| Battleground | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Promotional poster featuringBray Wyatt | |||
| Promotion | WWE | ||
| Date | July 20, 2014 | ||
| City | Tampa, Florida | ||
| Venue | Tampa Bay Times Forum | ||
| Attendance | 12,000 | ||
| Buy rate | 99,000[1](excludingWWE Network views) | ||
| WWE event chronology | |||
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| Battleground chronology | |||
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The 2014Battleground was aprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV) andlivestreamingevent produced byWWE. It was the second annualBattleground and took place on July 20, 2014, at theTampa Bay Times Forum inTampa, Florida. This was the first Battleground event to livestream on theWWE Network, which launched in February. It was the last WWE pay-per-view event to incorporate the WWE scratch logo, as the following month, WWE rebranded and began using the logo that was originally used for the WWE Network.
Nine matches were contested at the event, including two on the Kickoff pre-show. The main event sawJohn Cena defeatRandy Orton,Kane, andRoman Reigns in afatal four-way match to retain theWWE World Heavyweight Championship. The event received 99,000 buys (excluding WWE Network views), slightly down on the previous year's 114,000 buys.
On October 6, 2013,WWE held a newpay-per-view (PPV)event titledBattleground that replacedOver the Limit. The event was originally intended to be an annual October PPV for the promotion.[2] The following year, a second Battleground was announced, but it was moved up to July. It was scheduled to be held on July 20, 2014, at theTampa Bay Times Forum inTampa, Florida. This second event in turn establishedBattleground as WWE's annual July PPV. In addition to PPV, this was the first Battleground tolivestream on theWWE Network, which launched earlier in February.[3][4]
The event comprised nine matches, including two on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers,[5][6] while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows,Raw andSmackDown.
AtMoney in the Bank,John Cena won aladder match for thevacantWWE World Heavyweight Championship to become a 15-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion.[7] The next night onRaw,Triple H scheduled Cena to defend the title at Battleground in afatal four-way match againstRoman Reigns,Kane, andRandy Orton.[8]
On the June 30 episode ofRaw,AJ Lee returned to WWE (her last appearance was theRaw afterWrestleMania XXX) and defeatedPaige for theDivas Championship for a second time.[8] On the July 11 episode ofSmackdown, AJ was scheduled to defend the title against Paige at the event.[9]
On the June 30 episode ofRaw, it was revealed thatWWE Intercontinental ChampionBad News Barrett suffered an injury on the June 27 episode ofSmackDown when he was thrown into the barricade byJack Swagger. Due to this, he was stripped of the championship.Michael Cole also announced that there would be aBattleground Battle Royal at Battleground for the vacant WWE Intercontinental Championship. On the same episode,Cesaro,The Great Khali,Kofi Kingston, andDamien Sandow were added to the battle royal.[8] On the July 1 episode ofMain Event,Dolph Ziggler,Rob Van Dam,Ryback,Curtis Axel, andBig E were added to the match. On the July 4 episode ofSmackDown,Alberto Del Rio andBo Dallas were added to the match.[10] On the July 7 episode ofRaw,Fandango andSheamus were added to the match.[11] On the July 14 episode ofRaw,Sin Cara,The Miz,Titus O'Neil,Xavier Woods,Zack Ryder,Heath Slater,R-Truth,Adam Rose, andDiego were added to the match.[12] At Battleground, it was announced that Bad News Barrett was to award the Intercontinental Championship to the winner of the battle royal. On July 16, Sandow and Rose were pulled from the battle royal.[13] On July 20, Sandow was reinstated into the battle royal and Fandango was pulled from the battle royal.[14] Van Dam did not appear in the battle royal due to an injury.
On the June 30 episode ofRaw,Chris Jericho returned to WWE only forThe Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt,Luke Harper, andErick Rowan), thus setting up a match between Wyatt and Jericho at the event.[8]
Following Money in the Bank,WWE Tag Team ChampionsThe Usos (Jey Uso andJimmy Uso) continued their feud with Wyatt Family members Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. On the June 30 episode ofRaw, The Wyatt Family (Harper, Rowan, and Bray Wyatt) defeated The Usos and Sheamus. On the July 7 episode ofRaw, Harper and Rowan defeated The Usos. On the July 11 episode ofSmackDown, The Usos were scheduled to defend the titles against The Wyatt Family in atwo out of three falls match at the event.[9]
On the June 2 episode ofRaw,Seth Rollins turned onThe Shield by attacking bothDean Ambrose and Roman Reigns, siding withThe Authority in the process.[15] In the ensuing weeks, Rollins and Ambrose attacked each other, and each interfered in the others matches. The feud intensified when Kane assisted Rollins in winning theMoney in the Bank ladder match at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view on June 29. On July 12, it was announced that Rollins and Ambrose were scheduled to face each other at Battleground.[16]
On the June 30 episode ofRaw, Jack Swagger andZeb Colter confrontedRusev andLana about their anti-American views.[8] Swagger and Colter issued a challenge to Rusev, which was accepted on the July 14 episode ofRaw.[12]
Also confirmed for the event wasCameron squaring off againstNaomi, which took place on the Kickoff pre-show.[14] After they lost to AJ Lee and Paige on the July 7 episode ofRaw, Cameron and Naomi attacked each other, effectively breaking upThe Funkadactyls and setting up a match for the event.[11]
On July 20, a match between Adam Rose and Fandango was scheduled for the Kickoff pre-show.[14]
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| Englishcommentators | Michael Cole |
| Jerry Lawler | |
| John "Bradshaw" Layfield | |
| Spanish commentators | Carlos Cabrera |
| Marcelo Rodriguez | |
| Backstageinterviewer | Tom Phillips |
| Ring announcers | Lilian Garcia |
| Justin Roberts | |
| Referees | Mike Chioda |
| Charles Robinson | |
| John Cone | |
| Jason Ayers | |
| Darrick Moore | |
| Matt Bennett | |
| Ryan Tran | |
| Rod Zapata | |
| Pre-show panel | Renee Young |
| Booker T | |
| Christian | |
| Alex Riley |
During the Battleground Kickoff pre-show, Adam Rose took on Fandango. Rose performed a Party Foul on Fandango to win the match.[17]
In the second pre-show match, Cameron took on Naomi. In the end, Cameron rolled up Naomi to win the match.[17]
The actual pay-per-view opened with The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) defending the WWE Tag Team Championship against Luke Harper and Erick Rowan of The Wyatt Family in a two out of three falls match. Harper and Rowan won the first fall after Harper executed a Big Boot on Jey. The Usos won the second fall after Jey pinned Harper with a roll-up. The Usos won the third fall after performing a double Samoan Splash on Harper, meaning The Usos retained the titles.[18]
Next, AJ Lee defended the WWE Divas Championship against Paige. In the climax, AJ applied the black widow, which Paige countered and then performed a Paige Turner on AJ for a two count. Paige attempted the PTO, but AJ and Paige traded covers. AJ performed a Shining Wizard on Paige to retain the title.[18]
After that, Rusev faced Jack Swagger. The ending saw Swagger apply the Patriot Lock on Rusev outside the ring but Rusev escaped the hold by pulling Swagger into the ring post and Swagger was counted out. After the match, Rusev applied The Accolade on Swagger.[18]
Next, Dean Ambrose was scheduled to face Seth Rollins, but Ambrose was ejected from the arena by Triple H for fighting with Rollins backstage. Rollins subsequently had himself declared the winner by forfeit. Later, as Rollins was leaving the arena, he was attacked by Ambrose but managed to escape.[18]
In the fourth match, Bray Wyatt faced Chris Jericho. During the match, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan were ejected from ringside after attempting to attack Jericho. The match ended when Jericho performed a Codebreaker on Wyatt to win the match.[18]
In the penultimate match, the battle royal for the vacated WWE Intercontinental Championship was contested. In the end, Dolph Ziggler performed a Superkick on Sheamus to eliminate him but The Miz, who had been hiding outside the ring, eliminated Ziggler to win the title.[18]
In the main event, John Cena defended the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, and Kane in a fatal four-way match. During the match, Cena applied the STF on Orton but Reigns broke the hold. Reigns performed a Spear on Cena but Kane broke the pinfall. Reigns performed a Spear on Orton through the barricade. Reigns performed a Spear on Kane but Cena broke up the pinfall. Cena performed an Attitude Adjustment on Reigns but Kane broke up the pinfall. Kane performed a Chokeslam on Cena and a Chokeslam on Reigns for a near-fall. Reigns performed a Spear on Kane but received an RKO from Orton. Cena performed an Attitude Adjustment on Orton onto Kane and pinned Kane to retain the title.[18]
The Jack Swagger vs. Rusev match, promoted as "United States vs. Russia", was marked in controversy after Lana made comments prior to the match blaming the United States for "recent current" world events and praising Russian presidentVladimir Putin to help build heat for Rusev. Some in the media viewed the promo as a veiled reference to the crash ofMalaysia Airlines Flight 17 three days earlier.[19][20] In response to the backlash, a representative of WWE said that the segment "was in no way referring to the Malaysia Airlines tragedy", adding that the Rusev-Lana storyline "has been a part of WWE programming for more than three months. WWE apologizes to anyone who misunderstood last night's segment and was offended."[21][22] In response to WWE's statement,Pro Wrestling Torch newsletter assistant editor James Caldwell viewed the comments as hollow, noting that reasonable viewers could conclude that Lana was referring to the plane crash. "WWE tacking on a fake apology with an insult to people's intelligence makes WWE sound even worse. All-around, it's a messy statement that conveys a lack of understanding, sensitivity, and maturity from WWE to be a decent corporate citizen", wrote Caldwell.[23] Swagger did not appear onRaw the next night,[24] but he had a rematch with Rusev on Main Event, which Swagger won by disqualification.[25]
On the July 21 episode ofRaw, Triple H namedBrock Lesnar the number one contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship held by John Cena, and scheduled a title match between them atSummerSlam.[24]
The 2014 Battleground would also be WWE's final PPV to incorporate the WWE scratch logo, as the following month, WWE rebranded and began using the logo that was originally used for the WWE Network.[26]
| No. | Results | Stipulations | Times[17][18] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1P | Adam Rose (withLayla andSummer Rae) defeatedFandango bypinfall | Singles match[27] | 01:20 | ||||
| 2P | Cameron defeatedNaomi bypinfall | Singles match[28] | 03:30 | ||||
| 3 | The Usos (Jey Uso andJimmy Uso) (c) defeatedThe Wyatt Family (Erick Rowan andLuke Harper) 2–1 | Two out of three falls match for theWWE Tag Team Championship[29] | 18:57 | ||||
| 4 | AJ Lee (c) defeatedPaige bypinfall | Singles match for theWWE Divas Championship[30] | 07:13 | ||||
| 5 | Rusev (withLana) defeatedJack Swagger (withZeb Colter) bycountout | Singles match[31] | 09:54 | ||||
| 6 | Seth Rollins defeatedDean Ambrose by forfeit | Singles match[32] | — | ||||
| 7 | Chris Jericho defeatedBray Wyatt bypinfall | Singles match[33] | 15:03 | ||||
| 8 | The Miz won by last eliminatingDolph Ziggler[Note 1] | Battle Royal for thevacantWWE Intercontinental Championship[34] | 14:05 | ||||
| 9 | John Cena (c) defeatedKane,Randy Orton, andRoman Reigns bypinfall | Fatal four-way match for theWWE World Heavyweight Championship[35] | 18:16 | ||||
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