10 Impulse Reactions Following WWE Battleground 2017
5. Flagging
WWE had been intentionally vague on what variation of the stipulation would be rolled out for yet another jingoistic Rusev/John Cena clash at Sunday's show, but the revelation on the go-home edition of SmackDown Live! promised yet another punch/kick footrace the two combatants were only too happy to supply.
The dual podium setup offered at least a different visual, but little creative thought went into crafting a match around the somewhat unique scenario outside of Rusev actually using Cena's own flag holder as a weapon.
Instead, the pair resulted to pathetically transparent slow-climbing, and inconsequential submissions that did little to actually subdue their opponent long enough to trot up an unconvincingly tiny staircase.
In fact, these exchanges infected the saddest sections of an already-dreary encounter. Whilst Cena powered out of repeated Accolade attempts, Rusev was made to tap to an STF in a match where his submission wasn't even required. His defeat was a crushing inevitability after that.
It was a victory for Cena, but more, audiences were told, a crucial strike for America as a nation against the rest of the world. Devoid entirely of irony as they always are, WWE chose the start of this match to show just how bloody multicultural they are by giving all the announce teams their usual pieces to camera.