WWE Battleground 2016: Reactions & Review

Here’s our final review of WWE Battleground 2016!

The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso) vs. Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango) (Kickoff Match)

Reactions: WWE’s Kickoff Matches are never much of anything to really speak off, but this match was different from the norm. The Usos tend to put on great matches on the regular, plus Breezango has turned into a fun duo worth following. Both these teams engaged in a matchup that never slowed to a crawl. Fast action, close near-falls and a hot crowd made this better than expected. The midpoint of this Kickoff Match really kicked it into high gear. The Usos looked good here and so did Breezango. Breezango is finally coming into their own and it was cool to see them get the much needed win here. This was a pretty fun sprint.

Rating: 2 & a Half out of 5 Stars

Sasha Banks & Bayley vs. Charlotte & Dana Brooke

Reactions: WE WERE RIGHT! IT WAS BAYLEY ALL ALONG! The hot crowd we mentioned from before stayed hot with the surprise arrival of the women’s wrestler known for awesome hugs. This high-spirited tag team match was full of action. Charlotte and Brooke started off the match in a very intense way, but Banks and Bayley managed to fend off their opposers well. Banks and Bayley’s hot tag offense was incredible to see in the very same match. Charlotte’s Big Boot/Natural Selection combo was a pretty cool moment from the heel team. Both teams went tooth and nail with each other and gave us a fun tag team encounter. Banks and Bayley won and gave us a future look at the planned Women’s Championship match at SummerSlam 2016.

Rating: 2 & a Half out of 5 Stars

The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) vs. The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan and Braun Strowman) (Six-Man Tag Team Match)

Reactions: The Wyatt Family looked like the creepiest, well-oiled machine we know them to be here. They played on Woods’ fear of Bray and took advantage by beating the crap out of Kofi and Big E. Both of those New Day members (especially Big E) put in a ton of work and did their best to fend off their creepy adversaries. Things truly ramped up when Big E got the hot tag. Plenty of entertaining madness followed as Rowan got speared through the middle rope and when Big E caught a mean uppercut from Bray that pushed him into a Side Slam from Rowan. WWE’s six-man tag’s tend to have a lot of fire and passion within them, which was definitely the case here. Woods finally overcame his fears and got in some nice offense on Bray. But it was to no avail as Bray laid him out with a Sister Abigail. This was a solid match with a nice backstory, which means it kept us enthralled until the very end.

Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

Rusev (c) (with Lana) vs. Zack Ryder (WWE United States Championship)

Reactions: This US Championship match felt less like a PPV match and more like a RAW midcard match with an extra 10 minutes tacked onto it. While it was decent enough, there was nothing here that was outright amazing and extra memorable. Ryder’s entrance attire and patriotic ring gear were cool, so we have to give this match that at least. Rusev is back to his dominating self (the one we grew to love before he lost to Cena at ‘Mania 31), which is a character trait he tapped into here. Ryder’s outside missile dropkick was a cool moment to see, but it didn’t pay off for him. Rusev tapped Ryder out and put this title feud to bed. The Mojo Rawley appearance was a nice little surprise to see at the end of this all. This was OK, but we’re now ready to see Rusev face off with more dangerous challengers.

Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars