Hardcore Rules World Heavyweight Championship
Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. Rob Van Dam
Last month at Night of Champions, Alberto Del Rio cowardly exploited the rules to retain his World Heavyweight Championship (WHC) via an intentional disqualification against the unorthodox challenger Rob Van Dam. After the match ended, Rob Van Dam was so irate that he channeled his hardcore past and unleashed a devastating Van Terminator upon a prone Alberto Del Rio. RVD's extremely aggressive tactic sent a clear message to Alberto: this feud is far from over, dude.
The Road to Battleground
Since then, Del Rio has had a very straightforward path towards the rematch at Battleground. Del Rio has spent the last three weeks defeating the likes of R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, Zack Ryder, and the former WHC Dolph Ziggler. Every single one of these men tapped out to Del Rio's debilitating cross armbreaker. There is no doubt that Del Rio is in top form as Battleground approaches and he is completely focused on defeating Rob Van Dam.
In contrast, Rob Van Dam has had to deal with a significant new wrinkle over the last three weeks. Rob Van Dam courageously chose to rebel against Triple H's regime when he and several other superstars ran down to the ring to protect Daniel Bryan from yet another assault at the hands of The Shield and Randy Orton. Because of this bold decision, RVD has found himself in multiple skirmishes with The Shield and Randy Orton over the past three weeks. This new distraction has left RVD vulnerable to vicious sneak attacks from Alberto Del Rio. Rob Van Dam's body was so ravaged from these encounters with Del Rio, Orton, and The Shield that he was immediately pinned in the 11 versus 3 handicap match on the September 23rd edition of Monday Night Raw.
As the heated attacks between RVD and Del Rio escalated in nature, Triple H stepped in and decided to add a Hardcore Rules stipulation to the WHC rematch at Battleground. Triple H's motivation for doing this isn't entirely clear. Is this simply what's best for business, or is Triple H subtly trying to quell an uprising by giving RVD a stipulation that undoubtedly plays into his favor?
Van Dam was so thrilled by this stipulation that he decided to watch a scintillating YouTube video of the ten greatest hardcore moments of his career. RVD then showcased his hardcore expertise once again on the October 4th edition of Smackdown when he incapacitated Fandango with a Van Terminator using a garbage can.
What's at stake?
The WHC hangs in the balance in a Hardcore Rules match at Battleground. Now that Del Rio can no longer take the cheap way out with an intentional disqualification, will he finally succumb to Rob Van Dam's true hardcore nature? Or is Van Dam's banged up body ripe for the picking with Del Rio's patented cross armbreaker? And considering the widespread rumors of RVD's WWE contract being expired, could Triple H ultimately get involved and do what's best for business?