Ladies and gentlemen… it’s here! Battleground Review is here and for those of you who weren’t expecting much from this pay-per-view… you were right to think that way. This PPV was essentially a filler PPV, something to fill the gap before the big dance, something to fill the gap before Summerslam. This was hardly going to be a PPV of THAT caliber and expectation. However, was it able to at least put on a good display as WWE begin their road to Summerslam?
The Usos (c) vs The Wyatt Family (Erick Rowan and Luke Harper) – 2 Out Of 3 Falls Match For The WWE Tag Team Championship
I’ve got to admit. I was not aware that this match was a 2 Out Of 3 Falls match, so I was pleasantly surprised! The Usos and The Wyatts always had great chemistry together… and this match certainty demonstrated that. While I was not a fan of the early falls in the 2 Out Of 3 Falls match, they made up for that with a tremendous third fall of the match. Near-fall after near-fall for both teams. A lot of the spots and stuff were from previous matches and seemed repetitive but they introduced a lot of new spots that kept the match alive. In the end, The Usos performed the double splash to, I think it was Rowan, to pick up the third and final fall of the match!
I was definitely surprised that the Usos won. I’m not saying that it was a bad move, but it was something that caught me off-guard. Because if there’s one thing I like in wrestling, that’s being kept off-guard! And NO-ONE saw the Usos retaining. It got a fair amount of boos at the end, but the Usos retain. Maybe if they’re still planning to put the belts on the Wyatts, do it at Summerslam. A bigger event gives the moment more prestige. And to avoid it from being the same thing over and over, throw in Goldust and Stardust. Or maybe bring Rybaxel into the fold again. But I loved this. Great start to the show…
Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins?
Now it was time for Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins… or not. Before the match could take place Dean jumped Seth during his interview and as a result, Triple H called off the match and had Ambrose removed from the building.
Seth would mosey on down to the ring and have the ref declare him the winner by forfeit. But Deano was having none of that – he took matters into his own hands by taking his fists to Seth’s face. Somehow getting back into the building, Dean attacked Seth resulting a large brawl between the two former Shield members. I like that Seth was getting his fair share of hits in on Dean before it was broken up so Seth didn’t seem weak in the fight.
Seth was then sent home for his own safety but was once again jumped by Dean who decided to jump out of the boot of a car to get the job done! You gotta wonder how long he’d been in that ca…. Seth was able to get away from Ambrose and drove out. He took the car that Ambrose was hiding in so either Seth just committed Grand Theft Auto and stole a car or Dean took Seth’s keys and hid in the car! Either way, this was a hilarious way to end this little war between Seth and Dean. I would have liked to have seen a match but this was certainly entertaining. This adds fuel to the fire and intensifies the feud. I like it!
AJ Lee (c) vs Paige for the Divas Championship
This was… highly disappointing. I expected a lot from these two divas. A legit match between these two you would imagine would be great. It had great build and it had a lot of anticipation to it. But to me it felt like a let-down. And I don’t think the fans were into it as much as they would have hoped, especially after watching the quality tag match between the Usos and Wyatts. I personally feel that Paige should have won because her just losing cleanly like she did here just completely diminishes her past title reign and it doesn’t make her look like a legit threat to AJ. I really hope Paige turns heel or something to give this feud some umph because right now, it’s not as interesting as I would have liked it to be because I do like these girls a lot… from an athletic standpoint!
Rusev vs Jack Swagger
This match got a lot of people talking… and it wasn’t because of the match itself. The match itself was just a little bit better than I expected it to be – and that’s not saying a lot because I thought it was going to be a huge let-down. Also, it ended in a sloppy countdown finish. It just didn’t feel when Rusev did the proud Russian celebration at the end like it was a decisive finish because like Michael Cole said, “Swagger had dominated the entire match”. However, this was not the talking point…
Prior to the match, Lana cut her usual Anti-USA promo and put Rusev over like he was a million dollars. However, during the promo she referenced to the MH17 Plane Crash in the Ukraine that killed 283 people. She stirred some controversy with these comments (hoping that this doesn’t get taken down. If it does anything like “Lana Mentions MH17 Crash” on YouTube should get it up).
This has put WWE in some serious hot water. The worldwide media have hounded WWE for allowing Lana to exploit such a tragedy just after it took place in order to gain heat for herself and Rusev.
Here’s an article from the Independent below about it…
WWE accused of ‘exploiting’ MH17 crash at Battleground pay-per-view
Whether WWE were right to do it or not is up to you. I’m not gonna offer an opinion on whether WWE were right to do it, but it’s not exactly something that took me off-guard. Vince McMahon is a proud supporter of free speech and he will go to all kinds of levels to get people talking about WWE, even mentioning major international disasters. Hell Vince once suggested that WWE run an insect angle involving him and his daughter Stephanie (Yes. Vince really wanted to do this). And it seems that WWE are gonna stick with their guns with this Russian-Supporter gimmick with Lana and Rusev. I mean they’ve had days to stool over what to do with Rusev and Lana following the crash. I just hope that should they continue with this, they tread lightly as the infamous line from Breaking Bad goes. Because sometimes, not all publicity is good publicity.
Chris Jericho vs Bray Wyatt
Holy crap, this match had a lot of blown spots! I had a lot of anticipation for this match, but it was shockingly bad for such two elite stars in the company. I always thought after Jericho’s match with Ryback at Money In The Bank last year, that Jericho could have a great match with anyone. But this match was not going to follow suit. The one thing I noticed is that when Bray is in a standard one on one match, the match pace slows RIGHT down. That’s not something I like, especially when you’re in there with someone as quick as Jericho. Jericho had to slow right down because Bray couldn’t keep up. This match was utterly dreadful. However, the result was a surprise.
For what is a rare occasion these days, Jericho was FINALLY able to pull-off a PPV victory over Bray! As a fan of Jericho, I love that he’s finally got a big win under his belt after so much putting newer talent over. However, I know Bray Wyatt fans are going to get all mad because Bray had lost another big match after losing to Cena and in the WWE Title match at Money In The Bank. However, I’d like to bring up Justin Labar’s tweet about the ending (an awesome writer in my opinion):
HUGE COMPLIMENT for Wyatt- announcers to say upset for Jericho to beat him! Good match. High expectations. Maybe too high #WWEBattleground
— Justin LaBar (@JustinLaBar) July 21, 2014
JBL called Jericho’s win an UPSET. When was the last time you heard Jericho getting an UPSET victory? WWE are building up Wyatt to be something spectacular if, even against a multi-time World Champion and mega-star, he is considered the favorite to win. I mean it’s not like Bray isn’t going to get his revenge so be patient!
19 Man Battle Royal For The Intercontinental Championship
A very excitable battle royal. A lot of shockers and a lot of cool moments. Kofi Kingston providing cool elimination escapes once again. Cesaro with some impressive displays of strength. HEATH SLATER ELIMINATING CESARO!
Oh man. I cannot tell you how happy I was after that happened! I am such a big Heath Slater fan. I hope he gets pushed now that 3MB is gone! It was down to Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler… with Miz still on the outside. It was an epic final two between the Celtic Warrior and the Show Off… with Miz still on the outside. After a long battle, Ziggler was able to eliminated the Celtic Warrior… with Miz still on the outside. But wait? The Miz comes back in… and eliminates Ziggler. Miz wins the Intercontinental title… Really?
I got to admit I wanted Heath Slater or Ryback to win, but Ziggler winning this battle royal would have been major for him. It would have brought prestige to the title. It could have been wonderful. So why? Why did the Miz do the predictable “wait-outside-the-ring” strategy and win the whole thing? That makes the IC Title seem like a joke. Which was exactly what I didn’t want to happen. Ziggler would have been perfect to win the gold with Barrett out. Miz just seems like a joke with his stupid new movie star gimmick. Diego would have brought more prestige to the belt than The Miz. It’s just illogical and stupid.
John Cena (c) vs Roman Reigns vs Kane vs Randy Orton for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
This… was… tedious. This match wasn’t exactly a Thriller in Manila. It was a whole lot of boring as per with Orton and Cena. Kane and Reigns brought something different to the plate and Reigns did dominate a lot of the match. However for a PPV Main Event, this simply wasn’t good enough. I mean there wasn’t any interferences or anything. Not a lot of interesting spots (other than Reigns spearing Orton through the barricade… like he’s done a number of times before). Cena just flat out won clean. At least the Authority could have interfered to screw Roman Reigns or something. Not this boring ending like we’ve seen SO many times before. Maybe they wanted to have Cena look strong before he fights Brock Lesnar at Summerslam so they had him win clean or something. Other than that, I don’t see any reason as to why this was a logical way to have the match play out.
Overall, this PPV was disappointing. Even if this was a filler PPV, that was shocking. This certainty wasn’t a good advertisement for the WWE Newtork. I loved the tag team match at the start of the show but the rest was so dire mostly because of the finishes. And that seems to be the story of the show. Rusev and Swagger ended in a lame count out. Jericho won in what was a badly botched match to begin with. The IC Title match ended with a predictable ending and a poor decision of a winner. It doesn’t put me in high spirits for Summerslam unfortunately.
But I’m glad I did this because I don’t think I did do the Money In The Bank review so it’s good to be back! Be sure to check back on the blog for more content coming soon. Follow us on Twitter @ArmbarExpress and have a fantastic day!
The Armbar Express 