411’s WWE Payback Preview

~THE STAFF~
* 411 contributor , Mr. Jake Chambers
* 411 contributor, Mr. Andrew Hughes
* The Nostradamus of 411, Mr. Justin Watry
* 411’s Mr. NXT, Mr. Kevin Pantoja
* 411 contributor, Mr. Steve Cook
* 411 contributor, Mr. Ken Hill

KICKOFF MATCH: Gallows and Anderson vs. Enzo Amore and Big Cass

Jake Chambers: Is there such a thing as an “anti-Kickoff Match”? Because if the purpose of a “Kickoff Match” is to motivate me to then order the event on PPV (is this possible?) or sign-up for the WWE Network, then for me this match would absolutely make me do the opposite. Thank god I know already that this will NOT be on the PPV, so I can skip what is usually a complete waste of time pre-show anyways. Honestly, I didn’t think it would be possible to hate anyone more than I hate “The Club”, two idiots who absolutely stunk up every New Japan event they were on at point when it felt nearly impossible to suck on those shows. But no, Enzo and Cass are officially worse. Two guys who are better at shilling products for the WWE website than they are in the ring, and they’re actually terrible at that too.

Winner: Double Count-out

Andrew Hughes: The Club has yet to find their footing in the WWE despite having held the tag team titles. With the Revival now in the fold the duo figures to shift even further down the totem pole but luckily for them Dash Wilder’s injury has put the Revival on the shelf for a few months so the Clubs’ spot as the top heel team on Raw is safe…unless Sheamus and Cesaro turn heel later in the night which is a distinct possibility. Enzo and Cass stand to benefit from that especially if that duo wins the titles but I think they are saving the Hardyz/Enzo and Cass match for later in the year for a bigger show. With all that in mind the Club should pick up the win here.

Winner: The Club

JUSTIN WATRY: Considering I do not have cable and only get to watch the Hulu version of RAW (plus Youtube clips), I have no clue what this feud is about. My guess is it involves Enzo insulting the bald brothers or something, and WWE needing something to pad out a Kickoff Show for Payback. I guess Finn Balor on Miz TV isn’t enough of a hook for viewers. Needless to say, I don’t care who wins here. The Superstar Shakeup had two goals in my mind besides flipping a few wrestlers who needed a fresh start. First was revamping the entire women’s division by sending Charlotte to Smackdown LIVE. That was accomplished. Second was completely switching the tag team divisions for both shows in a major way. That was kiiiiinda done but not really. Thus, we are left with this.

Winner: Big Cass & Enzo

Kevin Pantoja: Stop me if you’ve seen this match before. For what feels like the hundredth time already, we’re getting this tag match. It doesn’t inspire, doesn’t sound too interesting and feels like they’re just trying to get these guys on the card. I’ll say Gallows and Anderson win because Enzo will get rag dolled and eat a pin since he’s the most expendable guy in the match.

Winner: Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows

Steve Cook: As much as things got shaken up during the Superstar Shakeup, you would have hoped that these guys would have gotten something better to do than wrestling each other. Apparently not. I’m sure there are those out there that enjoy Enzo/Cass vs. Gallows/Anderson matches, but to me, this feels like it’s gone on longer than Freebirds vs. Von Erichs, with no positive effects for anybody involved. The story they’ve been telling lately (Enzo getting killed) indicates that Enzo & Cass should get their revenge here. Let’s hope that they do, and that the Revival come back soon so we can see something different.

Winner: Enzo & Cass

KEN HILL: It seems like Vince and company are refocusing a bit on Cass as a standalone competitor, which is best since he and Enzo have gone virtually nowhere as a tag team since their main roster debut. It’s been said before, but Enzo would be better off as Cass’ mouthpiece. The Club simply has more upside as a part of RAW’s tag division, and this is hopefully the beginning of the end of Enzo and Cass as a regular tag team.

Winner: Gallows and Anderson

Samoa Joe vs. Seth Rollins

Jake Chambers: Just like the Joe/Zayn match many people thought was gonna “steal the show” at Fastlane, or like the Joe vs. Nakamura and Balor NXT feuds that were gonna be awesome, or really anything with post-TNA Samoa Joe, you pretty much know what you’re gonna get: mean mugging, some weak looking power moves, lots of rest holds, and losing. I suppose it’s appropriate for this version of Joe to finally be on the WWE main roster when the last thing they need are creative wrestlers who stand out and do interesting things. Speaking of guys who used to be cool and are now lame, how about that Seth Rollins? How do they bring this guy’s career back from the dead? Remember that time when they had The Miz playing babyface for like 2 years too long, this feels like that only longer and in way less time. But you can’t lose a match after you just got a new finisher, can you?

Winner: Seth Rollins

Andrew Hughes: Samoa Joe and Seth Rollins were probably supposed to have this match back at Fastlane but were unable to because of the re-aggravated leg injury Samoa Joe caused to Rollins’ leg. These two have been battling ever since and their feud has become intensely personal. I believe that more than likely these two will continue to battle and there’s a good chance this is the first of a series of matches. With that being the case I believe Seth Rollins is going to win by DQ or count out due to Samoa Joe’s over-aggression.

Winner: Seth Rollins via Shenanigans

JUSTIN WATRY: Samoa Joe was protected in NXT for 20 months, just as he has been protected on RAW for his first three months. So far, so good. Unfortunately, I believe we are getting to that point where he can eat a few losses and be okay. Sunday feels like one of those times. Seth Rollins is still not 100% there as a top good guy. Joe can help him get there. No controversy, no interference. I see Rollins winning after a hard-hitting bout.

Winner: Seth Rollins

Kevin Pantoja: Something about WWE Samoa Joe hasn’t fully clicked with me. He hasn’t been at all bad and it’s the best shape he’s been in since his prime in TNA. However, a lot of his matches haven’t been as good as I’d hoped. Outside of one Finn Balor match (Dallas) and one Sami Zayn match (2 Out of 3 Falls) everything has fallen just short. I sadly suspect more of the same here. I’m expecting a really good match but something that won’t be great. I’d love to be wrong though. Anyway, I’m gonna say Joe wins here. Other than Sami and his tainted win over Roman Reigns, Joe hasn’t really done anything. A win here would be good for him and Seth can get revenge later.

Winner: Samoa Joe

Steve Cook: As a ROH guy from back in the day, you would think I’d be excited to see these two guys going at it on a WWE event. But I’m pretty meh about it. It should be good, but I’m not overly excited about it. I’m pretty sure that if it wasn’t the continuation of a Triple H storyline that I might be a little more interested. Maybe. It’s tough to say. I’ll pick Joe because he has to get Payback for his benefactor.

Winner: Samoa Joe

KEN HILL: One of the matches I’m looking forward to most, purely based on the two men’s athleticism and star power. While the storyline is more of the same Authority-based drek, it’s at least made the transition towards a more active competitor in Joe to face off with Rollins without a McMahon dragging it all down. Rollins is riding high off his victory over Trips, while Joe is still looking to make that “impact” he promised shortly before WM 33. This is the kind of feud you’d want to keep going without either man suffering a clean loss to start, so I can imagine it will be something along the lines of Joe either going too far in destroying Rollins and getting DQ’ed, or being out-quicked and outsmarted for a countout, something along those lines to keep the feud going to a more satisfying, brutal conclusion down the line.

Winner: Seth Rollins by DQ/Countout

Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman

Jake Chambers: I gotta figure this is the main event of the PPV, no? The WWE seems kind of hyped about Braun Strowman right now, and I guess they need someone for Brock Lesnar to defend the Universal Title against at SummerSlam for about 5 minutes. Can’t wait (eye roll). My question is, how long does it take for wrestling fans to turn on Braun? Right now the prevailing myth is that he’s “worked hard” to become this great big man character, even though I have no idea what this work supposedly includes? Do we think he’s in the gym running high spots with Matt Sydal, or learning how to extravagantly sell from Billy Gunn? The dude is a big monster who probably spends most of his days eating and working out to maintain that size, and the rest of the time getting told how to no-sell everyone else’s offence. I mean, wrestling fans don’t like big men, they’ve jumped on and off the Big Show’s bandwagon more times than the Big Show has turned face/heel (that’s a lot). So it’s cool now to be into Braun when he’s having good matches with (surprise, surprise) Roman Reigns, but let’s see all that love when he’s stinking the place up with Bray Wyatt or Dean Ambrose.

Winner: Braun Strowman

Andrew Hughes: The most entertaining part of Monday Night Raw the past few weeks has undoubtedly been the Monster Among Men. Strowman has been beating the piss out of everyone and anyone and the crowd has been loving it. No segment got more a favorable reaction than Strowman flipping over an ambulance that had Roman Reigns inside. I was there at the Nassau Coliseum that night and the crowd was chanting “Thank you Strowman” long after the beat down subsided. I’m going to trust that WWE makes the right call here and doesn’t sacrifice their star in the making to a man that has already been to the top of the mountain and has solidified his status by retiring the Undertaker.

Winner: Braun Strowman

JUSTIN WATRY: Probably the main event. Not that I would enjoy a non-finish to close the show, isn’t the only logical result here? You can get creative with an Ambulance Match or some kind of gimmick. That isn’t the case here. It is one on one – a normal grudge match between two beasts. Braun is supposedly next in line to challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship. No sense in having him lose a month or two before that showdown. On the flip side, Roman Reigns just beat The Undertaker at WrestleMania! No sense in him losing four weeks later. None. I am going to pick Reigns but really, neither should lose right now. Tough spot.

Winner: Roman Reigns

Kevin Pantoja: Since the brand split, I’ve firmly been a Team Smackdown guy. They’ve consistently been the better show and have elevated more stars. The one thing I feel Raw has absolutely excelled it is how they’ve handled Braun Strowman. Braun has been the best-booked monster in a long time. He’s entertaining as hell, everything he says or does just works and he’s improved in the ring. He’s had good matches with Zayn, Show and others. I’d say nobody has come further in the past two years, especially considering he came to the main roster with no time in NXT. Anyway, despite all that, Roman Reigns is Roman Reigns. He’ll return and win.

Winner: BIG DOG GOTTA EAT

Steve Cook: This just feels like one of those LOL ROMAN WINS matches, doesn’t it? Braun murdered the man a couple of weeks ago, so obviously it’s time for The Big Dog to get his Payback. The best Strowman can hope for is a disqualification for kicking too much ass, which I won’t rule out here. But Reigns is winning.

Winner: Roman Reigns

KEN HILL: I’m a little disappointed that this wasn’t made an ambulance or stretcher match so we could see BRAUN heave Reigns off of more stuff. I kid, I kid (kinda), but I do wonder why they didn’t add a stipulation along those lines so Roman “Bruised Purple” Reigns wouldn’t have to eat a precarious pinfall. If the rumor is true that Strowman is set as Brock’s first Universal Title challenger, then I suppose a straight-up brutally dominant win to send Reigns packing for the short term would be a good way to kick things off.

Winner: BRAUN Strowman

Cruiserweight Title Match: Champion Neville vs. Austin Aries

Jake Chambers: Poor Austin Aries. I kind of thought he was going to work his magic and make 205 Live interesting the way he did in both ROH and TNA against all odds, but not even the “Greatest Man Who Ever Lived” can fight against the “Most Pointless Show on Wrestling TV”. These two can go out there and have the best match in the history of pro-wrestling, and it won’t matter because one of them will be feuding over Alicia Fox in a month while the other will get to have like 6 matches with Jack Gallagher. I just hope the money these guys are making is seriously life changing, otherwise I’d rather they just roll through town on the indy circuit every few months and entertain me in a real way.

Winner: Time-Limit Draw

Andrew Hughes: Neville has been a fine champion so far and has elevated the division since becoming the “King of the Cruiserweights.” Aries is a worthy challenger who is poised to dethrone the cocky champion but something tells me it will not be at Payback. Neville has defeated pretty much every credible challenger (Swann, Perkins, Gallagher) on multiple occasions but Aries refuses to go away. I believe TJ Perkins gets involved and causes the DQ.

Winner: Austin Aries via DQ

JUSTIN WATRY: If Austin Aries was going to get his moment, it was going to happen at WM33. While the company may have just wanted to reward a heel Neville with a nice gift that night, I think it was more of a long-term move. The cruiserweight division is STILL nowhere near as important as it should be, so the champion needs to be a stable name that people know and recognize. That is Neville. No more flip flopping the title and going with different guys every month. They have picked Neville, so stay with him.

Winner: Neville

Kevin Pantoja: Man, I loved their match at WrestleMania but this feud has kind of fallen a bit flat since then. Even with the addition of TJ Perkins. On the one hand, I don’t think Aries loses straight up again. On the other, I don’t think Neville is quite done as champion. The title has changed hands frequently since it returned and Neville as a steady hand for the division is a good thing. So what do I think happens here? Aries picks up the win via disqualification thanks to shenanigans from TJ Perkins. Maybe it leads to Perkins/Neville/Aries at the next PPV or something.

Winner: Austin Aries via DQ

Steve Cook: I’m a big fan of the King of the Cruiserweights. Neville has finally developed some personality and it’s a thing to behold. Unfortunately for him, this is likely the point in the story where the King gets dethroned. Aries needs to get it done right now or he becomes just another guy in the division. Hopefully Neville will continue to be productive as a challenger and the Neville Level can still be a thing.

Winner: Austin Aries

KEN HILL: I’ve actually liked TJ Perkins as “Neville’s Advocate” as it’s given him more of a purpose on 205 Live and seemingly reinvigorated him inside the ring against the likes of Gallagher and Aries. I could certainly see a possibility near the end of the match where Perkins and perhaps Gallagher end up getting involved, costing Aries another win and setting up a Triple Threat or Fatal Four Way for their next PPV installment, which could really catch the audience’s eye as to what the Cruiserweights are truly capable of.

Winner: Neville

Raw Women’s Title Match: Champion Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss

Jake Chambers: Despite there being a so-called “Superstar Shake-up”, am I crazy, or is this the only match on the card that we haven’t actually seen before? The four tag teams were in a ladder match together at WrestleMania, and everything else is a WrestleMania re-match, except for Reigns vs. Strowman which was saw on the RAW PPV before Mania. Huh. The more things change, the more they stay the same is an understatement. Well, one thing we know is different, apparently Bliss needs a push-up bra now that she’s on RAW, because, I guess, the ratings or something. She still probably needs about another foot of hair extensions though. And am I the only one who thinks Bayley looks a bit like the masked serial killer character that David Cronenberg played in Nightbreed? The law of WWE aesthetics has got to tell you who’s winning this one then.

Winner: Alexa Bliss

Andrew Hughes: Alexa Bliss is by far the best personality in the women’s division. Her mannerisms, her facial expressions, and her delivery is far better than those of her peers. Bayley’s title reign thus far has been lackluster and she really doesn’t feel like a strong champion. A Sasha Banks heel turn seems to be imminent but that must happen with Bayley as champion. Despite the fact that I think Bliss should be champion, I think that the WWE will continue with the Bayley experiment.

Winner: Bayley

JUSTIN WATRY: Hey, remember that garbage report about officials souring on Alexa Bliss or whatever some bogus website thought up of a few weeks ago? I loved it. Oh look, Bliss won the number one contender’s match in OHIO!!! No way. The internet tells me WWE loves to humiliate the hometown wrestler. Guess Dean Ambrose didn’t get the memo that night either. Huh. Funny conspiracy theories never cease to amaze me. Truthfully, I will be root for Bliss to win, making her the first to win both RAW and Smackdown Womens’ Titles…but Bayley is the prediction. Like Neville, WWE chose her for a reason. Don’t play hot potato with the belt. Not now. That Bayley/Sasha Banks bout awaits.

Winner: Bayley

Kevin Pantoja: I absolutely think Alexa Bliss is the best choice for the top female heel on Raw. That’s why I think they probably hot-shotted this match too soon. I assumed Nia would become number one contender as a placeholder feud or even Mickie James. Mickie/Bayley would’ve been fun as a one-off feud since Bayley could say she looked up to Mickie and Mickie could put her over. I’d have saved Alexa/Bayley for a bigger feud and show. I do think the WWE is building towards Bayley/Sasha in the Barclays Center at SummerSlam like it’s TakeOver two years ago. Alexa could win here and Bayley win it back but I say Bayley retains until then.

Winner: Bayley

Steve Cook: A lot of the fans on the Internet are biased in favor of Bayley. I am biased in favor of Alexa. Unless I’m forgetting somebody, I don’t think there’s been a woman in the history of WWE that was more of a natural on the microphone. Women like AJ Lee, Vickie Guerrero & Stephanie McMahon got there eventually through hard work, but Alexa has come right out of the gate as an amazing talker and is probably my favorite promo in WWE right now, if not all of wrestling. Her character has gotten her farther than anybody would have expected at this point in her career, and her bragging about beating Bayley in her hometown will be tremendous.

Winner: Alexa Bliss

KEN HILL: I’ve liked Alexa in her role here, playing a near-perfect antithesis to Bayley’s happy-go-lucky personality and upbeat attitude. Her promos, both against Bayley and the audience, have been on-point and solid. She’s also dropped a lot of hints as to the fatigue of the Sasha-Bayley storyline, which makes me think Sasha’s either going to pull the trigger on Sunday, or immediately afterwards to set herself up as the next challenger. I’m leaning more towards the latter.

Winner: Bayley

Raw Tag Team Title Match: Champions Matt and Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus and Cesaro

Jake Chambers: Remember that time Matt & Jeff did that whole “Broken” gimmick for a few weeks and it was the hottest act in wrestling… NOT! LOL! That’s my favorite re-writing of history among online wrestling pundits and fans since “Anderson & Gallows were amazing in New Japan”. I mean, can you imagine a world, seriously, where that horrible comedy, no-wrestling, douche-chills gimmick-skit was actually the biggest thing in pro-wrestling? It would be like those few years when the Scary Movie franchise was topping the box office (legitimately, not because some fans online said so), a disaster we still have to deal with today (I want my no-money back, Fifty Shades of Black, for you just existing). The good news is, the WWE (who obviously would have hired The Hardys anyways) has Jeff Hardy back, a bonafide main event-er who I’m pretty sure they’re going to ease back into that roll against all these other competent mid-card dudes.

Winner: Matt and Jeff Hardy

Andrew Hughes: I believe these two teams are set to begin an extended program that should span a few months. There’s only four viable teams on Raw at the moment so there really isn’t any other choice but to have these two teams duke it out for a while. With that being said I believe that Sheamus and Cesaro will eventually unseat the Hardyz but it won’t be at Payback. Instead, the kilt-clad duo will lose, become frustrated and blast the Hardyz post-match and perhaps even BREAK them…

Winner: The Hardyz

JUSTIN WATRY: Well, Jeff Hardy won his single’s match. Then the following week Matt Hardy won his single’s match. Cesaro and Sheamus lost their single’s matches. Weird. At every turn, it has been shown that The Hardyz are better than their opponents. I mean, they ARE but still, very interesting hype for a tag team title bout. Either Sheamus and Cesaro are turning heel (bad idea) or something else is going on here. Not sure what, but WWE has my attention. Hardyz retain; the aftermath will be the real story though.

Winner: Hardyz

Kevin Pantoja: The Hardy Boyz are a fun nostalgia act but I’ve personally never been a huge fan. I was always more of an Edge and Christian or Dudleys guy. Still, I liked their return since it was a legitimate cool moment and they’re working a full time schedule. Whoever beats them should get a pretty good rub. Anyway, this has been strangely booked. The Hardys beat Sheamus and Cesaro, two good singles guys in their own rights, in singles matches. That usually means they won’t get the better in the tag match but I can’t see the Hardys losing.

Winner: Matt and Jeff Hardy

Steve Cook: The storyline seems to indicate that Sheamus & Cesaro are due for a victory on Sunday. But it’s the Hardys, so I feel safe in casting aside that storyline and assuming they will be tag champs for a bit longer. Or at least until they get broken. I don’t think we are there just yet.

Winner: Matt and Jeff Hardy

KEN HILL: If it weren’t for all the talk about WWE supposedly having “leased” the Broken Universe concept, I would’ve chalked this one up for the Hardys, with the European duo turning heel out of frustration from keeping to their ideals of sportsmanship. While I still sense a heel turn coming for Sheamus and Cesaro, I’d imagine it’ll prove more fruitful right away, leading to the Hardys’ nostalgia run being broken…and it will be extraordinarily DELIGHTFUL!

Winner: NEW CHAMPIONS Sheamus and Cesaro

US Title Match: Champion Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho

Jake Chambers: The best thing that ever happened to this feud was putting these guys on different shows so we didn’t have to keep seeing the same crap between them every week. So kudos to WWE for at least recognizing that we can only take so many “We used to be friends” storylines with Kevin Owens, and put him into a pure wrestling feud with AJ Styles over the US Title. Well, then I guess “boo” to the WWE for making a match here that’s so inconsequential that the next contender for Kevin Owens is already set-up, and we all know Jericho is touring with Fozzy in the Spring, so yeah… good times… zzzzz

Winner: Kevin Owens

Andrew Hughes: The fact that AJ Styles and Kevin Owens have already begun their feud on Smackdown Live tells you everything you need to know about the result of this match. Chris Jericho will be touring in May with Fozzy so expect a brutal beat down and a post-match apron powerbomb.

Winner: KO

JUSTIN WATRY: One could argue this deserves the main event slot. With the House of Horrors match being a mystery (and apparently non-title?), and Reigns/Strowman possibly not having a finish, that would leave Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho. It is for a title, plus their story line actually dates back to last summer. Seems like a fitting conclusion – main events a WWE Network live special with the younger star defeating the wrestler about to take time off. Nothing worth with that at all.

Winner: Kevin Owens

Kevin Pantoja: I like that these guys are gonna be on different shows now. Their feud was excellently built and the payoff of the turn was perfect. The match at WrestleMania was really good and this should be more of the same. If Jericho wins, he also joins Smackdown. That’s not gonna happen. They’ve planted the seeds for Kevin Owens’ first real Smackdown feud with AJ Styles already and I suspect they main event Backlash in Chicago. That can’t happen if Jericho is champion again. Plus, it’s not like Jericho needs it.

Winner: Kevin Owens

Steve Cook: Jericho is on his way out and Owens is the center of the most important stuff on Smackdown at the moment. That being said, TV ratings are heading down right now and maybe a good way to get a positive bump this week would be to have Jericho win this match and have Owens’ rematch on SD Live be Jericho’s swan song for now. I don’t usually advocate quickie title changes, but this seems like a good time for one.

Winner: Chris Jericho

KEN HILL: Pretty cut-and-dry for this one; Jericho’s on his way out for a summer tour with Fozzy, Owens is already making new “friends” on SD Live, so no big shock here. I imagine something particularly brutal on Owens’ behalf to send Jericho packing, it’s usually the way Y2J likes to go out.

Winner: Kevin Owens

House of Horrors Match: Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt

Jake Chambers: I liked the Boiler Room Brawls, I liked the Hollywood Backlot Brawl, I liked Halftime Heat, I liked that Cena/JBL No DQ match, the Cena/Eddie Iron Circle Match, and Owen Hart’s Dungeon Match series… hell, I was even kind of into that WCW Hardcore division Junkyard Match… but I’ll tell you what I don’t like: Bray Wyatt. And I’m not even talking about the horrible promos or boring matches, just as a gimmick he’s a massive letdown. After all these years you’d kind of think they would have come up with something cool for him do with his powers and spooky crap. We had that creepy kid in the Cena cage match, whatever that was supposed to be at the Rollins/Ambrose Hell in a Cell, that embarrassingly dumb compound fight with the New Day that might have even made the Broken Hardys bit look good, and then… oh boy… that WrestleMania worm slideshow. Ouch. Remember when Wyatt was claiming no one was gonna be able to follow his match with Orton at WM? Shame on us for thinking he meant because the match was going to be so good, not so unbelievably stupid. I’m crossing my fingers that there is finally some kind of payoff for the weird promised by the Wyatt character, but this is 2017 WWE, and the last thing you want to do is get your hopes up.

Winner: Randy Orton

Andrew Hughes: Whatever the hell this match is it will likely be as corny as the pair’s WrestleMania match which featured the ring becoming a projection of worms. With all of the hype Wyatt has given this match anything short of a burning casket match held inside Disney World’s haunted house ride will disappoint. The fact that this has become a non-title match and that it is on a Raw pay-per-view means that Wyatt will pick up the win.

Winner: Bray Wyatt

JUSTIN WATRY: Okay, so Jinder Mahal stole the WWE Championship. That eliminates the title belt. Not like Bray Wyatt cares about a rematch clause or anything. Whatever this House of Horrors ‘thing’ is, I don’t have a ton of interest. I predicted this story line would slowly lose buzz once Luke Harper and AJ Styles butted their nose into it…and yep, nailed it. This feud never regained momentum again and now comes to a quiet finale. Either Orton wins in Wyatt’s own invention OR Wyatt wins to get some little credibility back for his RAW feud with Finn Balor. Initially, I had this pegged as an easy win for Mr. RKO, and life moves on. Just two seconds ago, while writing this paragraph, I changed my mind. Jinder Mahal can interfere in a ‘shocking’ move (brand split rules?), and the WWE Champion goes down. Remember it is non-title. Wyatt has a winning promo for Monday night planned, and BOOM – Finn Balor enters the picture. Perfect feud.

Winner: Bray Wyatt

Kevin Pantoja: What the hell is this? The WWE haven’t explained this match at all and I don’t expect good things. Orton and Wyatt were FAR better as partners than opponents. They shit the bed at WrestleMania, which I feel will be the case at Payback too. Weird shenanigans, wacky b movie horror antics and mediocre wrestling. With this being non-title, I get the sense Bray wins so he can have some momentum before jobbing to Finn Balor in his first real Raw rivalry.

Winner: Bray Wyatt

Steve Cook: Orton has had some ineffective runs with the main championships before, but this one just might take the cake. He managed to get his belt stolen by Jinder Mahal and is heading towards a feud with him that might be the third most important ongoing issue on Smackdown Live if it’s lucky. He was theoretically on this show to defend the title against Bray Wyatt, but now he’s not, which probably means he’s going to lose this match. World Champion Rey Mysterio thinks Orton’s coming off pretty badly here. But it’s probably the right choice anyway. Orton is as bulletproof with his fans as anybody, and Bray needs the win to be taken seriously as a threat on Raw. People say Bray doesn’t need to win matches…they are wrong. A win here puts him in the title picture whenever Brock Lesnar comes back. A loss puts him in his usual spot floating around the mid-card.

Winner: Bray Wyatt

KEN HILL: Before anyone says, “Oh this is Wyatt’s match, he made it, NO WAY he’ll lose”, we’ve said something along those lines about a dozen different points in the former Husky Harris’ career where a win MIGHT have meant something worthwhile for the longevity of his career and the level of his stardom. This feud with Orton had so much potential at the start of 2017, perhaps even carrying over to Summerslam later this year, but that’s a moot point now. It’s become one big supernaturally-based mess of a storyline, and Wyatt’s once again fallen into the rut of making outlandish claims and ramblings in his promos that don’t resonate with the WWE audience simply because he’s never delivered outside of the ONE MONTH as WWE Champion. Orton wins and “vanquishes” Bray to RAW, where he will simply get lost in the shuffle and become the “Eater of Pinfalls” to the Shield boys, Finn Balor, and the like.

Winner: Randy Orton

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