WWE Payback 2013

Image Source: Wrestling
DVD Network

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: June 16 2013
Location: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois, USA
Attendance: 12,500

Payback was a whole new PPV for WWE (well, a new name for a PPV anyway), but it's hard to see where the theme fit in with the matches on hand. John Cena vs. Ryback had a minor layer of revenge to it, and Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio did too if you consider a title rematch stemming from a Money In The Bank cash-in to represent possible retribution. But CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho didn't (not this year, anyway), nor did any of the matches involving members of The Shield. Kaitlyn vs. AJ Lee was the only match where the "Payback" moniker may have been suitable, and even that initially came about because AJ earned a Divas Title shot, hardly the sort of thing to swear revenge upon. (I'm half-joking with this, by the way, since PPV themes/names are decided months in advance.)

Fortunately, this could have been called Payback, Backlash or Honey Boo Boo's Wrestling Parade for the difference that the name made in terms of the in-ring action, which ultimately proved to be very good. Some unexpected mid-card gems were met with a worthy double main event and a big double-turn in the World Title match, all in front of the usual electric Chicago crowd. So, whilst Payback might have seemed like an odd name beforehand, it will prove to be amongst the top names on the "Best PPVs Of 2013" lists when they are drawn up at the end of the year.

After a reasonable pre-show match that saw Sheamus defeat Damien Sandow (it's a bit disappointing that Sandow's biggest match to date was relegated to the pre-show), Payback opened with a Triple Threat match for the Intercontinental Title, as Wade Barrett defended against The Miz and Curtis Axel. The third man was supposed to be Fandango, but after he recently suffered a concussion (the ballroom dancer is the latest member of the WWE roster to be plagued by a concussion), he was replaced by Axel, who was introduced as a "Paul Heyman Guy" the night after Extreme Rules and has built up some decent momentum since then, even if it still feels that Axel isn't quite up to reaching the potential that WWE has forecasted for him. This 3-way battle was pretty good for what it was, and the finish was neat too: Miz trapped Barrett in the Figure-Four Leglock, during which time Axel pinned Barrett (the reigning titleholder) to capture the IC Title to a big reaction.

Axel won the title on Father's Day, which given that his dad Mr. Perfect was one of the greatest Intercontinental Champions ever was a nice touch. Axel has the chance to use this title reign to help ascend up the card, although it's interesting to think that if the original plan had been executed, it would have been not the new Paul Heyman Guy holding the title but instead the surprisingly popular wrestling ballroom dancer. Post-match, Vince McMahon endorsed Heyman and Axel, despite Vince's previous problems with Heyman and Brock Lesnar. Triple H then entered the picture and Vince suggested a HHH-Axel match, which The Game on this occasion declined. Vince, you see, has prevented HHH wrestling Axel in recent weeks, apparently for the sake of his health after HHH took a funny turn in his bout with Axel on Raw the night after Extreme Rules. It's a bit of a confusing storyline, but we'll see where it goes (if anywhere).

AJ Lee challenged Kaitlyn for the Divas Title next in the culmination of a long tale. The two debuted on NXT together in 2010 and became friends, calling themselves The Chickbusters when they arrived on SmackDown in 2011. But AJ's emotional downward spiral caused by Daniel Bryan led her to turn on Kaitlyn in 2012 and, earlier this year, AJ earned a Divas Title shot at her former best friend. Cue a storyline where Kaitlyn thought she had a secret admirer, only for it to be a set-up by Big E Langston and AJ. With all that now out of the way, I'm pleased that this was an awesome women's match. From the rapid-fire strikes and brawling to open the contest, to the subsequent back-and-forth dropkicks and submission holds to the big moves at the finish (such as a crossbody, a gutbuster and the Black Widow which Kaitlyn initially survived), this was fantastic. And it told a good story as Kaitlyn Speared AJ but took the time to blow a kiss to her nemesis, only for AJ to kick out and soon lock in the Black Widow to win the title and rub it in Kaitlyn's face. Kaitlyn was booed afterwards when she was crying and was being consoled by Layla, which was never bound to go down well in a smark town like Chicago.

This had to be the best women's match in WWE since the heyday of Trish Stratus and Lita. In fact, it may have been the best WWE females bout ever; this measured up to anything Trish and Lita ever did, and perhaps surpassed even their greatest efforts. This was a match that both ladies could be proud of, even if the crowd heckled Kaitlyn in the post-match. AJ as the new Divas Champion makes sense, and the title win combined with the superb in-ring performances of both on this night continues what has been a great run of success for the girl who once had a going-nowhere position on the roster. Kaitlyn will probably get a rematch at some point (perhaps at Money In The Bank?), and it is hoped that their second encounter will also be something to savour. For Kaitlyn, she really will be hoping that she regains the title there, because whilst AJ's character has many directions that it could head into for her to remain relevant, Kaitlyn's last twelve months have been mostly defined by her title chase and subsequent title reign, so she could find herself lost should she come out of this feud with nothing. Based on match quality, though, this was a fantastic women's bout and a very unexpected treat here at Payback.

Normally, the women have a hard job of following a strong men's match. Here, we had a role reversal, as Dean Ambrose and Kane had the task of trying to follow the unexpectedly-great Kaitlyn vs. AJ bout. And they didn't really succeed because, after a fairly average and slow-paced match, Ambrose won only on a countout when he DDT'd Kane on the floor, and the Big Red Machine failed to make it back in before the ten-count.

This basically served as a filler match, from the slightly odd pairing of Ambrose and Kane to the screwjob ending. It gives Ambrose a minor boost, I suppose, although one has to assume that there would be a rematch where it is possible that Kane could potentially win the U.S. crown. Especially given this result, though, why didn't WWE switch it around so that Randy Orton battled Ambrose and Team Hell No took on Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns for the Tag Team Titles that they previously held?

Before the next match, we got a big surprise: a promo video advertising Rob Van Dam returning to WWE, in Philadelphia no less, at Money In The Bank. This extremely (no pun intended) effective video elicited a huge reaction and a prolonged "RVD!" chant in Chicago. It'll certainly be fun to see Van Dam back in WWE; few could have envisioned when RVD had the last match of his full-time WWE run at One Night Stand 2007 that it would take so long for him to return on a permanent basis (he did appear at Raw's 15th Anniversary in 2007 and at Royal Rumble 2009). Happily, RVD's long absence from WWE rings will end at MITB, and returning in ECW country will provide a memorable moment for sure.

We then had Dolph Ziggler defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Alberto Del Rio. It was anticipated that in this hardcore crowd environment, Ziggler would be cheered and ADR would be booed, at least to some degree. But as it turned out, this match (Ziggler's comeback after missing several weeks with a concussion, making it his first big defence since winning the big gold title the night after WrestleMania 29) took fans on an unexpected journey. Del Rio targeted his opponent's head which he usually does, but against the previously-concussed Ziggler, he seemed to do so with a certain relish, despite the man's very real injuries. As the match wore on, and the commentators and referee reacted accordingly to Del Rio's increasingly nasty streak, the fans realised what was happening and began to sympathise with Dolph, and jeer ADR. By the end, fans were firmly behind Dolph as he attempted misguided comebacks despite Del Rio doing some real damage to his head. One particularly hard kick was enough to keep him down, and Del Rio pinned him to win his second World Heavyweight Title. A post-match promo alongside Ricardo Rodriguez ensured that fans booed him, and announcers expressed disgust in him, whilst the ex-titleholder Ziggler left to applause, despite having entered the ring as a villain.

Well, that was unexpected. Whilst fans have warmed to Dolph Ziggler in spite of his heel status, and it did at times feel like something was missing from Alberto Del Rio in his presentation as a babyface, it was still a surprise to see the two men switch sides (and ADR only went face at the end of 2012), especially during a match, which hasn't been done in WWE for a long time. (That this happened in the same arena where the famous Bret Hart-Steve Austin double-turn took place at WrestleMania 13 in 1997 was no coincidence, I'm sure.) The match went up a level when the double-turn became clear, and they told the story very, very well. Perhaps the biggest shocker was the fact that Ziggler lost the WHC in his first major defence. That concussion appears to have really harmed his career, although it was WWE's call to take the title from him; who knows if it was the plan all along for Dolph to have a short title run, or if they gave the gold back to ADR to reduce the pressure on the recently-returned Ziggler. They will undoubtedly have a rematch, with both men by then firmly established in their new/old roles, so it will probably only be at that point when we will find out what WWE's plans are for both men (and it could be crucial for Ziggler's future). Meanwhile, the odd man out in what began as a three-way feud, Jack Swagger, sits on the sidelines waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting.

After that, it was the return of CM Punk. Well, I say that, but he only missed one supershow while he was off television, and his break only lasted ten weeks in all. From a personal standpoint, he had some good time off. From a kayfabe standpoint, though, he was hardly gone; his name was last mentioned on April 22, and he was name-dropped again from May 27 onwards. Nevertheless, he was back here, and he got a great reception as expected in his hometown of Chicago against old foe Chris Jericho, who was booed despite his babyface status (although it was understandable on this occasion). This was a typical Punk-Jericho match, one of high quality and great wrestling action combined with strong crowd heat. It was perhaps their best match to date, as the emphasis was purely on having a standout match rather than referencing the personal nature of the rivalry that they had in 2012. Highlight of the match was when Jericho turned a Punk flying clothesline into a Codebreaker. But Jericho's chances of beating Punk in CM's return match in his hometown were extremely unlikely, and so it proved as Punk (with a slightly longer haircut and new sideburns) defeated Y2J by pinfall with the GTS. Paul Heyman almost cost Punk the match towards the end when he had the referee distracted on a Punk pinfall attempt, which would end up being a crucial development, as I will soon explain.

So, CM Punk is back, after what ended up being a not-massively-long absence, since he only disappeared after April 15, only missed one PPV (Extreme Rules) and had Chris Jericho begin to call him out from May 27 onwards. Along with his new look could potentially come a new attitude, since the hype and the announcer's reactions to him had a babyface feel to them (never mind the fans on this occasion; the Chicago crowd were always going to cheer their hometown hero regardless). A Raw run-in with Brock Lesnar the next night (which I will cover later) acts as further evidence that Punk's character is heading into a new direction. A babyface turn wouldn't be the worst idea; whilst Punk was a loathsome heel from July 2012 until April 2013, the man is so good that people still can't help but cheer him, so it makes sense to go with the flow, at least for the time being. This match was really good, the best of the night, although to me it lacked that extra something which would have pushed it on the level of Punk's classic against The Undertaker at WM 29, or even a previous Chicago barn-burner against John Cena at the famous Money In The Bank 2011 show.

The Dolph-ADR and Punk-Y2J matches seemed to go on a bit longer than anticipated, and this perhaps resulted in the next match - a WWE Tag Team Title match as Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns defended their crowns against Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton - being shortened as a result. Nevertheless, all four made up for the time that they did have, which was a double achievement because the Bryan-Orton pairing was a weird one; why didn't Kane team again with Bryan here? Regardless, the babyfaces tried to build on their momentum (the two men and Kane beat The Shield on the pre-Payback SmackDown in what was their first defeat as a faction, a fact that was pointed out to emphasise its significance), and Bryan in particular had a strong showing here, even hitting Rollins with a dangerous underhook suplex off the top rope to the expected round of "Yes!" chants. But it didn't result in a title change, as Rollins and Reigns retained their crowns when Rollins pinned Bryan after his flying knee.

This was a pretty good match considering that it felt like a weird PPV attraction. The action was of a high standard all the way, especially from Daniel Bryan who is slowly shedding the comedy image that he has had (yet benefitted from greatly) over the last ten months to once again become a force to be reckoned with, and the fans are more than willing to back Bryan as he evolves into a serious player, if not a future main eventer once more. The Shield received another boost here, although Orton felt out of place in this environment. Perhaps this will set up an Orton heel turn, for which he is probably due, and a feud with Bryan based on their uneasy tandem here and in recent weeks.

The main event was a Three Stages Of Hell clash between John Cena and Ryback for the WWE Title. It's hard to say whether the Cena-Ryback conflict, which began the night after WrestleMania 29, truly warranted such a triple-stipulation, but that's what we got. It was an enjoyable trio of gimmick matches, and it was clear that each man was trying to save enough energy from falls one and two in order to deliver a suitable final chapter. The first fall, a Lumberjack match, did include an unexpected dive off the top ropes by Cena onto Ryback and the lumberjacks at ringside, although Cena ultimately lost this section when Ryback pinned him with Shell Shocked. Normally, that would be a major upset, but here it was just part of the story for Cena to make his comeback; after all, Cena wasn't likely to lose the title here, and after losing fall one, he was bound to win fall two (a Tables match), and he did after hitting Ryback with an Attitude Adjustment through a table, as required.

The final fall was an Ambulance match, and it was fairly brutal as both men drove each other hard into the vehicle and even used parts of the hospital car itself as weapons. I did find it annoying that the announcers continued to laugh and make jokes during this section of the bout, since it was supposed to be serious stuff and the exchanges were quite violent on occasion. To win the match, Cena used the same finish that he used in his Ambulance match with Kane at Elimination Chamber 2012, that being an AA through the Ambulance roof, with Ryback apparently KO'd as the ambulance drove away. The story of the match and the feud tried to say that this was a fitting finale, but since the ambulance was only used when Cena refused to enter one after the Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules, and when Ryback drove out in an ambulance to kick off Raw the next night, the connection wasn't really there; nevertheless, it worked as a feud-ending battle, as did the main event as a whole, which overall was slightly better than their LMS bout at Extreme Rules.

It was the right time to bring an end to the John Cena-Ryback feud, since there wasn't anywhere else they could go with it unless Ryback won the WWE Title, and that clearly wasn't on the cards. The Ambulance stipulation allowed Ryback to maintain some dignity by avoiding a pinfall/submission loss from Cena, although it seems like he will still take a tumble down the card having just been defeated in a WWE Title rivalry. For Cena, it's hard to figure out what's on the horizon. Whilst Raw developments suggest a championship clash with Mark Henry (more on that in a moment), surely that bout will happen at Money In The Bank and not SummerSlam (and Cena will surely win there), meaning that Cena needs an opponent for SummerSlam. A rubber match with The Rock is apparently not likely, so it will have to be someone from the current crop. If CM Punk is tied up with another opponent (again, more in a bit on that), the most feasible opponent would probably be Sheamus, Daniel Bryan or perhaps even the returning RVD; WWE surely cannot go back to Cena vs. Randy Orton (and, if it did, it would be the third time that this match main evented SummerSlam alone).

As stated earlier, there was a lot to like at Payback, and whilst Extreme Rules was also a strong wrestling show, the developments here had more of an impact (hey, why not use "impact" as the name for this show? Oh, yeah, someone else uses that name; sorry) and did more to alter the landscape of WWE. This was boosted by a very eventful Raw which included the return of Christian after many months out injured; a weird situation where Daniel Bryan's match with Randy Orton was stopped due to an injury to Bryan, for which Bryan apparently chastised Triple H backstage for real; a superb angle where Mark Henry pretended to announce his retirement in extremely convincing fashion, only to swerve-turn on John Cena and declare his intentions to win the WWE Title; Dolph Ziggler had another run-in with Alberto Del Rio to further emphasise their new face/heel alignments; and after CM Punk told Paul Heyman that he wouldn't be managing him anymore after his mistake at Payback but that they could still be friends, Brock Lesnar unexpectedly appeared and dropped Punk with an F5 (which seems like stage one of Punk vs. Lesnar, probably at SummerSlam, as well as possibly beginning a Punk/Heyman split and an official babyface turn for Punk).

So, it looks like WWE has given its product a bit of a shake-up as it enters the usually-memorable summer season. So far, it's been largely a year of playing it safe despite some strong matches, so it was good to see WWE take some chances here at Payback and on Raw as it begins to set the table for Money In The Bank and SummerSlam. What cannot be denied is that every WWE PPV this year up until this point has either been good, very good or excellent, so it's hoped that WWE can continue on this streak, and with Rob Van Dam set to make a comeback (in Philadelphia of all places) at Money In The Bank, it certainly looks likely that we will keep getting some really entertaining WWE supershows. Payback may not have been an ideal name for this event, but the card was still very enjoyable and took a big step towards preparing the next few months of potentially exciting matches and storylines.

Overall Rating: 8/10 - Very Good

WWE Payback 2014

Image Source: Bleacher Report

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: June 1 2014
Location: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois, USA
Attendance: 13,311

The second annual Payback event promised a double main event, which were likely to bring an end to the rivalries between Evolution and The Shield and the long-running saga between John Cena and Bray Wyatt. Although the previous PPV Extreme Rules is based around stipulations, both of these big matches had unique rules in the form of No Holds Barred Elimination and Last Man Standing respectively.

One thing which Payback would not have is a WWE Title match, since Daniel Bryan's presumed defence against Kane was postponed due to a Bryan neck injury. Would Bryan vacate the title on this show? That was a key storyline heading into Payback, with many speculating that Bryan really could have to vacate his crown depending on the severity of his injury. Add to that an intriguing under card and the usually rabid Chicago crowd (many of whom would be bellowing support for the recently-departed CM Punk, no doubt), and you potentially have a pretty exciting supershow on your hands.

The Kick-Off Show featured the end of another rivalry (I was going to say it was a smaller feud but I won't) between Hornswoggle and El Torito, as the pint-sized grapplers battled in a Hair vs. Mask match. It's still strange to see Hornswoggle as a heel, with 3MB cheering him on, but it's stranger still to notice that he and Torito (accompanied by Los Matadores) actually have pretty good chemistry (look no further than their WeeLC match prior to Extreme Rules). This was another surprisingly good match, which ended with Torito picking up the win and Swoggle having his head shaved.

Prior to the opening match between Sheamus and Cesaro for the United States Title, Cesaro's agent Paul Heyman acknowledged the loud "CM Punk!" chants by noting that he wasn't in the arena, and was instead watching a hockey game (an NHL game involving the local Blackhawks). The Punk chants have rung out ever since his abrupt departure after Royal Rumble, and given his lack of a reappearance at the Raw in Chicago back in March nor at WrestleMania XXX, this show represented the last realistic chant that Punk would resurface in WWE, at least for the time being. That he didn't suggests that his absence will be permanent and that if he ever returns, it won't be for a long time.

Taking the Punk element away, Sheamus vs. Cesaro was a really good, physical match. Combining Sheamus' full-on punches and kicks with Cesaro's lethal-looking uppercuts, this was a typically well-executed and stiff opener, which had the crowd's attention all the way. Although Cesaro is inexplicably still in a heel role, the Chicago audience (usually a smarky, heel-loving crowd at the best of times) were fully behind the Swiss Superman, especially when he pulled off his signature Giant Swing. Most (myself included) were expecting a title change here to build on Cesaro's momentum, both before WrestleMania and post-Mania as a "Paul Heyman Guy". Instead, Sheamus (who only won the title on May 5, to be fair) pulled off the unlikely win with a roll-up on Cesaro, much to the surprise and to the disdain of many in attendance.

It's possible that this feud will continue until Money In The Bank, and Cesaro will capture the title then. If that isn't the plan, though, then this will seem like an odd result, since Cesaro will benefit from such a title reign at this point more than the Celtic Warrior. It may also be time to consider a Sheamus heel turn; this match proved that he's still a very capable wrestler, but a switch to the dark side could be what he needs to return to the main event scene. The Chicago crowd certainly had no problem booing Sheamus here.

The second match on the PPV portion of Payback was a tag team affair, pitting RybAxel (Ryback and Curtis Axel) against The Brotherhood (Cody Rhodes and Goldust). The brothers Dust have been somewhat demoted since their Tag Team Title loss to The New Age Outlaws prior to Royal Rumble, but they remain quite popular and against the rarely-pushed RybAxel combo, one assumed that they would pull off the win here. Instead, as with the opener, we got a surprise result, as a by-the-numbers doubles affair ended with Ryback avoiding Cody's Disaster Kick by catching him on his shoulders and drilling him with Shell Shocked for the win. (Incidentally, did you know that this was Ryback's first PPV win since Money In The Bank 2012?)

Afterwards, Cody seemed to tease a heel turn when he rebuffed Goldust's attempts to console him over the loss, and noted that he was no longer a suitable tag team partner for his gold-painted brother. It didn't include a sneak attack, so Cody certainly hasn't turned bad yet, but it does appear that the Cody-Goldust tag team is history, at least for now. Cody has excelled as a villain in the past and given the decline in fortunes of the Rhodes stars over the last few months, it certainly wouldn't be a bad idea to turn Cody heel on Goldust and have the brothers clash. We shall see if that is indeed the plan going forward.

Rusev was up next, taking on Big E. Rusev is clearly being built up as the next unstoppable foreign menace/monster heel, with his push resembling that of Umaga in 2006 (which worked very well) and Tensai in 2012 (which WWE abandoned after about eight weeks). Therefore, Big E (who only had a lengthy Intercontinental Title reign ended at the previous PPV by Bad News Barrett, remember) was pitted against the Bulgarian Brute for one reason: to put him over as a killer.

Fortunately, the two big men avoided what could have been a slow, dull battle of the big men by using their athleticism and delving into their respective repertoires to deliver a pretty good match. They weren't given much time, but they made the most of it with several major spots, such as a Rusev German suplex, a totally insane Big E spear to the floor on Rusev (which we first saw against Dean Ambrose at Hell In A Cell 2013; that really did take spectators by surprise on that night) and a brutal Rusev superkick which took Big E down, and led the foreign fighter to pick up the submission win with the Accolade. Whereas Extreme Rules provided something only slightly better than jobber fodder for Rusev, this did a much better job of showcasing Rusev as being more than just another big man, and by having him defeat a recent titleholder in convincing fashion, Rusev's rise up the ranks is assured. Credit to Big E who, as stated, put on a show here and made sure he wouldn't just be remembered on this night for submitting to the future main event heel.

Bo Dallas vs. Kofi Kingston was meant to happen next, but before it could officially get under way, Kane came out unannounced and decimated Kingston. This was presumably a way to keep Kane in the spotlight after his WWE Title challenge was prevented due to Daniel Bryan's injury. Dallas humorously tried to claim this Kane b beatdown as a win for himself, since Kofi obviously couldn't compete as a result, and of course he told Kofi that he could rebound if he would just "Bo-Lieve!" Just imagine the heat if this had been the segment where CM Punk was name-dropped, and Dallas said something like "CM Punk might return someday. All he has to do, is Bo-Lieve!" In this Chicago environment, that could have been a huge moment for the deluded former NXT Champion.

The next match which actually took place saw Bad News Barrett defend the Intercontinental Title against Rob Van Dam. BNB has really gotten over with his Bad News gimmick in recent times, as evidenced by the crowd's chanting along to his cries of "I'm afraid I've got some Bad News!" His IC Title win at Extreme Rules also suggests faith in Barrett by WWE. All of which meant that, despite RVD remaining popular and him having only resurfaced the night after Mania, the chance of Van Dam winning the gold on this night was unlikely.

Similar to Rusev vs. Big E, this match seemed to exist for the babyface to give the heel a significant win, which is exactly what happened. The bout provided an interesting styles clash between Barrett's modern, smashmouth approach and Van Dam's ECW-influenced kicks and high-flying acrobatics. Against the (allegedly) former bare knuckle fighter Barrett, Van Dam certainly didn't have to hold back with his kicks on this night, as he had to on many occasions during his first WWF/WWE run. RVD remains a favourite of the hardcore crowd, so of course Chicago lapped up Van Dam's act and willed him onto an unlikely victory. Which, as stated, didn't happen; after a series of nice exchanges and big moves, Barrett caught Van Dam with the Bull Hammer for the win. Barrett's push continues, whilst it looks like Van Dam isn't going to achieve a great deal in his current WWE run besides putting over future stars and putting on good matches (which isn't a bad position to be in, to be fair). It was slightly comical that RVD was challenging for the IC Title here since he once claimed, in 2003, that he didn't know how many times he'd held the IC Title and didn't particularly care about the championship. And yes, I know that Van Dam has held that prize on more than one occasion since then.

Following this was a lengthy segment involving Daniel Bryan, his wife Brie Bella and Stephanie McMahon. In a nutshell, Stephanie wanted Bryan to vacate the WWE World Heavyweight Title, and he chose not to (without actually saying words to that effect). Of particular note, Stephanie humorously told Bryan that the people wanted him to quit "just like CM Punk!" Talk about acknowledging the elephant in the room; what heat that got in Chicago. It also provided the first, true public hint of WWE knocking Punk for his walk-out (Paul Heyman talked about Punk in his March promo and referred to him on this show, but neither were a criticism of his decision to depart WWE). Perhaps we'll be waiting a little bit longer now for Punk to return to WWE (if he ever does).

Back to this segment: after Stephanie and Brie exchanged words, during which time Brie called Stephanie a bitch (surely Bryan had greater reason to utter this remark than Brie?), Brie announced that she was quitting (oh, Brie was getting fired if Bryan didn't vacate the title; I forgot to mention that) and slapped Stephanie to a huge pop. Despite Brie supposedly ending her WWE career here, it's clearly a storyline, meaning it's possible that WWE is setting something up here involving Stephanie and Brie. Either that or WWE is just killing time until Bryan is cleared to resume in-ring action. We'll find out for sure soon enough.

John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt under Last Man Standing rules would mark the end of a feud which first began at Royal Rumble. Cena beat Wyatt at WrestleMania; Bray defeated Cena in a Steel Cage bout at Extreme Rules. This would be the rubber match, and since Cena has had memorable LMS bouts in the past (most notably against Umaga and Edge, but also against Batista and Alberto Del Rio), this had the potential to be a fun brawl. Cena was backed up by The Usos, in response to Wyatt being accompanied by his trusty followers Erick Rowan and Luke Harper. The signature moves came out early here, since there were clearly bigger spots planned later in the match, and this came to the forefront once the ringside extras got involved. Unusually for a major PPV match, a significant amount of time was devoted to the managers, for lack of a better word, as The Usos and Rowan and Harper had a crazy brawl, both with the participants (an Uso corkscrew to all involved) and themselves (an Uso butt-smack to Rowan through a table, and a Harper suplex to another Uso through two more tables).

That said, Cena and Wyatt were putting on a great display themselves, with brutal chairshots, dramatic close-calls to the LMS 10-count, and some brutal spots involving steel stairs (Wyatt stomped Cena's skull on the steps; Cena hurled the steps to the floor, striking Wyatt in the process, in a nod to Cena's LMS match with Umaga at Royal Rumble 2007 which featured the same move). More finishers and further interference followed, all with the Chicago crowd loving what was a pretty damn good match. After destroying the ringside barricades with their bodies, Cena and Wyatt brawled through the crowd, inadvertently set off pyro (in the storyline, of course), and Cena finally hit Wyatt with one more Attitude Adjustment into a container, and slammed equipment onto the box to trap Wyatt inside, leaving him unable to answer the 10-count.

This was a superb brawl; it was Cena's best match of 2014 so far, and Wyatt's best match to date period (well, besides maybe his scrap with Daniel Bryan at Royal Rumble). It's unknown as to what path Cena will take next, but it's clear from this result that the Cena-Wyatt feud ended here. As for Bray: he'll need to decisively win his next rivalry whomever that might be against, because while he's moonlighted in a main event spot opposite Cena, and has improved tremendously since his official main roster debut back in July 2013, the losses he suffered here and at Mania could hinder his future prospects if he isn't handled correctly going forward. As an aside, the interaction between reigning Tag Team titleholders The Usos and Rowan and Harper suggests that they will meet for those championships at some point soon, probably at Money In The Bank.

Paige defended her Divas Title against Alicia Fox in the penultimate bout of the evening. Fox had surprisingly pinned Paige in her home country on the London edition of Raw, in between her developing something of a modern-day Loose Cannon character by randomly acting weird and doing all sorts of crazy antics after her recent matches. That being said, it was still Alicia Fox, who whilst a competent grappler peaked with her surprise Divas Title win in 2010, and she was facing newcomer Paige who is just beginning to establish herself as the new face of the women's scene in WWE. Therefore, it wasn't hard to predict the result.

And so it proved: the match was okay, and more intriguing than Paige vs. Tamina Snuka at Extreme Rules, but following Cena vs. Wyatt and being the filler before Evolution vs. The Shield was always going to provide a challenge for the women here. Especially when, as noted, the outcome wasn't really in any doubt. Paige won with the PTO (it would have been cool to see Paige hit the Paige Turner on the long-legged Fox). Two PPV wins for the fresh champion Paige, but I sense that WWE needs to provide her with real competition for her to shine as intended. Fox ran backstage almost in tears, in character obviously, or possibly for real since this was probably the best that she can now hope for in her WWE tenure.

The main event, as noted earlier, saw Evolution battle The Shield to culminate a rather enjoyable feud between two supergroups. No Holds Barred Elimination was the theme of this one, which began in a chaotic fashion as everyone paired off for a one-on-one scrap, before order was restored and Batista (dressed in bizarre blue attire which amusingly led to #Bluetista trending on Twitter) and Seth Rollins began the match properly in the ring. From there, everyone took turns in the ring, with a Triple H-Roman Reigns square-off being a standout moment, before Evolution began controlling the bout by dominating Dean Ambrose and isolating him in the ring. The action was really good, although the slower nature of this compared to Extreme Rules and the fact that there would be several eliminations (meaning that the next potential fall would not end the match) meant that the crowd noise wasn't at a high level for much of the midsection of this match.

Ambrose eventually tagged out to Reigns, who went on a tear against all three Evolution adversaries (this sequence did raise the audience noise levels). It looked like Reigns would pick up the first elimination, perhaps by pinning Batista or Randy Orton (HHH wasn't going out first for obvious reasons), but instead a six-man brawl resumed at ringside, and HHH clocked Rollins with a piece of metal. At this point, Evolution began to really control the match as with Rollins down, Reigns was the next man to be taken out with a Shield-style triple powerbomb through the Spanish announcer's table. The heels did a Shield-style pose to mock the faces, only for Ambrose and Rollins to interrupt and resume the scrap in a cool moment. But Seth and Dean were dropped again near the aisleway, this time with the assistance of a steel chair as Ambrose took some shots to the back and Rollins received a Pedigree right into the chair.

From here, it turned brutal as Evolution dragged Reigns into the ring and belted him with a kendo stick, removing Reigns' Shield protection gear to really mark up Roman's back badly. That they didn't go for the cover indicated that the eliminations would come thick and fast, since we were 20 minutes-plus into the match by this point. Ambrose got involved again but once more he was beaten down, but back up near the entrance way, Rollins from out of nowhere, hit an incredible dive from the base of the giant screen onto all three members of Evolution. The Shield were finally making a comeback and after some heavy-duty blows and signature blows, the eliminations finally came in style: Reigns pinned Batista after a Spear, Ambrose removed Orton from play with Dirty Deeds, and after a tease when HHH clocked Ambrose with a sledgehammer, Rollins caught The Game with a flying knee that led to Roman Spearing HHH and winning the match, ensuring an unprecedented clean sweep for The Shield. Evolution well and truly put The Shield over here in a match that was longer and at times slower than their previous battle, but in terms of emotion and drama, combined with the thrilling action, was just as good if not better than their previous match, and was ultimately a great way to end Payback.

I normally cover the PPV events and then speculate on what could come out of the shows as a result, but in this case I have to mention that on Raw the following night, not only did Batista quit Evolution (and apparently WWE as well), but Seth Rollins shockingly turned on his Shield brethren to join The Authority in a twist that nobody saw coming. Does this make Seth a member of Evolution? More importantly, was it the right decision to break up the much-lauded Shield at this stage? Time will tell, but their almost flawless push since their debut at Survivor Series 2012 combined with the flattering booking of their victories over Evolution raises hopes that all (or at least one of the members) will benefit from this plot development, and that it won't be mishandled like so many key events have in the past.

Payback 2014, then, was a very entertaining show and definitely lived up to the hype. The two big matches over-delivered, and the non-wrestling segment served its purpose. Add to that some good matches elsewhere on the card and a few notable storyline moments (Cody and Goldust potentially splitting up, Brie Bella quitting, Hornswoggle having his head shaved), and you had a great three hours of wrestling action. The lack of a WWE Title match, whilst obviously understandable, hurt the significance of this show, and it stands to reason that had Daniel Bryan competed on the card, in the manner that everyone knows he can, then Payback could have been the undisputed card of the year. Even without a WWE Title bout, though, this was as good as any PPV that we have seen so far this year, at least from an in-ring standpoint, assisted once again by WWE's most rabid audience in the form of the Chicago crowd.

Overall Rating: 8/10 - Very Good

WWE Payback 2016

Image Source: Strictly Sports

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: May 1 2016
Location: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois, USA
Attendance: 13,250

The first PPV event after WrestleMania 32 was eagerly anticipated, largely due to the wealth of fresh talent and matches that the show would provide, especially in contrast to the usual formula of the post-WM event hosting Mania rematches. In addition, the event would apparently confirm who would be in charge of Raw after confusion concerning this situation.

Before the event began, the Kick-off Show hosted two matches, the first being Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin. Corbin debuted officially by winning the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WM 32 and has steamrolled through talent ever since, having targeted Ziggler in particular over the preceding four weeks. The logical assumption was that this match would give Ziggler a chance to display his array of skills but would ultimately succumb to the domination of the newcomer.

But whilst the match was watchable and Corbin did look impressive (in particular with a backwards toss sending Dolph into the ring post), Baron's milking of his control over Ziggler to the crowd led to his unexpected downfall: as he did at Extreme Rules 2015, Dolph surprisingly scored the win over his more powerful rival with a roll-up. I foresee a rematch, possibly as soon as Raw, where Baron evens the score; on the surface, it was a questionable result for the promising new monster, especially since he had previously been on a long unbeaten run in NXT.

The other Kick-Off bout was between Kalisto and Ryback for the United States Title. This one was a Mania rematch, and one that few were looking forward to, after their lukewarm mini-feud prior to WM 32. Fortunately, spectators were in for a surprise, as the Big Guy and the luchador delivered a really entertaining battle. Their chemistry was great considering the size and style differences, and such big moves as an insane twisting corkscrew to the floor by Kalisto, a middle rope military press slam and a sweet sequence that led to Kalisto's match-winning Salida Del Sol ensured that this was a memorable Kick-Off Show match.

Kalisto's win was also a surprise, and it should hopefully (and finally) lead to a renewed push for the Lucha Dragon. But the best part to me was Ryback's hilarious trolling of CM Punk. Punk left WWE under a black cloud in 2014, and he had particularly criticised Ryback for accidentally injuring him during their previous meetings in WWE. In Punk's hometown of Chicago, where Punk chants at Ryback were likely, the Big Guy didn't shy away; by mimicking Punk's entrance moves, he dropped something of a pipe bomb of his own (and if that didn't, then his weightlifting belt saying "The Pre-Showstopper", shortly after an interview where he claimed that performing on the pre-show was a let-down for him, definitely made a statement). If WWE knew how to properly use Ryback as a villain, they could have a brilliant bad guy on their hands.

Payback began proper with a New Day promo prior to the final of a tag team contender's tournament pitting new NXT call-ups Enzo Amore and Colin "Big Cass" Cassady against The Vaudevillains combo of Simon Gotch and Aiden English. Enzo and Cass's own promo (replete with references to Hey Arnold!, which got a kick out of this one-time Football Head viewer) raised the roof as always, but the atmosphere soon took a big dip due to a frightening moment. Moments into this contest, Gotch whipped Enzo hard into the ropes which looked innocuous at first, but Enzo's head whacking the middle rope led his skull to bounce hard off the canvas, dropping onto the ringside floor in one sequence.

At first, it looked like a brutal-looking yet safe spot, but when the EMTs stopped the match and Cass looked distraught, it was clear that this wasn't planned, and the look of sheer concern on the announcer's faces (as the cameras stayed away from the injured Enzo) had many fearing a potentially life-changing happening for Amore. Later on the broadcast, it was revealed that Enzo had suffered a severe concussion and, crucially, was moving his extremities and was eventually discharged from hospital. It looks like Enzo might have a significant time out hurt but, considering what could have been the fallout of Enzo's nasty-looking fall, the consequences could have been far worse. The outcome of the match wasn't announced (one would assume New Day vs. Vaudevillains happens at Extreme Rules; bear in mind this match was to determine the contenders), although Enzo's health obviously took priority here. A dangerous reminder that pro wrestling might look flawlessly executed at best, but serious accidents can occur on the simplest of spots.

The much-anticipated Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn showdown took place before a slightly deflated audience due to Enzo's injury, but the two men (who became friends in 2002, formed a team on the indies when Zayn was the masked El Generico and Owens was Kevin Steen, had a great rivalry in Ring Of Honor from 2009-10 which continued on and off until Zayn joined WWE in 2013, restarted on NXT in 2014-5, and hit the main roster beginning at Royal Rumble 2016) were up to the task and delivered a superb grudge match. Beginning with a rapid-fire slugfest, this featured loads of big moves, reversals, stiff shots (Owens' face and nose were cut by the end) and false finishes, all in front of a red-hot crowd once the Enzo situation had died down a little.

Every big move imaginable was unleashed here, although one that stood out for me was a painful backdrop to Owens on the ring apron. Zayn hit a Blue Thunder Bomb and Owens nailed a frog splash, neither to any avail. In the end, Owens avoided a Helluva Kick with a superkick of his own followed by the match-winning Pop-Up Powerbomb. Afterwards, Owens verbally destroyed Byron Saxton on the microphone in a brilliant promo (he also humorously held the ropes for Byron and then walked away as he was about to oblige), before announcing that he would provide colour commentary on the Intercontinental Title match, given his desire to regain the IC gold.

The IC scrap pitted The Miz with his wife Maryse against Cesaro, now with a James Bond-meet-Superman entrance. Miz has been revitalised by the renewed emphasis on his delusional Hollywood hopes (his deliberately bad attempts to relive movie lines during his promos are really funny), but Cesaro had only recently returned from injury and is massively over with the fans right now. WWE therefore had to find a finish to keep momentum on both performers whilst also probably keeping the IC Title on Miz (since I couldn't see a third IC Title change inside a month, at least at this time).

With Owens delivering one great line after another at the announcer's booth, Miz and Cesaro had a good back-and-forth contest, before Zayn returned to attack Owens at ringside. Their brawl would ultimately affect the result, as a distracted referee didn't see Miz tapping out To Cesaro's crossface, and after Cesaro himself was distracted, a roll-up by Miz assisted by a handful of tights kept the gold around Miz's waist. Post-match, a four-man brawl occurred, with Owens standing tall at the end. It looks like a four-way for the IC crown is approaching, and it's anybody's guess as to who would win that. So, WWE kind of achieved its goals to keep everyone strong, and Owens has the rare honour of stealing the show in a wrestling form and then stealing the show again on commentary.

Dean Ambrose vs. Chris Jericho was a match which on another card might have been amongst the best of the evening. Here, it was a pretty good match but one which couldn't quite match the intensity of Zayn vs. Owens or the drama of the main event later in the evening. There isn't much to say about this one which you wouldn't normally say about an Ambrose or a Jericho match, other than to say that the two matched up well together and provided another fun match on a night stacked with enjoyable wrestling contests. Ambrose won with Dirty Deeds, having set it up Bret Hart-style with a slow, ground-based lock of the arms leading to the move itself (which I noticed immediately, but fans in Chicago only cottoned onto when the move was actually executed).

Unfortunately, this appears to have marked the end of Jericho's current WWE run, which is disappointing after his heel antics had become a highlight of recent television shows, not to mention that there was still mileage in the Ambrose-Y2J feud. I'm sure he will return, possibly quite soon, but the recent improvements in the quality of WWE TV will take a bit of a hit without the self-proclaimed Best In The World At What He Does.

Charlotte vs. Natalya was enhanced by having both Ric Flair and Bret Hart at ringside, the latter in his first public appearance since being diagnosed with, and having been treated for, prostate cancer. The Women's Title match wasn't quite as good as their famous battle at NXT Takeover in 2014 or their recent Roadblock clash, but it was still a pretty good bout (no pun intended). Charlotte's regular figure-four leglock didn't win the match, but her mocking Sharpshooter did; however, it was not because Natalya submitted. but because referee Charles Robinson called the bell to perform the latest Screwjob on someone with a Hart connection.

Those who were outraged had to remember that this was designed primarily to set up a rematch, and that with Little Naitch as referee, a heel turn for the long-time neutral official is inevitable. That Bret participated in it was surprising given his one-time refusal to even consider a storyline with a Montreal connection (Google it if you don't know what the significance of Montreal is), but he and Natalya did leave with their heads held high as they both performed Sharpshooters on the Flairs. The feud will continue probably until Extreme Rules, which for the long-neglected Natalya has to be a positive, even if ultimately she is unlikely to end Charlotte's title reign.

Next up was a talking segment involving Vince, Shane and Stephanie McMahon to decide who will be running Raw. I'll omit the drawn-out verbiage to summarise the story: Steph and HHH, as The Authority, have mainly been running the show for ages now, but Shane's return changed things. Although Vince initially implied that Shane would only have to compete at WrestleMania in the Hell In A Cell match against The Undertaker to obtain power of Raw, the stipulation was later quietly modified to suggest that Shane had to win to receive this power. Shane lost, but Vince put him in charge anyway the night after Mania, and strangely Shane has been in charge of Raw since (to an admittedly positive response). Still, here Vince would finally decide who would truly run Raw: Shane or Stephanie?

As it turned out, to the sound of crickets, Vince decided that both McMahon siblings would run Raw, a storyline which I seem to remember occurring in 2008-9 ... and 1999-2000 ... and 2003 involving Eric Bischoff and Steve Austin (and later Mick Foley) ... and - well, the point is that this is familiar territory, yet it feels a bit fresh because of Shane's long absence. Expect this to be a bridge towards a bigger story, possibly a Triple H-Shane conflict for control (HHH has essentially lost his spot running Raw due to this plot development, so revenge is surely coming from HHH at a later date). This segment was underwhelming, then, but as a path towards a more important story in the near future, it served its purpose. It may have been better on Raw, though, rather than on PPV.

The main event was the unlikely square-off between Roman Reigns and AJ Styles for the WWE World Heavyweight Title. (Who could have imagined 12 months ago that AJ Styles would be main-eventing WWE supershows and Leicester City would be on the verge of winning the Premier League?) The build-up was focused on the WWE debut/return of Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, formerly accomplices of AJ Styles in New Japan Pro Wrestling as part of the Bullet Club. While WWE could have done a better job of actually telling the WWE audience who the Bullet Club were and what they did, the message was clear that AJ's friends may or may not have been in cahoots with the number one contender with the goal of helping him win the WWE Title. It set up an intriguing headline attraction: would AJ go heel or would the Club turn on him? Would Reigns finally turn heel for good? And who would leave Payback with the WWE Title?

Few discussed beforehand that this could potentially be a great match on its own merits, and that's exactly what it was, although it had plenty of shenanigans: after a spectacular Phenomenal Forearm put Reigns through an announcer's table, the bout ended by countout, only for Shane McMahon to restart it with no countouts. Ditto after an apparent Roman low blow led to a disqualification and a similar restart by Stephanie. Then Gallows and Anderson arrived to interfere, followed by Roman's cousins The Usos (who unfortunately are now being booed similar to Reigns by association). Reigns shoved AJ onto the pile and then hit a great dive onto the interfering parties. Styles hit another Phenomenal Forearm which was prevented from sealing victory due to a ring break (despite it now being No DQ), followed by a spectacular 450 Splash for a heart-stopping near fall. Reigns intercepted another PF with a Superman Punch, and he avoided one more PF to hit the match-winning Spear. Afterwards, the McMahons agreed that there would be a Roman vs. AJ rematch under Extreme Rules at, erm, Extreme Rules.

Few could have seriously expected Styles to win the title here, given the strength of the Reigns push, but the "what if?" nature of the match and of Gallows and Anderson's involvement created an intriguing run-in to what proved to be a great main event match. That there will be a rematch means that the storyline can continue, with further speculation that Styles could officially reform his Japan faction to try and help him become Champion. I won't comment on the rumours surrounding where this could go, other than to note that Reigns vs. AJ and friends creates a lot of exciting potential scenarios, and at the very least we should be in for another fantastic match between these two on May 22.

Overall, then, Payback 2016 was a brilliant wrestling show. Besides the opener, which was hindered by Enzo's injury, and the McMahon segment, everything was either good, very good or great, with Zayn vs. Owens and Reigns vs. Styles being the highlights of the show. Even the Kick-Off matches were decent (Ziggler vs. Corbin) and surprisingly exciting (Ryback vs. Kalisto). The depth of the WWE talent roster means that it's almost impossible for there to be a poor PPV nowadays, at least from a wrestling standpoint. If this truly is the beginning of a new era, as WWE tried to make us believe via the promotion for this event, then it should be a fun time to be watching WWE.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10 - Excellent

WWE Payback 2015

Image Source: Bleacher Report

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: May 17 2015
Location: Royal Farms Arena, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Attendance: 10,000

The latest WWE supercard felt like a bridge between the last remnants of the rivalries which were the basis for WrestleMania 31 and the feuds which are to take centre stage over the summer in WWE. It didn't feel like essential viewing beforehand, and having seen the show, it is unlikely to be a contender for the card of the year. However, there was still enough high-quality action to make it a worthwhile three hours.

The show opened with a rematch from Extreme Rules between Dolph Ziggler and Sheamus. This, as you may recall, stemmed from the "Kiss Me A--e" match at the previous PPV which Ziggler won but with Sheamus having been the one to, erm, make the most of the stipulation. Common sense suggests that this contest should have had a more exciting add-on to truly establish it as a feud-ender, or at least to have switched this match around with the one from the previous event. However, those days in WWE are gone, and instead we had the basic match here to follow the stip bout from three weeks ago.

Despite this, the match was still fun to watch: fans were more than happy to support Ziggler as he battled for retribution despite having won the initial showdown. That revenge did come midway through when, with the Celtic Warrior down in the corner, Ziggler forced the Irishman to kind of kiss his backside (in a PG, tights-raised-slightly-to-have-part-of-a-cheek-only kind of way again like at Extreme Rules). But Sheamus would prevail following a Brogue Kick, although the ending seemed slightly rushed with Ziggler having accidentally busted himself wide open following a number of headbutts. Note to WWE: if you don't want blood in matches, don't allow for headbutts during matches. That aside, this was a good opener with some nice near-falls (particularly one close call off a Dolph superkick), although tweaking the order of events in the rivalry would have allowed things to make a lot more sense. We still don't know where the Kiss Me A--e stipulation came from either.

Match two was for the WWE Tag Team Titles between The New Day (Sucks!) and the combo of Cesaro and Tyson Kidd, contested under Two Out Of Three Falls rules. The tag team division has rarely disappointed on PPV over the last 12 months, and this latest showdown was no exception; in fact, this may have been the best WWE tag match since the superb showdown between The Usos and Luke Harper and Erick Rowan at last year's Battleground (which coincidentally was also a 2 Out Of 3 Falls match). I was expecting a title change here, but it wasn't to be, as The New Day surprisingly retained their gold (or bronze, depending on your perspective of the belt designs) after Xavier Woods ran in to replace Kofi Kingston and get the winning pin on Cesaro. How the referee didn't notice that Kofi and Woods had switched places despite a good few inches and facial hair being at least two differentials remains an unanswered question. After the match, a backstage interview revealed that New Day would be defending their Tag Titles against five teams to be determined in an Elimination Chamber match - at, erm, Elimination Chamber.

Oh, I meant to say: the Payback Kick-Off show featured a tag bout between The Ascension and the team of Macho Mandow and Curtis Axel, a.k.a. the Meta-Powers. That Konor and Viktor were chosen to beat the crowd-pleasing impersonators, and with Damien Sandow taking the pinfall, currently stands as the second most frustrating WWE match result of 2015 (after Triple H pinning Sting at WrestleMania 31). Not far behind will be the choice to have R-Truth pin Stardust in a rare second Kick-Off contest.

Back to the PPV: next up was Bray Wyatt vs. Ryback. This was the culmination of a few weeks of Wyatt sending out random threats to an unnamed party, who turned out to be The Big Guy. I expected a disqualification or a countout finish of some kind here, since this feud had only recently begun, but surprisingly enough we got a pinfall, and by the heel at that as Bray pinned Ryback following Sister Abigail, which probably suggests that Ryback's future doesn't look too promising. As for the match quality? It was good, with the standout moment being a brutal-looking back-splash by Wyatt off the ring apron onto Ryback, who was lying at ringside. Apparently, Ryback suffered a broken rib as a result, and it's no wonder; appearances suggested that it hurt like hell. (Incidentally, when watching this I thought "it'd be cool if Wyatt back-splashed onto Ryback ... oh, he did!" Cool if you're not the one taking the move, that is.

Match four was one of the show's feature bouts, but one that felt very unnecessary beforehand. John Cena vs. Rusev had occurred on the last three Pay-Per-View events, with Cena triumphing at WM 31 and winning the Russian Chain rematch at Extreme Rules. It seemed on that night that the feud was over, so why WWE booked an I Quit match to settle the score once and for all was questionable. Not only did it seem pointless, but everyone knows that Cena has no chance of losing an I Quit match. It was more a case of how Rusev would lose, and whether the journey along the way would be worthwhile.

Fortunately, it was: Cena-Rusev IV was their best match to date. A full-on war filled with plenty of big moves, this provided a suitable conclusion to the rivalry, and was probably Cena's biggest singles match on PPV since his Last Man Standing match with Bray Wyatt at last year's Payback show. It also continued a run of high-quality matches for Cena, following gripping Raw bouts against Sami Zayn and Neville as part of the United States Championship Open Challenge.

The only downsides were the seen-it-before feel to the beginning and ending of the match. Rusev's suggestion that Cena quit before taking any punishment had been previously used in at least two Cena I Quit matches, and the ending with Cena using a ring rope to STF the Bulgarian Brute is something that we have also previously seen used, one example being another LMS match against Umaga at Royal Rumble 2007. It was during this spot that Lana told the referee that Rusev had said I Quit in Russian, thus ending the bout. Some criticised the fact that we didn't actually hear Rusev say I Quit himself (in English), but I was fine with it: the finish kept the gold on Cena but it ensured that Rusev didn't look weak despite losing an I Quit match, and it added to the tension between Rusev and Lana, resulting in their long-anticipated split on Raw the following night. Overall, a better match than expected; a Match Of The Night and maybe a Match Of The Month, but not quite a contender for Match Of The Year.

Following this was a Divas tag bout, pitting The Bellas against Naomi and Tamina Snuka. This is the match that we should have got before the Nikki Bella-Naomi Divas Title bout at Extreme Rules (and actually I've just realised: why didn't that match have an added stipulation on the night of special add-ons at Extreme Rules?); taking place after Nikki had already successfully retained against the recently-turned Naomi, I can't see what this doubles match on a PPV would achieve, unless Naomi goes on to win the Divas Title in a rematch. That could yet happen, based on Naomi pinning Nikki for the win, but Paige's return the following night on Raw suggests that the one-time Funkadactyl won't be the favourite to become the next Divas Champion. The match itself was okay, but not unlike the match which preceded it, it felt a bit unnecessary beforehand.

Next up, we had a battle of the Englishmen, as Neville took on King Barrett. Barrett had defeated Neville to win the King Of The Ring tournament in April, so this was a chance for the high-flyer to even the score (even though Neville actually pinned Barrett in the Extreme Rules Kick-Off match). This was a good effort, a notch below their ER KO showdown, but unfortunately was hamstrung by a poor finish: Barrett deliberately took a countout loss, to the displeasure of the Baltimore crowd, and tried to beat up Neville after the match, but instead ultimately succumbed to a Red Arrow by The Man That Gravity Forgot. Unless these two finish their rivalry at Elimination Chamber, this was a pointless conclusion, especially considering that there is actually nothing at stake between the once-named Wade and Adrian. (Hey, if you put them together, you get Wadrian! Pathetic attempt at humour, I know.)

And so we come to the main event, a Fatal Four Way for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship which saw Seth Rollins defend his crown against Randy Orton, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose. The set-up hinted that Rollins' title reign was in trouble, especially with Kane, the Authority's Director Of Operations, still being at odds with the Champ. So, of course, this meant that Rollins was walking out of Payback with the title.

And that he did. Fortunately, though, we got a very good main event match in the interim. There were a lot of close calls and several cool multi-man spots, the highlight being the short-lived reunion of The Shield when they somehow put a year of hatred behind them to triple powerbomb The Viper through an announcer's table. The crowd reaction to this moment, and the subsequent Shield triple-fist pose, was the most memorable part of the entire show. As stated, it didn't last long though, and the moment when Ambrose and Reigns looked at Rollins and then turned on him also resulted in a pretty big pop. This was a sure sign that if WWE ever runs that Shield three-way at WrestleMania that the audience would eat it up and give it the desired big-match response. The following spot where Kane was driven onto Rollins on another announcer's table that didn't break, only for the crowd to shout "One more time!" and the combatants oblige to break the table the second time around was a nice touch of spontaneity and added to the chaotic feel of this match.

In the end, Rollins pinned Orton with a Pedigree, as he did at Extreme Rules, to presumably draw a line under the Seth-Randy feud. The outcome wasn't a surprise, but the fact that Kane remained on Rollins' side and didn't at any point even hint that he may have cost Seth the title. I was expecting a Rollins-Kane WWE Title match of some kind after Payback, with Kane leaving The Authority and possibly returning to his old masked self, but it looks like plans have changed. That grumble was the only downside to a fun main event, which was followed by Triple H coming out to once again publicly endorse Rollins as the Champ.

I enjoyed Payback 2015: on paper, it looked like a filler show, and when fans look back on it in a few months, that feeling will probably be the same. However, there were no poor matches at all on the main card, and there were three really good matches, including an I Quit match that was much better than expected. So, whilst Payback won't win any PPV Of The Year awards, it did deliver a generous amount of entertainment and, in many cases, the show either ended rivalries or triggered the beginning of storylines which are likely to be the focus of the summer in WWE.

Overall Rating: 8/10 - Very Good