When all the dusted settled from WrestleMania 32, were left with a look on our face that was similar to one cemented on the fans in attendance who witnessed Brock Lesnar put an abrupt halt to the Undertaker’s winning streak. Obviously the card at this year’s event was an underwhelming display of questionable booking, but the fact that we have the same scenario playing out with Shane McMahon that makes his outcome of his match against the Undertaker seem nonexistent is something leads us to believe Payback may be trying to rewrite the wrongs. The Payback card is shaping up to be a much better show, and in terms of actual wrestling, could be one of the most entertaining WWE PPVs in quite some time.
With a selection of former indie favorites squaring off against one another and a new found energy that follows the “Here comes the Money theme,” the entire match card feels like a rewritten script to try and erase one of the more disappointing WrestleMania’s of all time. It’s also looking set to contain a few surprises. Finn Balor? Balor Club?
Let’s look at what this card has to offer and try to dissect what the results may be……
#1 Contender’s Match: The Vaudevillians versus Enzo and Cass
WWE’s new version of “The New Age Outlaws” continue to take the popularity meter up a notch each week. Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady have all the tools to be successful on the main roster. They are widely popular and can turn a lull into a flash of excitement just with the sound of their entrance music. The smart money would obviously be on them reigning victorious and going on to challenge The New Day for the Tag Team titles. However, I feel it’s fairly obvious that Aiden English and Simon Gotch need this win more in order to keep their stock rising.
A lose could send these two to down to the pitfalls of mediocrity, especially since they have The Dudley Boyz, The Usos, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, and the rest of the tag team division clawing for title shots. I think the Vaudevillians will win, but not without some sort of interference. In order to continue a fairly decent mic battle between Enzo and Bubba Ray, I could easily see The Dudleyz interfering in this match, costing Enzo & Cass their number one contenders slot and crowning The Vaudevillians the unlikely champions.
Winners: The Vaudevillians
WWE Women’s Championship: Charlotte (c) versus Natalya
I know there have been mentions in the past about wanting Natalya to get her time as a wrestler instead of a backstage fill in, but I am not sure this is what everyone had in mind. The recent feud between Natalya and Charlotte began to flare up on RAW after WrestleMania and seemed to come out of nowhere. On the heels of an extraordinary triple threat match that quite possibly could have been the most memorable of WrestleMania, a program between Charlotte and Sasha seemed inevitable. However, the WWE creative team fools us all once again.
Charlotte has yet to lose in nine PPV matches, where seven of her matches had a championship title on the line. She is being set up for victory and Natalya seems to be a mere roadblock standing in the way of the eventual champion Sasha Banks. In part, the Charlotte and Natalya feud has been mostly forgettable, but now is trying to be rekindled with the inclusion of Bret Hart. As much I think it is time for Ric Flair to be escorted off of Charlotte’s future, she will win this one with the help of her TMZ celebrity Father and continue holding the title for the foreseeable future.
Winner: Charlotte
Baron Corbin versus Dolph Ziggler
Dolph Ziggler has taken over the spotlight from the failed experiment of Tyler Breeze and has been a dominant force unleashed from the NXT stable. Unlike the mishaps of Breeze, Corbin has been booked brilliantly as a powerful heel and has embraced the role better than some may have expected. Pinning him up against Ziggler will make this match watchable and continue to push Corbin over. I still think Ziggler can be a special wrestler and deserves another championship run, but it certainly looks like the midcard superstar will remain underused.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Dean Ambrose versus Chris Jericho
Ambrose lost his WrestleMania 32 match against Brock Lesnar and is in desperate need of a PPV win after losing at the main event of the Royal Rumble, losing his title on Raw, and his match against Triple H on Roadblock. Jericho can survive a loss since he was victorious at WrestleMania over AJ Styles, but Ambrose cannot.
Is the WWE wrong to assume that even if Ambrose were to lose all of his matches, he would still be perceived as a credible threat to anyone on the roster? Y2J is a veteran of the business and has had more than enough victories since his return to the squared circle. He certainly can afford to take a loss here without it diminishing his value. Will WWE do the right thing and help the Ambrose Asylum grow? I sure hope so!
Winner: Dean Ambrose
Kevin Owens versus Sami Zayn
In a way it feels like WWE hasn’t done a very good job with Sami Zayn’s move to the main roster and continues to try to find a niche. While Kevin Owens was given time to forge his own identity, eventually becoming one of the more interesting characters on the entire roster, Sami Zayn debuted as the arch-rival of Kevin Owens without the opportunity to create his own mark.
I’m sure that time will come, but with Owens being such a massive personality it feels like Zayn has been overshadowed, with him not being given the ability to really establish himself in front of WWE fans. In other ways it feels as if this feud holding Owens from reaching bigger milestones like a WWE Championship shot. Technically I feel Owen should have been given the shot before AJ, but maybe the fact that Roman still hasn’t been able to become completely over as a face helped weigh that decision in AJ’s favor.
As far as growth goes, A Zayn win is enough to make Owens extend their rivalry. I feel that Sami Zayn will be victorious here, which could quite possibly allow this rivalry continue to keep us entertained all the way up to SummerSlam.
Winner: Sami Zayn
WWE Intercontinental Championship: The Miz (c) versus Cesaro
With The Miz only having recently snagged the Intercontinental title from Zack Ryder, it seems unlikely that he’d drop it in such a short period of time. I think it’s obvious that The Miz needs the belt more than Cesaro in this current storyline and his recent role. The Miz is trying to reclaim his past successes and bringing in Maryse is way to help, along with promoting Total Divas in the process.
While Cesaro is fresh from his return, Miz has been doing some unnoticed heel work recently, with his in-ring performances being the best we have seen since his world title reign. His mic skills have never been questioned and generating heat in the ring is his forte. As much as I like Cesaro, The Miz deserves to retain and a loss wouldn’t exactly hurt Cesaro, who will continue to swirl around various title pictures for the foreseeable future.
I still think creative screwed up his character all together when they decided to change his whole appearance. He was one of the most over stars on the roster and they buried him with a fluffy robe followed with some uninviting entrance music. Expect Miz to take this one, with some inevitable help from his wife Maryse.
Winner: The Miz
WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Roman Reigns (c) versus AJ Styles
It is well known that Roman Reigns has the third-worst record for combined days of 3-time title holders after Mankind and Daniel Bryan. After some brutal title reigns, Roman certainly qualifies to be in line for a more memorable and lengthy one.
While it’s pretty much universally accepted that Roman Reigns will retain his title here, given the history of the reports from above, the aftermath of this match is what has so many people buzzing. The whole AJ Styles/Anderson and Gallows scenario is certainly a mystery. Trying to figure out what direction they will go continues to be a guessing game. Anderson and Gallows will definitely have some impact in this match, but the end result is what has yet to be determined. One thing we know is that puzzle seems to be complete with the insertion of Finn Balor.
There’s a recurring suggestion that Finn Balor will become involved given his previous ties to the Bullet Club, a rumor that can only be fueled by the loss of his NXT title to Samoa Joe. In my opinion, all signs point to Balor teaming up with Gallows and Anderson setting up a long standing feud with The Phenomenal One. In turn, this could set up a decent program with former Shield Members Ambrose and Reigns squaring off until Seth was fully ready to compete. Either way, Reign will continue to play the part of “Thee Guy” going forward!
Winner: Roman Reigns
The McMahon Announcement
It was mentioned on RAW that Vince McMahon would make his final ruling on the McMahon family saga at Payback once and for all. I honestly think this decision is obvious and one that will set up the inevitable brand split that everyone has been talking about.
I feel Vince will state that as much as he thinks Shane has done a decent job at running RAW, the show still hasn’t lived up to his expectations. The back and forth between the two will continue and Vince will finally say something to the tune of, “You think your so good, why don’t you go run SmackDown and see how you do.” And there you have the opening you need to diversify the roster and hopefully bring up the ratings on a show that desperately needs it!
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