WWE Stomping Grounds is shaping up to be very lackluster

WWE Stomping Grounds already feels like it’s going to end up being another failed attempt at adding a new, lasting pay-per-view.

In the era of the WWE Network, there hasn’t really been any new pay-per-views that have caught on.

By that, I mean there hasn’t been a new show which looks like it could have the staying power of an event like Money in the Bank or SummerSlam. All of WWE’s attempts at making a new show just seem to fall flat.

Payback, Roadblock, Battleground, and even, goodness gracious, Great Balls of Fire highlight a list of instantly forgettable pay-per-view brands that never really stood a chance of being remembered with the same air of respect that even shows like The Great American Bash and Halloween Havoc receive nowadays.

Unfortunately, with the current card, it looks like you’ll soon be able to add Stomping Grounds to that list of forgotten shows too.

Although Stomping Grounds, at least in my opinion, is one of the better names out of that list, it’s card could go down as one of the least noteworthy in a long time.

Featuring no less than 4 rematches and likely counting, Stomping Grounds has all the makings of a lackluster pay-per-view. In fact, scratch that, Stomping Grounds has all the makings of a lackluster Monday Night Raw.

Seriously, if you put these matches on a weekly episode of Monday Night Raw, sans the world titles being on the line of course, then probably very few people would bat an eye.

Seth Rollins versus Baron Corbin lacks any semblance of intrigue beyond the potential for a Brock  Lesnar cash-in. That’s sad too, because a Lesnar cash-in is really starting to lose it’s luster after 2 promised attempts have came and went without ‘The Beast Incarnate’ exercising his contract.

Roman Reigns versus Drew McIntyre was a match we actually saw on Raw only a couple of weeks ago, enough said there. Additionally, Becky Lynch has faced Lacey Evans in 2 tag matches over the last few weeks, both of which Evans lost I might add.

Actually, Evans has come up on the losing end of essentially every major match she’s been in lately. It makes you wonder how WWE can justify giving her a title shot in the storylines, but I suppose that’s still a better question to ponder than ones which might come to mind for other recent NXT call-ups like EC3 and Sanity.

Finally, wrapping up this rematch extravaganza, we have Kofi Kingston versus Dolph Ziggler with the added twist of  a steel cage.

Now, I have to admit that this rematch isn’t as bad as the others. Kingston and Ziggler have a long history with one another that does bring back a hint of nostalgia. Nevertheless, it’s still going to be a rematch from a show that basically just happened, and from a rivalry that hasn’t gained much traction.

In other words, a steel cage doesn’t really do much to help here.

That leaves us with Bayley versus Alexa Bliss as our one, singular fresh match-up on the card. It should be a good match and feud for Bayley to really kick-off her SmackDown Women’s Championship reign.

That is, if WWE doesn’t muddle the storyline any more than it already has by having Bliss essentially be a face on Raw and heel on SmackDown.

I know we’re all suppose to know that it’s only a matter of time before Bliss turns on Nikki Cross and ends their budding friendship on Raw. Still, having Bliss as a heel on SmackDown already is probably going to ruin the moment a bit.

It also goes without saying that Bliss’ title shot likely means we’re not going to see her and Cross challenge for the Women’s Tag Team Championships at Stomping Grounds, potentially leaving The IIconics without a pay-per-view match again.

It’s booking like that which makes me wonder if there’s actually any way at all for WWE to turn Stomping Grounds into a noteworthy show in the short amount of time they have left.

At this point, added stipulations, potential cash-ins, and even somewhat fresh and intriguing match-ups all seem incapable of saving Stomping Grounds from being yet another ill-fated attempt at freshening up WWE’s pay-per-view schedule.