Battleground was broadcast on Sunday 24th July, 2016.
Battleground Hits
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn: Best match of the evening by some margin, 18 minutes of entertaining wrestling. They demonstrated excellent chemistry and their fierce, believable rivalry justified the risks and bumps both men took. Dramatic elements throughout raised standards considerably, especially facial expressions in the closing stretch. They're both on RAW so this feud is far from over.
Shield triple threat: A good quality three-way that could've been saved for a larger event. Dean Ambrose retained his WWE Championship and will hopefully have a decent reign on SmackDown. To the surprise of no one, returning wellness policy violator Roman Reigns was booed heavily and also took the losing fall. He will move slightly down the RAW hierarchy now and surely has to turn heel? Rollins looks set to have a more prominent role on the red team in the upcoming months.
John Cena pins A.J. Styles: The ending to the six-man tag (including super AA finisher) sets up a possible singles rematch at SummerSlam between Cena and Styles. Before the bell, Enzo was a highlight on the mic. He benefited from being on the winning team alongside his partner big Cass. The action was decent but slightly overdependent on using move barrages to create tension. Good fun regardless.
Bayley makes her PPV debut: For once, the 'mystery partner' gimmick had a satisfying reveal. Bayley received cheers galore in the opening contest. Sasha Banks won for their team, which made sense because she is after Charlotte's title. This was only a 'one-night' deal for Bayley. Once she's done on NXT, expect her to make a statement on one of the main rosters.
Highlight reel: It was good to see Randy Orton return. He interacted with host Chris Jericho and left him lying with an RKO after some verbal jousting. Orton threw a few stingers towards future opponent Brock Lesnar regarding his recent UFC drug test failure. Their match at SummerSlam is (no-pun intended) heating up nicely.
Battleground Misses
New Day/Wyatt family six-man tag: This needed an extra five minutes because it felt a little rushed. Another bugbear, face tag-team champions should never lose without the belts being on the line. Even in this protected six-man environment the loss made New Day look weak. So-so, if removing those niggles.
United States Championship match: Rusev is a dominant champion. Zack Ryder was an unbelievable challenger to dethrone him. Ryder did a dropkick off the barricade and seemed to hurt himself more than his opponent. Mojo Rawley made the awkward post-match save and nobody cared. I really hope Mojo isn't the next challenger.
Natalya beats Becky Lynch: Decent European-Canadian technical match but nothing too fancy. It let the crowd breathe a bit after the previous epic so served its purpose well. Natalya as a veteran should put over the new blood. Becky will likely get the rub eventually in an overlong series of return bouts. I'm not thrilled with that on paper but we'll see what happens.
Intercontinental Championship match: OK in the ring but the finish was a little confusing. Bob Backlund definitely can not make Darren Young great again (was he ever great to begin with?). Miz and his wife could be more entertaining working with another pairing.
I’ll be back with another Hits and Misses shortly after SummerSlam next month.
See you then wrestling fans.
Philip.
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