It’s easy to say that Battleground was a forgotten PPV. Lost in the shuffle with the WWE draft and imminent reboot, Battleground was a badly timed annoyance, which was evident with a “holding pattern” style of booking.
#TLDR: Headlined by a triple-threat for the WWE title, Battleground will be remembered for four things: being the show where Roman Reigns made his comeback from a Wellness suspension… being the show where Randy Orton returned from injury… being the show where Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn tore the house down. Oh, and one more special event, but we’ll get to that!
The Full Review: The last pay-per-view before the brand split takes effect took place in Washington DC, and this should be a table-setter for the latest “new era”. By the way, everyone who’d been drafted used their new brand’s captions (without those hideous new logos).
Pre-Show: The Usos (Jimmy & Jey) vs. Breezango (Tyler Breeze & Fandango)
At least this month, they didn’t overdo the tanning salon… the Usos are still tainted by the stench of Roman, as they get booed throughout. Jey and Fandango start off, and a shoulder tackle sends the Uso to the mat, but Jey replied with a hiptoss before tagging in Jimmy for a double-team backbreaker into a forearm strike for a near-fall.
Breezango gets a nice double-team of their own for a near-fall, with a slingshot elbow getting Fandango a near-fall. Breeze and Fandango made frequent tags, but a pair of enziguiris from Jey knocked down the heels, as he made the hot tag to Jimmy who took down both of Breezango with Samoan drops.
Jimmy nailed a running hip attack to Fandango for a near-fall, before Tyler Breeze went all Will Ospreay on us with the Supermodel Kick in the corner to Jey. Jimmy replied with a superkick, before Fandango nailed another kick for a two-count. Fandango tries for a superplex to Jimmy, but it’s blocked and the Usos try for the Doomsday device, but that gets blocked and ends with Jimmy hitting a superfly splash for a near-fall on Fandango.
Fandango went for the superplex again, but instead knocked Jimmy to the outside with a kick off, as Breeze then missed a knee to the face off the apron. Jimmy connected with a superkick to Breeze in the middle of the ring, before going up top as Jey’s tope took out Fandango… but Breeze got the knees up for Jimmy’s splash and rolled him up for the win. Perfectly acceptable TV match, with a surprise result, I must say. **½
Charlotte & Dana Brooke vs. Sasha Banks & Bayley
Yep, you read that right. The crowd’s reaction to first few bars of Bayley’s theme blew the roof off of the Verizon Center in DC, and that came after the crowd were chanting for Bayley during Sasha’s entrance. They even brought out Bayley’s inflatable tube men. Yep, that was the loudest reaction on a WWE show for months.
Charlotte and Dana jump Bayley and Sasha from behind, sending them outside, before the heels double-teamed Bayley in the ring before the bell officially rang. Bayley takes some chops in the corner, but Bayley hits back with a back elbow out of the corner, before Sasha came in and unloaded on Charlotte in the corner.
Banks took down Charlotte with an awkward headscissors that Charlotte didn’t seem to know how to take, before she tossed Banks to the outside. Dana Brooke gets tagged in and restrains Banks with a rear chinlock but Sasha breaks free and tags in Bayley, who cleans house on the heels.
Dana yanks Bayley off the top rope after she’d been distracted by Charlotte, and they go to a double arm stretch in the middle of the ring. Bayley took some shoulder charges in the corner, but rolled up Brooke for a near-fall. On commentary, they were at pains to point out that this was a one-night-only deal, and Bayley’d be back in NXT after this.
Sasha got the hot tag and went after Charlotte, including landing the double knees through Charlotte’s midsection. Banks kicks away an onrushing Brooke from the apron, but a big boot from Charlotte set her up for the Natural Selection for a near-fall, only for Bayley to make the save. Dana tossed Bayley out of the ring, and joined her immediately, leaving Charlotte and Sasha in the ring.
Sasha turned the Figure Eight into the Bank Statement, but Dana pulled her out of the ring for the save. After Dana and Bayley neutralised each other again, Sasha landed a back cracker and floated into the Bank Statement to force the tap-out. Not a patch on what three of these women used to do in NXT, but we knew that was part of the trade-off for getting called up. **½
The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E & Xavier Woods) vs. The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan & Braun Strowman)
So, this is the last time that this version of the Wyatts are tagging together in this form… and yes, they’re doing this feud in reverse as the standard six-man match is happening after they’ve done a stipulation match (albeit the Final Deletion… sorry, “swamp match”).
We start with Kofi Kingston and Bray Wyatt, as Xavier Woods apparently was left frozen in the ring. Braun Strowman quickly came in and took down Kingston with a big boot and an avalanche, as Erick Rowan and his patched up boiler suit added more punishment to Kingston. A rear chinlock keeps Kingston grounded, as does a head vice, before a clothesline cuts off Kingston’s brief comeback.
Bray Wyatt keeps Kofi in the wrong corner for a spell, and lands a running back senton for a near-fall. A clothesline from Wyatt sent Kingston to the mat in ugly fashion, before Kofi ducked out of the way of an onrushing Wyatt and finally made the tag out. We got Big E and Rowan for a while, with Rowan taking a running body splash but a distraction let Rowan roll up E for a near-fall.
An overhead belly to belly suplex got another near-fall as Strowman broke up the pin, before some distraction from Bray let Rowan hit E with a uranage for a near-fall. Kofi nailed Strowman with a tope con hilo to the outside, before Rowan tossed E into the ringpost to avoid the Midnight Hour finisher. Wyatt got a tag in and almost took out Kingston with the Sister Abigail, but Xavier came in to break it up… and just stare at Bray.
Kofi tried to attack Bray with an axehandle off the top, but was swatted down as Woods wandered off like he was hypnotised, before he finally exploded on Wyatt. A kick to the head from the apron knocked down Wyatt, and Woods followed with a big splash off the top rope, but had to clear out Rowan and Strowman… the latter of which was dispatched with Big E’s through-the-ropes spear (which will end up generating a lawsuit in the near future, I feel).
Bray’s spider walk freaked out Xavier Woods for long enough for him to be caught in the Sister Abigail, and that’s the win for the Wyatts. That finish felt totally flat, but that’s what happens when you book these guys as consistently as they have done. **¾
They showed a Tweet from Roman Reigns to build up the main event. Well, he’s been off TV for long enough… that got booed, as you’d expect.
United States Championship: Rusev (c) vs. Zack Ryder
Ryder’s out with his new music and a red, white and blue jacket, the sort you’d have expected Sting to have worn in the 90s!
Rusev starts by instantly taking down Ryder with a waistlock, then rolled a front facelock into a near-fall. A back elbow from Ryder cut off Rusev, as did a sliding dropkick through the bottom ropes… but a missile dropkick completely missed, and that ended Ryder’s offence.
A kick to the head decked Ryder, and Rusev pounded away on him on the mat, before a spinning heel kick earned the US champ a near-fall. JBL made an obscure reference to Saracens rugby player Billy Vunipola, just because, as Rusev kept Ryder on the mat with a waistlock. Zack fought free, then ducked a corner charge, and that gave him the opening for some more forearms to Rusev which set up Ryder’s Broski Boot. Which was caught, but Zack countered a suplex with a neckbreaker, before finally nailing the boot for a near-fall.
Rusev and Ryder went outside again, and that gave Rusev the chance to dump Ryder on the crowd barrier with a front suplex, before missing a shoulder charge into the barriers. Ryder countered with a missile dropkick, before landing the Rough Ryder in the ring, and his El-Bro drop… but that only got the knees, as Rusev dropped Ryder with another kick.
All that was left was for Rusev to apply the Accolade, and after a brief fightback, Rusev leaned back like Zack was Kalisto, and there’s the tap-out. Decent TV-style match, but at seven minutes, way too short. **¾
Post-match, Rusev kicked Ryder some more… and Mojo Rawley ran out to make the save. Seriously. Rawley screamed at Rusev, and this got the exact opposite reaction to Bayley. Yeah, I wasn’t expecting them to go back to the Hype Bros team quite this quickly…
Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens
Supposedly the last chapter of this feud, but both men are on Raw, so… take a massive pinch of salt with that!
At the bell, Zayn went for the Helluva kick, but Owens rolled out, as Zayn joined him for a quick fist fight, and a whip into the crowd barriers. Owens took a whip into a barrier himself, and I’m left wondering if this is this New Japan?!
After leaping over Owens, a heel kick from Zayn gets him just a one-count, as Michael Cole tells us that Zayn cost Owens his Intercontinental title at WrestleMania. Pretty sure it was Zack Ryder who got the win, but lets go with it, eh? WWE’s in the business of making movies apparently, and almost all movies have gaping plot holes when it suits them. Zayn gets dumped on the top rope as he tried to springboard up them, and that left him cornered for a cannonball from Owens for a near-fall.
Owens keeps on top of Zayn with some chops, before Owens mocks the “ole” chants and goes for a suplex, which gets blocked, before Owens dumps Zayn across the ropes. A kick to the back followed, as did a penalty kick and a back senton for a near-fall. We move to a rear chinlock, leading to some fun bully spots as Owens tells the ref “he wants to give up” repeatedly, before Zayn drops Owens with a clothesline as he came off the ropes.
Owens took a Michinoku driver as he tried to run towards Zayn, and Owens’ choice to go to the outside would have led to a dive, but Zayn’s leg was grabbed as Owens blocked the dive… Zayn then tried for a springboard moonsault, but the springboard didn’t go well and Zayn landed upside down, shoulder-first on the apron. That looked nasty.
Back inside, Zayn landed a Blue Thunder bomb, but was still grabbing the right shoulder, and ended up being caught on the top rope by Owens. A superplex attempt was blocked, and Owens was headbutted to the mat, but Zayn had to leap over an onrushing Owens, before taking a superkick for a near-fall. On the mat, Owens locked in a crossface, but Zayn gradually made it to the ropes to break the hold.
A clothesline in the corner rocked Zayn, but he bounced back with an Exploder suplex that sent Owens into the turnbuckles, but a Helluva kick was aborted when Owens rolled to the floor. Zayn went up top, but was met by Owens whose death valley drive on the apron was blocked, as Zayn replied with a brainbuster on the apron instead. That was an insane bump to give and take.
Owens just about beat the count back into the ring, and after both men got to their feet, they launched into each other with flying fists. Owens went outside again, and Zayn decided to join him, setting up for the through-the-corner DDT, but that was met with a superkick in mid-air. Another cannonball knocked Zayn loopy and into the ring, giving Owens the chance to go up top for a bullfrog splash for the near-fall.
The “fight forever” chants started up as Zayn landed a tornado DDT, before running into another superkick. Owens went for a pop-up powerbomb, but Zayn avoided it and hit a pair of half-nelson suplexes for a near-fall. Zayn went for another Helluva kick, but Owens countered with a pop-up powerbomb that would have ended it, had Zayn not put his feet on the ropes in time.
Zayn kept inviting more punishment from Owens, who took another Exploder into the corner, and another half-nelson suplex and finally the Helluva kick, but Zayn held onto Owens rather than make the cover. Instead, Zayn pushed Owens back into the corner, drilled him with another Helluva kick, and that was all. Good match, not their best, but definitely the best thing on this show so far. ****
Natalya vs. Becky Lynch
The two locked up as Lynch took Natalya into the ropes immediately, but a series of waistlock takedowns forced Natalya to scurry to the ropes once more. Natalya whipped Becky down by the hair for a one-count, with a roll-up getting Lynch a two-count as she mounted some offence before Natalya rolled outside again.
An axehandle off the apron knocked Natalya down to the floor, but again she rolled back outside after she was tossed back in. After going outside, Becky was tossed into the ring steps, before Natalya went to work on Lynch’s left leg in preparation for the Sharpshooter.
Lynch countered a leg lock and tried to put in the Dis-Arm-Her armbreaker, but Natalya easily blocked it, and went back to work on the left leg, stomping the knee into the mat. Heel Natalya went to the “move – taunt – move” routine for heat that didn’t seem to be coming from this crowd… the same crowd that barely responded to Becky’s comeback. I guess following Owens/Zayn was always going to be tough.
Becky dropped Natalya with an enziguiri, before landing a series of clotheslines, and then a forearm into the corner. An exploder out of the corner got Lynch a near-fall, before she locked a discus clothesline and tried for the Dis-Arm-Her. Natalya’s attempt at a Sharpshooter was countered into another Dis-Arm-Her, which Natalya turned into a roll-up for a near-fall, and then finally the Sharpshooter. Lynch made the ropes though, and countered with a kick to the head of Natalya, then a missile dropkick for a near-fall before she went to pound on Natalya in the corner.
As the referee went to separate them, Natalya kicked through the referee’s legs and took out Lynch’s left leg, sending Becky to the mat and prone for the Sharpshooter for the eventual tap-out. Well, they made the best of a bad place on the card – decent action, but nobody cared. **¾
Intercontinental Championship: Darren Young vs. The Miz (c)
An astonishing lack of heat for Young and Bob Backlund here. By astonishing, I mean “predictable”. Young’s repackaging saw him win a battle royal on his return by default, essentially. Miz and Maryse came out as if they were at a masquerade ball, with Miz choosing to wear something that made him look like he were an elephant. Or playing Doh-Nutters…
Miz immediately went to the ropes for a break, then got taken down by Young who went for headlocks, before grabbing a couple of one-counts from roll-ups. Another waistlock takedown saw Young roll through with Miz from a headlock, but the IC champ reversed the hold and went for a headlock of his own, taking down Young with a shoulder charge.
A forearm dropped Miz, as did a neckbreaker off the ropes, before Maryse distracted Young on the top rope and Miz sent him flying to the outside. Well, if you will get distracted by someone screaming at you… On the outside, Miz launched Young chest-first across the top of the crowd barrier, then took him back inside for a rear chinlock.
Miz turned the chinlock into a headlock, before shouting at Bob Backlund… who didn’t react in any visible way. Miz flipped out of a backslide from Young, then tried the move himself before Young reversed it for a near-fall.
After kicking out, Miz stomped away at Young, who rushed out of the corner with a clothesline to send both men down to the mat. Young kept on top of Miz with a backdrop driver onto the apron for a near-fall, as he was then encouraged to go for the chicken wing, but Miz scrambled for the ropes and broke the hold, before he tried to walk out.
Backlund stopped him, and that led to Miz being dragged back into the ring by the hair. Maryse slapped Backlund on the outside, before she fell down and tried to fake being hurt again. Backlund stripped off and got shoved down by Miz, allowing Young to lock in the chicken wing to Miz on the outside… the bell rang for a no-contest, and that was that. Since Young’s been drafted onto Raw, and Miz is on SmackDown, there’ll be no rematch it seems, which is for the best, because this match didn’t click at all. The lack of a finish didn’t help either. **¼
John Cena, Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs. The Club (AJ Styles, Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows)
Yep, Enzo and Cass are massively over – who’d have thought that a singalong intro would have been popular? Enzo’s pre-match spiel got audio censored (apparently “crap” is a swear word on Network land…
Enzo and AJ start off, with an early hiptoss taking Amore down as AJ soaks in the “soccer mom” chants, whether he wanted them or not. AJ took down Enzo with a dropkick after a couple of leapfrogs, and that prompted the tagging in of Colin Cassady… who then went up with Karl Anderson. The two traded right hand strikes, until a shoulder tackle knocked Anderson to the mat, before Enzo came in and was swung around – Bossman-slam style – into an onrushing Luke Gallows, before being swung out over the top rope to Gallows and Anderson on the floor. AJ Styles completed the trio, tossed out as if he were Enzo, and that just leaves Cass and Cena standing.
Back inside, Gallows picked apart Enzo, dropping him with a jackhammer for a near-fall, before he tried to launch a fightback against AJ, who then took him into the wrong corner as the heels kept on making those frequent tags. Anderson landed a step-up kick into the corner for a near-fall, before following up with a rear chinlock and a backbreaker that kept Amore on the wrong side of the ring.
AJ got launched outside with a back body drop from Amore, who then avoided the charges of Gallows and Anderson on the outside, before Anderson dived into the ring to cut off a hot-tag for Amore. Enzo got out of the way of a body splash from Gallows, and made the tag to Cena, who hit four of his five moves of doom on AJ Styles, with AJ flipping out of the Attitude Adjustment and connecting with a Pele kick instead.
AJ went for the Styles Clash, but Enzo came in with a tornado DDT to counter it, before an Anderson spinebuster cut that off. A fallaway slam from Big Cass put paid to him, before Gallows ran in with a Baldo bomb to Cassady. Gallows side-stepped Amore who connected with a cross body to Cena, and AJ missed with a Phenomenal Forearm, this time taking out Gallows as Cena hit the Attitude Adjustment for a near-fall on AJ.
The action continued thick and fast as Anderson pulled Cena out and drilled him onto the German announce table with a spinebuster, before Enzo dove onto Anderson. Cena just about beat the count-out, but went straight into a Styles Clash from AJ, with Big Cass breaking up the cover at two and dropping AJ with a big boot on the floor.
Gallows tossed Cass in, as the Club combined to send Cass to the mat with the Magic Killer, and Enzo came in to take on the Club two-on-one. Anderson missed a shoulder charge and went out to the floor, before a head kick from Gallows took down Enzo. Cena avoided an avalanche from Gallows, before crotching AJ on the top rope.
Cena picked up AJ for a super Attitude Adjustment, but AJ elbowed out… and got caught again with the top rope AA, and that was enough to put away the Phenomenal One. A pretty good tag match, just a shame it’ll be a long time before they repeat this. ***½
Before the main event we had a Highlight Reel segment with Chris Jericho, and this was the return for Randy Orton. Since Brock Lesnar’s not around, this was to spotlight Orton’s return and build up that SummerSlam match. Not much of a segment, but then again, when you advertise someone’s return in a chat show segment… yeah. Good to see Jericho’s adding a goatee to his look for added “looks like a fool” heat. And yes, I know that’ll probably get me blocked once Chris vanity searches for that.
Orton took a shot at one of Jericho’s prior returns, and how he came back to face Fandango (which was meant to get a pop, but got a very mixed reaction). The line of the segment came when Orton built up his Lesnar match, saying that “only one RKO takes you to Viperville… no enhancement needed”. Since Paul Heyman is apparently no longer under contract, we had Jericho be Lesnar’s proxy… and that wasn’t as effective as it would have been otherwise. All in, this did the job, and after 9 months off, Orton is sort-of a fresh face, but why did he come back as a babyface when they did their damndest to make sure that Seth Rollins did not?
WWE Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose (c)
The extra storyline here is that SmackDown want Ambrose to win to keep the title on their show (because if he loses, they’re not just going to magic-up a second title!), and oh joy, Shane, Steph, Mick Foley and Daniel Bryan were ringside to add more fluff to this match, since a three-way with the former Shield members wasn’t going to work. Yes, that’s sarcasm.
Roman Reigns (and his new full beard) got booed out of the building on his first televised appearance since his suspension. Rollins tried to forge a partnership, but got tackled out of the ring by Reigns, who then went to chase after his former Shield partner… who got clotheslined back outside by Ambrose. Rollins was clotheslined out again by Reigns, who was then rolled up for a near-fall by Ambrose.
Rollins came in and was clotheslined out yet again as Reigns tried for the roll-up, before Reigns had to fight out of an attempt at Dirty Deeds. He and Ambrose traded punches, before Ambrose bounced off of Reigns with a crossbody. Rollins returned and wasn’t immediately clotheslined out, but he was caught by Reigns, who inadvertently hit a Samoan drop when Ambrose nailed Reigns with a dropkick.
Rollins drops Ambrose with a backbreaker, before taking down Reigns with a Slingblade, but only got a two-count on Ambrose. An Irish whip sent Ambrose chest-first into the turnbuckles, before a STO sent Ambrose into the middle rope. Kevin Dunne’s crack production team missed Reigns’ dropkick onto the apron, taking out Rollins, as Ambrose landed on Reigns with a cross-body off the top, before Rollins hit a knee to the side of Ambrose’s head off the apron.
Ambrose went into the ring steps, whilst Reigns was tossed by Rollins into the barricades. The two ended up fighting in the timekeeper area, but were left open for Dean Ambrose to run across the three announce tables and dive onto them, before a missile dropkick took down Reigns back inside. Ambrose got a near-fall from a top rope elbow on Reigns, then took a splash from Rollins for another near-fall.
Rollins tried for the Pedigree, but Reigns backdropped out of it, then blocked a sunset flip and dropped Rollins with a series of right hands. Ambrose elbowed out of a Samoan drop, but got taken down by a Superman punch… as did Rollins. Cue the boos, but Ambrose and Rollins cut off a spear before Ambrose clotheslined Reigns to the mat.
Things descended into a three-way fist-fight, before Reigns took a double-teaming… and then became victim of a tope suicida from Ambrose… and then a tope con hilo from Rollins! We were shown shots of the backstage area, with both rosters watching with intent, before going back to the floor as Reigns took the old Shield double-team powerbomb through the Spanish Announce Table. The crowd enjoyed that one!
In the midst of this, Rollins grabbed a chair from under the ring and used it to take out Ambrose, then used it on the back of Reigns to keep him down. Back inside, Rollins went for the Pedigree, before switching it into a buckle bomb that Ambrose countered with a headscissors, sending Rollins into the ropes.
A superplex saw Rollins drop Ambrose, as did a Falcon arrow, but Ambrose kicked out at two. Rollins tried for another Pedigree, but it was countered and he ended up on the top rope again, but Roman Reigns ran in and powerbombed Ambrose, before giving the same to Rollins as he was caught off the top.
Reigns signalled for a Superman punch, but Ambrose ducked it, and avoided a powerbomb, before getting a two-count from a backslide. The Superman punch was successful second time around, as Reigns turned around into a Pedigree, but again Reigns kicked out. Rollins went for it again, but Reigns powered out, only to take the buckle bomb…and rebound into a Superman punch and a spear. Ambrose ran into drop him with the Dirty Deeds though, and that was it – Dean Ambrose retains! A pretty good main event, but there seemed to be something lacking from this match. Perhaps the three-way should have been on a bigger stage than, say, Battleground? ***¾
The post-match saw the commentary team underline how Raw “doesn’t have a championship”. I bet they’ll get a big gold belt soon… and the SmackDown locker room emptied to celebrate with Ambrose – including Erick Rowan and his sheep mask. The new era, I guess, starts now?