wrestling / Columns

Battleground 2016: A Possible Turning Point For WWE

July 28, 2016 | Posted by Rob Stewart

Battleground 2016 Thoughts

Another year, another WWE Battleground pay-per-view (or live special or what-have-you). I’m not sure what the intent was—to make Battleground less of a punchline or or kick off The New Era in a positive fashion or just lead us all to believe that even the “minor” live specials are important—but Battleground this year was significantly better than those of the past. Not only was it a passable show, but it may stand as one of WWE’s finest of the year so far. It was the strong combination of storytelling, great action, and crowd-popping moments that we should really expect more often without thinking “Oh, it’s just another one of those segue shows that isn’t the Rumble, SummerSlam, or ‘Mania. Ho-hum”.

So yeah… I was a fan. Of a Battleground pay-per-view. Never would have guessed it.

But just how well did Battleground deliver, match-for-match? Let’s take a look at the card and break down all the highs and lows…

I. The Pre-Show

I’m never quite sure WHY I watch the live special pre-shows; it’s just an hour of the same exact video vignettes that they will show prior to each match on the card, all tucked neatly around a lower card match or two while Booker T talks about ducks. Maybe just because I feel I need to get the most out of my $9.99. This was not any different. The featured match was Breezango vs The Usos. Look, all you really ask from your pre-show match is that it is watchable. Maybe don’t give us a joke match where some of the talent is dealing with tanning booth burns, you know? And I actually thought this match was good for what it was. Admittedly, I’m a fan of Breeze and Fandango, so I was glad to see them pick up the win here over The Usos, who really didn’t need it. Breezango now likely moves into an undercard feud with The Hype Bros or they get the duty of putting over American Alpha, and that feels like a good spot for them. A win here at least makes either of those follow-up acts more relevant. So while it was a match of little import on the pre-show, the right team went over. Good start.

II. Charlotte and Dana Brooke vs Sasha Banks and Bayley

First off, how odd does it remain to see Sasha Banks not only playing the babyface, but doing so well at it? Just a few months ago, I was talking about Sasha as one of the best and most natural heels in WWE, and now she is smiling and friendly and is just generally ridiculously adorable… and pulling off effortlessly. Her reaction to Bayley’s entrance (and of the post-match hug) is the stuff of genuine delight. I will say, for as excited as I was to see Bayley come out as Sasha’s partner, it wasn’t long before I started worrying that it may not have been the best call given that her presence cast a large shadow over Sasha for the bout. When Bayley tagged out to Sasha, the crowd barely reacted, but when Sasha brought Bayley back into the ring, the pop was electric. I am sure that can be chalked up to fans being excited to finally see Bayley on the main roster, though, so it’s not much to worry about. Sasha is still as over as any female performer of the past decade.

Aside from that, these four ladies put on a very good opener to set the tone for the show, and it culminated in Sasha getting a submission victory over the champ, Charlotte. It seems like Charlotte’s had this title (in one form or another, dating back to the Butterfly Belt) forever, and should The Boss take it from her at SummerSlam, the pop will be of prodigious proportions.

EDIT: All right, I clearly wrote that portion before the subsequent Monday Night Raw, where Sasha won the belt to an eruptive ovation. Quite a surprise to put that title change on free television, but it was part of a head-turning night on Raw that followed up Battleground’s promise quite well.

III. The Wyatt Family vs The New Day

This is 100% not meant to discount Kofi Kingston or Big E, both of whom do marvelous work, but man… Xavier Woods is a gem, isn’t he? Without Xavier, those two guys would still be over in their current iteration of The New Day, but Xavier Woods is the triple chocolate cake that you get after a filet mignon; he takes something great and makes it outstanding. Woods was the man yet again here, killing his storytelling so hard he should be charged with manslaughter. I actually remember very little of bulk of the the match itself because of how well Woods handled the beginning and the climax of this encounter.

I was surprised the Wyatts won here because it doesn’t really benefit anyone for them to win; they are splitting up and don’t really need a good team victory. The New Day as the reigning tag champs losing, though… I wonder. Are they going to take New Day in a more serious direction from here? They lost because they didn’t listen to Woods and take the Wyatts more seriously, so now they serious it up? Or this was nothing more than a speedbump of a storyline and they move right hocking cereal. I guess we’ll see going forward, but if there’s any act I trust to change up their act and make it work, it would be these three.

IV. Rusev vs Zack Ryder, for the United States Championship

This was relatively quick, inoffensive, and fine. There was very little of note aside from the spectacle of Zack getting a live special title match. The match basically hit all the nails that it needed to: Rusev looked strong in a solid victory while also allowing Ryder to be presented as competent and a viable challenger. Rusev wins, Mojo Rawley debuts to establish the Hyper Bros as a tandem for the main roster, and everyone goes home happy.

While this was unimportant and hardly awe-inspiring, it’s the kind of breezy match that is good enough to not be bad that every big event could stand to have as a bridge between two greater matches.

V. Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens

Did I say in the Battleground Roundtable that this feud was on the verge of getting tedious? Don’t mind me; sometimes I say crazy things.

Zayn and Owens went out there with an effort and an intensity that rocketed home the raw emotion and vitriol that their feud is alleged to carry. Every facial expression Sami gave, every word Owens shouted to the crowd, the ref, or Sami… it was all just impeccably performed. If you have that friend who has a passing interest in your wrestling viewing but can’t really bring him or herself to watch it, this is the match you show them. Just… fantastic work. The stuff that makes you proud to be a fan.

As an aside from the match itself, I’d like to bring attention to something else. JBL was on his A game for this one. He’s become something of a caricature of himself the last several years, but for this match, at least, he was putting over both guys while analyzing the ring action and coming across as much more astute than usual. It was a callback to the JBL of old, and I felt he deserved a mention for it. It added to the feel of the match that even commentary was giving a sterling effort for it.

VI. Natalya vs Becky Lynch

Even this match—this nothing cool-down match that the crowd couldn’t bring themselves to get into—even it was worthy of the rest of the card. I was shocked to see that this contest actually went almost two minutes longer than the women’s tag match to start the show because it didn’t feel like it overstayed its welcome at all. It had a spritely pace, the women gave a good effort in terms of tenacity to sell their rivalry and ringwork, and… Natalya won. Look, I get that this may be just the beginning of this feud and things may shift as it goes on, but I fail to see why Becky just can’t get a win on a major show. Does she really need to lose to the woman whose gimmick was flatulence something like two years ago (no knock on Natalya, I dig her, but there’s no functionality to her going over Lynch at this stage in each of their careers)? But hopefully this is just long-form storytelling and Becky comes out on top here. She’s really been lagging behind Charlotte and Sasha on the main roster.

VII. The Miz vs Darren Young, for the Intercontinental Championship

I don’t… I don’t know how this match ended. I mean… I know THAT it ended; there was a bell and everything. But there didn’t seem to be a decision? Or even the rationale for one? It was odd, very odd. There was a match, then some chaos, and then there was no more match.

Anyway, this was the low point of the evening. Maybe I’m allowing the lack of a real ending to paint over the whole thing for me, but these two weren’t exactly setting the sky on fire even before that. It was just kind of there. I actually appreciate that ending protects Darren’s new character without having him take a loss outright, but man… there had to be a better way to accomplish that. This is why we have countouts and disqualifications. Someone was just thinking too hard when they booked this one.

VIII. John Cena and Enzo & Cas vs The Club

This was a good match, a fun match, so what does it say about Battleground as a whole that I keep forgetting it even happened amidst everything else?

In a loss, AJ Styles’ cohorts in The Club, Gallows and Anderson, looked better than they have since they debuted in WWE. They were imposing, they were threatening, and they put on a great show. And that Spinebuster onto the German announce table to Cena? That had some sauce behind it. And while I don’t think there is any great surprise that The Club lost here, there may be some consternation over the fact that AJ ate the pin for his team. But to me, the fact that Cena had to pull out the incredibly rare Super Attitude Adjustment to put him down says a lot more about Styles than the loss here does. That card gets played so infrequently that… I can’t even remember the last time he pulled it. The only other time jumping right to mind was against Bobby Lashley in 2007, though I’m sure he’s done it since then. But still… it’s big sign of respect for Styles in a defeat.

Great performance all around from Enzo Amore, also, starting with his pre-match hype that even wowed Cas and had Cena in approving awe. All the dirtsheets tell us that WWE is high up on Big Cas (and even JBL was talking about Cas as a big future singles star during this match), but Enzo put on a terrific show here to display he isn’t just some toadie.

IX. The Highlight Reel with Randy Orton

I’ll be honest… I had low expectations for this. If I were making a list of wrestlers I most disliked throughout history, Orton would be numero uno con un bala. So imagine my pleasant surprise to see Randy come back as a face (as which I have always found him the most palatable, even if many disagree on that; he’s just remarkably less tedious as a heroic figure) and… enjoyable. What’s more, this segment might be one of the few times it seemed like Randy was genuinely happy to be out there and having fun with his appearance. He was personable, funny, snarky, and just much more joyful than we’re used to. Add to that Jericho’s continued evil rock-and-roller persona that is getting better each week, and while I have noticed the reviews of this segment calling it a waste of time and out of place, I actually enjoyed it. It was certainly better than either of Rock’s last two WrestleMania segments, for sure. Not only are there no complaints from me, but I found it a welcome addition to the evening.

X. Seth Rollins vs Roman Reigns vs Dean Ambrose, for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

As of the end of Monday Night Raw, three of Roman Reigns’ last five matches have ended in his being cleanly pinned (and one of the other two was a double countout). Who would have predicted that stretch two months ago?

This match painted the bullseye: Roman and Dean got early revenge on Rollins, bouncing him repeatedly out of the ring; Dean and Rollins later decided to work together to take out their bigger, stronger adversary; and Dean got a decisive victory to anoint him as the man. While technically it was not of as high of a quality as Zayn vs Owens from earlier in the evening, it was still a great contest that blended plot work and wrestling. If I had one complaint, and this isn’t specific to the main event as it was a problem all night, it would be the camerawork. What was going on with that? Beyond the usual overly dramatic deficiencies, the crew seemed to be missing spots left and right, including Roman’s Drive-By kick to Rollins here. I’m not sure if someone was just asleep at the wheel or what, but it was a problem all night. I noted it a couple times during the broadcast.

So all told, this show absolutely broke the Battleground Curse. And it was even followed up with a stellar edition of Raw. I’m trying to keep my optimism in check—in the last 24 months or so, I feel like I’ve had about a dozen “This is where they are turning the corner!” moments only to watch the product degrade back into doldrums for long stretches—but in the span of 30 hours, WWE did some significant work towards making the New Era feel like a breath of fresh air. Let’s see where they take it from here…

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article topics :

WWE Battleground, Rob Stewart