The first ever WWE Battleground took place on Sunday 6th October in Buffalo, New York. Will we crown a new WWE Champion, which has been held in abeyance. Let's take a look.
The Kick-Off match was between Damien Sandow and Dolph Ziggler. I thought this was an interesting match to watch as both guys have been on losing streaks. Both guys are good technical wrestlers and I do like it when Ziggler does his ten elbow drops in a row. Sandow has something similar with his elbow of disdain. What I liked about this match was that it went back and forth, which is the kind of matches that I like. It looked like Ziggler won it after a fameasser and he eventually does when he takes advantage of Sandow injuring his knee to hit the Zig-Zag and get the pinfall. The last few Kick-Off matches have been fun to watch, which is necessary in order to get people to buy the Pay-Per-View. I don't quite get what they are doing with Sandow by booking him to lose on a regular basis. They did it with Bryan and Ziggler when they won their MITB briefcases and I find it annoying.
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
Predictions: 0 for 1
The event starts with a Battleground Hardcore Rules match with Rob Van Dam challenging Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship. This was a match in which you can showcase RVD's skills as well as the brutal attitude that Del Rio has been displaying recently. It turned out to be quite a fun match. RVD looked like he was going to win it a few times and he needed Ricardo Rodriguez to get him out of the cross armbreaker by hitting Del Rio with his bucket.
It looked like it would be a short match with RVD doing a DDT, driving Del Rio's head into a steel chair. However, Del Rio kicked out then proceeded to destroy his opponent with the chair. RVD does show his hardcore expertise by using a ladder in his offence, including doing a split-leg moonsault, crashing Del Rio onto the ladder. However, using the ladder comes back to haunt RVD when he tries a rolling thunder but misses and lands on the ladder. Ricardo Rodriguez gets involved when he uses his bucket to stop RVD tapping out to the cross armbreaker. Rodriguez's actions turn out to be vain because Del Rio wins the match by putting RVD's arm through the chair and then applying the cross armbreaker to get the win. It wasn't a bad match and a decent to start the PPV.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Predictions: 1 for 2
The next match was between the Real Americans and the team of The Great Khali and Santino Marella. Swagger and Cesaro dominate Santino for most of the match. Khali gets tagged in and does his basic offense and Cesaro gets the win after doing the giant swing on Khali. There's not really much to say about this match and the only real highlight was the swing by Cesaro.
Winners: The Real Americans
Predictions: N/A
The Intercontinental Championship was on the line as R-Truth challenges Curtis Axel. This was a match that didn't really grab my attention, which is a shame as it's a Championship match. The crowd didn't help when they started to chant “boring” near the end. Axel gets the win when he bounces Truth's head off the turnbuckle and then hits the hangman's facebuster. I feel sorry for Axel as even having Paul Heyman is not making me enjoy him much.
Winner: Curtis Axel
Predictions: 2 for 3
The next match was for the Divas Championship as Brie Bella challenges AJ Lee with her bodyguard Tamina Snuka. This was a match that I quite enjoyed, especially in the beginning when Brie almost slaps AJ into the following week. I enjoyed AJ's ring psychology, focusing on Brie's left arm in preparation for her finishing move The Black Widow. It turns out that AJ didn't need the move as Tamina starts attacking Nikki Bella. Brie goes over to check on her when AJ rolls Brie up to get the win. I'm a big fan of AJ and I'm slowly getting impressed by Brie's ability. It probably helps that her fiancee is possibly the best technical wrestler in the company but if it helps improve the Divas division, then I'm all for it.
Winner: AJ Lee
Predictions: 2 for 4
Now a match that I'm really looking forward to: Cody Rhodes and Goldust (along with Dusty Rhodes) take on Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns (with Dean Ambrose) with the Rhodes' careers on the line. This was undoubtedly the best match of the night. There were so many highlights: the Shield and The Rhodes having a stand off; Ambrose taunting Cody and Goldust; a moonsault by Cody on Rollins, followed later on by a disaster kick on Reigns. The end comes when Ambrose and Dusty get involved and Dusty gives him a bionic elbow. Meanwhile, Cody hits the Cross Rhodes on Rollins to get the win and get him and Goldust their jobs back. I predicted that the Shield would win here as I thought it would cement the dominance of the new corporation. However, I was glad that the Rhodes won and it really got the crowd invested in the match.
Winners: Cody Rhodes and Goldust
Predictions: 2 for 5
Kofi Kingston takes on Bray Wyatt in the next match. I thought this wasn't a bad match. Kofi uses his aerial ability to take it to Wyatt but Wyatt manages to slow him down and mocking Kofi. Wyatt does an impressive move when he reverses a cross body by Kofi into a powerslam; and Kofi gets back into it with a crucifix slam. Wyatt does a reverse crab walk, which freaks Kofi out and he gets the win when he counters the SOS into the Sister Abigail to get the 3 count. Afterwards, Rowan and Harper destroy Kofi. I like what they are doing with the Wyatts at the minute and I hope they stay that way.
Winner: Bray Wyatt
Predictions: 3 for 6
Now to a match that I'm interested in watching: CM Punk taking on Paul Heyman's new guy, Ryback. I'm loving Heyman more and more and I like what he was doing with Ryback, telling him to stand up to bullies. Punk uses his quickness to begin with before Ryback slows him down with big power moves. When Punk gets back into it, Heyman grabs a mic and starts to mock Punk. This gives Ryback the opportunity and hits a powerbomb for a 2 count. Despite Ryback's best efforts, it turns out not to be enough as Heyman tries to hit Punk with a kendo stick and the referee stops him. While he is speaking to Heyman, Punk hits Ryback with a low blow to get the win. I enjoyed the match but I thought that Punk winning with a low blow seemed like a bit of a dick move. I predicted Ryback to win here to emphasise his position as a Heyman guy. I'm not sure if Punk winning was the right decision, but I'm getting tired of this feud now and hopefully it ends soon.
Winner: CM Punk
Predictions: 3 for 7
Now, after a brief power outtage, the main event for the abeyant WWE Championship between Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton. This has the potential to be a very good match. Bryan is probably the best technical wrestler in the WWE since Bret Hart; and Orton, while he can be bland, does have the ability to show how good he is. The match goes back and forth, with Bryan wearing down Orton with some submission manoeuvres; and Orton hitting a few power moves. This was a nice bit when Orton tries to Bryan out of the ring; Bryan manages to hold on to the top rope and uses his legs to flip Orton to the outside. He then does a suicide dive to Orton. Later on, Orton decides to go hardcore when he tries to powerbomb Bryan through the Spanish announce table. However, Bryan gets out of it and sends Orton into the steel steps. Bryan looks like he is going to win it when he applies the Yes No Lock. However, Big Show comes in and drags the referee out of the ring then knocks out Bryan. Brad Maddox sends out referee Scott Armstrong to continue to referee the match. However, Show drags him out then knocks him out. Show then proceeds to knock Orton out, making sure that the match ends in a no contest. I really enjoyed the match and I quite liked the ending. I'm enjoying what Show is doing right now with him reluctantly doing the bidding of the authority. Whilst I'm slightly annoyed that the title is staying in abeyance, it does kind of make seanse and we can finally crown a new Champion at Hell in a Cell.
Winner: No Contest
Predictions: 3 for 8
I thought that the event wasn't that bad as the initial reactions from the comments on Twitter. I really enjoyed the main event and the match between the Rhodes and the Shield. However, there were a couple of matches that were not very good. WWE, for some reason, always have 2 PPVs in October; and it's hard to get excited for them when there's a couple of weeks inbetween. With Bound for Glory as well, it can be a bit exhausting. Despite that, I hope they stick with the Battleground theme and maybe increase the gap between that and Hell in a Cell.
No comments:
Post a Comment