It was revealed that WWE Intercontinental Champion Bad News Barrett's shoulder injury will keep him out of action for several months and the WWE will crown a new IC Champion via a battle royal at Battleground, and it appears as though Cesaro is the favorite to win the match.

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According to Wrestlingheadlines.com, the backstage talk is that Cesaro is expected to win the vacant Intercontinental Championship at Battleground in the over-the-top-rope battle royal on July 20 at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Florida.

The company has been very high on Cesaro and is planning on pushing him in the next couple of months. The push began at WrestleMania XXX when he won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal in impressive fashion and then became a "Paul Heyman Guy" shortly after.

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Despite the fact that Cesaro has had some key losses on television recently, including a defeat at the hands of Kofi Kingston on Monday's RAW, there is no plans to halt his push.

The WWE originally slated for Cesaro to win the Money in the Bank Ladder Match at last Sunday's show until it was revealed that it would be for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship after Daniel Bryan had to relinquish his title due to his neck surgery healing slower than previously expected.

While the WWE wants to push Cesaro, he isn't groomed for a WWE Championship run yet, so the WWE had to create a second Ladder Match for the contract and gave that win to Seth Rollins while John Cena won the Championship Ladder Match that Cesaro was in.

Reports indicate that Cesaro, Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns are three Superstars that are being groomed to be top stars by the time next March's WrestleMania 31 event comes around. Reigns is likely to face Randy Orton at SummerSlam and then Triple H at Night of Champions or Hell in a Cell in preparation to face Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31.

Wyatt already has a feud with Cena under his belt and is now embarking on a program with Chris Jericho that will lead into SummerSlam while Cesaro is slated for a run as Intercontinental Champion.

Barrett injured his shoulder on June 24 during tapings for that Friday's SmackDown after Jack Swagger attacked him and threw him into the barricade on the program. Barrett's injury was legitimate and he underwent shoulder surgery on Wednesday to repair the damage.

"Bad News Barrett underwent a ligament reconstruction in his shoulder, as well as a distal clavicle resection, where the end of the collar bone is shaved off. The operation went very well, he's resting comfortably," WWE Dr. Chris Amann told WWE.com on Wednesday.

Cesaro has a bright future ahead of him and his big push to the top is slated to begin with an Intercontinental Championship run that will likely start at Battleground on July 20.

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