WWE Battleground 2015: Superstars Who Deserve Biggest Push Leading Up to PPV

After the rapid-fire schedule of pay-per-view after pay-per-view, WWE will have a longer stretch of time to build up to the upcoming Battleground event on July 19 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

While that may seem like an advantage, as it would allow more time to develop interesting stories instead of rushing things, it can also be a disadvantage. There's just as much of a chance that things will grow stagnant and be drawn out too long.

As such, it's up to WWE's creative team to plan ahead and stay focused on its top objectives to set up the event rather than goofing off, expecting it all to fall into place later on and then panicking at the last minute.

Every event should ideally be promoted in a way where each match is important, interesting and entertaining, but it's always clear that some people take priority over others.

For Battleground 2015, who are the wrestlers the audience should be the most invested in over the course of the next month? Which Superstars deserve to have the biggest push leading up to what transpires on the show?

Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins

Clearly, the biggest focal point of the entire event has to be the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match between Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins.

Under no circumstances should those two take a backseat to anybody else on the card, as not only are they the top stars, but they are also fighting for the biggest prize.

Rollins needs to be the slimy, self-centered, brash and boastful champion he's been for the past several months while also coming off somewhat scared that his title reign is about to end.

Why is that? Because Lesnar is The Beast Incarnate, that's why! Lesnar has a record of utterly destroying his opponents, and Rollins didn't exactly defeat him to win the title in the first place.

Not much has to be done to remind the audience why Lesnar is such a big threat to the title outside of some video packages, but it would be nice to see him destroy some enhancement talent as a bonus.

Credit: WWE.com

Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt

It seemed a certainty that Roman Reigns would win this year's Money in the Bank briefcase, but that did not come to pass due to some interference by Bray Wyatt.

Almost immediately after the match was over, it was announced that these two would lock up and Reigns would seek payback.

He doesn't have a guaranteed title shot in the near future, but despite that and the crowd not being too receptive of him this year, Reigns is still a big player and cannot just be swept under the rug.

To his credit as well, Wyatt went from battling Undertaker at WrestleMania to spending more time absent than active on the roster. The more often this happens, the less important he looks and the more he appears to be an afterthought.

Credit: WWE.com

Dean Ambrose and Sheamus

While the members of the first two groupings are going to be feuding with one another, that doesn't necessarily apply to Dean Ambrose and Sheamus.

WWE has yet to make anything official regarding either of them, but there seems to be a lot more direction for Sheamus than Ambrose.

Randy Orton interfered with the match between the two on Raw, with Sheamus returning the favor. Since both men cost each other victories, there's more of a chance they will have a match together than anything including Ambrose.

So why is Ambrose spoken of here instead of Orton?

First off, it's because The Celtic Warrior is a much bigger priority than The Viper. After all, he's Mr. Money in the Bank, while Orton is just the man who will be fed to him. Sheamus needs to win the match and be the bigger focal point, as his immediate future is brighter than Orton's.

Where Ambrose comes into the picture is so far untold to the audience, but he seems to be somehow tied to Sheamus for some reason. Most likely, those two are just having placeholder matches to kill time while WWE's creative team figures out what it wants to do with The Lunatic Fringe.

However, after wrestling for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and coming very close numerous times, Ambrose is still fresh in the minds of the crowd as a top guy.

Ambrose absolutely cannot be booked as a stepping stone for Sheamus on his road to Orton or he will come off looking like a joke.

WWE cannot ignore the present popularity of Ambrose in favor of the past popularity of Orton, even if it feels as though Sheamus is the future it wants to invest in the most—for whatever reason that may be.

Somehow, WWE needs to figure out a way to push both Ambrose and Sheamus either together or separately, and if anybody needs to take the hit in order for that to happen, it has to be Orton by default. He has already had his time.

Credit: WWE.com

Kevin Owens vs. John Cena

Everything above is already quite a lot to take into account, but WWE can't just forget about the most entertaining feud going in the company right now between Kevin Owens and John Cena.

These two are pitching the equivalent of a perfect game in the wrestling world after both of their matches together were phenomenal and every promo they cut was knocked out of the park.

Whether some fans would like to admit it or not, Cena is still the top dog in WWE and should be treated with the respect he deserves. Likewise, Owens is quickly proving that he is the future of the business and responsible for some amazing entertainment as of late.

There's a chance WWE is pushing them off to the side for Battleground, writing Cena off with the injuries he suffered at Money in the Bank and possibly suspending Owens for attacking Machine Gun Kelly.

If that happens, it will be a mistake. Both Owens and Cena are doing too well to take a month off, even if SummerSlam is coming up and WWE might prefer to have the rubber match take place there.

Sure, it's harder work to figure out something else for SummerSlam instead of just stalling and skipping Battleground, but that is what the writers are paid to do. If they don't want to have to think about ways to keep the audience entertained, they shouldn't be hired in the first place.

This is a feud for a midcard championship that is arguably a much better selling point for Battleground than anything including Reigns, Wyatt, Sheamus, Orton or the majority of the rest of the men and women involved.

It would be a travesty for the United States champion and the NXT champion to somehow get lost in the shuffle after everything they've done recently.

Credit: WWE.com

When it comes down to it, those eight men should be the top priorities when building up to Battleground.

Some other people are definitely going to be able to share some of the spotlight, but it's more justified for them to be given the short end of the stick rather than the names above.

Ryback, Big Show and The Miz don't have much else that's necessary to tell while building up to their potential match together.

The New Day has its standard rematch clause to set up the title match against The Prime Time Players.

Viewership will not decrease if R-Truth is left off the card or the feud between Paige and The Bella Twins isn't shoved in everyone's face. Even someone like Dolph Ziggler, as entertaining as he is, happens to be in a bit of a lull and shouldn't take much focus away from the other stars.

There's plenty of time for WWE to take Battleground to the next level and really promote it as a must-see event, but if the wrong choices are made, it will come off as the B-level pay-per-view that fans have come to associate with its name.

By the time the dust settles and the audience forms an opinion about whether or not it was a good show, it's the eight men listed here who have the most to lose as far as their reputations go, so they need to be treated with the proper care to avert those problems from popping up.

Which Superstars are you hoping will dominate your television screens over the next couple weeks? What matches are you most excited to see?

Tell us your thoughts, booking ideas and predictions in the comments below!

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