Yet another WWE pay-per-view (PPV) has come and gone, this one the Battleground event from the Verizon Center in Washington D.C., and while it was always clear this was a transitional show, meant to get us prepared for the much bigger show next month, SummerSlam, it was hard to get up for anything on this show.
There was some good, but nothing you couldn't have missed out on. Click here to check out the live blog.
The good
- Enzo Amore continues to show he's a bonafide star, the kind of wrestler who won't ever need to work a single five-star match in his career to be an attraction for WWE for years to come. That John Cena was the guy to get the victory for the babyface team, and that he pinned AJ Styles of The Club doing it, was fine but they should start focusing more on Enzo and Cass as winners to go along with the talk. The sky is the limit.
- Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens delivered again, with all the intensity we've come to expect from these two. The finishing sequence was particularly great, and for once it looks like they may have delivered on the promise that this was the blow off and they're done feuding with each other ... for now, at least.
- Bayley made her main roster debut as Sasha Banks' mystery tag team partner. It was only a one-off, which is disappointing to say the least, but it makes sense considering they don't want to overshadow Sasha chasing the women's title at the bigger show next month. They also set up a great story for September -- or the fall, at least -- when Bayley does come up and likely runs into Banks again, with much bigger stakes and some main roster history to draw on.
- The emphasis on SmackDown Live taking home the WWE championship was a nice touch, and Dean Ambrose defeating Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins was a legitimate surprise that creates a level of interest in Monday Night Raw later on this evening if only to see how they handle not having a main title.
- Randy Orton taking a shot at Brock Lesnar being "enhanced" is hilarious both because they actually allowed such a line and because of Orton's history.
- The New Day vs. Wyatt Family match had a fine story, considering they knew they had to close it out here. It was rushed for that reason, but at least they bothered to stay true to it, with Xavier Woods overcoming his fears during the match but Bray Wyatt proving he's superior in the end. Sadly, this will be forgotten tonight and none of it will affect anything going forward.
The bad
- Mojo Rawley was introduced to the main roster by running out to save Zack Ryder from Rusev, just to yell in his face and do literally nothing other than that. If the idea was to put Rusev over, it worked! But that's a weird way to do it, by putting down a guy just coming in.
- Not that I was expecting much from the Darren Young vs. Miz match but to book such a confusing finish does nothing for anyone involved here. I'm guessing the idea was to give Young an edge by having him emulate the unhinged traits Backlund showed when he was reviving his career in the early 90s but I just don't see it going anywhere, and it certainly didn't do anything for me here.
- Becky Lynch was the first woman picked for SmackDown and immediately reestablished that she's a loser. If you want an underdog, you can't have them be your first draft pick. Plus, the fact that they haven't established anything in regards to a title for the women working SmackDown took meaning away from this.
- Nothing about The Usos vs. Breezango was worth the time when the tag team titles are on Raw and, just like the women, they haven't bothered to establish anything for SmackDown.
Final thought
This show was fine but any show you come out of feeling like you could have skipped is no better than average.
Grade: C-
What did you think of it, Cagesiders?