WWE Battleground Preview & Predictions

Fresh off and completely overshadowed by the draft and brand split, the WWE presents the Battleground event this Sunday. Here’s a breakdown and some predictions for the event:

1) WWE Championship Triple Threat Match

Dean Ambrose © vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins 

It’s been a long time coming as the three men formerly known as The Shield face off against one another for the WWE Championship. With the brand split in place Rollins and Reigns find themselves on the Raw brand, while Ambrose was drafted to Smackdown. This match will determine where the WWE Championship will call home.

The more curious aspect of this match will be how fans are going to react to the returning Roman Reigns. Reigns is coming off a 30-day WWE Wellness Policy violation, and since he’s already a polarizing character, I’d expect the WWE fans to be more vocal than ever about their dislike for “The Guy.”

PREDICTION – Reigns accidentally hits Ambrose with a spear and Rollins capitalizes and gets the pinfall and the victory to take the title back to Raw.

2) Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens

From the independents, to Ring of Honour, to NXT and now to the WWE main roster, these two Canadian best friends are going to battle it out and most likely steal the show at WWE Battleground.

Previous to the brand split, the belief was that this match would be the final in their feud before being drafted to separate, however Zayn and Owens both find themselves on Raw, thus I don’t think this will be the final time they meet. Don’t be surprised if we get a controversial finish here and these two climb inside a steel cage for a match at SummerSlam.

PREDICTION: No Decision (double disqualification or count out)

3) John Cena, Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs. The Club (AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson)

This match is a big step up the card for Enzo and Cass, but they’ve been big time crowd pleasers since stepping up to the WWE main roster, so it’s well deserved. This will also be the final match for AJ Styles and The Club to team together as AJ will be on the Smackdown roster and Gallows and Anderson on Raw. I suspect the three will depart after a loss.

PREDICTION – Cena, Enzo & Cass score a clean victory.

4) Becky Lynch vs. Natalya

The Smackdown brand is very light on established female wrestlers. Over the next few weeks we’re sure to see the introduction of Alexa Bliss and Carmella from NXT, but until then Becky and Natalya will be the faces of the division, and thus their feud is bound to continue beyond this PPV.

PREDICTION: Natalya gets the win, Becky gets revenge at SummerSlam

5) Intercontinental Championship Match

The Miz © vs. Darren Young with Bob Backlund 

Despite the fresh rebranding of Darren Young with former WWE Champion Bob Backlund in his corner, I can’t see him taking the title away from The Miz. Young managed to hook the classic Crossface Chicken Wing onto Miz on Smackdown this week to much fan fare, but since he was given the win on the preceeding television program, I'd suspect Miz to get it back here.

PREDICION: Miz retains his title.

6) United States Championship Match 

Rusev with Lana vs. Zack Ryder 

Much like the Intercontinental Title match we have a heel champion walking in versus the underdog babyface in this scenario, and much like the above match I just can't see the underdog coming out on top.

Also, consider that NXT’s Mojo Rawley was just drafted to the Smackdown brand, Mojo and Ryder formed a team called The Hype Bros in NXT, and I could very well see a storyline being put in place where those two are united on Smackdown as Rawley attempts to help Zack “get his mojo” back after a loss here to Rusev.

PREDICTION: Rusev retains

7) The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods) vs. The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan, Braun Strowman)

After a very strange battle at the Wyatt’s compound, and considering the family had been broken up via the draft, I see this being the final confrontation for these two teams. Considering much of the angle played off Xavier’s fear of the Wyatt’s, I'd expect him to get the pin over the most meaningless Wyatt of all… Erick Rowan.

PREDICTION: NEW DAY ROCKS

8) Sasha Banks and Mystery Partner vs. Charlotte and Dana Brooke

This is the most intriguing match on the card, not for the match itself but for the identity of Sasha’s mystery partner. Strong rumours have circulated around two names: Nia Jaxx and Bayley.

Jaxx was drafted and will join the Raw brand, much like all of the women in this match, so her debut here would make sense. However, her limited skills would make a potential in-ring confrontation in this match with Dana (who is also limited) an absolute disaster.

On the other hand, the WWE crowd has been wanting and waiting on the debut of the loveable NXT star Bayley for months. The fact she was not selected in the draft may mean that she was deemed too special to be shuffled in with the rest and thus her grand debut was saved for this Sunday.

PREDICTION: Bayley debuts, and helps Sasha to a victory.