Sunday, July 19, 2015

LIVE Battleground thoughts - July 19, 2015

10:47 - Kinda odd that Rollins and the ref disappeared out of nowhere, but it made sense for the final visual to be the Undertaker.  I am intrigued to see where the story goes from here.  What exactly is Undertaker avenging?  He lost clean.  It's not as if that was a justifiable response.  Is he the heel in this situation?  The fans rooted for him and Lesnar showed fear, which implies Undertaker is the face in the situation.  But, again, I'm intrigued to hear what his motivations are (especially since Undertaker had already returned at WrestleMania, making no reference to the Lesnar loss).

Overall a really fun show considering the fact that I wasn't particularly looking forward to it.  Thumbs up, overall.

10:28 - I'm fine with the "Rollins is all alone" story, my issue is that it's been so jumbled and all over the place.  Like, it feels like he's gone from being alone, to being reunited with the Authority, to being alone, to being reunited again so many times since Extreme Rules or so.

So which of the rumors comes to fruition tonight?  Undertaker?  Sting?  Shield?  What's your guess?  Nonetheless, I see Rollins walking out with the title.....which he should.

10:13 - Ohhhhh, I expect a lot of people won't care for that result.

10:10 - I almost feel like we might see a double turn tonight.

9:48 - Owens is definitely the right guy and now is probably the right time, but I can't be the only one who kinda doesn't want this Cena US title reign to end.  The weekly great matches and the overall focus on a midcard storyline....it's been some great stuff.

9:45 - I do like the story they're telling here, about how Owens went from stomping on the US title to suddenly wanting to hold it.  It's as if he's doing it to take it AWAY Cena.  It's just as much about hurting Cena as it is helping himself.  Also, I thought we were supposed to see a redesign to the United States title.  I wonder if we'll get that should Owens win tonight.

9:38 - Probably the best Divas match in recent memory and I also believe the right person was victorious.  Really good stuff and everybody played their roles to perfection.

9:26 - I have to admit, I do like the three factions of Divas feuding with each other.  I imagine it as Paige/Becky/Charlotte as the absolute faces, Team Bella as the absolute heels, and Team BAD as the tweeners (leaning on the heel side) that act as heels or faces depending on which team they're up against.  I know a lot of people have argued that the three debuts should have been paced out better over the course of a number of weeks, but I'm all for dropping a bomb and making a great story.

9:20 - That was probably the best possible ending, all things considered.  I still think they need to expand the Wyatt family, though.

8:55 - Really not invested much in this match either, but I'd give Wyatt the win.  The guy desperately needs a high profile win (against somebody other than Ambrose) and this would be the perfect time.  I also heard rumors of a Shield and Wyatt reunion, so why not do that now.  Have Bray win after the Wyatts return (perhaps with some new followers).  Reigns will then understand the importance of having numbers, which could motivate his turn to return to the Shield (which would be a heel team, I imagine).

8:45 - While I would have preferred a New Day win, I'm okay with PTP retaining.  I'm all for extended title reigns.  I am wondering who challenges them next, though.

8:37 - I like the new copper/bronze ring gear that the Prime Time Players are wearing.  Goes nicely with their championship.  Having said that, I am hoping for a New Day title win here.

8:30 - I'm still kinda disappointed we never had AJ Lee and JoJo on screen together.  Those two would have been adorable together.

8:26 - Orton was probably the right winner, but it's still frustrating to see them give the briefcase to a guy that is only going to lose.  And where does each guy go from here?

8:09 - Roku needing to reload a bunch of times.  App on the SmartTV seems to be working uninterrupted, although that feed is a few seconds behind.  I'm guessing Orton wins?  Not really invested in this story or either guy, to be honest.

7:46 - Okay, so can this feud FINALLY end now???

7:45 - What is with Lawler's fascination with the size of Barrett's nose this match?

7:41 - Wait, are PPV's no longer being offered by ANY PPV providers?  Because now they've gone to saying "Only on WWE Network."

7:23 - What possible justification is there for this R-Truth/Barrett feud continuing THIS long????

7:06 - One of the more lackluster cards tonight.  Not sure if there's anything I'm particularly looking forward to tonight.  I will say this, though:  I'm with Rollins....why exactly do we want to see Brock Lesnar as WWE Champion again?  His absence as champion not only left a gaping hole in the main event, but it took the thrill away from the Money in the Bank briefcase (which is already pretty much as unthrilling as possible already, with Sheamus as the briefcase holder).  Further, the story of Lesnar being an unstoppable champion only worked with him as a heel.  A babyface champion that's unstoppable but never appears doesn't really work.  If the Rollins experiment isn't working (and personally, I'm fine with him as champion), I don't think another Lesnar title run is the answer.

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