5 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE NXT Battleground (Review)

4. A Brutal Battle To The End

Setting aside the campy nature of the build to it, the Last Man Standing Match between Dijak and Ilja Dragunov delivered everything it promised Sunday night.

The duo battered each other with everything they could find at their disposal, including a table, steps, kendo stick, chair and their own bodies. Dragunov put himself through a table to flatten Dijak. Meanwhile the justice-seeking superstar continued his pattern of inflicting pain on Ilja, who welcomed the attacks.

Thankfully, the match avoided most of the silly melodrama and kept it confined to a reasonable amount within the context of the match, with Dijak clubbing Dragunov with a kendo stick and urging him to stay down and asking him why he was putting him in this position of having to batter him repeatedly.

In the end, it was Dragunov who delivered a death blow with a diving forearm smash off the ring steps, driving Dijak’s head into a chair. The interesting chapter will come if the two of them continue their rivalry, or realize they could be a formidable team if they set aside their feud.