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WWE Battleground 2017 Live Results: Highlights, Analysis, and Grades

By Rob Wolkenbrod

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Punjabi Prison Match for the WWE Championship
Jinder Mahal (c) vs. Randy Orton

Result: Jinder Mahal defeats Randy Orton to retain the WWE Championship.

Rating: 2.25 out of 5 stars

Well, the Punjabi Prison is here after 10 years away from the WWE. Was it missed? Maybe not, but it’s back and at Battleground.

Jinder Mahal and Randy Orton feuded for the past three months, with a title change at Backlash. It gave Mahal his first WWE Championship win and kept the momentum up at Money in the Bank. Would this continue at Battleground?

For those in attendance, a Punjabi Prison match is difficult to watch and get into. It’s a higher-than-normal structure that’s multicolored, so fans can’t see well into the ring. Watching on a television is even distracting at times.

From start to finish, there was just no life to this match. Mahal and Orton tried, but the rules of this match hindered it and being inside a cage usually doesn’t equate to a great WWE match (unless it’s Hell in a Cell).

So The Singh Brothers showed up, despite their previous words of not being ale to enter. They saved Mahal and brought him through the fourth door before Orton could. So the Viper had to climb up and over the first part of the structure, but hopped to the second part. Mahal met him there, however, the action stayed on the floor between the cages.

As it looked like Orton had a chance to win, Mahal’s music went off, but it turned out to be The Great Khali. He marched to the ring, climbed the cage and choked out Orton. This led to the Maharaja climbing the cage and winning the match.

The Great Khali? What? Random but it worked. He had the ties to the Punjabi Prison and the Indian connection to Mahal. What it leads to will be interesting, though, since Kkahli has been away from the WWE for a few years. Is he part of a stable? Was it just a one-off?

Mahal also gets to walk into SummerSlam as the WWE Champion, which will be his biggest defense to date. His opponent is up in the air, but it should get him away from Orton.