The 2016 WWE Battleground pay-per-view isn’t going down until July 24th and everyone is still reeling from the events that transpired at Money in the Bank, so it makes sense for WWE to not have the card set in place yet.
However, that doesn’t stop us from trying to guess what’s going to happen anyway, right?
Looking at what was set up on tonight’s edition of Monday Night Raw, it seems as though some plans are being set up while other matches are totally up for speculation and could go in plenty of different directions.
Without further ado, let’s get into some predictions…
WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins
So far, this is the only match that has been confirmed, and it’s something that fans have wanted to see for years now. We’ll be talking about this ad nauseam for the next month, so I’ll leave most of the discussion up for later articles myself and others will be writing soon.
For now, it’s just a matter of trying to pick a favorite for the match. Is Roman Reigns going to simply win back the title after giving his haters a brief respite? Will the so-called rightful champ who never “truly” lost the belt, Seth Rollins, reclaim as he predicted (and admittedly made good on the promise to do)?
Nope. I’m going with Dean Ambrose continuing his very fresh title reign, if not just to keep him from losing credibility with being just a transitional champion. Stranger things have happened, and Ambrose has had terrible luck with big matches over the course of the past two years, but I’m optimistic that he won’t be mistreated like that for this pay-per-view.
AJ Styles vs. John Cena
A rematch between these two is inevitable, and I highly doubt WWE will burn through this feud on episodes of Raw and SmackDown rather than waiting for the bigger events.
Since Styles has one up on Cena, it makes sense for the opposite to happen here with Cena coming out on top, evening the score 1-1. The easiest story to tell going into SummerSlam will be that they both have a win and a rubber match with some kind of stipulation attached to it will determine who gets the true victory.
As far as what that gimmick will be, I would expect the outcome of their Battleground match to be what sparks the discussion of that type of match. For example, if Anderson and Gallows get involved, causing a disqualification victory for Cena, it may be a steel cage match to keep them out. Another possible option is a Last Man Standing match, as Cena wrestles in those all the time. There’s a chance it’s even something as simple as a No DQ match or an I Quit match, but I don’t think any of those gimmicks will be applied to what’s happening to Battleground.
Look out for a generic rematch where Cena picks up the victory, but the feud will be far from over.
Intercontinental Championship
There’s no telling when The Miz will be done filming The Marine 782 (that’s what they’re up to now ,right?) but I’m starting to think he’s not wrestling at Battleground just as he missed out at Money in the Bank.
If he does, there are a lot of midcarders who could step up to the challenge, but we also don’t know which show The Miz will be on and which of those wrestlers will be surrounding him on the roster.
United States Championship: Rusev vs. Titus O’Neil
While it seems like The Miz may not be defending his title, it looks like Rusev might be stuck copying and pasting what happened at Money in the Bank by putting his belt on the line in a match against Titus O’Neil.
I’m curious if anyone is really interested in seeing this, as I can’t imagine many people were pumped to see their first match, let alone were so into it that they were hoping for a repeat.
If you are amped for Rusev vs Titus II, what kind of a match are you hoping they have? WWE wants everyone to think this is a much more bitter feud than it may come off to some, so if that’s true, there should logically be some kind of stipulation, right? These two should hate each other so much that they can only butt heads in a No Holds Barred environment.
Somehow, I think that isn’t going to happen, and this will just end up being another buffer segment or get moved onto the pre-show, with Rusev retaining yet again.
Women’s Championship
For a long time, many fans (myself included) have just been working under the assumption that Sasha Banks would get a title shot against Charlotte at SummerSlam, with Battleground being another situation where someone is fed to the champion to set her up.
Now that Banks has made her return and went straight for Charlotte, it looks like WWE is bumping that plan up a month in advance.
If this match ends up taking place, I wouldn’t be shocked at all to see Charlotte retain through some kind of bullshittery in order to set up a Fatal 4-Way which would include Sasha Banks, Paige and Becky Lynch, as those seem to be the top four women outside of Dana Brooke and Natalya who could be in the title picture come August.
Then again, if the plan is to wait for Sasha to get her opportunity, WWE may just feed Paige to Charlotte, as she was robbed in her title match on Raw.
Tag Team Championship: The New Day vs. The Wyatt Family
This was clearly set up, so there’s no questioning whether or not it’s going to happen—it is. The only question is whether or not it will involve all six men or be a case where two members of both teams are in the match with the third man on the outside.
For my money, I’m hoping everyone is in the match, just for something different. The alternative isn’t something that would be awful by any means, but how often do we get to see the full stable of The New Day act as a cohesive unit while defending the belts rather than just teaming up against random people on Raw and SmackDown?
I had thought The Club would get the tag titles by now, so for The New Day to face The Wyatt Family instead, that throws my predictions way off. When it comes to picking a winner for this bout, I’m hesitant to trust either side of the argument, but I’m leaning towards The New Day retaining somehow (ie, by pinning Erick Rowan).
Apollo Crews vs. Sheamus
Conspicuous by their absence tonight, one would think WWE may be dropping this feud, but I disagree. As soon as the next episode of SmackDown, Sheamus could be cutting a promo about how Apollo Crews only won via a fluke pin and that he’s going to kick his head off to make up for that. Crews needs more than just that small win over Sheamus to help legitimize him going forward and Sheamus’s character is definitely not one to stand for that loss without seeking some kind of vengeance.
Whether it happens on the pre-show or the main show itself, I fully expect Crews and Sheamus to go at it again, and contrary to the AJ Styles vs John Cena rematch, I think we’ll see a 2-0 score with Crews winning this one as well, just more definitively.
What about everyone else?
There are still so many people not listed here yet, despite the card filling up quite a bit. The losers of the Money in the Bank ladder match (Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Cesaro, Alberto Del Rio, Chris Jericho) are all absent from the matches above, as are Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, and every tag team on the roster except The New Day and The Wyatt Family.
Some of those, such as The Golden Truth, Breezango, The Dudley Boyz, and The Lucha Dragons just may skip this because there are bigger fish to fry. The Vaudevillains may be grouped into that category as well.
Enzo and Cass are big enough names that they should wrestle, but unless they face Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows or do something more randomized, I wouldn’t bet the house that they’ll compete. Even Anderson and Gallows could be doing nothing official and only appearing in the Styles vs. Cena match.
Since there were 11 matches at Money in the Bank, I’m inclined to believe the majority of the tag teams will be left out of the mix, but the singles stars will find some way to be booked on the show, as it would just be weird for five of the six men in the ladder match to go from so high up to doing nothing.
Will Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens keep their rivalry going, as hinted at on Raw? Cesaro and Alberto Del Rio didn’t make any appearance, and Chris Jericho only had beef with Shane McMahon, so SmackDown is going to be the best indicator of what is going to happen with those three for sure.
What matches do you think will take place at Battleground 2016? Drop a comment below with your card predictions!
