WWE Battleground 2017: The Results & Highlights You Need to Know

WWE Great Balls of Fire was shockingly decent for a Raw PPV. Now SD Live is gearing up to top that show with Battleground.

The main event for this brand exclusive event marks the return of a dangerous specialty match. WWE Champion Jinder Mahal has been experiencing a joyous reign on top ever since he took down Randy Orton. Orton’s fought hard on numerous occasions to get one over on Mahal, but he’s been unable to get his title back. It looks like the final part of their war will conclude with a Punjabi Prison Match. Besides that big time match, AJ Styles (the NEW United States Champion) will lock up with Kevin Owens once again in a championship rematch. Plus “Mr. Money in the Bank 2017” Baron Corbin will be tested when he takes on Shinsuke Nakamura in a heated grudge match.

Stay right here to read up on all the results/highlights for these matches and more from Battleground.

---

---

Tye Dillinger vs. Aiden English

Winner: Aiden English!

Highlights: English gave the “City of Brotherly Love” a wonderful rendition of his usual singing antics (they didn’t enjoy it). Once the match got underway, both men got into rough lockup’s and exchanged a number of strikes and holds. English got the better of their early exchanges, but then Dillinger made sure to embarrass him with some slick counters of his own. Of course this enraged English, who quickly went back on the offensive. Dillinger responded in kind with some mudhole stomps to English in the corner. While the ref tried to break both men up, English put Dillinger down with a sneaky headbutt. English then remained in control for a long while while the crowd looked to revive “The Perfect 10.”

English assaulted Dillinger for as long as he could and even continued to torture him by locking him in a chinlock. Dillinger escaped and then countered English once more by dropkicking a flying English off the top rope. Dillinger got back into the fight with stiff chest chops and the rest of his signature comeback offense. Dillinger looked to land his finisher, but English snuck to the outside. Outside chaos ensued for a bit until Dillinger took English’s back to the mat with a Spinebuster. Both men soon ended up on the top rope fighting for control. English used a headbutt to drop Dillinger and came off the rope afterwards with a flying body press. Soon after, English almost got the win after landing a unique DDT maneuver. English then mocked Dillinger by using his signature 10 taunt, but Dillinger escaped out of it and got into a pinfall exchange war with him. The finish finally came after English KO’d Dillinger with a Full Nelson that transitioned into a Facebuster.

---

Sami Zayn vs. Mike Kanellis

Winner: Sami Zayn!

Highlights: A pissed off Zayn went wild on Mike as soon as the bell rang. Zayn chopped him numerous times and even clotheslined him right over the top rope. Zayn looked to go flying onto Mike over the top rope, but Mike’s wife Maria cut off his plancha attempt. Mike quickly jumped onto Zayn with his offense and even stood over Zayn’s body while he smooched with Maria. Back inside the ring, Mike gained control over Zayn. Zayn tried to respond to Mike’s beatdown with chops, but Mike quickly cut him off with corner clotheslines and a boot to the face. Zayn eventually revived himself and entered right into his comeback signature offense phase on Mike. Once outside, Mike looked up just in time to get squashed by a flying Zayn. Zayn followed that up by landing a flying body press to Mike inside the ring. Zayn then spiked Mike with his unique top-rope Tornado DDT. Zayn’s first Exploder into the corner to Mike was stopped by Maria, but his second one led right into Mike eating a match ending Helluva Kick.

---

AJ Styles (c) vs. Kevin Owens (WWE United States Championship)

Winner: And the new WWE United States Champion, Kevin Owens!

Highlights: Owens wanted no part of an early lockup exchange with the new title holder. He kicked AJ right in the gut and got rough as soon as he got his hands on AJ. AJ soon made a slight comeback after using a slick armdrag on Owens that caused him to exit the ring. Owens hopped back into the ring and got into a series of lockups with the champ, but AJ used a kip up Frankensteiner to flip Owens right back to the outside. Owens jaw jacked with the the crowd for a while before he chose to come back into the ring. Owens locked horns with AJ once again, but AJ exited him from the ring with a phenomenal dropkick. This time, AJ followed Owens to the outside for a barbaric brawl. Owens managed to ground AJ by slamming him groin first into the steel pole. Back inside the ring, Owens landed right on the champ with a Senton Drop. Owens then entered right into his control period over the champ with a chinlock and plenty of trash talk. AJ fought valiantly to break the hold. When he did, he also got his knees up in time to injure Owens back during another Running Senton attempt. AJ tried to make a comeback, but Owens dropped him back down to the mat with a DDT.

Owens locked AJ into another chinlock, but AJ escaped it much quicker than before. Once AJ got in range, he dropped Owens with his slick striking combo and a sliding forearm strike. AJ signaled for his signature comeback offense, but Owens stopped him from doing it a few times. AJ finally caught Owens off guard when he landed his Facebuster-like maneuver. Both men tried to land a suplex of some sort on each other, but they constantly fought for control all the while. After some back and forth exchanges, AJ got Owens up into the air and back onto his knee with a Fireman’s Carry. While Owens was laid out, AJ went sky high for a Springboard 450 Splash. Owens hot his knees up to injure AJ’s ribs, though. Owens then took the opportunity to land his Cannonball Splash to AJ in the corner. Owens placed AJ onto the top rope for something major, but AJ struck him repeatedly and looked to land a Sunset Flip Powerbomb. AJ instead pulled Owens off the top rope to land a big Torture Rack Powerbomb. AJ went to the top rope afterwards, but Owens clipped him and caused him to land right on his ground area. Owens followed AJ to the top and got into a striking exchange with him all the while. AJ managed to slip right underneath Owens and strike him, but his Phenomenal Elbow attempt was thwarted once Owens dropped AJ shoulder first on the ring apron.

Owens used a double knee breaker on AJ’s now weakened shoulder, but AJ quickly countered him with a Pele. AJ then signaled for his Styles Clash, but his now injured shoulder kept him from pulling it off. Owens then threw AJ right into the ref by accident and Superkicked him soon after. Later on, AJ locked Owens into his Calf Crusher but then Owens rolled out to lock AJ into a Crossface. AJ fought hard to escape and once he did, he locked Owens into a crossface of his own. However, Owens rolled AJ’s shoulders onto the mat while he was still locked into the submission hold. The ref then proceeded to count the pinfall in Owens’ favor.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura by disqualification…

Highlights: Nakamura and Corbin got real rough as soon they were within eyesight of each other. Some taunting from Nakamura while Corbin took refuge outside the ring occurred, which led into Corbin switching places with Nakamura. Back inside the ring, Corbin struck down Nakamura and locked him into a Bearhug. Nakamura winced in pain for a good while, but he soon escaped and locked Corbin into a nasty arm/head lock. Corbin fought out of it and responded with a Big Boot to the Japanese superstar. Corbin decided to take the action to the outside and slam Nakamura’s now weakened back into the barricade. Corbin threw Nakamura back into the ring for more back punishment soon after.

Nakamura finally broke Corbin’s tight grip and countered Corbin again with a knee strike when he attempted to Chokeslam him. Nakamura got into a furious striking exchange with Corbin that he ended up on the winning end of and also landed his two corner knee strikes on the big man. When Corbin got some offense going again, it was due to him pulling off his slide underneath the top rope followed by a devastating Lariat. Corbin went to Suplex Nakamura, but Nakamura used his knees to break out of his grip. Nakamura then dropped Corbin with a Gordbuster and signaled for his Kinshasa. Corbin caught wind of what Nakamura was doing and caught him off guard with a Deep Six slam. When both men crawled back to their feet, they went back and forth on each other with continued strikes. Nakamura got the better of their exchange once more and looked to land his knee strike finisher again. Corbin lay dormant though, which cause Nakamura to pick Corbin back up. But Corbin chose to take the easy way out by low blowing Nakamura and getting himself disqualified. A smiling Corbin left the ring, retrieved his MITB briefcase and left Nakamura in the middle of the ring. But then, Corbin decided to return to the ring and finish Nakamura with a briefcase shot to the gut and his End of Days.

---

Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Lana vs. Natalya vs. Tamina (Fatal 5-Way Elimination Match to Determine the #1 Contender for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship at SummerSlam)

Winner: The new #1 Contender for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship, Natalya!

Highlights: Naomi came out before the match began o present her colorful entrance to the live crowd and join the commentary team. After all the women entered the ring, the fast and furious action ensued. Lana targeted Charlotte for a bit until she got shoved outside the ring. Tamina started to dominated for a bit herself. Lana chose to stay on the outside and beat down Natalya and Lynch. Lana and Tamina grouped up on Charlotte while the other match’s participants tried recovering on the outside. The action truly got even more intense after Tamina landed a Superkick on Lynch and began targeting Natalya. Charlotte threw herself back into the fray and got into it with Natalya, but then she found herself locked into a Sharpshooter. Charlotte almost looked like she was on the verge of tapping out, but she escaped. Lynch came in and almost tapped Lana out with a Dis-Arm-Her on two different occasions, but Lynch ended up causing Tamina to be the one to submit to her. Lynch then got one more big Dis-Arm-Her on Lana to finally cause her to quit.

While Lynch had her back turned though, Natalya rolled up her up for the elimination. Soon after, Natalya and Charlotte ended up as the last two women standing. Submissions attempts became the theme of their finishing home stretch. At one point, Charlotte picked Natalya up and brought her back down with a Sitdown Powerbomb. Charlotte looked to take out Natalya with a Moonsault, but Natalya got her knees up in time to weaken Charlotte long enough to throw her head back into the corner ring post. Natalya rolled up Charlotte for the big win soon after. Naomi ran into the ring to shake her next challenger’s hand, but Natalya chose to ignore her sign of respect.

---

John Cena vs. Rusev (Flag Match)

Winner: John Cena!

Highlights: Rusev wasted no time in trying to recover his respective flag, but Cena pulled him back down and locked into him a headlock on two occasions. Rusev shook him off, then squashed him in the corner with an Avalanche Splash. Rusev then took another chance at grabbing his flag, but Cena cut him off once more and slammed his head into the mat with a Facebuster. Cena then made his first attempt at getting the US flag, but Rusev awoke just in time to bring him down to the mat. Rusev then dished out plenty of strikes on the fighting patriot. While Cena tried to get back to his feet, Rusev climbed up this flag. Rusev was forced to come back down and spike Cena with a big DDT.

While the crowd roared on, Cena finally fought hard to make a comeback against the “Bulgarian Brute.” Cena landed most of his signature comeback moves until Rusev cut off his Attitude Adjustment attempt. Rusev landed a Spinebuster on Cena and then threw Cena right to the outside. Rusev then got extremely close to recovering his flag, but Cena clobbered him with repeated punches. Cena flew off the top rope for his flying leg drop, but Rusev caught him in a Powerbomb. Rusev then proceeded to finally get his hands on his flag. When he came back down with with it, Cena responded with a dropkick that cause Rusev to drop his flag. Rusev got back up, ran head first in the corner steel pole and then got grounded with an AA. Cena tried to get hands around the US flag, but Rusev pulled him off in a Powerbomb position. Cena flipped out of it later on and soon forced Rusev to pass out while locked in an STF. Cena then unhooked the US flag, but then got walked right into a devastating Superkick from Rusev.

Rusev almost took his flag right up to his podium, but Cena cut him off before he could do so. Cena entered the ring to get his flag and try to make his way up the ramp, but Rusev caught up with him to stop him. A shot from the steel steps from Rusev to Cena came as a result of this exchange. When the fight entered the podium area, Rusev caught Cena during a flying body press attempt and threw him away with a Fall Away Slam to the entrance area. Rusev set up two tables soon after and continued beating Cena into mush. Rusev taunted Cena with his own taunt and looked to put him through both tables with an AA, but Cena escaped Rusev’s grasp. Cena climbed up the ramp for his flag, but Rusev knocked him down again. Both men clotheslined each other on the entrance ramp, but Cena woke up in time to grab his flag and almost stick it into place.

Rusev would have none of it, which led to him using the podium stand to lay out Cena long enough to lock him into The Accolade. Cena passed out, which gave Rusev a chance to put his flag into the podium stand. Out of nowhere, Cena put himself between Rusev and the stand to stop him. Cena almost landed an AA, but Rusev escaped and went for another Accolade attempt. With Rusev on his back, Cena flipped Rusev into position for an AA. When he finally did, Cena dropped Rusev onto both tables with it and stuck the US flag into its rightful place.

The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso) (c) vs. The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and/or Xavier Woods)
(WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship)

Winners: And the new WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions, The New Day!

Highlights: Kofi got things started early with a sick dropkick to Jey. Xavier and Kofi both got into double team mode early with some big moves on Jey, but Jey managed to sneak in a tag to Jimmy. Jimmy and Jey then gave Xavier quite the beatdown thanks to another tag-in and another flurry of offense. Jey punished Xavier even more with an Enzuguri before he tagged his twin back in. Jimmy then made sure to beat Xavier down even more until he got Jey back in with a tag team maneuver. Jey placed Xavier on the top rope and chopped him repeatedly. Jey looked to Superplex him back down to the mat, but Xavier fought him off with headbutts. Xavier then went airborne to land a Missile Dropkick on Jey.

When Kofi finally got the hot tag, he went to town on both Uso twins with a nice combination of signature moves. Jimmy almost ate a Trouble in Paradise, but he made sure to dodge it at the last minute. Kofi then took out his frustrations on Jey with a side kick while he was on the outside. Things went from great to bad for The New Day when both Usos caught Kofi in midair and powerbombed him. That was followed up by a double Superkick to Xavier. Back in the ring, Xavier recovered long enough to land a sick roll up Facebuster maneuver on Jimmy. Jimmy survived such a big move and then helped put down Xavier with an assisted Samoan Drop thanks to Jey. Jey and Xavier went back and forth for a while until Xavier used his quick feet to ground both twins. Xavier went for his arm drop on Jey, but Jimmy ran back in just in time to Superkick him in mid-flight.

While Xavier was still prone on the mat, Jimmy locked him in a Single Leg Crab submission. Xavier remained in pain for a long while until he grabbed the bottom rope to break the hold. Xavier tagged in Kofi to help him land the Midnight Hour on Jimmy, but Jimmy shockingly managed to kick out afterwards. Kofi looked to land another big move on Jimmy, but Jimmy dodged him and countered with a Superkick. Jey looked to finish Kofi with a top rope splash, but Kofi still kicked out at the last minute. Both twins signaled for a double top rope splash, but Xavier knocked Jey off the top rope. The finish finally came once Kofi landed his Trouble in Paradise on Jimmy that was followed up by a top rope elbow drop from Xavier.

---

Jinder Mahal (c) (with Sunil Singh and Samir Singh) vs. Randy Orton (Punjabi Prison Match for the WWE Championship)

Winner: And still the WWE Champion, Jinder Mahal!

Highlights: After the big match intro’s were complete, Orton and Mahal bashed each other relentlessly. Mahal ended up getting Orton onto the mat and called for one of the doors to open for him. Orton and Mahal continuously tried to halt each other every time one of them crawled towards the door. Time ran out, which led to that door being permanently being locked down. Once the match got back underway, Mahal dropped both knees into Orton’s arm and targeted it for a good while soon after. Mahal even trapped Orton’s arm within the prison’s steel reinforcements to further incapacitate him. Mahal took control of Orton’s arm with submissions holds and strikes until he called for another door to be opened. Orton shook off the damage done to him and sent the champ flying across the ring with a Fall Away Slam. Both men got into another brawl that led to the latest open door getting closed shut.

The match continued as Orton got his hands again on Mahal for even more punishment. Orton tried flinging Mahal face first into the bamboo cage, but Mahal gripped it and tried to climb out of it. Orton turned around just in time to stop his ascent. Orton found himself thrown over the bamboo confines and trapped within it, but he slammed Mahal into it on two occasions with a Suplex. Orton was the one to signal for another door to be opened, but Mahal and him once again fought hard until time ran out on its continued opening. Both men started each other down once they realized only one door remained for them to escape through. Orton ran right into Mahal and began tearing him apart with his comeback offense. Orton called for the final door to be opened and then looked to land an RKO. Mahal shoved him away and then fed Orton a flying knee. Mahal then tried landing his finisher, but he then got countered with an RKO.

All of a sudden, The Singh Brothers crawled from beneath the ring and pulled Mahal’s prone body out of the door. Mahal looked to make his final climb over the large structure while Orton looked to do the same. Orton got close to Mahal while they were both stuck on the cage, which led to them beating each other on the prison’s outer cage. Mahal got beaten down to the point where he fell off the cage, but The Singh Brothers pulled soon pulled Orton down. Orton fell right into the brothers’ arms and then ate a big boot from Mahal. While Mahal was in climbing mode, Orton took out his accomplices and dragged the champ back down to his level. Orton and Mahal continued to brawl, but then Mahal retrieved a Kendo Stick that he used to torture the challenger. Mahal then looked to land the Khallas, but Orton stopped him and then went to town on him with a Kendo Stick of his own. Orton made another attempt to climb out the prison, but one of The Singh Brothers clashed with him in order to stop him. Orton punched him over and over until he fell right through the announce table below him.

Mahal and Orton got into another back and forth struggle in midair and soon they both ended back down on the lower level. Mahal looked to kick Orton at one point, but his leg got caught up in the bottom of the cage. Orton then chose to land his DDT right onto Mahal and then got his hands on a steel chair. Orton took out the only remaining Singh brother with that chair and then used it to flatten Mahal. Orton took his chance to climb over once more, but out of nowhere The Great Khali returned to thwart Orton’s escape. Khali choked Orton all the while and aided Mahal in his final escape.

---

Come back and join us for the results & highlights from WWE SummerSlam on August 20, 2017!

Check out any and all WWE related action figures, books, DVDs, Blu-Rays and other types of merchandise right here.