WWE Battleground was a 2009 professional wrestling event put on by World Wrestling Entertainment. It was the 1st ever Battleground event, the 12th and final event of 2009, and the 240th event overall in the alternate WWF timeline. Emanating from the Verizon Arena in Little Rock, Arkansas, the main event was a Fatal Fourway match between Triple H, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels, with the winner receiving a WWE Championship match at the Royal Rumble. Other matches on the card included a Tables Match for the World Heavyweight Title between The Undertaker and CM Punk, a WWE Title match between Batista and Kofi Kingston and a TLC Tag Title match between Edge & Christian and The Big Show & The Miz.
Prelude[]
Following his team's victory at the Survivor Series, Triple H naturally assumed he would receive a title shot at WWE Champion Batista. However, since per the letter of the stipulation Triple H didn't pin either Vince McMahon or Batista, he technically didn't earn the title shot he was promised. WWE Chairman Vince McMahon thus ordered Triple H to have to win another match, this time a triple threat match against Randy Orton and Shawn Michaels, at the inaugural Battleground event. The match was changed further after Chris Jericho pinned Triple H on an episode of Raw, earning his way into the match and making it a Fatal Fourway instead of a Triple Threat.
The Undertaker had regained the World Heavyweight Championship at Survivor Series, defeating the Straight Edge Messiah in order to do so. However CM Punk didn't take this fact lying down, immediately issuing a challenge to the Deadman for his automatic title rematch for Battleground. The stipulation of the match was made after an episode of Smackdown, when the Straight Edge Society attacked the Deadman and put him through the announce table at ringside. This led to Smackdown GM Theodore Long making the rematch a Tables Match, where the only way to win was to put your opponent through a table.
Kofi Kingston had shocked many people during the Survivor Series match involving Batista and Triple H by catching the WWE Champion with his Trouble in Paradise finisher and then pinning the champ right in the center of the ring. The Animal quickly dismissed this as a "fluke", ignoring the challenge of Kofi when he came out issuing a challenge for a title match. Batista would eventually entertain the upstart by granting him a title match if he could last more than 5 minutes in a one on one match with him. Kofi did more than that, catching Batista off guard and pinning him in less than a minute. Batista then attacked Kofi, powerbombing him on the outside and then accepting his title challenge.
Edge and Christian had reunited as a tag team at Survivor Series, defeating Straight Edge Society members Gallows and Anderson in the process. Seeing as how it appeared that they hadn't missed a beat, both Edge and Christian agreed to challenge the current WWE World Tag Team Champions, The Big Show and The Miz, in order to regain titles that they hadn't held in nearly a decade.
Event[]
Coming Soon...
Results[]
| No. | Results | Stipulations | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-Show | "Love Machine" Kenny King w/"Romeo" Rhett Titus d. Sonjay Dutt by Pinfall | Singles Match | 9:21 |
| 1 | R-Truth d. Dolph Ziggler (c), MVP & Ted DiBiase Jr. w/Maryse by Pinfall | Fatal Fourway Match for the WWE United States Title | 12:40 |
| 2 | Straight Edge Society [Doc Gallows & M.G. Anderson] d. Best Friends [Trent Baretta & Chuck Taylor] by Pinfall | Tag Team Match | 10:30 |
| 3 | Zack Ryder (c) d. The Brian Kendrick w/Ezekiel Jackson by Pinfall | Singles Match for the WWE Light Heavyweight Title | 0:30 |
| 4 | Natalya (c) d. Dark Angel by Pinfall | Singles Match for the WWE Divas Title | 7:30 |
| 5 | Jack Swagger w/Zeb Colter d. Cody Rhodes (c) by Disqualification | Singles Match for the WWE Intercontinental Title | 9:18 |
| 6 | The Big Show & The Miz (c) d. Edge & Christian by Pinfall | Tag Team Match for the WWE World Tag Team Titles | 10:39 |
| 7 | Batista (c) d. Kofi KIngston by Pinfall | Singles Match for the WWE Championship | 9:58 |
| 8 | The Undertaker (c) d. CM Punk w/Serena | Tables Match for the World Heavyweight Championship | 12:00 |
| 9 | Triple H d. Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho & Randy Orton by Pinfall | Fatal Fourway Match for the #1 Contendership to the WWE Championship | 15:29 |
Aftermath[]
Triple H would get his rematch with Batista at the Royal Rumble, but this would also be wrapped up into a burgeoning Wrestlemania feud between The Game and a returning John Cena. The Undertaker would face Chris Jericho for the World Title at the Rumble, while Shawn Michaels entered the Rumble match as a means to get another shot at the Dead Man's Wrestlemania Streak. The controversial finish in the Intercontinental Title match would lead to a unique tag match between Swagger and Rhodes, also involving Zeb Colter (played by wrestler Dutch Mantell) and Cody's father Dusty, with the IC Title on the line at the Royal Rumble. Christian turning on Edge would lead to a lengthy feud between the two, culminating in a match at Wrestlemania 26.