Intercontinental Championship
Curtis Axel (c) vs. R-Truth
With a win on Raw, Truth earned a shot at WWE gold for the first time in a long time. Axel's IC title reign is over 100 days long and counting. Will one streak end or will the other continue on Sunday, October 6th at Battleground?
The Road to Battleground
Stephanie McMahon broadened the group of men she has mocked and belittled on Monday, September 23rd when she included the Suntanned Superman. Putting Truth on blast by saying that she couldn't remember the last time he challenged for a championship (it's been almost a year since he was defeated by then United States champion Antonio Cesaro at TLC), Steph seemed to motivate the rapping Superstar. The very next week on Raw, he defeated the Intercontinental champ. And by #WWELogic, that earns him a title shot.
The champ has been on an impressive run of his own since winning the belt at Payback - as long as he's not mixing it up with CM Punk. As a matter of fact, it was the sound of the Best in the World's "Cult of Personality" blaring through the arena that distracted Axel last Monday and lead to Truth's win. With his manager so enamored of his newest charge, Ryback, and their attention focused on Punk, will Axel alone be able to hold off a newly motivated Truth?
What's at stake?
Truth can be counted on to bring the energy, and Axel is renowned as a mat technician, if nothing else. Their face-off at Battleground should be an enjoyable in-ring encounter. But will it help either man in the long run?
The loser is certainly in danger of drifting down to the bottom of the card, as both men are already smaller players in the larger stories going on around them (Daniel Bryan and the faces vs. HHH's regime for R-Truth; Heyman vs. Punk for Axel). The Intercontinental title doesn't mean what it used to, but it's better than nothing.
Who will leave the battleground of Battleground with a belt around his waist and hope for a brighter professional tomorrow?
We'll have the result, and no doubt several opinions about the outcome, right here at CSS!