Hello Smarks and Shooters alike, here's my review for the last PPV, WWE Payback.
Considering what WrestleMania had done, and the concurring storylines that stretched out from (more so WrestleMania season rather than WrestleMania itself), I will lead off by saying that this was one of the better WWE (Main Roster) PPVs I've seen since probably WrestleMania 31, when you take the entire card altogether storyline and match-wise quality.
So, why is that? Here's what happened.
Pre-Show Matches:
Dolph Ziggler def. Baron Corbin by Rollup
Kalisto def. Ryback via Salida del Sol to retain the United States Championship.
Quick Analysis: During the first Pre-Show Match, Corbin came off as very arrogant and toyed around with Ziggler, only to have it bite him in the ass. Ziggler winning wasn't my initial pick, but with how it has played out since then, it makes sense. Having Corbin lose another match against Ziggler on a stage bigger than WWE TV could be a mistake so 50-50 would work here.
Kalisto and Ryback had a good match overall, with a great sequence to finish it off. Ryback as of late has earned his worth of saying he should be higher up on the card, and Kalisto (even though booking could say otherwise) has been the underdog champion to a T. The biggest mistakes of this match were the lack of rebuild after Mania for this feud. It was treated like a throwaway considering that last October, John Cena had put a lot of value on the title.
Main Show:
Match 1: Vaudevillians vs. Enzo/Cass ends in No Contest.
Enzo took a scary bump through the ropes that knocked him unconscious. Good job on the referee's part to stop the match.
Post match: Vaudevillians by default are No. 1 Contenders, but Big Cass has been heavily featured since. Cass has been a shining star and a dominant giant. When Enzo comes back, I hope he stays dominant.
The match doesn't get a rating in this case. It'd be cruel to do so.
Match 2: Zayn vs. Owens
These two deserve the MVP of the night. Considering they had to follow such a scary and crowd-silencing moment, this match more than delivered the goods and then some. The former Steen and the prodigy of El Generico were lights out in the match, back and forth, to and fro, and all the other cliches. Owens wins the Powerbomb, but both men deserve all the praise in the world for getting the crowd back into the element of the PPV.
9.5 out of 10. The match itself was an 8 out of 10 but the circumstances bump it up nicely.
Match 3: Cesaro vs. Miz for the Intercontinental Championship.
Owens on commentary after the match (assuming part of it was to stall, and part was storyline).
While not as good as the previous match, this one did keep up the momentum of the PPV, and it was the ending to the match that made it worth wile. Zayn attacking Owens on commentary and then brawling around the ring to distract the ref from seeing the Miz Tap out to Cesaro was brilliant, then having Miz take the win was great storytelling. The fallout from this match has also been entertaining to watch.
8 out of 10
Match 4: Ambrose vs. Jericho
For a throwaway feud, the match was good. It dragged a bit at the beginning, but it was mostly because of the premise behind it: stealing a talk show?
I was just glad Ambrose won the match. I'm hoping that the feud ends next month with Jericho losing again. I don't need what happened in the Jericho/Styles feud to happen in this feud too. 50/50 booking doesn't work in this case at all.
7 out of 10.
Match 5: Charlotte vs. Natalya for the WWE Women's Championship.
Good match. Cop out ending. Step down from the Triple Threat at Mania. I don't need anymore Montreal Screwjobs and Lil Naitch conspiracies.
5 out of 10. (7 out of the 10 for the match, take away 2 because of the stupid ending.)
Main Event: Reigns vs. Styles
Great match, but a lot of things missed and a lot of things I could say. Styles has been fantastic in this feud, but so has Reigns (with a few things off). Styles has so many moves to finish people off with and all (with the exception of the Styles Clash) were all kicked out of by Reigns (which was infuriating). But that being said, there was a sweet Superman Punch and a Sweet Phenomenal Forearm in the match. Also having the Usos and the Good Brothers interfere were smart moves after the first two cop-out finishes.
7 out of 10.
As stated above, the PPV was a good 7.5 out of 10, but felt like an 8 out of 10 when comparing it to WrestleMania.
Extreme Rules Preview is coming up at the end of today so When in doubt WATCH PRO WRESTLING.
Quick Analysis: During the first Pre-Show Match, Corbin came off as very arrogant and toyed around with Ziggler, only to have it bite him in the ass. Ziggler winning wasn't my initial pick, but with how it has played out since then, it makes sense. Having Corbin lose another match against Ziggler on a stage bigger than WWE TV could be a mistake so 50-50 would work here.
Kalisto and Ryback had a good match overall, with a great sequence to finish it off. Ryback as of late has earned his worth of saying he should be higher up on the card, and Kalisto (even though booking could say otherwise) has been the underdog champion to a T. The biggest mistakes of this match were the lack of rebuild after Mania for this feud. It was treated like a throwaway considering that last October, John Cena had put a lot of value on the title.
Main Show:
Match 1: Vaudevillians vs. Enzo/Cass ends in No Contest.
Enzo took a scary bump through the ropes that knocked him unconscious. Good job on the referee's part to stop the match.
Post match: Vaudevillians by default are No. 1 Contenders, but Big Cass has been heavily featured since. Cass has been a shining star and a dominant giant. When Enzo comes back, I hope he stays dominant.
The match doesn't get a rating in this case. It'd be cruel to do so.
Match 2: Zayn vs. Owens
These two deserve the MVP of the night. Considering they had to follow such a scary and crowd-silencing moment, this match more than delivered the goods and then some. The former Steen and the prodigy of El Generico were lights out in the match, back and forth, to and fro, and all the other cliches. Owens wins the Powerbomb, but both men deserve all the praise in the world for getting the crowd back into the element of the PPV.
9.5 out of 10. The match itself was an 8 out of 10 but the circumstances bump it up nicely.
Match 3: Cesaro vs. Miz for the Intercontinental Championship.
Owens on commentary after the match (assuming part of it was to stall, and part was storyline).
While not as good as the previous match, this one did keep up the momentum of the PPV, and it was the ending to the match that made it worth wile. Zayn attacking Owens on commentary and then brawling around the ring to distract the ref from seeing the Miz Tap out to Cesaro was brilliant, then having Miz take the win was great storytelling. The fallout from this match has also been entertaining to watch.
8 out of 10
Match 4: Ambrose vs. Jericho
For a throwaway feud, the match was good. It dragged a bit at the beginning, but it was mostly because of the premise behind it: stealing a talk show?
I was just glad Ambrose won the match. I'm hoping that the feud ends next month with Jericho losing again. I don't need what happened in the Jericho/Styles feud to happen in this feud too. 50/50 booking doesn't work in this case at all.
7 out of 10.
Match 5: Charlotte vs. Natalya for the WWE Women's Championship.
Good match. Cop out ending. Step down from the Triple Threat at Mania. I don't need anymore Montreal Screwjobs and Lil Naitch conspiracies.
5 out of 10. (7 out of the 10 for the match, take away 2 because of the stupid ending.)
Main Event: Reigns vs. Styles
Great match, but a lot of things missed and a lot of things I could say. Styles has been fantastic in this feud, but so has Reigns (with a few things off). Styles has so many moves to finish people off with and all (with the exception of the Styles Clash) were all kicked out of by Reigns (which was infuriating). But that being said, there was a sweet Superman Punch and a Sweet Phenomenal Forearm in the match. Also having the Usos and the Good Brothers interfere were smart moves after the first two cop-out finishes.
7 out of 10.
As stated above, the PPV was a good 7.5 out of 10, but felt like an 8 out of 10 when comparing it to WrestleMania.
Extreme Rules Preview is coming up at the end of today so When in doubt WATCH PRO WRESTLING.
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