As the summer rolls on in the WWE, the company presents Battleground live this Sunday from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis in what is the final major event leading into SummerSlam.
5 Major Athletes/Superstars We'd Like To See Wrestle At SummerSlam
Six matches have been announced for the big event, including three title bouts, but the Intercontinental Championship Triple Threat Match between title-holder Ryback, The Big Show and The Miz was canceled due to a legitimate knee injury to The Big Guy.
The show is headlined by Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and the result of that match will paint a clearer picture for the WWE's storylines heading into SummerSlam.
Top 10 WWE Superstar Power Rankings Heading Into Battleground
As the company's biggest stars prepare to do battle, here are our predictions for Battleground in the projected order that the matches will occur.
Pre-show Match for the King of the Ring Crown: King Barrett vs. R-Truth
These two have had a mini feud over the last couple of weeks, but it begs the question of what exactly the WWE is doing with King Barrett. It's possible his myriad injuries through the years have led to the WWE questioning whether or not it should run with him as a major Superstar going forward.
Barrett was booked questionably as Intercontinental Champion heading into WrestleMania and now after winning the King of the Ring tournament, which frustratingly received no buildup, his booking is wonky yet again. R-Truth has gotten the better of him a lot and could win, but the WWE shouldn't quit on Barrett and he's better suited for the king gimmick.
The Pick: King Barrett
Tag Team Championships: The Prime Time Players (Darren Young & Titus O'Neil) vs. The New Day (combination of Big E, Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston)
The Prime Time Players have been fun to watch as Tag Team Champions, but the WWE ended The New Day's run a bit prematurely in my mind. The team was just getting over and the concept of the three of them using the Freebird rule to defend the gold had some untapped potential that the WWE didn't fully utilize.
That doesn't mean the WWE won't give them the titles back, but it would make little sense to give the rejuvenated PTP a one-month title reign. The gold has changed hands five times since Survivor Series and the division could use a stable top team. While I wasn't happy with The New Day losing the gold, it can't be undone and the division could use a lengthy reign out of someone.
The Pick: Prime Time Players
Singles Match: Randy Orton vs. Sheamus
While both of these guys are pretty stale despite Sheamus' recent heel turn, the match should be solid given their familiarity with one another and the fact that it's two seasoned veterans going head-to-head. The feud is also deserving of a blow-off since the pair has been at odds for months.
This is a tough one to pick as The Celtic Warrior could use momentum as Mr. Money in the Bank, but the WWE hasn't been shy about booking briefcase-holders terribly in the past. The Viper is also in front of his hometown crowd in St. Louis.
It's definitely a toss-up, but given the WWE's questionable booking of people in high positions and the fact that Orton is in his hometown, the babyface may go over here.
The Pick: Randy Orton
Orton and Daniel Bryan fought to a no-contest two years ago at Battleground:
Singles Match: Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt
This is a pretty random feud (as most of Wyatt's rivalries are), but it could still be a very good one if the WWE is smart about it. Oddness aside, The Eater of Worlds has been fantastic in his role, giving off creepy, passionate promos and playing mind games that are reminiscent of the old school original Mankind character.
Reigns has improved mightily and the WWE was smart to diverge from crowning him its new face of the franchise at WrestleMania, but the company is still very high on him.
It would be rough to watch the New Face of Fear lose yet another high-profile match and his character is going to be damaged if it continues to happen, but it's hard to see Reigns losing at this juncture as the WWE could still be slowly building him to his crowning achievement.
Whoever loses this match, should get their win back next month so both men can stay afloat.
The Pick: Roman Reigns
Reigns and Seth Rollins lost to Cody Rhodes and Goldust in a tag team match at the 2013 edition of Battleground
United States Championship: John Cena (c) vs. Kevin Owens
This has, for my money, undoubtedly been the best feud of 2015 thus far as Cena has been having an amazing year in the ring and on the microphone and Owens has played the perfect foil to the WWE's resident super hero heading into the rubber match between these stars.
The Cenation leader has been the man as United States Champion, giving so much credibility to the title and having classic matches on Monday Night RAW via the very great usage of his open challenges.
Owens, despite dropping the NXT Championship, is a formidable foe for Cena and the psychology that he already has a win over the U.S. Champion in his WWE debut back at Elimination Chamber is compelling.
One of the most intriguing aspects of this bout is that it's really hard to say who will win, and to some degree, who should win.
On one hand, Cena's run has completed the goal the WWE had to make the United States Championship matter, so if he ends up losing it, the title at least has more credibility than before. Also, Owens has made a huge impact since coming up to the main roster, so he is definitely championship-worthy.
On the other hand, Cena has made RAW very exciting as the U.S. Champion and has put on great matches so perhaps he should keep the belt, plus the bonus for the Cena-haters is that it keeps him out of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship picture.
Added into that, Owens may have a wealth of experience, but he's pretty knew to the WWE and winning a major title by pinning the face of the company yet again could be premature.
As for what the WWE will do, who knows? But Owens dropping the NXT Championship (despite the lapse in logic that he lost cleanly to Finn Balor ahead of facing the No. 1 star in the company) suggests that he may be getting ready to pick up more gold at Battleground.
My only hope is that no matter who wins, the best feud of 2015 continues on.
The Pick: Kevin Owens
Cena defeated Kane, Randy Orton and Roman Reigns last year to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship:
WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins (c) vs. Brock Lesnar w/ Paul Heyman
While this match was expected for SummerSlam, it was smartly moved up to Battleground as it builds interest for an ordinarily mundane July event.
What makes this match even more intriguing is the fact that it's actually really hard to tell who will win the bout.
It's hard to conceive Lesnar ever getting pinned in a WWE ring as the company even worked around it to have Rollins win the title by pinning Roman Reigns at WrestleMania. As big as it would be for Rollins' credibility to pin The Beast, it just doesn't seem plausible, no matter who interferes.
As for Rollins, it wouldn't be inconceivable to see him walk out with the title somehow, but it would likely take some sort of outside shenanigans to make that happen. It doesn't seem plausible that the WWE would put the belt back on Lesnar since he is a part-time Superstar, unless they did it only to have him somehow drop it next month at SummerSlam.
The most likely scenario is that someone interferes to help Rollins win or that the match ends in a false finish, either with a DQ, no-contest or countout.
Here are what appears to be the five most likely scenarios for the main event.
1) The Undertaker returns: The Deadman has been rumored for RAW this week and to have a match at SummerSlam, so it is probable that he could make his way to St. Louis to settle the score with Lesnar. 'Taker lost The Streak to The Beast and could very well rekindle the feud to try and get his win back, and he could either interfere to Tombstone him, allowing Rollins to pin him, or cause a DQ.
2) Shield Reunion: It's highly unlikely, but with rumors of a Seth Rollins vs. Triple H match at SummerSlam, the company could turn The Architect back into a babyface by having Reigns and Dean Ambrose (who is off that night, apparently) reunite and Triple Power Bomb Lesnar through a table, which would be the only way to keep him down for a three count. The Game could then be upset at this reunion, leading to his match with Rollins.
3) Triple H: The Game could also get involved in the match either by helping Rollins or screwing him out of the title, leading the former Shield member to either be mad at Triple H for not letting him prove himself on his own, or angry at the COO for turning on him.
4) Heyman screwjob: Paul Heyman has turned on Lesnar in the past (see: Survivor Series 2002) and they could have him strike a deal with The Authority to betray The Beast, though Lesnar needs a mouthpiece so it would be hard to have things go this way.
5) Lesnar wins: The WWE could just have Lesnar continue his dominant run through the WWE. This way, Rollins-Triple H wouldn't have the title on the line if it happens next month, and The Beast could face whomever -- even The Undertaker -- for the gold at SummerSlam.
It's tough to say what will happen, but I'm leaning toward Rollins walking out of St. Louis as champion either with a DQ loss or with a lot of help.
The Pick: Seth Rollins (to escape the Scottrade Center as champion, not definitely win the match).
Rollins defeated Ambrose in by forfeit at last year's event:
The biggest WWE storylines come to a head when the WWE presents its bridge to SummerSlam with Battleground live this Sunday from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
For more content, follow us on Twitter @SportsWN or LIKE US on Facebook
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.