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WWE presents their first ever Stomping Grounds event tomorrow night live from Tacoma, Washington and interestingly, this is the first time in almost a decade that a show other than Money in the Bank has happened in June.
WWE decided to switch up their usual pay-per-view schedule this year and brought Money in the Bank forward, which means that Stomping Grounds has actually replaced Backlash. It's a confusing time, but the WWE Universe has remained onboard and is optimistic that this could be the beginning of an exciting yearly pay-per-view rather than a flash in the pan like Great Balls of Fire.
Of course, since this is the first ever Stomping Grounds event, there are many interesting facts and stats that every WWE fan should know ahead of the show.
#5. Alexa Bliss returns to action
Alexa Bliss returns to the ring this weekend to take on Bayley for the SmackDown Women's Championship in what is her first singles pay-per-view match since Hell in a Cell. Bliss has been forced to sit out of Evolution, Survivor Series, WrestleMania and most recently Money in the Bank due to concussion issues in recent months but finally looks to be cleared to compete.
Last time Alexa Bliss and Bayley crossed paths for a Women's Championship, Bliss was able to defeat The Hugger to become Raw Women's Champion back in 2017. Infact, Bayley has never been able to beat Alexa for a Women's Championship in her career. Bayley had a rough run on Monday Night Raw but is hoping to be on course for much better things since her switch over to SmackDown Live, so she will be hoping that history doesn't repeat itself this weekend in Washington.
#4 NXT is represented in all matches except one
NXT has been a force to be reckoned with ever since it was established as a developmental division back in 2012. The company has been creating its own stars for more than seven years and now it's starting to show on the main roster since around 80% of the current crop of talent either came through NXT or have since been part of the show.
This weekend almost every match has NXT representation with the likes of Seth Rollins, Baron Corbin, Roman Reigns, Bayley, Alexa Bliss, Becky Lynch, Lacey Evans, Ricochet, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Big E, Xavier Woods, Erick Rowan, and Heavy Machinery all coming through the developmental set up. The three stars competing in the Cruiserweight Championship match this weekend have all since returned to compete on NXT, which means that the only match that isn't made up of NXT alum is Kofi Kingston's clash against Dolph Ziggler inside a steel cage.
#3 Interpromotional matches could signal the end of the brand split
There was once a time that WWE would promote Survivor Series as the one night a year that Raw and SmackDown go head to head, but it appears that this is now no longer the case. Back at Money in the Bank SmackDown's Shane McMahon took on The Miz from Raw, whilst both Money in the Bank matches included Raw and SmackDown talents.
WWE has continued to ignore the brand split this weekend as they promote another three inter-promotional matches which see Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn team up to take on Big E and Xavier Woods of The New Day, Alexa Bliss from Raw takes on Bayley for the SmackDown Women's Championship whilst Drew McIntyre from Raw has stepped up to SmackDown's Roman Reigns. This is just further proof that The Brand Split is WWE has all but come to an end.
#2 Kofi Kingston and Dolph Ziggler have never won a cage match
Kofi Kingston defeated Dolph Ziggler in Saudi Arabia at Super Showdown just over two weeks ago, but after Xavier Woods helped him to pick up the win, Ziggler has been given another shot, this time inside of a steel cage.
Interestingly, neither Ziggler nor Kofi Kingston have ever won a match inside a steel cage. Dolph Ziggler has ome up short against both John Cena and Drew McIntyre, whilst Kingston was defeated a number of years ago by The Big Show.
Interestingly, Ziggler's final match on Raw ahead of his recent hiatus was inside a steel cage where his former best friend Drew McIntyre absolutely destroyed him. McIntyre has since moved on and will face Roman Reigns this weekend at Stomping Grounds, but will we see the same outcome for Ziggler on Sunday night?
#1 Championships are not changing hands very often at present
WrestleMania this year was a huge hit with the WWE Universe since a number of Championships were able to change hands but since WrestleMania, this hasn't been the case. Back at Money in the Bank, only the SmackDown Women's Championship and the United States Championship changed hands, but the US title has since been given back to Samoa Joe. Whilst over on Raw, the Raw Tag Team Championships were able to change hands since those titles haven't been defended on pay-per-view since The Biggest Show of the year.
There were no title changes in The Middle East at Super Showdown and rumors now suggest that there will be no Championship changes this weekend at Stomping Grounds either, which shows that WWE seems to be looking into the longevity of their champions at present.
