Battleground (2023)

The 2023 **NexGen: Battleground** was a professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by World Class Championship Wrestling. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's NexGen brand division. The event was held on August 26, 2023, at the Fertitta Center in Houston, Texas. The event saw a gate total of 6,101 fans.

## Production

### Background

Battleground was first established by WCCW in 2023 to fill the August pay-per-view (PPV) slot and serve as a compliment to War Zone.

### Storylines

The event included matches that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results are predetermined by WCCW's writers on the Battle Zone and Intensity brands, while storylines are produced on WCCW's weekly television show *WCCW NexGen.*

## Event

### Pre-Show

The event kicked off with a Four Way Dance elimination match between Roxanne Perez, Ivy Nile, Zoey Stark and Blair Davenport on the *Battleground Pre-Show*, streaming free on YouTube. Roxanne Perez dominated the majority of the match, managing to eliminate Ivy Nile and Blair Davenport both by pinfall, at 4:42 and 6:02 into the match, respectively. Despite this, Perez was unable to kickout of a facebuster, giving Zoey Stark the victory.

### Preliminary matches

The first match to air on pay-per-view was a submission match between Thea Hail and Tiffany Stratton. Hail dominated the majority of the match, although Stratton never relented nor gave up. Despite her resilience, Stratton would be forced to tap out to a one-legged Boston crab. Following the match, Andre Chase and Duke Hudson joined Hail in the center of the ring to celebrate her victory.

The second match on the undercard saw rivals Wes Lee and Tyler Bate go one-on-one for the first time ever at a pay-per-view. The physical match quickly spilled out into ringside, nearly resulting in a double countout in the first two minutes of the match. Both competitors were evenly matched, trading blows and momentum throughout the entire contest. At one point, Wes Lee had Bate in an armbar and nearly got him to tap before Bate managed to break the hold. Ultimately, it would be Tyler Bate earning the pinfall victory after hitting Lee with the Tyler Driver '97.

Up next was the finals of the 2023 NexGen Future Stars Tournament between Encore and MLW National Openweight Champion Jacob Fatu. The nontitle match determined which superstar would earn a non-exclusive one-year contract with NexGen. Jacob Fatu dominated the match from start to finish, toying with Encore and making an example out of him with much of the match taking place at ringside. After the match, Fatu was delivered his contract by producer Brian Mendez.

Next was the first of three championship matches with Unholy Union (Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn) defending their NexGen Women's Tag Team Championship against Toxic Attraction (Jacy Jayne and Gigi Dolan). The match was evenly contested throughout with neither team seeming able to gain the upper hand. Eventually, the Unholy Union managed to separate Toxic Attraction, allowing Alba Fyre to pin Gigi Dolan to retain their belts.

The fifth match on the undercard saw Cameron Grimes take on Grayson Waller in what would end up being a one-sided affair. Grimes got the pinfall victory in less than four minutes after dominating the match from bell to bell.

In the second of three championship matches, Katana Chance challenged Indi Hartwell for her NexGen Women's Championship after winning a number one contenders match at *FX Fight Night I*. Despite an obvious size disparity, the two superstars were evenly matched in strength, slugging out an absolute war. Hartwell dominated the early stages of the match before Chance got the upper hand with a quick series of strikes at ringside. The duo would trade pinfall attempts before returning the fight to ringside multiple times. Eventually, Chance managed to stun Hartwell and the world when she hit two 450 Splashes in a row before pinning the champion.

Up next was the co-main event: a Hell in a Cell match between rivals Apollo Crews and Bron Breakker. Crews dominated the early stages of the match, going so far as to spear Breakker through the Hell in a Cell wall. In an attempt to escape Crews, Bron Breakker climbed to the top of the cell, inciting Crews to follow. The fight continued on top of the cell until Breakker threw Crews to the floor below, landing with a cheer from the crowd. Apollo Crews returned to the top of the cell and Breakker, after a lengthy recovery, rejoined him at the top. Breakker would continue to dominate the match at this point, punishing Crews relentlessly. Eventually, Crews managed to take back control, tossing Breakker off the cell for the second time. Against all odds, Bron would rise to his feet and scale the walls of the cell one more time only to be met by Crews who, desperate to put an end to this match, threw Bron off the cell into the announce table below. Medical staff were waved off and Crews drug Bron back into the ring for the pinfall victory.

### Main event

In the main event, Noam Dar took on Carmelo Hayes in a Winner Takes All Title Unification match for the NexGen Cruiserweight and NexGen World Championships. Dar came out strong, landing a number of strikes on Hayes before sending him out of the ring with an Irish whip. At ringside, Hayes would attempt to gain control only to be met with Dar's signature finisher and left on the ringside floor as the ref began the ten count. (Winner will hold the Undisputed NexGen World Championship)