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 Money In The Bank 2016

Image Source:
Champions Of The Champions

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: June 19 2016
Location: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Attendance: 14,000

In the run-up to the latest supershow, WWE was hyping it as "the greatest Money In The Bank PPV ever". The card certainly looked promising beforehand, with two potentially great singles matches and the annual MITB Ladder war. But, like with the "New Era" talk, it was WWE overdoing the self-promotion rather than letting the fans decide (it hadn't even happened when WWE was stating this about the card). As things transpired, it was definitely a night to remember as the main matches lived up to the hype, and there was a major development to end the show - but was it truly the best MITB to date?

On the Kick-Off show, we had two matches on this occasion, both of which were tag team matches (incidentally, Jerry Lawler was absent from the pre-show due to a suspension brought about by problems at home). The first pitted Breezango against The Golden Truth. Goldust and R-Truth have had a very slow build to the formation of their comedy tag team, and once they did form, they have lost multiple times to the new combo of Tyler Breeze and Fandango. But Breezango were at a big disadvantage here because, the previous Monday, they had been sharing a sunbed at the same time (which was funny in itself) and GT turned up the heat quite literally, resulting in them supposedly being near-burned to a crisp. This made them look ridiculous (think Rodney Trotter in the hang-gliding episode of Only Fools and Horses), and made even their slightest movements painful for the heels to absorb. Admittedly, this did raise a few laughs before Goldust finished off Fandango with the Final Cut (or whatever Goldust calls his finisher these days) to finally get a win for The Golden Truth.

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WWE Extreme Rules 2013

Image Source: Youtube

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: May 19 2013
Location: Scottrade Center, St Louis, Missouri, USA
Attendance: 14,500

The first PPV after WrestleMania 29 had a pretty big line-up, in keeping with the gimmick theme of the show. There were star-studded speciality matches all across the card, culminating in what seemed (and hopefully was) to be the final chapter in the Triple H-Brock Lesnar feud. But would things get as extreme as they did last year when Lesnar busted John Cena open hard on multiple occasions?

After a pre-show bout which saw The Miz defeat Cody Rhodes, Extreme Rules opened with Chris Jericho vs. Fandango. This was a WrestleMania rematch, and since Mania, Fandango's popularity - or rather, popularity of his entrance music - has exploded due to a rowdy New Jersey crowd chanting it loud and proud, albeit completely tongue in cheek, the night after WM. His status boost didn't affect the result here, though: after some decent back-and-forth exchanges, Fandango (who was wearing some nice-looking yet still very strange multi-coloured attire) was vanquished by Jericho via a Codebreaker, which reversed an attempted flying attack by the ballroom dancer.

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WWE Payback 2013

Image Source: Wrestling
DVD Network

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: June 16 2013
Location: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois, USA
Attendance: 12,500

Payback was a whole new PPV for WWE (well, a new name for a PPV anyway), but it's hard to see where the theme fit in with the matches on hand. John Cena vs. Ryback had a minor layer of revenge to it, and Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio did too if you consider a title rematch stemming from a Money In The Bank cash-in to represent possible retribution. But CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho didn't (not this year, anyway), nor did any of the matches involving members of The Shield. Kaitlyn vs. AJ Lee was the only match where the "Payback" moniker may have been suitable, and even that initially came about because AJ earned a Divas Title shot, hardly the sort of thing to swear revenge upon. (I'm half-joking with this, by the way, since PPV themes/names are decided months in advance.)

Fortunately, this could have been called Payback, Backlash or Honey Boo Boo's Wrestling Parade for the difference that the name made in terms of the in-ring action, which ultimately proved to be very good. Some unexpected mid-card gems were met with a worthy double main event and a big double-turn in the World Title match, all in front of the usual electric Chicago crowd. So, whilst Payback might have seemed like an odd name beforehand, it will prove to be amongst the top names on the "Best PPVs Of 2013" lists when they are drawn up at the end of the year.

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WWE Money In The Bank 2013

Image Source: Wrestling
DVD Network

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: July 14 2013
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Attendance: 15,000

Having been the recipient of its own PPV event for four years now, and with the match having originally debuted back in 2005, it's safe to say that the Money In The Bank Ladder match, as an entertainment spectacle, has probably passed its peak. Whereas the early bouts (held annually at WrestleMania) were about showcasing the young talent who could potentially become future main eventers, in an environment which suited their athletic styles, since 2010 the MITB PPV has seen twice as many matches of this nature, thus partly diluting each one, whilst also casting either headliners who need not require MITB to get ahead or performers whose size or style do not make them suitable participants to what is, at its essence, a stunt match.

Fortunately, though, there are enough worthy performers whose styles do suit the environment and their creativity has been of a high enough standard that the Money In The Bank Ladder match remains one of the must-see matches of the year, perhaps only behind the Royal Rumble match and the featured bouts at WrestleMania. This year, there were once again two MITB bouts, each with a very different casting, but with both promising plenty of thrills and spills. And the match does still provide a boost to the winner when the briefcase ends up in the right hands, meaning that there is still genuine intrigue to the results of these matches; and, again, the casts on this particular night offered up some intriguing possibilities if they were to win. So, plenty to look forward to then, even if the stipulation has lost some of the appeal that it once had. Add to that the return of Rob Van Dam to WWE in one of those bouts, two World Title bouts and some potentially exciting mid-card bouts, and you have the makings of what could be a pretty memorable PPV extravaganza.

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WWE SummerSlam 2013

Image Source: Bleacher Report

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: August 18 2013
Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
Attendance: 14,166

SummerSlam 2013 had a lot of potential beforehand, with a double main event which promised a lot of action as well as some intriguing under-card matches. As it turned out, the show (WWE's biggest of the summer) ended up exceeding expectations, with several contenders for Match Of The Night, and at least one if not two of those bouts were even Match Of The Year contenders. And as if that wasn't enough, a major angle took place at the end of the card which will have a huge impact on the state of WWE in the coming months. All of which ensured that this was a very memorable and entertaining event; now, let's delve into exactly how it all went down.

On the pre-show, we had a United States Title match between Dean Ambrose and Rob Van Dam. This kept up the recent tradition of noteworthy pre-show matches, at least from an in-ring standpoint, but the bout was marred by a disqualification ending, as Roman Reigns ran in to Spear RVD as he had Ambrose beat. Seth Rollins also tried to intervene, but Big Show and Mark Henry (both of whom have recently turned babyface; in Show's case, for possibly the millionth time, and in Henry's case, this time for real after his tease the night after Payback) helped to fend off the Shield interference. This will presumably lead to a rematch. While this was enjoyable, I felt this should have been on the main show (it was RVD's first singles match at a WWE PPV since 2007, after all) with a proper ending, and why not have Rollins and Reigns vs. Show and Henry for the Tag Team Titles on the proper card too? Otherwise, a fairly good if slightly frustrating preview match for SummerSlam.

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WWE Night Of Champions 2013

Image Source: Wrestling
DVD Network

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: September 15 2013
Location: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan, USA
Attendance: 10,500

Well, a lot has changed in WWE since SummerSlam. John Cena is on the shelf, meaning that he will miss an extended period of time from the ring for the first time in nearly five years. More importantly from an on-screen standpoint, however, is the modern-day Corporation which was set up at SummerSlam when Triple H helped Randy Orton to defeat Daniel Bryan via Money In The Bank cash-in to become WWE Champion, and on Raw the following night when Triple H's actions were endorsed by Vince McMahon and Stephanie McMahon. Add to that Orton being crowned "The face of WWE", the McMahon regime telling Bryan that he is nothing more than "a B+ player" and The Shield serving as unofficial bodyguards for the heel rulers, and it's safe to say that business has well and truly picked up, to quote the great Jim Ross. All of this has made Raw genuinely interesting to watch lately.

But back to the subject matter, because in the midst of all this, we had Night Of Champions. The absence of Cena and the heavy focus on Bryan vs. The New Corporation (or whatever they're called) created a big downside for NOC; that being, due to a lack of real attention to other rivalries, nothing else on the show seemed PPV-worthy beforehand. Okay, Alberto Del Rio vs. Rob Van Dam for the World Title sounded intriguing, but the extension of the CM Punk vs. Paul Heyman feud would come via a match that had "Raw" written all over it. The other announced matches (I assumed that more would be added, since NOC is the night when every WWE Championship is supposed to be defended) didn't raise hopes, either. So, whilst recent PPVs have been very good or great, and Raw has been a lot better since SummerSlam, Night Of Champions ultimately felt inconsequential, at least beforehand.

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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 Hell In A Cell 2013

Image Source: Bleacher Report

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: October 27 2013
Location: American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida, USA
Attendance: 9,000

Hell In A Cell was an improvement on the previous two supershows, Night Of Champions and Battleground. The combination of two big HIAC matches (even if one was unnecessary), a special appearance by a legend, the return of WWE's biggest name and some high-quality action elsewhere on the card, all combined with the resolving of the WWE Title situation and the end of the CM Punk-Paul Heyman rivalry, made for a better show than Night Of Champions, where most of the card simply didn't feel PPV-worthy, and Battleground, which had a very questionable ending to its main event.

That being said, whether the fall-out for HIAC paints the picture of a bright future for WWE, at least in the short-term, remains to be seen. Considering that this was the fourth PPV in a row where Daniel Bryan battled Randy Orton in some fashion, and he lost, it's safe to say that Bryan's main event adventures have now been curbed, at least for the time being. Meanwhile, John Cena's comeback and immediate World Heavyweight Championship win, whilst a boon for that particular title, means that we are almost completely back to where we started before the Authority storyline began in grand fashion at SummerSlam. The one positive is that, since the CM Punk-Paul Heyman feud appears to have ended here, it's possible that Punk will now be directed towards Randy Orton, which could be a pretty good main event for Survivor Series.

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WWE Survivor Series 2013

Image Source: Youtube

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: November 24 2013
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Attendance: 13,500

Survivor Series is traditionally one of the top four PPV events of the year in WWE. The nearly-30 year history of the event has seen many famous and infamous moments since the first edition in 1987, and its late autumn timing often makes it a good starting point for storylines which will ultimately culminate at WrestleMania. Even if that isn't the case on some SSeries cards, you can generally rely on big plotlines and important matches to peak on this show.

Unfortunately, WWE may not have gotten the memo this year, because the card looked subpar beforehand. A WWE Title match with a good build-up could not overcome the fact that Big Show was a less popular challenger for Randy Orton's title than Daniel Bryan. John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio was a rematch from Hell In A Cell, which in itself is a rerun of their 2011 feud. And whilst CM Punk and Daniel Bryan vs. The Wyatts was a fresh match, it still didn't feel like a major match for a show of this magnitude. Considering that these were the three top matches on the show, it's no surprise that the anticipation wasn't exactly high for this card, especially since WWE used the pre-PPV episode of Raw to pay tribute to country music more than hyping up the last of the Big Four supershows of the year.

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WWE TLC 2013

Image Source: Bleacher Report

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: December 15 2013
Location: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas, USA
Attendance: 14,120

The fifth annual Pay-Per-View event dedicated to the objects known as tables, ladders and chairs (oh, my!), TLC 2013 took on an additional level of importance due to the significance of its main event. For the first time in over 11 years, there would only be one World Champion after TLC was all said and done, and the man who would receive this honour would be decided in a championship unification match between reigning WWE Champion Randy Orton and recently-crowned World Heavyweight Champion John Cena, rekindling their old rivalry (or rivalries) in - yes! - a TLC match. Who would win this historic match to become the undisputed WWE World Heavyweight Champion? We would have to wait and see.

After Fandango surprisingly beat Dolph Ziggler on the pre-show (which doesn't say much for Ziggler's career prospects right now), TLC 2013 opened with CM Punk taking on The Shield in a 3-on-1 handicap match. What a difference a year makes: in late 2012, Punk as WWE Champion allegedly used The Shield to ensure that the title remained around his waist, with Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose making their official WWE in-ring debut in a phenomenal TLC match opposite Ryback and Team Hell No at the 2012 TLC event. One year on, in the first match on the show, Punk was now fighting the Hounds Of Justice all on his lonesome. Punk vs. Rollins and Punk vs. Ambrose were the better parts of this match, which provided a good start to the card. That isn't a knock on Reigns at all; it's just because Punk's wrestling style complements that of Rollins and Ambrose more smoothly. The big man had his moments to shine too, although his momentum was halted by a fairly serious eye injury suffered during the match. This may or may not been orchestrated as it partly contributed to the finish of the match, which saw Reigns accidentally Spear his Shield partner Ambrose, leading Punk to get Roman out of the ring and pin Ambrose to get the against-the-odds victory.

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WWE Royal Rumble 2014

Image Source: Wrestling
DVD Network

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: January 26 2014
Location: Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Attendance: 15,715

Royal Rumble is usually one of the most anticipated and exciting supershows of the WWE calendar. One reason is due to its unpredictability, as it's the one night of the year when literally anybody could potentially show up in some capacity (well, maybe not those under contract to competitors, but you get the point). A bigger reason, though, is its knock-on effect on WrestleMania: as every WWE fan knows, whomever wins the Royal Rumble match earns a World Title shot in the main event at WrestleMania (usually, anyway). This year, with WrestleMania hitting its 30th entry, there was even more interest on who would win the Rumble match, boosted further by the fact that the recent unification of World Championships means that there would only be one World Title match at WM, further heightening the importance of winning the Rumble match.

Going in, the most likely contender seemed to be Batista, after his much-hyped return to WWE; an Animal victory would set up a star-studded main event for Mania. CM Punk was also in the Rumble, albeit from the #1 position, reducing his chances of victory. There were no other real contenders, at least amongst those officially announced, meaning that a surprise entry would have the best chance of upsetting the odds. As it turned out, however, it was the non-entry of a certain wrestler which would ultimately be the most memorable aspect of the 2014 Rumble match.

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WWE Elimination Chamber 2014

Image Source: Sportskeeda

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: February 23 2014
Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Attendance: 14,101

The Road To WrestleMania XXX was well and truly in effect by the time that Elimination Chamber rolled around, but where that path will lead to is anybody's guess. Not least due to the absence of CM Punk, who walked out of WWE the day after Royal Rumble, with people none the wiser as to why he did so, and with Punk still yet to return. Whilst WWE is dealing with this crisis off-screen, on-screen it has another big problem as fans have largely greeted Batista's comeback and Royal Rumble victory with disdain, whilst making it clear that contrary to WWE's wishes, they want Daniel Bryan and not Batista to main event WrestleMania XXX.

Elimination Chamber represented a chance for WWE to try and create some buzz for Mania outside of these issues, along with perhaps finding a remedy to the situation of the planned WM main event being unwanted by most. The card itself had two standout matches on paper: the Elimination Chamber match itself for the WWE Title, and a six-man tag pitting The Shield against The Wyatt Family. Would these or any other matches create interest for the April 6 mega-show?

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WWE WrestleMania XXX

Image Source: Smark Out Moment

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: April 6 2014
Location: Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Attendance: 75,167

The thirtieth WrestleMania then; what a milestone in WWE history this was. Every WrestleMania is big, but Mania number 30 immediately takes on a bigger level of importance. All those memorable Mania moments from over the years, from the unprecedented success of WM 1 to the record-setting crowd that saw Savage vs. Steamboat and Hogan slam Andre at WM III, the unforgettable Hogan-Warrior battle from WM VI, the timeless Savage-Warrior Career match at WM VII, two classic matches at WM X, HBK's boyhood dream coming true at WM XII, the famous Bret-Austin double turn at WM 13 and Austin's crowning as WWF Champion at WM XIV, the best WWF/WWE show ever at WM X-Seven, Rock vs. Hogan at WM X8, great matches and historic wins at WM 21, Ric Flair's WWE swansong at WM XXIV, the two Undertaker-HBK classics at WM 25 and WM XXVI, the Undertaker-HHH battles at WM XXVII and WM XXVIII, and the amusingly-dubbed "Twice In A Lifetime" meetings between Rock and Cena at WM XXVIII and WM 29, and countless other memorable Mania matches and moments (some remembered for the wrong reasons) - WrestleMania has an incredible legacy, and it was widely predicted going in that WM XXX would be another standout night in WWE's illustrious history. However, few could have predicted just how memorable WM 30 would turn out to be.

It was expected that this would be Daniel Bryan's night of glory. Having won the WWE Title from John Cena at SummerSlam 2013 only to have it taken away from the newly-formed Authority, Bryan's chase against the modern-day Corporation had an abrupt end, and once WWE positioned Batista and not Bryan as the man to face Randy Orton for the top prize at Mania (via Bryan's non-entry into the 2014 Royal Rumble match), fans rebelled. As WWE wondered how to fix this problem, another big setback occurred when CM Punk unexpectedly walked out of WWE the night after the Rumble, torpedoing a potential Punk-HHH match at Mania before the feud had really gotten off the ground (Punk had been involved in scraps with Authority members not named HHH before he left). With a real quandary on his hands, WWE ultimately decided to listen to the fans and reignited Bryan vs. The Authority in the form of Bryan vs. HHH, with the winner being entered into the Orton-Batista main event for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. After the bumps en route to Mania, surely WWE wouldn't have Daniel Bryan fail on the grandest stage of them all ... would they?

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WWE Extreme Rules 2014

Image Source: WWE

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: May 4 2014
Location: Izod Center, East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA
Attendance: 15,907

The first PPV after the unforgettable WrestleMania XXX, Extreme Rules 2014 felt like a step into the unknown. Whilst there is always a fresh feel to the post-Mania season (well, usually), the first few weeks after Mania felt particularly different with Daniel Bryan now installed as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion for keeps, along with the face turn of The Shield, and the strange feeling that remains in the air following the shocking end of The Undertaker's Streak at WM 30, even if the man who did the unthinkable - Brock Lesnar, of course - isn't likely to wrestle again until the summer.

Whilst Lesnar wasn't on hand at Extreme Rules, there were plenty of other big names who, based on the line-up, were in a position to deliver a thrilling night of action. Bryan vs. Kane under Extreme Rules was something different as a title bout, whilst John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt in a Steel Cage had potential. But the match between Evolution and The Shield was the most eye-catching bout that WWE booked for this show, as it marked the first meeting of these supergroups. Would Evolution mark their unexpected return with a victory, or would The Shield claim their biggest scalp to date by taking down the faction which dominated Raw for several years?

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WWE Payback 2014

Image Source: Bleacher Report

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: June 1 2014
Location: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois, USA
Attendance: 13,311

The second annual Payback event promised a double main event, which were likely to bring an end to the rivalries between Evolution and The Shield and the long-running saga between John Cena and Bray Wyatt. Although the previous PPV Extreme Rules is based around stipulations, both of these big matches had unique rules in the form of No Holds Barred Elimination and Last Man Standing respectively.

One thing which Payback would not have is a WWE Title match, since Daniel Bryan's presumed defence against Kane was postponed due to a Bryan neck injury. Would Bryan vacate the title on this show? That was a key storyline heading into Payback, with many speculating that Bryan really could have to vacate his crown depending on the severity of his injury. Add to that an intriguing under card and the usually rabid Chicago crowd (many of whom would be bellowing support for the recently-departed CM Punk, no doubt), and you potentially have a pretty exciting supershow on your hands.

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WWE Money In The Bank 2014

Image Source: WWE

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: June 29 2014
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Attendance: 15,653

The fifth annual Money In The Bank supershow was preceded by the unfortunate news that Daniel Bryan's neck injury, which was originally supposed to keep him out of action for only a matter of weeks, would now put him on the shelf for months, meaning that he was forced to relinquish the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. It's a shame that Bryan's hugely memorable title win at WrestleMania XXX ultimately led to a short reign due to injury, but it's hoped that the long rest will be enough for Bryan to fully recover and come back better and healthier than ever, whenever that might be.

Bryan's injury meant that the vacant title would be decided in an eight-man Ladder match at MITB (he would have defended the gold against Kane in a Stretcher match had he been cleared for a return to the ring). Whilst there was intrigue over who might win the championship, a quick analysis of the contenders (and of the roster in general) meant that there was only ever likely to be one winner, especially after the apparent leaking of a poster for SummerSlam which appeared to give away the planned main event for the biggest show of the summer. Let's keep tight-lipped about that for now until things properly develop, and we'll stick to Money In The Bank and the crowning of a new WWE Champion.

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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 Royal Rumble 2016

Image Source: Wrestlezone

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: January 24 2016
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida, USA
Attendance: 15,998

The 29th annual Royal Rumble event marked a first for the format. Instead of the match deciding who faces the WWE World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania, the title would actually be defended in the match by champion Roman Reigns (the 1992 Rumble was also for the same prize, but the title was vacant as opposed to being defended by, say Hulk Hogan). One vs. All, WWE called it, as the Rumble match was based on whether Roman could successfully defend his crown against 29 opponents. And with him entering as #1, he would have to battle through the entire field to retain the championship. Add to that some intriguing under-card matches, and whispers about certain wrestlers potentially appearing/debuting, and you have a Pay-Per-View that was eagerly anticipated by fans.

The Kick-Off Show was notable for the panel appearance of Jerry Lawler, who appears to have been downgraded from commentating on PPV events after doing so for over 20 years, save for his nine-month absence from WWE in 2001. The King isn't as good as he used to be at announcing, but he is still more entertaining than Byron Saxton or JBL, and his recent heel turn has re-energised his commentary, so it was a bit sad to see what is actually the end of an era; the legendary Jim Ross-Jerry Lawler announce team has now completely disappeared from Pay-Per-View.

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WWE Fast Lane 2016

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: February 21 2016
Location: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Attendance: 14,406

The final WWE Pay-Per-View event before WrestleMania 32 took on greater importance this year. Since the Royal Rumble match had been for the WWE Title, this PPV would determine the challenger to the top title at WM. Most predicted a Roman Reigns win beforehand, with an increasingly high number of fans hoping that Dean Ambrose would get the opportunity to headline Mania instead. As it turned out, the safe bet was the smart one to take, although the (not unexpected) reaction to the outcome of the main event means that it will be another tough Road To WrestleMania for Roman.

The Kick-Off Show featured a Two Out Of Three Falls bout for the United States Title between Kalisto and Alberto Del Rio, which followed the usual 2/3 formula: heel loses the first fall so that he can cheat to gain an advantage and win fall two, weakening the babyface to help him try and win fall three. It was more entertaining than that, though: an ADR chairshot and Stomp CHECK (delivered quickly over the ropes this time to make it look more believable) caused the first two falls, and after some nifty exchanges (including a Stomp over the ringside barricade), a roll-up by Kalisto earned him the win (I thought a Salida Del Sol would have been more appropriate to truly draw a line under this dragged-out feud).

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