Recap and Review of WWE Payback 2020
The last time I remember a two Pay-Per-Views being a week a part in WWE was 1991. Survivor Series and Tuesday in Texas were five days a part. Now there were pay-per-views that have taken place over multiple days and some that took place in different countries within a week. However, I feel like Survivor Series and Tuesday in Texas had a huge impact on WWE history. A lot happened in those five days that really changed the history. Could history be altered once again. Before you dive in, here are the results of WWE Payback:
-Kickoff Show: The Riott Squad defeated the IIconics
-Bobby Lashley defeated Apollo Crews to become the new United States Champion
-Big E defeated Sheamus
-Matt Riddle defeated Baron Corbin
-Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax defeated Bayley and Sasha Banks to become the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships
-Keith Lee defeated Randy Orton
-Rey Mysterio and Dominik defeated Murphy and Seth Rollins.
-Roman Reigns defeated Braun Strowman to become the new WWE Universal Champion
The opening match of Payback was Apollo Crews versus Bobby Lashley for the United States Championship. This match made more sense then Crews vs. MVP. The Hurt Business is starting to gain a ton of momentum on Raw. They’ve been causing destruction on Raw Underground and causing chaos in the WWE 24/7 Title scene. I personally would like to see The Hurt Business get inserted into the Tag Team Championship scene with how few tag team there are on Raw.
One of the matches I found intriguing was Big E and Sheamus. Since his feud with Jeff Hardy ended, Sheamus has not had much direction. With Big E being with out his New Day brothers, he has been establishing himself as a singles start again. This match was a great physical match for both of them. It was a hard hitting brawl that made both of them look good. It’s great to see Big E being showcased as a singles star again. Hopefully, this match leads to a title shot for Big E in the very near future.
Since Matt Riddle’s arrival on Smackdown, Baron Corbin has been targeting him after every point. Tonight was Riddle’s WWE pay-per-view debut and he made the most of it. Riddle looked very impressive against Corbin. Tonight’s victory should put Riddle back in the already crowded Intercontinental Championship picture. I think he needs to move on from Baron Corbin and have a bigger feud with Chad Gable. I feel like those two would do well together
Most of the year the Women’s Division has been dominated by Bayley and Sasha Banks. At one point, they held all the gold and defended those belts against many challengers. Tonight they ran into a dominant force in Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler. It was a great move to put the titles on them because Nia can’t work singles with her knees and Shayna has deserved a title since she’s been on Raw. The fans have been waiting for Sasha and Bayley to implode and tonight was finally the beginning of that. I love the story with Shayna and Nia. It’s like two Alpha-Female’s wanting to show the other one up while both being destructive. I will be very curious to see who challenges them in the future.
Keith Lee has had a wild eight days. He lost the NXT Championship last Saturday and debuted on Raw this past Monday. Tonight, he and Randy Orton did battle in a match that helped put Keith Lee on the map instantly. The fact that he beat Randy Orton in the middle of the ring with no shenanigans says something about this future. His future is looking very bright and instantly he has inserted himself into the WWE Championship picture. I’m unsure if he will get a title shot in the near future, but if he does it will be a fun ride.
A lot of people criticize WWE for their lack of longterm storytelling and rightfully so. The best story WWE has had this year is Seth Rollins and Murphy feuding Rey Mysterio and Dominik. The story has had so many twists, turns, and you never knew what evil deed Rollins was going to do next. Dominik has been very impressive in his first two WWE matches. Lance Storm deserves a lot of credit for how well Dominik has done. One thing I absolutely love is the pride on Rey’s face being alongside his son. It’s the same pride that Dusty had with Dustin and other fathers who have teamed with their sons.
The scheduled Main Event was a triple threat match for the Universal Championship Match between Braun Strowman, Bray Wyatt and a returning Roman Reigns. The match was a one on one for most of the match because Reigns didn’t sign the contract until the match almost over. I am pretty disappointed that The Fiend only held the title for a week. This is two times this year that he’s lost the title that when he shouldn’t have. I know Reigns is Vince McMahon’s golden start, but he should have had to work his way back into the title scene before he won it that quick. Bray and Braun have carried Smackdown in Reigns absence. Outside of Rollins and Mysterio, they’ve had one of the best stories on WWE programming this year.
At the end of the night, I was also disappointed that RETRIBUTION didn’t show. They didn’t show up on Summerslam, Smackdown or tonight. Payback and retribution have a similar meaning so it would have fit perfectly. Payback deserves a 7 out of 10. The matches were really solid, some of the stories were good, but there was no surprises. There wasn’t really anything that shock and awed me. With Night of Champions coming up, they need some fresh new stories and new direction. It’s time to start getting more Women involved in the Women’s Tag Team Division as well as the Men’s. It’s also time to start building up new challengers for Asuka on Raw. The only real payback I saw tonight was the Mysterio’s getting revenge on Rollins and Murphy. Hopefully after two lackluster shows in a row, the WWE fans get paid back with a good show at Night of Champions.
