Why WWE Battleground’s Finish Was ‘Best for Business’

Sure, the inaugural Battleground pay-per-view was not one of the better WWE pay-per-views of the year, but the finish (or lack thereof) for the Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton main event was the logical way to go.

The vacant WWE Championship is an angle that is seldom used and it is usually not held up for very long when it is. When that happens, it often stirs the pot and has the potential to reveal parts of the bigger pictures in the storyline.

At Battleground, WWE did just that.

Big Show’s neutral turn is a billion times better than his crying antics for the past month or so and it adds a new level of frustration to his role. This is extremely believable and logical for his character. He’s big, he’s bad and he’s pissed off. Part of him wants to keep his job, while another is too frustrated to care about what happens.

It also doesn’t hurt if he’s realized that his fame, acting abilities and resume can probably get him a decent job just about anywhere. Show has a college degree and a previous sales background before he stepped into the squared circle. It’s highly unlikely that it’s WWE or McDonalds for the guy.

On the subject of the competitors – Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton’s rubber match for the title logically could not have been at an inaugural pay-per-view, especially with two of its bigger, longstanding ones coming up; Hell in a Cell being in three weeks to boot. Two months is not enough time to boil over a main event angle with obvious long-term plans.

In order to have the feud continue and avoid becoming stale WWE had to find a way to end the event without a title change. We can’t have Bryan and Orton in the same scenario a few weeks later, that’s downright silly.

When Bryan looked as if he would finally become the true WWE Champion, Show came down the ramp. The World’s Largest Athlete pulled out the referee and knocked out Bryan; which looked all too much like he was taking orders from his current superiors, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. Raw GM Brad Maddox brought out seemingly “fired” referee Scott Armstrong to count the pin. Show then knocked out Armstrong, again playing up his frustrations. Orton obviously wasn’t happy and was knocked out for his efforts, courtesy of Big Show.

The only gripe about the finish was that Battleground went off the air without any official draw. Big Show knocked out everybody but Raw GM Brad Maddox and then the show just ended. Logically, Maddox should have either sent in a third referee or stepped into the ring himself to count Bryan and Orton out; officially ending the match.

And what’s the deal with Scott Armstrong? Is he employed or not? If so, why would you even think about sending in the referee who supposedly lost his job a few weeks ago over an almost identical situation? And if Armstrong was indeed fired what the hell was he even doing at Battleground in the first place?

In three weeks it seems obvious that Bryan and Orton will culminate their feud in the ultimate feud finisher- a Hell in a Cell match at the event of the same name and all will be as right as it could be in the WWE Universe until the next chapter in the “Best for Business” storyline.

Or the title could remain vacant and we could have another “Deadly Game Tournament” for Survivor Series.