WWE Payback 2017: What is a House of Horrors match?

WWE Payback 2017 will feature a House of Horrors match between Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton, but what exactly is that match and what does it entail?

Whenever Randy Orton set the final resting place of Sister Abigail on fire leading up to WrestleMania 33, fans were excited. Though it was obvious that WWE was going to force some sort of “Slithery Snake vs. Crazy Swamp Man” catchphrase down fans’ throats, the match itself was promising. Then it happened and it wasn’t anywhere near expectations — so naturally we’re getting a rematch at WWE Payback 2017 in a House of Horrors match.

The problems with their match at Mania were numerous. It started with the pacing of it, which was excruciatingly slow start-to-finish. What’s more, the chemistry when they were actually doing something was all off. For two guys as talented just on a base level as Wyatt and Orton, that was disappointing. However, WWE only made it worse.

Rather than just let them have a bad match, they decided it also needed LED images projected on the screen. Not realistic holograms or images, but blown up videos of cockroaches and maggots. It was one of the most useless and senseless things WWE has done in a long time. Think about what company we’re talking about — that’s something. Which all leads us to the House of Horrors match at WWE Payback 2017.

With the Superstar Shake-Up, this is one of the matches that has suffered in the build-up. With Wyatt coming to RAW and Orton staying on SmackDown Live, they’ve not been on the same show to really build the feud. However, that’s not what hurts this match the most. The largest factor in that is simple: Nobody knows what the hell a House of Horrors match is.

It was pretty clear that WWE didn’t have an idea what the match was when, soon after it was announced, they sent a survey via e-mail about what fans wanted to see from the match. That means it was undecided and they were looking for input. As long as they made a decision and clued fans in before Payback, though, it’d be fine. Of course, they didn’t do that. In fact, there’s a chance that even they don’t know fully.

Perusing the WWE.com match preview for Wyatt vs. Orton, they even ask the question of what a House of Horrors match is. Perhaps that’s all about the element of surprise, but it would be nice to have any idea about what’s going to happen.

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So as far as answering the question of what at House of Horrors match is and what we’ll see at WWE Payback 2017, there isn’t an adequate response right now. Let’s hope it’s not something hastily put together and trivial. More importantly, let’s hope the LED imaging doesn’t make its return.