Battleground 2014 Preview: Part 1

Cameron and Naomi, former partners and friends, will face each other this Sunday. You have had 4 diva feuds being featured recently. Paige and AJ Lee are in a title feud. Stephanie McMahon has been making life miserable for Nikki Bella. There were issues between Layla and Summer Rae, which have since branched into a partnership between the two. And this feud. I don't even remember how many times you have had this many during the golden era. Obviously, the WWE will not be consistent with all these women. And these two women in this match are likely to eventually be lost in the shuffle again. This is only a kickoff match. Naomi wins.

Seth Rollins is good to go against Dean Ambrose. A lot of fans are excited for this match. I really don't care too much for it. Just my personal opinion. I think the feud between Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow after Sandow betrayed Cody last year and won the briefcase was more fun. They have had Dean Ambrose get beaten down a lot recently. Is this going to be a situation where the face overcomes and gets revenge against the heel that betrayed him? The story of this match could ruin the quality. I know a lot of fans would rather these two just go at it. You might have a story here where Ambrose is broken and trying to fight uphill all match. Hopefully, this feud continues to Summerslam and they can put on an even better match there, regardless of outcome and quality at Battleground. Seth should win this match.

You have a huge battle royal to crown the new Intercontinental Champion. And Barrett will be there to hand over the title. How great would it be if he drops some bad news on whoever wins the match and tells them he isn't injured anymore and is keeping the title? It would be a good way to set up a feud between him and the winner. Let's say nothing fancy happens. Who wins? Probably not Sheamus. He doesn't need it. It would be nice if Dolph Ziggler wins it. He can feud with Barrett down the line. I just feel like a heel should be holding it now. The Miz is a good choice. He just came back and it would be an easy way to keep him relevant without actually pushing him. It would also be nice if Cesaro gets it. The guy needs something. Without going through anymore names, I'll say Miz wins the title.

The Usos once again defend the tag titles against The Wyatts. And this is a 2-out-of-3 falls match. Just like I gave the WWE credit for upgrading the US title match between Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio on Main Event last week to a Last Man Standing match, I'll give them credit for making this match more than just a basic tag match. These two teams can put on a great match. This match type should make things more interesting. The Flying Eduardo Brothers should finally be winning the titles this time. Wyatts win.

Funk Is On A Roll, All Over The Diva Division

Wrestlemania last week provided a good reason why the current dark age of the diva division is worse than the first one. No divas were in action. Going back to Wrestlemania in 2000 and 2001, you had women performing in matches. There may not have been a centerpiece back then, much like now, but the WWE featured women wrestling at Wrestlemania. This year, a match was booked, but it got cut.

Naomi and Cameron are seeing more attention lately, as well as Brie and Nikki Bella. Of the faces involved in that feud, Naomi seems to be the star, but don't make too much of that. There is no real development with any of those women. They are all periphery divas. They are all currently latched onto guys in the midcard. Going by how the WWE handles their midcard, at least one of the two teams will be depushed in time. When that happens, the divas associated with that team will most likely also take a depush. It is less likely that this will happen to the heels in this feud. In any case, this is just filler.

Things would have been different if Eve had not left. As long as she had not flopped as centerpiece, she would still be getting good focus right now. It is very likely the WWE would have given her something to do at Wrestlemania. Some people might say things would be different if any diva left. Let me put it this way, could you imagine the diva division if Alicia Fox quit today? Nothing much would really change. But losing a centerpiece is a bigger blow to the diva division.

It still does not look like the WWE is developing a centerpiece. If anyone would be the centerpiece right now, you would assume that it would be the Diva's Champion, Kaitlyn. But she is not being pushed well at all. I just said that the WWE is putting focus on Naomi right now, but they are not really developing her hard enough to make me think they really plan to run with her. And The Bellas? If they really wanted them as the centerpiece, I don't think they would have cut them from Wrestlemania. AJ Lee is still a clear periphery diva. And no other diva really is getting a chance right now. The end to the dark age doesn't look like it is near.

Wrestlemania 29's Diva Match

This is the worst diva match at Wrestlemania in a long time. That is really not a shot at the women involved as much as it is a criticism of how the WWE has been developing those involved. Tons of Funk and Naomi and Cameron will take on Rhodes Scholars and The Bella Twins.

Brodus Clay and Tensai have been lower-midcarders prior to the recent push they are getting. Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow are solid midcarders. The problem with them is the WWE has not been able to decide whether to push them as a team or solo over the last few weeks. Cameron and Naomi have been eye-candy periphery divas since their debut. This is their first real push. The Bellas just returned a few weeks ago. This match was just randomly developed over the last few weeks, but at least there is development.

When you look at the past diva matches in recent years, the quality of the feud and match have been brought down by having too many divas involved and sometimes bringing in celebrities. This is another multi-diva match, but at least no celebrity is involved. Nevertheless, in terms of star power, the divas in this match are pretty weak. Should they have ran with the feud involving AJ and Kaitlyn? I would say so. Even if not a title match, get them involved in some kind of diva tag match. AJ Lee is the top diva right now, as a periphery diva. I doubt the WWE will be developing any of the women in this tag match as the next centerpiece. Who wins? Should be the faces.

Last thing to consider, should this have been the match bumped off the card and put on the pre-show? Would it really have upset Diva-Dirt that much? This is the only match on the Wrestlemania card that does not involve a former World Champion. The Intercontinental title match deserves to be on the card more. That is a title match. What is really on the line in this 8-person tag? Nothing. This is one of those matches that would be fine at any other PPV of the year, but just doesn't seem big enough for a Wrestlemania.