In this WWE Payback 2016 review, Roman Reigns defends the WWE title against AJ Styles, Kevin Owens goes one-on-one with Sami Zayn, and much more.
Let’s begin.
- Show: WWE Payback 2016
- Date: May 1, 2016
- Location: Chicago, IL
Pre-Show: Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler
So, as if jobbing Ziggler out to everyone in sight wasn’t enough, we’re gonna do it on the pre-show. I guess less people see it, so perhaps that’s better for Ziggler. This is also your friendly reminder that Mauro Ranallo and Corey Graves should be the RAW announce team.
Corbin controls the match early and then Ziggler finds momentum to nail the Famouser. The match goes outside and Corbin picks Ziggler up and sends him flying into the ringpost. This was a cool spot. Back in the ring and Corbin doing nothing but gloating as he steps on Ziggler’s head. I know where this is leading.
And sure enough, I was right. Ziggler immediately hits the rollup and wins the match. So they went with the “rookie gets too confident” storyline to give Corbin his first loss since joining the main roster. Hey, at least Ziggler wins. Rejoice!
- Rating: *1/2
Pre-Show: Ryback vs. (c) Kalisto – WWE United States Title
Well Ryback just mocked CM Punk’s clobberin’ time move during his entrance. Bet you can’t guess who told him to do that. We could reach nWo levels of garbage in the ring after that decision.
Fans immediately start chanting “you can’t wrestle.” RYBACK ALSO HAS “PRE-SHOW STOPPER” WRITTEN ON HIS BELT. Seriously, give Ryback the World title right now. This guy is ALL IN.
A couple of high-flying moves from Kalisto early and naturally we go to a commercial break since this is on the WWE Network. Incredible counter from Kalisto to DDT Ryback on the apron and now THE BIG GUY is selling the shoulder. A few near falls from Kalisto and he’s making Ryback look silly at this point. Another near fall and I’m still stunned the crowd isn’t destroying Ryback with chants after the Punk bit. Pick it up, Chicago.
Another awesome sequence of near falls from both men, and holy hell this match has been decent. Then Ryback goes up top and MILITARY PRESSES KALISTO OFF THE TOP ROPE. Then Ryback goes back up top and misses and Kalisto hits the finisher for the win.
This match was legitimately awesome. A ton of fun and great heel work by Ryback. He sold the shoulder like a champ. I was joking earlier, but he legit needs another big push. Now watch them release him.
- Rating: ****
IN THE RING: The New Day come out and they are glorious as usual. Xavier Woods hits on Beyonce and Big E makes a joke about things going down in the Twitter DM’s.
VIDEO: Excellent video package that promotes all the new talents in the WWE, with the Shane vs. The Authority as the main storyline. And then the graphic says “the first pay-per-view of a new era.” Wow. Like Ryback earlier, the WWE is ALL IN.
Enzo and Cass vs. The Vaudevillains – No. 1 Contender for Tag Titles
Great reaction as usual for Enzo and Cass. And since Vince McMahon apparently hates the Vaudevillains gimmick now, they can’t possibly win here. Even though I did predict they would win a few days ago.
Match controlled by the good dudes early. Enzo gets thrown to the outside, but in an extremely ugly spot gets caught on the bottom rope and slams his head on the mat. He’s legit hurt here. We immediately get a stretcher and medical personnel. This is not good.
The match is called off. The announcers are a mess. Cass is a total mess also. What an unfortunate way to start this show. That looked absolutely terrible. He really nailed his head hard on the mat in a whiplash-type of sequence. Hopefully this is just a precaution and he’s fine. Man.
- Rating: NR
Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn
Michael Cole updates everyone and says that Enzo was just sent to a hospital. Damn it. Well, a lot of people are still a little shellshocked, but if there’s two men that can get you back into the WWE reality, it’s these two.
Great spot with Zayn flying over the top early to take down Owens on the outside. Owens takes control and Cole says that Enzo is moving his extremities and is talking. Awesome news. Owens has the stairs pulled out and we get back in the ring before anyone can use them.
More solid back and forth, but like a lot of people, I think the crowd is still reeling from the Enzo injury. You can’t blame them. Zayn hits the thunderbomb and a close near fall. The “this is awesome” chants are here, so the crowd is back. Owens gets a near fall and hits the Eddie Guerrero frog splash for a two-count. Now we have Eddie chants. Love it.
These two are FIGHTING now. Both with strong moves and the other comes back with a vengeance. This is what we thought it would be. Two guys that hate each other going all out. Painful spot as Zayn flips Owens over onto the apron. He hit that thing flush, which can’t feel good. Zayn flies through the second rope and hits the DDT. Goodness.
Superkick and powerbomb from Owens to Zayn to get the victory. That came from outta nowhere. Overall a good match as expected, but admittedly, it may have felt like a bigger deal had it not come after the events of the last match. This is probably one that I’ll have to rewatch to give it a more focused rating.
- Rating: ***1/2
IN THE RING: After the match, Owens slaps the taste out of Zayn’s mouth and throws him to the outside. Owens then calls for Saxton to get a mic and come into the ring. If he powerbombs Saxton, it might be the greatest moment ever. Owens demands Saxton ask him about beating Zayn. Owens yells and screams and says he finally beat Zayn. He’s a better man than Zayn. He says now he’s focused wants to get back HIS IC title. Saxton tells him the match is next, and he’s gonna do commentary for it.
Cesaro vs. (c) The Miz (w/Maryse) – IC Title
Maryse is tremendous. Owens is already berating Saxton on commentary to the delight of everyone on the planet. Like he’s really giving it to him. It’s beautiful.
Cesaro is dominating the match in the early going. That is, until Maryse gets involved and allows Miz to take over. Not too much happening afterward, as Owens on commentary continues to be the highlight. Cesaro gets a near fall that brings back a little momentum. Cesaro with a pretty suplex off the top rope for another near fall. Owens told Saxton to go call his mom or something. Owens is on another level.
Cesaro hits the big uppercut and Miz manages to sneak the foot on the rope Ric Flair style. Miz takes advantage of the hurt shoulder and hits the Skull Crushing Finale but Cesaro kicks out! ZAYN IS BACK. He jumps the table and he and Owens brawl all over the place.
In the ring, Cesaro makes Miz tap out. But the ref is occupied with Owens and Zayn on the apron. Of course, he doesn’t see it, and Miz rolls up Cesaro to retain. Another fine match.
- Rating: ***
OUTSIDE THE RING: Cesaro is angry and attacks Miz after the match. Then Owens attacks Cesaro. Then Zayn attacks Owens, but Owens powerbombs him to stand tall. Maryse saves Miz from a beating from Owens.
Chris Jericho vs. Dean Ambrose
We get a rundown of all the different language announcers. FUNAKI IS HERE. SMACKDOWN NO.1 ANNOUNCER. Cole says Enzo is undergoing testing at a local hospital.
Thanks to a spotty WWE Network feed, I missed most of this match. I’ll update later.
BACKSTAGE: AJ Styles with Ranallo. He plays down the involvement from Gallows and Anderson tonight. They also show Sasha Banks backstage talking to Shane McMahon.
Natalya (w/Bret Hart) vs. (c) Charlotte (w/Ric Flair) – Women’s Title
Once again, after watching Clash of the Champions I earlier, I wish Flair was about 30 years younger here. The crowd goes apeshit when Bret makes his way out.
Charlotte in control and Flair is clapping like a proud father. As he should. Vicious chops from Charlotte and Nattie returns the favor. Continued action and Charlotte gets sent to the outside. Flair checks on her as she’s selling the knee. Nattie goes for a baseball slide but Charlotte counters, and then Nattie counters that with a semi hurricanrana.
Back in the ring, Charlotte delivers a vicious kick to the face. Nattie eventually goes for the Sharpshooter but no bueno. Nattie kicks out of Natural Selection. Charlotte then hits a moonsault and Nattie kicks out yet again. Not much crowd reaction for this, which furthers the point that Sasha is who everyone wants at this moment.
Charlotte then goes with the Sharpshooter and referee Charles Robinson calls for the bell even though Nattie never taps. CHICAGO SCREWJOB. Bret gets in the ring and decks Flair, then Bret and Nattie go double Sharpshooter on Flair and Charlotte.
The match was solid, but once again, WWE goes to the well with the Montreal Screwjob finish. At least they used Lil Naitch as the referee, I suppose. The finish really hurt the match. It’s gotten repetitive at this point.
- Rating: *1/2
IN THE RING: Vince McMahon is here and the crowd is chanting CM Punk louder than ever. Vince is smirking and loves it. They do not let up and interrupt him. So Vince says screw it and says he wants to know how long they can go with it. Vince brings up the greatness of the Attitude Era, and the crowd pops at that. He asks the crowd if Shane or Stephanie should be running RAW. I’ll let you guess what they think.
Crowd boos the hell out of Stephanie and Vince goes OFF and calls Chicago a bunch of animals. They’re still booing. Just get Shane out here already. Finally, Shane’s music hits, and please save everyone, Lil Vinnie Mac.
Shane runs through all the internet headlines of people talking about how much better RAW has been with him in charge. Shane is good as usual in this role, and he asks Vince to listen to the people’s voice. They go bonkers, and Vince says enough of the fans being happy. And he says he doesn’t listen to anyone except him. SO TRUE. He says tonight is about him and what he wants. Here’s what he wants: BLOOD. He wants to see them both disembowel each other. Father of the year. He gives both of them control of RAW. Great, so that means we get way too many segments with those two arguing about everything.
BREAKING NEWS: Michael Cole with an update that Enzo has been diagnosed as having a concussion, and all other tests are negative. Fantastic news.
AJ Styles vs. (c) Roman Reigns – WWE World Heavyweight Title
Update: People still hate Roman Reigns. So either this is WWE’s way of squashing Styles and making him look like a fool in his first title match, or they make him even more of a star. Let’s hope for the latter.
“You can’t wrestle” chants from the crowd. This is inaccurate. Reigns can actually wrestle, but he’s constantly booked like a fool. He’s not the best wrestler in the world, but he’s far from terrible. Slow start, and the crowd entertains themselves with a Roman sucks chant to the New Day tempo.
Tweets suggest Enzo has been discharged from the hospital now, so that’s more great news. As for this match, it feels like it’s struggling to find a flow. Luckily, Styles gets the crowd back into it with a kick to the head of Reigns. And then Styles gets the Calf Crusher and Reigns makes it to the ropes. AND THEN STYLES DOES A FLYING FOREARM OFF THE TOP ROPE ONTO REIGNS THROUGH THE ANNOUNCE TABLE. That was good stuff.
And then Reigns gets counted out. Are you kidding me? Chicago may riot. BUT SHANE O MAC SAYS NO RIOTS TONIGHT, YOUNG MEN. He restarts the match with no countouts.
Styles takes control and then Reigns almost lands a pinfall. Now the referee calls for a DQ and awards Styles the match after an inadvertent low blow from Reigns. As you would expect, Stephanie comes out to one-up Shane and says now there’s no DQ. Vince Russo would be impressed with this overbooking.
Now these two are fighting into the crowd. Something big is obviously gonna happen after the restarts. Reigns hits the Superman Punch and Styles kicks out. Reigns looks like he’s gonna snap. YES PLEASE. He hits another Superman Punch and sets up for the spear. But we have visitors! Anderson and Gallows arrive and beat up Reigns. The champ is down and out in the middle of the ring. Styles is up and hits the Phenomenal Forearm. Reigns gets the foot on the rope at two and three quarters.
The Usos make their way into the mix. They beat up Anderson and Gallows, and Reigns throws Styles onto all four men on the outside. Reigns then flies over the top and hammers everyone. Styles with the forearm again to Reigns on the outside. He rolls Reigns in and gets a near fall after a splash. A few more back-and-forth moments, and Reigns hits the spear for the victory.
Whew. Well, the overbooking was stupid at first, but ultimately it led to Styles looking like a big star. It also surprisingly makes Reigns look better for surviving that kind of performance from Styles.
- Rating: ***3/4
BACKSTAGE: Vince, Shane, and Stephanie speak about the title match. He congratulates them on their involvement. They announce an Extreme Rules rematch between these two. Well then.
OVERALL
You had nothing truly awful on this show aside from the unfortunate Enzo injury and Vince/Shane/Stephanie segment. All the matches told a story, and even if the Montreal Screwjob rehashing was dumb, it will at least lead to something interesting from Charlotte and Nattie.
Owens and Zayn had a great match as expected, and we also had solid outings from Cesaro/Miz and Jericho/Ambrose. Even the pre-show match between Kalisto and Ryback was wildly entertaining.
The main event told a story. A lot of people expected a certain someone to debut, but it’s clear they are gonna milk that one. Although it ruined the overall flow, the interruptions by Shane and Stephanie in the main event made sense in furthering their power struggle. And then Styles and Reigns put on a few awesome sequences after that.
It’s clear that the company is pushing the “New Era” moniker. This was a solid start.
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