WWE Stomping Grounds

Stomping Grounds was a professional wrestling pay-per-view and WWE Network event produced by WWE for their Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brand divisions. It took place on June 23, 2019, at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington.[3][4][5]

WWE Stomping Grounds
Promotional poster featuring Roman Reigns
PromotionWWE
Brand(s)Raw
SmackDown
205 Live
DateJune 23, 2019
CityTacoma, Washington
VenueTacoma Dome
Attendance~6,000[1]
Buy rate11,000[2] (excluding WWE Network views)
Tagline(s)Kick Ass and Take Names
WWE Network event chronology
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Evolve 131

Nine matches were contested at the event including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, Seth Rollins defeated Baron Corbin in a no countout, no disqualification match to retain the Universal Championship with Lacey Evans as the special guest referee. In other prominent matches, Kofi Kingston defeated Dolph Ziggler in a steel cage match to retain the WWE Championship, Ricochet defeated Samoa Joe to win the United States Championship, and Roman Reigns defeated Drew McIntyre.

Production

Background

WWE's established pay-per-view Backlash was originally scheduled to be held on June 16, 2019 in San Diego, California. On April 29, however, it was announced that Backlash had been canceled and would instead be a house show while a pay-per-view titled Stomping Grounds would be held on June 23 at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington. This was the only Stomping Grounds event held by WWE, and it featured wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brands.[6]

Storylines

The show comprised nine matches, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. The matches resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brands,[7][8] while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw, SmackDown Live,[9] and the cruiserweight-exclusive 205 Live.[10]

At Money in the Bank, Bayley won the women's Money in the Bank ladder match and later that night cashed in the contract on Charlotte Flair to win the SmackDown Women's Championship.[11] On the June 4 episode of SmackDown, Flair competed in a triple threat match against Carmella and Raw's Alexa Bliss, who appeared via the wild card rule, in order to earn a rematch against Bayley for the title at Stomping Grounds. Bliss, however, won the match, thus Bliss earned the title match.[12]

At WrestleMania 35, Roman Reigns defeated Drew McIntyre.[13] Reigns was then drafted to SmackDown in the Superstar Shake-up, while McIntyre joined forces with Shane McMahon, but lost another match to Reigns by disqualification when Reigns appeared on the May 6 episode of Raw via the wild card rule.[14] At Super ShowDown, Shane defeated Reigns thanks to a Claymore from McIntyre while the referee was incapacitated. Afterwards, another match between Reigns and McIntyre was scheduled for Stomping Grounds.[15]

At Money in the Bank, Becky Lynch retained the Raw Women's Championship against Lacey Evans, who in turn caused Lynch to lose her SmackDown Women's Championship to Charlotte Flair that same night.[11] After more feuding on Raw, another match between Lynch and Evans for the Raw Women's Championship was scheduled for Stomping Grounds.[15]

During Seth Rollins' Universal Championship defense against Baron Corbin at Super ShowDown, Corbin got into an argument with referee John Cone, allowing Rollins to roll-up Corbin to retain the title. After the match, Corbin attacked Rollins with the "End of Days" and a title rematch was scheduled for Stomping Grounds.[15] On the following Raw, Corbin revealed that he was able to convince WWE officials to allow him to choose a special guest referee for their rematch, since he felt that it was Cone's fault for him losing at Super ShowDown.[16] Corbin was going to choose Elias, but he was attacked by Rollins, who followed suit and continued to attack Corbin's other potential choices: EC3 and Eric Young on Raw,[17] and The B-Team (Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas) on SmackDown. Corbin's decision on the special guest referee remained unknown before Stomping Grounds.[18]

At Super ShowDown, Kofi Kingston defeated Dolph Ziggler to retain the WWE Championship thanks to interference from fellow New Day member Xavier Woods. Following the match, an irate Ziggler claimed he would have beaten Kingston had it not been for Woods and then challenged Kingston to a steel cage match for the title at Stomping Grounds and Kingston accepted.[15]

On the June 11 episode of SmackDown, The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) defeated the team of Dolph Ziggler, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn, the latter appearing via the wild card rule.[19] On the following Raw, wild card guests The New Day defeated the team of Owens (also appearing via the wild card rule), Zayn, and Baron Corbin in a two out of three falls match. A tag team match between New Day's Big E and Woods against Owens and Zayn was then scheduled for Stomping Grounds.[17]

On the June 11 episode of 205 Live, a fatal four-way match between Drew Gulak, Humberto Carrillo, Oney Lorcan, and Akira Tozawa occurred to determine the number one contender against Tony Nese for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship on the Stomping Grounds Kickoff pre-show. The match, however, ended with both Gulak and Tozawa scoring a double pin.[20] The following week, 205 Live General Manager Drake Maverick decided that Nese would defend the title against both Gulak and Tozawa in a triple threat match.[21]

On the June 10 episode of Raw, United States Champion Samoa Joe was a guest on The Miz's "Miz TV", only to get interrupted by Braun Strowman, Bobby Lashley, Ricochet, and Cesaro, each stating a claim to challenge Joe for his title.[16] The following week, a fatal five-way elimination match between Strowman, Lashley, Ricochet, Cesaro, and Miz occurred to determine Joe's challenger for the title at Stomping Grounds, which was won by Ricochet.[17]

After SmackDown Tag Team Champions Daniel Bryan and Rowan berated the SmackDown tag team division on the May 28 episode of SmackDown, Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker) interrupted and challenged the champions to a title match, which was accepted but for a later time.[22] On the June 11 episode, Bryan and Rowan were set to have a title unification match with the kayfabe Yolo County Tag Team Champions, a couple of "local" wrestlers with cardboard belts. Heavy Machinery came out before the match and accused Bryan and Rowan of avoiding their challenge. Bryan said that Heavy Machinery needed to earn the opportunity and had them instead face the enhancement talent, who Heavy Machinery quickly defeated.[19] Bryan and Rowan were then scheduled to defend the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against Heavy Machinery at Stomping Grounds.[18]

Event
Other on-screen personnel
Role: Name:
English commentators Michael Cole (Raw)
Corey Graves (Raw/SmackDown)
Renee Young (Raw)
Tom Phillips (SmackDown)
Byron Saxton (SmackDown)
Vic Joseph (205 Live)
Nigel McGuinness (205 Live)
Aiden English (205 Live)
Spanish commentators Carlos Cabrera
Marcelo Rodríguez
German commentators Carsten Schaefer
Tim Haber
Calvin Knie
Ring announcers Greg Hamilton (SmackDown/205 Live)
Mike Rome (Raw)
Referees Danilo Anfibio
Mike Chioda
John Cone
Lacey Evans
Darrick Moore
Charles Robinson
Rod Zapata
Interviewers Charly Caruso
Kayla Braxton
Pre-show panel Jonathan Coachman
Charly Caruso
Booker T
David Otunga

Pre-show

During the Stomping Grounds Kickoff pre-show, Tony Nese defended the WWE Cruiserweight Championship against Drew Gulak and Akira Tozawa. In the climax, after Nese was pushed out of the ring, Gulak performed an Argentine neckbreaker on Tozawa to win the title.[23]

Preliminary matches

The actual pay-per-view opened with Becky Lynch defending the Raw Women's Championship against Lacey Evans. In the end, Lynch forced Evans to submit to the "Dis-Arm-Her" to retain the title.[24]

Next, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn faced The New Day (represented by Big E and Xavier Woods). In the end, Owens performed a stunner on Woods to win the match.[24]

After that, Samoa Joe defended the United States Championship against Ricochet. The end came when Ricochet performed a Double knee facebreaker and a 630° senton on Joe to win the title. Immediately after the match, Ricochet was congratulated backstage by Seth Rollins, Curt Hawkins, Zack Ryder, Carmella, Charlotte Flair, Heavy Machinery, and WWE Chief Operating Officer Triple H.[24]

In the fourth match, Daniel Bryan and Rowan defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker). In the end, Tucker performed a cross-body on Rowan on the outside of the ring. Bryan then pinned Tucker with a small package to retain the title.[24]

Next, Bayley defended the SmackDown Women's Championship against Raw's Alexa Bliss (who was accompanied by Nikki Cross). During the match, Bayley performed a suicide dive on Cross. In the end, Cross inadvertently distracted Bliss. Bliss attempted "Twisted Bliss" but Bayley raised her knees. Bayley performed "Bayley-to-Belly" on Bliss to retain the title.[24]

After that, Roman Reigns faced Drew McIntyre (who was accompanied by Shane McMahon). During the match, Shane attempted to distract Reigns on numerous occasions. Reigns performed a Spear on McIntyre but Shane pulled the referee out onto the floor at a two count. Shane performed a Coast-to-Coast on Reigns and McIntyre scored a near-fall. In the end, as McIntyre attempted a "Claymore", Reigns countered with a superman punch and performed a spear to win the match.[24]

In the penultimate match, Kofi Kingston defended the WWE Championship against Dolph Ziggler in a steel cage match. In the end, as Ziggler was attempting to crawl out of the cage door, Kingston jumped over Ziggler and through the door to escape the cage first to retain the title.[24]

Main event

In the main event, Seth Rollins defended the Universal Championship against Baron Corbin, who revealed the special guest referee to be Lacey Evans. Throughout the match, Evans favored Corbin as a way to redeem herself from her loss earlier in the night against Becky Lynch, Rollins' real-life girlfriend. After Rollins performed a powerbomb on Corbin through the English announcers' table, Evans counted up to 9 before changing the stipulation of the match to a No Countout match. Corbin then attacked Rollins with a steel chair that Rollins brought earlier. Rather than disqualifying Corbin, Evans added that the match was now also a No Disqualification match. Corbin attempted to perform a DDT on Rollins on the steel chair, only for Rollins to counter and performed a "Falcon Arrow" to Corbin onto the steel chair. Rollins attempted a pin on Corbin only for Evans to refuse. An irate Rollins turned his attention to Evans, who slapped and performed a low-blow on him, allowing Corbin to perform the "End of Days" on Rollins. Before Evans could count the pin, however, Lynch ran out and brawled with Evans. Referees emerged and separated Lynch and Evans, one of them being John Cone, who in turn replaced Evans as referee, much to Corbin's dismay. In the climax, as Corbin attempted another "End of Days", Rollins countered into a superkick and "The Stomp" to retain the title.[24]

Reception

Jason Powell of Pro Wrestling Dot Net described Stomping Grounds as a "straight forward show" that ended in a "polarizing" main event. Though the "wrestlers worked hard", the show featured "bad title feuds" that Powell wished would end. The main event angle was judged more worthy of a Raw than a pay-per-view, Kingston-Ziggler "suffered from it being so difficult to believe that Ziggler was a threat", and Reigns-McIntyre was "very good", but McIntyre "still seems like he's just another guy they are feeding to Reigns rather than someone they have a real plan for". Also, "WWE has been labeling Ricochet as a sensation and this win is the first time they've actually made him feel like it."[24]

The event received 11,000 pay-per-view purchases.[2]

Aftermath

The following night on Raw, a brawl broke out between Universal Champion Seth Rollins, Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch, Baron Corbin, and Lacey Evans. This led to a last chance winners take all mixed tag team extreme rules match for both the Universal and Raw Women's championships being scheduled for Extreme Rules.[25]

Roman Reigns faced Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre in a handicap match. Shane and McIntyre dominated Reigns until The Undertaker came to his aid, setting up a no holds barred tag team match at Extreme Rules.[25]

On SmackDown, Dolph Ziggler faced WWE Champion Kofi Kingston in a two out of three falls match in order to be inserted into the championship match at Extreme Rules, but was unsuccessful.[26]

Nikki Cross apologized to Alexa Bliss, feeling that it was her fault that Bliss lost.[25] On SmackDown, wild card guest Cross defeated Bayley to earn Bliss a rematch for the SmackDown Women's Championship at Extreme Rules.[26]

On 205 Live, Tony Nese defeated Akira Tozawa to earn a rematch against Drew Gulak for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship at Extreme Rules.[27]

Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker) earned another opportunity for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at Extreme Rules by defeating the team of Kevin Owens and Dolph Ziggler.[28]

Results
No. Results Stipulations Times[23][24]
1P Drew Gulak defeated Akira Tozawa and Tony Nese (c) Triple threat match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship[29] 11:20
2 Becky Lynch (c) defeated Lacey Evans by submission Singles match for the WWE Raw Women's Championship[30] 11:30
3 Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn defeated The New Day (Big E and Xavier Woods) Tag team match[31] 11:05
4 Ricochet defeated Samoa Joe (c) Singles match for the WWE United States Championship[32] 12:25
5 Daniel Bryan and Rowan (c) defeated Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker) Tag team match for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship[33] 14:25
6 Bayley (c) defeated Alexa Bliss (with Nikki Cross) Singles match for the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship[34] 10:35
7 Roman Reigns defeated Drew McIntyre (with Shane McMahon) Singles match[35] 17:20
8 Kofi Kingston (c) defeated Dolph Ziggler by escaping the cage Steel cage match for the WWE Championship[36] 20:00
9 Seth Rollins (c) defeated Baron Corbin No-Countout, No Disqualification match for the WWE Universal Championship[37]
Lacey Evans was the special guest referee		 18:25
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
  • P – indicates the match took place on the pre-show
gollark: Iceman? The fictional superhero?
gollark: I do not think people can *actually* safely go around not wearing thick clothes at -20 degrees C, or at least not for long.
gollark: I think you are reading too much into your response to some fairly cold temperature.
gollark: Conspiracy theory: Russia is deliberately creating climate change so that Siberia will be habitable so they can colonize it.
gollark: I *could* stand outside in my pyjamas for a while, but I would get cold and not like it.

References
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  2. https://411mania.com/wrestling/updated-ppv-numbers-for-wwe-stomping-grounds/
  3. Currier, Joseph (April 29, 2019). "WWE Stomping Grounds PPV set for Tacoma, Washington". F4W Online. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
  4. "WWE Isn't Canceling Backlash After All, Just Moving And Renaming It". UPROXX. April 29, 2019. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  5. "WWE Announces "Stomping Grounds" Pay-Per-View For June, Possibly Replacing Backlash". Fightful Wrestling. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  6. Currier, Joseph (April 29, 2019). "WWE STOMPING GROUNDS PPV SET FOR TACOMA, WASHINGTON". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  7. Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 18, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  8. "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on February 26, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
  9. Steinberg, Brian (May 25, 2016). "WWE's 'Smackdown' Will Move To Live Broadcast On USA (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on May 26, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
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  11. Powell, Jason. "WWE Money in the Bank results: Powell's live review of Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles for the WWE Universal Championship, Kofi Kingston vs. Kevin Owens for the WWE Championship, Becky Lynch defends the Raw and Smackdown Women's Titles, two Money in the Bank ladder matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
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  13. Powell, Jason. "WrestleMania 35 results: Powell's live review of Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair for the Raw and Smackdown Women's Titles, Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston for the WWE Championship, Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE Universal Championship, Batista vs. Triple H, AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
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  18. Barnett, Jake (June 18, 2019). "6/18 WWE Smackdown Live Results: Barnett's review of Xavier Woods vs. Dolph Ziggler, Bayley on A Moment of Bliss, the final push for WWE Stomping Grounds". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
  19. Barnett, Jake (June 11, 2019). "6/11 WWE Smackdown Live Results: Barnett's review of New Day vs. Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Dolph Ziggler". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
  20. Powell, Jason (June 12, 2019). "6/11 WWE 205 Live TV Results: Powell's review of Akira Tozawa vs. Oney Lorcan vs. Humberto Carrillo vs. Drew Gulak for a shot at the WWE Cruiserweight Championship, Jack Gallagher vs. Chad Gable, The Singh Brothers vs. Dos Locales". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  21. Csonka, Larry (June 18, 2019). "Csonka's WWE 205 Live Review 6.18.19". 411mania. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
  22. Barnett, Jake (May 28, 2019). "5/28 WWE Smackdown Live Results: Barnett's review of Kofi Kingston vs. Kevin Owens in a non-title match, Bayley vs. Lacey Evans in a non-title match, Dolph Ziggler on the Kevin Owens Show". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
  23. Powell, Jason. "WWE Stomping Grounds Kickoff Show results: Powell's live review of the pre-show". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  24. Powell, Jason. "WWE Stomping Grounds results: Powell's live review of Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin with a special referee for the WWE Universal Championship, Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler in a cage match for the WWE Championship, Becky Lynch vs. Lacey Evans for the Raw Women's Title, Samoa Joe vs. Ricochet the U.S. Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  25. Powell, Jason (June 24, 2019). "6/24 WWE Raw Results: Powell's review of U.S. Champion Ricochet vs. AJ Styles in a non-title match, Roman Reigns vs. Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre in a handicap match, WWE Champion Kofi Kingston vs. Sami Zayn in a non-title match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  26. Powell, Jason (June 25, 2019). "6/25 WWE Smackdown Live results: Powell's review of Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler and The Miz vs. Elias in best of three falls matches, Daniel Bryan and Rowan vs. Big E and Xavier Woods in a non-title match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  27. Rueter, Sean (June 25, 2019). "WWE 205 Live results (June 25, 2019): Change has come". Cageside Seats. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  28. Barnett, Jake (July 2, 2019). "7/2 WWE Smackdown Live Results: Barnett's review of the first show since Eric Bischoff was named executive director, the build to Extreme Rules continues". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  29. Bristout, Ralph. "Drew Gulak def. Tony Nese and Akira Tozawa to win WWE Cruiserweight Title". WWE. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  30. Pappolla, Ryan. "Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch def. Lacey Evans". WWE. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  31. Bristout, Ralph. "Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn def. Big E & Xavier Woods". WWE. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  32. Pappolla, Ryan. "Ricochet def. Samoa Joe to win the United States Championship". WWE. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  33. Bristout, Ralph. "SmackDown Tag Team Champions Daniel Bryan & Rowan def. Heavy Machinery". WWE. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  34. Pappolla, Ryan. "SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley def. Alexa Bliss". WWE. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  35. Bristout, Ralph. "Roman Reigns def. Drew McIntyre". WWE. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  36. Pappolla, Ryan. "WWE Champion Kofi Kingston def. Dolph Ziggler (Steel Cage Match)". WWE. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  37. Bristout, Ralph. "Universal Champion Seth Rollins def. Baron Corbin". WWE. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
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