Battleground (2016)

Sasha Banks teams up with a surprise partner to take on Charlotte & Dana Brooke. Becky Lynch takes on Natalya in a highly-competitive bout. Also, Zack Ryder goes up against United States Champion Rusev. With WWE Hall of Famer Bob Backlund in his corner, Darren Young looks to dethrone Intercontinental Champion The Miz.

## Charlotte & Dana Brooke vs. Sasha Banks & ?

The WWE Universe wasn’t sure if Sasha Banks could find a partner to join her at WWE Battleground to square off against WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte and her protégé, Dana Brooke. However, she did, and in the process revealed something about herself. It turns out that, behind all of the swagger and beneath all the bling, The Boss is a hugger.

Banks asked one of her biggest rivals and fellow Four Horsewoman, NXT Superstar Bayley, to join forces, and the former NXT Women’s Champion answered the call in major fashion. In the end, Bayley helped The Boss pick up the victory, keeping Dana Brooke occupied while Sasha forced Charlotte to submit to the Bank Statement.

The champion and her enforcer seemed confident that Banks wouldn’t be able to find a partner, but The Boss proved them wrong as the WWE Network event started. The WWE Universe was ecstatic to see Bayley, erupting in cheers as her trademark wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube men soared toward the Verizon Center’s rafters. The rapturous cheers quickly turned to jeers as Charlotte and Dana ambushed their opponents before the bell. The WWE Women’s Champion pounced on Bayley, but the resilient NXT Superstar fought out of the corner with a diving elbow and sent Banks into action.

A fired-up Boss charged at Charlotte and unleashed a hurricanrana off the ropes. However, the steely champion took advantage of her rival’s high energy, trapping Banks in her corner, where she and Brooke worked Sasha over. Banks slipped out of their clutches and tagged Bayley in, but the cheery Superstar was sent neck-first into the turnbuckle, ensuring Charlotte and Dana stayed in control.

Bayley rallied and tagged Sasha back into the match, where The Boss nearly picked up the victory with the Bank Statement, only for Dana Brooke to save her by pulling the WWE Women’s Champion out of the ring. Bayley neutralized the meddling Brooke at ringside with a dropkick, leaving Sasha alone in the ring with Charlotte. The Boss took advantage of the situation, locking on the Bank Statement in the center of the ring. Charlotte had no choice but to tap out, giving Bayley and The Boss a big victory.

Having made the WWE Women’s Champion tap out, Sasha Banks can surely make a case that she’s next in line to challenge Charlotte for the title. That fact wasn’t lost on Bayley, who celebrated the win with Banks the best way she knows how – with a big hug!

## US Championship: Rusev vs. Zack Ryder

Zack Ryder can now stay hyped for his immediate future in WWE thanks to an unexpected rescue at WWE Battleground by one of SmackDown Live’s newest Superstars.

Ryder barely lost the battle for Rusev’s U.S. Title at WWE Battleground Sunday evening, but a late arrival by Mojo Rawley helped the challenger avoid a more painful fate. After succumbing to The Accolade, Long Island Iced-Z suffered a post-match assault from The Bulgarian Brute until Rawley arrived to defend his former NXT tag team partner against the defending U.S. Champion.

An emboldened Ryder, who has surged up WWE’s ranks since his upset Intercontinental Championship victory at WrestleMania 32, initially set his sights on the U.S. Championship after leading a patriotic coalition called Team USA to victory on the July 4 edition of Raw. His continued success after that match led him to demand a U.S. Championship Match against its current titleholder, Rusev. The Bulgarian Brute accepted days later, but only after humbling the upstart contender with a brutal post-match attack.

Rusev set the tempo for the match immediately after the opening bell, grinding Ryder down to the ring apron with a series of grappling maneuvers. The challenger tried to respond with timely kicks and flying forearms, all to no avail against Rusev.

The Long Island, N.Y., native, wearing an outfit paying patriotic homage to WWE Hall of Famers Ultimate Warrior, Sting and “Macho Man” Randy Savage, showed substantial American grit, enduring despite the powerful arsenal being employed by Rusev. A well-timed Rough Ryder put victory within Ryder’s grasp, but a counter of the challenger’s El-Bro Drop from the top rope put momentum behind the U.S. Champion.

Rusev superkicked Ryder in the back of the head and locked in The Accolade, which, despite a final gasp of fight by Ryder, led to The Bulgarian Brute securing victory, and assured Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley that the U.S. Title was staying with Raw.

What followed likely came as a surprise to Ryder, but not because of what the fiancé of Lana did next. Rusev decided to make an example to all aspiring U.S. Title contenders by further battering Ryder, resulting in the now-defeated Long Island Iced-Z lying in position for another round of The Accolade.

Before The Bulgarian Brute could apply his signature submission hold, however , Mojo Rawley, Ryder’s Hype Bros.’ tag team partner from NXT , rushed down the aisle to repel Rusev from ringside.

With the defeat, Ryder missed his chance to become just the fifth Superstar to win the star-spangled title in the nation’s capital, a feat most recently accomplished by Dolph Ziggler in 2011. However, the post-match activity ensured that Long Island Iced-Z will have at least one friend by his side when he and Rawley begin to fight their way up the ranks of the newly-assembled SmackDown Live roster

## Becky Lynch vs. Natalya

What a Hart-breaker.

Becky Lynch, the fiery phenom of WWE’s Women’s division, fell short against her rival Natalya at WWE Battleground, leaving The Irish Lass Kicker to suffer her second consecutive pay-per-view punishment at the hands of the former Divas Champion after Natalya’s betrayal at WWE Money in the Bank kick-started their rivalry last month.

Since her fateful about-face, Natalya has embraced a new me-first mantra that paid dividends almost instantly, while Becky has been forced to find her way as a solo Superstar after being betrayed by every WWE partner she has had. That led Maiden Ireland to hit the ground running against her fellow SmackDown Live draftee, but Natalya was wise to her plan, and fled the ring every time Becky got a few punches in on her.

Natalya’s continuous exits meant Becky never got any momentum going, but her frustration did mount, and with it a degree of sloppiness. Natalya was quick to capitalize, trapping Lynch’s leg in the apron and hammering it with fists, softening the Irish Superstar’s leg up early for the inevitable Sharpshooter. Lynch’s evening quickly turned into a nightmarish succession of submissions, each designed to both weaken Becky’s strength and display Natalya’s dominance over the upstart Superstar.

Becky, as the WWE Universe knows, is too good to go quietly, and she did manage to mount a flurry of offense after an enziguiri gave The Irish Lass Kicker a degree of separation. Not only did she power out of a Sharpshooter, but she also executed a missile dropkick off the top rope to send The Queen of Harts scrambling into the corner.

Again, Becky’s aggression boiled over and her awareness went quickly with it: While the referee attempted to act as a human barrier between the overaggressive Becky and the cowering Natalya, The Queen of Harts delivered one final kick to her opponent’s leg and locked in another Sharpshooter to finally force Becky to submit. If there’s one thing to be taken away here, it’s that Becky Lynch’s resolve and heart cannot be denied. However, in Washington D.C., heart didn’t have the final word. Hart did.

## Intercontinental Championship: Darren Young vs. The Miz

At WWE Battleground, when Intercontinental Champion The Miz put his hands on WWE Hall of Famer Bob Backlund and Darren Young refused to release a submission hold on the A-Lister outside the ring, the referee was forced to disqualify both competitors.

For months now, Darren Young’s Life Coach, Bob Backlund, has aimed to “make Darren Young great again!” That truly manifested itself when Young triumphed in an Intercontinental Title No. 1 Contender’s Battle Royal, which, in turn, gained the revitalized athlete enough notoriety for Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon and her GM Mick Foley to select him as part of the WWE Extension Draft. Unfortunately, however, their pick was not destined to bring another championship home to Monday Night Raw.

From the opening bell, Young proved impressive in his WWE Battleground showdown against The Miz, employing a finely-tuned technique to score several near falls on the overconfident titleholder. That was until Maryse’s distraction allowed Miz to hurl his challenger from the top rope to the ringside floor and seize the advantage.

The sheer will of Young was not to be denied and the fierce competitor soon regained control. However, when Miz grew distracted by Backlund, Maryse opted to slap the WWE Hall of Famer, before to making it look like Backlund had knocked her to the floor. The A-Lister responded to this “appearance” of malice by pushing Backlund to the ground, inciting Young to lose control and lock his opponent into a submission hold outside the ring. When he refused to release it, the referee was forced to bring the match to a close.

Regardless of how the contest ended, one thing is undisputed: the Intercontinental Championship is staying with The Miz on SmackDown Live.

## Results

* Sasha Banks & Bayley defeated Charlotte & Dana Brooke by submission (7:25)
* Rusev (c) (w/ Lana) defeated Zack Ryder by submission to retain the WWE United States Championship (7:01)
* Natalya defeated Becky Lynch by submission (9:03)
* The Miz (c) (w/ Maryse) vs. Darren Young (w/ Bob Backlund) ended in a double disqualification in a WWE Intercontinental Championship Match (8:41)