QUICK WWE BATTLEGROUND BULLET POINTS

We’ve all seen WWE Battleground and we all have our opinions. Overall, it was a pretty entertaining show – but that might be due to my lack of interest in wasting my Monday’s watching RAW and another day watching SmackDown. Perhaps my not being overwhelmed by the WWE product is good for the soul and it makes the PPV events easier to digest. So without getting into too much detail, here are just a few thoughts on tonight’s event.

Cesaro committed career suicide on the Battleground kick-off show. I absolutely love him as an in-ring performer, but he just proved why his WWE career has been in creative purgatory. His mic skills are absolutely disastrous and THIS is the main reason he has not found a way to click as a top performer. Even though he wasn’t wrestling on the card, WWE was smart enough to give him a spot on the pre-show panel to see if he could carry over some of that “pipe bomb” momentum that he spewed his dissatisfaction after the draft earlier this week. Creative was putting the ball (in form of a mic) in his hand and letting him run with it – even at the expense of burying the company. Instead, he was lost in translation and made Booker T look like a literary thespian. You have to give credit to WWE for giving Cesaro and open mic to vent his frustrations, but the true test was to see if he could do it on cue as a disgruntled character that they could build on…and he failed miserably.
I enjoyed the short pre-show segment where GM’s Mick Foley and Daniel Bryan discussed their intentions for their respective brands. Both are very well spoken and passionate about bettering the business. Unfortunately, their insights will NOT be considered or utilized to better the brands, as they are clearly figureheads and pawns written within the show.
It was waaaaay too obvious that Bayley was going to be Sasha Banks‘ mystery partner after getting shafted in the draft, but it was still a great way to introduce her to the main roster and the fans welcomed her with open arms! I found it interesting that this match was placed in the position to lead off the show, but the girls worked their tight asses off and raised the bar for the boys in the back to follow. Charlotte has really come into her own as a heel, and when her career is over, I’m sure she will have her own reign of 16 championships to her credit. For now, I’m looking forward to seeing Sasha Banks get a legit run with the gold – which I expect her to capture next month at SummerSlam.
I appreciated the simple and organic finish to the US Title match between Rusev and Zack Ryder. It was smart and well calculated. Ryder came off looking strong, and Rusev’s counter to Ryder’s top rope elbow was a nice way to set up the finish. Again, Ryder looked strong attempting to power out of Rusev’s finisher, but the champ found a way to crank back even further to get the submission victory that even made me cringe in pain. The smart money was against Ryder, but it was a good intro for Mojo Rawley, and perhaps an early indication that this was Ryder’s last ride as a singles competitor. I expect to see The Hype Bros doing jobs and putting over the rest of the tag division.
I never realized how perfectly matches The Wyatts are against The New Day. On the mic, New Day is hit or miss (mostly miss – in my opinion), but in the ring, they are absolutely on fire, and The Wyatts brought out the best in them tonight. It’s damn shame Bray Wyatt is being shipped alone to SmackDown – but he is too good not haunt both brands. Xavier Woods proved he was more than just a mouthpiece and comic relief, and Kofi Kingston is without a doubt a future WWE Hall of Famer.
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn had another all out brawl – but I’ve seen way too many. And if there is one thing I’ve seen more than them trading blows, it’s that f***ing video package that I’ve seen 8 million times documenting their entire history. As good as the match was, I’m glad (and REALLY hoping) that this feud is OVER! Again, I take nothing away from the match, but the “blowoff” was ineffective. The one thing I did notice, is that Sami Zayn seems to be filling in the underdog void left wide open by Daniel Bryan, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Zayn start a movement of his own!
The Miz continues to be one of the most underrated heels in WWE history. He has proven time and time again to be a great antagonist, but sometimes you’re success is only as good as the opponents you are fed. Darren Young has tremendous potential, but like Cesaro, he hasn’t found his connection with the fans yet. He needs to find his own unique “IT factor”, and after tonight, I’m convinced Bob Backlund as his life coach is NOT it. Backlund never embraced the entertainment aspect of sports entertainment, and having Bob Backlund trying to help someone get over with rabid fans did nothing but back-fire.
The six-man tag opened a lot of questions concerning the brand split with AJ Styles going to SmackDown and The Club remaining on RAW. Separating AJ from The Club may be a good thing for the future – as “heel” AJ has been too reliant on The Club’s assistance. Now that he will be alone on SmackDown, is gives him a stage to showcase his skills as a singles performer and opens the possibility to turn him babyface again – thus pushing and profiting more from his merch sales. Keep in mind, Finn Balor was drafted to RAW, and with AJ exiled to the SmackDown brand, it could be a big opportunity to reunite Balor with Gallows and Anderson to form The Balor Club.
On a side note, Enzo Amore‘s big mouth is bound to make him big money and turn him into a big star. Credit WWE developmental for letting this guy run loose and find something so far out and so different from anything else on the roster. Enzo’s skills shine like a diamond and proves TNA could benefit from starting their own developmental system. Then again, how can you teach success if you haven’t earned it yourself.
The Highlight Reel segment was an absolute waste of time and should have been saved for RAW. I still don’t understand why Randy Orton vs Brock Lesnar was booked for SummerSlam, but I’m very interested in seeing the match. In my opinion, I do have some concerns with Orton being on the shelf for 9 months, and his first match back is going to be against Mr. Suplex City. Is he looking to re-injury himself against this UFC beast? There are a lot of easier ways to get another nine month vacation. What I love most about this match is the lack of build up. As far as I can see, there won’t be weeks of unnecessary and constant “touching” between opponents. It is being built up like a UFC fight, where two top competitors are scheduled to square off and they’ll be free to go at it once they enter the ring at SummerSlam.
As far as the main event, I was sure Dean Ambrose would have retained the title. SmackDown needs the strap to help get the brand over and it would have been a s***ty start had they lost the belt thru their first draft pic. Personally, I more interested in seeing how the result of this match leads to the main event at SummerSlam. This Triple Threat match pitting the former brotherhood of The Shield seemed prime for top billing at SummerSlam. Now that we’ve been there and done that – what direction do we head to next leading into WWE‘s 2nd biggest PPV of the year. The quality of this match wasn’t as smooth as I had hoped for it to be, and I’m not sure what else they can do if a rematch is in the works. At the end of the day, this angle need a massive swerve. And who better to pull it off than Roman Reigns? I’m sensing a babyface turn for Seth Rollins, with Triple H and Stephanie taking on the Roman Empire as their new golden boy.