{"id":45309,"date":"2017-07-23T18:48:12","date_gmt":"2017-07-23T23:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=45309"},"modified":"2017-07-23T22:13:46","modified_gmt":"2017-07-24T03:13:46","slug":"mcneills-live-blog-wwe-battleground-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2017\/07\/23\/mcneills-live-blog-wwe-battleground-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"McNEILL&#8217;s Live Blog for WWE Battleground 2017!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-3491619890\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p><i>Pat McNeill is standing by at stately McNeill Manor to bring you the live blog of WWE Battleground.  Let&#8217;s watch.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>So I turn on the show, and we&#8217;re in the middle of Carmella&#8217;s onset interview.  The chanting fans behind the Kickoff Crew is ruining the interview.  Naturally, Carmella addresses the crowd and eggs them on.<\/p>\n<p>Clip of AJ Styles throwing out the first pitch earlier today.  When footage of the Phils hits the big screen, some of the Philly fans start chanting &#8220;Delete&#8221;.  It&#8217;s been a long season.<\/p>\n<p>Kayla Braxton is standing by with the Kanellises&#8230;es.  Twitter user Sean Radic&#8230;I mean &#8220;anonymous&#8221; asks Mike &#038; Maria &#8220;How can I find love?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Sam Roberts makes the same Huey Lewis joke I would have made under the circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>Time for our Kickoff Show.  Aiden English has the mic.  His singing is ten times better than mine, and 30x better than that Castrating The Marks guy.<\/p>\n<p>His opponent gives English&#8217;s song a ten.<\/p>\n<p>We have a new gimmick announced on the Kickoff Show: Byron &#8220;The Insider&#8221; Saxton.  <\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1261875132\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>The announcers talk up the Punjabi Prison match, but not once do they mention the chance of outside interference from the Poonjobbers.<\/p>\n<p>Aiden English might actually win a match here.  Near fall, and we get a Christian style temper tantrum.   But English pulls out the win.  Oh, dear.  Poor Dillinger.  <\/p>\n<p>WWE Network asks &#8220;What can we do to get you to subscribe?  Do you need somebody killed?  Drop us a line.&#8221;  <\/p>\n<p>Time for WWE Battleground, where American babyfaces fight foreign menace heels.  I mean, &#8220;international menace heels&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Your opening match is The Usos defending against The New Day.  Tonight the Usos are dressed&#8230;kinda like The Bullet Club.  Strong move.<\/p>\n<p>I hear this battle rap thing is catching on.  Mayweather and McGregor are going to try it next.  Just you watch.<\/p>\n<p>The New Day&#8217;s wardrobe for tonight has been supplied by Apollo Creed International, in association with Toby Keith&#8217;s &#8220;I Love These Tights&#8221; line.<\/p>\n<p>Usos have knocked out Kingston &#038; Woods, but they did it outside the ring.  Not good.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2951960912\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Remember, you can discuss this match with us on social media by using the hashtag #7YearsOfOneDirection.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Woods, what WERE you thinking there?<\/p>\n<p>The hostile Philly crowd gets behind New Day.  After a couple more kickouts, we go to &#8220;This is awesome&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Trouble in Paradise.  Ropewalk top rope elbow.  The New Day beat The Usos.  That was great.<\/p>\n<p>How do we follow that?  With a WWE Network ad, of course.  I should know this by now.<\/p>\n<p>Shinsuke Nakamura is in the second match.  Against Baron Corbin.  The bloom is off the rose.<\/p>\n<p>Baron Corbin is Mister Money In The Bank.  He should get together with Ms. Money In The Bank.  They could raise little briefcases together.<\/p>\n<p>JBL calls this a dream match.  (Presumably someone else&#8217;s dream match.  Not his.)  Bradshaw goes on to compare Corbin to Tensai.  He&#8217;s about to get a nasty phone call from the 407 area code.<\/p>\n<p>If Corbin really wanted to get heat in Philly, he should have brought a large photo of Andy Reid to ringside with him.<\/p>\n<p>Nakamura kicks out of the Deep Six.  Corbin gets disqualified after a strong style kick to the testicles.  This feud must continue! <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Corbin did what he does best&#8221;.  Yeah, I haven&#8217;t seen anyone that good at getting disqualified since Wayne Ferris.<\/p>\n<p>Women&#8217;s five way is next.  I&#8217;m cool with WWE booking.  I would just rather not see Naomi wrestle Lana again at SummerSlam.  Is that too much to ask?<\/p>\n<p>Lana&#8217;s ring entrance.  She&#8217;s dressed for&#8230;damned if I know.  Dancing With The Stars, perhaps?<\/p>\n<p>Naomi is on commentary, trying to come up with a tactful way to say Lana sucks as a wrestler.<\/p>\n<p>JBL points out that every woman in the match has turned on Becky Lynch at some point (except Naomi).<\/p>\n<p>Tamina saves Lana.  Twice.  That&#8217;s okay.  Becky makes Tamina tap to the Disarmer.  And Lana again.<\/p>\n<p>Nattie eliminates Becky Lynch.  It&#8217;s either Charlotte or Natalya.  Fight forever, ladies! &#8230;Okay, that was NOT forever.  Natalya wins.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier tonight, AJ Styles said Kevin Owens wasn&#8217;t man enough to be WWE United States Champion (which KO has already held twice). <\/p>\n<p>Styles vs. Owens for the US Title.  Yay!<\/p>\n<p>SHILL: &#8220;Wrestling Night In America&#8221; is on after #WWEBattleground on PWTorchLivecast.com.  Call me &#038; @gregmparks at (515) 605-9345.<\/p>\n<p>This is the usual fun back and forth from the former world champs.  I like the lady who yelled &#8220;You suck, Kevin Owens!&#8221;  That way, KO knows it&#8217;s directed at him, not the Kevin in Section 117.<\/p>\n<p>AJ lands on his shoulder on the apron, and that&#8217;s going to be an important plot point.   Owens tosses Styles into the ref, and we&#8217;re not sure he did it on purpose.<\/p>\n<p>KO holds Styles down for a three count.  We have a new United States champion.  Guess AJ shouldn&#8217;t have questioned Kev&#8217;s manhood, huh?<\/p>\n<p>Jinder Mahal talks with his crew backstage.  Inexplicably, they don&#8217;t talk in Hindi or use subtitles.<\/p>\n<p>John Cena vs. Rusev in a flag match.  The winner is the first man to take his flag up the ramp and put it on the pedestal.  Um&#8230;what?<\/p>\n<p>Cena&#8217;s closer to the pedestal than Rusev.  If he can get his flag down while Rusev&#8217;s climbing, Rusev can&#8217;t catch him.  Just saying&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Wrestling 101, kids: If you&#8217;re booking a match where the stipulation involves a &#8220;finish line&#8221;, you might be doing it wrong.<\/p>\n<p>JBL asserts if Rusev loses, he can&#8217;t go back to Bulgaria.  Why?  Is Trump in charge over there too? <\/p>\n<p>If Cena was serious about winning, he would have thrown the Bulgarian flag into the crowd.<\/p>\n<p>Rusev tries to walk past Cena, and Big Match John grabs the leg like he&#8217;s Dixie Carter trying to keep Hulk from leaving.<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;re setting up tables to put Cena through, because that makes sense.<\/p>\n<p>I can&#8217;t believe John Cena was crawling up the ramp with the American flag and no one made an Iwo Jima reference.  That&#8217;s what happens when you replace Jim Ross.<\/p>\n<p>John Cena won, of course.<\/p>\n<p>The Ascension tells Breezango they did it.  They lied.  And now Breeze &#038; Fandango knocked out again.  To be continued.<\/p>\n<p>Zayn vs. Kanellis in the Slot Of Death is next.  It wasn&#8217;t bad.  Sayn goes over clean.  Maybe Kanellis &#038; English can form a tag team together.<\/p>\n<p>Time for your main event.  It&#8217;s Randy Orton against Jinder Mahal in the Punjabi Prison.<\/p>\n<p>Punjabi Prison Drinking Game: Drink whenever someone mentions &#8220;steel-reinforced bamboo&#8221;. Make out your will first.<\/p>\n<p>While I experience technical difficulties and family and all that, the Poonjobbers have made their way inside the Prison.  It&#8217;s three-on-one.  That&#8217;s not much of a prison if they just let anyone in like that.  <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Everything in that Prison hurts&#8221;.  I believe you, JBL.  Just watching this makes my eyes bleed.  Still, this is the best of the three Punjabi Prison bouts in WWE history.<\/p>\n<p>Oh, look, Randy found a kendo stick, I mean, some steel-reinforced bamboo.  I wonder what he&#8217;ll do with it?<\/p>\n<p>The Singhs, who are cruiserweights, are small enough to get through the bars of the Prison.  This is funny.  Think of the potential for &#8220;205 Live&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Here we go.  Randy is climbing the bamboo.  The other Bollywoodsman can&#8217;t stop him.  But you know who can?  THE GREAT KHALI!<\/p>\n<p>(I had Dolph Ziggler interfering.  I was close!  Right?)<\/p>\n<p>Khali chokes Orton and Jinder escapes.  Jinder Mahal is taking his talents to Brooklyn, next month at SummerSlam.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s it from Philly.  Join the boys for the VIP Roundtable, on join me and Greg on PWTorchLivecast.com&#8230;now.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-573150239\"><div id=\"pwtor-635954140\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Pat McNeill is standing by at stately McNeill Manor to bring you the live blog of WWE Battleground. Let&#8217;s watch. So I turn on the show, and we&#8217;re in the middle of Carmella&#8217;s onset interview. <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2017\/07\/23\/mcneills-live-blog-wwe-battleground-2017\/\" title=\"McNEILL&#8217;s Live Blog for WWE Battleground 2017!\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":23526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,52,58,53,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spotlightarticles","category-opnionandanalysis","category-takes_mcneill","category-opinion_stafftakes","category-results_wweppvs"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2016\/06\/BattlegroundCena.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45309"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45329,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45309\/revisions\/45329"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}