WWE Battleground 2016 Results: Twitter Reacts to Top Stars, Moments and More

The WWE Championship was up for grabs in a hotly anticipated Triple Threat match, Randy Orton made his return to television and Bayley energized the Washington, D.C. crowd as the Superstars of Raw and SmackDown rolled into the Verizon Center for a Battleground pay-per-view that set Twitter abuzz Sunday night.

From the hug-loving Superstar's epic arrival to the conclusion of this chapter of The Shield, fans voiced their opinions loud and clear across the social media platform.

What did they have to say about the night's biggest matches, moments and Superstars?

IT'S BAYLEY!

For weeks, fans feverishly discussed Bayley's potential arrival to Raw or SmackDown. Sunday night, after much speculation, she joined Sasha Banks for the opening contest—a tag team match against Charlotte and Dana Brooke:

Banks herself was overjoyed, as were the women Bayley either previously or currently called her NXT peers:

Wrestling websites such as NoDQ.com, WrestlingInc.com and Fighting Spirit Magazine all rejoiced at the popular booking decision:

Even WWE Creative Humor, a parody account, spoke candidly about the amazing reaction she received:

F4WOnline.com's JJ Williams brought the funny, tapping into a little Family Guy to express the excitement of the WWE Universe:

After a year of championship encounters and emotional moments in NXT, Bayley made her debut on the main roster and was treated like the star she is.

Fight Forever

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn wrote the latest chapter of their feud Sunday night with another outstanding Match of the Year candidate that received universal praise across Twitter from the likes of Bleacher Report analysts Mike Chiari, Donald Wood and Ryan Dilbert, MMA competitor-turned-pro wrestler Shayna Baszler and former WWE Superstar Virgil:

UFC light heavyweight champion, and former Olympian, Daniel Cormier gave credit to the Superstars:

Even Deadpool approved:

A match that lacked the proper build from WWE Creative, Zayn vs. Owens once again proved why those two Superstars are at the top of their field when it comes to consistently delivering performances that rank among the best of the calendar year.

"No Enhancement Needed"

Randy Orton returned Sunday night, joining Chris Jericho in the Highlight Reel for his first televised appearance in nine months.

Wasting little time putting heat on his upcoming match with Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam, he took aim at Lesnar's recent USADA out-of-competition drug-test failure. Twitter reacted with an appropriate amount of shock, with everyone from former ESPN anchor Robert Flores to B/R's own Alfred "Big Nasty" Konuwa chiming in:

Meanwhile, WrestlingInc.com and fan Rob McCarron were quick to call out the irony in Orton's mic-drop line:

"

pic.twitter.com/Z4k61Ja3SB

— Rob McCarron (@ShakeThemRopes) July 25, 2016"

Analyst Justin LaBar questioned whether Orton's comment was his own or that of WWE Creative:

The segment went on a bit long, despite a more animated and energetic Orton than normal, and ended predictably.

Cue the RKO...

...from outta nowhere.

Ambrose Pins Reigns, Attains and SmackDown Celebrates

The question of whether Raw or SmackDown would possess the WWE Championship by the end of the night hung over Battleground like a dark cloud. After an extraordinary battle between Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, the WWE Universe had their answer:

Some, including Ambrose's real-life significant other, Renee Young, reacted with joy and surprise:

"

Lookey like Smackdown Live got themselves one hell of a champion!! #WWEBattleground 

— Renee Young (@ReneeYoungWWE) July 25, 2016"

"

Yesssssssss pic.twitter.com/6LR7exbndy

— Lee (@TheQueenHEEL) July 25, 2016"

Others, like B/R's Steven Rondina and LaBar were more analytic and thought-provoking in their answers:

WWE Creative Humor leaned on sarcasm to sum things up, as it is prone to do, while Voices of Wrestling pointed out a major logic gap in the show-closing SmackDown celebration:

The match itself built strongly and even recreated famous scenes from The Shield's WWE journey to this point:

The right guy went over, the right Superstar took the fall and suddenly, there is intrigue surrounding Monday's Raw and the championship situation on the flagship show. Also, who steps up to challenge Ambrose going forward will be a question to be answered on the first SmackDown Live broadcast this Tuesday night.

Final Thoughts

The 2016 Battleground card was hardly what one would call impressive on paper. Thankfully, in execution, it was one of the best pay-per-view presentations WWE has turned out all year. From the opening surprise of Bayley through the Match of the Year candidate between Owens and Zayn and into the outstanding main event, the show was consistently great and only went off track once or twice.

Twitter responded in kind, applauding the efforts of the Superstars involved and the company for one of their most complete shows in quite some time:

That is exactly the momentum the company wants as it embarks on a roster split aimed at creating new stars, building internal competition and generating renewed fan interest.