WWE Battleground Review - July 23, 2017

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Aiden English def. Tye Dillinger (Kickoff Match)

I couldn't have cared less about this match coming in because of how many times it's been done since April and I'm sure I wasn't the only one who felt that way. The only saving grace of this match is that Dillinger and his "ten" gimmick is still (surprisingly) over with the audience and they were behind him to an extent in this bout. Obviously, it was nothing special and English winning made for a flat finish. He's a fine talent, but I see way more upside in Dillinger and it's a shame more isn't being done with him at the moment.

The New Day def. The Usos to Win the SmackDown Tag TEam Champions

This was perhaps the perfect match to open the night with as these two tandems work exceptionally well together and they produced yet another gem of a matchup here. It isn't often we see so many nearfalls in a typical WWE match, especially in tag team affairs, but there were a surplus of them in this contest and each one of them was super suspenseful. All four guys deserve a ton of credit for a hell of a match, though I can understand fans not being happy with New Day capturing the championship. Personally, I would have waited until SummerSlam to do the title change, but it was bound to happen eventually.

Shinsuke Nakamura def. Baron Corbin by Disqualification

The early goings of this match were relatively slow, which I expected considering their respective styles. Nakamura and Corbin picked up the pace in the second half and had a decent match on the whole, but I have faith they could do better. The non-finish was slightly disappointing because the bout was just reaching that next gear prior to the abrupt finish and it kind of came out of nowhere, but I totally understanding wanting to protect both guys as well as keep the rivalry alive.

Natalya def. Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Lana and Tamina in a SmackDown Women's Championship No. 1 Contender's Fatal 5-Way Elimination Match

As critical as I have been of the booking of SmackDown women's division lately, this was a well-worked match for the most part, especially down the stretch with Charlotte and Natalya. My biggest qualm with elimination matches is that the eliminations are done at such a rapid rate and this fell victim to that, meaning there wasn't enough time for each elimination to digest. Tamina and Lana are absolutely atrociousl, so I was happy they were outed first, but Lynch should have lasted longer. The final few minutes with Charlotte and Natalya going at it were fun, but I did not see Natalya winning in clean fashion. It establishes her as credible, I guess, but she does not intrigue me as a challenger to the championship at all. That ship sailed long ago in my opinion.

Kevin Owens def. AJ Styles to Win the United States Championship

​Owens and Styles aren't capable of producing a bad match, but I've seen them have more entertaining matches than this, though this was very good for what it was. They simply have strong chemistry together and therefore I don't have a major problem with the feud seemingly continuing. It looked like the shoulders of both men were down at the end there and the crowd was waiting for the official decision to be overturned, but it never came. WWE has played hot potato with the title this year more than I would like them to, but again, if it leads to a blow-off bout at SummerSlam, I won't complain.

John Cena def. Rusev in a Flag Match

Let the record show that the last Flag match held in WWE between Rusev and Jack Swagger at SummerSlam 2014 was won when one of the men pinned or submitted the other. This one, on the other hand, could only be won when either Cena or Rusev took their flag from off the top of the pole and placed it on the podium on the stage. Yes, it was silly, and the match suffered as a result. They had a solid series of matches in 2015, but this was pretty poor and flat-out boring in my opinion, and the outcome was never in doubt. I realize Rusev wasn't pinned, but he deserves a lot better than serving as a stepping stone for Cena before he presumably challenges for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam.

Sami Zayn def. Mike Kanellis

I almost completely forgot this match was a part of the card until Kanellis made his entrance. They were doomed to fail from the get-go with it being the buffer before the main event, but they at least tried to make the most of the time they had. Kanellis scored more offense than he did on Tuesday's SmackDown Live, but he has yet to do anything to impress fans. Mike being beaten in only his second match was premature and Zayn wouldn't have been damaged by the defeat, but it's possible they'll have more matches in the coming weeks.

WWE Champion Jinder Mahal def. Randy Orton in a Punjabi Prison Match

While there were points where the match picked up (the fall from the top of the structure from one of The Singh Brothers was cool), this was very lackluster and didn't have much heat early on. The interference from The Singh Brothers was especially irritating because the whole purpose of this match was to ensure they didn't get involved so Mahal could pick up a decisive victory versus Orton for once. To top it all off, The Great Khali is back. I have no words. That summed up the awful, awful conclusion to his horrendous show in a nutshell.

Overall Show

You know a pay-per-view is bad when the second best thing on the whole show is a throwaway backstage segment with Breezango (whose attackers were never revealed by the way, but my hunch is that it's Luke Harper and Erick Rowan). SmackDown can usually be counted on for a good to great pay-per-view, but this was easily the worst event they have done to date. The enjoyable opener gave me hope for the remainder of the night, but nothing else on the card was nearly as exciting. The booking on the blue brand is as brutal as it has ever been, and that's depressing considering it was the superior show before WrestleMania 33. What will it take to turn SmackDown's luck around?