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Payback didn't seem like it would be all that great going in, but what we got turned out to be surprisingly good, at least from an in-ring perspective. There were no truly awful matches, one true standout, and more extreme spots than at Extreme Rules, for whatever that's worth. Seriously, some of this stuff was great, even if the storylines going in were tiresome and/or awful.
A couple of announcements happened on the Payback Pre-Show, which also saw El Torito (not at all surprisingly) beat Hornswoggle in their Hair vs. Mask match. The first was that Cody Rhodes and Goldust would face off against RybAxel -- for no real reason at all. The second was that Kofi Kingston and Bo Dallas would have a match. Again, no real justification was given. We just needed to add a couple of matches to the card, I guess. That's fine. Those matches won't be terrible.
WWE United States Championship Match: Sheamus vs. Cesaro (with Paul Heyman)
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Everyone expected Sheamus and Cesaro to put on a physical match. Cesaro typically does good work and Sheamus has put on strong performances over the last little while. This was a good choice to open the show -- I expected it to be either this or Barrett/RVD -- and it didn't disappoint. Paul Heyman trolled the Chicago fans by saying "he's not here" in response to the "CM Punk" chants, which is probably why it opened the show. Stop the chants as much as you can now. Then the match began and was everything that we wanted ... for the most part, at least. Physicality, showcasing the big moves from each Superstar, and a back-and-forth tempo to it all allowed it to be pretty entertaining. A couple of spots were almost botched, but the talent of the two men allowed them to be pulled off even without the best of timing. Right up until the finale, this was a really enjoyable bout.
The finish had Sheamus win with a small package. No, really. All this brute strength and physicality, and Sheamus picks up the win with a small package. That didn't even allow Cesaro to take his revenge after the match; Heyman got in between them and stopped that. Good opening match, but a dumb finish. I'll concede that it allows Cesaro to not really look weak, but ... a small package loss kind of does make you look weak, doesn't it? If you can't kick out of that...
Match Rating: ***
Cody Rhodes and Goldust vs. RybAxel (Ryback and Curtis Axel)
This match was announced during the Pre-Show, which basically means it exists to set up a Cody Rhodes heel turn, right? RybAxel should win it. There's my early prediction, even though you have no idea when I made it (right after I learned it was a thing). So, instead of having Luke Harper/Erick Rowan vs. The Usos, we're instead doing a nothing tag match just to split up a team we've wanted to split up for months. Okay.
This is a pretty standard tag match between the two. I feel like we've previously seen almost this identical match, but perhaps I'm making that up. Most of the match consists of RybAxel working over Goldust, which is a shame because watching Goldust be on the offensive is always fun. Cody eventually gets in and hits a really bad moonsault, reminding us that he needs to stop trying to hit that moonsault. The finish comes when Cody tries to hit the Disaster Kick, is caught, and gets hit with Ryback's Shell Shocked.
We all expect a heel turn when Cody grabs a microphone after the match. Instead, he says just a few words. "Brother to brother, you need a better partner." Or something very similar to that. That's it. He walks away and Goldust looks really sad. I guess we're going to drag this out even longer than they probably should.
Match Rating: **1/2
Rusev (with Lana) vs. Big E
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Lana comes out to tell us that Russia laughs at America. Russia's awesome. We're really playing up the patriotism angle here, huh? If there's a weak match on the card, it'll likely be this one. Rusev comes out waving a Russian flag after having his weight announced in kilograms. Big E comes out with an American flag, as he did on TV this week.
Both men are large and strong, but Rusev has a lot more technical skill than Big E. You don't get to show that off in matches like this one. Lots of "strength" moves, collisions, and clubbing blows fill this match. Rusev finally looks vulnerable -- too vulnerable, if you ask me. Well, at times. At other times, he oversells before leaping to his feet and delivering a powerful move. He'll need to find a good balance at some point, now that he can actually be hurt.
Match Rating: **
Note: Do you know what an easy face turn would be? Have Jack Swagger come out to feud with Rusev. That'll get him instantly over as a babyface.
Kofi Kingston vs. Bo Dallas
The match was also announced on the Pre-Show, but it doesn't get to happen tonight. As soon as the bell rings, Kane comes out. He beats up on Kofi for a bit before leaving. Dallas grabs the mic and says Kofi will be okay. It makes Dallas look like a jerk and keeps a destructive Kane ready in case he's needed. Vague justification is given afterward, but it seemed hastily thrown together.
Match Rating: N/A
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: Bad News Barrett vs. Rob Van Dam
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A back-and-forth match that has RVD getting in far more offense than I would have expected going in. His job is clear, though. He's here to put over Barrett and lend some credibility to the title reign. As a result, after a pretty solid match, Barrett hits the Bullhammer for the victory. Job done, now both men can move on.
Match Rating: ***
Stephanie's out to the ring next, after we get a flashback to explain why we get to find out if Daniel Bryan will surrender the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, or if Brie Bella will be fired. Funny. Stephanie could do both without anyone's permission, but kayfabe is a funny thing. She announces that Daniel Bryan will make his big decision next. Daniel Bryan and Brie come out. Bryan tries to play mind games with Stephanie, attempting to get her to "do the right thing" and do neither. At one point, she tells Bryan that he should quit just like CM Punk did, as the fans were chanting "CM Punk" over and over again. That was the best thing. The. Best. Thing.
Brie grabs the mic and claims that Stephanie doesn't control her. Instead of being fired, Brie decides to quit. Then she slaps Stephanie. Stephanie leaves the ring. So much for my hope that we'd get a Stephanie/Brie match at some point. Brie looks stronger, as a personality, than Bryan right now. She can't quit, though, right? Total Divas needs her!
Note: Brie might be pregnant and this is a way to write her off for a while so that she can have her kid, right? Speculation time!
<color=red>Last Man Standing Match: Bray Wyatt (with Luke Harper and Erick Rowan) vs. John Cena (with Jimmy and Jey Uso)
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Cena comes out to the ring without the Usos, presumably because they're being saved to come out and make, well, the save later on. And, sure enough, before the match even begins, the Usos come out to even the odds. This is why we needed a match between the Usos and Harper/Rowan earlier on. Then we could say they're all too tired to come out to ringside and we could have a real one-on-one match between Bray Wyatt and John Cena.
After a back-and-forth beginning, Cena hits his five moves of doom to try to pick up an early win. Well, some of those moves. He goes for the Attitude Adjustment, but is countered. Then he goes for the STF, but is countered. This match isn't ending any time soon. A mid-match Sister Abigail is hit, but there's no way we're winning with a pedestrian "finisher in the ring." Probably, anyway. Cena gets up after that finisher and hits his own. No surprise when Wyatt gets up.
Eventually we take the battle outside the ring, as was always destined. Chairs get involved. There are "flying Usos." A table gets involved, although it's sadly in the ring, not outside of it. Steel steps are there, too. Lots of weapons, because why would you want a solid wrestling match?
For the middle of the match, it essentially becomes big spot after big spot, with occasional interference. That's what people want from these matches, and that's what they get. It's not about wearing down your opponent; it's about hitting big moves over and over and waiting for the opponent to get up at the count of nine.
We get a ton of big spots, the biggest of which involve the "bodyguards" of the two leads. A superplex to the outside and through two tables is perhaps the best. I was won over before then, but that was the icing on the cake. Finally, a match that's worth watching between these two groups.
After the bodyguards are taken out of action, the match goes to the crowd and to the technical area, which provides some more insane spots. Cena wins by trapping Wyatt underneath some equipment in the backstage area, although Wyatt probably wasn't getting up anyway. What fun that was. I was negative early on, but its storytelling and general awesomeness won me over.
Match Rating: ****1/2
WWE Divas Championship Match: Paige vs. Alicia Fox
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Once again, the Divas match gets a terrible spot on the card, reminding us just how little the WWE cares about them. This could be the best Divas match of all time and the crowd simply wouldn't care.
The match isn't the best, though. There are a couple of big bumps, and it's technically fine, especially for a Divas bout, but following Cena/Wyatt, it's not going to come out looking particularly strong.
Alicia plays up the "crazy" angle and does her tilt-a-whirl backbreaker a couple of times, but the match eventually slows down and gets far less interesting than it should. Paige rallies late, hits the PTO (her submission finisher, which was recently named), and picks up the win. That should signal that AJ Lee is coming back soon, right? If she wasn't, giving Fox the title would have been the smarter decision. The real money's in Paige fighting AJ.
Match Rating: **1/2
After the match, Fox throws a tantrum in the ring, demanding silence from the crowd and then running backstage. Main event time.
<color=red>No Holds Barred Elimination Match: The Shield (Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins) vs. Evolution (Triple H, Randy Orton, Batista)
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Orton and Triple H come out dressed in black, while Batista's in blue. Perhaps we're foreshadowing how those two will turn on Batista in order to write him off TV. Or maybe they all just forgot to coordinate outfits. For those who aren't sure, this is a match without disqualifications or count outs, and it's also an elimination match.
What that essentially means is that everyone picks a dance partner to begin with, and they all go their separate ways while we cut between all of them. That must be a TV director's nightmare.
After some time, we eventually get something resembling a normal tag team match, for whatever reason. You have to tag in and out (even without disqualifications or count outs), and I suppose there's nothing really stopping you from breaking up a pinfall, even if that doesn't happen all that much.
The match is strong and gives everyone a good amount of work. A Reigns/HHH feud is teased. We degenerate into less of a match and more of a brawl. A couple of fun spots happen outside of the ring. It takes forever to eliminate anyone. It's an incredibly slow match, given the competitors and the stipulation. The high point comes from another suicide dive from Seth Rollins, although the surprise is a little bit gone after a similar spot at Extreme Rules.
It winds up being way too ... not a real match. It doesn't follow any conceivable rules, and it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It just gets stupid. The Shield winds up eliminating all members of Evolution without suffering a single casualty.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Another PPV filled with ups and downs, and another one where the best match of the night was not the main event. To be fair, I figured another Shield/Evolution match would be the best match of the night, too, but Cena/Wyatt wound up being far better than it probably should have been. Ultimately, though, Payback wasn't anywhere near a disaster, and thanks to some good in-ring work, it didn't disappoint. Here's hoping we get some new storylines going forward.
The Good: Bray Wyatt/John Cena. Stephanie McMahon. Sheamus/Cesaro. Bad News Barrett/Rob Van Dam. The Shield/Evolution.
The Bad: Rusev/Big E.
Match of the Night: Bray Wyatt vs. John Cena.
Prediction Score: 4/6 on main card. 5/7 counting the Pre-Show. 6/8 counting the one "late addition" that actually happened.
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Payback didn't seem like it would be all that great going in, but what we got turned out to be surprisingly good, at least from an in-ring perspective. There were no truly awful matches, one true standout, and more extreme spots than at Extreme Rules, for whatever that's worth. Seriously, some of this stuff was great, even if the storylines going in were tiresome and/or awful.
A couple of announcements happened on the Payback Pre-Show, which also saw El Torito (not at all surprisingly) beat Hornswoggle in their Hair vs. Mask match. The first was that Cody Rhodes and Goldust would face off against RybAxel -- for no real reason at all. The second was that Kofi Kingston and Bo Dallas would have a match. Again, no real justification was given. We just needed to add a couple of matches to the card, I guess. That's fine. Those matches won't be terrible.
WWE United States Championship Match: Sheamus vs. Cesaro (with Paul Heyman)
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Everyone expected Sheamus and Cesaro to put on a physical match. Cesaro typically does good work and Sheamus has put on strong performances over the last little while. This was a good choice to open the show -- I expected it to be either this or Barrett/RVD -- and it didn't disappoint. Paul Heyman trolled the Chicago fans by saying "he's not here" in response to the "CM Punk" chants, which is probably why it opened the show. Stop the chants as much as you can now. Then the match began and was everything that we wanted ... for the most part, at least. Physicality, showcasing the big moves from each Superstar, and a back-and-forth tempo to it all allowed it to be pretty entertaining. A couple of spots were almost botched, but the talent of the two men allowed them to be pulled off even without the best of timing. Right up until the finale, this was a really enjoyable bout.
The finish had Sheamus win with a small package. No, really. All this brute strength and physicality, and Sheamus picks up the win with a small package. That didn't even allow Cesaro to take his revenge after the match; Heyman got in between them and stopped that. Good opening match, but a dumb finish. I'll concede that it allows Cesaro to not really look weak, but ... a small package loss kind of does make you look weak, doesn't it? If you can't kick out of that...
Match Rating: ***
Cody Rhodes and Goldust vs. RybAxel (Ryback and Curtis Axel)
This match was announced during the Pre-Show, which basically means it exists to set up a Cody Rhodes heel turn, right? RybAxel should win it. There's my early prediction, even though you have no idea when I made it (right after I learned it was a thing). So, instead of having Luke Harper/Erick Rowan vs. The Usos, we're instead doing a nothing tag match just to split up a team we've wanted to split up for months. Okay.
This is a pretty standard tag match between the two. I feel like we've previously seen almost this identical match, but perhaps I'm making that up. Most of the match consists of RybAxel working over Goldust, which is a shame because watching Goldust be on the offensive is always fun. Cody eventually gets in and hits a really bad moonsault, reminding us that he needs to stop trying to hit that moonsault. The finish comes when Cody tries to hit the Disaster Kick, is caught, and gets hit with Ryback's Shell Shocked.
We all expect a heel turn when Cody grabs a microphone after the match. Instead, he says just a few words. "Brother to brother, you need a better partner." Or something very similar to that. That's it. He walks away and Goldust looks really sad. I guess we're going to drag this out even longer than they probably should.
Match Rating: **1/2
Rusev (with Lana) vs. Big E
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Lana comes out to tell us that Russia laughs at America. Russia's awesome. We're really playing up the patriotism angle here, huh? If there's a weak match on the card, it'll likely be this one. Rusev comes out waving a Russian flag after having his weight announced in kilograms. Big E comes out with an American flag, as he did on TV this week.
Both men are large and strong, but Rusev has a lot more technical skill than Big E. You don't get to show that off in matches like this one. Lots of "strength" moves, collisions, and clubbing blows fill this match. Rusev finally looks vulnerable -- too vulnerable, if you ask me. Well, at times. At other times, he oversells before leaping to his feet and delivering a powerful move. He'll need to find a good balance at some point, now that he can actually be hurt.
Match Rating: **
Note: Do you know what an easy face turn would be? Have Jack Swagger come out to feud with Rusev. That'll get him instantly over as a babyface.
Kofi Kingston vs. Bo Dallas
The match was also announced on the Pre-Show, but it doesn't get to happen tonight. As soon as the bell rings, Kane comes out. He beats up on Kofi for a bit before leaving. Dallas grabs the mic and says Kofi will be okay. It makes Dallas look like a jerk and keeps a destructive Kane ready in case he's needed. Vague justification is given afterward, but it seemed hastily thrown together.
Match Rating: N/A
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: Bad News Barrett vs. Rob Van Dam
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A back-and-forth match that has RVD getting in far more offense than I would have expected going in. His job is clear, though. He's here to put over Barrett and lend some credibility to the title reign. As a result, after a pretty solid match, Barrett hits the Bullhammer for the victory. Job done, now both men can move on.
Match Rating: ***
Stephanie's out to the ring next, after we get a flashback to explain why we get to find out if Daniel Bryan will surrender the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, or if Brie Bella will be fired. Funny. Stephanie could do both without anyone's permission, but kayfabe is a funny thing. She announces that Daniel Bryan will make his big decision next. Daniel Bryan and Brie come out. Bryan tries to play mind games with Stephanie, attempting to get her to "do the right thing" and do neither. At one point, she tells Bryan that he should quit just like CM Punk did, as the fans were chanting "CM Punk" over and over again. That was the best thing. The. Best. Thing.
Brie grabs the mic and claims that Stephanie doesn't control her. Instead of being fired, Brie decides to quit. Then she slaps Stephanie. Stephanie leaves the ring. So much for my hope that we'd get a Stephanie/Brie match at some point. Brie looks stronger, as a personality, than Bryan right now. She can't quit, though, right? Total Divas needs her!
Note: Brie might be pregnant and this is a way to write her off for a while so that she can have her kid, right? Speculation time!
<color=red>Last Man Standing Match: Bray Wyatt (with Luke Harper and Erick Rowan) vs. John Cena (with Jimmy and Jey Uso)
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Cena comes out to the ring without the Usos, presumably because they're being saved to come out and make, well, the save later on. And, sure enough, before the match even begins, the Usos come out to even the odds. This is why we needed a match between the Usos and Harper/Rowan earlier on. Then we could say they're all too tired to come out to ringside and we could have a real one-on-one match between Bray Wyatt and John Cena.
After a back-and-forth beginning, Cena hits his five moves of doom to try to pick up an early win. Well, some of those moves. He goes for the Attitude Adjustment, but is countered. Then he goes for the STF, but is countered. This match isn't ending any time soon. A mid-match Sister Abigail is hit, but there's no way we're winning with a pedestrian "finisher in the ring." Probably, anyway. Cena gets up after that finisher and hits his own. No surprise when Wyatt gets up.
Eventually we take the battle outside the ring, as was always destined. Chairs get involved. There are "flying Usos." A table gets involved, although it's sadly in the ring, not outside of it. Steel steps are there, too. Lots of weapons, because why would you want a solid wrestling match?
For the middle of the match, it essentially becomes big spot after big spot, with occasional interference. That's what people want from these matches, and that's what they get. It's not about wearing down your opponent; it's about hitting big moves over and over and waiting for the opponent to get up at the count of nine.
We get a ton of big spots, the biggest of which involve the "bodyguards" of the two leads. A superplex to the outside and through two tables is perhaps the best. I was won over before then, but that was the icing on the cake. Finally, a match that's worth watching between these two groups.
After the bodyguards are taken out of action, the match goes to the crowd and to the technical area, which provides some more insane spots. Cena wins by trapping Wyatt underneath some equipment in the backstage area, although Wyatt probably wasn't getting up anyway. What fun that was. I was negative early on, but its storytelling and general awesomeness won me over.
Match Rating: ****1/2
WWE Divas Championship Match: Paige vs. Alicia Fox
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Once again, the Divas match gets a terrible spot on the card, reminding us just how little the WWE cares about them. This could be the best Divas match of all time and the crowd simply wouldn't care.
The match isn't the best, though. There are a couple of big bumps, and it's technically fine, especially for a Divas bout, but following Cena/Wyatt, it's not going to come out looking particularly strong.
Alicia plays up the "crazy" angle and does her tilt-a-whirl backbreaker a couple of times, but the match eventually slows down and gets far less interesting than it should. Paige rallies late, hits the PTO (her submission finisher, which was recently named), and picks up the win. That should signal that AJ Lee is coming back soon, right? If she wasn't, giving Fox the title would have been the smarter decision. The real money's in Paige fighting AJ.
Match Rating: **1/2
After the match, Fox throws a tantrum in the ring, demanding silence from the crowd and then running backstage. Main event time.
<color=red>No Holds Barred Elimination Match: The Shield (Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins) vs. Evolution (Triple H, Randy Orton, Batista)
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Orton and Triple H come out dressed in black, while Batista's in blue. Perhaps we're foreshadowing how those two will turn on Batista in order to write him off TV. Or maybe they all just forgot to coordinate outfits. For those who aren't sure, this is a match without disqualifications or count outs, and it's also an elimination match.
What that essentially means is that everyone picks a dance partner to begin with, and they all go their separate ways while we cut between all of them. That must be a TV director's nightmare.
After some time, we eventually get something resembling a normal tag team match, for whatever reason. You have to tag in and out (even without disqualifications or count outs), and I suppose there's nothing really stopping you from breaking up a pinfall, even if that doesn't happen all that much.
The match is strong and gives everyone a good amount of work. A Reigns/HHH feud is teased. We degenerate into less of a match and more of a brawl. A couple of fun spots happen outside of the ring. It takes forever to eliminate anyone. It's an incredibly slow match, given the competitors and the stipulation. The high point comes from another suicide dive from Seth Rollins, although the surprise is a little bit gone after a similar spot at Extreme Rules.
It winds up being way too ... not a real match. It doesn't follow any conceivable rules, and it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It just gets stupid. The Shield winds up eliminating all members of Evolution without suffering a single casualty.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Another PPV filled with ups and downs, and another one where the best match of the night was not the main event. To be fair, I figured another Shield/Evolution match would be the best match of the night, too, but Cena/Wyatt wound up being far better than it probably should have been. Ultimately, though, Payback wasn't anywhere near a disaster, and thanks to some good in-ring work, it didn't disappoint. Here's hoping we get some new storylines going forward.
The Good: Bray Wyatt/John Cena. Stephanie McMahon. Sheamus/Cesaro. Bad News Barrett/Rob Van Dam. The Shield/Evolution.
The Bad: Rusev/Big E.
Match of the Night: Bray Wyatt vs. John Cena.
Prediction Score: 4/6 on main card. 5/7 counting the Pre-Show. 6/8 counting the one "late addition" that actually happened.
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