8 Last-Minute WWE Battleground 2016 Rumors You Need To Know
Who will walk-out with the WWE Championship?
While not traditionally one of WWE’s biggest pay-per-views, Battleground 2016 is shaping-up nicely. Taking place this Sunday, 24th July, the card is loaded with matches that have been put together with purpose and logic.
While the two midcard title matches (The Miz vs. Darren Young, and Rusev vs. Zack Ryder) could have benefitted from a longer build, every single contest is fuelled by bad blood. Some, like AJ Styles and John Cena, have been butting heads for months, while Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens have been waging war in some shape or form since 2009.
Then, to cap it all off, there’s the long-awaited Shield triple threat, pitting Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins against each other with the WWE Championship on the line. It’s a match fans have been pining for ever since The Shield’s 2014 split, and while Roman Reigns’ suspension has removed some of its lustre, it remains one of 2016’s most anticipated match-ups.
Battleground is also a night of uncertainty. It’s the first show since Raw and SmackDown’s rosters were split in the 2016 Draft, and there are a lot of unanswered questions regarding the company’s direction going forward. With such ambiguity comes speculation, and the rumor mill is hitting full flow ahead of WWE’s latest PPV event.
Here are 8 last-minute WWE Battleground rumors you need to know.
8. A Quiet Night?
This might be one of the most tumultuous time periods in recent WWE history, but contrary to many reports, the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer has warned fans not to expect any major changes at Battleground. The word is that WWE are treating the PPV as a lead-in for SummerSlam, and that Battleground will be use to set stories up rather than wind them down.
This makes sense on a number of levels. Rivalries like John Cena vs. AJ Styles and Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte aren’t even close to running out of steam, and their respective tag team matches are highly likely to result in finishes that set-up singles ties between both sets of wrestlers. There’s also too much animosity brewing between Rollins, Reigns, and Ambrose for their rivalry to conclude on Sunday, and a repeat of this very same match feels like an ideal SummerSlam main event.
From a fan’s perspective, it would be extremely disappointing to see WWE churn-out another uneventful pay-per-view. Tuesday night’s Draft has already seen a huge cloud of cynicism form over the WWE Universe, and while it makes sense for the company to save their bigger moments for SummerSlam, they can’t afford to lose any more momentum.