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Tonight's (Sun., Oct. 6, 2013) WWE Battleground pay-per-view (PPV) at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York, kicked off with the Hardcore Rules world heavyweight championship showdown pitting titleholder Alberto Del Rio against Rob Van Dam.
And what a Hardcore match it was.
RVD went all old school with it and busted out quite a few of his trademark high spots, all of which garnered a huge reaction from the adoring audience in the northeast. The two put together an evenly paced match that didn't rely on super high spots to get over.
Instead, the psychology was sound and Del Rio retained with the Cross Armbreaker through a chair.
For those expecting or hoping for a Money in the Bank cash in from Damien Sandow, sorry, it didn't happen tonight.
For complete Battleground results and the live blog for the show click here.