Battleground 2014: One Excellent Tag Match Surrounded by Transitional Booking

The Usos and Luke Harper and Erick Rowan open Battleground with the clear match of the night, using the two-out-of-three falls structure to turn a familiar rivalry into a genuine championship test. Harper and Rowan take the first fall when Harper pins Jey after a big boot, immediately forcing the champions to chase the match. Jey answers with a roll-up for the second fall, resetting the contest without wasting time. The third fall becomes the real showcase, with repeated saves, power counters and increasingly desperate tandem offense. The Usos finally survive the challengers' strongest stretch and hit a double Samoan Splash on Harper for the deciding pin. The champions retain cleanly, and the long final fall gives the rivalry the decisive pay-per-view match it needed.

AJ Lee and Paige have enough chemistry to make their seven-minute title match watchable, but Battleground catches the rivalry before it has fully found its emotional edge. Paige works more aggressively than during her initial title reign and repeatedly tries to counter AJ's quicker offense, including escaping the Black Widow and landing the Paige Turner for a near-fall. The match moves cleanly but never receives enough time to build a substantial middle section. After a series of traded covers, AJ lands the Shining Wizard and scores the pin to retain. The result is decisive and keeps AJ's second reign intact. The limitation is that the match feels more like setup for the rivalry's next phase than a pay-per-view chapter with its own memorable identity.

Rusev and Jack Swagger produce a physical match with a clear submission-versus-power story, but the countout ending prevents the rivalry from delivering a satisfying first pay-per-view result. Swagger repeatedly targets Rusev's ankle with the Patriot Lock and creates the strongest moments whenever Rusev appears trapped. The fight eventually spills outside, where Swagger reapplies the hold and seems close to forcing a meaningful escape. Rusev survives by pulling Swagger into the ring post, leaving Swagger unable to beat the referee's count. Rusev wins by countout and then applies the Accolade after the bell. The result protects Swagger and preserves Rusev's undefeated record, but it feels designed for continuation rather than closure. The wrestling is solid enough; the finish is the problem.

Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose never have the advertised match, so the grade reflects an absent contest rather than the quality of their feud. Ambrose attacks Rollins backstage before the scheduled bell, prompting Triple H to eject him from the arena. Rollins then enters the ring and has himself declared the winner by forfeit, giving the record a formal result without any in-ring competition. The segment does continue later when Ambrose attacks Rollins in the parking area as Rollins tries to leave. That brawl preserves the rivalry's intensity and helps set up SummerSlam, but it cannot replace the pay-per-view match fans were expecting. As storyline material it is heated and useful. As a match entry, there is almost nothing to evaluate.

Chris Jericho and Bray Wyatt work a solid fifteen-minute singles match that is more conventional than the feud's characters suggest. Harper and Rowan are ejected after trying to interfere, which gives the closing stretch a cleaner setting and forces Wyatt to finish the match without family support. Jericho controls much of the pacing through counters and veteran timing, while Wyatt's best offense comes when he can slow the match and turn exchanges into heavier strikes. The finish is surprisingly straightforward. Jericho survives Wyatt's late push, lands the Codebreaker and scores the clean pin. The upset creates a reason for the rivalry to continue, but it also cools Wyatt immediately after a major WrestleMania season. The wrestling is good; the booking choice is more debatable.

The Intercontinental Championship battle royal has useful stakes after Bad News Barrett's injury vacates the title, but the large field creates the usual uneven rhythm of quick eliminations and crowded exchanges. Several wrestlers receive brief spotlight moments, including Bo Dallas, Cesaro, Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler, while The Miz repeatedly avoids danger rather than controlling the match. The final visible sequence appears to crown Ziggler after he eliminates Sheamus, creating a strong crowd reaction. Miz then reveals that he had been hiding outside the ring without being eliminated, slides back in and throws Ziggler over the top rope. The tactic fits Miz's newly revived Hollywood character and gives him the vacant championship. The finish is clever, though the match itself is more functional than memorable.

John Cena's championship defense against Kane, Randy Orton and Roman Reigns is a competent four-way main event built more around constant interruption than a deep central story. Reigns gets the strongest showcase moments, including multiple Spears and a barricade crash with Orton, while Kane functions as the power obstacle and occasional Authority ally. Cena and Orton supply the established title-match rhythm, but the structure keeps any one pairing from lasting long. The finishing stretch becomes a sequence of broken pins and finishers until Orton catches Reigns with an RKO. Cena then hits Orton with an Attitude Adjustment onto Kane and pins Kane to retain. The match is busy and professionally executed, yet the result feels like a holding pattern before Brock Lesnar enters the title picture the next night.