WWE Battleground Results (7/20) – Is There A New Champion?!

Event: WWE Battleground Pay-Per-View
Airdate: Sunday, June 20th, 2014 (Pay-Per-View)
Location: The Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, FL
Results by Matt Boone

WWE Battleground Kickoff Show

The WWE Battleground 2014 Kickoff Show begins with a trip to the “expert panel,” which for this show consists of Renee Young, Alex Riley, Booker T and Christian. The foursome breaks down some of the matches for tonight’s show and introduce some of the social media stuff, such as Twitter hashtags and whatnot.

Within three minutes, the panel kicks it to Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and JBL at the pay-per-view announce table. They talk briefly about some of the matches scheduled for tonight and then we go straight to the ring with our first of two Kickoff Show matches.

Fandango vs. Adam Rose

Fandango’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring. The announcers explain the story line involving Layla and Summer Rae and then introduce a tweet from Adam Rose that contains the aforementioned Diva-duo. Fandango’s theme music fades down and then Adam Rose’s music hits. Out comes “The Rosebuds” and Adam Rose, all of whom are accompanied by Summer Rae and Layla. The announcers mention that tonight is Adam Rose’s birthday as he makes his way to the ring.

The bell rings and Fandango immediately takes it to the leader of “The Exotic Express.” We hear “The Rosebuds” humming Rose’s theme song at ringside as they dance and party their way around the outside of the ring. Fandango rolls out to the floor to confront Summer and Layla, and the two take turns slapping him in the face. Meanwhile, Rose creeps up behind Fandango and rolls him back into the ring.

Back in the ring, Rose hits Fandango with a spinebuster and then goes to work on him in the corner. Rose hits his finisher on Fandango a mere seconds later and scores the three-count.

Winner: Adam Rose

WWE Battleground Kickoff Show Continues

After Adam Rose’s victory, we shoot back to the expert panel. The guys (and gal) preview a few more matches and then introduce an elaborate video package that documents the demise of The Shield as a faction and then previews tonight’s Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose match.

Backstage Interview: The Usos

Backstage, a WWE interviewer is with the WWE Tag-Team Champions. The Usos argue about who is better looking and then talk about tonight’s title defense against Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. From there, we go back to the pay-per-view commentary team.

Cameron vs. Naomi

After The Usos interview, we get a video package highlighting the demise of The Funkadactyls team as Cameron makes her way to the ring. Out next is Naomi. It’s time for our second and final pre-show match of the evening.

The bell rings and here we go. Naomi immediately charges after Cameron and gets to work. Cameron quickly gains the upper-hand, however, as the action spills out to the floor. Cameron beats her down a bit outside of the ring and then the actions returns back inside the ring.

The fans are chanting something, but I can’t quite make out what it is. Cameron puts Naomi in a modified surfboard submission-type move but Naomi eventually escapes. Back on the feet, Naomi takes Cameron down to the mat with a vengeance and then unloads with repeated punches.

Cameron crawls away and screams, but Naomi stops her and puts the boots to her. Cameron tries to head to the back, but Naomi charges after her and stops her. Naomi beats Cameron down a bit outside of the ring and then the action returns to the ring. The fans start chanting “Na-o-mi” as she continues to deliver punishment to her former Funkadactyl running-mate. However, out of the blue, Cameron rolls Naomi up and scores the 1-2-3.

Winner: Cameron

WWE Battleground 2014

The WWE Battleground pay-per-view opens up with the usual bad-ass video package to highlight all of the top feuds heading into tonight’s show. From there, Michael Cole welcomes us to the show.

WWE Tag-Team Championships (2-Out-Of-3 Falls)
– The Usos (c) vs. Luke Harper & Erick Rowan

After Cole’s quick introduction, The Usos music immediately hits and the WWE Tag-Team Champions make their way to the ring. Justin Roberts does the formal introduction for the champs as they make their way to the ring. From there, Luke Harper & Erick Rowan’s “he’s got the whole world in his hands” theme plays as The Wyatt Family duo makes their way to the ring for tonight’s opening contest.

The bell rings and here we go. Jey and Rowan start things off. Jey punches Rowan so hard that his sheep mask gets knocked off of his face. Uso continues to hammer away with punches, but Rowan drops him and tags in Harper. Harper picks up where Rowan left off, putting the boots to one-half of the WWE Tag-Team Champions.

Harper and Rowan take turns delivering punishment to Jey until he finally makes the tag to Jimmy. However, as soon as Jimmy enters the ring, he eats a big boot from Harper for a 1-2-3. Harper and Rowan win the first fall.

Winner of the first fall: Luke Harper & Erick Rowan

The second fall immediately begins with Harper going back to work on Jimmy. Harper tags Rowan in and Rowan picks up where Harper left off, delivering additional punishment to Jimmy.

This continues for a while until Jimmy stumbles back to Jey, making the tag. Jey comes in and immediately school-boys Harper for a quick 1-2-3.

Winner of the second fall: The Usos

The third and final fall begins with Rowan going to work on Uso. He tries a quick pin attempt after delivering some punishment, but Uso manages to kick out at two. Rowan tags in Harper and Harper beats Uso down some more as the announcers point out the fact that the next pin fall will be the end of the match.

Harper and Rowan continue to dominate Jey until Jey finally scores a break when he moves out of the way from a big high-spot attempt by Rowan. He makes the tag to Jimmy. Jimmy takes the hot tag and is now flying all over the place, hitting anything that moves, including some big dives to both Harper and Rowan on the floor.

Back inside the ring, Uso hits a big cross-body splash off of the top rope onto Harper for a believable near fall. Harper and Uso exchange punches in the center of the ring until Uso blasts Harper with a spin-kick to the back of his head.

Both teams battle back-and-forth a bit inside the ring until Uso is knocked out to the floor, leading to a huge dive spot from Harper. After Harper hits the big dive, the fans break out into a “this is awesome” chant. Back inside the ring, Harper is blasted by Jey on the floor, straight into a roll-up pin attempt from Jimmy inside the ring. Harper, however, manages to kick out at two.

Moments later, Harper hits his big clothesline for a pin attempt, but Uso somehow shockingly kicks out at two and three-quarters. The fans chant “this is awesome” again after that. Rowan surprisingly goes to the top rope, but misses with a big splash attempt. Uso follows up with a big splash off of the top for a near fall that pretty much everyone in the arena bought as the finish.

Uso looks stunned that he didn’t get the three count as the fans again chant “this is awesome.” Uso goes to the top for another splash attempt but is nailed by Harper from the apron. Rowan beats on Uso on the top rope until the other Uso blind-tags himself in. Both Usos are on the top rope now, but Rowan hits a double-superplex by himself on both guys. He goes for the pin but Uso kicks out at two. The fans bought into that as the finish as well.

We get a bunch of replays of Rowan’s double-superplex as he tags Harper back into the match. Harper and Rowan double-team Jimmy until Jimmy manages to get away. Harper goes for the big clothesline, but Uso nails him with a superkick. Harper eats the kick and simply turns around and blasts Uso with his huge clothesline. He tries for the pin but Uso somehow kicks out. Uso hits another kick to the face of Harper and then the other Uso tags in. They double team Harper and then clear Rowan from the ring. Both Usos go to the top on the same corner and hit a double-splash onto Harper for the 1-2-3.

Winners and STILL WWE Tag-Team Champions: The Usos

Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose

The announcers put over how amazing the previous tag-team match was for a bit and then they switch gears and build up the next match, which will be Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose. The video package airs highlighting the history leading into this match.

Backstage, Seth Rollins is interviewed. He compares Dean Ambrose to a cockroach. This continues until out of nowhere, Ambrose attacks Rollins. Ambrose beats down Rollins until he is finally separated. Triple H enters the scene and bans Ambrose from the building. The announcers talk about how their match tonight might not happen now.

Winner: No Contest

WWE Divas Championship
– AJ Lee (c) vs. Paige

After all of that craziness, Paige’s theme music hits and now it’s time for WWE Divas Championship action. As Paige makes her way to the ring, we see highlights of the AJ-Paige feud. Michael Cole has claimed that Paige’s victory over AJ was “one of the most shocking upsets in WWE history” multiple times now. Yeah, okay, Michael. Anyways, AJ makes her way to the ring as more highlights of the AJ-Paige story airs.

The bell rings and here we go. AJ, by the way, has new ring gear (kind of) as she’s wearing a green top and tiny-ass jean shorts that shows off her amazing buttocks. Sorry, couldn’t help myself. Paige goes to work on AJ early on as the announcers continue to put over the history between these two exceptionally talented Divas.

Paige is dominating this match, which thus far has been a pretty one-sided affair. The fans actually seem to be into it, as they are now doing a dueling “let’s go AJ!” and “let’s go Paige!” chant. AJ gets a hope spot, but Paige cuts her off. Out of nowhere, however, AJ locks in the “Black Widow” submission hold as Paige screams in pain. Paige fights it for a long time and then eventually slams her way out of it.

The former WWE Divas Champion just hit the Paige-turner for a close near fall. Paige looks a bit frustrated at her inability to score the pin fall after that offensive exchange, all-the-while the dueling AJ and Paige chants start back up. Paige locks AJ in her own submission finisher but AJ escapes. AJ blasts Paige with a Shining Wizard seconds later and scores the 1-2-3.

Winner and STILL WWE Divas Champion: AJ Lee

Backstage: Kane & Randy Orton

Backstage, in a dark room, we see Randy Orton and Kane chatting together. Orton tries to apologize for Monday’s RAW. They talk about tonight’s fatal four-way main event, which Kane promises Orton he’s going to win. He walks off and Orton looks confused.

Checking In With The Expert Panel

From there, we shoot to Renee Young and the expert panel, which also features Alex Riley, Booker T and Christian. The foursome give their predictions for tonight’s WWE World Heavyweight Championship main event.

After the crew gives their predictions for tonight’s main event, they switch gears to talk about the Rusev and Jack Swagger feud. Highlights are shown of the action that transpired between the two on Monday’s RAW.

Rusev (with Lana) vs. Jack Swagger (with Zeb Colter)

Justin Roberts introduces Rusev and Lana. The duo make their way to the ring to a loud chorus of boo’s. Once in the ring, Lana cuts a typical pro-Russian, anti-American promo. Without saying it, she alludes to the recent issue involving the Malaysian airplane being shot down.

Swagger’s music interupts Lana as he and Zeb Colter make their way to the ring. Before Colter can say much, Lana slaps him and Rusev attacks Swagger. The bell rings and here we go.

Swagger shockingly takes the early lead over the big Bulgarian. It isn’t long, however, before Rusev takes control of the offensive flow of the match. The fans, by the way, are loudly chanting “U.S.A.” throughout most of the action.

We see a shot of Lana on the outside of the ring supportinng her man as the “U.S.A.” chants grow louder. Meanwhile, Rusev continues to deliver punishment to “The Real American.”

Rusev goes for the big super-kick, but much like this past Monday on RAW, Swagger catches Rusev’s foot and transitions to the Patriot Lock. Rusev screams in pain as Swagger wrenches in on the hold. Rusev remains in the hold for quite a long time before finally making it to the ropes, forcing Swagger to break the hold. Rusev, seconds later, beats Swagger with his finisher.

Winner: Rusev

Backstage: The Dust Brothers

Backstage, in a dark room with golden lights, we see Goldust and Stardust. Not sure how to describe this, as it’s pretty much the same thing we’ve been seeing from these two in recent weeks. Weird stuff from both Dust Brothers.

Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose

Seth Rollins’ music hits as “Mr. Money In The Bank” makes his way to the ring. The announcers say that Triple H has informed them that because of the attack earlier tonight, Ambrose will not be returning to Battleground tonight.

The bell rings as the announcers question if there’s going to be a match here right now. Rollins gets on the mic and says that because his opponent is not returning to the building tonight, he is out here to accept his victory via forefit. He orders the referee to raise his hand. Justin Roberts announces Rollins as the official winner by forefit.

Winner via forefit: Seth Rollins

After The Match: Ambrose Attacks

As Rollins arrogantly makes his way up the ramp, out of the clear blue, Ambrose strikes and attacks Rollins. Ambrose beats Rollins all the way back to ringside. He slams Rollins on the Spanish announce table. He follows up with rabid punches until the security team rushes to the scene to break things up.

The fans boo. Ambrose is separated from Rollins momentarily, however the second he finds some wiggle-room, he breaks past security and continues his attack on Rollins.

The same thing happens one more time until security finally restrains Ambrose. Triple H makes his way out to ringside and demands security gets Ambrose out of the building. The fans start chanting “let them fight,” which the announcers point out. Meanwhile, tons of security members drag Ambrose to the back as Rollins attacks him while he’s restrained.

Bray Wyatt vs. Chris Jericho

Here we go, folks! Bray Wyatt appears on the screen. He tells the local city that he’s here and then his theme music hits. Bray slowly makes his way to the ring. After him, Chris Jericho’s music hits and he makes his way down to the ring. The fans chant “Y-2-J” at the sound of the bell. Here we go!

Early on, the fans are hot for Jericho and he is in control of the offense all-the-while. The fans start splitting their love between both guys, as dueling chants are now breaking out.

Jericho is still in control of the offense, however, Bray is starting to show signs of life. Bray is taking over now, and the crowd is somewhat behind him.

The action spills out to the floor, where Wyatt delivers some punishment to the first-ever Undisputed Champion. Back in the ring, Bray remains in control of the action.

The fans are again splitting their love between both guys as Jericho nearly scores a pin fall on a roll-up attempt on the leader of The Wyatt Family.

Both guys exchange offensive moves back-and-forth until Jericho hits The Codebreaker out of nowhere. Seconds later, Jericho rolls Wyatt up and scores the 1-2-3. The fans erupt and the announcers put the win over as a huge upset.

Winner: Chris Jericho

Outside: Ambrose Attacks Rollins Again

Backstage, we see Seth Rollins with security making his way out of the building. He stops and tells security that he doesn’t need them, so they walk away. As he continues to walk outside of the arena now, he looks around and seems nervous. He stands and looks around for a while and then Ambrose attacks him out of nowhere. Rollins eventually gets the better of Ambrose, hops in his car and speeds off as Ambrose gets back to his feet.

WWE Intercontinental Championship Battle Royal

They actually show all of the entrances of the participants in this match. After all of the competitors for tonight’s battle royal make their way to the ring, out comes the former WWE Intercontinental Champion — Bad News Barrett. Barrett cuts a “Bad News” promo about how no matter who wins tonight, he’s going to beat them to get his title back.

The bell rings and here we go. Early on, everyone tries to join together to eliminate The Great Khali. Xavier Woods is the first person to be eliminated. Sin Cara is next to be eliminated.

Kofi Kingston has his big battle royal spot of the evening, as he was nearly eliminated, but Big E., who was eliminated, caught him on his shoulders. Seconds later, however, Kingston was eliminated.

Bo Dallas shockingly just eliminated Cesaro, leaving himself, Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler. Sheamus eliminates Dallas, leaving only Sheamus and Ziggler.

Early on, Sheamus over-powers Ziggler, but it isn’t long before Ziggler is in control. There was a scary spot where Sheamus almost power-bombed Ziggler, but Ziggler reversed it and almost landed on his neck. Sheamus goes for the Brogue Kick but Ziggler avoids it.

Sheamus gets Ziggler on the other end of the ropes on the apron and is trying to punch Ziggler out to the floor for the win. The fans start chanting “let’s go Ziggler.” Ziggler nearly eliminates Sheamus, as one of Sheamus’ feet actually touched the floor, but he’s still in the match based on the rules. Out of nowhere, Ziggler knocks Sheamus out to the floor. It appeared that Ziggler won, but The Miz, who no one knew was still a legal man in the match, quickly dumps Ziggler out to the floor for the win.

Winner and NEW WWE Intercontinental Champion: The Miz

WWE World Heavyweight Championship (Fatal Four-Way)
– John Cena (c) vs. Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton vs. Kane

A SummerSlam commercial airs and then the announcers switch focus to tonight’s WWE Battleground main event. A video package airs, highlighting the history leading into tonight’s WWE World Heavyweight Championship Fatal Four-Way main event. Our final match of the evening is up now, folks!

After the build-up concludes, Randy Orton’s theme music hits and he makes his way to the ring. Out next is the other Authority associate, Kane. Next out, through the crowd as usual, is Roman Reigns. Finally, the current WWE World Heavyweight Champion John Cena makes his way to the ring to his usual mixed-bag reaction, which actually leaned more towards cheers than boo’s.

The bell rings and Justin Roberts does the formal introductions for tonight’s WWE Battleground pay-per-view main event. All hell breaks loose as soon as the bell rings, as all four guys immediately go at it.

It seems early on like the pairings are going to be Kane and Reigns and Orton and Cena. All four of those guys battle in those two-man combinations until the smoke clears and the only two people that are left are Cena and Reigns.

Cena and Reigns slowly close-in on each other, but due to outside interference, Cena gets the better of the situation. Now we’ve got Orton and Reigns battling it out and Orton nearly scores a pin fall, however, Kane breaks things up.

Cena and Kane end up outside of the ring, leaving Reigns and Orton in the ring alone. Reigns puts Orton in a half-Boston crab but eventually it is broken up.

Once again, a situation happens that leaves Cena and Reigns alone in the ring together. This time, however, Kane and Orton stay outside of the ring for a bit, leaving Reigns and Cena to legitimately slug it out. Reigns ends up getting the better of things.

Reigns beats up on Cena for a while until Cena finally cuts him off. Cena goes for the Five Knuckle Shuffle. As he comes off of the ropes, Reigns pops up and blasts Cena with the Superman punch. He follows that up with a spear for a pin fall attempt, but Kane breaks it up.

A series of offense happens where Reigns takes everyone in the match out one-by-one, concluding with Reigns spearing Orton through the barricade outside on the floor. Several replays of that is shown as the Florida fans break out into a “this is awesome” chant.

Kane grabs Reigns for a chokeslam, but Reigns pulls Kane’s hands off of his throat and blasts him out of nowhere with a spear. Reigns attempts a pin on Kane, however Cena breaks it up at the last second. Seconds later, Cena hits an Attitude Adjustment for a near fall, but Reigns breaks that one up.

All four men are down now as the fans start stomping their feet and clapping their hands as the intensity builds towards what appears to be the end of tonight’s WWE Battleground pay-per-view main event.

Each guy starts showing signs of life and here we go. The clock says 10:50pm Eastern Time, so we’re clearly nearing the finish. Each guy hits their finisher in a sequence, concluding with Cena hitting the Attitude Adjustment for the 1-2-3. The show goes off of the air with Cena celebrating and the announce team plugging the Battleground post-show, which will feature an “exclusive interview” with John Cena.

Winner and STILL WWE World Heavyweight Champion: John Cena

WHAT HAPPENED *AFTER* WWE MONEY IN THE BANK – HUGE SEGMENT w/ **DANIEL BRYAN & ?!?!?!?! RETURN!!!***!!! OMFG!!!