It's that time again! With Summerslam just a month away, we're presented to this year's WWE Battleground with a decent match card. Read on to find out my predictions and then check back later for the LIVE results!
Along with the predictions, here is the match order that I think will occur:
- Cameron vs. Naomi [Pre-Show] -- After a decent build-up toward them breaking up, Cameron finally gets to go one-on-one with Naomi. There really isn't much to say about this one, other than Naomi will win. She's always been the one that they would obviously push, especially if the company ever wanted one of them to be Divas Champion. But, I will definitely say that Cameron is looking to be an excellent heel, because she really gets a lot of heat. I'm sure 'Total Divas' helps with that, being that she's absolutely insufferable on that show. Plus, Naomi is a more gifted wrestler anyway.
- The Usos (c) vs. Luke Harper & Erick Rowan (WWE Tag Team Titles) (2 out of 3 Falls) -- I feel like I haven't seen a "2 out of 3 Falls" match in a very long time. As much as I don't like Harper & Rowan, I won't deny that they're excellent wrestlers (especially Harper), so I'm definitely looking forward to this match. I'm also liking the feud between the two teams, but I'd rather see The Usos feud with another team; perhaps Rybaxel. It's a pipe dream, but it would be great if The Ascension was called up from NXT and feuded with The Usos. Anyway, I have 2 predictions about this match: 1) I think that each team will get a pinfall, resulting in them needing to battle it out for the final fall, and 2) The Usos will keep the belts, no matter what. If this means that Harper & Rowan win by Count Out or DQ during the final fall, that's up in the air, but that wouldn't result in a title change. Either way, in the end, I think The Usos will get the 1st fall, Harper & Rowan get the 2nd, and then The Usos pull out the last one.
- Rusev vs. Jack Swagger -- To be honest, I think this match will be decent, but it didn't have enough of a build-up. When Swagger and Zeb Colter came out that one week and confronted Rusev and Lana, I'll admit that I was intrigued by the fact that Swagger made a face turn so quickly. But then again, the crowd has always been into the "We the people" chant. Anyway, it would've been great to see them fight at Summerslam instead. Although, it will be even better if they have their match tonight, and then have a rematch at Summerslam with some kind of stipulation. As far as my prediction goes, I think Jack Swagger will win and give Rusev his first loss (if I remember correctly, he' still undefeated at this point).
- [Battle Royal for the Intercontinental Title] the participants include Cesaro, Kofi Kingston, The Great Khali, Rob Van Dam, Dolph Ziggler, Ryback, Curtis Axel, Big E, Alberto Del Rio, Bo Dallas, Sheamus, Fandango, Sin Cara, Zack Ryder, The Miz, Diego, R-Truth, Xavier Woods, Heath Slater, & Titus O'Neil -- It's tough to predict the outcome of a Battle Royal, but I'm going to try anyway. I have this strong feeling that the company wants to merge the Intercontinental Title with the United States Title, and if that's the case, then the United States Champion, Sheamus, will be winning this match. If they don't go that route just yet, then someone else will win and fight Sheamus at Summerslam to merge the belts, but I figure they should just get it over with and have a meaningful feud for the belt at Summerslam.
- Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose -- This is a tough one. Both of these guys are getting over with crowd in a big way. They really are the future of the company. I've been saying since the moment Ambrose told Rollins that he would always be there to stop him from cashing in the briefcase, "He's the next Stone Cold." It's a bold claim, but if you're watching every week, you can see it becoming a slow reality, and there's nothing wrong with it whatsoever.
We all know that this match won't end with just the two of them fighting each other fairly. Someone from The Authority will interfere, whether it's Orton or Kane, but I think that after the beat down Dean Ambrose received on Raw, he'll pull out the win somehow.
- Chris Jericho vs. Bray Wyatt -- Let's face it: Jericho being back is very cool; it always is. But, he's been known to help younger superstars get the push that they deserve. With that being said, I'm going to say that Bray Wyatt will end up winning, thereby becoming even more of a "top heel" by defeating Jericho. Still, it will probably steal the entire show; they're both amazing in the ring.
- AJ Lee (c) vs. Paige (Divas Title) -- I'm really hoping that this turns out to be the match that I know it can be, because they are the two best divas in the company today. But honestly, I love Paige. I hope she wins. I hope she always wins. But, AJ just got the title back from her, so will she drop it back to Paige already? Probably not. They've been having AJ and Paige become friends somewhat, but I think it's a ploy by Paige to really attempt to betray AJ during this match, which would be awesome. But, it won't be enough of a turn for Paige to win, so I think that AJ Lee will retain the title. If WWE gives it a chance, this could be a feud that would rival Trish Stratus/Mickie James, or even Trish Stratus/Lita.
- John Cena (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. Kane vs. Roman Reigns (WWE World Heavyweight Title) (Fatal 4 Way) -- There are so many things that could happen in this match, but we all know what the outcome is going to be: John Cena will continue on as champion. Unfortunately, the signs are all there in the storyline (Paul Heyman's "Plan C" that he mentioned to Triple H), as well as the leaked promos for Summerslam. It's obvious that Summerslam's main event is going to be Cena vs. Brock Lesnar. It's a feud that no one cares to see, but it will happen anyway. It's believed that Lesnar puts butts in the seats at arenas, but if I were to take a poll right now that included everyone I know who watches WWE, they would all have an issue with that statement. I could rant about it all day, but the honest truth is that WWE is trying to build up new guys to take the "reigns" (you like that?) of the company, so that we don't continue to get tired (too late) of guys like Cena, Orton, and part-timer Brock Lesnar.
Just an addition to this, but the ideal thing to do would be to have Lesnar be the cause of Cena's title loss tonight, setting up the match at Summerslam; that way, the match can still be promoted as is, but another feud (Reigns vs. Orton?) could be the feud for the title. Again, it won't happen like that, but it would be nice. Hell, if Lesnar wins the title from Cena at Summerslam, then I'll just look forward to Reigns taking it from him down the line.
LIVE Results
Match #1 - Pre-show
Fandango vs. Adam Rose
So, we start the event with an impromptu match. It was good to see Adam Rose in a match, even if it was on the pre-show and less than 2 minutes. Nothing much to this one, except the fact that Layla and Summer Rae cost Fandango the match by distracting him.
Winner: Adam Rose (by pinfall)
Match #2
Cameron vs. Naomi
In another short match, both Divas started out strong, but the ending fell flat. Cameron won with a typical heel tactic by pinning Naomi with a rollup, but by also grabbing Naomi's tights at the same time. At least they didn't let Naomi lose clean, because that would've been just wrong.
Winner: Cameron (by pinfall)
Time for the event to start!!!
Match #3
The Usos (c) vs. Luke Harper & Erick Rowan (WWE Tag Team Titles) (2 out of 3 Falls)
It was a damn good match. Harper got the first pin after his amazing big boot. Then, The Usos scored the second pin after some strange-looking rollup. Either that wasn't supposed to happen that way, or it was just performed terribly. The crowd was really in it at this point, with random "U-so!", "Let's go, Harper!" and "This is awesome!" chants. There were so many fantastic spots with Harper diving outside of the ring, Rowan performing an amazing double-superplex on both Usos, and the incredible finish where Harper was pinned with a top-rope double-splash by both Usos. It was tag team wrestling at its finest. Keep it up, WWE.
Winner: The Usos (by pinfall)
Apparently, while Seth Rollins was having an interview before his match, he was attacked by Dean Ambrose. Triple H then tossed Ambrose out of the building, canceling the match. Hopefully, this is just a work, because that match was eagerly anticipated tonight. Moving on...
Match #4
AJ Lee (c) vs. Paige (Divas Title)
I'm content with how that match turned out. Paige dominated the majority of the match, which pretty much meant that AJ was going to win. But, then they actually started to go back-and-forth with near-falls, plus Paige kicked out of the Black Widow, so then I started to wonder who would actually win. Then, AJ landed a little kick on Paige and the match was done. So, a mediocre finish to an okay match. It could've been a lot worse.
Winner: AJ Lee (by pinfall)
Match #5
Rusev vs. Jack Swagger
For a second, I thought that Swagger was going to win, because he really had that Patriot Lock on Rusev for awhile. But, then I saw hoe far the referee was counting when they both ended up outside the ring, and I started to get afraid that it would end in a double count out. I'm not sure if the end result was worse: Rusev slipped back in the ring at last second, winning by count out, and staying undefeated. Next...
Winner: Rusev (by count out)
Side note: So far, my predictions stand at 2-2.
Before the next match, Seth Rollins went out to the ring to be declared winner by forfeit, but was attacked by Ambrose again. I was hoping that the match would just start at that point, but after a ton of referees, officials, and Triple H kept them apart, it was apparent that it wasn't happening. I have no idea why, but I'm guessing they want to build up the match for Summerslam instead. Right now, I'm not okay with it, but tomorrow I'm sure I'll feel better about it.
Match #6
Chris Jericho vs. Bray Wyatt
This was a pretty good match. I think a part of me expected better, but at least Wyatt was incredible, as always. At one point, Harper & Rowan were ejected from ringside due to their ongoing interference, but not much else happened. There's really nothing else that I can say about the match, except that Jericho pulled out the Codebreaker and won the match. Maybe a rematch at Summerslam?
Winner: Chris Jericho (by pinfall)
Match #7
[Battle Royal for the Intercontinental Title] the participants include Cesaro, Kofi Kingston, The Great Khali, Dolph Ziggler, Ryback, Curtis Axel, Big E, Alberto Del Rio, Bo Dallas, Sheamus, Damien Sandow, Sin Cara, Zack Ryder, The Miz, Diego, R-Truth, Xavier Woods, Heath Slater, & Titus O'Neil
So, there were a few changes to the list of participants: Damien Sandow was added to the match, while RVD and Fandango were taken out. Also Bad News Barrett made a surprise appearance before the match started to tell the winner that he would be looking to fight the new champion when he comes back.
After the rest were eliminated, the final four ended up being Sheamus, Bo Dallas, Dolph Ziggler, and The Miz. Ziggler eliminated Dallas, and then he and Sheamus thought they were the only two left, but Miz was still hiding outside the ring. After a good exchange between Sheamus and Ziggler, Sheamus was eliminated, Ziggler leaned on the rope thinking that he'd won, and Miz snuck in and tossed Ziggler out to win the Intercontinental Title. It was a good Battle Royal overall.
On a random note, some of my favorite moments were when Dallas eliminated Titus O'Neil and celebrated afterwards. Also, when Heath Slater made a surprise elimination by tossing out Cesaro, the crowd exploded. This took me by total surprise, that's for sure.
Winner: The Miz (eliminated Dolph Ziggler for the win)
Match #8
John Cena (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. Kane vs. Roman Reigns (WWE World Heavyweight Title) (Fatal 4 Way)
Even with knowing who was going to win, it was still an enjoyable main event. We all know it's too soon for Reigns to win the title, but he'll certainly have his time. So, Cena wins and now he can face Lesnar at Summerslam. Yay...
Hopefully, the rest of the Summerslam card is good, because it's going to have to be to keep the crowd excited at the lack of a good main event next month.
Winner: John Cena (by pinfall on Kane)
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the event, as well as my LIVE blog! See you at Summerslam!
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