WWE Battleground
NXT Battleground logo used as of 2023
PromotionsWWE
BrandsSmackDown (2017)
NXT (2023–present)
Other namesNXT Battleground (2023–present)
First event2013

WWE Battleground, known as NXT Battleground beginning in 2023, is a professional wrestling event produced by WWE, a Connecticut-based promotion. From 2013 to 2017, the event was broadcast on traditional pay-per-view (PPV) and beginning in 2014, it began to simultaneously be livestreamed on the WWE Network, which was extended to Peacock beginning in 2023. The event was established in 2013, debuting in October on WWE's PPV calendar, replacing Over the Limit. In 2014, Battleground moved up to the July slot, becoming the promotion's annual July PPV. To coincide with the brand extension that was reintroduced in July 2016, the 2017 event was held exclusively for wrestlers from the SmackDown brand. Battleground was then discontinued as WWE reduced the amount of yearly PPVs produced after they had discontinued brand-exclusive PPVs following WrestleMania 34 in April 2018. After five years, the event was revived in 2023 for WWE's developmental territory, NXT, to be held in May and only available via WWE's livestreaming platforms.

History

On the July 29, 2013, episode of Raw, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE announced a new pay-per-view (PPV) titled Battleground to be held on October 6 that year at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. It replaced Over the Limit, which had been held annually in May from 2010 to 2012, but was going to be held in October 2013 before WWE decided to discontinue Over the Limit.[1] The event returned in 2014, but was moved up to July, thus establishing the event as WWE's annual July PPV. In addition to PPV, the 2014 event was the first Battleground to air on WWE's livestreaming service, the WWE Network, which launched earlier that year in February.[2]

The 2016 event was regarded as the last PPV event featuring wrestlers from both the Raw and SmackDown brands, before the newly reinstated brand extension went into full effect; after SummerSlam that year, monthly PPVs became brand-exclusive, excluding the "Big Four" (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series).[3] The 2017 event was in turn a SmackDown-exclusive event.[4] Battleground was expected to return in 2018 for the Raw brand; however, the event was taken off WWE's PPV lineup as after WrestleMania 34 that year, brand-exclusive PPVs were discontinued, resulting in WWE reducing the amount of yearly PPVs produced.[5]

On March 30, 2023, WWE announced that Battleground would be revived for its developmental territory, NXT, scheduled for May 28, 2023.[6] In addition to the WWE Network, the event was livestreamed for the first time on Peacock in the United States due to the American version of the WWE Network merging under Peacock in March 2021[7]—unlike previous Battlegrounds, it did not air on PPV as beginning with the 2022 calendar year, NXT's major events are only available via WWE's livestreaming platforms.[6] NXT Battleground also went head-to-head with Double or Nothing, a PPV event produced by All Elite Wrestling (AEW), which is AEW's flagship event, marking the first time since 1989 that two major promotions produced major events head-to-head, after WWE's WrestleMania V and World Championship Wrestling's Clash of the Champions VI.[8]

Events

SmackDown-branded event NXT-branded event
# Event Date City Venue Main Event Ref.
1 Battleground (2013) October 6, 2013 Buffalo, New York First Niagara Center Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan for the vacant WWE Championship [9][10]
2 Battleground (2014) July 20, 2014 Tampa, Florida Tampa Bay Times Forum John Cena (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. Kane vs. Roman Reigns in a fatal four-way match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship [2]
3 Battleground (2015) July 19, 2015 St. Louis, Missouri Scottrade Center Seth Rollins (c) vs. Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship [11]
4 Battleground (2016) July 24, 2016 Washington, D.C. Verizon Center Dean Ambrose (c) vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins in a triple threat match for the WWE Championship [3]
5 Battleground (2017) July 23, 2017 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wells Fargo Center Jinder Mahal (c) vs. Randy Orton in a Punjabi Prison match for the WWE Championship [4]
6 NXT Battleground (2023) May 28, 2023 Lowell, Massachusetts Tsongas Center Carmelo Hayes (c) vs. Bron Breakker for the NXT Championship [6]
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

See also

References

  1. ↑ Salgado, Sebastian (July 30, 2013). "WWE officially announces the Battleground PPV". Super Luchas. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
  2. 1 2 "WWE Battleground tickets | Tampa Bay Times Forum, Tampa, FL | Jul 20, 2014 at 07:30pm". WWE. Archived from the original on June 14, 2014. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Get WWE Battleground tickets now". WWE. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
  4. 1 2 WWE.com Staff (April 24, 2017). "WWE Battleground 2017 tickets available now". WWE. Archived from the original on April 21, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  5. ↑ WWE.com Staff (February 17, 2018). "WWE pay-per-views just got bigger for 2018!". WWE.com. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 Defelice, Robert (March 30, 2023). "Shawn Michaels Announces NXT Battleground 2023 Will Emanate From Lowell, Massachusetts". Fightful. Archived from the original on March 30, 2023. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  7. ↑ WWE.com Staff (March 8, 2021). "WWE Network to launch on Peacock March 18". WWE. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  8. ↑ Lambert, Jeremy (March 31, 2023). "Shawn Michaels Says NXT Battleground Running Same Day As AEW Double Or Nothing Was A Holiday Thing". Fightful. Archived from the original on March 31, 2023. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  9. ↑ Caldwell, James (October 6, 2013). "Battleground PPV Results 10/6 (Hour 1): World Title match opens the PPV, plus IC Title & Divas Title matches". Pro Wrestling Torch.
  10. ↑ Caldwell, James (October 6, 2013). "Battleground PPV Results 10/6 (Hour 3): WWE Title match, power outage situation, Punk vs. Ryback". Pro Wrestling Torch.
  11. ↑ Johnson, Mike (January 7, 2015). "COMPLETE 2015 WWF PPV SCHEDULE". PWInsider. Archived from the original on January 9, 2015. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
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