WWE Battleground 2013 PPV Review

Ok, I’ll be honest I have seen NONE... 0.... Zilch of the build up to this PPV, I didn’t even know it was happening until I saw a tweet about it, which of course brings me to my first plug of follow me @bigboss010, the SOS guys @siteofshite and my good pal Jim @KingJimmeh. We have a new PPV event here in the form of WWE BATTLEGROUND, having a small knowledge of what has lead upto this point I hope it is a good PPV.

Match #1 – World Heavyweight Title match – Battleground rules (NO DQ)

Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. Rob Van Dam with Ricardo Rodriguez

Ok, this should be a good match just because of the two guys involved, Del Rio is a really good performer even though he is lacking a little in the promo department. Van Dam is generally entertaining to watch and is still really agile considering how long he has been in the business. I personally don’t see them letting RVD win the belt here as I believe he has only signed a low end contract with limited dates, so a world title run probably isn’t on the cards.

Alberto Del Rio wins after making RVD tap out to the cross armbreaker. Not a bad match, nearly got a Van Terminator but sadly that was missed, also a nice spot where it looked like Ricardo was going to side with Del Rio but ended up attacking Del Rio with a bucket. HA!

A nice match, just what you expected from these guys, both of them got some spots and looked good for the opening match.

Segment 1

The Real Americans are in the back, talking about illegal immigrants from Mexico and Canada. Tell Santino and Khali will be beaten up.... oh boy.

Match #2 Tag Team Match

Santino Marella & Great Khali with Hornswoggle vs. The Real Americans with Zeb Colter

I like Antonio Cesaro, not so big on Swagger or Colter, but I have to admit as a team they are really coming together and both complement each other. On the other scale we have Santino and Khali, neither of which I have ever liked and can’t get behind them I’m sorry.

The Real Americans win after Antonio Cesaro hits the giant swing on the Great Khali.... That’s right folks the giant swing.... On the Great Khali!!! My god Cesaro is just pure power, that’s inhuman levels of strength. Not a 5* match but that finish was fantastic and the crowd were in SHOCK!

Match #3 Intercontinental Championship Match

Curtis Axel (c) with Paul Heyman vs. R-Truth

This shouldn’t be too bad, Axel needs some more victories under his belt, he has been made to look a bit of a joke over the last few months, a win over Truth will help to steer him in the right direction. Does anyone remember when Truth challenged John Cena for the WWE title?? Just saying.

I like Axel, he has a great legacy to live up to but I think he has what it takes and I really like his music too. I’m not so big on R-Truth but I think he is a good talent, I guess he just hasn’t had many chances to really show what he can do outside “What’s up”.

Curtis Axel retains the IC title after hitting R-Truth with a modified neckbreaker and claiming the pinfall. Not a bad match, lasted a lot longer than I thought it would too be honest and had the right result too. I cannot complain about it at all.

Match #4 – Divas Championship match

Brie Bella with Nikki Bella vs. AJ Lee with Tamina Snucka

Ok, someone set me straight here, I thought the Bella’s were heel characters??? When did Tamina start being AJ’s manager??? Where is Big E??? Why am I even caring???

AJ lee wins the match via some help from Tamina distracting Brie by attacking Nikki, this allowing AJ to get the roll up.

Next match!!!

Segment 2

The Rhodes family are in the back they are determined to beat the Shield and get their jobs back.

Match #5 – Tag Team Match (If the Rhodes family lose then they are all fired, if they win then they all have jobs)

Cody Rhodes & Goldust vs. The Shield

A good story building up to this match, quite an interesting twist how Goldust may end up with a job here too, after his match with Orton on Raw a while back I think he deserves it, even if it’s just a short run.  Also noticed that Cody & Dustin match! That’s cute!

The Shield have been booked as HHH & Stef’s enforcers and that is really crappy but at the same time it kind of reminds me of the Big Boss Man & Bull Buchannan from the corporation, so I guess it fits in. Even though their role has kind of changed their entrance hasn’t reflected it, they still come in from the crowd. I also forgot that Dean Ambrose has the US title, when did he last defend that?

Cody Rhodes gets the pinfall victory after hitting the Cross Rhodes on Seth Rollins to get his job back and get Goldust a job in WWE. I also think this maybe the first PPV loss for the Shield too?

Fantastic match, the Rhodes family were really over and got a great reaction from the crowd. Never realised quite how well Seth Rollins sells, he is on Ziggler level of selling, he acted like he had just been shot when caught by the Cross Rhodes. The WWE locker room come out to congratulate the Rhodes family on their victory.

Segment 3

The Raw GM Brad Maddox is talking on the phone to HHH & Steph, Vickie G walks in and he begs her to help him get the show running smoothly. She laughs and leaves. Complete waste of time.

Match #6 – Kofi Kingston vs. Bray Wyatt

It’s good to see both members of the New Nexus getting revamps and PPV matches, Bray Wyatt has made a great start in WWE and it will be cool to see where they take the character in the future. Kofi on the other hand is now just a development talent really, like Truth, a good talent but used to put people over but you can’t complain he is getting the PPV payday.

From what I can gather the Wyatt family used to wrestle on NXT while Bray managed them, here in WWE it seems the other way around and that is ok but would be good to see what the other Wyatt family members can do.

Bray Wyatt wins after hitting “Sister Abigail” facebuster on Kofi, the match wasn’t bad but seemed a bit longer than your usual filler match. Onto the next one for the Wyatt family.

 Match # 7 – Ryback with Paul Heyman vs. CM Punk

Well just from watching the video package that previews this match I can say that the build has been interesting. Quite a funny twist on the Ryback being a bully storyline, for him to attack Punk because he doesn’t like Bullies and they say irony is dead. Not a big Ryback fan but will be good to see what him and Punk do in this match.

The crowd are really behind Punk as he gets a great reception from the live crowd and I should also mention the “Goldberg” chants for Ryback.

Honestly, not quite as entertaining for me as the Rhodes / Shield match, Just felt like a lot of Ryback shuffling around and bumbling up.

CM Punk wins after low blowing Ryback, Heyman was being told off by the referee for trying to use a kendo stick and this allowed Punk to hit the low blow. Again this match just wasn’t as good as it could be and the finish showed this too, I think the Rhodes match was a lot more entertaining to me anyway.

Match # 8 – WWE Championship Match

Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton

This match is to determine the new WWE champion after the title was vacated after Night of Champions PPV.

I will also now apologise for not doing a Night of Champions review, I simply didn’t watch any of the build up nor did I watch the PPV, so couldn’t really do a review I also wasn’t involved in any of the SOSgames predictions either, but hopefully will get back in for the next lot of PPVs.

Randy Orton needs to go back to his 2009 persona and he will be a winner in my book, he has lost a lot of what made him cool for that period of time so this heel turn is a massive boost to his character but he does need to quit doing the pose on the turnbuckle!

Daniel Bryan has almost appeared out of nowhere to be considered the new Stone Cold; his stand against the corporate powers of HHH & Steph Mac has really been popular with the audience. He is an immensely talented wrestler and is very much over with the crowd but he does need a haircut and a shave. ;-)

Big Show comes out and first knocks out Bryan (which everyone boos), then proceeds to knock out Brad Armstrong when he returns to “ref” the match (which everyone cheers) and then when Orton shouts at him he then knocks out Orton (which everyone cheers). Evidence to show just how fickle the crowd can be, you can’t boo interference and then cheer it after! C’mon man, think about it! Big Show stands tall to end the show...

Wait!.... thats the end of the PPV..... What!!!????

What a crappy ending to a pretty reasonable PPV!! They are really throwing us back into the attitude era aren’t they? But a PG rated attitude era, which is sucks and no wonder PPV buy rates are down.

Well aside from that horrific finish I quite enjoyed that PPV, the Rhodes match was certainly match of the evening for me and was a great main event too with regards to match quality.

The next stop is Hell in a Cell in a few weeks because WWE like to throw a PPV together with 3 weeks build, oh joy. Hopefully we wont get a screwed ending this time. I’ve been Big Boss and I’m out... Peace!! (Follow me on twitter @bigboss010, the SOS guys @siteofsite and Jim @KingKimmeh )