WWE Payback Thoughts

Payback Kickoff

R-Truth vs. Stardust

We were treated to a bonus match tonight in the kick off show with R-Truth taking on Stardust in a decent match.  I’ve always like Cody Rhodes and not been too keen on R-Truth.  Truth picked up the victory to continue the apparent lifetime angle of Cody Rhodes losing and getting frustrated. 

The Ascension: Konnor & Victor vs. The Mega Powers: Curtis Axel & Macho Mandow

The Ascension were a good team in NXT and had they just come into the main roster as the same guys and not tried to compare themselves to Demolition and the Road Warriors they could be top contenders.  Instead they have basically been buried.   Sandow with another gimmick that he has managed to get over and Axel has gone full blown Hogan look-a-like.  They haven’t allotted much time for this one.  Axel hulks up and hits the leg drop but that’s about the all the offense he gets in.  Mandow tries the big elbow and is instead taken out with Ascensions finish and the pin fall loss.

Payback

Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus

Ziggler once again in the opening match which is a testament to the work horse that Ziggler is that he kicks off the show.  The fans continue to rally behind Dolph wanting desperately to see him become the guy in the WWE, as do I, but I just don’t see WWE ever getting behind him, which is unfortunate.

Hard hitting battle between these two and Dolph got his revenge from Extreme Rules with a PG-Era stink face.   Ziggler head butted Sheamus and it busted him open bad, I mean crimson mask bad.  Sheamus got the victory with a brogue kick while Ziggler was on his knees.

2 out of 3 Falls

WWE Tag Team Champions: New Day: Big E & Kofi w/ Xavier Woods vs. Tyson Kidd & Cesaro w/ Natayla

New Day should just be Kofi & Xavier Woods as a Tag Team, Big E doesn’t fit and he looks awkward smiling and clapping his hands “dancing” around.  I like that WWE has been having more 2 out of 3 falls as of late.

Kidd & Cesaro pick up the first fall quickly with their big spin drop kick combo.  Woods tries to enact the Freebird rule to enter the second fall but it is not allowed, that would have been cool! 

New Day picks up the second fall after Cesaro is taken out from the Big E spear to the floor, and then Big E hits the Big Ending while Kofi jumps off the top rope and does nothing to add emphasis to the finish.  Have I mentioned I think New Days tag team finish is dumb?  Because it is.

Cesaro went for what looked like was going to be Angel’s wings on Big E but he couldn’t pull it off which is odd because Cesaro is freakishly strong.   New Day get the final fall when Xavier Woods slides in and pins Cesaro with a small package.   I really thought this match was going to be better, it was a good match but the time constraints really hurt it from building each fall.

Bray Wyatt vs. Ryback

I really like Wyatt and his gimmick, he’s way over with the crowd, but he is a heel through and through.  Wyatt just did a version of the Pounce taking Ryback down.  I really like Monte Brown and I thought the Pounce finish was really good as it was one of those do to anyone of any size finishers.  Wyatt has that suplex slam that he does that is pretty neat, and it just a slight variation that makes it unique.  Wyatt gets the win with Sister Abigail after Ryback hits the corner chest first that was missing the turnbuckle pad.  Glad to see Wyatt get the win, he needs it to maintain the idea that he’s a threat as he hasn’t had the best win/loss record as of late. 

I Quit Match

United States Champion: John Cena vs. Rusev w/ Lana

I’m glad they were very specific in the introductions that you “literally have to say I Quit” to lose.  No passing out, having the towel thrown in, and ect.  I hate the “tension” between Lana and Rusev, it’s dumb.  Rusev never should have lost the title, I’ve enjoyed Cena’s open challenges every week and the matches he has been having is great, but Rusev should be the undefeated evil foreigner and not the verbally abusive boyfriend.

One of my all-time favorite matches is the 1985 Starrcade I Quit match between Magnum TA & Tully Blanchard for the United States Championship, the level of brutality really raised the bar for an I Quit match, I know this one isn’t going to come close to living up to that, but so far they’ve only brought the stairs into play and haven’t done anything that I would wager someone would quit over.   But then again, Flair beat Funk in his I Quit match with the figure four.

Match hasn’t been that good, it’s been very slow and methodical with big bump, then asking if they quit, the answer is no, then another big bump and repeat with a huge delay between moves.  Finally Rusev has the accolade on Cena, a maneuver were someone could be coaxed into saying I Quit, of course Cena passes out so he can’t say I Quit.  Top rope has been undone, swear to god Cena better not win with the “STF” using the rope for leverage, he’s done that before. 

Cena vs Umaga Royal Rumble 2007, choke not "stf" same difference

That was something; Cena applied that STF using the rope, again, and according to Lana Rusev said I Quit in Russian so the ref called for this bell. 

As an I Quit match, this match sucked.

The Bella Twins: Diva’s Champion Nikki & Brie vs. Naomi & Tamina

Naomi and Tamina got the win when Naomi threw Nikki off the top rope, essentially the body slam Ric Flair has taken ten thousand times, and pinned her.  The match wasn’t very good.  You have the ladies down in NXT just killing it, matches so good that Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte just main evented an NXT house show in Philadelphia, and this is what the main roster is delivering. 

King Barrett vs. Neville

Neville won by count-out and then was attacked after the bell by Barrett.  The post-match beat down was more effective than the actual match.  Neville hit the german suplex, which broke the scepter, then executed red arrow. 

Fatal 4-Way

Champion: Seth Rollins w/ J&J Security vs. Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose

   If Rollins loses the title then Kane is fired from his Corporate position in the authority

Of course J&J and Kane got involved in this match very early on so it was basically a 7 way match, but that’s not a surprise.  At one point they teased a Shield reunion as J&J were taken out and Rollins, Reigns, and Ambrose triple power bombed Orton through the announce table.  Crowd popped big for that.  Then of course Reigns and Ambrose tried to do the same to Rollins through the Spanish announce table, but Kane stopped them.  So they power bombed Kane onto Rollins through the Spanish announce table.  The first attempt the table didn’t break so at the audience’s request they did it one more time and sent them crashing to the floor.  Ambrose and Reigns squared off for a bit before everyone got involved again.  Kane took out Reigns and Ambrose then ate and RKO which allowed Rollins to hit the pedigree on Orton to retain his title.

It was a good match, fun to watch, but I hated the pedigree finish, the curb stomp is so awesome, I mean right after the RKO on Kane if he hit Orton with the curb stomp it would have looked so much cooler than the awkward Pedigree.  Because let’s face it, if anyone but Triple H does it, it just looks awkward.

Pretty good show, I’m sure many will be comparing it to the NXT Takeover special that is this Wednesday.  Best match was the main event, followed by the tag match. 

If you watched the show what did you think?

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