Storylines
The event comprised nine matches, including one on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brands, [5] [6] while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw, SmackDown Live , [7] and the cruiserweight-exclusive 205 Live . [8]
During Seth Rollins' Universal Championship defense against Baron Corbin at Super ShowDown, Corbin got into an argument with referee John Cone, allowing Rollins to roll-up Corbin to retain the title. After the match, Corbin attacked Rollins with the "End of Days" and a title rematch was scheduled for Stomping Grounds. [9] On the following Raw, Corbin revealed that he was able to convince WWE officials to allow him to choose a special guest referee for their rematch, since he felt that it was Cone's fault for him losing at Super ShowDown. [10] Corbin was going to choose Elias, but he was attacked by Rollins, who followed suit and continued to attack Corbin's other potential choices: EC3 and Eric Young on Raw, [11] and The B-Team (Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas) on SmackDown. Corbin's decision on the special guest referee remained unknown before Stomping Grounds. [12]
At Money in the Bank, Bayley won the women's Money in the Bank ladder match and later that night cashed in the contract on Charlotte Flair to win the SmackDown Women's Championship. [13] On the June 4 episode of SmackDown, Flair competed in a triple threat match against Carmella and Raw's Alexa Bliss, who appeared via the wild card rule, in order to earn a rematch against Bayley for the title at Stomping Grounds. Bliss, however, won the match, thus Bliss earned the title match. [14]
At WrestleMania 35, Roman Reigns defeated Drew McIntyre. [15] Reigns was then drafted to SmackDown in the Superstar Shake-up, while McIntyre joined forces with Shane McMahon, but lost another match to Reigns by disqualification when Reigns appeared on the May 6 episode of Raw via the wild card rule. [16] At Super ShowDown, Shane defeated Reigns thanks to a Claymore from McIntyre while the referee was incapacitated. Afterwards, another match between Reigns and McIntyre was scheduled for Stomping Grounds. [9]
At Money in the Bank, Becky Lynch retained the Raw Women's Championship against Lacey Evans, who in turn caused Lynch to lose her SmackDown Women's Championship to Charlotte Flair that same night. [13] After more feuding on Raw, another match between Lynch and Evans for the Raw Women's Championship was scheduled for Stomping Grounds. [9]
At Super ShowDown, Kofi Kingston defeated Dolph Ziggler to retain the WWE Championship thanks to interference from fellow New Day member Xavier Woods. Following the match, an irate Ziggler claimed he would have beaten Kingston had it not been for Woods and then challenged Kingston to a Steel Cage match for the title at Stomping Grounds and Kingston accepted. [9]
On the May 14 episode of SmackDown, Sami Zayn, who appeared via the wild card rule, became involved in Kevin Owens' feud against The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Xavier Woods). [17] The following week, Kingston defeated Zayn. [18] On the May 28 episode, Kingston defeated Owens in a non-title rematch from Money in the Bank. [19] The following week, Woods and Kingston defeated Owens and Zayn. [14] On the June 11 episode, The New Day defeated the team of Dolph Ziggler, Owens, and Zayn. [20] On the following Raw, wild card guests The New Day defeated the team of Owens (also appearing via the wild card rule), Zayn, and Baron Corbin in a two out of three falls match. A tag team match between New Day's Big E and Woods against Owens and Zayn was then scheduled for Stomping Grounds. [11]
On the June 11 episode of 205 Live, a fatal four-way match between Drew Gulak, Humberto Carrillo, Oney Lorcan, and Akira Tozawa occurred to determine the number one contender against Tony Nese for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship on the Stomping Grounds Kickoff pre-show. The match, however, ended with both Gulak and Tozawa scoring a double pin. [21] The following week, 205 Live General Manager Drake Maverick decided that Nese would defend the title against both Gulak and Tozawa in a triple threat match. [22]
On the June 10 episode of Raw, United States Champion Samoa Joe was a guest on The Miz's "Miz TV", only to get interrupted by Braun Strowman, Bobby Lashley, Ricochet, and Cesaro, each stating a claim to challenge Joe for his title. [10] The following week, a fatal five-way elimination match between Strowman, Lashley, Ricochet, Cesaro, and Miz occurred to determine Joe's challenger for the title at Stomping Grounds, which was won by Ricochet. [11]
After SmackDown Tag Team Champions Daniel Bryan and Rowan berated the SmackDown tag team division on the May 28 episode of SmackDown, Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker) interrupted and challenged the champions to a title match, which was accepted but for a later time. [19] On the June 11 episode, Bryan and Rowan were set to have a title unification match with the kayfabe Yolo County Tag Team Champions, a couple of "local" wrestlers with cardboard belts. Heavy Machinery came out before the match and accused Bryan and Rowan of avoiding their challenge. Bryan said that Heavy Machinery needed to earn the opportunity and had them instead face the enhancement talent, who Heavy Machinery quickly defeated. [20] Bryan and Rowan were then scheduled to defend the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against Heavy Machinery at Stomping Grounds. [12]
