A – Excellent
B – Good
C – Mediocre
D – Avoid
Release Date: January 6th 2014
Available From: www.wwedvd.co.uk
Price:
DVD £ 12.99
Blu-ray £ 13.99
(Prices from www.wwedvd.co.uk: high street prices will vary)
Format Reviewed:
DVD
(Also Available on Blu-ray)
What It’s About:
WWE’s
first annual Battleground pay-per view, held on October 6th 2013 from the First
Niagara Centre in Buffalo, New York. Featuring a Battleground Hardcore Rules
Match for the World Heavyweight Championship; The Rhodes Family’s fight for
redemption against the now former WWE Tag Team Champions and Randy Orton vs
Daniel Bryan for the vacant WWE Championship. Whilst the Blu-ray edition
features over seventy minutes of exclusive extras, the DVD edition features several
extras including a six man tag team match from the following night’s Monday
Night Raw.
Strengths:
Alberto
Del Rio vs Rob Van Dam in a Battleground Hardcore Rules Match for the World
Heavyweight Championship, is the match of the night by a county mile. RVD’s
final match in WWE for now – he will return at Royal Rumble – kicks off with
such a pace that it can’t fail to impress and doesn’t slow until the final well
timed conclusion. Van Dam’s moonsault off of the barricade is pleasingly old
school and his excellent slingshot DDT over the top rope and onto a steel chair
is simply sublime. Rob Van Dam rolls back the years here and this has to be his
best match in at least five years. If this was his final match for WWE – it’s
not – then it would be a hell of a way to burn out. Alberto Del Rio plays up to
his heel persona to perfection, peppering Rob Van Dam with vicious chair and
ladder shots – which gets a huge reception when it’s introduced. It’s clear by
the time this ends that Alberto Del Rio had so much more to give as Champion,
before WWE sacrificed him to John Cena one month later. Apart from the welcome
hardcore action the match does boast some great moves, including an expert
Inzaguri onto a ladder and the challenger by Del Rio and the Five Star Frog
Splash from the apron onto the ladder and prone Champion, which brings out the
‘This is Awesome’ chants. The tense near falls make you believe that RVD may
actually dethrone Del Rio, whilst the final Cross Arm Breaker through a steel
chair looks perfect. It’s nice in a match as good as this to have a decisive
ending. The only small down point is the commentary which is still laughable at
times. The worst part being Jerry Lawler stating that the crowd are chanting
for chair when the audience can clearly be heard chanting ‘We want tables!’
Cody
Rhodes and Goldust vs Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns in the match to restore The
Rhodes Family to WWE’s roster, is a great tag team encounter in which, for
once, everyone on display makes the most of their allocated time. Thankfully,
realising The Shield were going to come out on the losing end, the commentators
were informed to make sure the audience knew The Shield were responsible for
The Undertaker’s absence, thus making them look like a hell of a hurdle for The
Rhodes Brothers to leap. Cody Rhodes shows all the main event calibre talent
needed for WWE to be comfortable in pushing him up the card when his time
comes, with a solid showing including an excellent moonsault from the top rope
which is pitch perfect. Goldust shines in his limited time in the ring – which
was wise by WWE to use him sparingly – and The Shield selflessly, sacrifice
themselves to make sure Cody Rhodes gets over in star making qualities which
are beyond their years. In doing so, Reigns and Rollins look like stars
themselves. The match comes as a huge relief after sitting through at least an
hour of rubbish. It’s logical, tense and entertaining mixing in near falls – a
thrilling two and a half count after a thunderous Alabama Slam – nostalgia
spots – where Dusty Rhodes gets involved banishing Dean Ambrose with a ‘Dusty
Elbow’ – and an excellent closing few moments in which the Crossroads and
subsequent victory gets the biggest reaction of anything in wrestling all year.
WWE should have sent this match on last for that feel good feeling.
Randy
Orton vs Daniel Bryan is inferior to their Night of Champions clash but is
still made entertaining and watchable by both men’s efforts. Technically, the
match is flawless but nothing really happens for the longest of times – at
least nothing we haven’t seen before. It was a mistake showing Randy Orton
decimating Daniel Bryan in front of Brie Bella in the highlight video package,
as the silly bitch can’t even be bothered to feign tears of fear for her
fiancé’s welfare, though thankfully that is the only low point of an otherwise
fine bout. There are a surprising amount of rest holds in the bout but
considering the two would face off again at Hell in a Cell a fortnight later,
then they had to save it for a bigger occasion. These are forgivable and soon
forgotten by well placed bursts of energy by both men. The suplex by Randy
Orton to Daniel Bryan to the outside looks great as does Orton’s clothesline
from the turnbuckle as Bryan is straddled on the top rope. Daniel Bryan is as
good as ever but doesn’t do anything that sticks in the memory and whilst I can
see why WWE booked the Big Show double knock out, no contest ending, I still
don’t understand why WWE didn’t book this as a no disqualification match,
seeing as neither man could win the vacant championship by count out or
disqualification should the other decide to use weapons.
Zeb
Coulter’s promo before The Real Americans take on Santino Marella and The Great
Khali is very good and features a strong performance from the artist formerly
known as Dutch Mantel. Coulter doesn’t falter or trip over his words and the
stern look makes you believe every word he’s saying. The segment is followed by
a sprawling and inspiring shot of Niagara Falls.
From
the DVD Extras: the Battleground Kick Off Match fought between Dolph Ziggler
and Damien Sandow is a decent, if not thrilling affair. Dolph Ziggler’s ‘10
Elbow Drop’ shows an awesome amount of energy from the former World Heavyweight
Champion, though both men are wasted on the pre-show where virtually no one but
the attending audience can see them. One wonders why WWE even bothered to make
a special Money in the Bank briefcase for Sandow. The back and forth action is
good and nothing here is horrible but its clear both have taken umbrage about
not being used properly because this could have been so much better.
Cody
Rhodes, Goldust and Daniel Bryan vs The Shield (Monday Night Raw, October 7th
2013) is a lively six man tag team match, twenty four hours removed from
Battleground. As they were the night before, Cody Rhodes, Goldust and The
Shield are brilliant and Daniel Bryan leaves his mark on the match as well.
Cody executes a thrilling springboard dropkick and Goldust appears to have
gotten better with age. Daniel Bryan hits a sublime 180 degree German Suplex in
a sequence which looks so agile WWE need to be questioned on why they are
wasting him. Illogically, even though he’s been fired earlier in the Show, Big
Show’s entrance music is queued up so he can storm to the ring and knock Triple
H out in a good looking segment which also sees Big Show treat The Shield like
jobbers.
Weaknesses:
The
Real Americans vs The Great Khali and Santino Marella is a blah match in which
Santino’s comedy as well as the man himself, has outstayed its welcome. The
match is a bore and whilst there is some impressive athleticism on display, the
bout is entirely forgettable save for Cesaro’s Swing on The Great Khali which
is impressive. The Real Americans work well together as a team but this is no
way for WWE to exhibit their skills. There really is nothing else to say about
this match which was booked just to get Khali and Marella on the show. Worse,
Jerry Lawler strikes again when, in his best travel advisor voice, invites
foreigners to come to the USA and then sincerely adds ‘You don’t have to sneak
across the boarder’. Lawler delivers this in such a way that it sounds like he
believes everyone who goes to America sneaks across the boarder and is
encouraging them not to.
Curtis
Axel vs R-Truth for the WWE Intercontinental Championship is a pointless effort
by both men and adds nothing to the division as a whole. The match is a Raw or
Smackdown mid-card effort at best and looks more like a chore than star making
mid-card effort. Neither man makes any effort to truly shine and for Curtis
Axel, he needs to make more of his time than this if he wants to be part of
WWE’s plans in 2014. A sign in the crowd reads ‘Paulrus’ complete with a
picture of a walrus, that’s a nice way for WWE to promote its anti-bullying
campaign and when Jerry Lawler is questioned about his role in starting the
whole name calling thing, he admits it like its something to be proud of and
then blames John Lennon. It’s just terrible.
A.J
Lee vs Brie Bella is a lifeless scrap which even A.J can’t turn into something
halfway decent. This match is a spectacular return to form for the WWE Divas
Division which degenerates back to the usual divas match formula, playing out
in front an indifferent crowd who don’t give a damn about this bout. Credit
where credit is due, A.J does try her best with Brie and the work ethic never
dies away but Brie is comical in her selling. Would it kill Daniel Bryan to
give his beloved a crash course in how to feign peril? A.J’s showboating gets
the biggest reaction of the whole match, which goes too long with too little to
fill the time.
Kofi
Kingston vs Bray Wyatt is yet another forgettable match. The reaction to Kofi
Kingston’s entrance is tepid from the bored spectators though they do perk up
with a rousing reaction for the still eerie Wyatt Family entrance. Sadly,
that’s one of the best parts of this match. Whilst there are some impressive
skills on show from Kingston, he’s too far gone to be pulled back from the edge
in the audience’s mind. Before the end, the match becomes tiresome and the only
memorable part is when Wyatt pulls off a disturbing upside down ‘Buzzard Walk’.
If WWE had no plans for Kingston after this then it should have been a
whitewash by Wyatt to make the family look a real threat. Can anything save
Kofi Kingston now? It certainly is going to take a miracle.
C.M
Punk vs Ryback is the usual predictable slog through Ryback’s wrist slitting
routine. The bout begins with optimism but soon transgresses into something
which could cure Narcoleptics. C.M Punk is the one who is indifferent this time
around and seems jaded by WWE’s shoddy booking of him, whilst Ryback geninually
looks like he’s plodding from planned spot to the next. The match is slack and
uneventful and should have been booked by WWE so it hid the negatives because
they’re on show here. The ‘Boring’ chants are wheeled out by the WWE Universe
and when the match ends, you’re still waiting for something exciting to happen.
At nearly 25 minutes, it’s far too long for Ryback to wrestle seeing as his
arsenal consists of about four offensive moves before he enters repetition
mode. The ending adds to the illogical feeling of the fight as Ryback, a man
who has been built as a monster, is felled by a simple low blow.
As
for the extras on the DVD edition: ‘RVD Contemplates his Future’, ‘Randy Orton
Reacts to Battleground’, ‘Josh Matthews Interviews Daniel Bryan’ and ‘Renee
Young Interviews Big Show’ are all a waste of space. WWE should be commended
for trying to pack its DVD’s with more extras but these add nothing to the
event or release. The first sounds like RVD is mumbling his words and that he
cannot wait to leave the company, the second and third only exist to set up the
Hell in a Cell Match two weeks later – everything here was said in the weeks
following Battleground – and the last is laughable as Big Show simply shrugs
off being supposedly homeless and broke with a smile. No one says anything of
note.
DVD and Blu-ray Special
Features:
WWE Battleground –
October 6th 2013
Battleground Kick-Off
Match
Dolph
Ziggler vs Damien Sandow
Rob
Van Dam Contemplates his Future
Randy
Orton reacts to Battleground
Josh
Matthews Interviews Daniel Bryan
Monday Night Raw –
October 7th 2013
Cody
Rhodes, Goldust and Daniel Bryan vs The Shield
Rene
Young Interviews Big Show
Blu-ray Exclusive
Extras:
Raw – September 16th
2013
Triple
H holds the WWE Championship in Abeyance
Raw – September 23rd
2013
C.M
Punk Returns to Chicago
Raw – September 30th
2013
Rhodes
Family Summit
Daniel
Bryan and Randy Orton: Face to Face
Smackdown – October 4th
2013
WWE
Title Free Match
Alberto Del Rio vs Daniel Bryan
Conclusion:
Battleground
felt like an inconvenience to WWE, the paying audience and at times to us
watching it. Whilst it boasts three good matches, only one of which is included
on the ‘Best pay-per view matches 2013’ release, the whole event is a vain attempt
by WWE to squeeze more cash from us by fitting an event between Night of
Champions and Hell in a Cell.
The
event didn’t need to exist and this is for the completists only. Those buying
this for riveting matches will find the occasional glimpse of hope but there’s
not enough to warrant a purchase from the occasional fan. It’s a poor showing
by WWE who would have been better served saving the best for Hell in a Cell and
skipping over this completely.
Rating: D
Next Time in Review
Corner: WWE Best Pay-Pay View Matches 2013 DVD
and Blu-ray
Onwards
and upwards...
