WWE Battleground 2017 Review

Hello Misfits! It’s the Wrestling Classic here with my Battleground review. Now that I have had a day to digest this event I think I’m ready to write my review on it. I went into this event thinking that it could have been better than I expected. Instead it just ended up being exactly what many of us predicted, maybe even worse. However, I’m going to what I do best and that is looking for the silver lining. The show did have its moment but definitely wasn’t the PPV of the year. I was 4-3 with my predictions.

Image via wwe.com

The first ever Great Balls of Fire comes from the Wells Fargo Centre in Philidelphia, PA

– The opening video package was good. It focused on a lot of the main matches and focused on the Punjabi Prison Match. This event should be named after something patriotic since two of the biggest matches are America vs. The World.

– The announce team tonight is Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton and JBL. There was no pyro and ballyhoo to start the show.

WWE Tag Team Championship
The New Day def. The Usos (C)
in 13:40 by pinfall
This match was better if not as solid as their last match. I went into this feeling like The New Day was going to go over which they did. Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods were the members who were competing for The New Day.They had several moments in the match where it looked like The Usos might retain, but New Day kept kicking out. I’m really happy for Xavier Woods because he’s on the floor for 90% of the New Day’s matches and I’m glad he was able to show what he can do here. I think the agents knew his style meshed well with The Usos as a flier, so it was a good choice. The finish came when Jimmy missed the splash off top, Kingston hit the Trouble in Paradise on Jimmy and Woods hit the Flying Elbow off the ropes on Jimmy for the pinfall win. Even then you weren’t sure if the match was going to end. This match might have been the highlight of the show and a great way to kick off the show.
Rating – ****

Shinsuke Nakamura def. Baron Corbin
in 12:25 by DQ
This was good but it wasn’t great. It might have been the most “meh” Nakamura match so far on the main roster. It was really back and forth with some close calls and a lot of knee strikes. The finish was kind of disappointing because there wasn’t a clear cut winner. However, it makes sense for Corbins character to purposely lose and match in that style and it doesn’t really hurt either guy. Both Shinsuke and Baron were protected which in the end is great but doesn’t do much for their angle. Nak is still undefeated and Corbin is still Mr. Money in the Bank. The match overall was decent.
Rating – **3/4

Elimination 5-Way Match
Winner is #1 Contender for the Women’s Championship
Natalya def. Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Lana & Tamina
in 11:00 ending when Natalya pinned Charlotte
I know a lot of people are going to disagree but I feel like Smackdown is always trying to involve all their ladies and they always work their very hardest to make the most of the opportunity, The match was a bit clunky but the spots that were booked worked. This was elimination so we saw both Tamina and Lana go first when they both respectively tapped to Becky Lynch’s disarmher. Becky Lynch was eliminated by Natalya with the roll-up of doom. Then Natalya eliminated to Charlotte for the victory coming off of Charlotte missing a moonsault. There were a ton bexploder’s in this match too. I think the match was fair for the women and served its purpose. Natalya winning was shocking to me but I like it. I think Natalya totally deserves this and it proves that Smackdown truly is the land of opportunity. Naomi came into the ring following the match but Natalya refused her handshake. I’m shocked with how little Charlotte has been pushed on Smackdown but honestly it’s nice change compared to how dominant she was on Raw.
Rating – ***

United State’s Championship
Kevin Owens def. AJ Styles (C)
in 17:50 by pinfall
I expected this to be the match of the night. The match was exactly what you expected from this two. They didn’t overbook it with so many near falls which might have hurt the live crowd reaction but showed the ability of these two guys to tell a story without all the false finishes. Speaking of finishes when the match finally seemed to have picked up the restored to a ref bump. The finish was weak and the match never really got that higher gear. It was a great TV match but didn’t feel like a big PPV match. Similar to their previous PPV match where Styles leg got caught in the announcer desk, it hurt the match from being great. These are two guys who are capable of stealing the show if just giving the time and okay from the man in charge. Instead they come off with these poor creative decisions in my opinion to keep the feud going while playing hot potato with the championship. The math wasn’t bad but it’s definitely not the best match between the two. The title gets passed around so much it was even hard to care that their was a title change here. Well at least the Face of America character lives on.
Rating – ***

Flag Match
John Cena def. Rusev
in 21:10 by placing the US Flag at its podium
The match had a ton of drama and both guys played their roles perfectly when trying to sell the story. However, it felt like it went on for WAYYYY TOO LONG and the stipulation caused the match to have so many flaws. I spent so much time wondering why Rusev didn’t care about his flag and would just stall and send there when he gained the upper hand. Also, if I was a heel I woulda just tossed my opponents flag in the crowd, far away or under the ring. You know,do some heel things to try to secure the victory for myself. In the end the it felt like Rusev didn’t even care about winning the match but just wanted to humiliate Cena. Xena sold everything, looked like he was struggling and came back in the end with his Super Cena act for the sake of America. The match wasn’t bad. It was actually pretty entertaining but it was just so flawed. The table spot was unnecessary but if anything was just there to pop the crowd. I mean if Rusev spent that time he spent to get tables, to just grab his flag…he would have won. Instead he set up tables just to be put through them. If anyone thought Cena wasn’t going to win, I can only think you just recently started watching WWE. I strongly believe this match was to set up Cena as the next contender for Mahal. I don’t know whats next for Rusev but I hope he stays relevant because I dig him. Now can we all agree there should be no more matches that involve a pole.
Rating – **1/2

Sami Zayn def. Mike Kanellis w/ Maria Kanellis
in 07:15 by pinfall
Continuing their television rivalry, Sami Zayn finally overcame the distractions of Maria Kanellis and defeated Mike with Helluva Kick. I’m glad Sami finally picked up a victory since he loses a lot but I’m not a fan of the 50/50 booking. I’m a fan of Mike and I don’t think the WWE crowd care about him enough yet. Losing in his first PPV match doesn’t help him get over with the fans. At the point in his WWE run he doesnt even seem that special and not as ready as some of the talent on NXT but only in this position because of his gimmick with his wife. I really want Mike to succeed but I can’t say they’ve done much so far to secure he doesn’t just become a lower card guy. This was a solid buffer match between two big gimmick matches and thats about it.
Rating – **

Punjabi Prison Match
WWE Championship
Jinder Mahal (C) def. Randy Orton
in 27:40 by escaping the prison
Alright, I am not just saying this because I’m a loyal Randy Orton fan or because I have nothing but respect for Jinder Mahal but this definitely was the best Punjabi Prison Match of the three. There were still some flaws. For example it was filled with interference and over booking. However, both guys told a story surrounding the punjabi prison gimmick and they definitely were more mobile than the guys involved in the previous matches. With all due respect the biggest highlight I can remember from the last two Punjabi Prison matches was Batista jumping from the inside structure to the outside one to save time. The Prison Cage was there to prevent people from getting in but once again Jinder Mahal and his goons found a way around that. Gladly though because The Singh Brothers once again took some of the nastiest bumps in the match. The fall Samir took from the side of the prison onto the table was highlight worthy. I can see it being shown in the highlight videos of future Punjabi Prison Matches if we ever see the match return. The crowd wasn’t into it much at all because they could barely see anything in the ring and you can’t blame them if they don’t bring the match back. It made sense for the Mahal title run though. The two guys really tried to tell a story and give us something unique but at times it just fell flat. I feel bad for Orton because PPV match wise he has had possibly his worst year yet. As for Jinder Mahal, it would be nice to see him against a different opponent instead on Orton because I feel like they have done all they can together and we need to see how The Modern Day Maharaja holds up against a more motivated and different opponent. We have only really seen him face off against Orton since becoming champion with the same outcome in every match. The Great Khali return was a surprise but it felt underwhelming. I think creatively it made sense and showed that Jinder is always one step ahead of the game with a plan. However, Khali was never that great in the first place. India loves him thought and I’m sure they loved the entire match. It was the best Punjabi Prison Match thus far but thats not saying much.
Rating – **2/4

Final Thoughts
This PPV well be memorable because the stipulation in the main event and the two title changes. Other than that it was pretty forgettable. I don’t know if I would watch it again. I don’t think I would. It wasn’t worst PPV in wrestling history. I mean WCW had a fair share of horrible PPVs and I’m sure TNA has too but this one was pretty disappointing. It wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t great. It had a blowoff to some feuds and things that happened to continue others. The finishes to some of the matches really had me scratching my head. Hell a lot of what happened on this card had me scratching my head. The two stipulation matches felt really long. The tag title match was the match of the night. Styles and Owens was good but the finish hurt it. Natalya winning was deserved and unpredictable which I dig. If you have nothing better to do, check out the show but I can’t say I really recommend it. If the Punjabi Prison Match intrigues you, I’d suggest this one before the previous two any day.
Final Rating – 5/10

What were your final thoughts on the first ever Battleground? What final grade would you give the event? Where would you rate it on a scale of ten? Do you agree with my review? Leave your comments, opinions and thoughts below in the comments section.