More Names Added To WWE Battleground Battle Royal For IC Title

Several top contenders announced...

By John Canton /

The Intercontinental Title is up for grabs following the bad news that Bad News Barrett will need shoulder injury after he was thrown into the barricade by Jack Swagger last week on Smackdown. Because of that, WWE announced on Raw that the IC Title would be vacated. To determine the new winner, there will be a Battle Royal at Battleground probably because WWE thinks it sounds good. There have been several Battle Royals in the past few months. At WrestleMania there was the Battle Royal for the Andre The Giant Memorial Trophy that was won by Cesaro. Then there was a US Title Battle Royal that Sheamus won on Raw as a way to get the title off Dean Ambrose. A few weeks ago on Raw, Roman Reigns won a Battle Royal to gain entry in the Money in the Bank ladder match for the WWE Title. It seems like they are doing too many of them, but apparently they disagree because here comes another one. Here's a look at the names officially announced for the Battleground Battle Royal following WWE's TV tapings this week: Cesaro - He's a favorite considering he won the Battle Royal at WrestleMania, which Paul Heyman likes to remind us of all the time. It would make sense to put a secondary title on him although they could always have him lose as a way to swerve people because it's too obvious. Dolph Ziggler - Ziggler has held the IC Title before and is currently trying to get out of a slump. He has been on TV more regularly in recent weeks while getting some really loud reactions from the fans, so putting the IC Title on him could be a good way to give him some momentum back. Alberto Del Rio - Del Rio is one of the biggest names in the match. He's likely never going to be a WWE Champion again now that there's only one major title, but he would be effective as an IC Champ with credibility. He's definitely one of the favorites. Kofi Kingston - Kingston's a four time IC Champ that stars in Royal Rumble and Battle Royal matches, so his presence adds some credibility to it. Damien Sandow - Sandow dresses up in costumes every week because WWE has nothing else or him to do. It would be a surprise if he wins. The Great Khali - He has no chance of winning, but Jerry Lawler will probably act surprised when he gets eliminated because that's what Lawler does. Rob Van Dam - Does RVD ever win anymore? Not really. He's just a veteran that adds credibility that can put over the younger guys. Big E - As the former IC Champion that dropped the gold to Barrett he's definitely a contender to win it back here. However, he's been losing more than winning of late so it seems like a stretch. Ryback - Since he's mostly a tag wrestler it seems unlikely that he would win the IC gold here. He's not a bad performer. It's just not the right time. Curtis Axel - He's in the same boat as Ryback since he's his partner. There will be more names added to the match as well. We don't know how many guys are going to be in it, but it will probably be at least 20 and could be even more than that depending on the rest of the Battleground lineup. We will provide updates when more names are added.