It’s been four weeks since WrestleMania and things have since been going full speed ahead. We’ve seen Mr. McMahon give control of Monday Night Raw to Shane, several new talents from NXT debut and the debut of Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows with the tease of the Bullet Club reunion with A.J. Styles. The Payback PPV was surrounded with so much uncertainties and mystery that it made this PPV something that was highly anticipated. With that said, let’s see how things turned and afterwards you can head to the comments section to give me your feedback.
This was the opening match on the main card and this was the match to determine the #1 contender for the tag team titles that’s held by the New Day. This was a match I was anticipating because of their history in NXT. Unfortunately, the match didn’t last that long and had to be stopped because Enzo was knocked out when he was thrown to the outside. The referee threw up the X sign and he was stretchered out, then he was taken to a local hospital where it was determined he suffered a severe concussion. The great news is that he was released later that night, but he has been pulled from several live events through the middle of May. Results: No Contest
No Rating
With the history between these two guys, which has spanned well over a decade, which the WWE creating a great video package about their history, I had high expectations for this match. As far as the match, this match was fantastic as expected and with the Extreme Rules PPV coming up next I wouldn’t be surprised to see these two face each other in some kind of match at the PPV. In the end, Owens picked up the win after hitting a Superkick and Pop-Up Powerbomb. Winner: Kevin Owens
Match Rating: 4.25/5
This match was for the Intercontinental championship that’s currently held by the Miz. With the help of his wife, the returning Maryse, Miz was able to recapture the Intercontinental championship from Zack Ryder 24 hours after he won it from WrestleMania. As far as the match, this was a pretty good match between these two and how great is Cesaro? It seems like Cesaro was on his way to winning the championship when the Miz was tapping, but the referee was distracted by Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens who was fighting on the apron. As Cesaro tried to get rid of them, Miz rolled him up from behind for the pinfall. Winner and Still Intercontinental Champ: Miz
Match Rating: 3.5/5
This is a feud that I have been looking forward to since Jericho teamed with Ambrose & Reigns against the Wyatt Family last year. These two have been feuding for the past few weeks with them getting the best of each other on Monday Night Raw. This match wasn’t as good as I thought it would be, but it still was good and I expect this feud to continue beyond this match and in the end, Ambrose hit Jericho with Dirty Deeds for the win. Winner: Dean Ambrose
Match Rating: 3/5
This feud has been going on ever since the night after WrestleMania with Natalya getting a non-title win over Charlotte on Monday Night Raw. It seems like every time Charlotte was in trouble, Ric Flair always got involved so Natalya got her uncle, Bret Hart in her corner for this match. This match had everything you can think of from really good wrestling, great spots and in the end, a screwjob when Charlotte applied the Sharpshooter onto Natalya and the referee, Little Naitch called for the bell. Winner and Still Women’s Champ: Charlotte
Match Rating: 3.5/5- After the match, both Charlotte & Bret Hart applied Sharpshooters onto Charlotte and Ric Flair.
This match came about when Styles won a match on Monday Night Raw to determine who’s the new #1 contender for the WWE title. Since Styles has become the new #1 contender to the title, we’ve saw the debut of Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows, his Bullet Club friends from NJPW and get involved in helping Styles, which he denies that he needs them. The match had so much talk coming into the match with the involvement of Anderson & Gallows with the possibility of a much-anticipated debut from Finn Balor. The match between Styles & Reigns was pretty good and I’ll say it was better than most expected. We thought the match was over when Reigns was counted out when Styles hit the Phenomenal Forearm from the top rope onto the floor and sent Reigns through the announce table. Shane McMahon came out and restarted the match, but it ended on a DQ when Reigns hit Styles with a low blow, but Stephanie came out and restarted the match with the match being a No DQ match. In the end, Anderson & Gallows came out and beat down Reigns, but the Usos made the save then Styles hit the Phenomenal Forearm on the outside onto Reigns. After Reigns was back in the ring, Styles went for another Phenomenal Forearm, but Reigns ducked and it lead to him hitting the spear on Styles for the win. Winner and Still WWE Champ: Roman Reigns
Match Rating: 4/5
Overall Rating: 7.5/10- This was a pretty good PPV from top to bottom with it producing some really good wrestling, which is always a good thing. We started the PPV with a major scare when Enzo was injured and taken to the hospital. All of the matches on the main card were really good and throw in the announcement from Mr. McMahon, which I really liked made for a really good PPV.
Top 3 Matches from the Payback PPV:
- Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn
- Roman Reigns vs. A.J. Styles
- Charlotte vs. Natalya & Miz vs. Cesaro
What did you think about the Payback PPV? What were your favorite moments from the PPV? What were your least favorite moments from the PPV? What was your match of the night? How would you grade the PPV?
