The PPV Discussion Thread

[Christian Slater]

I feel like the wrestling is more extreme these days. The frequency of outside dives and ring apron bumps, Brock Lesnar throwing people on their necks and the strong style influence all make for compelling viewing. It takes me out of it a bit when someone uses a chair to the gut or back.

 

[Libertine]

SETH! SETH! SETH!

 

[Luke]

Absolutely buzzing at the end when Seth returned, turn Roman fully heel and have Seth as the face and that would work well but I bet they have Seth as a heel.

Decent event on the whole I thought, can't believe nobody has mentioned the IC title match as I thought it was incredible.

 

[Oaf]

Decent event on the whole I thought, can't believe nobody has mentioned the IC title match as I thought it was incredible.

Man, you beat me to it but I was going to say the same. Incredible fatal four way match, match of the night for me and probably the best fatal four way I've seen in a long time. For the third PPV in a row, Zayn and Owens have been involved in the best match, for me.

That being said, Styles/Reigns was great as well. I kind of hate the amount of shit that Reigns kicks out of though... with Styles beating the holy living fuck out of everything moving with that chair (on top of two styles clashes, one onto a chair) and Reigns surviving it allm then getting done over by that one spear being hit on him in like a 5 minute spell... it kind of establishes that Reigns is on a completely different level to Styles in terms of how good they are. Which makes Styles look a bit weak (because that's twice in a row he's failed now) while, ultimately, will just make people hate Roman more.

But anyway, all of the matches were decent I thought. Ambrose/Jericho was a bit slow and went on too long, but was saved by the thumbtacks at least.

But yes... most importantly... SETH.

 

[Christian Slater]

Jesus fucking Christ, that Aries vs Nakamura match was incredible. One of the rare occasions where the loser comes out better off than the winner.

 

[ForeverUnited]

 

[Stevencc]

Spoiler that shit!

 

[iesty wfc]

FFS!

nearly as bad as the WWE app which notifies you of the title matches before you get a chance to log in to the WWE network to watch it

 

[Libertine]

Wow!

Seth beating Roman clean was surprising. Looks like we're getting a Shield triple threat at Battleground.

 

[Oaf]

Argh, I hope not. That shit is main event of WM worthy... and if they can resist rushing it, and can save it until then, that'd be fucking incredible.

I said just after the last WM that my ideal scenario would be to see them build toward a Shield triple threat for WM33. But to do it, they needed to build Ambrose up a lot more... prior to last night, Seth was a former champion who held it for ages, cashing in at WM. Reigns was a 3 time champ and had main evented two WM's. Ambrose was the guy who had a stupid amount of title shots but still couldn't win it... in that scenario, Ambrose just does not look worthy of mixing it up with those two for the title. But I said, if they give Ambrose the title and let him pretty much revolve around it for most of the year until WM to build him up as a credible "champion" type dude... then we'd get the Shield triple threat we deserve.

So I hope to see a decent sized Ambrose reign. Not really sure how they can avoid the Shield triple threat at battleground (both Reigns and Rollins are due rematches... triple threat makes sense) but if they can hold it off, it'll be awesome.

 

[Christian Slater]

I skipped a lot of matches on this show because I just didn't care enough about them. Owens vs Zayn was great and the Triple Threat was decent, glad they gave Ambrose another decisive win.

I enjoyed the Orton segment, I think Jericho has been excellent recently.

Cena and Orton are starting to look like toothless hags, especially Cena.

 

[Stevencc]

Strong PPV, I enjoyed it a lot.

Owens vs Zayn was an incredible match. Pretty much everything Owens is involved in is gold.

The main event was very good but it was always going to end the way it did with the belts to brand ratio the way it is so it was hard to get TOO excited about it, Rollins' near fall after the pedigree nearly caught me out though.

The only letdowns were the Young/Miz and Natalya/Lynch matches and I didn't expect much from those.

 

[Oaf]

Yeah, I thought it was a very strong PPV all in all.

First, BAYLEY. Even though it looks to be a one off and not the proper promotion she deserves, it was great finally seeing her in a proper WWE ring. Was a very strong match too with a logical conclusion that means that Sasha vs Charlotte can happen at Summerslam, which is a great match to have on the card.

Wyatts vs New Day was decent too, I particularly loved Xavier Woods impressive little rampage at the end until he got shot down by Bray. I'm not sure that the Wyatts needed to win this with them (sort of) splitting up, but on the other hand, Bray Wyatt won a PPV match and that's rare as hell, so I'll take it.

Rusev vs Ryder, Nattie vs Becky and Miz vs Young were all pretty forgettable... that last of those with a pretty ugly ending as well that I didn't think worked too well.

But in amongst though meh matches was another amazing Zayn/Owens showdown. Fuck me those guys create magic every time. Loved the ending of it in particularly, and I like that Sami won as well. He usually seems to have the whole "he put up a good fight, but lost" thing so it's good to see him pick up a big win, so decisively as well.

Cena/Enzo/Cas vs The Club was also very good, with Enzo absolutely on fire on the mic before it! I do have to say though... I love the club as a concept and I think AJ Styles is one of the best things going right now, but... I still, after all of this time, have never really been that impressed by Gallows and Anderson. And without the whole club faction and AJ around them, I do worry that I'll find myself just skipping all of their stuff on Raw when they're on their own. I've been waiting for them to win me over and make me buy into their hype since they first showed up, and it's still not happened after all this time...

Then there's the triple threat. I have two polar opposite reactions to it.

The first reaction:

What a great fucking match. Brilliant, start to finish, loved the little Shield spots in there as well like the powerbomb and the chair to the back. And I do love that Ambrose fucking won it as well. He's always been the most under pushed of the three and it's brilliant to see him beat them both. I absolutely adored this match... from a performance stand point... which leads me onto:

The second reaction:

WWE YOU FUCKING CLOWNS. As I was watching the build up video (which was superb, by the way) and they're coming out, making their entrances and the match is getting started... the whole look and feel and build up, with everything behind these guys... it felt completely wasted at a random PPV like this. Nothing less than the main event of a Wrestlemania really felt worthy of hosting that match and it's a crime that it's happened last night.

But that's not even the worst part of it anymore for me anymore.

The worst part is that it should have been treated as the biggest match of this generation (which I really think it is) and been all about the rich history between the three of them. And it was... a bit. But it felt as if the more important question was...

WILL THE WWE TITLE BE GOING TO RAW OR SMACKDOWN!!?!?!?!?

We don't care! I really didn't give a fuck about that. AS IF the losing brand won't be introducing a new belt, probably tonight. It's fucking IRRELEVANT.

But they kept cutting the locker room. To Shane/Bryan. To Steph/Foley. The commentators were talking about it all the time. As if the main motivation the three men had was to bring the title home to their brand. FUCK THAT. FUCK IT. FUCK IT ALL THE WAY. It should have, 100%, been about THE SHIELD. Proving who's the best.

This was the dream match and it was wasted on a C grade PPV (in terms of how big a PPV it is, not in quality as the show overall was very good) and made out more to do with the brand split than the history of the shield. And that fucking sickens me. We'll never get that match for the first time ever again. It's done. And it's been severely underplayed.

The Smackdown locker room coming out at the end to celebrate with Ambrose made me want to vomit. It should have been about Ambrose celebrating beating his two former shield members. Not about Smackdown celebrating that they have the title.

 

[Baz]

The line about Cena making them 4G being well connected was brilliant from Enzo haha.

 

[Luke]

I really enjoyed that PPV on the whole, I skipped the US Title & Natayla/Becky. I like Rusev but it was so predictable he was going to win I didn't see the point in watching it, nothing against Becky or Natayla I just couldn't be assed watching it.

Owens/Zayn was superb and I enjoyed both six men tags & triple threat, man Roman got a horrible reaction, if they don't turn him heel soon they are fools.

IC Title ending was just horrible and seemed a bit of a mess.

Orion return was okay, liked his dig about enhancement in relation to Brock. Chris Jericho is comedy gold at the moment in this heel run, feel the gift of Jericho, soak it all in baabbyyy.

Picking up on a couple points Oaf has made, I totally get what you are saying about Anderson & Gallows I'm in the same boat, I thought it was just me that doesn't quite get them yet.

In relation to the triple threat, I get your point it should be a Mania match and can't argue that, however I actually thought the Raw/Smackdown which side will have the title to it added to the match instead of taking away, I know Raw will bring another title so maybe it was all a bit pointless and should have just focused on the 3 in the ring, but I didn't mind.

Also which dick head decided Roman Reign's cousins are to hold Ambrose up at the end when they were fighting with him not so long ago, jesus christ.

Overall I enjoyed Battleground and would give it 8/10.

 

[T.A]

It's all about Smackdown v Raw now. It's going to get very annoying very quickly.

 

[Oaf]

Also which dick head decided Roman Reign's cousins are to hold Ambrose up at the end when they were fighting with him not so long ago, jesus christ

Oh yeah, this as well! What the hell?!

The way I sum up that triple threat is that the three performers in the match did absolutely brilliantly, but everybody else involved (the writers, commentators, the GM's/Comissioners outside ect) did absolutely horribly.

 

[iesty wfc]

thought it was one of the better 'B show' PPVs that i have seen in a long time

 

[Libertine]

Agreed on Gallows & Anderson. Nothing amazing in the ring and haven't really got going properly, but I still want them to interest me. Not sure I see the Balor club happening currently.

And yeh, Bayley! Awesome. She'll do her goodbye match at the NXT PPV then come up full time I think so not long to wait.

 

[Captain Scumbag]

The way I sum up that triple threat is that the three performers in the match did absolutely brilliantly, but everybody else involved (the writers, commentators, the GM's/Comissioners outside ect) did absolutely horribly.

As shite as the commentators are, they don't have much autonomy. They push the angle Vince tells them to push. He's barking orders at them (via the headsets) while they're trying to commentate. It's a small miracle that they manage to commentate at all.

As for the authority figures, I thought Bryan and Shane did a fine job selling the near falls, celebrating the win, etc. Steph and Foley were less effective, but the salient point again is that the authority figures were merely playing the part they were told to play.

The fundamental probem with the main event was the completely unnecessary attmept to mash two separate angles together. Angle 1 was about the Shield. The (really good) video package before the match framed the whole programme in those terms. They then proceeded with Angle 2, which was about Raw Vs Smackdown. Either would have been fine, but mashing them together made a mess.

It's clear they wanted to give the Raw Vs Smackdown stuff primacy. Given this, they should have just done Rollins Vs Ambrose. Raw's top pick against Smackdown's top pick. Winner takes the title back to their brand. That works. Roman's suspension gave them the perfect opportunity to keep him out of the match. Save the Shield's three-way dance for a big cross-promotional PPV like Summerslam or WM somewhere down the road.

Doesn't bode well.

 

[Oaf]

As shite as the commentators are, they don't have much autonomy. They push the angle Vince tells them to push. He's barking orders at them (via the headsets) while they're trying to commentate. It's a small miracle that they manage to commentate at all.

As for the authority figures, I thought Bryan and Shane did a fine job selling the near falls, celebrating the win, etc. Steph and Foley were less effective, but the salient point again is that the authority figures were merely playing the part they were told to play.

The fundamental probem with the main event was the completely unnecessary attmept to mash two separate angles together. Angle 1 was about the Shield. The (really good) video package before the match framed the whole programme in those terms. They then proceeded with Angle 2, which was about Raw Vs Smackdown. Either would have been fine, but mashing them together made a mess.

It's clear they wanted to give the Raw Vs Smackdown stuff primacy. Given this, they should have just done Rollins Vs Ambrose. Raw's top pick against Smackdown's top pick. Winner takes the title back to their brand. That works. Roman's suspension gave them the perfect opportunity to keep him out of the match. Save the Shield's three-way dance for a big cross-promotional PPV like Summerslam or WM somewhere down the road.

Doesn't bode well.

Agree with most of this, particularly that last paragraph... Ambrose vs Rollins to see who takes the belt to their brand rather than wasting that triple threat would have been a superb idea.

But regarding the commentators, I did think that they did a shit job all night. Well, no, that's not fair on the other commentators actually, so let me correct myself... I thought Michael Cole was awful. I mean, he's always bad, but at Battleground it was about the worst I've ever seen him, which is saying something. Some highlights of Coles night that I noticed:

1) Sasha has Charlotte in the bank statement and Dana pulls Sasha out of the ring and there's a bit of a scuffle outside. Michael Cole as Charlotte takes out Bayley, and I quote: "AND SASHA TAKES OUT BAYLEY!". No correction made. Yes, Sasha apparently took out her team mate.

2) Bron Strowman hits a thunderous blow to Xavier Woods ribs. Michael Cole, and I quote: "It's like flotting a swy!". No correction made. That swy sure was flotted.

3) Ambrose and Reigns laying on the floor, Seth flys in from out of nowhere with a frogsplash on Dean Ambrose. Michael Cole, and I quote: "REEEEEIIGGGGNNNS!!!!". Nice. Shout out the name of the only man of the three not involved in that particular move. Great job.

THE VOICE OF THE WWE, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.

 

[Oaf]

Guh, they just can't resist making Summerslam as unappealing as possible, can they?

Let's have a look at that card:

Cesaro vs Sheamus - Ok, they had a great match back along... but we've seen this twice in recent weeks now. And this is the first of a best of 7 series... is that really worthy of the 2nd biggest show of the year? Surely they should have geared it to be the final match of the 7 or something? Both a rematch and just the first in a long ass series. Ultimately, feels pointless right now and odd that it's on the Summerslam card.

Rusev vs Reigns - Just to remove any sense of excitement this match could have retained (and honestly, I thought it was a cool/unique/unexpected sounding match) they go and fucking give it away for free on Raw last night. WHY? The rematch at summerslam seems strange, now.

Enzo and Cas vs Jeri-KO - Ugh... look, it'll be great and I love all of these guys, but it feels like a random mashing of them all together because they couldn't think of anything better.

New Day vs Anderson and Gallows - Ok, I have no issue with this. Well, I still don't really see much appeal in Anderson and Gallows given the hype they had, but screw it. At least this feels like a proper feud and it's not a god damn rematch.

Cena vs Styles - Look, a fantastic match on paper and no doubt it could steal the show. But again... it's a rematch. For the 2nd biggest show of the year.

Miz vs Crews - I barely even remembered that this was a thing. Fucking hell.

Sasha vs Charlotte - THE womans match in WWE right now. The two absolute top women, one vs one. Perfect. BUT WAIT. They did this match a few weeks ago on Raw, didn't they? Here comes that word again... REMATCH.

Ambrose vs Ziggler - Pretty sure this is also a rematch, but from like, a midcard match on a Smackdown or something. Doesn't sound like a main event, but to be fair, I've loved the build up to it and it's been better than I thought it'd be when Dolph first won the title shot. Screw it, I'll take it.

Seth vs Balor - Ok, I'm happy with this. But after the first week of Raw after the draft where this was set up, the build up has been shit. Basically nothing has happened of any note between them. Still, could be a superb match.

Lesnar vs Orton - The least impressive/exciting sounding "big match" I seem to be able to remember, though that's not to say it can't still be good.

So 4 of the 10 matches are rematches from recent weeks/months, which seems strange to me. I guess WWE has the ability to surprise us with PPV's when they don't sound that impressive on paper, and the likes of Styles/Cena, Rollins/Balor and Lesnar/Orton all have the potential to steal the show. But still, this is the least exciting card I remember seeing since Wrestlemania 32's card... which was also the last PPV I actually went over to see live. For fucks sake.

I feel that despite WWE's best efforts to try to make Summerslam as unexciting sounding as possible, I am still looking forward to it though. Would have been nice if they'd waited a bit on the likes of Banks/Charlotte, Cesaro/Sheamus and Reigns/Rusev, though. OR SAVED THE FUCKING SHIELD TRIPLE THREAT FOR IT, LIKE THEY SHOULD HAVE DONE IN THE FIRST DAMN PLACE.

 

[Luke]

You raise some very valid points and I must admit I'm not overly buzzing for this PPV.

Have they honestly nothing better for Cesaro than a best of seven with Sheamus who he's already between twice for fuck sake.

I hope Rusev wins I don't mind him but can't say him & Reigns thrills me.

Enzo/Cass V Jericho/Owens. Okay I'll admit it I love the team of Jericho & Owens, on the mic they are comedy gold together. I don't want o get crucified here but Enzo/Cass, I'm not sure I quite get it. Yes they are entertaining on the mic but I found myself bored listening to them this Raw, and are they even that good in the ring, I'm not convinced.

New day/two baldies, can't see anything other than New Day dropping the titles. Not won over by Anderson/Gallows yet, this whole Doctor larky is horrific booking.

Cena Styles/Sasha Charlotte should both be decent but have to agree with Oaf they would be better as first matches not rematches.

Miz/Crews mhm, doesn't make me want to go wow.

Ambrose/Ziggler not sure what to make of this, could be okay could be pony.

Balor/Seth this should be good and this is one I'm looking forward too.

Orton/Lesnar I'm actually intrigued in this one and think it'll deliver, which road they are gonna go down with it I haven't a clue.

 

[Oaf]

Yeah, the one thing that most of these matches have going for them for me, none more so than Lesnar vs Orton, is the fact that I can't actually call a lot of them

Ortons just come back after all this time... are they really going to have him come back into a loss? But are they really going to let him beat Lesnar, of all people? Seems like they can't really win either way... which actually, is a good thing here because it makes it hard to call. Of course the obvious route is to do the whole Lesnar wins but "boy, didn't Orton take him to the limit!" thing...

Reigns vs Rusev is another tricky one to call. ANOTHER loss for Reigns? Maybe, after the suspension... but they seem to really be going for Rusev right now with his US title run and he's regaining all of his momentum after being pretty irreverent for a while. It'd be a shame to see that cut short.

Ambrose vs Ziggler do they really want Ambrose to drop the belt already? I'd hope not. In which case, where the fuck does Dolph go after this? The way it's been built, he absolutely cannot afford to lose, otherwise everything that's been said about him in the storyline, that he's just not as good as he thinks he is, is proved to be absolutely true. Even "close, but no cigar" won't cut it, because he always does that... in fact, that's the very point of everything Ambrose has said. For me, it feels as if a heel turn is coming for one of them...

Some others are hard to call, but those are the most interesting scenarios Summerslam has thrown up, to me.

Speaking of which, I'm off to Heathrow tomorrow then to New York the day after. Despite how much I moaned about the card in that post above, I'm still hyped as fuck. Takeover should be incredible, Summerslam still sounds good and Raw is always fun. Plus, you know... first time ever going to New York. So fair well to you all.

 

[Luke]

Have a good trip Oaf, I'm sure the 6 women tag match added on Smackdown will really have you excitied for it now!

 

[Christian Slater]

Summerslam.

The crowd really fucked over the second half of the show by being quiet I thought. They peaked early and seemed to lose interest after Cena vs AJ. It ruined some genuinely good matches.

The women's match, the brutality at the end of Lesnar vs Orton and AJ vs Cena were the stand out moments.

 

[Stevencc]

Just caught up with this quickly...so WWE is using fake blood now?

Or was that a return to blading that went a bit too far and they actually had to stop the match?

 

[Christian Slater]

Just caught up with this quickly...so WWE is using fake blood now?

It's a real cut. He purposely opens him up with his elbow strikes. The same was done in the Lesnar vs Cena match when Brock returned. Fair play to Orton for agreeing to it, looks like it went much worse than intended.

 

[Stevencc]

Wow - pretty brutal in that case.

 

[Christian Slater]