In the history books of WWE, the 2016 edition of Battleground will never be read as a bad pay-per-view. In fact, it was a show that exceeded the expectations of many fans. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn delivered a classic match when Bayley surprised everyone by coming out as the mystery partner of Sasha Banks. The likes of Chris Jericho, Enzo Amore, and of course, the Shield delivered some memorable moments as well during the show.
Despite all these positives, just like nothing can be perfect, Battleground also had some things that did not get the reaction that WWE would’ve wanted. So in this slide, we are going to take a look at those worst things that happened at the show.
Cesaro blows cold during the pre-show
Cesaro has been projected sour ever since he got a low pick in the draft. While some suggest that it’s a shoot, there is also a section that believes it’s his new gimmick. A similar tirade was there to be seen during the pre-show of Battleground as well. Cesaro was invited to talk about the Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens match during the pre-show and Cesaro went ahead and stated some hard truths.
He claimed that he should’ve been wrestling instead of sitting and talking and also seemed uninterested in the whole thing. The fact that WWE didn’t have a place for Cesaro in the pay-per-view card and that they are trying to book Cesaro as a frustrated guy when he was getting over as an exciting babyface are the reasons why this gets into the list.
Mojo Rawley runs in
Not to give the wrong idea here, the debut of Mojo Rawley was good. Everyone had doubts on whether he was ready to get called up but giving him such a huge debut is a good start for him. The problem here, however, is that Rawley could be drawing battle lines with Rusev. The Bulgarian Brute, who has tonnes of momentum after his win over Zack Ryder, could head into a feud with Rawley after what happened at Battleground.
Rawley, as we all know, is still pretty green. And if they want to get him over, he needs to get some strong booking in his first feud. And if the same is against Rusev, this means that WWE might book Rawley strong at the expense of Rusev. Though fans love to hate Rusev, letting Rawley get over with Rusev suffering, is not something that fans would appreciate.
The botch from Sami Zayn
Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens was an instant classic. The in-ring psychology of the match was off the charts and both men told an exciting story that will be written into the folklore of WWE. Though it was fun to watch these two go at it, there was one point during the match when the fans had their hearts in their mouths. It happened when Sami Zayn botched a move and landed on the ring apron.
With Sami having a history of shoulder injuries, it was hard to watch him land badly and everyone expected the worse. To the credit of Zayn and Owens, they sold the botch and it added more authenticity to the match.
Chaotic ending for Miz vs. Darren Young
Miz vs. Darren Young had a lot of potential. Young had found his intensity thanks to Bob Backlund when Miz was born to play the character that he was playing. With these dynamics in place, WWE could’ve have delivered a solid bout but they went for a chaotic one instead. The match was going smoothly until Maryse and Backlund got involved.
Backlund performed in top gear despite the fans being confused about the things that were going down. When the chaos settled down, the match ended in a double disqualification and as both Miz and Darren Young were heading to different brands after this, such a finish made no sense whatsoever.
Randy Orton gets a lukewarm reaction
Randy Orton is considered to be a big draw for WWE and that is why he was put into a match with Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. When he made his return at Battleground after a break of 9 months, WWE would’ve expected the fans to give him a big pop. But that was not the case. It was a lukewarm reaction for the Viper and it is already creating conclusions about Orton being a bad choice to face Lesnar.
Orton did get some controversial attention when he took a shot at Lesnar’s doping violation, but the fan base jumped on this as well, as Orton was someone who was busted numerous times for violating the Wellness Policy of the WWE.
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