WWE Battleground 2015: Best Moments from Buildup to PPV Event

Given the hectic run of pay-per-views over the last two months, the road to WWE Battleground has felt like an incredibly long run.

Five weeks' worth of shows between Battleground and Money in the Bank have enabled plans to be put down and storylines to be significantly invested in as the final show before SummerSlam draws ever closer.

And although there have been some dark days for several stars on the path to Battleground, there have also been some standout moments along the way, with these being the pick of them.

John Cena's Epic With Cesaro

It seems to be becoming more and more usual these days that John Cena appears in standout matches.

His last two matches with Kevin Owens have been arguably the two best he's worked since an unbelievable bout with Cesaro at the beginning of last year, but he went close to topping all of those with this epic on Raw.

It went a fraction over 30 minutes, was the main event of the show and epitomised why the United States Championship is the current talk of the town in WWE.

Why was it such a standout moment? WWE teased a match between Cena and Owens which got a raucous Chicago crowd going, but the pop Cesaro received when he emerged was something else: 

Like Owens, Cesaro is a guy who brings something different out of Cena, and with his phenomenal feats of strength and his superb athleticism, Cesaro rubber-stamped himself as a real fan favorite here. The fact that Owens denied him the win kept Cesaro looking strong, and stacked a heap of heat on Owens. It was a match that seemed to tick all the boxes.

The fact that he had an equally brilliant fight with Owens and Rusev the week after is also worth mentioning, and more and more WWE fans are wondering when Cesaro will get that huge push he seems to be warranting.

A New Generation of Divas

OK, at the time of this writing there is nothing scheduled for the WWE Divas division at Battleground.

However, there's no doubting that of all the moments that have occurred on the road to this weekend's pay-per-view, the segment involving Stephanie McMahon and the bulk of the division on this past week's edition of Raw has to be near the top.

It was unscripted, few people knew it was going to happen and that in itself is a rare commodity in professional wrestling these days. That creates excitement aplenty, and when Stephanie made her way down the ramp to confront The Bella Twins and Alicia Fox, you almost knew something special was about to happen.

And it wasn't so much the fact that Sasha Banks, Charlotte and Becky Lynch were introduced one at a time to major pops from the crowd. It was more the fact that we got to see all nine Divas inside the ring go at each other, which led to the incredible moment where all three NXT stars had The Bellas and Alicia in submission holds.

With Ryback's withdrawal from Battleground, WWE would be wise to use that potential match time for a dedicated slot for the Divas and this invasion angle. It could steal the entire show.

Brock Lesnar Destroys J&J...and a Cadillac

WWE fans love it when the company takes Brock Lesnar off the leash and lets him cause mayhem.

His actions the night after WrestleMania, which led to his "suspension," had everyone begging for more, and now that Lesnar is back on the scene, we're certainly getting some brutal entertainment.

This particular standout moment comes from the night when Seth Rollins decided to shower his henchmen with presents; Kane got a trip to Hawaii, but J&J Security got a brand-new Cadillac.

However, by the end of the night, Lesnar had not only destroyed that car, but he'd destroyed the two men who were sitting in it too. Jamie Noble had also suffered legitimate broken ribs at the hands of Lesnar the week before, but he was tossed around like a rag doll once again the week after, before being given a broken arm by The Beast Incarnate.

As for Mercury, he was thrown into the front screen of the Cadillac before Lesnar took to work on the car itself.

It had fans gasping at the superhuman strength of Lesnar, and the look on Seth Rollins' face as he watched also made it a memorable moment.