Battleground | |||
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Promotion | WWE | ||
Date | July 20, 2014 | ||
City | Tampa, Florida | ||
Venue | Tampa Bay Times Forum | ||
Attendance | 12,000 | ||
Buy rate | 99,000 [1] (excluding WWE Network views) | ||
WWE Network event chronology | |||
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Battleground chronology | |||
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The 2014 Battleground was the second annual Battleground professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on July 20, 2014, at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, Florida, and was the first Battleground event to livestream on the WWE Network, which launched in February. It was the last WWE pay-per-view event to incorporate the WWE scratch logo, as the following month, WWE rebranded and began using the logo that was originally used for the WWE Network.
Nine matches were contested at the event, including two on the Kickoff pre-show. The main event saw John Cena defeat Randy Orton, Kane, and Roman Reigns in a fatal four-way match to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The event received 99,000 buys (excluding WWE Network views), slightly down on the previous year's 114,000 buys.
On October 6, 2013, WWE held a new pay-per-view (PPV) event titled Battleground that replaced Over the Limit. The event was originally intended to be an annual October PPV for the promotion. [2] The following year, a second Battleground was announced, but it was moved up to July. It was scheduled to be held on July 20, 2014, at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, Florida. This second event in turn established Battleground as WWE's annual July PPV. In addition to PPV, this was the first Battleground to livestream on the WWE Network, which launched earlier in February. [3] [4]
The event comprised nine matches, including two on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers, [5] [6] while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Raw and SmackDown .
At Money in the Bank, John Cena won a ladder match for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship to become a 15-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion. [7] The next night on Raw, Triple H scheduled Cena to defend the title at Battleground in a fatal four-way match against Roman Reigns, Kane, and Randy Orton. [8]
On the June 30 episode of Raw, AJ Lee returned to WWE (her last appearance was the Raw after WrestleMania XXX) and defeated Paige for the Divas Championship for a second time. [8] On the July 11 episode of Smackdown, AJ was scheduled to defend the title against Paige at the event. [9]
On the June 30 episode of Raw, it was revealed that WWE Intercontinental Champion Bad News Barrett suffered an injury on the June 27 episode of SmackDown when he was thrown into the barricade by Jack Swagger. Due to this, he was stripped of the championship. Michael Cole also announced that there would be a Battleground Battle Royal at Battleground for the vacant WWE Intercontinental Championship. On the same episode, Cesaro, The Great Khali, Kofi Kingston, and Damien Sandow were added to the battle royal. [8] On the July 1 episode of Main Event , Dolph Ziggler, Rob Van Dam, Ryback, Curtis Axel, and Big E were added to the match. On the July 4 episode of SmackDown, Alberto Del Rio and Bo Dallas were added to the match. [10] On the July 7 episode of Raw, Fandango and Sheamus were added to the match. [11] On the July 14 episode of Raw, Sin Cara, The Miz, Titus O'Neil, Xavier Woods, Zack Ryder, Heath Slater, R-Truth, Adam Rose, and Diego were added to the match. [12] At Battleground, it was announced that Bad News Barrett was to award the Intercontinental Championship to the winner of the battle royal. On July 16, Sandow and Rose were pulled from the battle royal. [13] On July 20, Sandow was reinstated into the battle royal and Fandango was pulled from the battle royal. [14] Van Dam did not appear in the battle royal due to an injury.
On the June 30 episode of Raw, Chris Jericho returned to WWE only for The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Erick Rowan), thus setting up a match between Wyatt and Jericho at the event. [8]
Following Money in the Bank, WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) continued their feud with Wyatt Family members Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. On the June 30 episode of Raw, The Wyatt Family (Harper, Rowan, and Bray Wyatt) defeated The Usos and Sheamus. On the July 7 episode of Raw, Harper and Rowan defeated The Usos. On the July 11 episode of SmackDown, The Usos were scheduled to defend the titles against The Wyatt Family in a two out of three falls match at the event. [9]
On the June 2 episode of Raw, Seth Rollins turned on The Shield by attacking both Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns, siding with The Authority in the process. [15] In the ensuing weeks, Rollins and Ambrose attacked each other, and each interfered in the others matches. The feud intensified when Kane assisted Rollins in winning the Money in the Bank ladder match at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view on June 29. On July 12, it was announced that Rollins and Ambrose were scheduled to face each other at Battleground. [16]
On the June 30 episode of Raw, Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter confronted Rusev and Lana about their anti-American views. [8] Swagger and Colter issued a challenge to Rusev, which was accepted on the July 14 episode of Raw. [12]
Also confirmed for the event was Cameron squaring off against Naomi, which took place on the Kickoff pre-show. [14] After they lost to AJ Lee and Paige on the July 7 episode of Raw, Cameron and Naomi attacked each other, effectively breaking up The Funkadactyls and setting up a match for the event. [11]
On July 20, a match between Adam Rose and Fandango was scheduled for the Kickoff pre-show. [14]
Role: | Name: |
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English commentators | Michael Cole |
Jerry Lawler | |
John "Bradshaw" Layfield | |
Spanish commentators | Carlos Cabrera |
Marcelo Rodriguez | |
Backstage interviewer | Tom Phillips |
Ring announcers | Lilian Garcia |
Justin Roberts | |
Referees | Mike Chioda |
Charles Robinson | |
John Cone | |
Jason Ayers | |
Darrick Moore | |
Matt Bennett | |
Ryan Tran | |
Rod Zapata | |
Pre-show panel | Renee Young |
Booker T | |
Christian | |
Alex Riley |
During the Battleground Kickoff pre-show, Adam Rose took on Fandango. Rose performed a Party Foul on Fandango to win the match. [17]
In the second pre-show match, Cameron took on Naomi. In the end, Cameron rolled up Naomi to win the match. [17]
The actual pay-per-view opened with The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) defending the WWE Tag Team Championship against Luke Harper and Erick Rowan of The Wyatt Family in a two out of three falls match. Harper and Rowan won the first fall after Harper executed a Big Boot on Jey. The Usos won the second fall after Jey pinned Harper with a roll-up. The Usos won the third fall after performing a double Samoan Splash on Harper, meaning The Usos retained the titles. [18]
Next, AJ Lee defended the WWE Divas Championship against Paige. In the climax, AJ applied the black widow, which Paige countered and then performed a Paige Turner on AJ for a two count. Paige attempted the PTO, but AJ and Paige traded covers. AJ performed a Shining Wizard on Paige to retain the title. [18]
After that, Rusev faced Jack Swagger. The ending saw Swagger apply the Patriot Lock on Rusev outside the ring but Rusev escaped the hold by pulling Swagger into the ring post and Swagger was counted out. After the match, Rusev applied The Accolade on Swagger. [18]
Next, Dean Ambrose was scheduled to face Seth Rollins, but Ambrose was ejected from the arena by Triple H for fighting with Rollins backstage. Rollins subsequently had himself declared the winner by forfeit. Later, as Rollins was leaving the arena, he was attacked by Ambrose but managed to escape. [18]
In the fourth match, Bray Wyatt faced Chris Jericho. During the match, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan were ejected from ringside after attempting to attack Jericho. The match ended when Jericho performed a Codebreaker on Wyatt to win the match. [18]
In the penultimate match, the battle royal for the vacated WWE Intercontinental Championship was contested. In the end, Dolph Ziggler performed a Superkick on Sheamus to eliminate him but The Miz, who had been hiding outside the ring, eliminated Ziggler to win the title. [18]
In the main event, John Cena defended the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, and Kane in a fatal four-way match. During the match, Cena applied the STF on Orton but Reigns broke the hold. Reigns performed a Spear on Cena but Kane broke the pinfall. Reigns performed a Spear on Orton through the barricade. Reigns performed a Spear on Kane but Cena broke up the pinfall. Cena performed an Attitude Adjustment on Reigns but Kane broke up the pinfall. Kane performed a Chokeslam on Cena and a Chokeslam on Reigns for a near-fall. Reigns performed a Spear on Kane but received an RKO from Orton. Cena performed an Attitude Adjustment on Orton onto Kane and pinned Kane to retain the title. [18]
The Jack Swagger vs. Rusev match, promoted as "United States vs. Russia", was marked in controversy after Lana made comments prior to the match blaming the United States for "recent current" world events and praising Russian president Vladimir Putin to help build heat for Rusev. Some in the media viewed the promo as a veiled reference to the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 three days earlier. [19] [20] In response to the backlash, a representative of WWE said that the segment "was in no way referring to the Malaysia Airlines tragedy", adding that the Rusev-Lana storyline "has been a part of WWE programming for more than three months. WWE apologizes to anyone who misunderstood last night's segment and was offended." [21] [22] In response to WWE's statement, Pro Wrestling Torch newsletter assistant editor James Caldwell viewed the comments as hollow, noting that reasonable viewers could conclude that Lana was referring to the plane crash. "WWE tacking on a fake apology with an insult to people's intelligence makes WWE sound even worse. All-around, it's a messy statement that conveys a lack of understanding, sensitivity, and maturity from WWE to be a decent corporate citizen", wrote Caldwell. [23] Swagger did not appear on Raw the next night, [24] but he had a rematch with Rusev on Main Event, which Swagger won by disqualification. [25]
On the July 21 episode of Raw, Triple H named Brock Lesnar the number one contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship held by John Cena, and scheduled a title match between them at SummerSlam. [24]
The 2014 Battleground would also be WWE's final PPV to incorporate the WWE scratch logo, as the following month, WWE rebranded and began using the logo that was originally used for the WWE Network. [26]
The 2013 Hell in a Cell was the fifth annual Hell in a Cell professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on October 27, 2013, at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. The event received 212,000 buys, which was up from last year's event of 199,000.
The 2014 SummerSlam was the 27th annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on August 17, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California for the sixth and final consecutive year. This was also the first SummerSlam event to air on WWE's livestreaming service, the WWE Network, which launched in February. It was also the first WWE pay-per-view to incorporate the new WWE logo but it would not be used on air and on the turnbuckle pads until the next night on Raw. This would also be the last WWE pay-per-view to feature the championships with the scratch logo as all were updated with the new logo also on the following night's Raw.
The 2014 Survivor Series was the 28th annual Survivor Series professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on November 23, 2014, at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri, and was the first Survivor Series event to livestream on the WWE Network, which launched in February. The event was notable for the WWE debut appearance of former World Championship Wrestling (WCW) wrestler Sting and also the first Survivor Series since 2001 to not feature a world championship match.
The 2014 Elimination Chamber was the fifth Elimination Chamber professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. The event took place on February 23, 2014, at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was WWE's final PPV to air before the launch of their online streaming service, the WWE Network, on February 24; following its launch, the events began to be simultaneously broadcast on PPV and livestreamed on the WWE Network.
The Wyatt Family was an American professional wrestling stable in WWE originally composed of Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan, and Luke Harper.
The 2014 Night of Champions was the eighth annual Night of Champions professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on September 21, 2014, at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, and was the first Night of Champions event to air on the WWE Network, which launched in February. The theme of the event was that every championship promoted on WWE's main roster at the time was defended.
The 2014 Hell in a Cell was the sixth annual Hell in a Cell professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on October 26, 2014, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, and was the second Hell in a Cell to be held at this venue after the 2010 event. This was the first Hell in a Cell event to livestream on the WWE Network, which launched in February.
The 2014 TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs was the sixth annual TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on December 14, 2014, at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, and was the first TLC event to air on the WWE Network, which launched in February. It was the only event in the series to have the "stairs" annotation added to the title.
The 2014 Extreme Rules was the sixth annual Extreme Rules professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on May 4, 2014, at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and was the first Extreme Rules event to livestream on the WWE Network, which launched in February. The concept of Extreme Rules is that the event features various hardcore-based matches.
The 2014 Payback was the second annual Payback professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on June 1, 2014, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois for the second consecutive year. This was also the first Payback event to livestream on the WWE Network, which launched in February. The theme of the event was wrestlers seeking payback against their opponents.
The 2014 Money in the Bank was the fifth annual Money in the Bank professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on June 29, 2014, at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. This was the first Money in the Bank event to air on the WWE Network, which launched in February.
The Authority was a villainous professional wrestling stable in WWE, which originated due to Triple H helping Randy Orton win the WWE Championship from Daniel Bryan at the 2013 SummerSlam pay-per-view immediately after cashing in the Money in the Bank contract. The name of "The Authority" was introduced in October 2013 and initially referred to only Triple H and Stephanie McMahon as a power couple. The Authority shares similarities with The Corporation and The McMahon-Helmsley Faction, and also had ties to Triple H's previous stables D-Generation X (DX) and Evolution, the latter of which existed alongside The Authority for a brief period in 2014.
WrestleMania 31 was the 31st annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on March 29, 2015, at Levi's Stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area town of Santa Clara, California. Nine matches were contested at the event, including two matches on the Kickoff pre-show.
The 2015 Extreme Rules was the seventh annual Extreme Rules professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on April 26, 2015, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois, and was the second Extreme Rules event to take place at this venue after the 2012 edition. The concept of Extreme Rules is that the event features various hardcore-based matches.
Fastlane (2015) was the inaugural Fastlane professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on February 22, 2015, at the FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee. Fastlane replaced Elimination Chamber in the February slot of WWE's PPV event calendar; Elimination Chamber itself was pushed back to May for 2015.
The 2015 Payback was the third annual Payback professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on May 17, 2015, at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland and was the first Payback held outside of the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois. The theme of the event was wrestlers seeking payback against their opponents.
The 2015 SummerSlam was the 28th annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on August 23, 2015, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York and was the first of four consecutive SummerSlam events to take place at the arena. It was the first SummerSlam since 2008 to be held outside of Los Angeles as its Staples Center was the exclusive home for SummerSlam from 2009 to 2014. It was also the eighth SummerSlam to be held in the New York metropolitan area. The Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey was originally supposed to host SummerSlam, but due to its closure in April 2015, the event was relocated. It was also the first SummerSlam to be four hours in length, a length previously reserved only for WrestleMania. This was also the last SummerSlam event to be held before the reintroduction of the brand extension in July 2016.
The 2015 Hell in a Cell was the seventh annual Hell in a Cell professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on October 25, 2015, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. This was the first WWE pay-per-view, other than SummerSlam, to be held in the city of Los Angeles since No Way Out in February 2007. This was also the last Hell in a Cell event to be held before the reintroduction of the brand extension in July 2016.
The 2016 Battleground was the fourth annual Battleground professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on July 24, 2016, at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. It was the last event to feature WWE's full main roster before the newly reinstated brand extension went into full effect, excluding WWE's "Big Four" PPVs, as after the following month's SummerSlam, monthly PPVs became brand-exclusive until WrestleMania 34 in April 2018, after which, brand-exclusive PPVs were again discontinued.
The 2016 SummerSlam was the 29th annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on August 21, 2016, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York for the second consecutive year. It was the first PPV event held after the brand extension, which was reintroduced in July, went into full effect.