Battleground 2015
Date: July 19, 2015
Location: Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Jerry Lawler
Pre-Show: King Barrett vs. R-Truth
For the crown. Truth takes him into the corner to start and bunny hops out as we hear a very brief history of the King’s Crown Title from the 1980s. Barrett shoves him away but gets a pelvic thrust and dropkick. A slingshot dive drops Barrett as Lawler makes big nose jokes. The announcers babble about BB King, Stephen King and Burger King as we take a break.
Back with Barrett stretching the arms and JBL talking about working on a rap album with Truth. Truth fights back and gets two off an ax kick. Lawler: “He’s got the whole world in his nose!” Winds of Change gets two on Truth and the Bull Hammer gives Barrett the pin at 9:10.
Result: King Barrett b. R-Truth – Bull Hammer (9:10)
The opening video talks about how the matches tonight have led to a battleground to decide their final fate.
Randy Orton vs. Sheamus
This is due to Sheamus helping Kane beat Orton a few weeks back, triggering a feud over Orton being boring. Big pop for the hometown Orton, even though he isn’t billed from St. Louis here. Feeling out process to start with Sheamus bailing to the floor, only to have Randy follow him outside to start the beating. The fans get behind Orton in a hurry.
Sheamus comes back with a kick to the ribs and Orton is in trouble. Three straight Irish Curses put Orton down again for two and a knee drop gets the same. It’s time to hit that chinlock to slow things down again. Back up and they slug it out with Orton getting the better of it before they head outside to keep up the fight.
Orton drops him onto the table and snaps off the powerslam for two more back inside. The elevated DDT is countered with a necksnap across the top and a tilt-a-whirl powerslam gets another two. Both finishers are countered so Sheamus plants him with White Noise for two.
Sheamus goes up but eats a bunch of right hands, setting up the superplex for two. The elevated DDT connects this time and the place goes nuts for the RKO set up but Sheamus rolls him up for two. The Brogue Kick connects out of nowhere but Sheamus can’t cover. Instead it’s the Cloverleaf with Orton having to crawl to the ropes twice. Not that it matters as the RKO finishes Sheamus at 16:46.
Result: Randy Orton b. Sheamus – RKO (16:46)
Quick recap of the NXT women coming to Raw.
Stephanie sucks up to the live crowd. Tonight there’s a triple threat match between each Divas’ trio and Stephanie will accept nothing less than the house being torn down.
Tag Team Titles: Prime Time Players vs. New Day
New Day is challenging after losing the belts to the Players at Money in the Bank. Before the match, New Day talks about staying positive because they know they have to reap the rewards of their sacrifices soon. Woods is on the floor as Kofi starts with Darren. Kofi is a bit too fast for Young so it’s off to Titus for some very loud chops in the corner. A New Day conference leads to a tag to Big E., who eats a legdrop from Titus. Woods: “WORST LEGDROP EVER!”
It’s back to Darren who gets thrown outside as the champs take over, allowing Xavier to be an even more obnoxious cheerleader. We get the alternating stomps, capped off by a running basement dropkick. Woods: “OH IT’S SO GOOD!” An apron splash gets two on Young and we hit the abdominal stretch.
Woods shouts about tricep meat and Darren scores with an enziguri, setting up the hot tag to Titus so house can be cleaned. Titus’ dominance doesn’t last long though as it’s quickly back to Young. The Midnight Hour is broken up and the Gut Check sends Kofi to the floor. O’Neil comes back in for the Clash of the Titus on Big E. to retain at 8:53.
Result: Prime Time Players b. New Day – Clash of the Titus to Big E. (8:53)
Paige is with Charlotte and Becky Lynch in the back and makes sure to praise Stephanie for starting the revolution. They’re going to tear the house down tonight and rebuild the division brick by brick.
We recap Reigns vs. Wyatt, which started with Bray using Reigns’ daughter to get inside his head, before saying anyone but Reigns. The idea seems to be that Reigns hasn’t earned the hero role and Wyatt wants anyone else there, but as usual it isn’t clear with Bray.
Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns
They lock up to start with Bray hammering him down in the corner for a bit of a surprise. The fans are into Wyatt here, though it might be more anti-Roman instead. An uppercut sends Wyatt to the floor but he pops Reigns with one of his own to take over again. The cross body block takes Reigns down again but Reigns Samoan drops him out to the floor.
Wyatt is fine with the violence and sends Reigns into the steps as this has been almost all Bray so far. They slug it out on the apron for something different, setting up a Wyatt DDT on the apron. We hit the chinlock and get a Wyatt smile as he pulls back. Reigns finally powers up with a belly to back suplex to break the hold.
It’s time for the comeback with only one standing clothesline. Another belly to back drops Wyatt but he clotheslines Reigns out of the air to break up the apron kick (now the Drive By). Bray adds a backsplash on the floor but takes too long putting Reigns on top, allowing Roman to Batista Bomb him out of the corner for a close two. The Superman Punch misses but Reigns drops him on the apron again.
The apron boot connects but Bray shakes it off and Rock Bottoms Reigns (appropriate) for two. Fans: “THAT WAS THREE!” Sister Abigail is countered into the Superman Punch (with Bray falling before it connected) for two. Reigns gets all fired up and tries the spear but eats a boot, followed by getting all fired up again but charging into a right hand.
Sister Abigail is broken up so Reigns hits ten clotheslines in the corner and another Samoan drop. Both guys are spent so Bray grabs some chairs. Reigns knocks them away just as quickly though and grabs chairs of his own. All four chairs wind up in the ring but someone in a hood superkicks Reigns, allowing Bray to hit Sister Abigail for the pin at 22:10.
Result: Bray Wyatt b. Roman Reigns – Sister Abigail (22:10)
The guy gets in the ring and it’s….Luke Harper.
Naomi, Tamina and Sasha Banks (collectively known as B.A.D., meaning Beautiful and Dangerous are ready for the triple threat.
Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte vs. Nikki Bella
All nine are here. Nikki and Sasha have a staredown before the match and it’s going to be Brie instead.
Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte vs. Brie Bella
Brie is sent outside early on, leaving the two newcomers in the ring. Charlotte gets her throat snapped across the top rope, leaving Brie to come in with her catfight style Thesz press. That’s fine with Sasha, who sends both of them to the corner for the double knees to the ribs for two each.
Sasha headscissors Charlotte down for two and hits a pair of running knees in the corner for the same. Brie makes a save as the fans want Becky. Charlotte clotheslines both of them down but Brie comes back with her own screaming clotheslines. A double bulldog kind of works but Brie just gets two on both. Back up and Sasha sidesteps a charge, sending Charlotte into Brie instead.
Brie comes back in with a double missile dropkick (with the camera barely catching it), setting up the BRIE MODE running knees to the chest. The Bellas huddle on the floor but are quickly surrounded, setting up a big staredown. Sasha dives through the ropes to take out a lot of them, followed by Charlotte diving on the rest. Back in and Brie breaks up the Bank Statement on Charlotte, only to have the Bella Buster countered into the Figure Eight for the submission at 11:31. Cole: “TEAM BELLA IS MORTAL!”
Result: Charlotte b. Sasha Banks and Brie Bella – Figure Eight to Brie Bell
The preshow panel recaps the night, including Barrett beating Truth.
Long recap of Cena vs. Owens. They traded wins in their first two classics but tonight Cena’s US Title is on the line. Owens claims that Cena keeps disrespecting him but Owens has never been the kind of guy that says what he really means.
US Title: John Cena vs. Kevin Owens
Cena is defending and gets the JOHN CENA SUCKS song. Cena: “RAIN IT DOWN!” Owens gets in the first big shot to start and slugs Cena down with forearms to the back. More big shots put Cena down and the backsplash gets two. Cena tries a comeback with a dropkick but Owens puts him down one more time, only to miss a swanton.
Owens busts out Cena’s finishing sequence but the AA is countered into Cena’s STF. The rope is quickly grabbed as Cena starts his comeback, only to Kevin catch the top rope legdrop into a sitout powerbomb for two more. An AA gets two for the champ. The sunset bomb gets the same but Owens busts out the swinging superplex for the same.
Back up and the Pop Up Powerbomb is countered with a hurricanrana, setting up an AA to Cena, followed by an STF to really fire up the crowd. John finally makes the ropes and dives for a tornado DDT, which still doesn’t put Owens away. The Springboard Stunner does better than usual but Owens stays going and takes Cena’s head off with a clothesline. No cover though, as Owens goes with the brainbuster onto the knee for two instead.
Another AA gets another two on Kevin and the Pop Up Powerbomb gets the same on the champ. Owens heads up top again and gets caught one more time, setting up the super AA for two. Cena has the same face he had when the Rock beat him at Wrestlemania. It quickly goes away though as he slaps on the STF instead and Owens taps at 22:14.
Result: John Cena b. Kevin Owens – STF (22:14)
Here’s Miz for a chat instead of the Intercontinental Title match. Miz rips on Ryback for bailing on the match because it’s messed up his branding team’s plans for talk show appearances as the new champion. He knows he’s the toughest man in St. Louis and thinks Big Show should retire like everyone wants him do do. Big Show comes out and lays Miz out with one punch.
Long recap of Rollins vs. Lesnar. Seth stole the World Title by cashing in Money in the Bank at Wrestlemania, but tonight Lesnar is out for revenge and his title. Brock has also broken Kane’s ankle and put the Stooges out of action to make this one on one.
WWE World Heavyweight Title: Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar
Seth is defending of course but Brock drives him into the corner for some shoulders to the ribs. An early German attempt sends Seth outside and the champ gets Brock to chase him. Back in and some kicks to the leg have Brock staggered, but Rollins dives into the first German. Three more send Rollins flying and it’s out to the floor. He tries to run but Brock just hurdles the barricade and throws him back to ringside.
German #6 has Rollins in even more trouble and Brock looks livid. Rollins backflips out of #7 and hits a superkick, followed by three straight low superkicks. Another regular superkick sets up the Pedigree but Brock easily counters. Rollins hits a pair of suicide dives but Brock charges in and throws Rollins with a belly to belly.
Brock rolls three more Germans (10), followed by a release for #11. We’re up to thirteen and Rollins looks dead. The F5 connects…….and we’ve got Undertaker. Brock looks terrified but escapes a chokeslam. The F5 is countered and Undertaker kicks him in the face. We’ll say the match was thrown out at 9:00.
Result: Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins went to a no contest when Undertaker interfered (9:00)
The chokeslam works the second time and Brock gets tombstoned for good measure. Rollins is nowhere in sight during any of this. A second Tombstone has Heyman freaking out and Undertaker poses to end the show.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews, check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and pick up my new book of NXT Reviews: The Full Sail Years Volume I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B011T13PV4
And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at: