WWE Battleground 2015: Stars Who Have Built Most Momentum on Road to Event

Momentum is of the utmost importance in wrestling.

Having momentum on one's side not only ensures a reaction from fans, but it can also fuel a performer to deliver the absolute best performance possible. Momentum allows added interest and anticipation and lends energy to a match or segment.

With WWE's upcoming Battleground pay-per-view on July 19 and a major WWE World Heavyweight Championship match between Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins helping to elevate the credibility of the event, it will be even more imperative for Superstars to enter the event with momentum on their side. 

But which Superstars are riding a wave of momentum heading into the event?

One is the lead villain in WWE's morality play, another is an enigmatic Superstar whose disdain for Roman Reigns has not yet fully been explored, still another is the current intercontinental champion and the last is the former NXT champion hell-bent on making up for his embarrassing loss in Tokyo by taking the United States Championship from pro wrestling's most recognizable star.

Credit: WWE.com

Seth Rollins

Since reuniting with The Authority following the four-on-one assault of Brock Lesnar on the Raw after Money in the Bank, Rollins has regained his footing as the top heel in WWE. Arrogant, cocky and confident as long as he has his buddies behind him, he is similar to both Four Horsemen-era Ric Flair and Evolution-era Triple H.

His trash talking of Lesnar in the shows that followed the beatdown has been phenomenal and really added to his heat. Chants of "Suplex City" greet him in arenas across the country, the sign of a heel doing his job to perfection.

Add to that the continuation of his rivalries with former Shield mates Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose, and you have the rare villain that the entire main event scene can be booked around. It is ironic that it was Triple H, the leader of The Authority and the man who handpicked Rollins to be his champion, who was the last heel to pull off such a feat.

As he enters Battleground, he has regained the momentum he had built for himself shortly after capturing the WWE title at WrestleMania 31. How he is booked at the July 19 show will determine if he heads into August's SummerSlam spectacular with that same momentum or if the Architect is once again forced to start from scratch.

Credit: WWE.com

Bray Wyatt

The first half of 2015 is a period of time the Reaper of Souls would undoubtedly like to forget. Yes, he was among the longest lasting entries in the Royal Rumble match and he feuded with Undertaker leading into WrestleMania, but he lost both of those matches and faded into obscurity, emerging only to work a short and inconsequential program with Ryback.

Since shoving Roman Reigns off the ladder at Money in the Bank and igniting a rivalry with the Juggernaut, Wyatt has enjoyed a renaissance of sorts. His promos are more focused, and on the July 2 episode of SmackDown, he scored a clean pinfall victory over Dean Ambrose in a quality match.

It has been clear from Day One that WWE saw Wyatt as a main event-level guy, but the booking never really reflected that vision. Now that he has momentum on his side, it will be interesting to see if WWE Creative adjusts its booking methods to better the odds of Wyatt's success or if it once again cools him down following the blow-off match with Reigns.

Credit: WWE.com

Ryback

The Big Guy has quietly developed into one of the best champions in wrestling, someone who takes his role as the intercontinental titleholder seriously and appreciates the legacy of the title, as well as what it says about the company's faith in him.

His in-ring performances against The Miz, Big Show and Mark Henry have all been far better than they had any right to be, especially taking into account the talents of those three. Better yet, he has been booked like a resilient champion, overcoming sneak attacks and actually eliciting positive reactions while doing so.

He is essentially the anti-John Cena.

At Battleground, he is defending his title against the aforementioned The Miz and Big Show in a Triple Threat match. With the talents of all three Superstars so varied, the overall quality of the match is in question.

What is not is that after years of uneven pushes, Ryback enters the upcoming pay-per-view event with more momentum than any other babyface on the roster. 

Credit: WWE.com

Kevin Owens

After suffering his first pinfall defeat in WWE at the hands of John Cena at Money in the Bank, Owens has managed to maintain his momentum thanks to some stellar booking and an unwavering determination to bring the old-school heel back to professional wrestling.

From his apron powerbomb of Cena following their second straight pay-per-view classic to his interruption of the franchise star's U.S. title defense against Cesaro, Owens has remained one of the few traditional bad guys in the industry.

Even in losing the NXT Championship to Finn Balor on July 4 in Tokyo, he freed himself from the binds of the developmental brand and opened himself up for continued success on the main roster.

Owens should beat Cena at Battleground, barring some ridiculous Creative decision to have the leader of the Cenation go over, and begin the era of KO in WWE. As the United States champion, he would continue in Cena's footsteps, restoring legitimacy and credibility to the title, all the while continuing to build momentum heading into what should be a monumental SummerSlam even for the former Ring of Honor star.