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WWE Battleground 2017: 5 Best Matches in PPV History

Bryan Heaton
Bryan Heaton

Daily DDT

Battleground, Source: WWE.com

WWE Battleground may be a relatively new pay per view event, but there have been some great matches in its short history. Here are the five best.

In less than one week, WWE Battleground will take place. This year, it’s a SmackDown Live exclusive event. The main event is set to be a Punjabi Prison match for the WWE Championship, pitting Randy Orton against champion Jinder Mahal.

The first Battleground event took place in October 2013. And if I may speak frankly, it wasn’t very good. To sum up how bad it was, the show started and ended with a vacant WWE Championship. Boy, Jinder Mahal doesn’t look so bad now, does he?

Starting the following year, Battleground has occupied a July spot in the pay per view calendar. Thankfully, the quality of the show has improved each year, as well. In fact, Battleground 2016 was one of the more underrated events of the year for WWE. It was also the final pay per view event to take place before the brand extension draft took effect.

With this year’s show rapidly approaching, it’s a good time to look back at the four Battleground shows in the event’s history. Even though some of the overall pay per views were kind of bad, there have been a few pretty good matches at the now annual event. Some of those matches even border on the great side of pretty good, too.

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So without further ado, here are the five greatest matches in WWE Battleground history.

5. Cody Rhodes & Goldust (w/ Dusty Rhodes) vs. The Shield (Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns, w/ Dean Ambrose), 2013

As I mentioned above, the inaugural Battleground was pretty bad. But out of all the muck on the card, one match stood out above all the rest. The Shield vs. The Rhodes Brothers was the best of the night without question. It had story, passion, good wrestling – everything the rest of the show lacked.

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The Shield had been dominating WWE for months. Dean Ambrose held the United States Championship, while Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns were the WWE Tag Team Champions. For several weeks, the trio had been doing the dirty work for evil authority figure Triple H.

Cody Rhodes, though, was opposed to how Triple H was conducting business, and spoke out. He was subsequently fired after losing a match to Randy Orton. This led to the return of Cody’s half brother Goldust, who lobbied for Cody to be reinstated. That plan failed, when Goldust also lost to Orton. Finally, Cody and Goldust’s father, Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes, got his boys one last chance – but he had to put his job as NXT trainer on the line.

So at Battleground, this non title tag team match had more on the line than any championship. It wasn’t the greatest match of all time, but compared to everything else on the night it seemed like Steamboat/Flair.Dusty was at ringside to support his children, and kept things fair by hitting Ambrose with the Bionic Elbow. Cody hit the Cross Rhodes on Rollins not long after, and he and Goldust both returned to WWE with the victory.

Not long after, The Rhodes Brothers would win the titles from The Shield. But at Battleground, family honor and pride was the prize.

4. The Usos (Jimmy & Jey) vs. The Wyatt Family (Erick Rowan & Luke Harper), 2014

Back in 2014, The Usos were in the midst of their first reign as WWE Tag Team Champions. By virtue of aligning themselves with John Cena, Jimmy and Jey ended up in a feud with The Wyatt Family – Cena was feuding with Bray Wyatt at the time.

Earlier in 2014, the Usos had put Harper and Rowan through tables to help Cena defeat Wyatt. This led to a title match at Money in the Bank, in which the Usos retained. The rematch would take place at Battleground, and it was a 2 out of 3 falls match.

This period in time was peak Wyatt Family, and probably the best of the Usos in their face paint, babyface run. So the match ended up being really good. Having multiple falls gave it enough time to build in intensity and up the drama.

The first two falls came fairly quickly into the match. Harper scored with a big boot less than five minutes into the match. But Jey rolled Harper up only a few minutes later to even the score. And the last ten minutes of the match were amazing. It turned into a superkick party, with Harper looking to pick up the victory with a discus clothesline.

The Usos withstood the onslaught, eventually hitting a tandem Samoan Splash on Harper for the victory. It was a great overall match, really highlighting the tag team division at the time.

3. John Cena vs. Kevin Owens, 2015

2015 was the year the greater WWE Universe was introduced to Kevin Owens. We kind of take it for granted now, since he’s done so much on the main roster since then. But his initial feud with John Cena really established what KO was capable of in WWE.

At Battleground, Owens took on Cena for the third time. Owens suprised a lot of people when he defeated Cena at Elimination Chamber. Then, Cena surprised no one when he was granted a rematch – that he won – at Money in the Bank. For the rubber match at Battleground, Cena’s United States Championship would be on the line for the first time.

And, much like the first two matches, Owens and Cena threw everything they had at each other. There were multiple finisher reversals and kickouts. There was move stealing – Owens locked Cena in the STF after an Attitude Adjustment. You name it, we saw it.

But in the end, John Cena won, because in 2015 that’s what John Cena did. Hey, at least we got to see Owens kick out of an AA from the middle rope! Still, Cena won via submission, which led to possibly the greatest crowd reaction shot since Miz Girl:

Same, people. Regardless, Owens proved his worth on the main roster, and even though he won you can’t say that Cena didn’t put Owens over. And things have worked out pretty well for KO since then, anyway.

2. Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns, 2016

In one of the most anticipated matches in recent memory, the former members of The Shield faced off in a triple threat match. It was the first time the three competed in such a match since Rollins disbanded the group two years prior. And to put an extra cherry on top, it was a match for Ambrose’s WWE Championship.

But wait, there’s more! Since Battleground 2016 was the final pay per view before the brand extension took place, whoever won would mean their show controlled WWE’s top championship. Ambrose was drafted by SmackDown Live, while Rollins and Reigns were on the Raw roster. Factor in this being the first appearance for Reigns after a suspension for a Wellness Policy violation, and this match was packed to the gills.

There were a ton of callbacks to the Shield days during the match, as well. Ambrose and Rollins worked together – briefly – to put Reigns through an announce table with a double powerbomb. Later, Rollins attacked Ambrose from behind with a chair – reminiscent of the night the Shield ceased to be.

In the end, it appeared Rollins was going to regain the championship after a Pedigree and a Buckle Bomb to Reigns. But the Big Dog countered with a Superman Punch and a Spear, only to walk into a Dirty Deeds from Ambrose. With Ambrose retaining, the entire SmackDown Live roster came to the ring to celebrate the WWE Championship remaining on Tuesday nights.

Related Story: WWE Battleground 2016: Ambrose vs. Reigns vs. Rollins Highlights

The allure of the Shield triple threat made this match stand out, and being a title match showed just how impressive the three competitors are in the ring. But there was one other match on the 2016 Battleground card that was even better…

1. Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens, 2016

While it’s never been proven that El Generico and Sami Zayn are the same person, Zayn seems to have the same kind of relationship with Kevin Owens as Generico did back in the day.

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From KO’s first day in NXT, he and Zayn have been at odds. Owens defeated Zayn for the NXT Championship, then injured him. Sami made a surprise entrance in the Royal Rumble basically just to eliminate Owens. As Owens once told El Generico, “You and I are destined to do this forever.”

At Battleground 2016, Zayn and Owens stole the show in what was supposed to be their “final encounter.” There’s something magical about the chemistry these guys have in the ring, and this night was no exception. Even a botched maneuver seems like it belonged. In the video above, Zayn goes for a rebound moonsault, but lands shoulder-first on the apron.

A spot like that could ruin a match, but Owens just instinctively attacks the shoulder. Why would he do that if Sami could be hurt? Because the show must go on. If something like that happens, within kayfabe Owens would absolutely not hesitate to try and injure his best friend turned bitter enemy. Years in the ring with each other allows both guys the ability to just react.

Brainbuster on the apron. Frog splash. Cannonball. Blue Thunder Bombs. Factor in a moment at the end where Owens just begs Sami to stay down, only to be hit with two Helluva Kicks and lose, and you have a match of the year contender. If they truly are destined to do this forever, the WWE Universe is in for a treat.

Next: WWE SummerSlam 2017: Potential John Cena Feuds

What do you think is the greatest match in WWE Battleground history?

Bryan Heaton

Bryan Heaton

Bryan lives on Long Island with his wife and a pug, and more often than not there's some form of wrestling or another playing on the TV or computer. Follow him on Twitter @BigHeat34 to talk about WWE, NXT, or Chikara (seriously, wrestling ice creams and wrestling ants are AMAZING), or introduce him to your favorite promotions or matches!