WWE Battleground 2013: Contests Under the Most Pressure to Entertain
On any given pay-per-view card, certain matches are under immense pressure to entertain if the entire event is to be considered a success.
Sunday night's Battleground event is at a disadvantage in that most consider it a filler show. Sandwiched in the middle of the Night of Champions show and October 27's Hell in a Cell, it features a solid card with several matches that have the opportunity to steal the show.
Most fans, however, are skeptical about paying hard-earned money for a show that may have no significant payoff for any of the angles leading into the show.
With Hell in the Cell the more likely setting for the conclusion of the company's top stories, there is far more pressure on the in-ring product to entertain at Battleground than most other pay-per-view events.
CM Punk vs. Ryback
1 of 4
Sunday night, CM Punk takes on Ryback in a match that continues the rivalry between Punk and former friend Paul Heyman.
Ryback is a big, bad, bruising competitor who only recently returned to relevance after several weeks of being relegated to backstage vignettes.
He has the look of a major star for World Wrestling Entertainment, but his in-ring work has been the subject of much criticism. He has shown flashes of brilliance at times, especially when working with the elite performers in the industry, but at other times, he has looked dangerous and sloppy.
Punk, on the other hand, is one of the most respected workers in the industry. His pay-per-view matches with The Undertaker, Chris Jericho and Brock Lesnar have earned rave reviews, and his tendency to excel in big match situations is matched by only one other full-time performer: John Cena.
Expectations of a classic wrestling match will be tempered considering Ryback's hit-or-miss nature, but the pressure to entertain will still be high.
The Punk-Heyman angle has been one of the hottest WWE has produced this year. It has featured several memorable moments, including Heyman's backstabbing of Punk at Money in the Bank, the Punk-Lesnar match at SummerSlam, Heyman's emotional canning of his former friend on Raw and Punk's feigning of injury to lure the former Heyman and Curtis Axel into a trap.
What the match may not deliver from an in-ring perspective will be under pressure to deliver in angle advancement.
After all, no one expects the rivalry between Punk and Ryback to end after only one match.
Thus, in order to give a reason for the match to take place, something will have to happen for the story to continue on Raw. Ultimately, it must continue until Hell in a Cell in three weeks.
Hardcore Match for the World Heavyweight Title: Rob Van Dam vs. Alberto Del Rio
2 of 4
Any time Rob Van Dam takes to the ring for a specialty match of any kind, there is a certain level of pressure on him to deliver as he has so many times before.
With phenomenal performances in ladder, hardcore, TLC, steel cage and Elimination Chamber matches, Van Dam has built a legacy for himself as one of the most popular and must-see performers of the last 20 years.
RDV has an unorthodox yet innovative and exciting offensive skill set. His ability to take his high-risk, dynamic offense and create ways to integrate chairs, ladders and tables into it is unmatched.
For that reason alone, the pressure on the hardcore match at Battleground is fairly high.
Add to that the fact that Alberto Del Rio has been one of the in-ring MVPs for WWE in 2013, consistently delivering high quality work—both on pay-per-view and free television—and the pressure hits a high.
Van Dam has been motivated since returning to WWE, and his matches with Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, Christian and Dean Ambrose have been above average in quality.
More important is the fact that his Night of Champions title match against Del Rio was really good and still managed to show room for improvement. He has consistently shown great in-ring work and that match was no different.
The two have obvious chemistry between one another. With the match stipulation setting the performers up perfectly to deliver a memorable bout, the World Heavyweight Championship match is in position to steal the show for the first time in a while.
If the match fails to entertain, it will easily be one of the most disappointing bouts of the year.
Goldust & Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns
3 of 4
The angle involving Triple H's abuse of power has resulted in outstanding television over the last month. The termination of Cody Rhodes' WWE contract has led to subsequent attempts by Goldust and "the American Dream" Dusty Rhodes to get him his job back.
The story has been very layered, beginning with the firing of Cody. It has branched off into a shot at redemption for Goldust against one of the top performers in the business, with the McMahon family vendetta against the Rhodes clan dating back to Dusty's days as a performer in the late '80s and early '90s.
The story is so good that it has created enormous pressure for the match to live up to the quality of the angle.
The involvement of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon instantly makes it one of the highest profile matches on the card. High profile matches are expected to carry a pay-per-view and ultimately decide the quality of the entire show.
Luckily, Rhodes and Goldust are outstanding old-school-style workers, and The Shield's Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns have delivered great matches with just about every Superstar they have stepped into the ring with over the last 11 months.
With the skills of all four men involved, and limited booking possibilities decreasing chances of a stupid finish hurting the overall product, this may be the safest bet to entertain.
WWE Championship Match: Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton
4 of 4
The main event of any pay-per-view faces the most pressure of any other match on the card.
When that main event is the product of an angle that has taken up as much television time as Bryan and Orton's feud has, the pressure becomes almost overwhelming. After all, its been an all-encompassing story that has involved a large number of Superstars and stretches across both Raw and SmackDown.
At Night of Champions, Bryan and Orton delivered a really good match in the main event slot of the show, but it did not live up to expectations and, as a result, the show was considered a major disappointment.
Now, they have the opportunity to make up for that disappointment in yet another pay-per-view title match.
Both men are elite in-ring performers who have a history of excellent matches with one another. With that said, if the two are left to have a basic singles match with no interference or external activities, they may find themselves disappointing the fans for the second consecutive month.
The fact of the matter is, they have been down that road before, and fans have seen that from them.
The Bryan-Orton angle has dominated television for so long now and has so many outside forces involved that not having interference or extracurricular activity at ringside almost does a disservice to just how big a storyline it actually is.
At a pay-per-view that has already been criticized for being unnecessary—more harshly referred to as a "money grab" by WWE—this match is begging for something major to happen. There needs to be noticeable buzz heading into Monday's Raw and, more importantly, Hell in a Cell in three weeks.
Big Show, The Shield, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Rob Van Dam and the Rhodes family (among others) have all been playing roles in the program over the last month. Not involving them would be a major missed opportunity at delivering a main event different from the Bryan-Orton match from last month.
With Raw ratings tanking, there is a sense of urgency to deliver the best product possible. That urgency leaves a lot of pressure on the creative team, management and the wrestlers themselves.
If Battleground's main event leaves fans unsatisfied for a second time, do not be surprised if changes ensue on Monday's Raw.
.jpg?w=600 "WWE Raw Results & Grades 🔠")
