Becky Lynch says that she and Trish Stratus “crushed it” at WWE Payback.
The Lynch vs. Stratus rivalry concluded in a steel cage on the September 2 PLE from Pittsburgh, nearly one month after they were left off the SummerSlam card. Lynch told Chris Van Vliet recently that her match vs. Stratus “stole the damn show” that night.
“Yeah, we crushed it. We stole the damn show. Started it off, it was all downhill from there,” Lynch said. “No, it wasn’t actually a great, great show but we started off hot. I think like a few chips on our shoulder story had been going on for a long time, maybe not getting the steam that necessarily we wanted, and being left off SummerSlam, obviously. I understand why these decisions are made, but really wanted to go out there and prove it, and getting that time, getting that steel cage match was the perfect way to finish it. You know, match of our life.”
“Look, when you have a legend like Trish Stratus come on back. Like you want to remind the people of why this person was so great. And I think there’s no doubt after that match of the greatness,” Lynch continued.
Lynch vs. Stratus at WWE Payback 2023 received a four-star rating from our own Dave Meltzer. Only one match on the show, Judgment Day vs. Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens, received a higher rating (four and one-quarter stars). Voters on Cagematch.net also have the tag match rated slightly higher than Lynch vs. Stratus. It was Lynch’s 17th match rated four stars or above and Stratus’ second.
Following the conclusion of the Lynch/Stratus rivalry, Lynch went on to win the NXT Women’s Championship from Tiffany Stratton. She is scheduled to defend the title against Stratton on Saturday at NXT No Mercy.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including AEW and NXT previews for this week, WWE Payback, All Out and RAW thoughts, all the news from the past few days and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
WWE is touting that Payback 2023 was a record-breaking night for the company.
The event took place in Pittsburgh on Saturday night and was the first Payback pay-per-view since 2020. In a press release issued on Tuesday, WWE stated that this was the most-watched and highest-grossing Payback ever.
Payback’s viewership was up 36 percent from the prior record in 2016. This year’s Payback aired on Peacock while the 2016 event was on WWE Network.
The gate was up 13 percent from the previous record, which was also Payback 2016. WWE states that it’s the highest-grossing event for any WWE show ever held in Pittsburgh.
Payback 2016 took place at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.
“In addition, Payback broke the all-time event merchandise record. In partnership with special event retail partner Fanatics, merchandise sales were up 182 percent versus the previous record set in 2017,” WWE wrote.
“2023 Payback was also the most-viewed social Payback of all time with a combined 146 million social views, up 44 percent from the previous record set in 2020. The most-viewed moment across social platforms was Cody Rhodes announcing Jey Uso would be joining the Monday Night Raw roster which generated more than seven million social views across all platforms in one day.”
Saturday’s PPV was headlined by Seth Rollins retaining his World Heavyweight Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura. Judgment Day (Finn Balor & Damian Priest) winning the Undisputed WWE Tag Team titles from Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn in a Steel City Street Fight was among the other highlights, along with Becky Lynch defeating Trish Stratus in a steel cage match.
This was the seventh Payback event in WWE history. The PPV first took place in 2013.
I am back with another Sunday edition of Wrestling Observer Live, talking all the latest wrestling news and once again, there is a lot of it.
In a surprise announcement Saturday afternoon, AEW announced they had terminated CM Punk’s contract with cause. I discuss why this happened, how Tony Khan and the company handled it, and what it means for both the future of AEW and Punk.
As if that wasn’t enough, WWE Payback was on Saturday. I break down the results and talk about some of the highlights from the show, including the disappointing main event between WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins and Shinsuke Nakamura.
I also discuss AEW Collision from Saturday and previews tonight’s All Out card and how important it is for AEW to have a great show to move past the Punk drama and build momentum for the future.
Premium YouTube subscribers can watch above while website subscribers can listen below.
On paper, Saturday’s WWE Payback from Pittsburgh looked to be one of the weakest WWE shows of the year. In execution, it was actually a pretty good show until the final two matches.
Shinsuke Nakamura was not successful in defeating Seth Rollins with Rollins retaining the World Heavyweight title in a match that never really got going.
The work in the match was fine, but neither ever really picked it up a notch beyond that. Nakamura is one of the most charismatic pro wrestlers in the last ten years, and the build to the match was pretty good. But, he’s terribly inconsistent (at best) in the ring at this stage of his career, and while everything was fine, it never reached great. There have been so many great WWE main event matches this year, it wasn’t even close to being on par with those.
Even weirder, the show closed with Nakamura looking sad on the outside as Rollins recovered in the ring. The period between Rollins winning and the show going off the air was so long that one would assume something, anything, was about to happen. Maybe Nakamura would attack Rollins or Damian Priest would sneak in and go for the attack to cash in his Money in the Bank contract. But no, the show just ended. Weird.
Here’s the rest of the card, which had its ups and downs:
The steel cage match between Becky Lynch and Trish Stratus was awesome — a great opener that really should have been the main event. This was easily the best match on the show. These two had just about the best cage match you can possibly have nowadays, hitting each other hard. Stratus is almost 50 and you would never know it because she doesn’t move like someone who is nearing that age. This was an extremely physical match that paid off a long-running feud well.
I liked the undisputed WWE Tag Team title street fight match which saw Finn Balor and Priest capture the titles from Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. The crowd was super into the match, which helped it move beyond just your typical weapons match (that and Owens did an insane swanton bomb off a balcony). They’re putting a lot of emphasis on Balor & Priest, so it makes sense for them to make them strong until the eventual turn finally happens.
LA Knight defeated The Miz in a match that felt VERY LONG. Everything they did was fine, but they just kept DOING STUFF for a long period of time. At least the crowd was into it and Knight in general.
Rey Mysterio kept the United States title, defeating Austin Theory. I thought this was fine with Mysterio looking real good. Theory isn’t bad by any means, but they have given him this hard push for well over a year now and still comes across as a very generic and okay, but he’s hardly an interesting heel.
Rhea Ripley defeated Raquel Rodriguez in a bland match to retain her Women’s title. The crowd wasn’t into it and the work was all over the place, some of it looking good, some of it not so much. I never thought this gelled.
The Grayson Waller Effect segment is only notable in that Jey Uso was moved to Raw in what will likely be a long-term storyline. I hardly believe that’s the end of his involvement with The Bloodline storyline. I’m guessing they are holding off the brother vs. brother match for WrestleMania, so in the meantime, he can go to Raw while Jimmy remains on SmackDown, perhaps setting up an eventual match with Roman Reigns.
Next up for WWE is Fastlane on October 7. Reigns doesn’t appear to be on this show, so there is a chance this could be another lame duck card as there was nothing on this show to set up anything for the immediate future. WWE has some long terms plans cooking, that can clearly be seen on their television. But right now, we just seem to be going through the motions until we get closer to the new year.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including CM Punk being terminated from AEW, the investigation that led to his dismissal, whether or not he could go to WWE, and tons more, plus Collision, All Out preview, WWE Payback, Smackdown and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
The Great Muta was present at ringside for the WWE Payback main event on Saturday.
Muta was briefly shown on camera while seated in the crowd for the Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura main event at Saturday’s Payback pay-per-view in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Rollins defeated Nakamura to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the show-closing bout. Muta did not get involved in the match.
Muta, real name Keiji Muto, retired from the ring earlier this year after a career spanning nearly 39 years.
Prior to his retirement, Muta wrestled Nakamura on January 1 at Pro Wrestling NOAH’s The New Year show in a rare instance of WWE allowing a contracted talent in Nakamura to work a match outside of the company.
Muta would wrestle for the final time as The Great Muta character at The Great Muta Final Bye-Bye event on January 23 of this year in Yokohama, Japan. His final matches under his real name cam in February of this year at the Tokyo Dome at the Keiji Muto Grand Final Pro-Wrestling “Last” Love show, where he lost to Tetsuya Naito, then defeated Masahiro Chono in an unadvertised match to close his career.
Muta was then inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on WrestleMania weekend on March 31 in Los Angeles.
Muta won the Wrestling Observer Newsletter award for Wrestler of the Year in 2001, and was a member of the 1999 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame class.
Jey Uso is back in WWE, this time as part of the Raw roster.
Uso returned to WWE at Saturday’s Payback pay-per-view and was introduced by Cody Rhodes as the newest member of the Raw roster during a Grayson Waller Effect talk show segment.
After being introduced by Rhodes, Uso had a brief interaction with Waller where Waller taunted him, ending with Uso laying Waller out with a superkick. Rhodes was a special guest of Waller’s on the Grayson Waller Effect, and noted that he had asked to be on the segment to make the announcement of Jey’s return.
On-screen authority figure Adam Pearce later posted on social media that Jey’s move to Raw was “official.”
Uso had announced that he was “out” of WWE and the SmackDown roster during the August 11 edition of SmackDown in the fallout from SummerSlam where Jey’s brother Jimmy cost him a chance at Roman Reigns’ Undisputed Universal Championship.
Waller called attention to the quick turnaround between Jey leaving and returning in the Payback segment.
Reigns used a superkick from Jimmy to pin Jey in a Tribal Combat match where both Reigns’ Championship and title of “Tribal Chief” were at stake in the SummerSlam main event.
Jey’s move to Raw is the latest twist in WWE’s Bloodline saga, a storyline that has carried the SmackDown brand throughout 2023.
Every member of The Judgment Day now holds championship gold.
After months of dissension, Finn Balor & Damian Priest worked together to win the Undisputed WWE Tag Team titles from Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn at Payback. Because the match was a Steel City Street Fight, interference was legal. Dominik Mysterio, Rhea Ripley, and JD McDonagh all got involved.
Balor pinned Zayn to win the titles after Dominik struck Zayn with Priest’s Money in the Bank briefcase. There was a point leading into the finish where Zayn had the match won after giving Priest a Helluva Kick, but McDonagh pulled Zayn out of the ring before the referee could count to three. Ripley then took out Owens with a spear through the barricade.
Balor’s friendship with McDonagh has caused much of the distrust between Balor and Priest in recent weeks. On Raw this past Monday, Priest told McDonagh to stay out of his business. McDonagh isn’t an official member of Judgment Day.
Ripley told Balor & Priest on Raw that changes would be coming to Judgment Day if they didn’t defeat Owens & Zayn.
The Steel City Street Fight included a spot where Owens gave Dominik a Swanton through a table after jumping off of a stairwell.
Following Balor & Priest’s victory, The Judgment Day stood united on the stage with all of their title belts. Ripley currently holds the Women’s World Championship and Dominik holds the NXT North American title. Priest is also still in possession of the Money in the Bank briefcase.
At Payback on Saturday night, Cena served as the special guest referee for Knight vs. The Miz. Knight picked up the win after hitting Miz with Blunt Force Trauma. Knight and Cena then went face-to-face on the stage. It initially started out as tense but ended with Cena endorsing Knight. He shook Knight’s hand and raised Knight’s arm in the air. Cena then headed backstage, telling Knight that this was his moment.
There was a point during Knight vs. Miz when Cena twice had to pull Knight away when he was attacking Miz in the corner. Cena called the match fairly, doing the same thing when Miz tried to cheat.
This marks back-to-back PPV victories for Knight. Last month, he won the Slim Jim-sponsored SummerSlam battle royal.
After making his WWE return on SmackDown, Cena was at Payback as the host of the event. He stated that his job as host was to make the night special, so he would be the special guest ref for Miz vs. Knight.
Cena will be sticking around WWE for the next two months. He’s set to appear on every episode of SmackDown from September 15 through October 27.
Cena is teaming with Seth Rollins against Imperium (Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci) at WWE’s Superstar Spectacle live event in India on Friday, September 8.
The partnership between Trish Stratus and Zoey Stark has come to an end.
Their alliance imploded on Saturday night after Stratus lost a steel cage match to Becky Lynch at Payback. Stark interfered in the match and tried to help Stratus win, but Lynch was able to fight her off. Lynch pinned Stratus after hitting a Manhandle Slam from the top rope.
Stratus was angry at Stark after the match and slapped her in the face. Stratus told Stark to leave the cage, but Stark instead shut the door with them both still in it. When Stratus continued to try and bully her, Stark laid out Stratus with the Z-360 knee strike.
Stark then took off her “Thank You Trish” shirt and threw it down on Stratus.
The alliance between Stratus and Stark formed at Night of Champions, where interference by Stark allowed Stratus to defeat Lynch in their first meeting. Lynch finally got her revenge by defeating Stratus at Payback.
Lynch defeated Stark in a falls count anywhere match in the main event of Raw this past Monday.
The World Heavyweight Championship will be on the line as WWE Payback takes place from PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh tonight.
Shinsuke Nakamura is challenging Seth Rollins for the championship. The match was made after Nakamura turned heel by attacking Rollins last month. Since then, Nakamura has taunted Rollins about a secret back injury that Rollins is suffering from. Nakamura is promising to destroy Rollins’ back and leave him without a future.
Judgment Day will look to get back on the same page as Finn Balor & Damian Priest challenge Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team titles in a Steel City Street Fight. Rhea Ripley has warned Balor & Priest that changes are coming to Judgment Day if they lose.
Ripley herself has a title defense, facing off against Raquel Rodriguez. And Becky Lynch and Trish Stratus will finally settle their rivalry as they meet in a steel cage match.
Tonight’s event is being hosted by John Cena. Rey Mysterio vs. Austin Theory for the United States title, The Miz vs. LA Knight, and a Grayson Waller Effect talk show with Cody Rhodes are also set.
The Payback main card starts at 8 p.m. Eastern time. There will also be an hour-long pre-show.
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KICKOFF SHOW
The pre-show hosts were Kayla Braxton, Jackie Redmond, Peter Rosenberg, Booker T and Wade Barrett. Video packages for all the Payback matches were shown. With no matches on these things anymore, the the pre-show feels even obsolete than it did before, when some unlucky wrestlers would perform in half an arena. Anyway, the panel gave various predictions for the matches and we moved into the main show.
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MAIN SHOW
– Michael Cole welcomed everyone in and the cage lowered for the first match. The video package chronicling the Becky Lynch/Trish Stratus program aired.
Becky Lynch defeated Trish Stratus [20:01]
A hot opener and the women worked harder than I’ve seen almost anyone work on WWE TV in recent memory. Everyone, including the participants in the feud, have voiced their frustration with the fact that the program has continued to drag on, so the expectations here were low, but boy, did they win the crowd (and me) over. I’m not a fan of outside interference in a cage match, so I could have done without the Stark involvement, but that was there to set up the Stark/Stratus post-match breakup, so I can live with it. All told, these women worked their asses off and I salute them both for getting every ounce out of it that they could despite the program overstaying its welcome.
Tiffany Stratton was shown in the crowd before the match began. The two stood across from each other once the bell rang and it took them a little bit to lock up. Stratus tried to get out of the cage early, but Lynch caught her with a series of Exploders. Eventually, Stratus hit an elbow, slowed things down and took control. Stratus threw Lynch into the cage and posed. Stratus kicked Lynch in her back. Stratus went to escape, but Lynch stopped her. Stratus kept control with some strikes. Stratus worked a double fish-hook on Lynch’s face and grated Lynch’s face against the cage.
Lynch eventually fired up and repeatedly threw Stratus into the walls of the cage. Lynch went for a Dis-Arm-Her, but Stratus countered and rammed Lynch into the cage. Stratus bridged her body for no real reason and Lynch hit double legs to take Stratus down. The two got to their feet and traded blows. Lynch and Stratus took turns ramming each other into the cage. Stratus was draped over the top rope and Lynch landed a leg drop from the top.
Lynch was on the top turnbuckle and Stratus joined her. Stratus tried to climb out of the cage, but Lynch caught her and hit a power-bomb. A “This is awesome!” chant began in the crowd. Lynch went for another Dis-Arm-Her, but Stratus countered into a Widow’s Peak for a two-count. Stratus went for a bulldog, but Lynch countered that into a Twist of Fate for a good near-fall. Stratus popped up and landed a Stratus-Faction for another really good near-fall.
Stratus stomped on Lynch and the two fought on the ropes while trying to climb the cage. Stratus landed a bulldog from the top rope for another very good near-fall. Stratus went to climb over the top of the cage, but Lynch cut her off. The two traded blows on top of the cage. Stratus kicked Lynch back to the ring, but Lynch popped up and grabbed Stratus by the hair and Lynch pulled Stratus back. Eventually, Stratus was hanging by her legs on the outside of the cage. Lynch lifted Stratus and hit a vertical superplex from the top onto the ring. Lynch went for a pin, but Stratus barely kicked out.
Lynch started to climb over the top of the cage, but Stratus went to crawl her way out of the cage. Lynch hopped down to stop Stratus, but Zoey Stark showed up and tried to pull Stratus out. Stark slammed the door onto Lynch. Lynch came back and hit a Manhandle Slam on Stratus, but Stark broke up the pin. Stark took care of Lynch while Stratus climbed to the top. Lynch immediately came back, knocked Stark over, cut Stratus off and landed a Manhandle Slam on Stratus from the top for the win. After the match, Stark tried to help Stratus, but Stratus slapped Stark. Stratus told Stark to get out of the ring, but Stark instead closed the cage door and hit her finisher on Stratus.
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The John Cena segment
Cena was introduced as “the greatest of all time” by the ring announcer while he posed in the ring. Cena welcomed everyone to Payback. Cena said the first match was awesome. Cena said he’s been a lot of things in his career, but he’s never been a host. Cena said his job as a host is to make the night special. Cena announced he’s going to be the special guest referee for the LA Knight vs. The Miz match. The Miz’s music hit and Miz walked to the ring.
The Miz said he didn’t expect Cena to pander to this audience. Cena asked Miz how he could be better. Miz said Cena shouldn’t put himself as a special guest referee into Miz’s match. Cena asked asked for more advice and Miz told Cena that Cena should have turned down being in the Barbie movie. Cena asked again for advice. Miz said Cena has to be more involved. Miz referenced how he was in two matches at WrestleMania when he hosted it. Miz called Cena out for dressing like a Teletubbie, and it was funny. Miz used his “When my hand goes up, your mouth goes shut” line. Cena grabbed a referee shirt and reiterated that he’s going to be the referee of his match. LA Knight’s music hit and Knight made his way to the ring. The match then began.
LA Knight defeated The Miz [15:46]
This probably overstayed its welcome by two or three minutes, between the pre-match verbal stuff and Miz getting a little too much offense, but this actually exceeded my mid-level expectations. For two guys who have gotten as far as they’ve gotten more on the account of their charisma than their in-ring work, the in-ring work here was solid. The addition of Cena added little to the proceedings, and I almost feared that this was put here to start a program between Miz and Cena, but it looks like both Cena and Miz are free to go from here. These were three A-level pro wrestling entertainers in today’s world of pro wrestling and they all did their jobs very well.
Mix rolled to the outside as soon as the bell rang and stalled. Miz walked up the ramp, but Knight chased him. The two fought back into the ring and the Miz had control early before Knight worked his way back. The two went to the top and Miz dropped Knight from the top. Miz put the boots to Knight. Miz threw Knight into the ropes, but Knight caught Miz with a power-slam. The two traded finisher attempts and Miz rolled to the outside.
Knight slammed Miz onto the top of the commentary table multiple times with the help of a bunch of “Yeah!” chants from the crowd. Miz eventually tripped Knight onto the top of the commentary table. Miz worked over Knight on the outside guardrail. Miz ran at Knight, but Knight back body-dropped Miz over the guardrail. Knight hit a clothesline and posed. The two made their way back into the ring and Miz tried to put the boots to Knight, but Cena pulled Miz off Knight. Knight got the upper hand before long and Cena pulled Knight off Miz.
Miz took advantage of that and eventually grabbed a chin-lock. Knight punched his way out of it, but Miz ultimately kept control by sweeping Knight off his feet and to the outside. Back inside the ring, Miz landed a series of It Kicks. Miz went for a kick, but Knight countered with a high back suplex. They got to their feet and Knight kept control with a bulldog from the second rope. Knight stomped a mud hole in Miz, but Miz fired up and hit a series of DDTs for a two-count.
Miz ran at Knight, but Knight moved and landed a swinging neck-breaker for a two-count. Miz came back and rolled Knight up, but held onto the ropes for leverage and Cena kicked his hand off the rope. Miz and Cena had words. Knight came at him, but Miz moved and hit the Skull Crushing Finale, but Miz only got a two-count out of it. Miz did the You Can’t See Me thing to mock Cena, but Knight popped up and slammed Miz. Knight then landed his elbow and BFT for the win. After the match, Knight and Cena walked up the ramp together and Cena extended his hand. Knight shook it and Cena raised Knight’s hand.
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Rey Mysterio Jr. defeated Austin Theory [9:48]
I know Hunter likes his long matches on these PLEs, but there’s always one that happens to go less than 10 minutes and this was my pick for it, if only because it felt too soon to switch the title again and Theory seems to be in the middle of a change (though that intuition could be wildly incorrect, so don’t quote me). For what it was, it worked. Theory showed good fire as he controlled the first half of the match and Mysterio played his role as the plucky babyface perfectly, which he has done for about one hundred thousand years at this point. It wasn’t offensive. It wasn’t mind-blowing. But being fine is better than being underwhelming.
Theory attacked Mysterio to start the match and apparently, this match was sponsored by Cinnamon Toast Crunch, so there’s that. Theory landed a hard clothesline and a series of Fisherman’s Suplex. Theory hit a swinging head-lock slam for a two-count. Theory worked a chin-lock. Theory threw Mysterio into sternum-first into the top turnbuckle and punched Mysterio while jawing at him. Theory tried to rip off Mysterio’s mask, but Mysterio fought out of it with a series of elbows.
Mysterio hit a pretty moonsault from the top and things evened out. With Theory on the outside, Mysterio landed a sliding tornado DDT. The action got back into the ring and Mysterio hit a springboard head-scissors before going for a 619, but Theory caught him and that led out to a spin-out power-bomb. Theory went for his finisher, but Mysterio countered into a step-up enziguri. The two hit dueling dropkicks and they were both down for a bit.
The two got to their feet and Theory started to beat down Mysterio, but Mysterio came back with a 619. Theory got his knees up and lifted Mysterio for the A-Town Down, but Mysterio rolled Theory up for the win.
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– Becky Lynch was interviewed backstage, but it was interrupted by Tiffany Stratton, who talked about how Lynch was never NXT Women’s Champion. Lynch said she might show up on Tuesday.
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Damian Priest & Finn Balor defeated Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens to win the WWE Undisputed Tag Team Titles [20:45]
Holy hell, this was fun, and I’m not so sure Kevin Owens told anyone he was going to get color because as soon as he came up with the Penguins jersey on and his face covered in blood, it wasn’t long until someone cleaned that up and cleaned it up right quick. They did it so well that if you missed the first half of the match, you might not even know Owens bled. Anyway, this was the Terry Funk tribute WWE tried to do last week, and even if there wasn’t a lot of blood here, there sure was a lot of chaos. This was non-stop entertainment from front to back and everyone involved should be proud. This was as hardcore as WWE can get these days and there’s something to be said for that. I’m interested to see where Zayn and Owens go from here because they could both be major players … but they could also just be in need of a long break. Time will tell.
Soon into the match, Zayn went for chairs, but Balor grabbed a kendo stick and a Terrible Towel and then stomped on the towel, which is very much a no-no in Pittsburgh. Priest joined the run and they beat down Owens until Zayn landed a splash over the top on the two heels on the outside. Owens and Zayn grabbed trash cans and beat the hell out of Priest and Balor. Owens took off his shirt to reveal a Terry Funk shirt. Zayn and Owens put a garbage can over Balor’s head and hit it repeatedly with kendo sticks.
Priest came through and attacked Zayn and Owens and chairs. Balor regrouped and hopped on top of Zayn and Owens along with Priest. Owens ultimately fired up and hit Priest hard with a chair. Balor then hit Owens with a chair. Zayn then hit Balor with a chair. Priest and Balor tried to leave through the crowd, but Zayn and Owens followed them and the four fought in the crowd. Dominik Mysterio showed up and helped out Priest and Balor. Judgment Day posed, but Zayn and Owens popped up with Pittsburgh Penguins jerseys. Owens was bleeding from the head.
Dom tried to take Owens’s hockey stick, but Zayn and Owens threw down their gloves and pummeled Dom. Zayn and Balor got back to the ring and a pile of chairs was there. Zayn landed a Blue Thunder Bomb on Balor on the pile of chairs for a two-count. Priest had a hockey stick, set up some chairs and suplexed Zayn onto the chairs. Priest got a two-count out of it because Owens threw a chair at Priest. Action spilled back outside and Balor and Priest beat up Owens through the crowd.
Zayn showed up and the four fought near the pre-show set. Zayn stood on the pre-show table and landed a summersault senton onto Balor and Priest. Dom got back into the fold and put the boots to Zayn. Owens interrupted that and set up a table. Owens went into the crowd and jumped from the seats, but kind of missed a Senton, but the table still broke and Dom still went through it. Back in the ring, Zayn and Balor were going at it. Zayn went for the Helluva Kick, but Priest threw a garbage can at Zayn’s head.
Zayn fired up and hit an Exploder on Priest and then Zayn put Balor through a table ont he outside. Zayn went for a Helluva Kick, but Priest cut him off. Owens showed up and hit a Stunner on Priest. Zayn hit the Helluva Kick and went for the pin, but JD McDonagh showed up and pulled Zayn off him. Owens slammed JD onto the commentary table, but Rhea Ripley speared Owens through the barricade. Balor landed a Slingblade on Zayn and went to the top, but Zayn moved when Balor went for the Coup De Gras. Zayn landed an Exploder and a Helluva Kick on Balor, but Dom hit Zayn with the MITB briefcase. Balor rolled onto Zayn and got the 1-2-3.
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The Grayson Waller Effect
Waller insulted the city of Pittsburgh and introduced Cody Rhodes. Cody went for his “What do you want to talk about?” line, but Waller cut him off and said it’s about what Waller wants to talk about. Cody went through all the pro wrestling talk show gimmicks and laid out how those types of things usually go, including Waller and Rhodes fighting. Cody shouted out Carmelo Hayes and asked Waller if he watched SmackDown. Cody said he pulled some strings and he’s bringing Jey Uso to Raw. Jey then made his entrance. Uso pumped up the crowd and stood on the ropes while Cody left the ring. Waller interrupted Uso and said, “You’ve been gone, like, two weeks,” which was funny.
Waller asked Jey how he felt to be the newest member of the Raw roster. Waller said Jey has done nothing with his career and mocked Jey for thinking he’ll be a big deal on Monday. While Waller mouthed off, Jey super-kicked Waller to put him down. Rhodes watched from the ramp in appreciation.
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Rhea Ripley defeated Raquel Rodriguez [17:21]
This went way, way, way too long. I understand the women having a prominent role and God knows I’m rooting for these major wrestling companies giving the women more time, but this really wasn’t the match to be in that position. They worked hard and there were some fine moments, but the clunky spots will stick out far more than the good ones. I don’t know, guys. I like the idea of Ripley having someone stand up to her, size-wise, but I’m not so sure Raquel was or is able to hold up her end. There wasn’t much heat on this going in and there is virtually none coming out. I don’t know where either wrestler goes from here, but both journeys could be interesting. Do I have faith it will work out that way? No. But there’s always hope.
The two locked up and Rhea slapped Raquel before grabbing a side head-lock. They went head to head and jawed at each other. Raquel landed a shoulder block and Rhea rolled to the outside. Rhea got back into the ring and Raquel hit another shoulder block. Ripley came back with a kick to the midsection of Raquel. Ripley tried a series of clotheslines, but Raquel didn’t move and Raquel clotheslined Ripley to the mat. Raquel landed a bodyslam, but Ripley dropkicked Raquel and went for the ground and pound. Ripley worked over Raquel with some kicks and blows to Raquel’s back. Rhea posed and she was bleeding from her nose.
Ripley landed a snap-mare and a kick to Raquel’s back. Ripley applied an abdominal stretch. Raquel worked her way out of it and threw Ripley across the ring. Eventually, Ripley came back with a dropkick and a ton of hammer fists on Raquel’s back. Rodriguez fired up and landed a series of clotheslines before hitting a fallaway slam. Rodriguez went to the second rope, but Ripley cut Raquel off and kicked Rodriguez a bunch. Raquel returned the favor and hit a delayed vertical suplex and both women went down for a bit.
Raquel hit a spinning corkscrew elbow from the second rope for a two-count. Ripley landed a running knee and pinned Riquel while posing for a two-count. Ripley went for the Riptide, but Raquel worked out of it and went for a power-bomb, but it didn’t work out and instead, Raquel hit a clothesline for a two-count. Raquel ran Ripley into a corner and placed Ripley on the top turnbuckle. Raquel punched Ripley off, but Ripley came back and hit a chop block on Raquel. Ripley sank in a submission, but Raquel got out of it. The two got to their feet and exchanged slaps. They then had a hockey fight as the crowd continued to be nearly silent.
The action spilled outside. Raquel ran Ripley into the ring post and then awkwardly slammed Ripley into the barricade. Raquel again ran Ripley into the ring post, shoulder-first. Dom came to ringside and found his way into the ring. Raquel grabbed Dom and hit a powerslam on him. From there, Ripley kicked Raquel’s knee and head. Ripley landed the Riptide after that for the win.
**********
– John Cena was shown backstage as an interviewer and he welcomed in Finn Balor and Damian Priest as the new WWE Universal Tag Team Champions. Cena asked them about their win and Priest said Judgment Day is all on the same page. Priest listed off all their titles. Cena, who was kind of kneeling in a very funny inside baseball moment, stood up as Balor and Priest ended the segment.
**********
Seth Rollins defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship [26:00]
Oh, man. The finish was flat. The crowd was flat. This was … unexpectedly flat. I came into this with all of the expectations in the world, thinking Seth and Nakamura could surprise some doubters, but man. There was no real crescendo, there was no real up and down, there was no real suspense. I love those guys as wrestlers and this came up so short of the expectation I had, that if I didn’t already have a Peacock subscription, I’d be wondering about how to ask for my money back. I liked the story of Seth’s bad back and I appreciate the slow storytelling, but this felt like WWE trying to work a New Japan style and instead coming up with something that felt more boring than intriguing. Umpf. I wanted to love this. I’m not sure that I even liked it.
The two locked up and Rollins worked Nakamura’s arm. Nakamura stepped up and the two reset. The crowd had dueling chants. Nakamura rubbed Rollins’s back at one point and yelled “Come on!” Nakamura kicked Rollins’s back, but Rollins came back with some chops and punches. Nakamura rolled to the outside and Rollins followed with a tope suicida. Back in the ring, Rollins went for a Pedigree, but Nakamura landed a back body-drop to then take control. Nakamura draped Rollins over the top, but Rollins moved and after an exchange, Nakamura rolled to the outside and Rollins landed another tope.
Nakamura was on the commentary table and he lured Rollins in. Ultimately, Nakamura threw Rollins onto the top of the commentary table and Rollins landed awkwardly on his back. The two returned to the ring and Nakamura landed a knee to Rollins’s midsection. Nakamura worked a camel clutch. Nakamura hit a back-breaker and then landed a running knee to Rollins’s head. Nakamura toyed with Rollins and worked a single-leg crab. Rollins kicked his way out of it.
Nakamura went to the second rope, but Rollins cut him off with a series of chops. Rollins landed a Frankensteiner from the top rope and things slowed down. The two got to their feet and traded elbows. Rollins got the best of it and hit a clothesline and Slingblade to take Nakamura down. Rollings hit a high frog splash for a good near-fall. Rollins tried to lift Nakamura, which hurt Rollins and the sequence ended up with Rollins landing a clothesline. Rollins jawed at Nakamura while hitting the back of his head.
Rollins went for a stomp, but Nakamura moved. Nakamura hit a knee from the second rope for a two-count. Nakamura slammed Rollins. Nakamura kicked Rollins’s back and then hit a rolling snap German Suplex for a two-count. Nakamura landed an Exploder and ran at Rollins, but Rollins countered with a super-kick and a two-count. Rollins hit a few strikes, but Nakamura rolled into an arm bar. Rollins powered up and lifted Nakamura for a sit-out power-bomb. That was enough to get Rollins a two-count.
The two stood up together and went head to head. Rollins and Nakamura traded elbows. Nakamura lifted Rollins, but Rollins worked out of it and hit an enziguri. Seth went to the top, but Nakamura cut him off. Nakamura hit an F-5 from the second rope and got a good near-fall out of it. Nakamura landed a Kinshasha, but Rollins couldn’t get up after it. Nakamura kept kicking the hell out of Rollins. Rollins eventually hit a Pedigree. Rollins went for a Stomp, but Nakamura cut him off. It wasn’t long before Rollins actually hit the stomp and kind of/sort of out of nowhere to get the win.
The show ended with Rollins in the ring and Nakamura outside of it. While some may have thought a MITB cash-in would happen … well, it didn’t.
WWE Payback takes place tonight at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh and unless something suddenly changes, the show will be void of any Bloodline content — the first pay-per-view/PLE in nearly a year to not feature a match or segment including the stable.
Payback will also not include many of the company’s top stars. Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar and Logan Paul will not be on the show. Bianca Belair is taking time off, Cody Rhodes will not be wrestling (although he’ll be a guest on The Grayson Waller Effect) and Ronda Rousey appears done with the company for the time being. The Usos, Solo Sikoa, and Paul Heyman are not currently advertised either. Many of the top names that have driven WWE’s major storylines last year and this year are simply not featured this weekend.
The Judgment Day will be looking to fill any holes left by the stars not booked. They are officially part of two of the six matches on the card, but Damian Priest’s Money in the Bank briefcase could easily factor into a third. The stable has shown they can be a draw, especially for NXT, so it’ll be interesting to see how much of Saturday’s show revolves around them.
Which match headlines this show should be interesting as well. A case can certainly be made for Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus being the main event. It’s the blowoff to their feud, in a steel cage, and has two of the company’s most recognizable names. However, the angle has not exactly been on fire of late.
Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens vs. Judgment Day could easily headline the show as well. Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura could go on last as well, but the issue there is that few fans believe Nakamura has any chance at all of walking away with the WWE World Heavyweight title…although the aforementioned MITB briefcase looms large.
The show has drawn well. As of this writing, WrestleTix has 12,475 tickets out for the show with the get-in price being $300. It’s a hot ticket in Pittsburgh.
Regardless of the stars not booked, there are plenty of good matches that should make for an entertaining show. Below are previews, my predictions and betting odds for WWE Payback (8 PM Eastern on Peacock/WWE Network):
Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus in a steel cage match
Lynch is a -1000 favorite.
The idea has always been for Stratus to put over Lynch and I have to imagine this is the blowoff to their story. Lynch should win clean and Stratus will get her comeuppance in the end.
Lynch’s star power has taken a bit of a hit since her original era as “The Man.” She’s due for a hot storyline to get her back to where she was but unfortunately, this hasn’t been it. I’m not sure when and where this angle lost its luster, but it’s been lacking for a while.
Stratus has put all of herself into this heel gimmick, but it’s hard for fans to hate returning legends. Edge’s heel turn went in a very similar direction. I’m assuming Stratus turns back babyface the next time we see her after Payback, which could be a while from now. She has plenty of projects outside of wrestling that are far easier than taking bumps. This is likely it for her current run, but she could return by WrestleMania.
Prediction: Lynch
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins defends against Shinsuke Nakamura
Rollins is a -1000 favorite.
It’s nice to see Nakamura in a top storyline, but he’s not walking away with the title. However, Rollins might not be either due to Priest and the aforementioned briefcase.
Nakamura’s videos in recent weeks, which have been excellent, have focused on Rollins’ injured back — likely to be the eventual downfall of his World title run. Eventually, the physical toll of being a fighting champion will be too much for him and a dastardly heel will pick up an underhanded victory against a vulnerable champion.
AEW has been doing a similar storyline with International Champion Orange Cassidy for the better part of a year now, but I’m expecting WWE to pull the trigger on the champion losing much sooner.
I’m not sure if Priest’s eventual MITB cash-in, which could come this weekend, will be successful or not. Balor could easily mess things up for his stablemate as part of their ongoing story.
Prediction: Rollins retains
WWE Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley defends against Raquel Rodriguez
Ripley is a -5000 favorite to win.
The betting world certainly isn’t giving Rodriguez much of a chance here. Ripley, Dominik Mysterio and the rest of Judgment Day are one of the hottest acts in the company right now and, thus, taking the title off Ripley would serve little purpose at the moment.
However, WWE has always booked Rodriguez strong and they will try to find a way for her to get cheated out of winning the title.
This might not be Ripley’s main story of the night either. She’ll be ringside when Finn Balor & Priest challenge Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn as well. Ripley could even appear during a third match if Priest attempts to cash in his briefcase later in the show.
Prediction: Ripley retains
WWE Undisputed Tag Team Champions Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens defend against Judgment Day (Finn Balor & Damian Priest)
Zayn & Owens are -1000 favorites.
Not that gambling on WWE results is actually something anyone should do, but if you are going to do it, you might consider putting a little money on Judgment Day. Balor and Priest have not been getting along very well lately and it seems pretty clear an eventual split is coming, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s happening tonight.
Dave Meltzer reported earlier this month that the plan is for Priest to leave the group, likely turning babyface in the process. To me, the likeliest scenario is Balor somehow costing Priest his opportunity to cash in the MITB briefcase. If that’s the case, their split isn’t happening here.
JD McDonagh will likely factor into things here as well as we’ll likely find out more about his standing with Judgment Day on the show.
WWE loves a good storyline of two people who don’t get along having to co-exist as tag champions. I think we could be headed to exactly that. We’ll see.
Prediction: Judgment Day wins the titles
LA Knight vs. The Miz
Knight is a -2500 favorite.
Unless WWE decides they are going to give Knight the Daniel Bryan treatment, it seems very likely he will win this match.
I thought I would hate this feud, but I don’t. Both Miz and Knight can tell a good story in their promos and the angle that Miz thinks Knight is a copy of the Attitude Era and someone with fleeting popularity has been surprisingly entertaining.
Knight should win clean.
Prediction: Knight
WWE United States Champion Rey Mysterio defends against Austin Theory
Mysterio is listed as a -500 favorite.
This has the closest betting odds of the night which isn’t surprising as this could really go either way. The story they are telling is that Santos Escobar was supposed to get the shot at Theory, but Mysterio replaced him in a title match after he was attacked and injured. That seems to signify there could be a dissension-type storyline going on with the LWO soon. I mean, similar stories have worked for The Bloodline and Judgment Day, so why not do it with a third stable?
So far, Escobar seems to be coping with having lost his title shot in a mature and sportsmanlike manner, completely unfitting of a professional wrestler. Will that remain the case? They are going somewhere with this angle, but I just don’t know if an Escobar heel turn is the destination.
Theory regaining his title here seems possible, but so does Mysterio winning clean and then being respectfully challenged by Escobar. I can’t offer a clear prediction for this one because there are multiple avenues the story could take. However, it feels likely Mysterio will retain.
John LaRocca and I are back with a brand new Fight Game Podcast.
We hit on our top five topics of the week as there was a lot to choose from thanks to last week’s AEW All In and two wrestling shows this weekend (AEW All Out and WWE Payback).
Here’s what we talked about:
Thoughts on the CM Punk and Jack Perry situation, and whether or not they should be suspended for All out
An AEW Dynamite that didn’t make a lot of sense because of illnesses and travel issues
An All Out card that, on paper, looks lacking
A WWE Payback card that is the most ho hum show in their current hot run
LA Knight’s character being made fun of by The Miz
