Favorites to Win at Tonight’s WWE Battleground Event

There have been several shifts in the betting odds for tonight’s WWE Battleground event. “Smart Money” bets still have not been made, but here are the odds right now:

(Note: The lower the number, the more favorable they are of winning the match)

WWE Championship – Punjabi Prison Match
JJinder Mahal(c) -260 (favorite) vs. Randy Orton +180

WWE United States Championship
AJ Styles(c) -210 (favorite) vs. Kevin Owens +160

Smackdown Tag Team Championship
The Usos(c) -215 (favorites) vs. The New Day +165

Flag Match
John Cena -1125 (favorite) vs. Rusev +575

Fatal 5 Way for the Smackdown Women’s Championship #1 Contendership

Charlotte +195 vs. Lana +3000 vs. Becky Lynch +2100 vs. Tamina +4500 vs. Natalya -215

Shinsuke Nakamura -270 (favorite) vs. Baron Corbin +190

Sami Zayn +135 vs. Mike Kanellis -175 (favorite)

Aiden English +330 vs. Tye Dillenger -490 (favorite)

Check back here at 7PM ET for our live play-by-play coverage of the event.

Last Minute Shift In Betting Odds for Tonight’s WWE Battleground Event

Below are the final betting odds for tonight’s WWE Battleground event. It should be noted that there were several changes in odds from our post earlier today.

(Note: The lower the number, the more favorable they are of winning the match)

WWE Championship – Punjabi Prison Match
Jinder Mahal(c) -7500 vs Randy Orton +2500

WWE United States Championship
AJ Styles(c) -4950 vs Kevin Owens +1650

SmackDown Tag Team Championship
The New Day -5700 vs The Usos(c) +1900

Flag Match
John Cena -350 vs Rusev +250

Fatal 5 Way for the Smackdown Women’s Championship #1 Contendership
Natalya -1700 vs Charlotte +1100 vs Becky Lynch +5000 vs Lana +6500 vs Tamina +9500

Shinsuke Nakamura -2450 vs Baron Corbin +1150

Sami Zayn -3250 vs Mike Kanellis +1350

Jinder Mahal Says He Sees Himself Main Eventing WrestleMania

WWE Champion Jinder Mahal recently spoke to PhillyVoice where he talked about his upcoming Punjabi Prison title match with Randy Orton at this Sunday on WWE Battleground. He also talked about the hardships he faced in his career, and how he overcame them.

Speaking of his upcoming Punjabi Prison match in Philadelphia, he said:

“I love performing in Philly. The fans aren’t scared to voice their opinions. Sometimes their opinions are split, sometimes half the crowd is chanting one thing, sometimes half the crowd is chanting the other. But, you know, I look forward to it. I really don’t know how they’re going to react. That’s what’s going to make the match exciting. I don’t know if they’re going to boo me out of the building or if they’re going to boo Orton out of the building.

I do definitely know for sure they’re going to enjoy the match. It’s a Punjabi Prison match and it hasn’t happened in 10 years, and the structure is truly a monstrosity. I brought the Punjabi Prison this week on SmackDown, and it’s a spectacle. You’ve got to be there live just to appreciate the sheer size of it. It is a very risky match – for example, I went a little bit earlier and climbed the cage; it’s high and I’m scared of heights – but I know the Philly crowd is going to be rocking that night and I gotta do what I gotta do. I’m going to take the risks that I have to take to retain the WWE Championship.”

Mahal said that he was focused on improving even before his return and that he has not even “hit his prime yet”. He also added that he sees he has more title runs coming up for him in the future and how he aspires to be a future WWE Hall of Famer. He also talked about his role on NXT and how Triple H worked hard to promote NXT as its own separate brand rather than just a developmental brand.

When asked where he sees himself in a year:

“In one year, I see myself as already main eventing WrestleMania, still WWE Champion, and you know what, I see Drew McIntyre being on SmackDown. I think that Drew McIntyre will be challenging me for my WWE Championship. That’s where I see myself in one year.”

When asked about his run as part of 3MB and what he thinks of Drew McIntyre’s journey so far:

Drew’s one of my best friends. We’re always texting back and forth. Just to think a couple years ago, we were considered a joke and failures. I’ll be frank about it. I considered myself a failure when I got released from WWE after 3MB just because I didn’t live up to my potential. I didn’t live up to the expectations that I set for myself. I was going to come back with redemption and that’s exactly what I did.

And I know that’s what Drew’s doing. He took [being released] very personally and when he was on the independents, he was the hardest-working man on the independents and the most-traveled man on the independents. And you know, now he has a shot at Bobby Roode for the NXT Championship on SummerSlam weekend. I know he’s gonna do great. He’s going to become the NXT Champion. He’s going to become WWE Champion. And, you know, there’s always peaks and valleys. Three years ago, that was a valley. Now we’re at the peak and we’re still on the rise.

You can check out the full interview here.

WWE SmackDown Live Results – July 18 2017

Welcome to our SmackDown Live results, less than a week away from WWE Battleground!

WWE Champion Jinder Mahal brings the Punjabi Prison structure to SmackDown Live! It’s been a decade since we’ve had a Punjabi Prison match in WWE, so I’m curious to see if the structure itself will have changed at all. It’s unclear what Mahal will do with the Prison but Randy Orton is scheduled to return on tonight’s SmackDown!

The main event for tonight’s SmackDown Live gives us a preview to two of Battleground’s biggest matches as AJ Styles teams with Shinsuke Nakamura to face Kevin Owens and Baron Corbin. SmackDown Live has unfortunately been featuring quite a few tag matches recently, which always feels like lazy booking, but I expect these four guys to put on a heck of a match. Sparks should fly between the combatants as Owens faces Styles for the US Championship in less than a week, and Corbin also faces Nakamura at the PPV.

We get a big in-ring debut on tonight’s SmackDown Live, which sees Mike Kanellis take on Sami Zayn. For weeks Sami has unintentionally crashed the romance between Mike and Maria Kanellis, which led to Mike finally bursting last week and smashing a glass over Sami’s head. I figured this match would be kept until Battleground but we’re getting it tonight, which will probably end in a no contest or some form of screwy finish that leads to a Battleground rematch.

And finally, The Fashion Police will take one step closer to finding out who was behind their attacks, and John Cena is set for a sit-down interview ahead of his Flag Match with Rusev! Are you excited for the show? Let us know on the free Ringside News and Ringside Talk apps, and enjoy the show!

New Match Announced WWE Battleground

Shane McMahon announced on tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live that the winner of a 5-Way Elimination Match at WWE Battleground will earn a shot at the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Here is the updated card:

WWE Title: Punjabi Prison match
Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal

SmackDown Tag Team Championship
The New Day vs. The Usos

#1 Contendership for the SmackDown Women’s Championship: Fatal 5-Way
Charlotte vs. Natalya vs. Tamina vs. Becky Lynch vs. Lana

Flag match
Rusev vs. John Cena

Battleground takes place on July 23rd from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Two Possible Matches for WWE Battleground

Dave Meltzer discussed the upcoming WWE Backlash event on today’s installment of Wrestling Observer Radio. As of this writing there are only two matches confirmed for the show. Those matches are Jinder Mahal defending his WWE World Title against Randy Orton in a Punjabi Prison match and The Usos defending their tag team championships against The New Day.

Meltzer revealed that two other matches that will take place on the card. Those matches are:

Sami Zayn vs. Mike Kanellis
Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin

WWE Battleground takes place on July 23rd from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. As always, we will be providing live play-by-play coverage of the event.

Rumored Stipulation Confirmed for WWE Battleground

PWInsider has confirmed speculation that WWE is planning on bringing back the Punjabi Prison match for the upcoming WWE Battleground pay-per-view event.

PWI claims that their sources have informed them that the match will indeed taking place on the card. The match is expected to see Jinder Mahal defend his WWE Title against Randy Orton. This will be the 3rd Punjabi Prison match in WWE history.

Punjabi Prison Match Returning Next Month?

It looks like the Punjabi Prison match may be making a return to WWE very soon.

There has been speculation that the upcoming match that is rumored to take place at July 29th WWE Battleground event between Randy Orton and Jinder Mahal will be a Punjabi Prison match. It’s being said that staff workers at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia did measurements in the arena to fit a large bamboo structure. Word also going around is that employees of WWE have been instructed to take the Punjabi Prison structure out of storage.

Pro Wrestling Sheet’s Ryan Satin mentioned on Twitter that Orton is expected to take time off but he will still be around for the Punjabi match at Battleground: