WWE Battleground Predictions and Analysis
WWE is trying really hard to make us care about a generic named big event in July.
There is nothing distinct about “Battleground” as a name. I know I harp on names a lot but I think they are supposed to draw your interest to a show. Names like “No Mercy” and “No Way Out” might have not meant anything in the grand scheme of things but they still felt like something that made sense in the WWE. WCW liked to name shows after the month they were taking place in with April being a Spring Stampede, July being a Bash at the Beach, September being the Fall Brawl and October showing Halloween Havoc. ECW names promoted the hardcore sense of the product. WWE names always had some sort of impending doom to them like Judgment Day and Unforgiven. To strip those and try to promote “generic fight card”, you need to do something extra.
That extra is Brock Lesnar.
Not expected back until the build up to Summerslam, WWE pulled the trigger early with bringing back Brock for his match against the man who ran away with his World Heavyweight championship in Seth Rollins. On paper, Rollins has no chance. He fared well enough for himself back in January when in the ring with Brock but not to the point where anyone would think he could beat him. Brock is on another level and everyone knows it. The problem with being this mythological beast is that it loses the magic the more you see it. The WWE has had Lesnar on Raw several times in the past month and the more you see Brock, the less he becomes a must see attraction. For every complaint folks had about the World Heavyweight championship being sparsely defended, it turned the matches into a must see event. It turned Brock into a must see event. It was unlike anything we’ve seen in the WWE for the past few years and now he’s slowly turning back into just a guy you expect to see every Monday night.
The card itself is facing a generic crisis in matches. Owens/Cena has been seen twice now, though it should be an excellent match. Orton/Sheamus feels done before. R-Truth and Barrett has been done 100 times this year already. Reigns and Wyatt is new but it feels like the same Bray Wyatt feud we’ve seen for the past year. There was supposed to be two other matches scheduled but one was pulled due to Intercontinental champion Ryback’s injury and the other was because the WWE doesn’t know what they are doing now that they called up three NXT women at the same time. Six matches sounds sparse. I expect them to add a few on the fly.
WWE needs WWE Network to carry people during the slow periods, and everything after Wrestlemania until Summerslam is a slow period. Bringing Brock Lesnar back for Battleground is a good way to do it, but if it means a few cracks in the powerful draw of Brock Lesnar, is it worth it? We’ll see by the end of the night. Kickoff is at 7PM.
WWE BATTLEGROUND 2015 KICKOFF
R-TRUTH VS. KING BARRETT
WINNER
Aaron, Jeff, Adam Berry: King Barrett
Adam Contant: R-Truth
THOUGHTS by Adam Contant: It’s no secret that most have been unimpressed with Wade Barrett’s reign as king, or more accurately, that WWE really doesn’t put much stock in the crown at all. My guess is that they fully embrace the joke that title has become and make R-Truth the new king (or more accurately new jester) and go back to the drawing board with Barrett.
TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
THE NEW DAY VS. PRIME TIME PLAYERS (c)
WINNERS
Aaron, Adam Berry and Adam Contant: The New Day
Jeff: Prime Time Players
THOUGHTS by Jeff DeHaan: With Tyson Kidd out of action, that’s one less baby face team to chase the titles so it makes sense to keep the titles on a baby face team. Both teams are deserving of the championship, but I feel like it is still just a bit too early for New Day to get it back. I think they might regain the titles at SummerSlam maybe, but not here.
RANDY ORTON VS. SHEAMUS
WINNER
Aaron: Randy Orton
Jeff, Adam Berry and Adam Contant: Sheamus
THOUGHTS by Aaron Wrotkowski: It was good for Sheamus to take some time off, but winning Money in the Bank is certainly an anticlimactic win. I actually forgot for a moment he did it. Same goes for Orton, though Orton has come back to being exactly what he was. Both of these guys are draws but not the draws we want them to be. If WWE cared about their tag division it’d be good to see both find tag partners and go at it that way. Sheamus and Rusev could make a devastating team while Orton could help Jack Swagger find some direction in his career. Instead we will see these two work a singles match that will be fundamentally strong but has little to no heat on it. It’s too bad, both deserve better.
ROMAN REIGNS VS. BRAY WYATT
WINNER
Aaron and Adam Contant: Roman Reigns
Jeff and Adam Berry: Bray Wyatt
THOUGHTS by Adam Contant: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That seems to tbe the mentality when it comes to WWE creative’s approach to both Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt. Matching them up against one another feels less like an epic showdown of up and comers and more of a filler while they decide what to do with both guys. Reigns is still being groomed as the man in WWE (as he should be) while Bray has become jobber to the stars this year. I don’t see that changing tonight.
UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP
KEVIN OWENS VS. JOHN CENA (c)
WILL ANYONE INTERFERE
Aaron: Cesaro
Adam Berry: No
Adam Contant: Yes
WINNER
Aaron: John Cena
Jeff, Adam Berry and Adam Contant: Kevin Owens
THOUGHTS by Adam Berry: This must be a clean fight because of the word Sports in the phrase Sports Entertainment. It’s the decider. They are both one for one and we all want to see who is the better wrestler. In a fair clean wrestling fight who is the better man – and that is what the storyline dictates. The whole point of the U.S. Open Challenge and what has become of it is that it is about pure performance. It’s about the endeavour to be the best. I can see a mass melee happening after the fight is finished and then heading down the road to Summer Slam a Fatal Four Way with Kevin Owens, Cesaro, Rusev and John Cena would be a really rather impressive match especially in a cage too….
WWE BATTLEGROUND 2015 MAIN EVENT
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
BROCK LESNAR VS. SETH ROLLINS (c)
WILL ANYONE INTERFERE
Aaron: The Undertaker
Adam Berry: Possibly HHH
Adam Contant: No
WINNER
Aaron: Seth Rollins
Jeff, Adam Berry and Adam Contant: Brock Lesnar (by DQ)
THOUGHTS by Aaron Wrotkowski: The rumours going around right now is that the WWE needs a big main event and their original rumoured plan of HHH vs. Rollins isn’t enough. That means giving Brock Lesnar a big opponent to face. That opponent is likely The Undertaker. Even though things have changed in the year and a half since with Brock now being a top babyface, it’s still a matchup people will want to see. Being outside of Wrestlemania could make it more interesting in terms of either building up to a final showdown at Mania or a way to move them both away from each other. As for the match, I’m getting the feeling that Rollins is turning into a lame duck champion now that Ambrose is gone. He feuds more with Kane than anyone else. While it’d be much better to see Brock as champion again, I get the feeling they don’t want Rollins to drop the title for another while. Survivor Series or Royal Rumble sounds like a better place, if he doesn’t go the full year to Wrestlemania.
