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Random Network Reviews: Payback 2015
Loading...Payback 2015
May 17th, 2015 | Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland | Attendance: 10,000
In 2013, the WWE introduced a new Pay-Per-View called Payback. For the first two installments, it was held at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, which is a pretty historic venue for the WWE. This time, it moved to Baltimore. This is my first review of a show from the year 2015, and since this aired on the WWE Network, it comes with a Kickoff show that I will be reviewing. I’d also like to point out that the first two Payback shows were really good so hopefully this one continues that trend.
R-Truth vs. Stardust
This is an unannounced match. Not much backstory here except that Truth had eliminated Stardust from the King of the Ring Tournament earlier in the month. Cody Rhodes is so very good and absolutely lives the Stardust gimmick. They do some fun little exchanges early includes slaps and dancing. Stardust misses a dropkick that he barely elevates on, so it looked strange. Truth nails an inverted suplex but Stardust comes with a double jump Disaster Kick for two. Is it still called that now that he’s no longer Cody? Stardust goes all Matt Hardy with the Side Effect for a near fall. Now he channels Bugs Bunny by removing his glove and slapping Truth with it. Truth hits the Lie Detector from out of nowhere to win.
Winner: R-Truth in 6:51
Pretty fun match here. Nothing that I couldn’t see on television on a weekly basis, but overall, it was an enjoyable showing. **½
The Ascension vs. The “Mega Powers”
The “Mega Powers” are Curtis Axel, dressed as Hulk Hogan and Damien Sandow, dressed as Macho Man. JBL gets in a crack about how Axel and Sandow are more Nacho Man and the Huckster. Axel gets hit instantly and begins to Hulk up. Lawler instantly calls him out for not saving that for later. He hits the big boot and leg drop but Viktor breaks the pin. Mild tag comes to Sandow who does some poor looking Macho Man like offense. Before he can hit the elbow or anything, he eats the Fall of Man to end this.
Winners: The Ascension in 2:50
This was here. It wasn’t long enough for anything to note to happen. The fake Mega Powers act was alright but not entertaining enough for me to really like this. *¼
Now we’re onto the actual Pay-Per-View event. The intro video focuses on the WWE World Heavyweight Title and United States Title matches.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus
At the previous Pay-Per-View, Dolph Ziggler defeated Sheamus in a “Kiss Me Arse” match, but it was Sheamus who made Dolph kiss his arse. Due to that, this is personal and Dolph starts with a quick flurry. Sheamus catches a superkick, before driving his elbow into the knee. It’s a basic move, but Dolph sells it like it’s brutal. Sheamus gets two on the Irish Curse, picking apart Ziggler. Sheamus misses a charge in the corner, hurting his shoulder. Dolph starts to rally, getting some retribution by putting his ass in Sheamus’ face. He sells how gross this is by running outside and getting water. They do a series of counters ending with a Dolph Fameasser for a near fall. Sheamus comes back with a powerslam and a sweet running powerbomb, both for two. Due to the leg and back work done earlier, Sheamus applies the Texas Cloverleaf. Dolph reaches the ropes before coming back with a headbutt. He busts himself open the hard way and is gushing. A superkick follows but isn’t enough. The headbutt did damage as Dolph is a mess and Sheamus mercifully ends it with the Brogue Kick.
Winner: Sheamus in 12:21
A really solid opening contest here. They went out and had their usual good match but the addition of the blood gave this a different feel by the end. Dolph looked good in defeat because he looked like a warrior. I don’t believe there was enough selling of the leg by either guy which was my biggest gripe with this. ***¼
After some dull backstage tension between Seth Rollins and Kane, New Day comes out for their match. They kill on the mic and point out Baltimore Orioles’ outfielder Adam Jones in the front row. Seriously, New Day is great.
WWE Tag Team Championship Two out of Three Falls Match
The New Day (c) w/ Xavier Woods vs. Tyson Kidd and Cesaro w/ Natalya
The WWE struck absolute gold with these two units. Tyson Kidd and Cesaro start hot. Cesaro impresses with a massive powerslam on Big E, who returns the favor with a gorilla press slam. Cesaro double stomps both guys, holds Kofi up on a seriously long stalling vertical and tags Tyson who slams Kofi down for two. The big swing/dropkick combo earns the challengers the first fall. Woods gets on the apron, shouting about the Freebird rule and how he should be allowed in. I wish they would do that. Natalya slaps him before Kidd lays him out with a diving knee. Inside, Tyson front flips over Big E and clotheslines Kofi. Their hot streak ends when he eats a massive belly to belly outside from Big E. Kidd now plays the face in peril. “BIG E’S THE MUSCLE, KOFI’S THE AGILITY, I’M THE BRAINS!” Xavier is gold. The spots keep coming as Big E spears Cesaro off the apron, leaving Kidd with nobody to tag. He tries to rally but takes New Day’s finish to knot the score. Big E hits another massive belly to belly inside. The hot tag finally comes to Cesaro who hits like six straight corner to corner uppercuts. He hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker followed by a springboard elbow from Kidd for two. In an awesome spot, Kofi tries to backdrop Kidd outside, but he lands on Cesaro’s back and he skins the cat back inside. A popup uppercut nearly wins but the pin is broken. Xavier removes his jacket, comes in and rolls up Cesaro to win. The referee did not notice the switch.
Winners and still WWE Tag Team Champions: The New Day in 12:40
At Extreme Rules, these two teams stole the show and they did so here again. Tyson Kidd and Cesaro have a chemistry that is rare and they pulled out all of the stops here. The things they were doing were impressive and rather amazing. It played perfectly into the “New Day can only win with the numbers advantage” theory. ***¾
Bray Wyatt vs. Ryback
There is still no real reason behind this match or feud. They brawl for a bit and when they go outside, Ryback drives Bray into the guardrail. Back inside, Bray moves to try and wear down the powerful Ryback. Bray drives Ryback into the apron before climbing on it. He leaps off with a senton that I believe really injured him. They tease a countout but he makes it back in. For some reason, Bray does ten corner punches, which is completely out of character and only put there so Ryback could powerbomb him. I hate when wrestlers do moves they would never usually do for the sake of a spot. Bray comes back by working over Ryback in the corner for a bit. Ryback calls for the finish but Bray blocks it. Ryback knocks Bray off the top and hits a rather good looking frog splash for tow. He continues to sell the ribs, but I’m unsure if that’s just because he’s legit hurt. Ryback wants the Shell Shock but is sent into an exposed buckle. Bray finishes him with Sister Abigail.
Winner: Bray Wyatt in 15:36
Technically, it wasn’t bad. It was just the kind of match that I didn’t understand the need for. The build behind it sucked and that made me and the crowd be less into it than we should have. Ryback impressed a few times, but it was just there. I also think it went a few minutes too long. This should have been swapped with the previous match when it comes to time. **½
WWE United States Championship I Quit Match
John Cena (c) vs. Rusev w/ Lana
Here we have our FOURTH straight Pay-Per-View with a Rusev/Cena match. They have, until this point, gotten progressively worse. Early on, pretty much every single move Rusev hits is followed by Mike Chioda asking Cena “DO YOU WANNA QUIT?” It’s old already and it’s only been three minutes. Due to the fans chanting “we want Lana”, Rusev scolds her at ringside but she’s all like “I didn’t do anything dude.” They trade basic stuff for a while, but the fans know that nobody is going to quit yet. Cena hits an AA on the steps as the biggest spot so far, but it’s not enough. He goes to launch the steps outside onto Rusev, who dodges it. Commentary sells it like it’s shocking but Cena has done this before, even connecting a year earlier at this same event. The fight spills out through the crowd. With every “DO YOU WANNA QUIT?” I literally contemplate quitting. Cena hits Rusev with a laptop, giving us the only good thing about this match, which is Rusev’s reaction. Priceless. Cena is put through a table but won’t quit. As they make it to the stage, Cena this Rusev with an AA on the electronic stage stuff and it EXPLODES! Rusev sells it like he blew up. This is laughable. Cena gets an old school guardrail and hits Rusev with it. Rusev hits a suplex on the guardrail and again steals the show with his facial expression. Inside, he applies the Accolade and Cena passes out, but doesn’t quit. Rusev removes the top rope before pouring water on Cena to wake him up. He goes after Cena, who miraculously ducks and applies the STF with the top rope across Rusev’s face. Lana enters and quits for Rusev.
Winner and still United States Champion: John Cena in 27:58
This easily gets my vote for the worst I Quit in history. I’ve seen people give it four or more stars and I can’t fathom why. They spent the entire match saying that the guy in the match had to say the words, but allowed Lana to say it. On top of that Chioda asking “do you wanna quit?” a million times was annoying as hell. They just used spots from past Cena matches with Wyatt, Orton and especially Umaga. It’s lazy. *
After the Kickoff panel discusses that nonsense match, Byron Saxton interviews the New Day, who are celebrating by drinking milk. Saxton tells them that they have to defend their belts in the Elimination Chamber at the next live special.
The Bella Twins vs. Naomi and Tamina
This is during that odd time that the Bella Twins were randomly faces for like a month and a half. Nikki starts with Naomi and gets a quick two on Cody Rhodes’ disaster kick. The Bellas bust out a double flapjack. Naomi’s light up shoes are currently rocking Knicks and Mets colors. BRIEEEE MODE! God’ Brie’s good to look at but her voice is the worst. A Tamina superkick to Brie puts her as the face in peril. Nikki eventually gets the tag and even kicks out of the Rear View, which has put her down in the past. It doesn’t matter though as Naomi just pins her after a distraction anyway.
Winners: Naomi and Tamina in 6:13
Absolutely standard divas tag match here. Each girl got to do some of their signature stuff and the crowd didn’t really care about it. It was kind of just there. I still prefer it to the last match though. *¼
Backstage, Rusev gets pissed at Lana and kicks her out of his locker room. Next we get told that the vacant Intercontinental Title will be determined in the Elimination Chamber in two weeks.
King Barrett vs. Neville
At the previous month’s Extreme Rules, Neville beat Barrett, only for Barrett to even the score in the finals of the King of the Ring. Neville flies around the ring at the start, sending Barrett outside to regroup. He meets him there with some more athleticism, though it ends up costing him when he eats a boot. Barrett takes over on offense to slow things down. After a few minutes of that dull stuff, Neville starts to rally, earning two on a standing shooting star press. Barrett misses the Bull Hammer but hits the Winds of Change for a near fall. Neville comes off the top with an interesting pinning combination and then hits an enziguri. He goes up for the Red Arrow, only for Barrett to roll outside. Neville flies out with a dive but seems to have hurt his knee. He gets back in, but Barrett decides against it, getting himself counted out.
Winner via countout: Neville in 7:22
My least favorite of their three matches. The finish was lame and the match itself was actually rather boring. Neville is usually fun, but this just didn’t deliver in my eyes. **
King Barrett attacks after the match, but when he poses with the crown and cape, Neville comes back with a German and hits the Red Arrow.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Seth Rollins (c) w/ J&J Security vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns
Kane is at ringside because if Seth Rollins loses, he’s fired. A brawl involving J&J starts things, with Roman Reigns highlighting it by doing his sweet dive to the outside onto everyone. Seth takes over inside until Dean Ambrose flies in with an elbow. It’s strange that he does it to standing opponents. Reigns and Ambrose start working together, but then Kane gets involved. Dean tries one of his absurd rebound lariats but Kane sees it coming. Dean and Seth have an exchange inside, which is fun as usual. Dean hits the Nigel and tries for Dirty Deeds but Kane interrupts. Orton comes in and starts getting in his usual offense. They’ve certainly made sure that this isn’t boring. Orton gets two on a superplex. Things go outside and really start to pick up. Orton sets up the announce table but, in the coolest moment of the match, it backfires. Seth, Dean and Roman go old school Shield on him with the triple powerbomb through it. The crowd absolutely eats this up. Seth goes for the Shield fist bump but his former brothers want none of that and attack. They put Kane through the Spanish announce table before deciding to do battle with each other. It honestly gives me Austin/Rock vibes. They also do a cool “loser buys beers” thing before going at it. Their exchange is even more fun than the Ambrose/Rollins stuff earlier. They counter each other’s finishers until Reigns connects on a Spear but Seth breaks the pin. Seth hits Dean with a Pele, Reigns hits Seth with the Superman punch and Ambrose hits Reigns with a rebound lariat. He covers but Kane pulls him out. The Authority takes care of Dean and Roman outside, leaving Orton with Seth. More J&J shenanigans lead to Orton hitting them with RKOs. He also hits the rope hung DDT on Seth and calls for another RKO. Seth counters, sending Orton into Kane who eats an RKO. That allows Seth to hit a Pedigree and retain.
Winner and still WWE World Heavyweight Champion: Seth Rollins in 21:52
A really fun main event. The action never stopped and once they did the Shield reunion tease, it really kicked into second gear. The tease was a blast and I have to say that I got some Austin/Rock/HHH vibes from Dean/Roman/Seth. There is also potential big money in a Dean/Roman program. The only issue I have with this match is the excess interference and involvement from Kane and J&J Security. Really entertaining though. ****
