Review for WWE Battleground 2016

Battleground is the last PPV before the Raw/Smackdown brand split and so this felt like the end of an era. In a way, I expected more of this to be made from those in charge (Shane Mcmahon/Daniel Bryan for Smackdown and Stephanie Mcmahon/Mick Foley for Raw), but with all the unknowns about how the brand split was going to work I can understand the main focus being on which brand holds the world title at the end of the night... though we now all know that this was a pointless thing with the introduction of the new Universal Championship.

This PPV was pretty amazing and I have to admit it was one of the most enjoyable PPVs across the board from start to finish. Each match felt like it meant something and with most being the end of a feud there was a definite feeling of finality with certain matches.

I love Bayley and seeing her debut with Sasha Banks against Charlotte and Dana Brooke made my night and such a great way to start the PPV. This match was great and I enjoyed every minute of it. I do wish that this had been a 'winner wins the title' match as they are always good, but this was a great showing by all the women here and if this is your first Bayley match then you need to catch up on her amazing work in NXT.

New Day against The Wyatt Family was perfect and it is such a shame that the Wyatt's are no more (though this isn't the first time they have split up). I enjoyed this match, but because the titles where not on the line I already knew how it was going to end.Didn't stop it being a great match though.

Rusev vs. Zack Ryder was a pretty good match for what it was. Always good to see Lana and to be honest it is always surprising how over Zack Ryder is and it is such a shame that he seems to always get a one-off opportunity and then shunted down the card.

Sami Zayn against Kevin Owens was undoubtedly match of the night. This was a great end to their feud and was such a brutal match to watch. The highlight video of them beforehand was one of the best I have seen from WWE in a long while. I am glad the feud is over and both men can move on to others who can benefit from the amazing chemistry in and out of the ring.

Natalya vs. Becky Lynch was a waste of time. I just feel that this should have been a Pre-Show or TV match as it just didn't mean anything and wasn't given enough time to develop the Heel character of Natalya which needs to improve.

Intercontinental Championship match between the Miz and Darren Young was a mess. I understand and always appreciate Maryse being there, but why was Bob Backlund? It's not even like he was a previous IC holder? This just made no sense and was a waste of what could have been a good match.

The Six man Tag featuring John Cena, Enzo Amore and Bigg Cass against The Club could have been a mess. It could have been the John Cena show, but thankfully he is smart enough to allow everyone else to soak in the limelight. I love Enzo and Big Cass and every member of The Club are fantastic. I do hope this feud can continue to at least Survivor Series so that we can get a great elimination match from all of these which will no doubt be as amazing as this match.

Triple Threat for WWE Championship is a great end to the PPV. All three members of The Shield had some great dynamics and there were some great moments throughout from all. I am glad that WWE did the right thing with the championship and the right person won and the crowd really got behind it and the celebration, which is always an amazing sight.

Battleground was almost a perfect PPV and it such a shame that the Natalya/Becky Lynch and Miz/Young matches were not given more time, pushed to the Kickoff show (which had a pretty good match between Breezango and The Usos) or just simply a better match. This could also be said for the Randy Orton Highlight Reel which grinded the show to a halt and only there for the #RKOOUTOFNOWHERE moment.

Other than that I simply cannot recommend this enough. From the debut of Bayley to the Celebration by Dean Ambrose this was such a great experience all round.