WWE Battleground - A Failure
Compare the WWE Battleground PPV with a Vince Russo TNA PPV, and you’ll find a hell lot of similarities. TNA does put up good shows, but most of the times, it comes across as if the wrestlers are working to over-achieve something they could probably come up with themselves.
WWE Battleground was somewhat on similar lines. The main event featuring Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton ended with the Big Show knocking both of them to the ground and celebrating in the ring as if he’d achieved something big.
That was a huge let down for most viewers who were expecting some sort of vindication. Fans from the Buffalo arena were reportedly shouting profanities and demanding refunds after the promised main event to crown a new title holder for the vacant WWE championship resulted in a no-contest with the championship still undecided.
There was no story-line that could’ve been carried on, instead it managed to piss the audience off who invested at the very least, $44.95 and three hours of their time and emotional interest on a show that once again, for the second month in a row, featured a PPV that at the end of the day, was meaningless and meant nothing.
The talk of Big Show punching Triple H being ethical was making the rounds, but if Stephanie McMahon makes fun of Show’s ineptitude to please his wife, and Triple H pays off Big Show’s mortgage, I wouldn’t expect Show to keep a calm head. He took out his frustration on the referee and ended up knocking out Randy Orton, not something the eager wrestling fans wanted to see. That moment of crowning glory, when both wrestlers give all they have to prove why they deserve to be champion, never came.
If this is exactly what the WWE had in mind, they should have reserved this for Monday Night RAW or Friday Night SmackDown but not for a WWE pay-per-view. The economy is tough as it is–especially with WWE forcing two PPVs in the month of October, not to forget the damage it does to our wallets.
The one match that probably almost-saved the day at Battleground was The Rhodes Dynasty against The Shield. Cody Rhodes finished the match on a perfect note by delivering the Cross-Rhodes to Seth Collins for the pin-fall.
This wasn’t the match fans had come to see and it wasn’t too wrong on their part when they began chanting for a refund. Pay-Per-Views are meant to be shows which are special. Shows which have some definitive ending, a proper ending.
Whether you’re a wrestling fan, a sports or a theater fan, there are three main things you look for while watching any event – a reason to spend the money on the event, an emotional connection with the event and the performers and if your time is being well-spent.
WWE Battleground failed on all three fronts.
Here’s what Twitter folk had to say about WWE Battleground -
Just watched daniel bryan v orton from #WWEBattleground great match but terrible ending! One of the most pointless PPV in recent memory
— Michael Eastcott (@meastcott) October 10, 2013
@WWE long time fan, You got great guys, please stop wearing them down with 3 week pay per views! Battleground sucked!
— Dhruva Sharma (@DhruvaSharma3) October 10, 2013
Wonder if all those IWC journalists still wanna defend 'the chase'? #bullshit #refund #wwe #Battleground
— SpreadinTheHATE (@ObnoxiousCJWebb) October 11, 2013
Finally getting around to watching #Raw, which shows how supremely unimpressed we were with the finish of #WWEBattleground. #meh
— Justine (@JustineGF) October 10, 2013