Battleground 2014 Battleground ( 2014 ) was a professional wrestling pay - per - view ( PPV ) event produced by WWE . It took place on July 20 , 2014 at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa , Florida . It was the second event under the Battleground chronology , with the event having originated in 2013 . Nine matches ( including , for the first time ever , two pre - show matches ) took place at the event . There were two main events . The first main event saw Seth Rollins defeat Dean Ambrose by forfeit . Ambrose attacked Rollins during a backstage segment until Triple H demanded security to escort Ambrose out the building . Rollins would make his way to the ring and asked the referee for a victory via forfeit . After receiving the victory , Rollins would be attacked by Ambrose , who managed to evade security , including hiding himself in a car ' s boot and attacking Rollins yet again . The second main event saw John Cena defeat Roman Reigns , Kane and Randy Orton in a fatal 4 way to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship . Battleground gained mainstream coverage for an in - ring promo made by Lana , manager of Rusev , who – as part of their pro - Russian / anti - American heel gimmicks – made comments prior to Rusev ' s match against Jack Swagger that some media outlets claimed were veiled references to the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on July 17 , three days before Battleground , where 295 people were killed after the aircraft was shot down over Ukraine by pro - Russian terrorists . The crash itself was not directly mentioned , but Lana ' s comments blaming the United States for current world events drew negative reaction from the media and fans , and WWE apologized , via TMZ . com , for the in - ring promo and explain that Lana ' s remarks were part of the ongoing gimmick . Background . Battleground featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre - existing feuds , plots , and storylines that played out on WWE ' s primary television programs . Wrestlers portrayed villains or heroes as they followed a series of events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches . At Money in the Bank , John Cena won the ladder match for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship to become a record breaking 12 - time WWE World Heavyweight Champion . The next night on " Raw " , Triple H announced Cena will defend the title at Battleground in a Fatal 4 - Way match against Roman Reigns , Kane and Randy Orton . On the June 30 edition of " Raw " " , " Michael Cole announced that Bad News Barrett suffered an injury on the June 27 edition of SmackDown where he was rammed through the barricade by Jack Swagger . Due to this , he was stripped of the Intercontinental Championship . Cole also announced that there will be a Battleground Battle Royal for the vacant WWE Intercontinental Championship . On the same edition , Cesaro , The Great Khali , Kofi Kingston , and Damien Sandow were added to the battle royal . On the July 1 edition of Main Event , Dolph Ziggler , Rob Van Dam , Ryback , Curtis Axel and Big E were added to the match . On the July 4 edition of SmackDown , Alberto Del Rio and Bo Dallas were added to the match . On the July 7 edition of Raw , Fandango and Sheamus were added to the match . On the July 7 edition of " Raw " , Fandango and Sheamus were added to the match . On the July 14 edition of " Raw " , Sin Cara , The Miz , Titus O ' Neil , Xavier Woods , Zack Ryder , Adam Rose , Heath Slater , R - Truth , and Diego were added to the match . At Battleground , Bad News Barrett will award the Intercontinental Championship to the winner . On the June 30 edition of " Raw " , Chris Jericho returned to the WWE , but he was attacked by the The Wyatt Family , thus setting up a match between the two at the event . On July 8 , WWE . com announced that Jericho will fight against Bray Wyatt at Battleground . On the June 30 edition of " Raw " , AJ Lee returned to the WWE and defeated Paige for the Divas Championship . On the July 11 edition of " Smackdown " , it was announced that AJ will defend the title against Paige at the event . Following Money in the Bank , WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos continue their feud with Wyatt Family members Luke Harper and Erick Rowan . On the June 30 edition of " Raw " , The Wyatt Family defeated The Usos and Sheamus . On the July 7 edition of " Raw " , Harper and Rowan defeated The Usos . On the July 11 edition of " SmackDown " , it was announced that The Usos will defend the title against The Wyatt Family in a 2 - out - of - 3 falls match at the event . On the June 2 edition of " Raw " , Seth Rollins turned on The Shield by attacking both Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns , siding with The Authority in the process . Rollins and Ambrose have since been attacking each other and interfering each other matches . The feud intensified when Kane assisted Rollins in winning the Money in the Bank ladder match at the Money in the Bank pay - per - view on June 29 . On July 12 , WWE . com announced that Rollins and Ambrose will be facing each other at Battleground . On the June 30 edition of " Raw " , Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter confronted Rusev and Lana . Swagger and Colter issued a challenge to Rusev , which was accepted by Rusev on the July 14 edition on " Raw " . Also confirmed for the event is Cameron squaring off against Naomi , which will take place on the pre - show . After they lost to AJ Lee and Paige on the July 7 edition of " Raw " , Cameron and Naomi attacked each other , effectively breaking up The Funkadactyls and setting up a match for the event . IC Title Battle Royal Elimination Order . 1 . Xavier Woods ( by The Great Khali ) 2 . Zack Ryder ( by The Great Khali ) 3 . The Great Khali ( by everyone ) 4 . Sin Cara ( by Bo Dallas ) 5 . R - Truth ( by Curtis Axel ) 6 . Curtis Axel ( by Damien Sandow ) 7 . Damien Sandow ( by Diego ) 8 . Diego ( by Ryback ) 9 . Ryback ( by Sheamus ) 10 . Titus O ' Neil ( by Bo Dallas ) 11 . Alberto Del Rio ( by Dolph Ziggler ) 12 . Big E ( by Cesaro ) 13 . Kofi Kingston ( by Cesaro ) 14 . Cesaro ( by Heath Slater ) 15 . Heath Slater ( by Sheamus ) 16 . Bo Dallas ( by Dolph Ziggler ) 17 . Sheamus ( by Dolph Ziggler ) 18 . Dolph Ziggler ( by The Miz )