Battleground 2013

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 197 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: January 6 2014

The first Battleground event has a decent line-up, but strangely misfires in several ways, making it feel like a glorified episode of Raw. Therefore, whilst not terrible, the DVD is a bit of a struggle to watch.

The opening Hardcore match between Alberto Del Rio and Rob Van Dam is pretty good, to be fair, and the big tag team showdown between The Shield and the combo of Cody Rhodes and Goldust is very dramatic.

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Battleground 2014

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 178 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: September 29 2014

Battleground 2014 was the poorest WWE event of the year thus far, and therefore it's hard to recommend the DVD release. The review could potentially end there, but I'll go into a bit more detail.

Actually, it starts well with an excellent Two Out Of Three Falls doubles match between The Usos and the much-improved combo of Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. AJ Lee vs. Paige is also decent. But the event falters from there: the tasteless pre-match promo by Lana overshadows the Rusev-Jack Swagger match; even if it hadn't, the screwy finish would spoil the bout anyway. The advertised Seth Rollins-Dean Ambrose doesn't happen, with a series of angles which would have been more at home on Raw. Chris Jericho pointlessly pins Bray Wyatt, and the Intercontinental Title Battle Royal is enjoyable enough, but has another groan-inducing climax. The main event, pitting John Cena against Randy Orton, Kane and Roman Reigns, is a pretty good match, but it has that "seen it all before" feel to it, and the result is never in doubt.

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Battleground 2015

Image Source: Amazon

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 177 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: September 14 2015

(To read a full event review of WWE Battleground 2015, click here.)

Battleground 2015 is one of those cards which, in hindsight, has slipped a little under the radar, perhaps because its main event was primarily used to set up the headline clash at SummerSlam the following month. However, when reliving the show, Battleground is definitely one of WWE's better cards of the year with some great in-ring action, making for an enjoyable DVD release.

Randy Orton vs. Sheamus is a good opener, enhanced by the strong atmosphere since the show was held in Orton's hometown of St Louis, Missouri. After WWE tries to remind us that Stephanie McMahon alone was responsible for what would become the revolution of women's wrestling in the company (which couldn't be further from the truth), we have a standard WWE Tag Team Title match between The Prime Time Players and The New Day, at a time when New Day were in the process of becoming the incredibly entertaining trio act that would result in their popularity exploding.

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Battleground 2016

Image Source: Fetch Publicity

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Running Time: 192 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Number Of Discs: 1
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Released: September 19 2016

(To read a full event review of WWE Battleground 2016, click here.)

(Thanks to Fetch Publicity for arranging this review.)

There was a danger that Battleground would have been a forgettable PPV, coming as it did just days after the Draft and right before the Raw and SmackDown rosters were officially re-introduced, meaning that much of the PPV card involved matches and storylines which could go no further beyond the show, with so many wrestlers assigned to opposite brands. However, the show succeeded due to a number of memorable matches and moments, and you can now relive the card on DVD.

For those who haven't seen Battleground, I won't spoil the identity of Sasha Bank's mystery partner in her battle against Charlotte and Dana Brooke, but it is a nice feel-good moment and the bout itself is a good one. It feels like forever now since The New Day took on The Wyatt Family, although Xavier Woods gets a rare chance to shine as part of his fear of Bray Wyatt, and Rusev vs. Zack Ryder is okay, albeit nothing special. Next up, we have an outstanding bout between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn which draws a line under their feud (for now). It wasn't quite the Match Of The Year, in my opinion, due to some slow periods early on and noticeable non-selling towards the end, but it is still a strong encounter and unquestionably the best on this particular PPV, as well as a fitting way to close a rivalry that we are told will probably never truly end.

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WWE Battleground 2016

Image Source: Wrestling News

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: July 24 2016
Location: Verizon Center, Washington, DC, USA
Attendance: 15,109

This year's Battleground event felt like a transitional show due to the Draft taking place last Tuesday. The WWE roster has once again been split into two, but the line-up changes would not become official until after Battleground. Only thing is, many of the PPV storylines had been compromised by the brand extension, meaning that some rivalries had lost any meaning, since the supershow bouts were now essentially pointless. That all being said, despite the less-than-enthusiastic feeling amongst fans prior to this card, the talent came through with several great matches and moments, all of which resulted in Battleground being one of the top events of the year so far.

The Kick-Off Show gave us The Usos vs. Breezango, a logical bout since the two teams were chosen by SmackDown. This was a by-the-numbers doubles match for the most part, with Tyler Breeze and Fandango repelling early offence by the supposedly babyface combo by taking control and wearing down Jey. He inevitably made the hot tag to Jimmy leading to an Usos comeback. Tyler prevented an Usos Doomsday Device but he and Fandango still tasted a high crossbody from Jimmy. In the end, Jey launched himself through the ropes to take out Fandango at ringside, and Tyler blocked a Jimmy splash and rolled him up for the surprise victory for Breezango.

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WWE Battleground 2013

Image Source: Sportskeeda

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: October 6 2013
Location: First Niagara Center, Buffalo, New York, USA
Attendance: 11,700

The first ever Battleground PPV (which comes after the inaugural Payback supershow in June) felt like a transitional PPV, both beforehand and in execution. The in-ring action promised to be pretty good on the whole, and so it proved to be, with one match in particular standing out as being better than already-positive expectations. But the finish to the main event, the somewhat inconclusive ending to another big match and the promise of a more significant double main event at Hell In A Cell (made on Raw the night after Battleground) added to the feeling that this was far from a must-see show.

Following an enjoyable pre-show match which saw Dolph Ziggler beat Damien Sandow, Battleground opened with a Hardcore match for the World Heavyweight Championship between Alberto Del Rio and challenger Rob Van Dam, accompanied by Ricardo Rodriguez. There were a couple of ways this one could have gone, although if ADR was going over I would have liked to see a Del Rio-Ricardo reunion, since it just feels wrong that the two are apart (and both men have lost part of their charm without the other by their side). On the other hand, since Hardcore rules fits within Van Dam's ECW-based offence, there was also the chance of a new World Champion being crowned here.

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WWE Battleground 2014

Image Source: Wrestling
DVD Network

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: July 20 2014
Location: Tampa Bay Times Forum, Tampa, Florida, USA
Attendance: 12,000

Some supercards feel inconsequential beforehand. It doesn't mean that they will suck, nor that they won't provide entertainment. It means that in the grand scheme of things, they have little significance. There's usually at least one show a year with this vibe to it, whereby you could skip the show and not miss a beat, as far as following the storylines is concerned.

Battleground 2014 had that feeling beforehand. The main event was fresh, yet it also felt familiar, and the result seemed like a foregone conclusion. Not only was John Cena (Big Match John, don't forget) defending the WWE Title against former titleholder Randy Orton, the past-his-prime Kane and the not-yet-ready-for-the-title Roman Reigns, but heavy rumours stemming from a leaked PPV poster online suggested that Cena would be defending the gold against Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. This show would be the last chance for WWE to pull a swerve and divert from that path, but was it really feasible? Meanwhile, with the exception of Bray Wyatt vs. Chris Jericho, nothing else truly stood out beforehand as being something that you hadn't seen regularly on Raw or SmackDown. Rollins vs. Ambrose and AJ vs. Paige sounded intriguing, but the show still felt like a preview to SummerSlam during its build-up.

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WWE Battleground 2015

Image Source: Social Suplex

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: July 19 2015
Location: Metro Sports Center, Evansville, Indiana, USA
Attendance: 11,000

For the third year, WWE presented Battleground as one of its PPV events/Network supershows, but this was the first time when the card felt unmissable. It promised the return to Pay-Per-View of "The Beast", Brock Lesnar as he looked to regain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship from Seth Rollins, who would be all alone after Lesnar had taken out J&J Security and Kane in the run-up to the show. Battleground would also feature the third - and presumably feud-ending - collision between John Cena and Kevin Owens, this time with the United States Title at stake. There were also other bouts which sounded promising beforehand, so there was a good amount of anticipation heading into Battleground 2015.

Before the main show, we had the Kick-Off match between King Barrett and R-Truth in the culmination of a fun yet daft storyline. Barrett became King Of The Ring fairly by all accounts, yet at some point Truth decided in his somewhat not-all-together state that he was the true King, at one point wearing a deliberately poor crown and holding an intentionally weak sceptre. Barrett's recent win over Truth on Raw seemed to end this rivalry, but no, the feud carried on. Finally on the Battleground Kick-Off, they finished their quarrel with a fairly entertaining match. Truth's stale character and advanced age, plus his seven years of WWE service, distract one from the fact that he can put on a good showing in the ring, as he did here. The result was never in doubt, though, as Barrett hit Truth with a "royal" Bull Hammer to pick up the pinfall win and prove that he was the real King, which wasn't doubted by anyone besides Truth himself.

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