10 Impulse Reactions Following WWE Battleground 2017
1. Killing The Town
Extreme Championship Wrestling was the revolutionary force in professional wrestling WWE claimed to be in the 1990s, delivering an overall product that was (for the time at least), something completely brand new for a medium that suffered brutal stagnation.
Its home base in Philadelphia was key to the presentation, with the rabid fanbase creating an entirely new atmosphere for pro wrestling shows that eventually bled into other products whenever they visited 'The City of Brotherly Love'.
Philadelphia earned a reputation as one of the country's wrestling hotbeds, but WWE look determined to neutralise sentiment nearly two decades later with some offensively bad shows that will live long beyond their original airdate for all the wrong reasons.
Amongst other transgressions, WWE delivered the unforgettably bad 2015 Royal Rumble, in which The Big Show and Kane threw out every favourite one by one in a flawed attempt to galvanise support behind Roman Reigns. Added to the list will now be Battleground 2017, which saw fan favourites Tye Dillinger, AJ Styles and Rusev all lose, whilst fellow local heroes Kevin Owens and Shinsuke Nakamura got to look like complete nonentities in victory.
It's an aggressive retraining programme by WWE to rebrand the once-hardcore section of their 'Universe', but with next year's Royal Rumble returning, expect regular favourites to yet again get the short end of the deal.