Battleground 2014 was the 2nd annual Battleground event that took place on July 20, 2014 at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa Florida. It was one of the early WWE Network PPV events that was live as the WWE Network was on the rise. Attendence was at 12,000 with a buyrate of 99,000 (which would drop for PPVs due to the optional WWE Network for $9.99 a month. 8 matches took place on the show with 2 being available on the Preshow (which unfortunately are hard to fine now in days). The Main Event saw a Fatel-Four-Way match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
The Good - The opening was without a doubt an outstanding classic. The Usos fought Luke Harper & Erick Rowan in a 2 out of 3 Falls Tag match for the Tag Team belts. I remember the Usos around this period werw my favorite Tag Team of the roster and The Wyatt Family was a hot stable that everyone came to love. Some emotion was in this match for me due to 1/4 men (Luke Harper) no longer with us. He was such an underrated performer. Match was hot from the start. The main event was really good although somewhat predictable (something I'll get to) All men were prepared for the spots with no major botches TBH.
The Meh - Chris Jericho vs. Bray Wyatt was good but it could have been way better. Jericho could be excused as rusty as he was gone for 1 year for acting and music. Battle Royal seemed to be in a rush for awhile but in the end turned out to be decent. Last Paige vs. AJ Lee was okay but a little botchy. Awkward selling from Paige as she was acting like she been Wrestling for 30 minutes and ran out of ideas to beat AJ Lee. One major issue that started during this period was Roman Reigns. It was weird how he got put into this title picture after the Shield Breakup and they start off in the midcard only him with no character change or anything to just get put up in the title picture.
The Bad - Jack Swagger vs. Rusev was a snooze. Anything that ends in a count out is gonna usually hurt. It seemed the opener was too good that WWE didn't really have anything else in store to make as big of a match as that. JBL was also awful at commentary trying too hard to be a heel announcer and that's not a compliment. By far the biggest negative was the ad for Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose. Crowd was upset by the result of the booking. Can't blame them. Being advertised to see something like that and attending and not getting it is a risky thing.
Overall - Show was mostly used to build up SummerSlam. That really affected the show. SummerSlam was still over 30 days away and this show just felt mostly like a filler. Aside from the opener, nothing really was that impressive for this PPV. Main Event also kinda saved but it wasn't an instant classic.
Score - 5 out of 10: Mediocre
0 = Terrible: 1 = Bad/Lackluster: 2 = Decent: 3 = Good: 4 = Awesome: 5 = One of the Best of all Time:
1. Harper & Rowan vs. The Usos: WWE Tag Team Championship (2 out of 3) - 4.5/5
2. Paige vs. AJ Lee: WWE Divas Championship - 2/5
3. Jack Swagger vs. Rusev - 1/5
4. Bray Wyatt vs. Chris Jericho - 3/5
5. Battleground Battle Royal: WWE Intercontinental Championship - 2/5
6. John Cena vs. Roman Reigns vs. Kane vs. Randy Orton: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - 3.5/5
Best Match - The Usos vs. Luke Harper & Erick Rowan
Worst Match - Rusev vs. Jack Swagger
Most Memorable Moment - Usos double Frog Splash to Rowan
Top 5 Performers
1. Usos - Outstanding Performance
2. Harper & Rowan - Outstanding Performance
3. Roman Reigns - Look good honestly in early run
4. John Cena - Good Performance
5. Sheamus - Carried most of the Battle Royal.
The Good - The opening was without a doubt an outstanding classic. The Usos fought Luke Harper & Erick Rowan in a 2 out of 3 Falls Tag match for the Tag Team belts. I remember the Usos around this period werw my favorite Tag Team of the roster and The Wyatt Family was a hot stable that everyone came to love. Some emotion was in this match for me due to 1/4 men (Luke Harper) no longer with us. He was such an underrated performer. Match was hot from the start. The main event was really good although somewhat predictable (something I'll get to) All men were prepared for the spots with no major botches TBH.
The Meh - Chris Jericho vs. Bray Wyatt was good but it could have been way better. Jericho could be excused as rusty as he was gone for 1 year for acting and music. Battle Royal seemed to be in a rush for awhile but in the end turned out to be decent. Last Paige vs. AJ Lee was okay but a little botchy. Awkward selling from Paige as she was acting like she been Wrestling for 30 minutes and ran out of ideas to beat AJ Lee. One major issue that started during this period was Roman Reigns. It was weird how he got put into this title picture after the Shield Breakup and they start off in the midcard only him with no character change or anything to just get put up in the title picture.
The Bad - Jack Swagger vs. Rusev was a snooze. Anything that ends in a count out is gonna usually hurt. It seemed the opener was too good that WWE didn't really have anything else in store to make as big of a match as that. JBL was also awful at commentary trying too hard to be a heel announcer and that's not a compliment. By far the biggest negative was the ad for Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose. Crowd was upset by the result of the booking. Can't blame them. Being advertised to see something like that and attending and not getting it is a risky thing.
Overall - Show was mostly used to build up SummerSlam. That really affected the show. SummerSlam was still over 30 days away and this show just felt mostly like a filler. Aside from the opener, nothing really was that impressive for this PPV. Main Event also kinda saved but it wasn't an instant classic.
Score - 5 out of 10: Mediocre
0 = Terrible: 1 = Bad/Lackluster: 2 = Decent: 3 = Good: 4 = Awesome: 5 = One of the Best of all Time:
1. Harper & Rowan vs. The Usos: WWE Tag Team Championship (2 out of 3) - 4.5/5
2. Paige vs. AJ Lee: WWE Divas Championship - 2/5
3. Jack Swagger vs. Rusev - 1/5
4. Bray Wyatt vs. Chris Jericho - 3/5
5. Battleground Battle Royal: WWE Intercontinental Championship - 2/5
6. John Cena vs. Roman Reigns vs. Kane vs. Randy Orton: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - 3.5/5
Best Match - The Usos vs. Luke Harper & Erick Rowan
Worst Match - Rusev vs. Jack Swagger
Most Memorable Moment - Usos double Frog Splash to Rowan
Top 5 Performers
1. Usos - Outstanding Performance
2. Harper & Rowan - Outstanding Performance
3. Roman Reigns - Look good honestly in early run
4. John Cena - Good Performance
5. Sheamus - Carried most of the Battle Royal.
