WWE Stomping Grounds 2019 – Predictions

Officially the second worst PPV name ever (behind Great Balls of Fire), Stomping Grounds is a show that seems like a hold over from the previous couple of PPV’s. So on paper it looks like a fairly predictable card. But this is Sports Entertainment, and “anything can happen” (it probably won’t. Ticket sales are in the toilet). Here is our WWE Stomping Ground 2019 Predictions.

WWE Universal Championship

Seth Rollins (c) vs Baron Corbin

I mean, he couldn’t get it done when he had the Money in the Bank Briefcase and the Champion was Jinder Mahal, so what chance has Comfortable Corbin got of actually winning the title now?

The real ace in the story here is the as-yet-un-named Guest Referee. If you were looking to make some money on this one, this is probably the area where you want to put some cash on it as it’s likely that the story leaving here will be Rollins vs The Ref, not Rollins vs Corbin.

That said – Corbin is a 26/5 shot of winning the match, so with Rollins’ odds being so short (1/10 at time of writing) it would be worth a punt on a Corbin win but by crooked Ref DQ. It gives Corbin a small victory and sets up Rollins vs TBC on the next show.

In terms of who that referee is going to be; Paul Heyman would be the most likely choice – especially with Brock Lesnar lurking in the background. However, I also have a sneaking suspicion it will be Shane McMahon as, well, he’s got to be on the card somewhere hasn’t he?

Prediction: Seth Rollins Retains

WWE Steel Cage Match for the WWE Title

Kofi Kingston (c) vs Dolph Ziggler

Given that this match is an exact repeat of the Super Saudi Showdown – ONLY THIS TIME IN A CAGE – my feelings on the matter haven’t shifted too much. Ziggler ain’t the person to beat Kofi, but he has enough name value where a strong win over him helps to boost Kingston that little bit more. Having the heel make a challenge for a Steel Cage match seems a bit devoid of logic – Steel Cage matches are designed to either prevent the heel’s running mates interfering and/or prevent the cowardly heel from legging it. Why would Ziggler choose *this* match? Especially given I have almost no memory of Ziggles ever being in one before?

Either way, it should be a fun match and – unlike in the Universal match where a loss doesn’t mean a title change – the Steel Cage stipulation makes the result a little bit more certain (which is strange that Ziggler is – at 5/1 – actually shorter odds than Corbin). Keep your money away from this one as Kofi’s odds are too short to really benefit from either.

I predict Kofi to win here before heading into the rumoured title feud with Shane McMahon or hopefully – literally – anyone else.

Prediction – Kofi Kingston Wins and Retains

WWE Raw Women’s Title

Becky Lynch (c) vs Lacey Evans

Given that there’s no obvious direction for either woman after this match, I think this is a far harder call than The Man’s 1/4 odds are suggesting. If Evans loses here, then that’s it for her vs. Lynch and there’s no obvious reason for a re-match. Likewise, there’s no real option for the Tag Titles with Evans either, so what would WWE have planned for her after this match were she to lose?

There’s no doubt that WWE view Lacey Evans highly and see her as someone with potential for the future. On a similar note, Becky losing at least then gives her a logic story of back chasing the title again.

All the odds here are pointing for a Becky Lynch win here – and going where the money is usually is the sensible option here. Regardless though, I honestly think we might have a bit of a shock upset here with Becky regaining the title at Summerslam

Prediction: Lacey Evans Wins

WWE Smackdown Women’s Title

Bayley (c) vs Alexa Bliss

A lot of the points above which I’ve made about Lacey Evans – namely the clear investment which WWE has in them as a performer – means that I think it’s just a matter of time before Alexa Bliss regains the women’s title. But – unlike Evans – I don’t think it’s happening at Stomping Ground as Bliss has a direction to go in

Bliss seems to be shaping up a storyline with the wonderful Nikki Cross and this is only the start of a story with her vs. Bayley, so a loss doesn’t have the same effect. It wouldn’t be un-seeable for Cross to cost Bliss (intentionally or unintentionally) leaving Bayley to face a different challenger.

Also – one has to feel that Bayley’s current reign is (at least potentially) part “inspired” by Sasha Banks’ current AWOL nature. Think of it as a “here’s what you could have won if you’d stayed around”. If this is the case, I expect Bayley to hold onto the title for a while in an attempt to lure Banks back to face her former nemesis & tag partner.

Prediction: Bayley Wins

WWE United States Title

Samoa Joe (c) vs Ricochet

No odds published for this one yet – the match was only made on Monday Night RAW this week after all and it’s the match I’m most looking forward to on the show. Samoa Joe has been great in his current reign/s as US Champion (bookending Rey Mysterio’s brief hold of the title). I’d be more than happy to see Joe continue as champion for the foreseeable and this is Ricochet’s biggest WWE match to date, so there’s a number of interesting stories he can tell by coming up short in a valiant effort to the vicious Joe.

However, it’s that loss to Mysterio which is running deep in the background. Most people – myself included – weren’t expecting to see Rey beat Joe for the title, so what could have been if “The Master of the 619” hadn’t got injured?

And are we about to see it with the man formerly known as Prince Puma taking Rey-Rey’s place?

I think you’ll get decent odds on either result given the circumstances, but nothing huge either. Because of this, don’t risk your money here, but I’m predicting a Ricochet win

Prediction: Ricochet Wins

WWE Smackdown Tag Team Titles

Daniel Bryan & Rowan (c) vs Heavy Machinery (Otis & Tucker)

I won’t lie – when writing this; I’d completely forgotten Otis and Tucker’s individual names. Felt a bit bad about that, but I’m still to be ‘grabbed’ by the Heavy Machinery lads – especially when there is some serious Tag Teams knocking about the WWE these days. The entire RAW Tag division doesn’t even get to feature on the card, so it says something about the opportunity presented here to Otis & Tucker (see, I’ve learnt it now)

And – let’s be fair – if you’re going to have the biggest spotlight on your career to date then there’s few people in the Wrestling industry that you’d want in your match more than Daniel Bryan. The idea that he’s being “de-pushed” by being a WWE Tag Champion is absolute nonsense, especially with Kofi being built up. The Bryan/Rowan team works well for the current moment and means D-Bry can keep himself healthy whilst developing teams like Heavy Machinery (and, Rowan)

Sneak bad guy tag team to win by Sneaky bad guy stuff

Prediction: Daniel Bryan & Rowan Retain

WWE Cruiserweight Title

Tony Nese (c) vs Drew Gulak vs Akira Tozawa

205 continues to be one of the better ‘wrestling’ shows on within the WWE Universe which raises some questions about this match. Tozawa and Gulak have both been perennial challengers to the purple belt since its inception (I had to google whether Gulak had actually held the belt or not – it just “feels” like he did). Because of their constant challenger status, Tozawa and Gulak both now occupy a similar position in this division to the likes of Kane and Ziggler at heavyweight. They might win, it wouldn’t be weird if they did… but no-one expects them to and it gives the champ a wee boost with the victory.

I expect that Nese picks up a win here to further establish himself as the reigning champion whilst the focus switches to the on-going development of Chad Gable as the next heir apparent.

Prediction: Tony Nese Retains

Roman Reigns vs Drew McIntyre

Roman Reigns – Golden boy, face of the company, multi-time World Champion – got battered in the last PPV by Shane McMahon. On the prediction for the Saudi show, I DARED WWE to put Shane over in that match because of how utterly ridiculous and I’m still a shocked that they actually did.

I’ll be even more shocked if they have him lose his first PPV match after that debacle – even if it is a hard hitting match with the “Scottish Psychopath” Drew McIntyre.

Reigns to win here (because, Roman Reigns) and WWE to have Drew lose clean to a man that couldn’t beat Shane McMahon – officially helping no-one. A sensible option would have been to have Corbin / Reigns and McIntyre / Rollins on this show… but when did any of this worry about what was sensible, eh?

The bookies have no idea on this one due to how neither man should really be losing here. Reigns at 2/3 is actually good odds for him, so is where I’d be putting the bigger bet of my night for shorter returns… but I said he’d beat Shane… sooooo…

Prediction: Roman Reigns Wins

The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) vs Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn

One of the great things about factions within professional wrestling is that challengers can pick up symbolic victories over a Champion by beating their stablemates – whilst keeping the “money match” of Champion vs Challenger further down the road. It’s something that WWE should do a lot more of and is actually something they’ve done many times before with varying degrees of success (think Big Boss Man working through the Heenan Family to get to Mr Perfect, or Owen Hart going after DX)

It usually works best in face conquering heel but can work the other way around. I mention this here as a Kevin Owens / Sami Zayn win is the most likely result to build both up as challengers for Kofi. It could go another way and we get Big E & Xavier going after Bryan / Rowan, but I’d like to see Bryan kept away from New Day… for now. At least til Summerslam

Either result works, but I’m going with Owens / Zayn as New Day’s Record Title reign means that they’re untouchable in tags for many years yet

Prediction: Owens & Zayn Win

These are our predictions, what are yours? Please leave them in the comments!