WWE Battleground 2016 Preview and Predictions

We are doing something again! This time, flags are involved!

Giving their thoughts and predictions on what to expect from the PPV are members of the site @JoeyOnEarth, @TimWelcomed and @TomBlargh.

Rusev vs. Zack Ryder for the United States Championship

Joey:

Noted Donald Trump supporter Zack Ryder is trying to make wrestling great again by sending Bulgarian superstar Rusev behind a wall. Classic WWE storytelling. Hopefully Rusev beats Ryder so badly he has to team with a meathead that jumps up and down like a complete goof for the rest of his career.

Interest Level: 4/10
Prediction: Rusev wins.

Tim:

The story has been boring and actually made Ryder look worse than he already did a few times. Rusev is great so hopefully after this they put him in a more interesting feud. Any bit of interest I have in this match stems from the hope that Rusev yells some funny things during it.

Interest Level: 1/10
Prediction: Rusev wins.

Tom:

I feel like I’ve already seen everything I need to from these two. There’s something kind of sweet about Ryder getting another chance to succeed, but it’s a good five years too late and he just isn’t particularly interesting to watch. SOZ ZACK MATE, ALSO SOZ TO ZACK’S DAD, ALSO SOZ TO ALL THE FANTASTIC PEOPLE OF LONG ISLAND.

Interest Level: 3/10
Prediction: Rusev wins.

The Miz vs. Darren Young for the Intercontinental Championship

Joey:

As great as Miz has been and as wonderful as Darren Young can be, I hope this turns into a verbal debate between Maryse and Bob Backlund. The Miz deserves a longer reign with the Intercontinental Championship. Let’s be honest – this Darren Young gimmick is ending in a month or two.

Interest Level: 4/10
Prediction: The Miz wins.

Tim:

The Darren Young gimmick isn’t working for me and I don’t think it will work for many in the long-term. Backlund can be funny at times but that’s about as far as it goes for me. The Miz should be Intercontinental Champ for a good while. He’s perfect for where he is and they should really let it be for a while more. I’m not so interested in the actual match between these two. Actually, I’m not interested at all.

Interest Level: 0/10
Prediction: The Miz wins.

Tom:

I’ve enjoyed the Darren Young / Bob Backlund partnership a lot more since Backlund has been allowed to be his spontaneous, weird self on TV – he’s really only enjoyable when he seems to be about three syllables away from saying something truly insane and awful, which I sincerely hope happens in this match! Young isn’t much as a wrestler, but I like his theme song a good bit so that’s something.

Miz and Maryse are both good stuff, but Miz is always better when he’s in the ring with someone markedly better than him – that sounds like I’m being unkind or just stating the obvious, but he’s always been better at raising his own game, rather than someone else’s. Anyway, another one I’m not particularly looking forward to, but I won’t be issuing any sorries this time.

Interest Level: 3/10
Prediction: The Miz wins.

 

Becky Lynch vs. Natalya

Joey:

Becky Lynch is still quite great and a good choice to carry the Smackdown women’s division. The work of Natalya is hit or miss but it’s going to be really hard to buy her as a heel. HOT SCOOP: Nattie playfully shoved the referee and asked the fans why they weren’t cheering for Becky to get heel heat at a house show last week. The mean-spirited (Neid)Hart will put us all in our place on live PPV. Hopefully Becky can overcome the odds.

Interest Level: 7/10
Prediction: Becky Lynch wins.

Tim:

I’m excited to see a women’s feud that isn’t for the title and I’m even more excited to see Becky Lynch doing something but it is a shame it involves Natalya. Not even regular Natalya but Dark Natalya. Natal-ya? Natal-nah should be her name. Haha. That’d be something. I’m all like “nah, thanks on the Natalya programs.”

I would have had way more fun with this if her name was Natalyeah but that’s not something people name children. Natalno sounds like a cheap radar a small local news team would use. “Lets send it over to Meteorologist Ned Perme with Natalno 6 to see what we can expect from the weather over the next week.” I used that name because he is actually the most famous weatherman in all of Arkansas. Ned Perme is a legend. He has a fake tan that makes it look like his teeth are glowing nowadays. I think he’s having trouble dealing with his age. He released a Christmas album a few years ago for some reason. They hired a sinister acting hotshot young guy last year who very obviously wants to usurp him so Ned is very standoff-ish on-screen with him. It’s his territory.

Maybe this match will be alright. Lynch is awesome and every four or five years Nattie has an entertaining match.

Interest Level: /10
Prediction: Becky Lynch wins.

Tom:

Is this the first time they’ve had a match on PPV? This feels like one that’s already happened a few times. I like Becky a lot but Nattie doesn’t do much for me these days. NOTHING ELSE TO SAY, LET’S KEEP ROLLING.

Interest Level: 4/10
Prediction: Becky Lynch wins.

Sasha Banks and TBD vs. Charlotte and Dana Brooke

Joey:

The Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks Summerslam match should be fun but the road to get there is already tiring. Everyone is expecting someone cool like Bayley or Nikki Bella to be Sasha’s mystery opponent. I’m going to predict the aggressively uninteresting Paige to get the spot because the world is unfair.

Side note: I can’t believe I let Tom convince me Dana Brooke was alright a few months ago. FML

Interest Level: 5/10
Prediction: Sasha Banks and Paige wins.

Tim:

Dana Brooke needed more time in NXT but she has a great personality. Charlotte is Charlotte. We know what that is at this point. I do think she’s become a pretty solid character but she’s still hit or miss in the ring. Sasha Banks is still my favorite in the Women’s Division. I’m not holding out hope on a big surprise for her tag partner but… is Emma ready to come back? If so that is my guess. If not maybe this will be how Nia Jax debuts on the main roster.  I think this will be an entertaining match even though it just feels like a thrown together roadblock on the path to Banks vs Charlotte.

Interest Level: 4/10
Prediction: Charlotte and Dana Brooke win.

Tom:

I still stand by Dana Brooke being good! Kind of! I mean, she’s not really competent (and she seems to have gotten substantially worse since coming up to the main roster), but there’s still something fascinating about everything she does. Like, she acts in a way no-one else does, it’s really strange. Anyway, even in spite of that, I remain on the Dana Train.

Will Paige be Sasha’s mystery tag partner? That’d be lame. Nikki Bella would be exciting but that seems unlikely. Nia Jax, maybe? Asuka? One of the fantastic Attitude Era Divas? I just don’t know!

Interest Level: 6/10
Prediction: Sasha and whoever her mate is win the big one.

New Day vs. The Wyatt Family

Joey:

I can’t believe we get to witness history of Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan and Braun Strowman teaming together for the final time. The industry will never be the same. New Day having their own cereal and Funko Pops are among the best news in recent WWE history. New Day wins the match here for sure. I also expect Strawman to attack Wyatt after the match as they head on separate brands to plant the seeds for their big WrestleMania 33 match.

Interest Level: 6/10
Prediction: New Day wins.

Tim:

I had high hopes for this storyline but they kind of messed me all up with that stupid fight at The Wyatt’s compound. I’m not sure how well these two teams will mesh in a match but The New Day always do their best to keep things entertaining. I’m interested in seeing how this one shapes up even though every single member of this version of The Wyatt Family makes me a little sleepy.

Interest Level: 5/10
Prediction: New Day rocks.

Tom:

I miss Luke Harper a bunch. Remember how The Wyatts and The Shield could have great six-man tags? That feels very long ago. Having said that, New Day is still great and, despite that Wyatts compound video being an absolute waste of time, I think there’s something to this feud. Braun Strowman feels like a waste of time, sadly.

Are there no stipulations to this? This would feel like an odd way to end this feud, but I don’t know what they have planned for both teams at Summerslam, given the brand split. My assumption is that it’ll roll on until there, but I guess we’ll see.

Interest Level: 7/10
Prediction: The Wyatt Family wins, maybe Xavier Woods gets hypnotized by Bray’s magic powers???

John Cena, Enzo Amore and Big Cass vs. The Club

Joey:

I don’t know what to think about The Club. AJ Styles is much better with them by his side. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows are much better with Styles leading them. The thought of Finn Balor aligning with them is foolish. Balor is loved and may already be the most popular face on Raw. Look at the roster. After Roman Reigns (who gets the most boos), the next top traditional face stars are Balor and Sami Zayn. I think Finn stays a singles face and The Club flops without AJ.

As for this specific match, it should be a sleeper. This is the first chance for Big Cass & Enzo to step up in a big match and last chance for the current trio of The Club to work together. Add the always superb John Cena to mix and things are wonderful. I think this could steal the show.

Interest Level: 8/10
Prediction: Team Cena wins.

Tim:

This will be a good one. I enjoy both teams a good bit. Anderson and Gallows wrestle like I feel their characters would and that is something I enjoy even if it isn’t the most exciting style. Enzo and Cass continue to be outstanding and Cena interacting with them has been pretty great. AJ Styles is just alright and by “just alright” I mean “sensational and probably the best in-ring worker around.”  I think The Club wins here. Cena will beat Styles for the Smackdown title at Summerslam.

Interest Level: 7/10
Prediction: The Club wins.

Tom:

I’m onboard with this! John Cena looks like a confused dad in the presence of Enzo and Cass, but it’s very cool to see them aligned with him. WWE PPV six-mans generally deliver, but even with two on one show, I’m still optimistic about both of them. The Club is a weird deal – splitting them from AJ seems like the kiss of death for Anderson and Gallows, but teaming them with Finn feels like a fairly stupid move because people seem excited to cheer for him and having a couple of lunks by his side would be a shame. Anyway, I’m sure the match itself will be pretty good! I like Big Cass an awful lot, man. He dishes out those big boots with a real ferocity, and you can’t teach that.

Interest Level: 8/10
Prediction: The Certified Thug-Life Gs win.

Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn

Joey:

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn staying on the same show following the draft is shocking. It seemed obvious they would be split but I’m not complaining. I am also holding out hope Owens faces Sami Zayn in a stipulation match at Summerslam. Zayn needs a big performance here. Owens comes off like such a star ready for the next stage but Zayn has kind been lost in the shuffle as just his rival with very little depth to his character on the main roster. This match should deliver as usual. I think Zayn wins but Owens destroys him after the match.

Interest Level: 9/10
Prediction: Sami Zayn wins.

Tim:

I’m feeling a DQ finish here. Like maybe they brawl so hard and the match breaks down so much towards the end that the ref has to call it and then they have a stipulation match at Summerslam. I’m expecting a DQ finish of some sort. Zayn needs a big win and beating Owens at Summerslam would be perfect.

Interest Level: 10/10
Prediction: DRAW

Tom:

It’s incredibly depressing that this hasn’t been given more focus lately. They’ve been so distracted with the draft stuff that I feel like this has been given short service, which is annoying – like, the two gus are good enough that I’m sure they can still have something fantastic without a lot of storyline business, but it still seems ridiculous that they can’t give them more to play with.

I like Tim’s suggestion of a DQ finish – another KO win over Sami could maybe feel like too much, maybe? And saving the Zayn win for Summerslam makes sense. So, Kev going off the rails (partly because he’s still furious about not being picked sooner in the draft and partially because he just bloody hates Sami) and forcing a double DQ sounds pretty good.

Interest Level: 9/10
Prediction: Sami’s back gets introduced to the ring apron again.

Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns for the WWE Championship

Joey:

This match is so weird. The biggest possible WWE match involving full-time active wrestlers is happening on BattleGround. Roman Reigns has not been allowed on TV to contribute to the story. Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose have had 15+ minute matches twice already this week. The situation surrounding the “dream match” is taking away from it but I’m still very interested.

I really enjoyed the Rollins/Reigns match last month and a triple threat should make up for Ambrose’s 80s wrestling time machine. My assumption is the brand without a title after this night will end up having a tournament to crown a new champion. Raw has more talent and time but Smackdown could use the bump in interest and creativity with a tournament leading to a new belt.

Also, Dean Ambrose sucks. I have Rollins winning the title here. Smackdown has a tournament ending with AJ Styles vs. John Cena to crown a new champ at Summerslam. Reigns gets slightly punished for his suspension by doing the job. Ambrose has 1980s matches with Bray Wyatt on Smackdown every week. The end.

Interest Level: 9/10
Prediction: Seth Rollins wins.

Tim:

This has been a mess. I would’ve prefered to wait a year or two more before we got this match finally but I know a lot of people have wanted it since the moment The Shield broke up. Reigns getting suspended really messed up the build to this huge match but one could argue this match didn’t necessarily need any more build. Ambrose and Rollins matches haven’t entertained me at all and I usually love watching Rollins work. I see Reigns winning here. I don’t think they’ll pull back on the relentless and never-ending machine that is The Reigns Push but would love for Rollins to get the win.

Interest Level: 7/10
Prediction: Reigns wins.

Tom:

I’m with Joey on this being a weird match and with Tim on it being a mess! I’m SO glad Roman is back because I can’t tolerate another Rollins/Ambrose singles match. However, I still can’t say I’m particularly interested in how this all goes, which is pretty sad given how much of a bigger deal The Shield title three-way should be. The Rollins/Reigns match-up was fun last month and even though Dean has shown sparks of being a more tolerable character lately, his actual matches do very little for me and that’ll keep me from being too interested.

Ambrose losing would feel pretty crushing for him, not to mention Smackdown – however, crushing the Smackdown brand seemed to be the general focus of the draft, so I guess it’s a likely outcome! Might as well give it back to Roman and let’s see everything keep crashing along. Maybe we’ll get Jon Stewart at Summerslam again, that’d be good.

Interest Level: 6/10
Prediction: Reigns wins.