WWE BATTLEGROUND-WILL THE WWE CHAMP BE ON SMACKDOWN OR RAW?
By Tarron Coalson
BATTLEGROUND comes to us tonight from the Verizon Arena in Washington, DC & with a sold out crowd of 15,109 & the Pay Per View which will lead to starting angles for RAW & SMACKDOWN after this past week’s draft.
The PPV starts out with a great Ladies Tag Team match with WWE Ladies Champ Charlotte & Dana Brooke vs Sasha Banks & her mystery partner, which turned out that the rumors all week were true & newly up from NXT, Bayley.
It was an excellent opening match with great pace & back & forth action from all competitors with the crowd solidly behind Sasha & Bailey. It was billed as a Submission match but all the ladies kept going for pins:):) These women are the future for the WWE Ladies Division (along with others) & showed why! The end came with Sasha hitting the Back Stabber & Banks Statement on Charlotte as she tapped out. Obviously, they’re gonna keep Sasha vs. Charlotte going on RAW, which is a great move on their part. GRADE A-
New Day was up next in a Six Man match with the Wyatt’s which should finish the feud as the Wyatt’s have been broken up in the draft. They’ve been pushing the Xavier Woods being scared of Bray Wyatt, almost trance like hypnosis over Woods & that would play a big part in the match. The Wyatt’s controlled most of the match with their power, with only Big E Langston able to match their power & he did some awesome Belly to Belly Suplex’s on Eric Rowans.
Xavier Woods saved Kofi Kingston & then backed down from Wyatt but fired back to “overcome his fears” fighting off all three Wyatt’s. Big E Langston delievered a spear thru the ropes on Braun Stromann but appeared to land hard right on his head. Woods turned around to see Wyatt in the crab/spider position which freaked him out. A Sister Abigail later & the Wyatt’s capture the win in their farewell as a Six Man team.
GRADE B
Next up is the US Title Match with champ Rusev with the Ravishing Russian Lana verses Zack Ryder. Ryder, being a hugh underdog, had a pretty good showing as I thought this would be a stinker of a match. Ryder hit a Missile dropkick off the barricade & went for the Macho Man top rope elbow but Rusef got the knees up & then delivered a Superkick to the back of Ryder’s head.
Rusef locked in the Accolade & Ryder powered up of it briefly but Rusef locked in back in & locked it deep. Ryder had no choice but tap out. After the match, Rusef continued his attack only to be confronted with Ryder’s NXT tag team partner BoJo Raleigh & Rusef backed away.
GRADE C+
Following that is the Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens match. The history between these two is well known. It was a slow paced first half of a match but Owens showed why he’s the best psychological wrestler in the business today. Zayn flubbed a top rope move & Ownes capitalized as Zayn landed on his arm & Owens attacked like a pitbull. The second half of their match was like lighting in a bottle! They hit all their big moves & more with the crowd giving them standing ovations throughout the match! The end came after Owens screamed at Zayn. “Why won’t you stay down” & slapped him multiple times which fired up Zayn who hit a combination of moves & hit two Helluva kicks to finish Owens off. GRADE A
The next match is the Natalya verses Becky Lynch grudge match & Natalya controlled most of the match attacking Becky’s left leg & controlled most of the match. Becky had flashes of a comeback & escaped out of the Sharp Shooter once but couldn’t escape it twice. Your winner by submission, Natalya. Unfortunately, this looks to be the main SMACKDOWN ladies feud….ugh! GRADE C-
Next up is the WWE Intercontinental Title match as THE MIZ with Marise takes on Darren Young & his new life coach, former WWF champ Bob Backlund & his “Make Darren Young Great Again” campaign.
The crowd is not into the match that goes back & forth and the finish is odd as The Miz tries to leave but Backlund stands him off. Then Young throws Miz back into the ring & Marise slaps Backlund but then backs off & falls to pretend that Backlund attacked Marise. The Miz goes out to confront Backlund but never touches him & Young gets behind Miz & locks in the Cross Face Chicken Wing & the ref DQ’s Young. Why?? I couldn’t tell you..for attacking Miz, his opponent? Don’t get it, but there’s probably more to come with these two. GRADE C-
Enzo, Big Cass & John Cena verses AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson are up next in a six man grudge match & yes, we get the Certified G & the bona fide stud & you can’t teach that…& Big Cass is still seven feet tall…& you can’t teach that… & yes, The Club is S.A.W.F.T….sssaawwfftt!! It is a fun routine that gets the crowd going!!
This match to me fell a little flat. It was mostly a brawl with a lot of power moves but not a lot of “spots”. The finish came when John Cena hit AJ Styles with an AA on the top rope that took too long to execute.
GRADE C
Now, it’s time for the Highlight Reel with Chris Jericho & Randy Orton in which they talk…& talk…& talk..too long..& Orton predictably hits a RKO on Jericho. Orton does have one funny line about “NO ENHANCEMENTS NEEDED” given Lesnar’s recent failed drug test. LOL
Finally, it’s the three way dance for the WWE World Heavyweight Match as members as The Shield reunite to battle each other. Roman Reigns, back from his Wellness Policy suspension, Seth Rollins & The Champ Dean Ambrose.
It was definitely an awkward start to the match as Triple Threats can be. It’s just an odd match to work, then it seemed like they hit a rhythm with the high spot being Ambrose & Rollins working together in the old Shield double team move power bombing Reigns through the always getting demolished Spanish announce table! The finish came after Rollins hit Reigns with a pedigree. Reigns kicked out & fought back to hit Rollins with the Superman punch & Spear but only to catch a Dirty Deeds from your, still, WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Dean Ambrose. GRADE C+
It was an OK Pay Per View as it probably started too hot & set a high mark for the rest of the matches. The best matches were the Opening Ladies tag match & the Zayn/Owens match with Natalya/Becky Lynch probably taking the low spot honors.
This also means the WWE Champ will be on the SMACKDOWN brand show. Don’t see how they can’t bring back another “World” Title for RAW as well but we’ll see this week what tricks RAW & SMACKDOWN have up their sleeves!
