John: This Sunday night in Tampa, Florida it's WWE Battleground. It's an eight match card including the pre-show.
What's noticeable about the Battleground lineup is that the midcard is much stronger than it has been for the last couple of PPVs that have seemed like one or two match lineups. At least this time around we've got matches like Jericho/Wyatt, Ambrose/Rollins and Usos/Wyatt Family that should all be very good with the potential to be excellent depending on the time they are given. The battle royal could be good although they have done too many battle royals in the last few months. The main event isn't as strong as Money in the Bank was, but they could surprise us.
With SummerSlam around the corner, it wouldn't be surprising if several of these matches are repeated at that show. This one is about building to that one, which is why some fans don't see it as being that important. It could still have some great matches.
Joining me for the preview is Christian Michael of TJRWresting.com. Andrew Johnson couldn't join us this month due to life being too damn busy, but he should be back for SummerSlam.
(Note: All graphics are from WWE.com. The banner is courtesy of our friend Steve Melo.)
Kickoff Show: Cameron vs. Naomi
Christian: The Funkadactyls EXPLODE! After this match these two win be totally irrelevant until Total Divas returns in the fall.
Winner- Naomi
John: This match is the result of Cameron turning into an egotistical jerk (I could have used another word that starts with a b) while Naomi hasn't really said much. They had a pull apart brawl to set this one up because they need storylines for Total Divas. Naomi is clearly the better of these two in terms of being able to wrestle. She's pretty good. Cameron looks lost out there even after two years of training. She looks out of place a lot of the time. Give the win to the woman that does the flying ass as a finishing move. That's Naomi, in case you weren't sure.
Winner: Naomi
Intercontinental Title Battle Royal: Cesaro, Bo Dallas, US Champion Sheamus, Fandango, Kofi Kingston, The Miz, The Great Khali, Rob Van Dam, Dolph Ziggler, Big E, Ryback, Curtis Axel, Alberto Del Rio, Sin Cara, Zack Ryder, Heath Slater, Titus O'Neil, Diego, R-Truth, Xavier Woods
Christian: It's a shame Bad New Barrett went down with an injury. He was having the best run with the title since Triple H and The Rock jousted over the title in 1998. There's three guys I'm looking at winning this here. Dolph Ziggler because the dude is a work horse and that's what this title needs. Cesaro because with Paul Heyman leaving him for Brock Lesnar he needs something. The last guy is Bo Dallas just because he's the flavor of the month getting a push right now. Someone hand that man a towel. He's always so wet.
Winner- Dolph Ziggler wins the vacant Intercontinental Championship
John: There are 20 men announced for it. Damien Sandow and Adam Rose were originally in it, but both of them were removed so they could be a part of some angle on the show. This is such a tough match to call because there are so many choices that make sense. They could go with a former champion like Dolph Ziggler or Kofi Kingston just because they are popular guys. Sheamus and The Miz are also solid choices although I think they're going to have a feud after this is over, which means they might eliminate each other near the end. Cesaro is probably the favorite although I don't think he really needs it.
My pick is Bo Dallas. It would be an awesome way to elevate him. He's got the kind of character where he wins matches, but he's yet to have a real feud. If he won this match by eliminating nobody until the final one or two people at the end it would be the kind of cheap win that would fit his character. Dallas has also done promos ripping on injured guys like Daniel Bryan and Bad News Barrett. If he holds the title for a few months and Barrett comes back as a face there's a feud right there. All you have to do is Bolieve!
Winner: Bo Dallas
Divas Title: AJ Lee vs. Paige
Christian: This has heel turn for Paige written all over it. She should've went full heel after losing the title, but her and AJ are now "frenemies". Let the girls go 10+ to show what they have. This could and should be the Divas feud we know the WWE Divas are capable of having. Hopefully the fans in attendance will be smart enough to watch and enjoy the match and not chant for an unemployed guy that bounced on them. This is a multiple PPV feud to me.
Winner- Paige regains the Divas Championship
John: It's a win for AJ Lee. Giving her a three week title reign wouldn't accomplish anything. The story will be that AJ Lee is able to find a way to win the match (maybe with a rollup reversal of some kind) and when it's over Paige will snap. That heel turn by Paige will either take place after the match or Monday on Raw. Then they can have another match at SummerSlam where Paige can get the title back as a heel. It should be good if they get around 10 minutes although most divas matches at PPVs get about 7 minutes. Either way I'm looking forward to it.
Winner: AJ Lee
Jack Swagger (w/Zeb Colter) vs. Rusev (w/Lana)
Christian: In this corner playing Ivan Drago we have Rusev. In the opposite corner playing Apollo Creed is Jack Swagger. Lana takes the role of Ludmilla Drago and Zeb Colter plays Duke. The only thing missing is someone to play Rocky Balboa and knock this Russian out at SummerSlam.
You can tell that the Rusev character is working because the fans are getting behind whoever steps up to him. He has that good kind of heat. Swagger has been a pseudo face anyway since teaming with Zeb. All this match does is give the fans a real reason to get behind Swagger. I'd like to see this be a multiple PPV feud and them have some competitive matches. A Swagger win would be cool and better for the story overall before Rusev wins the feud outright, but more than likely Zeb will be looking for the yet to be cast Balboa to throw in the towel for his man.
Winner- Rusev
John: This feud has to make WWE officials happy because it has really worked so far. While both wrestlers deserve a lot of praise, Zeb Colter and Lana have been phenomenal as well. There were reports that Rusev was going to face Big Show possibly at SummerSlam and that may still happen, but I hope not. They can get two major matches out of this feud even if Rusev wins here like I expect.
Rusev continues to impress me. He's pretty good in the ring for a guy that's bigger and not that experienced. He has so much untapped potential. Swagger's going to have a good match with him. It will be hard hitting, the crowd will be loud during all of it and it should make for a really fun atmosphere. Rusev wins after 10 minutes in what will be his most competitive matchup so far. Hopefully we get to see it again.
Winner: Rusev
Tag Team Titles: The Usos vs. Luke Harper & Erick Rowan (2/3 Falls)
Christian: I just beg that WWE lets this match go like 25-30 mins. I hate 2/3 Falls matches where the first two falls end in a total of five minutes and then the final fall goes 15 mins. Let this one cook on the oven for a while. These two teams have great chemistry together so let's see it play out one more time. And that's it. One MORE time. We've had enough Usos vs. Wyatts matches to last a lifetime.
Winners- Luke Harper and Erick Rowan win the Tag Team Championships 2 falls to 1
John: When they had the match at Money in the Bank three weeks ago most people thought the champs would lose, but I picked them to retain and they did. The reason is because the Wyatt Family really don't need gold to stay over. Their characters will be successful with or without the titles. They've had so many matches together and they are generally pretty good. Since it's 2/3 Falls they'll likely tie it up 1-1 and then have a hot finish after 20 minutes. While I am a huge fan of The Usos as the faces of the tag division, my feeling is that they're dropping the gold here because they wouldn't have done the match otherwise.
If the Usos retain, don't be surprised if The Ascension debuts Monday on Raw to attack them and lead to a huge tag match at SummerSlam. My pick is Rowan/Harper because they could feud with Goldust & Stardust right away. There's nothing wrong with building up other teams. It's great for the tag division.
Winners: Luke Harper & Erick Rowan Win The Tag Team Titles 2-1
Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose
Christian: I think as much as we all are looking forward to this match, WWE is going to cut it short leaving us wanting more, which in my opinion is genius. There is so much hatred between these two that a standard match shouldn't suffice. A ten minute slugfest that the referee can't control and then calls for a double DQ is what this PPV calls for. Then at SummerSlam we get Rollins and Ambrose in a No DQ match that might be one of the best matches of the year in WWE. There's no need to rush this. Let this go a while. Show the WWE Universe what these two can do.
Match ends in a Double Disqualification
John: It's a match that a lot of us are looking forward to because we haven't seen them go at it in singles on the main roster. They had a feud in FCW, but that's not something that most fans have seen. They've also been wrestling each other at house shows for the past two months. Their chemistry should be great. I expect them to get 10 to 15 minutes and for the crowd to be really into it. These two are part of WWE's very bright future. It's just the beginning for them.
My prediction is that Rollins will realize he can't beat Ambrose, so he'll hit Ambrose with the Money in the Bank briefcase in front of the ref for the DQ finish. The fans will hate it, but it's all about building to another match at SummerSlam that could be a Street Fight, No DQ, Last Man Standing or something with no rules. This feud is going two or three PPVs for sure. It's not going to end here, which is fine with me.
Winner: Dean Ambrose via DQ
Chris Jericho vs. Bray Wyatt
Christian: I don't want to say the same thing about this match as the Rollins/Ambrose match, but I don't see this as a one and done scenario. I think Chris Jericho might actually get the win here. We all know Jericho's deal is he comes in, puts on great matches and puts over guys. I think in the long run he will put Wyatt over, but the evolution of Bray Wyatt might need a loss here.
It could send him into a frenzy because he's not taking over like he wanted to. He's only won one PPV match since WrestleMania and he needed a ton of help to do so. So he might have to go back into the deranged monster he was and not someone that panders to the crowd with his singing. Then in the end he puts Jericho out of action in a vicious way that really launches Wyatt the way Cena should have.
Winner- Chris Jericho
John: It's a match I'm looking forward to a lot. I saw their match in NXT last year and it was solid, but Wyatt's improved a lot since then. The build for this one has been solid, which is no surprise considering they're both such great talkers. It does seem similar to the Wyatt/Cena build in a lot ways too.
Wyatt could really use a win here. It's not going to end the feud since they are penciled in for SummerSlam as well, but he can still win in a cheap manner to keep it going for him. Jericho doesn't win major matches as much as he used to because he knows as well as anybody how important it is to put over the younger guys and that's what he came back for. Wyatt lost the feud to Cena. He could use this win and at SummerSlam too. This finish can be cheap. That one at SummerSlam can be more decisive.
Winner: Bray Wyatt
WWE World Heavyweight Title Fatal 4-Way: John Cena vs. Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton vs. Kane
Christian: When a match has a predictable outcome like this one you just hope you get some entertainment value out of it by being a great match. The likely scenario is Kane doesn't feel like letting Randy Orton win so he tries to win and that's leads to the two of them fighting.
The Roman Reigns factor in this match is the interesting one. He's the new shiny toy in WWE's toy box, but it's too soon for him to win the title. I doubt he takes the fall in this one. That's what Kane is for. Maybe Orton depending on the scenario. Reigns will most likely dominate the match. He'll hit a Spear on Kane as he goes for the pin Orton comes in with the RKO and then Cena hits the AA on Orton to pin and retain.
Look for Rollins to try and cash in and Ambrose be there to stop him to continue that feud and lead Triple H to bring in "Plan C" the next night on RAW. Plus if Orton costs Reigns that pin it leads to a big SummerSlam match between the two.
Winner- John Cena retains the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
John: It's a win for Cena. Anything else would have to be considered a major surprise. There's some speculation that they might have Cena lose the title because he's filming a movie, which will apparently cause him to miss Raw on Monday. If you really think WWE would have him drop the WWE Title after three weeks you're really overthinking it. Missing one show is not a big deal. As long as he's there for most of the other weeks leading up to it then he should be the WWE Champion. It's not the right time to put it on Reigns. Keep building it up, have him win the Royal Rumble and the WWE Title at WrestleMania 31. The other two don't make sense. Keep it on Cena.
It's hard to imagine Reigns getting pinned. Reigns would move on to a SummerSlam match against either Orton or Triple H. They could even do it as a triple threat to stack the deck against Reigns and then he would somehow emerge victorious. The point is that the involvement of Reigns is to further the storyline of him against Triple H. I really doubt he's leaving as the WWE Champion.
The action should be really good because the three veterans have been in so many big matches like this one although they've all worked with each other so much over the years that it feels stale too. They will make Reigns look strong and the crowd will be behind Reigns for everything he does. Cena will get the win by pinning Kane or possibly Orton in a match that should last about 20 minutes.
Winner: John Cena
After the win, Triple H will be furious at ringside and he'll call out Seth Rollins to try to cash in on a tired Cena. Dean Ambrose will come after him to prevent that from happening, so Cena will leave the show as WWE Champion. The next night on Raw, Brock Lesnar will be introduced with Paul Heyman as "Plan C" and will be named Cena's opponent for SummerSlam. Since Cena isn't supposed to be on Raw, they can save the big face to face showdown for the week after that. There's plenty of time to build it up.
Final Thoughts
John: It has the potential to be a really good show in terms of the in-ring action. What hurts Battleground is that it's leading up to SummerSlam, which is seen as the really major show. The average fan doesn't think of Battleground as a big deal even though it has the potential to be excellent if the midcard matches deliver like we think they should.
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