WWE Battleground 2015: Smart Builds for PPV's Top Feuds

The build to the 2015 WWE Battleground pay-per-view has already started to grow a bit stagnant, even though there are several weeks left of time to kill.

This is a problem in more ways than one. Not only does it make or break this particular event, but it also has a great influence on SummerSlam and the coming months in general.

If the audience starts to feel the creative team is keeping things on autopilot and doesn't care about the product, the crowd will tune out and start assuming the programming is in a dreaded summer lull of boredom.

So how can WWE spice things up over the next month? What steps can the powers that be take in order to create the most intrigue for the matches that are selling this event?

Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt

For a long while, Bray Wyatt has struggled to have a purpose. Even when he is involved in a feud, it's normally meaningless due to the nature of his promos.

Can anyone really state what his feud with Ryback was about? Promos about nonsense with heavy breathing and a few creepy words tossed in but no real substance just don't cut it, particularly if they go nowhere afterward.

Wyatt's feud with Roman Reigns is already a significant upgrade because he has been more transparent about why he's the target. Reigns cost Wyatt a spot in the Money in the Bank match, and it's time for payback.

The real gem, though, has been Wyatt's creepy actions toward Reigns' daughter. Immediately, that sends warning signs that this guy is psychologically damaged and creates some intrigue about what evil thing he'll do next.

Seeing Reigns walk into a room covered in pictures of him with his eyes and mouth cut out and the words "anyone but you" scrawled on the wall is an image that is far more terrifying than what has been seen for months.

Wyatt continually refers to himself as "The New Face of Fear," but rarely did anything genuinely frightening—until now.

WWE should milk this as much as possible and run with it while it's working. If Reigns is to be viewed as the superhero, he needs a supervillain to combat.

Wyatt should continually do worse things over the next few weeks, to the point where it's so heinous that people are clamoring for the babyface Reigns to put him in his place.

All Reigns has to do is take the punishment and look like a loving father while Wyatt carries the bulk of this build on his shoulders.

Credit: WWE.com

Kevin Owens vs. John Cena

The NXT champion and the United States champion have been firing on all cylinders with their feud, as they have proven themselves to have great chemistry in the ring and on the mic.

However, we've seen that already, twice. It is now the third time they have fought, and the only difference is that a title is on the line.

Yes, that means a lot, but it's still just a standard singles match when you take that element away.

We know why Owens and Cena don't like each other, and we know what happens when they lock up. The only thing we don't know is who will win the rubber match.

The biggest danger is for the audience to view it as nothing but a repeat, because that's boring. As such, WWE needs to incorporate something new into the feud.

There can't be any more segments that are just an exchange of words about respect. That's been done repetitively, and there isn't anything else that either man has to say that hasn't already been said.

If Cena comes out on the next edition of Raw and speaks about how he's going to fight Owens to hold up the ideals of hustle, loyalty and respect while Owens retorts and both pose with their respective titles, what's the point?

Credit: WWE.com

The best way for WWE to build to this match is to stress the importance of the title being on the line by having the championship at the forefront.

Perhaps Cena continues his U.S. Open Challenge concept and Owens interrupts, not wanting anyone else to potentially win the title that he wants for himself come the pay-per-view match.

To turn things around, maybe Owens is shown some humility when he's forced to put the NXT title on the line, and Cena is almost able to help someone take that belt away from him before he dodges and retains.

In fact, the perfect time for this to come into play would be the show July 4 when Owens will defend against Finn Balor. If Cena were to cost Owens the match, wouldn't Owens be so furious that he would stop at anything to take the U.S. Championship as retribution?

It isn't enough to simply rest on the laurels of these two having good matches and telling the audience it will happen again. That's a cop-out and requires no effort on the work of the writers.

Give the title enough spotlight so fans believe there is something truly on the line other than pride, and it will help boost the interest for this match much more than having these two cut some extra promos.

Credit: WWE.com

Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar

Seeing Brock Lesnar as the babyface is a refreshing change of pace, but WWE has already started booking him the wrong way.

For some reason, there is this mentality in the company that if you are a good guy, you need to be beaten down all the time and then fight back.

While that works for something such as the Reigns and Wyatt feud, it isn't a black-and-white writing rule that has to be followed in every scenario.

Lesnar is not someone who should be booked the same way Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Dean Ambrose or anyone else is written, because he's simply not the same type of person.

This is The Beast Incarnate—the man who ended The Undertaker's undefeated streak and who dominates everyone in his path! By no means should he be finding himself flat on his back staring at the lights as a result of being attacked by The Authority every week.

One occasion was fine to establish this, but just because he's the babyface and Seth Rollins is the heel does not warrant this to continue.

That is as bland as it can possibly get, because nearly every single feud WWE produces follows this formula time and again.

Why not go against the grain and give the fans something different?

For example, Rollins is clearly afraid of facing Lesnar on his own, as he should be. When was the last time it was the babyface that the monster was to be afraid of?

WWE should play with that concept. Lesnar can request exhibitions to help warm him up and then steamroll through the competition. Better yet, he can be booked against local wrestlers who happen to resemble Rollins to play mind games that he's preparing himself for their match.

Fans love to see Lesnar wreak havoc and were behind Ryback destroying multiple jobbers, so imagine the fun the crowd would have watching the former UFC champion unleash his raw power on the equivalent of crash-test dummies with blond streaks in their hair!

As far as Rollins, this week's episode of Raw dragged on far too long with the story of him trying to amend things with J&J Security and Kane. That was too much of the same thing for one night, so it can't be repeated going forward.

There should be absolutely no more bickering and toying around with the idea that Rollins has issues with The Authority, because it's been done to death and should have already been resolved.

Instead, Rollins should be playing up how scared he is in other ways. At the very least, he should pick fights with people smaller than him to assert his dominance and convince himself he's tough.

The worst thing for this feud would be to boil it down to a standard story of The Authority attacking Lesnar every week and overpowering him, then culminating in a pay-per-view match where they cause a distraction and Rollins capitalizes to retain.

If that happens, would you really look back in retrospect and think it was worth the build and the payoff was good enough to justify all that time?

Credit: WWE.com

What would you do if you were on WWE's creative team? How do you think these matches and the rest of the card should play out leading up to Battleground?

Tell us your booking ideas, predictions and thoughts on the current climate of WWE by leaving a comment below!

Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.