WWE Battleground preview

Read on for how I'd book tonight's WWE special event.

 - Usos (SD) vs. Breezango (SD): Conventional wisdom is always to have the babyfaces win on the Kickoff show to warm the crowd up and put them in a good mood. In this case, though, each brand only has so many teams now. WWE has to be careful not to throw any of them under a bus. After putting up with the "burned skin" angle, Breezango deserves a win here. They can either surprise one of the Usos with something they aren't expecting or do the whole "referee was distracted so one of the Usos gets hit with a selfie stick" finish. The brand split presents a chance to make Breezango mean something; WWE should make the most of it.

- Highlight Reel with Y2J (Raw) and Orton (SD): This one's pretty straightforward. Orton's coming back to a really big match next month, while Jericho is an older part-timer who has indicated he'll focus on Fozzy in 2017. Jericho questions how Orton can beat Brock and the two hype Orton's return and Summerslam itself ending with Jericho taking an RKO (if not several). Y2J can easily get his heat back calling Orton a stupid idiot on Raw and moving on to feuding with someone the company wants to move up the card post-brand split. How about Darren Young? Y2J and Backlund can have some fun back-and-forth.

- Becky (SD) vs. Natalya (SD): Until some injured names return and/or WWE gets some former female superstars back, Smackdown's division is pretty bare. As such, it might be a little soon for the show to get its own championship. I like the idea of Bryan scouting female talents to add to the brand. Anyway, Natalya gets herself DQ'd for not releasing the Sharpshooter, "turning a new leaf" as a heel and all that. She demands to be the women's champion of Smackdown, which Becky and Naomi in particular object to. They REALLY need to build up this division. I'd be willing to consider the former Beautiful People and some other Knockout alumnae at this point.

- Sasha (Raw)/??? vs. Charlotte (Raw)/Dana (Raw): After careful consideration, I'd save Bayley to be called up on Smackdown right after Summerslam. Paige takes the honors here; she should be important again. The face team wins and the heels say they weren't prepared for a mystery partner and all that. Sasha vs. Charlotte for the title at Summerslam. They can do a big rematch in September, too, before the "highly anticipated" Charlotte vs. Stephanie to promote Steph's memoir Lady Balls. 

- New Day (Raw) vs. Bray (SD)/Rowan (SD)/Strowman (Raw): New Day is staying together as a unit after this, while the Wyatts will be on different brands. Pretty straightforward in my eyes. The win goes to YOUR W. W. E. TAG. TEAM. CHAMPIONS. I'd probably have Rowan take the pin. Strowman can kill jobbers for a while on Raw before going for gold. They can sell the idea of Bray being the only one who can control him; without him around, Braun's virtually unhinged. I'd personally be fine with Braun being used to send Henry into retirement. Not because Strowman's an amazing wrestler, but to get him over as a monster and write off someone whose in-ring days are nearing an end. 

- Might as well have the U.S. and IC Titles switch brands because "anything can happen in the WWE, Maggle! It's a New Era!" So....

-- Miz (SD) vs. D. Young (Raw): Backlund prevents Maryse from interfering. Young surprises Miz with the chicken wing to win. Miz can feud with Heath Slater, the "real" star of their movie. I could see that being pretty fun. Young getting a push gives a fresh face a shot at things. 

-- Rusev (Raw) vs. Ryder (SD): How about Rusev and Lana interrupt Neville being interviewed about returning to the ring, since the attention should be on them? Then, Neville's music plays when Ryder's about to be put in the Accolade, leading to a surprise win by Mr. Woo Woo Woo. Rusev feuds with Neville, while Ryder's buddy Mojo joins the champ on Smackdown. 

- Zayn (Raw) vs. Owens (Raw): Zayn wins a war, but is exhausted in the aftermath. Both men give it their all. Owens attacks him during an interview on Raw, and we get weeks of them attacking each other every chance they get. Owens is in line at Starbucks? Zayn shows up and attacks him. Zayn's checking his bags at the airport? Owens attacks him. It gets so bad Foley sets up a Falls Count Anywhere, Loser Leaves Raw match at Summerslam. 

- Cena (SD)/Enzo (Raw)/Cass (Raw) vs. AJ (SD)/Gallows (Raw)/Anderson (Raw): Amid six-man chaos, AJ gets another pin on Cena (and the bragging rights that come with that). 

- Ambrose (SD) vs. Reigns (Raw) vs. Rollins (Raw): Ambrose with the pin on Reigns. Naturally, Rollins blames Reigns for him not being champion. Foley sets up those two facing off for the Raw-exclusive World Championship at Summerslam. Ambrose defends his title against AJ and Cena that night.

More wrestling coming up.