WWE Battleground 2017 Review

By Jim Kennedy


The last event before both Raw and Smackdown Live go to Brooklyn for Summerslam, the card for this years edition of Battleground had matches that haven’t been seen in years. Namely, the flag match between John Cena and Rusev, and the Punjabi Prison Match for the WWE Championship between Randy Orton and Jinder Mahal. You would think going on the road to Summerslam that Smackdown would attempt to put on a hell of a show. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

Best Match of the Night: The New Day def. The Usos to win the Smackdown Tag Team Championship

Great match to kick off the show. The New Day became the first tag team to win both the Raw and Smackdown tag team championships since the second brand expansion. I can say this for a fact, I did not expect this match to be the best match of the night. The two teams stole the show right out of the gate, and took to the air so many times that you would think some cruiserweights were in the match. The thing about this match was that it was so back and forth, there was times you would expect that a pin would happen, and then there was a kickout. Great match overall, and both teams should be proud of the display they put on out there in Philadelphia.

Worst Match of the Night: John Cena def. Rusev in a Flag Match

The tag team match was unpredictable. Unfortunately, the Flag Match between John Cena and Rusev was so predictable. You got Cena, who’s the most patriotic wrestler in WWE today, taking on Rusev, who fights for Russia at first, and now Bulgaria. Yeah the match was close in the end, but if you seriously thought that Rusev would win this match, against a guy like Cena, you need to reexamine your stance on wrestling. The results were predictable, and with that, the Flag Match, as patriotic as it can be at times, it’s the worst match of the night.

Moment of the Night: The Great Khali Returns!!!!!

A little history on the Punjabi Prison Match: it was created by the Great Khali during a feud with the Undertaker, and even though he wouldn’t be able to face the Deadman in his own creation (Taker took on the Big Show in the first ever Punjabi Prison Match at the Great American Bash in 2006). 11 years after the first match, the Great Khali made his return to the WWE to help Jinder Mahal retain the WWE Championship in the third ever Punjabi Prison Match. No one expected this to happen, and the shock that was on Orton’s face was the same on my face.

Overall Grade: D+

I’m not gonna sugar coat it. The show sucked. I had low expectations for the Punjabi Prison Match, Flag Match, and Kanellis/Zayn. The U.S. title match was so disappointing, especially the way it ended. Although this sets up Styles for a WWE Championship match (maybe…...) at Summerslam, you would expect a different ending than what we saw. The women’s 5-way elimination match was ok, but you need to try really hard to sell me on Natalya/Naomi for the title at Summerslam. Corbin/Nakamura was terrible, especially the low blow DQ to end it. Please end this little rivalry so we can see Nakamura/Owens for the U.S. title at Summerslam. Even though I had low expectations for some of the matches, I didn’t expect the majority of the show to suck. Going into Summerslam, Smackdown has a lot of work to do to put on a hell of a show for their half.