WWE Battleground: Five things we learned from Philadelphia on a night that saw the SmackDown brand falter

WWE Battleground is consigned to the history books with The New Day once again the cream of the crop in Smackdown Live’s tag team division – but not all went well in Philadelphia.

New Day’s victory over the Usos was a fine way to start the show, and Kevin Owens was also left celebrating as he recaptured the United States Championship from AJ Styles.

But in truth it wasn’t a show that will live too long in the memory – Smackdown Live had, for much of the year, been pulling way ahead of Monday Night Raw in terms of storytelling and an in-ring product, but this night definitely saw the blue brand falter.

In the wake of WWE Battleground, here’s five things we learned:

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If there’s one thing WWE does do well historically, it’s knowing how to start a show with a bang.

After a lengthy break following Wrestlemania, The New Day are revived and revitalised – quite whether they’ll repeat the trick of their last reign and keep this gold for over a year remains to be seen, but this fantastic match was a treat for the live crowd and those watching on WWE Network. Sadly, in many ways this was a good as the show got.

WWE is like an episode of Eastenders. Sometimes the good guys are on top, on other occasions the bad guys rule – that’s just the way of sports entertainment and it’s nothing new. But some instances at Battleground were far from that; things just didn’t make sense.

It’s probably the right call to make Kevin Owens US Champion again as he plays that role so perfectly – but what was with the finish? The match referee took a huge bump which is the perfect opportunity for any bad guy worth his salt to get a little underhand, yet the pin on Styles was completely clean, which made the referee bump worthless and Styles look a little less-than-stellar for not being able to kick out of a very slow count despite not really being hurt.

Jinder Mahal becoming WWE Champion was a fantastic shock, brilliantly executed. But that was back in May. Since then, we’ve been waiting for Mahal’s reign to be legitimised. Again, nobody needs reminding that just as in Albert Square, the rogues in WWE sometimes don’t play by the rule book – but every good WWE heel eventually gets to prove that he’s the real deal.

For Mahal to do that, he has to be freed from this feud with Randy Orton. He was assisted in winning the title to begin with and so too again in his two major title defences since. If this reign ends with Orton recapturing the gold then a huge moment in WWE history will be rendered meaningless – so let’s hope Mahal gets something different to focus on going into Summerslam.

There has been no better period in women’s wrestling in WWE than right now. The girls are tearing the house down every week. That said, on Smackdown Live things were getting a little repetitive.

In the preview of Battleground I pleaded for something a little different, and that wish was granted in Natalaya becoming number one contender for the Women’s Championship.

She now goes to Summerslam to face Naomi, and after playing second fiddle to the awesome, freakish talents of the rest of the female roster for much of the year, this is a rare chance for the Canadian to get a big slice of the action. A relative veteran, she’s good in the ring and awesome on the microphone. This will be worth the watch.

Battleground hasn’t been well received. Some outlets have labelled it the worst show of the year and, while I think that might be a little harsh, it’s certainly a stark warning ahead of August’s huge show in Brooklyn, New York.

It would be wrong to allow an entire pay per view with weeks’ worth of build-up to be written off as a warm-up to something bigger and better, but WWE will have to drastically improve on what didn’t quite deliver on this night to ensure Smackdown Live can pull its punches on one of the biggest nights of the year.