What’s the story?
During tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live, two championship rematches were announced for the brand-exclusive PPV, Battleground – one for the Smackdown Tag Team Championships and one for the WWE Championship. In fact, the WWE Championship match has a stipulation that hasn’t been seen in the WWE for a decade.
In case you didn’t know...
During the Money in the Bank PPV this past June 19th, The New Day defeated The Usos by count out, thereby picking up the “W” but not the titles. Because they technically won the match, though, the longest reigning tag champs in WWE history had a valid claim to a rematch.
The WWE Champion Jinder Mahal, on the other hand, managed to retain his title against Randy Orton, through nefarious means – but still scored the pinfall. This put Orton’s claim to a rematch in the “iffy” category. However, both the New Day and Orton were granted their rematches for Battleground.
The heart of the matter
The New Day and The Usos will, once again, compete in normal tag team rules for the championships. Orton and Mahal, however, will battle it out in a match that Mahal claims has been innovated by his “hero”, The Great Khali – the Punjabi Prison Match.
The match, which consists of the ring being surrounded by two different cages made of bamboo, was last seen during No Mercy in 2007 when Batista defended his World Heavyweight Championship against Khali.
What’s next?
The Usos and The New Day are scheduled to go against each other in a “rap battle” on next week’s Smackdown. Considering that Battleground doesn’t take place until July 23rd, WWE has plenty of time to build it up.
Author’s take
Battleground takes places in Philadelphia, PA. If WWE wants to rebuild the reputation of one of their worst matches, they sure picked one hell of a city to do it in.
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