Battleground

* Poll results: Grade WWE’s Battleground
* Poll results: Best match at Battleground

Battleground Kickoff kicks off with Josh Mathews welcoming us to the show as we take a look at the fans filing into the arena in Buffalo, New York. Mathews welcomes the Superstar Panel, which consists of The Miz, Titus O’Neil, and Tensai. The Miz says he is looking forward to the WWE Championship Match between Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton. Titus says he is looking forward to The Shield vs. The Rhodes Family. Tensai says he is looking forward to the Hardcore Rules Match for the World Heavyweight Championship between Alberto Del Rio and Rob Van Dam and then he wonders if Damien Sandow is going to cash in tonight.

Mathews tosses it to Rene Young, who is in the Social Media Lounge. She gives us choices to vote for the best Power Couple of all time and tosses things back to Mathews. We then take a look at the video hype package for the ongoing feud between CM Punk and Ryback. Paul Heyman and Ryback join the Superstar Panel for an interview. Mathews asks Heyman his thoughts on the match. Heyman says he is tired of Punk’s bullying and everyone who has bullied his big, beautiful Ryback. Heyman says he cannot wait for Ryback to shut Punk up later tonight. We go down to ringside and it is time for our first match.

Damien Sandow vs. Dolph Ziggler

They tie up and Sandow takes Ziggler down and applies a headlock. Sandow delivers a few kicks to Ziggler and backs him into the corner. Ziggler counters and drops a series of elbows, but Sandow turns the tide again and dumps Ziggler to the outside as we head to a “commercial.”
We’re back and Sandow is still in control of the match. Ziggler catches Sandow with a back-slide, but Sandow kicks out at two. Sandow drops Ziggler with a side-Russian leg-sweep and delivers the Cubito Aquet, but Ziggler kicks out at two. Sandow goes up top and dives off, but Ziggler counters with a dropkick. Ziggler sends Sandow into the corner and then drops him with a clothesline. Ziggler connects with a series of right hands and then delivers a neck-breaker. Sandow comes back and drops Ziggler on the back of his head and goes for the cover, but Ziggler kicks out at two. Sandow goes for the sunset flip, but Ziggler sits down and gets a pin on Sandow, but Sandow kicks out at two. Ziggler drops Sandow to the mat and goes for the cover, but Sandow kicks out at two. Ziggler goes for the sleeper, but Sandow sends him head-first into the turnbuckle. Sandow goes for the cover, but Ziggler kicks out at two. WWE’s Pre-show stream went out on me and Ziggler got the pin fall following a Zigzag
Winner: Dolph Ziggler.

We take a look back at this past Monday night’s Raw, where Stephanie McMahon and Triple H gave Goldust and Cody Rhodes the ultimatum to face The Shield tonight.

We go back to Rene Young in the Social Media Lounge when Los Matadores’ little bull rushes her. He goes away and then she reveals that Edge and Lita won the vote for the WWE’s best power couple. We then take a look back at the ongoing feud between Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton.

Miz, O’Neil, and Tensai (who puts on a fake beard) all pick Daniel Bryan to win tonight as Battleground Kickoff comes to a close.

World Heavyweight Championship Battleground Hardcore Rules Match: Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. Rob Van Dam (w/Ricardo Rodriguez)

Del Rio knees Van Dam in the head and then rolls to the outside and looks at Rodriguez. Van Dam goes after Del Rio and delivers a moonsault from the barricade. Back in the ring, Van Dam hits Del Rio in the midsection with a steel chair. Van Dam drops Del Rio with a DDT onto the chair and goes for the cover, but Del Rio kicks out at two. Del Rio comes back and tosses Van Dam into the corner and delivers a Backstabber. Del Rio goes for the cover, but Van Dam kicks out at two. Del Rio puts the chair in the corner, but Van Dam takes Del Rio down with a kick. Van Dam chokes Del Rio with his boot and then delivers a leg drop on the apron. Van Dam pulls a ladder from under the ring. Van Dam hits Del Rio in the face with the ladder and gets back into the ring. Van Dam delivers the thrust kick to Del Rio from the top rope. Van Dam tosses Del Rio into the ladder, which was set up in the corner, and Del Rio falls to the floor. Van Dam goes out after him and brings him back into the ring. Van Dam goes for the cover, but Del Rio kicks out at two. Van Dam kicks Del Rio into the ladder. Van Dam goes for the monkey flip, but Del Rio moves and Van Dam lands on the ladder. Del Rio delivers the enzuiguri to Van Dam and goes for the cover, but Van Dam kicks out at two. Del Rio gets a garbage can and brings it into the ring. Del Rio smacks Van Dam with the garbage can a few times. Del Rio comes off the top rope with the trash can, but Van Dam counters with a kick. Van Dam drops Del Rio onto the ladder and then connects with the split-leg moonsault. Van Dam goes for the cover, but Del Rio kicks out at two. Van Dam kicks Del Rio onto the ladder and then goes for Rolling Thunder, but Del Rio rolls out of the way. Del Rio locks in the cross arm-breaker and Rodriguez hits Del Rio with the metal bucket. Van Dam tries for a quick rollup, but Del Rio kicks out and tosses Van Dam to the floor. Rodriguex and Del Rio are in the ring. Rodriguez nails Del Rio with the bucket and Del Rio goes to the outside. Rodriguez goes after him, but Del Rio slams him into the barricade. Van Dam hits Del Rio with the ladder and connects with the frog-splash from the apron to the floor. Van Dam tosses Del Rio into the ring and goes for the cover, but Del Rio kicks out at two. Van Dam grabs the chair from the corner and goes for the Van Terminator. Del Rio rolls out of the way at the last second and both men are down. Del Rio grabs the chair and sets it in the middle of the ring. Del Rio dro-toe-holds Van Dam onto the chair. Del Rio kicks Van Dam and the chair is wrapped around Van Dam’s arm. Del Rio locks in the cross arm-breaker with the chair still wrapped around Van Dam’s arm, and Van Dam taps out.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio.

We go backstage and we see The Real Americans and Zeb Colter. Colter says he wants to know why people would cheer their hometown if it were Buffalo. He says they walked around town today and saw a bunch of illegal Mexicans and a bunch of maple syrup-chugging Canadians. Colter says they need to take Santino Marella and The Great Khali and lay them to the side. Colter leads them in, “We the People!” before they walk off.

Santino Marella and The Great Khali (w/Hornswoggle) vs. The Real Americans (Antonio Cesaro and Jack Swagger) (w/Zeb Colter)

Swagger and Marella start the match and Swagger applies a headlock. Swagger takes Marella down and applies a side-headlock on the mat, but Marella gets back to his feet. Marella gets Swagger in a headlock and then drops him with a shoulder block. Marella grabs the cobra sock and takes Swagger down with a hip-toss. Swagger goes to the outside and Hornswoggle gets a mini-cobra sock and puts it on. Swagger grabs it and rips it apart. Swagger gets back into the ring and tags in Cesaro. Cesaro delivers an elbow shot to Marella and tags Swagger back in. Swagger takes Marella to the mat and applies a submission, but Marella fights back to his feet. Marella takes Swagger down and tags in Khali. Swagger tags in Cesaro. Khali takes Cesaro to the corner and delivers a big chop, in which JBL says, “That just knocked one of the languages out of Cesaro.” Khali slams Cesaro to the mat and goes for the cover, but Swagger breaks it up at two. Marella takes Swagger out with a cross-body over the apron and Cesaro takes Khali out at the knee. Cesaro spins Khali ELEVEN times in the Giant Swing and then gets the pin fall.
Winners: The Real Americans.

We get a vignette for the WWE’s joint effort with the Susan G. Komen foundation for fighting breast cancer.

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: Curtis Axel (c) (w/Paul Heyman) vs. R-Truth

Axel and Truth tie up and go against the ropes. Truth goes for a quick cover, but Axel kicks out at one. Truth slams Axel’s head into the turnbuckle and then connects with a right hand. Truth pummels Axel in the corner and then slams him to the mat. Truth goes for the cover, but Axel kicks out at two. Truth clotheslines Axel over the top rope. Truth goes after Axel on the outside and drops him with a clothesline. Truth tosses Axel back into the ring and goes for the cover, but Axel kicks out at two. Axel rolls to the outside and talks to Heyman, but Truth comes out after him. Axel tosses Truth into the barricade. Axel tosses Truth back into the ring and goes for the cover, but Truth kicks out at two. Axel gets Truth against the ropes and chokes him, but Truth fights back with right hands. Axel drops Truth with a dropkick and goes for the cover, but Truth kicks out at two. Axel applies a headlock to Truth down on the mat. Axel gets up and comes off the ropes, but Truth kicks him in the face and both men are down. Truth delivers a back elbow to Axel and delivers a few clotheslines. Truth drops Axel with a kick and goes for the cover, but Axel kicks out at two. Truth sends Axel into the corner and charges, but Axel moves and then plants Truth to the mat with the face-buster and gets the pin.
Winner and still WWE Intercontinental Champion: Curtis Axel.

We take a look back to Battleground Kickoff, where Damien Sandow lost to Dolph Ziggler after injuring his knee during the match.

WWE Divas Championship Match: AJ Lee (c) (w/Tamina Snuka) vs. Brie Bella (w/Nikki Bella)

Brie backs AJ into the ropes with a right hands and then tosses her to the mat and delivers more right hands. Brie goes up top and delivers a dropkick. Brie goes for the cover, but AJ kicks out at two. AJ comes back and sends Brie face-first off of the post. Back in the ring, AJ works over Brie’s arm. AJ drops Brie with an arm-breaker and goes for the cover, but Brie kicks out at one. AJ takes Brie to the corner and continues to work over her arm. Brie tries to come back, but AJ beats her down and works on her arm again. AJ applies an arm-bar-like submission down on the mat, but Brie escapes. AJ skips around the ring, but Brie takes her down with a dropkick. Brie rolls AJ up, but AJ kicks out at one. Brie drops AJ with another dropkick and tosses her into the corner. Brie delivers a back-breaker to AJ and goes for the cover, but AJ kicks out at two. On the outside, Tamina grabs Nikki and Brie is distracted by it. AJ rolls Brie up from behind and gets the pin fall.
Winner and still WWE Divas Champion: AJ Lee.

We see the video hype package for the match between The Rhodes Family and The Shield.

The Rhodes Family (Cody Rhodes and Goldust) (w/Dusty Rhodes) vs. The Shield (Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins) (w/Dean Ambrose)

After brief action in the ring, there is a standoff with all six men on the outside. Back in the ring, Goldust chops Reigns against the ropes. Goldust tags in Rhodes, and they double-team Reigns for a moment before Goldust leaves the ring. Reigns takes control and takes in Rollins. Rollins kicks Rhodes to the corner and then stomps down on him. Rollins goes to the corner and tags in Reigns, who continues to keep control of the match for The Shield. Reigns beats down Rhodes for a bit and tags in Rollins. Rollins hangs Rhodes in the tree of woe in the corner and stomps away on him. Rhodes gets free and takes Rollins down with a moonsault. Rhodes tags in Goldust and Rollins tags in Reigns. Goldust takes control for his team and then goes up top. Goldust takes Reigns down with a cross-body from the top rope. Goldust goes for the cover, but Reigns kicks out at two. Reigns comes back and tosses Goldust to the outside. Back in the ring, Reigns gets Goldust in a headlock down on the mat. Goldust gets to his feet, but Reigns keeps control. Reigns tags in Rollins, who takes Goldust down. Rollins goes for the cover, but Goldust kicks out at two. Rollins gets Goldust in a headlock down on the mat. Goldust gets free, but Rollins keeps control. Goldust takes Rollins down with a power slam and gets to the corner to tag Rhodes. Rhodes delivers the Alabama Slam to Rollins and goes for the cover as Goldust takes Reigns out, but Rollins kicks out at two. Rhodes gets Rollins in the corner and drops him with a Muscle Buster and goes for the cover, but Reigns breaks it up at two. Rhodes takes Rollins down with the Disaster Kick as Ambrose tries to interfere. Dusty Rhodes decks Ambrose on the outside as Rollins takes Cody down in the ring. Goldust takes Reigns down on the outside. Rhodes connects with the Cross Rhodes on Rollins in the ring and gets the pin fall.
Winners: Cody Rhodes and Goldust.

After the match, various wrestlers and agents from the back come out and celebrate with the Rhodes Family.

We see the video hype package for the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, which is on October 27th from Miami, Florida.

We then go to the expert Superstar Panel. The Miz marks out for seeing Dusty Rhodes’ Bionic Elbow. Titus says the show has been great so far and Tensai says he liked Antonio Cesaro’s swing on The Great Khali.

We go backstage and we see Brad Maddox and he is on the phone. Maddox tells the person on the phone that the Rhodes Family just won and Vickie Guerrero walks up. He says Triple H and Stephanie McMahon were on the phone and he needs her help to make sure the show goes according to plan. She laughs at him and says it’s all up to him.

Bray Wyatt (w/Erick Rowan and Luke Harper) vs. Kofi Kingston

Wyatt runs around the ring and then grabs Kingston. Wyatt tosses Kingston into the corner and charges, but Kingston kicks him in the face. Wyatt comes back and slams Kingston down to the mat and then works over Kingston’s arm and neck with a submission down on the mat. Kingston gets to his feet and fights out of Wyatt’s submission, but Wyatt slams Kingston down again and delivers an elbow drop. Wyatt goes for the cover, but Kingston kicks out at two. Kingston comes back with a cross-body, but Wyatt shoves him off of the pin attempt. Wyatt comes back and slams Kingston down to the mat and goes for the cover, but Kingston kicks out at two. Kingston comes back and drops Wyatt with a DDT and both men are down. Kingston takes Wyatt down with a dropkick and then delivers the Boom Drop. Kingston sets up for the Trouble in Paradise, but Wyatt ducks and takes Kingston down with a huge shoulder block. Wyatt crawls upside down toward Kingston, who gets freaked out and rolls out of the ring. Kingston takes out all three members of The Wyatt Family on the outside. Kingston tosses Wyatt back into the ring and then connects with a cross-body from the top rope. Kingston goes for the S.O.S., but Wyatt counters and delivers Sister Abigail to Kingston and gets the pin fall.
Winner: Bray Wyatt.
After the match, Rowan and Harper get into the ring and destroy Kingston. Wyatt gets a microphone and says, “There is no right; there is no wrong. All that is left is the mannequins that are trying to force feed you what their ideas are. But I promise you, there will be none of them left. I will take them out one by one. Follow the buzzards.”

We see a video package for the new Triple H DVD entitled “Thy Kingdom Come.”

CM Punk vs. Ryback (w/Paul Heyman)

Punk and Ryback circle the ring and Punk kicks Ryback in the legs and Ryback rolls to the outside. Ryback asks Heyman what he should do and Heyman says, “Get the bully,” and points at Punk. Punk goes to the outside and sends Ryback into the barricade. Punk slams Ryback into the ring post and then tosses him back into the ring. Punk goes up top and connects with a cross-body and goes for the cover, but Ryback kicks out at two. Ryback comes back and slams Punk into the middle turnbuckle. Ryback tosses Punk around the ring and goes for a cover, but Punk kicks out at two. Ryback tosses Punk around again and then puts his boot on Punk’s head. Ryback kicks Punk on the back, but Punk gets to his feet and delivers a few chops to Ryback. Ryback comes back and drops Punk with a clothesline. Ryback drapes Punk over the top rope and then slams him down to the mat. Punk makes a brief comeback, but Ryback slams him down to the ring with a power bomb. Ryback goes for the cover, but Punk kicks out at two. Ryback grabs Punk again, but Punk counters with a roundhouse kick to the head. Punk goes to the top and delivers the elbow drop. Punk goes for the cover, but Ryback kicks out at two. Punk goes for the Go to Sleep, but Ryback elbows his way out. Ryback slams Punk to the mat and goes for the cover, but Punk kicks out at two. Ryback chokes Punk against the ropes and the referee pulls him off. Heyman grabs a kendo stick and is about to hit Punk, but the referee catches him. The referee yells at Heyman and Punk low-blows Ryback and gets a quick pin fall.
Winner: CM Punk.

We go back to the Superstar Panel. Tensai says Punk outsmarted Heyman and then they talk about the upcoming match, which is for the vacant WWE Championship, and is between Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton. They all keep their pick as Bryan being the victor as we head into the video hype package for the match and as Tensai leads the crowd in a “YES!” chant.

Singles Match for the vacant WWE Championship: Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton

NOTE: The pay-per-view feed cut out during the hype package for this match. Stay tuned for further updates.

UPDATE: There was a power outage in the arena. The match is about to be underway.

The two men tie up and then Bryan takes Orton down to the mat. Both men exchange quick pin attempts before getting to their feet. They circle each other and then Bryan drops Orton with a dropkick. Bryan goes for a cover, but Orton kicks out. Orton grabs Bryan and delivers a back-breaker. Orton stomps away on Bryan in the middle of the ring. Orton rips Bryan’s arm a few times, but Bryan sends Orton off the ropes and delivers a knee to the midsection. Bryan delivers a few kicks to Orton and then works over Orton’s knee. Bryan locks Orton in a submission and then delivers a series of right hands. Bryan takes Orton to the top rope, but Orton shoves Bryan away and Bryan lands on the top rope. Orton clothesline Bryan from the top and goes for the cover, but Bryan kicks out at two. Orton drops Bryan with another clothesline and goes for the cover again, but Bryan kicks out at two. Bryan charges out of the corner, but Orton catches him and delivers the power slam. Orton goes for the cover, but Bryan kicks out at two. Bryan comes back and sends Orton to the outside. Bryan launches himself to the outside and takes Orton out. Bryan comes off the top rope, but Orton counters and sends Bryan down to the mat. Orton locks Bryan in a Boston Crab. Bryan rolls through and goes for the cover, but Orton kicks out at two. Bryan grabs Orton and goes for the Yes Lock, but Orton escapes. Both men go to the outside, and Orton slams Bryan into the steel steps. Orton slams Bryan into the ring post a few times now. Orton tosses Bryan back into the ring and goes for the cover, but Bryan kicks out at two. Orton sets Bryan up on the top rope and goes up after him. Orton delivers a superplex and both men are down. Orton rolls into the cover, but Bryan kicks out at two. Orton and Bryan exchange uppercuts before Bryan gains the advantage. Bryan kicks Orton in the head and goes for the cover, but Orton kicks out at two. Bryan tries to suplex Orton into the ring from the apron, but Orton counters and suplexes Bryan all the way out to the floor. Orton starts ripping apart the Spanish announce table. Orton tries to powerbomb Bryan through the table, but Bryan counters and kicks Orton in the legs. Bryan slams Orton into the steel steps and then goes to the apron. Bryan delivers a cross-body from the apron and then tosses Orton back into the ring. Bryan dives off of the top rope and goes for the cover, but Orton kicks out at two. Bryan delivers a few dropkicks to Orton in the corner and eventually sends him down to the mat. Bryan kicks Orton in the chest and goes for the big kick to the head, but Orton ducks. Orton delivers a suplex to Bryan. Orton drops Bryan with a DDT and goes for the RKO, but Bryan counters. Bryan locks in the Yes Lock in the middle of the ring, but The Big Show’s music hits. He tosses the referee out of the ring. Show decks Bryan with the KO Punch. Brad Maddox comes onto the stage and brings out Scott Armstrong. Armstrong makes the count, but Bryan Show grabs Armstrong and knocks him out. Show gets into the ring and clocks Orton. Maddox looks worried and confused about what we just saw as Show’s music hits.
Match Result: No Contest.
After the match, Show stands tall on the ropes and leaves the ring as Battleground comes to a close.