WWE Battleground Review: Believe In The Shield

Hi, I’m Justin Watry. You may remember me from such classic columns as March 2012’s “WWE WrestleMania 28: Sheamus Should Defeat Daniel Bryan in Less Than a Minute” and October 2015’s “WWE NXT: Bobby Roode, You’re Next.”

Reader Feedback

BlandyBOreton: Can you get drafted to another website?

Would I be Seth Rollins or Heath Slater? Need to know my draft stock first, might call up Mel Kiper Jr. first.

Lawless: After sitting on the idea for a while, 2 world titles can work, maybe 2 tag straps can work. But I have no faith in 2 women’s titles working at all.

Agreed. Just go the 2002 route and make the women’s division cross-promotional, with the champion being allowed to be on both shows. WWE really needs to figure out this title mess soon.

Austin Powers: I agree with pretty much 100% of this.

Raykun: Here’s an idea (don’t know how original it is, but…

Have the WWE World Heavyweight Champion and the Women’s Champion work both brands, defending their title on either or both special events/ppv each month. When they lost the title, they swap places with whoever beat them. For example, if Dean Ambrose somehow retains the title Sunday (I know, wishful thinking), but then loses the title to Seth Rollins from Smackdown next month, then Dean Ambrose (who had originally been drafted to Raw) is now on Smackdown, while Rollins works both brands as the champ.

That was how the original brand extension went, at least for awhile. Like most things in wrestling, it was eventually dropped though.

AG Awesome: Thank you for the offer but I dunno. I’d probably chicken out. Lol.

Moving on I’m pretty much of the same mindset as you with the draft. The only thing missing is the locker room leader for each show. Taker ran smackdown and HHH with raw so I’m wondering who their modern day equivalents (if anyone) can pull that same load as far as backstage support and leadership goes.

John Cena, Randy Orton, Kane, and JBL for Smackdown. Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins for RAW? Maybe Big Show too. I don’t know. Triple H is probably the ‘leader’ these days anyways trying to be both a talent and an executive.

WWE4EVA: This was a good article and all respect the first word in the title of the article being “Watry’s”

Justin Watry gets thumbs up from me for

A) Having the guts to say “Yes, this is my article” and B) Writing a decent article.

A) I have nothing to do with the title and have said as such a million times. The boss can call my column “The Weekly Drunk Ramblings From A Wrestling Fan Jotted Down While Sitting On The Toilet” for all I care.

B) Thanks! Appreciate the kudos. I can accept that compliment.

WWE Battleground 2016

– I didn’t really pay much attention to the Kickoff Show. Booker T and Jerry Lawler are rightfully away from the commentary table, while it is nice to know my non-wrestler of 2015 Corey Graves is getting a promotion. Oh, and Cesaro did another ‘worked shoot.’ Good for him. Tyler Breeze and Fandango beat The Usos, an upset in a major way. Except it was probably the right call in that the twin brothers need a major refresh on Smackdown. I know it is easy to just yell “Turn heel!!!” but here, sure. Do it. The pairing with Naomi bombed last time, but maybe try it again?

– First match on the main card was Charlotte and Dana Brooke vs. Sasha Banks and a mystery partner. Lots of points to touch on here, so…

1. Everybody who whined, complained and did their usual over reaction about Bayley not being on the WWE Draft special can now zip it. Go sit in the corner where you should be and be quiet. She was coming to the main roster soon, and anybody with common sense knew that. Her time in NXT is not quite over though, so stay tuned.

2. Monster reaction for Bayley. Special moment for her indeed. During the build up, I argued against her being the mystery tag team partner. However, I was wrong. Bayley was definitely the right choice, and it was more than electric when she came down to the ring.

3. Very quietly, both Sasha Banks and Charlotte have been kept very strong by strong in their win-loss records. We all know about Charlotte dominating on pay-per-view, but Sasha has also won nearly all of her matches on television. They are on a collision course for Summerslam, and I expect a title change. Said Charlotte would retain at WrestleMania 32 and lose it to Sasha in August. Time to pull the trigger.

– Why did The Wyatt Family beat The New Day? Save me the excuse of wanting to hype up Bray Wyatt for Smackdown. He pinned Xavier Woods. Alright, let’s cool it. Xavier Woods is not the guy to go over if there are big plans for an opponent. Regardless of the reason, the team breaking up just beat the tag champs fairly clean. I didn’t enjoy this feud very much from the start, so I am fine with it ending.

Oh, and when do fans start mentioning the fact that The New Day get to skate by another PPV without defending their titles? Riiiiiight, internet darlings…no criticism coming their way…got it…

– Rusev CRUSH! The Hype Bros on Smackdown LIVE every week. Please no.

– Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens was the match of the night and a perfect example of how to end a feud. Assuming it ends that is. Somebody made the baffling decision to keep them on the same brand. I am going to hope WWE knows that this was the way to close the story line and move on. The face overcame the heel and stood tall over his bitter enemy. That is how you end it. Anytime in wrestling history somebody mentions HOW to conclude a long running feud, re-watch Zayn and Owens from Battleground 2016.

Loved it.

Let’s just hope Sami Zayn is okay…

– Natalya beat Becky Lynch. Ugh, whatever. WWE needs to figure out the situation with the title belts because right now, there is nothing for these two to do on Smackdown but have a never ending feud over no championship. I really feel for Becky here. She is no longer on the same show as her best friend Charlotte. Sasha Banks and Bayley just had an amazing moment…and here is Becky losing to Nattie. My hope is that the Blue Brand gives her a good spot. She deserves it. Encouraging to see her front and center later on in the show watching the main event and then celebrating.

– The Miz vs. Darren Young for the IC Title was telegraphed by the WWE Draft results. No way was Rusev losing the United States Title, which meant there was no way The Miz was losing his belt. Just how it worked out with the RAW and Smackdown brand split. I am actually on the #MakeDarrenYoungGreatAgain bandwagon, so it was cool that he did not lose cleanly. WWE did kinda/sorta keep him strong. Positive sign. The Miz takes the IC Title to Smackdown, as Rusev takes the US Title to RAW – what I predicted last week.

– Major kudos to John Cena for giving the stage to Enzo (and Big Cass) before the six man tag team match. Reminded me of Survivor Series 2006 when Triple H and Shawn Michaels gave CM Punk a great moment to shine. They didn’t HAVE to do that at all…but they did. That often times means a lot. Props to Cena for sitting back and loving every second of the pre-match fun. The veteran putting over the young guys big time. As for the match, it was good. Six man tags in WWE usually are entertaining. My guess was The Club lost because they were being broken up, and that is exactly what happened. Same reason The Wyatt Family should have lost their match but whatever. The Club are likely to go after The New Day and the tag straps next, while John Cena and AJ Styles face off again at Summerslam.

– Chris Jericho hosting the Highlight Reel to bring back Randy Orton was interesting. Always nice to have another top stop star back in Mr. RKO. Just not sure this was what made sense. I mean, it is not like these two are even on the same show to have a “TV feud” to fill in for Brock Lesnar being gone until Summerslam. This was a one and done. My assumption is Y2J is worth more than just eating an RKO on PPV. He probably has more coming, and Randy Orton? Well, the line is no explanation needed. Get it right next time buddy. He is going to be without a story line for the next month, so I would have him win ‘enhancement’ matches for the next few weeks over local talent. There was a report about those possibly returning. Plus, you know…enhancement matches…get it?

– The main event was the bout we have been waiting to see since November 2012. THE Shield. THE man. THE guy. THE lunatic. THE title. I wasn’t a fan of the four authority figures coming out beforehand. They could have saved them for the backstage viewing party or the celebration scene after. It instantly told me that these four are going to be front and center. Not exactly a nice way to start the brand extension. That is the last thing we need to see…four bosses out there during a historic triple threat match with The Shield.

– That being said, I understand the stakes were high because of the WWE Title being on the line. Fit the story they were telling. I just wish the story was The Shield members finally finding out who was the best, not which brand gets the championship. Like I said, the small touch of the locker rooms watching was more than enough to sell the importance.

– Big plus having Roman Reigns back on the roster. Truthfully, he was my prediction and who I was rooting for to win. Seth Rollins a close second, and Dean Ambrose was actually mt last choice. Felt like the ‘new’ World Title would go to Smackdown in a tournament or something. Instead, it appears the flip was switched. The WWE Championship will head to Smackdown LIVE to further make it appear to be the better brand, while the ‘new’ World Title mess gets situated on RAW. Fine by me. Most of us expect Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns to keep feuding. Dean Ambrose can feud with just about anybody on Smackdown. I know it doesn’t make much sense with right now, but John Cena does usually creep into the title scene around this time each year…

– Excellent triple threat bout that held my interest the entire time. Never a dull moment and Washington DC really added to the atmosphere. Felt like The Shield were finally going to go their separate ways (hence the WWE Draft), and I was perfectly fine with their big clash happening at Battleground. You can’t cry about the B-shows being pointless and filler and then turn around when they host huge main events. Can’t have it both ways. Either you want all PPVs to get spotlighted or you don’t. Or you just like to complain.

No complaints from me though. These three are the future and will be leading the industry for year and years to come. Top notch event from WWE and a worthy main event that lived up to the hype.

Believe that.

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