10 Impulse Reactions Following WWE Battleground 2017

2. Imprisoned

Rusev John Cena Battleground
WWE.com

It seems spurious and a little cruel to list out the countless potential problems with a Jinder Mahal/Randy Orton match, but when the company served to justify virtually every concern, it made it incredibly difficult not to be critical of what an absolute shambles it became.

'The Apex Predator' noted specifically on the go-home SmackDown Live! how the structure left the Singh Brothers finally out of his way, but the featured in unconvincing fashion yet again, and were required to take countless painful-looking bumps to mask both champion and challenger's woeful inability to provide something entertaining themselves.

The inherently silly structure was savaged online in the weeks leading up to the battle, but it's worth noting that Dave Batista and The Great Khali had a very acceptable big man war in it over a decade ago.

Ah yes, The Great Khali. The former World Heavyweight Champion thankfully has more bizarre charisma bottled up in his (massive) little finger than either performer does in their chiselled frame. Trotting out to grasp Randy by the throat in order to allow his brother-in-law to escape, he almost saved the show, and did do if you happened to watch the show with the excellent Hindi commentary instead of the usual gang of idiots on the English-speaking.

A saviour to all fans, Khali ensured at long last an ending to an interminable rivalry, and proffered something brand spanking new for the struggling WWE Champion heading into one of the biggest shows of the year.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett