The card for WWE Payback in Chicago was stacked with excellent match ups, but did they live up to the hype?
Coming out of Wrestlemania last months fans had every right to feel a little bit downhearted. Coming out of Payback they would've felt very different. Payback had it's flaws but overall the show itself was of a very good quality. There were no title changes as we all expected but that doesn't mean that the matches weren't excellent. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens tore the house down as we expected and everyone else managed to put on a good showing as well. So who gets the awards for last night's PPV broadcast from Chicago. [next]
This award was only going to go to one man. Kevin Owens put on yet another great match with Sami Zayn (like we would've expected any less) but it's especially good considering that they had to go on after the horrific incident with Enzo Amore a few minutes before. These men managed to steady themselves and put on the match of the night.
The MVP award arguably would've also gone to Zayn but as soon as Owens called Byron Saxton into the ring you knew that something amazing would happen. KO proceeded to rip on Byron and Sami and announced he would be on commentary for the next match. Kevin Owens yet again proved his worth to the company on commentary. He ripped into Michael Cole and Byron yet again and was arguably more entertaining than the match going on in the ring.
Kevin Owens is at the point now where he is the best Heel in the company but people are almost refusing to boo him at some points because he is just that good at his job. If WWE insist on continuing to try and push Roman Reigns as a the top babyface in the company then Kevin Owens must be the man he goes up against. That rivalry would satisfy everyone. Hardcore wrestling fans would be happy because KO is part of the main event scene while casual young fans still get to see Roman Reigns. Everybody wins, apart from KO of course when he inevitably loses. Roman jokes are funny everyone! [next]
If Kevin Owens was MVP of the night then this match was certainly match of the night. AJ Styles and Roman Reigns could stake a claim to this award but considering the circumstances Zayn and Owens deserve this. As previously stated, KO and Sami had to go on after that injury to Enzo Amore which almost definitely would've rattled them but Styles and Reigns had multiple stoppages as well as interference. Zayn vs Owens was a great wrestling match, pure and simple.
From bell to bell Zayn and Owens kept us thoroughly glued to the screen. The match had some awesome spots such as Zayn hitting a Michinoku Driver on Owens (Although Michael Cole would rather you think of it as a Blue Thunder Bomb). We also saw some other cool spots such as a back body drop by Sami onto the apron along with his patented ring post DDT. Owens more than held his own, he was his usual charismatic presence in the ring and he counted a tornando DDT into a beautiful backbreaker. Overall this was a great example of the talent that WWE have in their hands with these two men. [next]
I gave this award to this match for two reasons. The first, because every other match on the card was above average and secondly because this match never finished due to injury. The lengths that performers go to in order to entertain us, despite the risk of injury is well documented. However when you see it happen live it really puts it into perspective for you. Simon Gotch looked to throw Enzo Amore to the outside but Enzo hit his head on the second rope. As many people will tell you, those ropes are tightened extremely well and Enzo ended up on the outside and you could see as soon as it happened that something was wrong. The referee threw up the dreaded 'X' sign and that was the end of that.
Thankfully many people are now saying that Enzo's injury was a concussion and nothing serious which is great news. Spare a thought for Simon Gotch while your at it. No doubt he will be feeling bad more than anyone about what happened. Hopefully someone will remind him that these things happen every now and again and that he's in no way responsible. [next]
I must admit I was a little stunned when Ziggler beat Corbin but after watching it again the finish to this match makes a lot of sense. Having Corbin just go over Ziggler and be done with it wouldn't really benefit anyone. Corbin would just move onto something else and so would Ziggler. This way they can both add to this rivalry. Ziggler winning with a rollup after being decimated by Corbin was very clever. It made it look like a rookie mistake from Corbin, one he will no doubt try to rectify with anger on RAW. [next]
Urgh. WWE keep trying to convince us that they're changing their own perception of women's wrestling but apart from the excellent match at Wrestlemania 32 we are yet to see a huge improvement in terms of storytelling. From the moment this match was announced I struggled to get into it. Mostly because I'm a huge fan of NXT and I've already seen this already. Charlotte with Ric in her corner against Natalya with Bret in her corner. It was more proof that WWE Creative is really struggling to come up with new and exciting ideas. I said that this match would end up being about Bret and Ric and unfortunately I was right.
The match itself was not bad, in fact it was very good, we all knew it would be as Charlotte and Natalya are two extremely talented competitors. The finish however was completely tainted. It was basically Montreal 2.0. The biggest problem I had with this personally is that yet again Charlotte fails to win a match by herself which continues to diminish her stature as champion. The more pressing issue however is that WWE openly markets towards young children. The Montreal Screwjob took place in 1997. A large portion of WWE's audience most likely weren't even born at that time so to them this would have made absolutely no sense. It's obvious that Natalya wasn't going to win and that this is just a placeholder feud for Charlotte before she drops the belt to Sasha Banks but WWE failed to even convince that Natalya had the slightest chance of winning. Creative really need to sort themselves out. [next]
We all expected something big from this and it just fell completely flat. We all thought this could be the potential Brand Split that everyone has been talking about. Something fresh, although not new. This segment was just a waste however. It helped eat up time on the PPV after Enzo's unfortunate injury but this segment would've been better suited at the start of RAW after Payback. This was just a let down and a waste of everybody's time.
To finish I'll just some up some overall winners and losers coming out of Payback. [next]
Overall winners
Roman Reigns. I make my disdain for Roman Reigns very clear but I will give him credit for last night. He did well to hold his own against someone as good as Styles. The only thing I would say is that Roman won't be facing someone of Styles' quality in every match.
AJ Styles. While AJ may have lost the match last night he proved to any doubters inside and outside the WWE that he is more than capable of being a top guy in WWE. As if that was in doubt.
Ryback. Hear me out on this one. While Ryback gets a lot of heat for being overrated he had to have huge balls to walk into Chicago and mock their hero CM Punk. That's like someone walking up to a Hornet's nest and smashing it with a baseball bat. Overall he gained massive heat from Chicago and it really helped in his match.
Overall losers
Women's wrestling. As I've already said, Payback's Women's Championship match was tainted by the finish. Women's wrestling in WWE won't improve properly until they focus on the wrestling part of things.
The US Championship. Yet again the United States Championship was shunted to the Pre-Show, proving how little WWE care about it and how far it's fallen since last year. John Cena must be absolutely raging.
Coming out of Wrestlemania last months fans had every right to feel a little bit downhearted. Coming out of Payback they would've felt very different. Payback had it's flaws but overall the show itself was of a very good quality. There were no title changes as we all expected but that doesn't mean that the matches weren't excellent. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens tore the house down as we expected and everyone else managed to put on a good showing as well. So who gets the awards for last night's PPV broadcast from Chicago. [next]
MVP — Kevin Owens
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The MVP award arguably would've also gone to Zayn but as soon as Owens called Byron Saxton into the ring you knew that something amazing would happen. KO proceeded to rip on Byron and Sami and announced he would be on commentary for the next match. Kevin Owens yet again proved his worth to the company on commentary. He ripped into Michael Cole and Byron yet again and was arguably more entertaining than the match going on in the ring.
Kevin Owens is at the point now where he is the best Heel in the company but people are almost refusing to boo him at some points because he is just that good at his job. If WWE insist on continuing to try and push Roman Reigns as a the top babyface in the company then Kevin Owens must be the man he goes up against. That rivalry would satisfy everyone. Hardcore wrestling fans would be happy because KO is part of the main event scene while casual young fans still get to see Roman Reigns. Everybody wins, apart from KO of course when he inevitably loses. Roman jokes are funny everyone! [next]
Match of the Night — Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn
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From bell to bell Zayn and Owens kept us thoroughly glued to the screen. The match had some awesome spots such as Zayn hitting a Michinoku Driver on Owens (Although Michael Cole would rather you think of it as a Blue Thunder Bomb). We also saw some other cool spots such as a back body drop by Sami onto the apron along with his patented ring post DDT. Owens more than held his own, he was his usual charismatic presence in the ring and he counted a tornando DDT into a beautiful backbreaker. Overall this was a great example of the talent that WWE have in their hands with these two men. [next]
Worst Match of the Night — Enzo and Cass vs. The Vaudevillians
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Thankfully many people are now saying that Enzo's injury was a concussion and nothing serious which is great news. Spare a thought for Simon Gotch while your at it. No doubt he will be feeling bad more than anyone about what happened. Hopefully someone will remind him that these things happen every now and again and that he's in no way responsible. [next]
Best Finish — Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler
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Worst Finish — Charlotte vs. Natalya
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The match itself was not bad, in fact it was very good, we all knew it would be as Charlotte and Natalya are two extremely talented competitors. The finish however was completely tainted. It was basically Montreal 2.0. The biggest problem I had with this personally is that yet again Charlotte fails to win a match by herself which continues to diminish her stature as champion. The more pressing issue however is that WWE openly markets towards young children. The Montreal Screwjob took place in 1997. A large portion of WWE's audience most likely weren't even born at that time so to them this would have made absolutely no sense. It's obvious that Natalya wasn't going to win and that this is just a placeholder feud for Charlotte before she drops the belt to Sasha Banks but WWE failed to even convince that Natalya had the slightest chance of winning. Creative really need to sort themselves out. [next]
Biggest anticlimax — Vince McMahon announces who controls RAW
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To finish I'll just some up some overall winners and losers coming out of Payback. [next]
Overall winners
Roman Reigns. I make my disdain for Roman Reigns very clear but I will give him credit for last night. He did well to hold his own against someone as good as Styles. The only thing I would say is that Roman won't be facing someone of Styles' quality in every match.
AJ Styles. While AJ may have lost the match last night he proved to any doubters inside and outside the WWE that he is more than capable of being a top guy in WWE. As if that was in doubt.
Ryback. Hear me out on this one. While Ryback gets a lot of heat for being overrated he had to have huge balls to walk into Chicago and mock their hero CM Punk. That's like someone walking up to a Hornet's nest and smashing it with a baseball bat. Overall he gained massive heat from Chicago and it really helped in his match.
Overall losers
Women's wrestling. As I've already said, Payback's Women's Championship match was tainted by the finish. Women's wrestling in WWE won't improve properly until they focus on the wrestling part of things.
The US Championship. Yet again the United States Championship was shunted to the Pre-Show, proving how little WWE care about it and how far it's fallen since last year. John Cena must be absolutely raging.
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