WWE Battleground 2016: 10 Wrestling Matches We'd Rather See
It's too early to unleash the Triple Threat.
The card for WWE Battleground was looking a little underwhelming before this week's edition of Monday Night RAW.
It's now looking a great deal worse. In their quest to "Make Darren Young Great Again", WWE have set him up to fail with an incongruous, immediate march to the Intercontinental title. While the crowd did chant his name halfheartedly afterwards following his win (if you can call it that), it still looks to be another case of too much, too soon.
The number one contender to the United States title is equally unappealing. Zack Ryder has been an unexpected beneficiary of WWE's injury crisis—exhumed from fringe show obscurity, his mini-push has been as surprising as it has been improbable. Why elevate him to contender status when there are more believable prospects elsewhere?
The main event, too, has been the victim of circumstance; then again, a strong argument could be made that it's much too monumental in its own right to be wasted on a throwaway event.
WWE has got one thing spot on—by withholding John Cena Vs. AJ Styles II until SummerSlam, they're making the prospect of it that bit more enticing. This is a booking philosophy they should subscribe to elsewhere...
10. WWE World Heavyweight Title Match: Dean Ambrose Vs. Seth Rollins
The Triple Threat match was arguably a bad idea - the timing, not the prospect itself - even before Reigns compromised it with his act of stupidity and unprofessionalism.
It's a WrestleMania or SummerSlam-worthy main event. That isn't a tagline to sell a B-level Pay Per View - it's a certainty. The match was set up exquisitely at Money In The Bank, with all three Shield members having held the belt at one point on the night. Rollins and Reigns also have an equally valid claim for a rematch. But it's too important to waste on Battleground, especially when the obvious, gimmicked SummerSlam rematch would likely impose upon it a screwy and unsatisfactory finish unbefitting of its magnitude.
Reigns' suspension gave WWE an out they have so far resisted - but they shouldn't. Moreover, what message does it send to the rest of the roster? That violating the Wellness Policy offers you nothing but vacation time?
WWE have done very well to withhold from presenting the most mouthwatering first-time match at their disposal for this long. Wasting it under these circumstances at Battleground would be downright depressing, and in Ambrose Vs. Rollins, they have sufficient consolation. Their shared history, which has recently been subverted to wonderfully poetic effect, lends them the perfect platform on which to write the latest chapter of their gripping rivalry.