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THE WWE BATTLEGROUND PPV TIP SHEET

By Dave Scherer, Mike Johnson & Richard Trionfo on 2016-07-23 09:18:00

WWE presents Battleground, live from Washington D.C. on Sunday night. Here’s our take on what should happen at the event.

Dean Ambrose versus Seth Rollins versus Roman Reigns for the WWE Championship

Dave: The one thing that they should not do is have Reigns win the Title. The message it would send about failing a Wellness Test is not good, especially with Brock Lesnar’s USADA suspension hanging over WWE’s head and their decision to, thus far, do absolutely nothing about that situation (including even comment). On top of that, Reigns has been booed with great vigor by the section of the fan base that loathes him, mostly because they feel he is Vince McMahon’s chosen one. If the Title goes back on him now, that will only get worse. If he is out of the Title picture for a while, he may be able to win some of those people back, kind of like his cousin did. Personally, I leave the belt where it is, for a few reasons. For one thing, it shows that Dean Ambrose is a true champion, going through three hellacious Title matches in a week and coming out on top. It also keeps the WWE Title on Smackdown, which will give prestige to the brand at a time when WWE wants people to be watching live on Tuesdays. Reigns and Rollins can then continue fighting for the top spot on Raw. If they are only going to keep one champion (and it would be great if sanity prevailed on that one), they have it set up perfectly going forward as Rollins can still be the top guy from the Raw brand to challenge Ambrose at, say, the Raw only shows. The perfect scenario is that Reigns does the job and then Rollins holds it against him because it cost him the belt.

Mike: I am going to just say it - I expect Roman to get the belt.  Why?  Vince.

Richard: Roman Reigns returns from his suspension to join Seth and Dean who have already had two matches this week. This match determines which brand gets the WWE Title. If Dean retains, it stays on Smackdown but if we get a title change, Raw holds the World Title. Roman will have something to prove after his time off and maybe he wears a Sidney Crosby sweater or Cowboys jersey to get the D.C. crowd to boo him more. I would like to see Seth win the title back, but by keeping the WWE Title on Smackdown, it gives the viewers a reason to watch on Tuesday night. Dean wins and he pins Roman.

Rusev versus Zack Ryder for the United States Title

Dave: This match is a placeholder, nothing else. The way that Zack has been booked, having him win here would be ridiculous. The way Rusev has been booked, as a dominating monster, needs to continue, especially if the WWE Title will stay on Raw. Ryder is one and done, and then joins Mojo Rawley in The Hype Bros, which isn’t a bad thing.

Mike: With them going to separate sides, I don't suspect a title change.  Rusev with the Accolade.

Richard: Rusev has returned to the destructive beast he was before Wrestlemania 31 and that is a good thing. This is another match where the title can change shows if there is a title change. I don't see it happening, but I hope we get a good match out of them because as much as Rusev has upped his game over the last few months, so has Ryder.

Miz versus Darren Young for the Intercontinental Title

Dave: Given the way they have sold that Darren Young “lucked” into the show, I would hate if they pulled the trigger here. Miz doesn’t get the credit he deserves, but he is really good and has been part of great matches. To me, the way that they should book this, given the build, is to have Young work a very close match before losing, perhaps when Maryse gets involved, and then do the “he may have gotten a lucky break to get here but he showed he belongs” storyline.

Mike: I expect this will be a lot better than people expect, but I also expect a lot of people won't care.  Young is solid and I really, truly enjoy his interactions with Bob Backlund, one of my all time favorites, but the audience has no reason to want to see him win.  Miz has been awesome in his role and I suspect we'll see some sort of DQ so Young loses no momentum.

Richard: I have always enjoyed Darren Young's work and I think the addition of Bob Backlund has made Darren more serious in the ring and that is a good thing. Miz raised the level of his work since returning from filming Marine 5. I wish they would have billed this as Crossface Chicken Wing versus Figure Four to give it a Backlund vs. Flair feel. Young came from a further nowhere than Ryder did when he won the US Title at Mania, so for that reason I would have Miz retain. Maybe they can do something to build a little tension with Backlund and Young and force Darren to be more aggressive in the ring and eventually win the IC Title from Miz. This is another match where a title change switches the show the title resides. If Rusev retains, why have both the US and IC titles on Raw?

The New Day vs. The Wyatt Family

Dave: They lost any oomph that they got from the Swamp bit on Raw Monday when it was completely forgotten by all parties. With the Wyatts heading in different directions and The New Days over being scared, the champs win and they go in their separate ways.  Bray just needs to be protected for Smackdown.

Mike: They obviously decided the hell with this storyline when they made the decision to split them up and place them on separate brands.  New Day gets the win and Wyatts, once again, get nothing out of this story.  Such a shame.

Richard: When you consider that they did the Live from The Hardy Swamp edition of Raw with the Wyatts and New Day already, why are they doing a 'normal match'? Does Bray still have the power over Woods or has Xavier found the Pokemon to stop Wyatt? With the Wyatts being split up, maybe we see some problems between the three and that gives The New Day the upper hand. If he is ready to come back, I would love to see Luke Harper return (we miss you Luke). New Day should win since they will be together after Sunday. I hope they can do something with BOOTY-Os during the match.

WWE Women's Champion Charlotte and Dana Brooke versus Sasha Banks and Mystery Opponent

Dave: Since it’s supposed to be Charlotte vs. Sasha for the Title at SummerSlam, no matter who the partner is, Sasha needs to pin Charlotte to win the match for her team.

Mike: I am calling it now.  IT'S BAYLEY.  I expect that she will debut.  I will also predict that she pins Charlotte and pisses off Sasha by doing so, resparking their rivalry as they chase for the title.

Richard: There are a couple of ways they can go with this since the three women we know about are all on Raw. They can have Sasha pick someone on the Smackdown brand because even if they win, they don't get on Raw to fight for the title. They can have Sasha pick one of the other women on Raw. They can have Sasha pick someone who was not drafted and then when Charlotte and Dana complain (and you know they have to), Sasha points out that the new rosters are not official until Raw starts so she can pick someone from NXT or an 'unsigned talent'. Since Becky and Natalya are already in matches, the Smackdown options are Alexa Bliss, Naomi, Eva Marie, or Carmella. The Raw options are Nia Jax, Summer Rae, Paige, or Alicia Fox. The 'outside the box' candidates can be Bayley, Asuka, or any of the remaining NXT women. People are expecting Bayley, so I will go with the option that can lead to Charlotte and Dana refusing to wrestle, but instead I will go with the NXT Women's Champion Asuka. Sasha can say that she is the boss of the WWE, but she knows who the Boss of NXT is and that is Asuka. If it is Asuka, I think Sasha and her partner win. If it is anyone who is on the Raw roster who is Sasha's partner, I think Charlotte and Dana win with the partner turning on Sasha. I think they could have Nia and Sasha with Nia and if they have Sasha win, they can do something like Joe and Balor where Sasha wins the title and then Nia reminds her that she had her back and now wants the title.

Natalya versus Becky Lynch

Dave: Becky still owes Natalya a beat down and this should be where it happens. If they end up having the Champions defend on both brands, Smackdown will need a pecking order for the challenger. This is a good place to start.

Mike: I don't see Natalya getting the win here.  To me, she's been sort of dead in the water since the turn, although their brawls have been fun.  I see it being all about Becky.

Richard: I don't know what to think about this match because unless they add a Women's title on Smackdown, the women's division on that show is just women wrestling for the sake of wresting and no ultimate goal. I think Becky has to win this match because if not, she is rudderless on a show that has no title. I have enjoyed the pre-match attacks by the women leading into this match.

AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson versus John Cena, Enzo Amore, and Colin Cassady

Dave: The key here will be keeping the Styles-Cena feud going. I see the babyfaces going over and then The Club helping AJ decimate Cena afterward, keeping their feud going on Smackdown.

Mike: I think the opposite.  I think The Club gets the win with Styles pinning Cena so he can continue to mock him as they head to the Smackdown brand.  It makes no sense to have the Club lose their last match in my mind, but hey, a lot of things WWE does makes no sense to me.  For the betterment of Smackdown, I think Cena needs to go into that era with a goal and that goal should be to get revenge on Styles.  I suspect that Enzo will look really good here as Karl Anderson did an amazing job carrying him on TV recently.  Colin and Gallows could be a nice brawl.

Richard: If the brand split is enforced, this is the last time we will see this match since Cena and Styles go to Smackdown and the rest are on Raw. This could be an interesting match, but I hope they keep the promos to a minimum for my sanity. The Club has come off as Dolph Ziggler's writers in their promos (other than knowing that Karl Anderson has a hot Asian wife) and I have voiced my issues with Enzo and Cassady on too many audios to count. I expect to see a hot tag sequence with Cassady, maybe saving Cena and that should pop the crowd. Styles and Cena will have some good sequences in this match to set up their continuing feud. Since there is someone else with a history with Gallows and Anderson, maybe Finn Balor makes an appearance and Luke, Karl, and Finn attack Styles during or after the match. While it doesn't have to turn Styles face, it could cement Balor, Anderson, and Gallows as heels. Enzo, Cassady, and Cena get the win, and it should be someone not named Cena to get the victory.

Sami Zayn versus Kevin Owens

Dave: Kane chokeslammed both of them this week so we should care why? This feud has been botched from the beginning and despite how great both of these guys are, it doesn’t seem like it will catch fire. So give Sami the win here and let these two move in a different direction. Then maybe creative can book to something strong between them down the line. They both deserve that.

Mike: Given the way they were used on Raw, I almost fear they will do a non-finish here but the reality is that Zayn NEEDS a big win and Owens getting the loss could infuriate him in a major way and set him off on an angrier role as we head into the split.  No matter how they book this, as long as they are given time, this should be a great match.

Richard: If you want to see the way NOT to build a match, then take a look at how Sami and Kevin were treated on Smackdown. Sami attacks Kevin and then Kevin gives Sami to Kane but Kane choke slams Zayn AND Owens together. Then Zayn is drafted by Raw (because of his great performance at getting choke slammed?). They have done so much to make you not want to see this match, and since they are both on the same brand, we know it is going to happen many more times in the next six months. I cannot see Zayn or Owens not giving everything for this match. Will this build to TLC (is that a Raw PPV?) or something that puts Ladder Wars to shame? Just like with the first Rollins/Ambrose match, I would not hate a Non-Finish to this match and have a double DQ, double count out, or some other No Contest finish since Zayn can never get away from Owens. This is my pick for the match of the night if creative does not try to get too cute with the match.

Randy Orton is Chris Jericho's Guest on the Highlight Reel

Dave: Orton is in a high profile match at SummerSlam, at least for now. The Highlight Reel is what it is. Orton should take offense to Jericho being a tool to him and nail him with an RKO.

Mike: I think we all know what is going to happen here.  Jericho talking up Brock and knocking Orton before he gets the RKO out of nowhere.

Richard: Give us five minutes of Chris asking Orton what he has done since his injury and about his SummerSlam match against Lesnar. Then Jericho can try to be the smarmy talk show host and try to get under Orton's skin. Since they are not on the same show, an RKO would not make sense. That is why I think we see at least one RKO, but will Orton shoot first or will Jericho try for a Codebreaker only to have Orton hit an RKO out of Nowhere?

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