WWE Payback 2016: Best and worst
A look at the best and worst moments and matches from WWE Payback 2016
Without question, the build-up WWE Payback 2016 conjured up quite a bit of excitement in a lot of wrestling fans over the past month, even those who were left jaded and incredibly disappointed by what transpired at WrestleMania 32. Monday Night RAW has been the best it has been in months over the past few weeks with Shane McMahon (kayfabe) in control of everything and the matches set for the pay-per-view outside of Chicago, IL looked to honestly be better than Mania.
The main event match between AJ Styles and Roman Reigns for the WWE title had a lot of promise, even if the plans remained the same to keep the title on the wildly unpopular Reigns. With the arrival of Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, Styles’ former running mates in New Japan Pro Wrestling, there were plenty of ways to make the ending of that match exciting.
Moreover, Vince McMahon was also set to decide the fate of Monday Night RAW by assigning control of the show to either Shane McMahon or Stephanie McMahon. That decision—though it may not have any actual real implications in terms of control—was set to really set up a number of storylines going forward within the company.
Given those two main event feuds and stories in addition to the furthering of the Kevin Owens-Sami Zayn saga, Cesaro continuing to be white hot going after the Intercontinental title, legacies being on the line in the women’s division with Charlotte and Natalya feuding, and much more, WWE Payback had the potential to be great if everything was done properly.
As has been the case with WWE recently, though, not everything was done properly.
There were certainly good things throughout the show and there was undeniably some fantastic wrestling. However, there were also a lot of missed opportunities and a lot of poor decision-making in terms of the booking of matches that ultimately stood out throughout the show on Sunday night.
With that in mind, these were the best and worst moments and matches from WWE Payback 2016:
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