WWE Battleground 2016: Full Predictions for Each Champion at Event
It is a new era in WWE. The brand extension has separated Raw and SmackDown, which means the battle between the two shows is officially on.
While the rosters will not split up and go their separate ways for WWE Battleground 2016 on Sunday, it is nonetheless an important event, as it will determine which championships are exclusive to the red or blue teams.
Most importantly, Dean Ambrose heads into Battleground as the figurehead of the company, holding the WWE Championship. However, he will have to defend it in a match where the odds are against his favor, facing off against Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.
Raw is fortunate enough to have the Women's Championship and the Tag Team Championship on its side, and both of those titles aren't currently scheduled to be defended. As a result, it appears as though there's safety with those champions, even though the individuals holding the belts may not be victorious in their fights.
On the other hand, the two midcard titles are up for grabs, as The Miz defends the intercontinental belt against Darren Young and Rusev puts his United States Championship on the line against Zack Ryder. Those matches may result in some trading between brands or an uneven tip in the scale as far as gold is concerned.
What is going to happen at Battleground as Superstars fight to prove their value at the start of this new brand split?
Let's take a look at some predictions of how things may go down!
Women's Champion Charlotte
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For the second pay-per-view in a row, Charlotte is going to avoid having to defend the WWE Women's Championship, as she is booked in yet another tag team match.
Putting aside the problem that WWE will reference the need for a champion to put the belt on the line every 30 days and then ignore that supposed rule when the situation calls for it, perhaps the most disappointing part of this situation is that it's treading on similar ground from Money in the Bank.
Last month, Natalya and Becky Lynch faced Charlotte and Dana Brooke, which led to Natalya's heel turn and split from Becky's side. This time, Sasha Banks is going into the event without a partner—at least, nothing is official yet.
These matches seem better suited for Monday Night Raw, but at least the tease of the mystery partner adds a different element to this match, which may make up for how bland it could end up being.
The trick, though, is that Sasha's partner must be a good enough talent to not come off as a disappointment.
All signs seem to point to Bayley being that woman, and if that is the case, Charlotte doesn't stand much of a chance to be victorious. There's no way WWE will want to have the apparent No. 1 contender and the most popular female star in NXT (if not the entire company) lose, just to avoid having Dana Brooke take a pinfall loss.
Then again, nothing is set in stone as far as Bayley goes. Sasha could well team up with Nia Jax, Alexa Bliss, Eva Marie, Carmella or even a returning Nikki Bella, and it would seem somewhat fresh.
In any of those cases, the story being told will still focus more on Sasha and her partner having the edge, so Charlotte will still be the champion but will be taken down a peg when she and her partner lose.
Tag Team Champions the New Day
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Just as the Women's Championship is not on the line, so too is the case with the WWE Tag Team Championship.
One benefit of this is that The New Day will have surpassed the previous record for the longest title reign length set by Brian Kendrick and Paul London by the time this match takes place, proving that Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods do indeed rock.
The downside, though, is that it means the result of this match doesn't matter.
As a result of Braun Strowman being drafted to Monday Night Raw and Luke Harper still being inactive with an injury, The Wyatt Family will likely see their end at Battleground.
There just isn't enough steam behind a duo of Bray Wyatt and Erick Rowan to justify keeping the two of them together as a tag team while Strowman does something else on the opposite show.
That means two different options could happen, depending on WWE's philosophy.
If WWE wishes to end The Wyatt Family on a positive note, the stable can win this match, as The New Day would not have to drop the titles.
On the other hand, if the game plan going forward is to put more stock in the current champions, it makes more sense for Kingston, Big E and Woods to win and to extinguish their opponents with the power of positivity once and for all.
The latter option is more likely, since it gives Woods a chance to shine and make up for his recent self-doubt, which is the more well-rounded story compared to just having the villains prevail and gain nothing but a separation.
United States Champion Rusev
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Former United States champion Zack Ryder is hoping to get a second reign with that title, as he challenges Rusev, who is doing rather well with his sequel run.
The Bulgarian Brute has been mowing people down left and right, although it appears that Long Island Iced Z's renewed vigor could turn the tide and bring the championship back into American hands.
It's fair to say that most WWE fans counted Ryder out when it came to the WWE Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania 32, yet he shocked us all by climbing the ladder and upsetting the competition.
Sure, he lost the title the very next night, but since then, Ryder has had a mystique around him, winning something big now and again to counterbalance this loss.
Securing the victory for Team America in the match against Team Multi-National Alliance was a huge deal that inspired a good portion of this current feud with Rusev. If the trend continues, Ryder may pull off another upset at Battleground.
It will be interesting to see how the brand split factors into this, as the placement of the two midcard titles dictates how this match and the WWE Intercontinental Championship defense will play out.
Should WWE prefer the United States Championship to be on SmackDown and the Intercontinental Championship to be on Raw, Rusev and Lana will have to take the loss.
Then again, nothing states that a brand can't have both belts, so that is not a lock by any means.
Judging by his strength advantage and how he's generally been more serious and credible, Rusev has the edge to win this match. Most people should assume he will be victorious, but if Ryder wins his second belt this year, it wouldn't be crazy.
Intercontinental Champion the Miz
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Perhaps more important to The Miz than the WWE Intercontinental Championship is his pride, as losing to Darren Young would be a blow to his ego he may not be able to recover from.
While The Miz has made it a point to always tout himself as a more menacing threat than he ever was, he has numerous accolades to back up at least some of his claim.
Young isn't quite as lucky, and the recurring joke has been that it's impossible to "make Darren Young great again" if he was never great to begin with.
With a forgettable singular tag team title reign to his name and a career of being slightly above a jobber and sometimes even worse, Young isn't in a position to dethrone a former WWE champion.
Stranger things have happened, though, and when WWE finds something funny enough, history has shown that championships aren't magnetically repelled from comedic characters despite the lack of credibility behind them.
All it takes is for Vince McMahon to find Bob Backlund's antics hilarious and the intercontinental belt could be around Young's waist soon.
Still, it seems hard to imagine that the writing team will have rushed so much of Young's progress at this stage by giving him a title he isn't ready to carry at the expense of someone who could be a major player on SmackDown.
Plus, if Rusev retains, the blue brand would need to keep a midcard title so as to not look like the weaker show, and since Young is on Raw, it would essentially rule out his win.
The Miz is the smart bet to retain, but it isn't as much of a guarantee as it should be.
WWE Champion Dean Ambrose
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In a normal Triple Threat match, the champion is at a disadvantage because he can lose the title without ever having been involved in the decision that ends the match.
For Dean Ambrose, this is an even direr situation, as he is not only fighting to retain his WWE Championship against two of his Shield brethren, but he is the sole representative of the SmackDown brand in this match.
By sheer numbers, it seems like it would be easy to count Ambrose out and assume either Seth Rollins or Roman Reigns will take the title to Raw, although that may not be the case.
Ambrose defeated Rollins on SmackDown, which, if you go by WWE's logic, means the momentum is on his side.
It's also tough to imagine there's anything but an uphill battle for Reigns, as he'll be returning from his wellness policy violation suspension, so his mind could be elsewhere and quite jumbled up. After all, wouldn't yours be if you have let down the entire company and lost your title before taking a leave of absence?
Putting all kayfabe aside, the smart move on WWE's part is to keep the belt on Ambrose. He is the most reliable of the three options at the moment, since Rollins is still somewhat fresh off an injury and Reigns shouldn't be rewarded for his mistakes.
Also, and perhaps most importantly, SmackDown is the brand that needs the boost of having the championship on its side. If WWE were to revert the title back to Raw, it would cement the point of view that Monday night is still when the A-show airs, while SmackDown can't get out of its shadow.
If that were to happen, the ratings for Tuesday nights would suffer, and USA Network would not like to see that occur.
Some strange things could happen, such as a Reigns heel turn or some kind of a wacky ending that results in another championship being birthed, but the smart bet would be for The Lunatic Fringe to find some way to upset his former teammates. It would be a sign of not only strength for the SmackDown brand but credibility for him as champion too.
Time will tell who our champions are at the end of Battleground, but until then, be sure to leave your comments below with predictions on what you think will go down!
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.
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