By Giana Haynia
World Wrestling Entertainment has been the largest professional wrestling company since its founding in 1979. They hold weekly shows called “Monday Night Raw” and Tuesday’s “Smackdown Live,” both with separate rosters. The two shows have monthly pay per views where titles are defended and feuds come to head.
After “Wrestlemania,” the biggest WWE pay per view of the year, age old feuds continued while some new ones are started, all of which culminate at “WWE Payback.” On Sunday April 30, World Wrestling Entertainment hosted the first post-Wrestlemania pay-per-view, “Payback,” from the SAP Center in San Jose, California. The Raw roster only PPV had promised to be a contender for best of the year, but it looks like it won’t come near it. It wasn’t terrible; in fact, it had its great moments. Such as the tag team championship match and the Seth Rollins versus Samoa Joe match. Will it go down in history as the best PPV ever? No, not at all. However, years, even months from now, it will still be fairly forgettable.
Kevin Owens (C) vs. Chris Jericho (United States Championship)
Two Canadians battled it out for the very prestigious United States Championship. Had it been anyone else in the match, it wouldn’t have been anywhere as good as it ended up being. With about twenty years under his belt, Chris Jericho proved, yet again, that he can still wrestle just as well as he did twenty years ago. The stipulation for this match was this: whoever won would not only be U.S. Champion, but also move to “Smackdown Live.” The match was fast paced, but not to the point where it felt rushed. It was definitely one of the best matches of the night, and it ended with Jericho standing tall and regaining the championship he lost to Owens at “Wrestlemania” in Orlando earlier in the month. Chris moving to “Smackdown” could prove to be interesting, wrestling a different group of people that he hasn’t before.
Sheamus and Cesaro vs. The Hardy Boys (C) (Tag Team Championships)
At the 33rd annual “Wrestlemania” in the beginning of the month, the Hardy Boys returned to WWE after their seven-year hiatus. Even after all this time, the Hardys showed that they definitely haven’t lost their step. The match was a mix between high flying and a huge showcase of strength from both sides. At one point, Sheamus kicked Jeff Hardy in the face and one of the younger Hardy’s teeth went flying out of his mouth. It was safe to say there was no dull moment. In the end, however, the Hardys rightfully retained, with Sheamus and Cesaro turning heel, or turning into “one of the bad guys,” against the longtime team. It was definitely one of the best tag team matches that has been put on in recent years.
Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley (C) (Women’s Championship)
With the event being held in San Jose, there was no doubt that the crowd would be completely behind their hometown girl, Bayley. The match was solid, and both women looked strong. This was definitely the best match Alexa Bliss has been in. She taunted Bayley’s family who were sitting in the front row and pulled out moves that were previously unseen. However, Bliss winning in no way made sense. She had only been on Raw’s roster for a few weeks, so it was way too soon for her to win the championship anyway.
Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt (House of Horrors Match)
The idea of a “House of Horrors” match is just as ridiculous as it sounds and a definite head scratcher. The apparent idea of the match is that it starts at a house in the middle of nowhere and is a general free for all, then both competitors are supposed to make their way to the SAP Center. What also made no sense is that Randy Orton, the WWE Champion, wouldn’t be defending the title, even though Wyatt, the former champion, never got a rematch for the title. The majority of the match was obviously filmed beforehand and looked like a very low-budget horror movie filmed by a sixth grader with his parents’ camera.
The two ended up back in the ring when Bray Wyatt got to the arena in the limousine in which Orton arrived to the House. Randy made a surprise appearance back in the ring but was immediately ambushed by the number one contender to the WWE Championship, Jinder Mahal. The surprise attack let Bray Wyatt get the victory. Overall, it was a mess and cringeworthy.
Seth Rollins vs. Samoa Joe
This match is a result of Joe hurting Rollins’ knee just a few months before “Wrestlemania,” where Rollins was scheduled to have and ended up still having a match against Triple H. After “Wrestlemania,” the rivalry between Rollins and Samoa Joe was reignited. The match had a ton of hype around it, and it lived up to every bit of it. Throughout the match, Joe constantly targeted Rollins’s knee, the one he had hurt months prior. This match was a great breath of fresh air after the disaster of the “House of Horrors” match. Rollins won by reversing the Coquina Clutch, Joe’s submission move where he puts his opponent in a headlock.
Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman
Out of all the matches, this one might have been the most pointless due to the fact that it had a poor build-up and that match itself was incredibly bland. The duo had a rivalry earlier in the year that was started again after “Wrestlemania.” The reason for the rivalry seems to be that Braun is generally annoyed at Roman’s existence, so he attacks him constantly. The match was short, boring, and an extreme waste of time. This marks Roman’s first television appearance since the sudden passing of his older brother on April 17. This seems to be WWE’s way of writing Reigns off so he could be with his family, which is entirely understandable.
This PPV had it’s very high points as well as its very low points. It was very mediocre; the House of Horrors match didn’t do it any favors. Wrestlers like Rollins, Joe, Bliss, Bayley, Owens, Jericho, the Hardy Boys, Sheamus and Cesaro all shined. But wrestlers like Orton, Bray Wyatt, Reigns, and Strowman suffered. I would give this PPV a rating of three out of five.
