million times now, but you knew that in advance of the event and if you are bored by it, no one forced you to watch it. And I thought that match was phenomenal. Did anyone expect any thing different or better out of Rusev/Ryder? Or Miz/Young (which I enjoyed way more than I thought I would)?
Any time Becky Lynch is in the ring is perfectly fine with me, no complaints here. Orton returned to cut a promo, which I thought was decent if not somewhat quiet. Enzo and Cass continued to impress, while Cena expectedly defeated AJ while still making AJ look strong in the process. With the apparent dissolution of The Club (and imminent replacement by the Balor Club), did anyone here expect anything different?
And with the brand split and the recent suspension of Reigns, the main event really could not have played out any differently. You knew Reigns was not going to return from a Wellness violation and win the title back right away. You had to believe Ambrose was going to keep the title and take it to the revamped live SD. And I fully expect a new belt to debut on RAW, possibly even as early as tonight. What did you really think would happen here?
I thought the show was pretty good. Not the best of all time, but a solid plausible show. There's something to be said for simply watching the show, enjoying it for what it is, and keeping your expectations realistic and under control.
enviousdominous
Behold my diction
I know you're just exaggerating because you're caught up in the moment, but good grief. I'm sure that nobody here is aware of what disgusts you, and I don't feel like my time watching Battleground was wasted in a way that warrants compensation. Strong statements demand strong explanations.
It looks like you started with a criticism, and then backtracked. Indeed; Zayn vs Owens was an awesome match. I wasn't expecting it to go beyond their previous matches, but their spots were damn near flawless and they both gave 110%.
I might be outing myself as a dumbass, but I really did not expect Bayley to get called up when she did. Also; I was not expecting Dean to retain against two perennial WWE prospects like Seth and Roman. Mojo coming out was some good comic relief as well.
Oh blah. Things happened, it wasn't just a blank screen for four hours. I've never considered Randy Orton to be a stoner, if anything it's as if he whiffed some cocaine before coming out last night.
All in all I was more than satisfied with what I was given, and I think you're just complaining because it feels good.
Battlegrounds probably the first PPV in a while that I've been fully satisfied on.
We had no major swerves, the matches were pretty solid overall.
We had 2 great women's matches.
We had a tag match and 2 triple tag matches, to try and tie up loose stories as we go into a brand extension era.
Roman took a clean pin (two ppvs back to to back)
I don't find much to complain about honestly. Did it feel like a big Raw? Ya, that's all PPVs (Even WM) have felt like since the WWE Network replaced the pay per view models, but hey, it cleaned up the stories so we're ready to start the 2 separate shows now.
We had no major swerves, the matches were pretty solid overall.
We had 2 great women's matches.
We had a tag match and 2 triple tag matches, to try and tie up loose stories as we go into a brand extension era.
Roman took a clean pin (two ppvs back to to back)
I don't find much to complain about honestly. Did it feel like a big Raw? Ya, that's all PPVs (Even WM) have felt like since the WWE Network replaced the pay per view models, but hey, it cleaned up the stories so we're ready to start the 2 separate shows now.
Sean Valjean
Lets Bitch About This Thing We Love
My check just came in the mail. $1,000,000 courtesy of a "Mr. Macintosh". Is yours lost?
Agreed.
Bayley's arrival was the most expected thing on the show, and it was also among the best moments. Ambrose retaining was a bit of an eyebrow raiser since quite a few foresaw a Rollins victory. The Wyatts actually winning a feud is surprising in its own right.
The rosters are split, so many of these feuds simply can't continue. Teasing story developments between wrestlers on separate brands knowing they can't deliver on them would be insulting. This show was largely meant to wrap up most current angles so that stories can be reset this week.
Unfortunately, you expected way too much from what was clearly a B-level, lame duck PPV with the main event as the sole special attraction. At least the triple threat delivered, along with the MOTN in Zayn/Owens and the joy of Bayley's arrival. Add in the solid Orton/Jericho segment and I'd say Battleground was a perfectly respectable show.
SharpShootingCrossface
Submitting you baby xx
Enzo Amore saved the whole show. I've marked for AJ since my kid brother backyard wrestled among mates on msn years ago with him, Fuck the shield, that was match of the night and the right winner for the match. Cena doesn't suck.
SharpShootingCrossface
Submitting you baby xx
New here, dunno how to edit.... KO v Sayn was also quality, wrong result there though.