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Battleground stumbled after a hot start, and after it's conclusion, it looks like an extremely forgettable show. WWE basically threw this PPV away in hopes of building up Summerslam next month. WWE should never have a throw-away PPV, because the fundamental idea is that people are PAYING to see something worthwhile, and if they don't get that, they might not pay again. Let's get to the action.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship: John Cena vs Kane vs Randy Orton vs Roman Reigns **1/4 (2.25 stars)
Honestly not a lot could be said about this match. The meat of the match felt like a glorified tag team match between Kane and Orton taking on Cena and Reigns. It was a pretty short main event, and Cena won in the most predictable fashion possible, an almost identical finish to his victory last month at Money in the Bank.
The problem with the match, other than the predictable finish, is that the match and the angle leading into the match, didn't seem to contain a ton of creative effort. The Authority doesn't like John Cena, so they make him defend the title in a Fatal Four-Way against two company men and Roman Reigns. Cena and Reigns butt heads, but eventually, Cena overcomes the "odds" and retains the championship. It feels like the storylines for the match took 15 seconds to come up with. Wrestling is never going to supply literature for the ages, but when the undercard is kind of dry, WWE needs to make sure that their stuff on top is hot and interesting, and that wasn't the case tonight.
Bray Wyatt vs Chris Jericho ***3/4 (3.75 stars)
A good match with a really, surprising finish. Not only did Chris Jericho pick up the victory, but he did as clean and as decisively as possible. Wyatt and Jericho are almost definitely going to work with each other again, but it was an interesting choice to have Jericho win cleanly via a Codebreaker right in the middle of the ring.
Bray has been getting the short end of the stick over the last few months. After being bulldozed by John Cena for months, he really needs to re-establish himself as a force to be reckoned with. With Jericho, someone who is notorious for putting younger talents over as he cuts back on his dates, it seemed like a logical step to have him put Wyatt over. However, the decision was made to have Jericho beat Wyatt on PPV to score the first real big blow in their feud.
Now, I would bet the house that Wyatt picks up a win at Summerslam, but Wyatt's character seems to rely on his ability to position himself as a viable threat to his competitors. If Wyatt is talking about having the whole world in his hands, how much of that is really worth anything if he is losing every match? Will a win at Summerslam be big enough to make fans forget about 5 months of losses?
The match itself was really solid. Wyatt has established himself as someone who is never going to be able to carry a lesser opponent to a really good match, but when he is allowed to work with a really good ring general (Jericho, Bryan, Punk) he has shown the abilty to have some really solid contests. For their first big match together, they clicked really well (although, who doesn't Jericho click with?) and delivered a nice back and forth contest, even if it had a puzzling finish.
WWE World Tag Team Championship Match: The Usos vs Harper and Rowan ****1/2 (4.5 stars)
Read more at http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2014/0720/579212/views-from-the-turnbuckle-battleground-review-why-couldnt-this/#B7Rs1ptk7bV9FFd9.99
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