Rate WWE Payback

[Hanley!]

So people are being oddly quiet about this. What did everyone think of last night's show?

Surprisingly, I thought it was one of the better WWE shows that I've seen in a long time. It was far from perfect. In fact there was some stuff that was just terrible. But there were a lot of good matches, a hot main event, some actual story development, and a focus on a new era of performers. All of that is a positive in my mind.

Obviously what happened to Enzo put a dampener on the show. That sucked, and that match could have been good too. Not technically excellent like some of the others on the card, but entertaining and heated.

The McMahon promo was way too long. And it was utterly painful. And it didn't need to be on the show in the first place. And the McMahons don't need to be on a show again ever. But oh well.

The finish of Charlotte/Nattie was horrible too. Lets just leave Montreal alone.

Other than that, I think I liked everything though. The Zayn/Owens match was tremendous. One of the better matches of the year so far. They put Owens over strong which was the right move. Huge props to these two guys for getting an anxious crowd back into the show.

Cesaro/Miz was a fun match. It kept the show going at a good tempo. I thought it elevated the IC title a little. And Kevin Owens came off as a star here, after a great turn on commentary and after laying everyone out again. This was a good way to push a new star heel during a time where they badly need them.

Ambrose/Jericho wasn't great, but it picked up as it went on. The right person went over. Probably fourth best match on the show. Maybe fifth if you include Ryback/Kalisto from the pre-show who I thought had a surprisingly good match.

Charlotte vs Nattie was really good except for the finish.

Reigns vs Styles was a great main event. I thought it had loads of atmosphere, and that both guys came off as stars. It was a bit overbooked, and I'd have preferred less focus on the McMahons. But this was a stronger story than we've gotten in a main event in a while. I liked that they had Styles win twice before losing, to protect him and justify the rematch. The Bullet Club stuff is brewing nicely in the background. If they introduce Balor to the equation too, I think they could have a hell of a main event scene this summer between those three guys.

I'm feeling kinda uncharacteristically optimistic at the moment. I'd probably call this show a 7/10. I thought it was much, much, much better than Wrestlemania.

[Circled Square]

5/10 too many mistakes

[Racing Guy]

I thought it was a rather good show overall. The McMahon promo seemed to go on forever and didn't really accomplish anything. It was still better than I expected.

[KaiserGlider]

I'll give it a 7. (same rating as Hanley? gasp). Fun show, great crowd. Everyone just seemed like they wanted to have a great performance, and it showed.

Opener was cut short, but I liked Enzo and Cass's entrance. These guys are over as fuck, surprised they weren't called up to the main roster sooner.

Owens/Zayn was a great second opener. Owens stole the show during this match and the commentary later. I love the "you and I are destined to do this forever" thing he has going with Zayn.

Jesus Christ, Cesaro is so good. You wanna talk about Lesnar being a once-in-a-lifetime athlete, Cesaro is also a once-on-a-lifetime athlete. This is the spot he should have been in 2 years ago, glad they're finally figuring that out... hopefully. Just change his music to something classy. Anyway, he carried Miz to a good match. I wish Cesaro had won, but Miz keeping his heat is fine. I would have had Zayn take out Owens at the end, but whatever.

I wasn't really excited about Jericho/Ambrose going in, but their match exceeded my expectations. I thought Jericho would phone it in, but he definitely brought it. The finishing sequence was a little anticlimactic, but I'm glad Ambrose won.

Good thing I don't have to watch the pre-show, because they replay everything that happened. Speaking of which, the "panel of experts" segment is always so pointless. Even with King Boookah.

Charlotte/Natalya was another match that exceeded my expectations, because Natalya has been a "diva" forever. Bret Hart looked like he was giving the match a 4/10. I thought the screwjob finish was great. How long have they been waiting to do a Little Naitch angle with Charles Robinson? I'm interested in seeing where this goes.

I liked the explanation for why Vince has been letting Shane run Raw for the last couple weeks, though I wish there wasn't so much "Shane isn't my son anymore" stuff before Wrestlemania. I didn't like Vince giving 50/50 control to Shane and Stephanie because it's more Authority stuff we don't need. Unless it turns into a Civil War storyline that ends in some kind of team vs team match, but I'm not getting my hopes up for that kind of thing in 2016.

Styles vs Reigns was my match of the night. I dug the slow start that really presented the differences in both men's styles. AJ proved he belongs in this spot, and Reigns was really good too. There were a few times when I legit though the match might be over. The crowd gave it a big-fight atmosphere. Styles and Reigns have great chemistry and I want to see them wrestle again in less overbooked circumstances.

Having said that, this is also the match I had the most problems with. I thought the count-out and DQ spot were contrived - they were only booked to play up the Shane/Stephanie storyline and slightly broke up the pace of the match. Styles could have broken the count by rolling back out of the ring, and Roman "sort of" low-blowing AJ was just odd. The Bullet Club guys practically did nothing and it made the intrigue for that storyline feel wasted. Lastly, right after the match they cut to the McMahons backstage and announced the rematch for Extreme Rules, making this match feel not so important. Why not just wait till Raw? In any case, I liked this match overall and the pros outweighed the cons for me.

[Messiah]

Great show. Two EXCELLENT matches, Miz/Cesaro was very good and did a good job keeping the crowd into it after Owens/Zayn, Natayla/Charlotte had an eh finish (although I've warmed up to it, especially after the segment on Raw) but a good match, Kalisto/Ryback was good, Ambrose/Jericho was good. McMahon segment was the only bad thing about the show really, other than Enzo's injury.

The best thing: it had me looking forward to what is coming next. That is what a PPV should do. You had the aftermath of Styles/Reigns and all that went down during the match, particularly BC's involvement. Zayn/Owens and Miz/Cesaro will intertwine. How would Natayla deal with the screwjob? New number one contenders for the tag titles. Just a good show.

[Hanley!]

I was listening to Austin's podcast earlier and he was gushing about the show. Said it was the best pay per view he's seen in at least a couple of years, that the main event was the best match he's seen in a couple of years, and that Owens was the MVP of the night.

It really was the best pay per view I've watched in ages. When WWE stops relying solely on fan service, nostalgia and old name value (aka what they always do at Wrestlemania) their product gets so much better straight away.

[The Legend]

I think overall I'll go with an 8/10. It wasn't perfect, but it was really good, especially when you take into account some of the limitations they have to deal with (Extreme Rules being next and so close to this PPV namely).

Both Pre-Show matches did their job and were worth watching. Kalisto vs Ryback in particular was what you needed it to be.

The tag match was a good opener even if it was cut short by Enzo's injury. These two teams obviously have good chemistry.

The next group of matches was perhaps the best writing/booking the WWE have done in 10 years. Owens vs Zayn was a fantastic match with a great finish. The interview after was even better. Then the Miz vs Cesaro match was great as well and ended in a finish that made people want to watch what would happen next, which is kinda the whole point. I can't wait to see the fatal fourway at Extreme Rules.

Ambrose vs Jericho wound up being my least favorite match of the night. It was an oddly paced and clunky match to me. I don't see these two guys as having that great of chemistry.

The women's title match was thoroughly entertaining right up until the end. The one thing I'll give them credit for is caring enough about the women's match to do something kinda unique with it. That being said nothing about this worked, not even the explanation after the fact. Perhaps my biggest issue is that it sets up a re-match and Natalya is the last person who needed a second shot at the title considering how deep the division is right now.

The main event was a little too heavily booked (the second re-start of the night was totally unnecessary). However, again I'll give them an A for effort. They went with something more complicated than the simple way to go about things.

[Headlesspete]

I've gone with an 8/10.

Absolute solid matches from top to bottom. The Main Event specifically was fantastic, and actually my pick for match of the night! Owens/Zaine, Charlotte/Natalya and Miz/Cesaro were all great matches. And Jericho/Ambrose, a little underwhelming, but still delivered.

It was possibly the best WWE Pay Per View in years. Credit where its due, WWE delivered big time.