PAYBACK PREVIEW

Hello Smark Shooter fans and shooters alike. Now that I got the Mania one done and out of the way, I can get back on track with you guys!

Normally, the PPV after Wrestlemania is Extreme Rules, but I'm quite happy that Payback is the next PPV. It's fitting, and hopefully it will be such after such a horrible and essentially irrelevant WrestleMania. 

So here are the matches for Sunday Night! (The previews are getting shorter, mostly because I would rather spend more breath with the reviews)

1)Kalisto vs. Ryback for the US Championship
This is a continuation from the Wrestlemania Pre-Show. Once again...no build, just a victory by Ryback over Kalisto in order to earn a title shot. 

Prediction: Ryback defeats Kalisto because Vince McMahon and his obsession with big guys. Plus, Ryback not only didn't get a fair shake at holding a title (injured during his IC title reign), but Kalisto has been booked horribly since winning the US title back from Del Rio at the Royal Rumble. Kalisto deserves better, but apparently they want him back with Sin Cara in the Tag Team division. Henceforth, it's a good time for Ryback to gain the gold. 

2)Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin
Baron Corbin won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and immediately started a rivalry with Dolph Ziggler. Corbin has gotten almost ALL of the momentum, with the exception of last Smackdown and Raw. 

Prediction: Corbin wins, because Ziggler doesn't need to win and Corbin just latched onto the main roster. Corbin can do GREAT things as a mid card and potential main event heel, you just have to book him right. Ziggler is the stepping stone to determine if you'll work or not. His PPV match with Tyler Breeze didn't do many favors for Breeze in retrospective, so if Corbin can't get a good match with Ziggler that could foreshadow future booking. 


3)Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady vs. The Vaudevillians (Aiden English and Simon Gotch)
This is the culmination of the 8 man Tag Team Tournament that has taken place since WrestleMania to determine the next No. 1 Contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championships. It's only fitting that with the influx of new talent in WWE from NxT, that two NxT alumni Tag Teams would meet in the finals. The most popular Tag Team from NxT (Enzo and Cass) and (until NxT Dallas) the beneficiaries of arguably the best Tag Team match of NxT's history prior to that weekend (The Vaudevillians). Enzo and Cass defeated the Ascension and The Dudley Boyz to reach the finals, whereas the Vaudevillians defeated Goldust/Fandango and The Usos to meet Enzo and Cass. 

Prediction: Considering the Dudleyz have a bit of a rivalry going with Enzo and Cass, I think it would be best if Bubba Ray and D-Von distract Cass long enough for the Whirling Dervish to hit Enzo. The New Day and Enzo/Cass should wait for a bigger PPV. The Vaudevillians are a good foil for the New Day currently, so there's my pick. 

4)Dean Ambrose vs. Chris Jericho
Ambrose replaced the Highlight Reel with the Ambrose Asylum talk show. (and yet there's still Miz TV...) There's also some past history between the two....with Jericho losing alongside of Ambrose and Roman Reigns last year against the Wyatt Family. Ambrose is coming off of a loss to Brock Lesnar, and Jericho (while a little defeated by the events since Mania) left Dallas with a win over current No.1 contender AJ Styles. 

Ambrose wins because Jericho doesn't need it and this rivalry could stretch if done right. 

5)Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens
The longest rivalry of all the matches, these two have gone back and forth since their early days in 2002. Zayn was signed first, but Owens made the bigger impact. Owens defeated Zayn for the NxT Championship 2 months after his NxT debut, while Zayn eliminated Owens from this year's Royal Rumble. The animosity between these two has no rival in this current age. The best comparison for a past rivalry would probably be Triple H/Shawn Michaels from the mid 2000s. 

I expect Owens to pick up the victory....but they're destined to do this forever so honestly the real winners are the fans if this match is given a decent amount of time. 

6)Charlotte(W/Ric Flair) vs. Natalya (W/Bret Hart)
Point blank: Even if Bret Hart is in the corner, Charlotte retains. Natalya, as talented and as good as she is, booking wise is just too unbelievable to win in this circumstance unless ironic heel like tactics are made on the part of the Harts. Charlotte retains. 


7)The Miz (w/Maryse) vs. Cesaro for the Intercontinental Championship
Cesaro has proven to be super over with all the crowds since his return. Miz winning the IC title over Zack Ryder the night after Raw has truly rewarded him for such a good WrestleMania season he had. 

Honestly, (as much as this pains me to say) I would like Miz to retain the title. Not because he's the right guy for the title, but more so for both the credibility of the title and so that the momentum from both men can be retained via DQ or a screwy finish. Plus, Cesaro (while would be a great IC Champ) would probably be better off getting screwed but giving a Cesaro Swing or a Swiss Death after the match....(kinda like the end kill of a James Bond sequence) and eventually capture the Money in the Bank Briefcase. Cesaro is a main event talent that should be up for the WWE WHC in the future of 2016. Miz carrying the title for at least two to three months before dropping it to someone like either Apollo Crews or Baron Corbin would be more than serviceable. (STILL gonna root for Cesaro hard though). 

Sometime before the end of the night, Vince McMahon will decide who runs Raw: Stephanie McMahon and the Authority....or Shane McMahon. Shane ran Raw for the past four weeks to some great results (but sadly the same ratings....yet the YouTube views have gone up). The Authority has had a stranglehold on power of Raw since the start of the rise of Daniel Bryan back in 2013. Honestly, Steph should retain Raw. It would make no sense for Vince to pick the good guy in this scenario. However, he can assign Smackdown to Shane and eventually Shane and Steph can collide in various competitive scenarios (BRAND SPLIT) and if they want to end it by either the calendar year or by WrestleMania 33, they can always bring out the greatest non-WWE match created (well...2nd greatest. I still enjoy Ultimate X a lot more): WAR GAMES!

Main Event:Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Reigns is going to win. The question is how are the alliances going to fall at the end of this match:
Are the Bullet Club going to officially Reunite? Are Gallows and Anderson going to betray Styles for Reigns? or are they doing it via orders of Finn Balor? Heck, how bad do the Usos get their asses kicked? And most importantly, will WWE alter their microphones when Reigns gets booed again?

To answer the questions.....Reigns will win, keep his people with him....but it will be either a screwy no-conest finish, or Styles will turn heel after the match ends. 


Thanks for reading. Japan and ROH are pretty much done analysis wise. It's just transitioning all of the written work to the blog and proofreading!

WHEN IN DOUBT.......ALWAYS WATCH WRESTLING.