Thursday, July 23, 2015

WWE Battleground 2015 Review

Match 1: Randy Orton vs. Sheamus
Kicking off the night is the match we have seen countless times on Monday Night Raw as Mr. Money in the Bank goes up against WWE's Apex Predator. St. Louis is always hot for their hometown hero as Orton brought another great performance against Sheamus. Loved the aggression they showed from top to bottom but constantly felt like I have seen this match so many times before. JBL did his best to make it sound like the biggest slobber knocker of a match ever but that only helps so much considering he says the same thing for every single match. The action was great but nothing that seemed different from their encounters in 2010! Even still, I enjoyed the match and the crowd loved the RKO out of nowhere finish. Would have liked to see Sheamus score the win but Orton just seems on a roll.
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: ***1/4

Match 2: WWE World Tag Team Championships - The Prime Time Players (c) vs. The New Day
I'm really digging both these teams, they've stepped up their game and really made a name for themselves with the fans. Aside from Xavier Woods constantly shouting ringside, this was a fun tag match and it's really cool to see the division finally getting a bit of a better reputation. Kofi Kingston does his normal routine but it's Titus O'Neil who seemingly is getting the bigger push out of everybody here as he scores the pin to secure the belts for his team. Good match following the opening contest but again, haven't I seen this before?
Winners: The Prime Time Players
Rating: **

Match 3: Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns
Not a huge fan of this feud at all but I'm all for it if it's to build Roman Reigns back into the main event scene. Crowd is pretty split for Reigns as the St. Louis crowd is definitely more vocal than usual for Bray Wyatt. They were given a good chunk of time and the first half of the match was really slow and the crowd really wasn't given much to cheer for with so many rest moves. But the second half is where things really picked up, this seems to be the case for most matches involving Reigns. As the pace quickened, the match got much better and the crowd was really enjoying it. For those who doubt Reigns as a star, I have no idea what you are watching. He was great here as the match picked up more steam and definitely had the crowd on their toes along with Wyatt. The ending came when Luke Harper, who was dressed in a hoodie, came out of nowhere and landed a big boot to the face of Reigns. Wyatt then set Reigns inside where he hit a Sister Abigail for the win. Interesting match, a bit longer than what it needed to be but still fine. As for the finish, Harper works much better with Wyatt and the same can be said for Wyatt with Harper so it will be interesting to see where they go from here. Reigns takes a loss but he will likely easily get another big win to erase this one.
Winner: Bray Wyatt
Rating: ***1/4

Match 4: Brie Bella vs. Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks
After making an impressive debut on Monday Night Raw, the NXT ladies are here to impress on a bigger stage as the established Brie Bella has her hands full against Charlotte and Sasha Banks. Definitely not your average Divas match, this was much faster and tons funner to watch. Charlotte and Banks are both fantastic in the ring but Bella doesn't really get the credit she deserves. Kudos to her for polishing her work and becoming much better over the past months. With that being said, we got a different type of Divas match today with lots of action and more substance than style. The crowd was behind them and so was I. Charlotte locked in her Figure Eight finisher on Bella to score the big win over Team Bella!
Winner: Charlotte
Rating: ***1/4

Match 5: United States Championship - John Cena (c) vs. Kevin Owens
This is the third and deciding match in their epic series as John Cena defends the gold in front of a St. Louis crowd that loves their Kevin Owens. Cena has undoubtedly stepped up his game, he may have the same haters but nobody can deny his awesome display of wrestling he brings to the table week after week. And Cena does exactly that here in his third encounter against Owens. This was simply another roller coaster of a contest, Owens proves exactly what Cena said at Money in the Bank in that he belongs on this stage. The way he was mocking Cena throughout the match was brilliant, it was almost as if Batman met Joker. Owens imitated Cena with his signature taunts and even locked in the STF at one point. Crowd absolutely loved this match, they were going nuts when Owens just would not fall to the Attitude Adjustment as Cena hit one both in the middle of the ring and even from the top rope. However, Cena got the better of Owens as he was able to get Owens to tap with the STF. Great finishing bout to their epic series of matches. While it was a great match, it didn't really set itself apart from their last two matches or even Cena's match against Cesaro a couple weeks back. It was still a great match, but it felt like a really missed opportunity to not have it as a hardcore match or even inside a steel cage. They could do it at Summerslam but it just would have made more sense here. Either way, Cena continues to push the United States Championship and younger stars like Owens in the process. Owens may have lost the series to Cena but in no way shape or form do I think this should be looked at as a burial.
Winner: John Cena
Rating: ****

Match 6: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Seth Rollins (c) vs. Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar finally gets his hands on the slimy Seth Rollins to avenge his WrestleMania loss and gain his belt once again. Just as you would expect, this was basically Lesnar tossing Rollins around like a toy, hitting German suplexes left and right. Rollins was introduced to Suplex City and seeing him fly across the ring was definitely a sight to behold. Rollins played his role perfectly, he used his cunning and fast style to take down the bigger and stronger style of Lesnar but nothing really hurt Lesnar. Rollins even tried escaping the match but Lesnar ran after him and threw him back. Lesnar was having his way with Rollins and finally hit an F5. Lesnar goes for the cover until the arena goes black as a loud gong sounds. The Undertaker has arrived. He is in the ring and stares down Lesnar before kicking Lesnar downstairs and hits a Tombstone! Undertaker leaves the ring but sees Lesnar still conscious so Undertaker gets back inside and hits another! Undertaker poses as the show goes off the air. This was certainly more of an angle than a match to set the main event for Summerslam. Would have liked to seen more of the match but we will likely get the rematch down the line. Even still, the match was cool for the short duration that we got. The ending leaves lots of questions which will certainly be answered at Summerslam.
Winner: n/a
Rating: **1/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
A good show that never dragged throughout the course of the show. Everything was good but nothing really stood out too much. The Cena vs. Owens match was great but it didn't really bring anything too different from the last two matches. And of course, the main event. I would have loved to see more of the actual match but like I said, I'm sure we will get these two again down the line. But obviously, everything will be overshadowed by return of The Deadman. Right now, his return doesn't really make too much sense considering Lesnar is the hottest face of the company but again, we just all have to play the waiting game.
Rating: 7.75/10

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