5 Biggest Winners & Losers From WWE Battleground 2016
9. Losers - Darren Young
The “Make Darren Young Great Again” campaign has been trundling along since early May, but only started making real progress a couple of weeks ago.
Ditching the pre-taped vignettes, Young and his life coach Bob Backlund appeared on Raw together for the first time. Young “won” an Intercontinental Title contendership battle royal when Apollo Crews and Baron Corbin eliminated themselves, going from obscurity to a prominent midcard feud in the blink of an eye.
Last night was his big chance to impress, and while he didn’t lose to The Miz, he missed a golden opportunity to reach up and grab the proverbial brass ring. While few expected him to win, Young could’ve gone a long way to dispel the negativity surrounding the new gimmick with a solid in-ring performance.
Instead, he and The Miz delivered the worst match of the night with a tired, unexciting affair that failed to engage the crowd.
The double count-out finish likely sets Young and Miz up for a rematch at SummerSlam, but nobody will be clamouring for that after last night. Battleground should’ve been the moment where one of WWE’s most forgotten-about wrestler defied expectations and proved himself as a worker: instead, he flubbed his lines and now finds himself lower than ever.