WWE Battleground 2017 Results: Best and Worst Moments

Battleground, Source: WWE.com

WWE Battleground is over and done with. Here are the best and worst moments from the last SmackDown Live pay per view before SummerSlam.

Well, another edition of WWE Battleground has come and gone. Championships were defended, wars were waged, and feuds reached their climax.

The big match of the night was the WWE Championship match. For just the third time in history, two superstars met inside the Punjabi Prison. The dual bamboo cage hadn’t housed a match in 10 years. But with a heated rivalry around the WWE Title, something was needed to contain the action.

On the undercard, Bulgaria and the US of A faced off in a Flag Match. (It was a very “international incident” kind of night.) The New Face of America fought tooth and nail to try and regain the United States Championship. And the women’s division saw a new number one contender get crowned after a five-way elimination match.

Past Battleground shows have been poorly received by many fans. Of course, there’s bound to be some kind of mix of good and bad on any card. Sometimes a bad match has a great, iconic moment in the middle of it. You never know if a show that looks good on paper will live up to the expectations.

Related Story: WWE Battleground: 5 Best Matches in History

Please read ahead for all the best and worst moments of WWE Battleground 2017.

Source: WWE.com

Best: That Superkick

The opening contest for Battleground was the Tag Team Championship match. But the way both teams fought, it felt like a main event war.

The entire match was amazing, from bell to bell. Whether we’re talking kayfabe or not, The Usos and New Day are two of the best tag teams in WWE. There’s no reason to not expect a great match out of these superstars.

But I doubt anyone was expecting the classic that we got. There was so much going on that it was hard to keep up with some of the action. Kofi went for a Trust Fall, but got a double powerbomb on the floor for his troubles. Xavier Woods pulled out something that I can only describe as a casadora sunset flip bomb facebuster. It was nuts.

However, one moment stood out above all the others. Woods looked to put the match to bed with a cross country elbow drop on Jey Uso. But as Woods was in mid air, Jey rolled out of the way. To add insult to injury, Jimmy gave a wicked superkick to Woods on the way down. Take a look at this:

Yeesh. Somehow, Woods managed to kick out, and the match continued. Eventually, Woods managed to hit the move after Kofi dropped a Trouble in Paradise, and New Day picked up a victory. They’re the first team to hold both the Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Championships.

Source: WWE.com

Worst: Below the Belt

It’s been acknowledged by a lot of people that Shinsuke Nakamura’s time on the main roster thus far has been underwhelming. Sure, his entrance is a spectacle, but the impression he’s given as a competitor is less than favorable to those who hadn’t seen him before SmackDown. But it’s nothing a strong showing in a decisive victory can’t fix.

Problem is, that wasn’t going to happen at Battleground this year. Nakamura took on Baron Corbin, Mr. Money in the Bank. And unless Corbin is getting the Damien Sandow treatment, he’s not going to look weak any time in the near future.

All that aside, a lot of the match was pretty good. Nakamura had a good showing. Corbin held his own, making his presence felt. How about that clothesline Corbin delivered after sliding out and back into the ring? He darn near turned Shinsuke inside out!

But the finish of the match all but threw everything before it out the window. It was the most garbage of garbage finishes. Corbin was in trouble, and likely about to eat a Kinshasa. But instead, big bad Lone Wolf Corbin decides to kick Nakamura in the junk, getting himself intentionally disqualified.

Look, a heel taking an intentional loss is usually bad, but it can be used effectively. It’s really only effective if there are consequences to not intentionally getting DQed – like a title on the line. That’s not the case here – Corbin can’t lose the briefcase. Is he so afraid of Nakamura that he doesn’t think he’d be able to avoid the Kinshasa, or kick out if he’s hit with it?

It’s a lousy finish that prolongs a rivalry that isn’t doing either guy any favors. And speaking of lousy finishes…

Source: WWE.com

Worst: No Fireworks, Just Fizzle

I am so confused with the finish to the United States Championship match.

For 15 minutes or so, AJ Styles defended the US Title with everything he had. Kevin Owens, similarly, threw everything in his playbook at the Phenomenal One. There were moves in this match that you rarely, if ever, see from these superstars.

At around the 15 minute mark, all hell started to break loose. Styles went for a Phenomenal Forearm, but Owens wisely snuck under the ropes. When Styles landed on the apron, he fell victim to a sort of leg sweep, injuring his shoulder when he fell hard on the apron (IT’S THE HARDEST PART OF THE RING).

With a busted wing, Styles had his offense compromised. He still went for a Styles Clash, but Owens was easily able to reverse it – by throwing Styles into the referee like a lawn dart.

With the official incapacitated, Styles and Owens traded submission holds, with Styles eventually getting the upper hand with a cross face. The ref came to, and Owens shifted his weight to attempt a pinfall on Styles.

And for some reason, one of the greatest wrestlers on the planet had a brain fart, and didn’t release the hold. He literally lost a championship because he thought he could get Owens to tap out before the three count.

Uh, what?

It makes no sense. It’s a worse finish than their previous pay per view match – when Styles was trapped in the monitor slot of the announce table. What does this accomplish? If the feud is over – and one would think it is – it’s the weakest end to what should have been an absolute fire rivalry.

Source: WWE.com

Best: Show Your Work

For all the faults on this show after the excellent tag title opener, there were flashes of brilliance throughout. One came after the number one contender’s match for the Women’s Championship.

The match itself was nothing really special. Almost all of the women involved have had better matches at some point in their career. It wasn’t bad, but in this day and age, it’s almost a letdown when talented superstars don’t blow you away.

A big letdown in the match was that all of the eliminations came so close together. When the entire affair was about 11 minutes, and three eliminations took place within the same 45 second time period, it’s almost unfair.

Regardless, when all was said and done, Natalya emerged as the new number one contender after a clean victory over Charlotte. Now Nattie will take on Naomi for the title at SummerSlam. The champ was at ringside for commentary during the match, and afterward, she entered the ring to congratulate Natalya.

But Nattie refused a handshake, walking away and disrespecting Naomi instead. It’s a very simple story to tell. WWE is notorious for telling the audience how to react, but not giving reasons to react that way. Here, the presentation is such that a natural reaction is to say, “Wow, she wouldn’t shake the champ’s hand? That’s cold.”

So in thirty seconds with no dialogue, we know Natalya, the veteran of the division, is in no mood to make friends anymore. She’s out for gold, that’s it. We also know Naomi is angry at being rebuffed. She feels she’s got something to prove. Half the build to a SummerSlam contest is already done, and there’s still a month to go. Think of how impressive the story could be by the time we get to Brooklyn.

Source: WWE.com

Best: The Truth Is Out There, So We’ll Keep Looking

First things first: I’m a little disappointed that after being promised closure to the case, we got bupkis.

HOWEVER, the end result of that means we’re getting more Fashion Police backstage segments. That’s a win in my book.

It’s not really a secret that Fandango and Tyler Breeze are comedic geniuses. They are such natural entertainers that nearly everything they do lately is gold. Their chemistry is second to none, as well. The recent cycle through all the different genres of cop movies/television has been brilliant.

The meta quality to the Fashion Files segments really puts them over the top. Callbacks to previous installments – even if the style being parodied is different – and references to the fact that it’s all a goof make them must watch television.

The Battleground “finale” teased The Ascension as the culprits, which would have been a huge letdown. Thankfully, WWE knows that, and swerved us all. We still don’t know who’s behind the office trashing. The major suspects have all either been ruled out (Ascension) or aren’t around anymore for whatever reason (American Alpha, The Colons).

Once the reveal is finally made, I reserve the right to withdraw this assessment if it’s lame. But with the only real possibility at this point being a reunited Harper and Rowan, it’ll probably be a big thing. And tonight’s Fashion Files was one of the few bright spots on Battleground, so we’ll leave it at that for now.

Source: WWE.com

Worst: Don’t Call It a Comeback

**sigh**

Out on the ol’ Twitter earlier today, I saw some tweets referencing a possible appearance by The Great Khali. I assumed it was sarcastic jesting. The same Twitter user – James McKenna from Pro Wrestling Sheet – had accurately dropped subtle hints about the Jason Jordan-Kurt Angle reveal, so maybe I should have known better.

The Punjabi Prison match was the second of the way too long, way too predictable gimmick matches at Battleground. (Did we really need to watch 20+ minutes of Cena vs. Rusev, knowing exactly how it was going to end before it even started?) And there’s a pretty good reason that this was only the third such match in WWE history – it’s kind of a dumb match.

The rules are ridiculous, the door situation is insane, and the cages make it so that you can’t really see what’s going on from most camera angles. Wonderful for a pay per view main event!

So after about 25 minutes of Randy Orton basically dominating a 3 on 1 handicap match against Jinder Mahal and The Singh Brothers, it looked like The Viper was about to climb out of the outer cage. Suddenly, Jinder Mahal’s music began to play – because I guess playing Khali’s music would have been too weird? – and the former World Heavyweight Champion lumbered down to ringside.

(It should be noted that Orton probably could have climbed out and juked around Khali before he got halfway down the ramp, but whatever.)

Thankfully, we’re spared another Randy Orton WWE Championship reign for the time being. But thanks to the cursed monkey paw of wrestling fandom, the tradeoff is Jinder Mahal adding The Great Khali to his stable of lackeys. No one asked for that.

Next: WWE Battleground 2017 Review

What did you think of WWE Battleground 2017?