WWE Payback review: What we learned, takeaways, future projections
By Luke Norris
What we took away, what we learned and what the future holds for the superstars of Monday Night RAW (and a few from SmackDown Live) following Sunday night’s WWE Payback pay-per-view.
The first WWE pay-per-view since WrestleMania 33 is in the books. Sunday night saw the superstars of Monday Night RAW, and a few from SmackDown Live, compete live (well, mostly live anyway) from the SAP Center in San Jose at Payback. And I’ve got to admit that the show was much better than I thought it was going to be.
As we usually get in the PPV following the biggest show of the year, we had a few WrestleMania rematches, most of which went pretty well, and some new programs in there as well. We saw four title matches, two of which ended in the belt changing hands, a couple of grudge matches and something we’ve never seen before in WWE and hopefully will never see again. I’m sure you already know what I’m talking about there. So before I start ranting about the Miz and Finn Balor segment from the Kickoff Show, let’s get to the main card.
WWE United States Championship Match
Kevin Owens (c) vs. Chris Jericho
What we learned: I guess we learned not to just assume things … and that Kevin Owens’ new gear is awesome. Going into this match, I didn’t think there was any way Chris Jericho would walk away with the United States Championship but we all know what happens when one assumes, don’t we? With Jericho set to tour with Fozzy very soon, the expected outcome here was that the new Face of America, Kevin Owens, would walk out of Payback still the United States Champion after dismantling his former best friend, thus giving us a reason for Jericho to be gone. But that’s not the way things went down.
The match itself was very good. As they’ve been doing for the better part of a year, these two told a great story and brought great drama to the ring. Jericho focusing on the hand of Owens after KO once again saved himself by grabbing the ropes with one finger was a nice touch and it actually played into the end of the match as Owens couldn’t muster the strength to get Jericho up for the powerbomb or even reach the ropes to save himself from tapping out.
What’s next: This really can’t go much further, can it? With the win, Jericho is set to go to SmackDown Live, and with everything that we’ve heard, Owens is still going to be there as well. The whole stipulation was a little silly to begin with but seeing how this feud started on RAW before the SuperStar Shake-up and with Jericho getting his automatic rematch, that’s how they justified putting this match on this show. But again, with Jericho being set for his tour with Fozzy, which actually starts on Friday night and includes a lot of Tuesday nights and Sunday night, May 21, which happens to be the date of Backlash, the play here seems to be Owens using his rematch clause immediately and winning back the title tomorrow night. Jericho goes away and Owens moves on to face AJ Styles, who is the current No. 1 contender, a program that should be fantastic. And that allows for Jericho to make another dramatic return somewhere down the line.