WWE Payback
WWE Payback (6/16/2013)- Chicago, IL
That opening video… is the stuff Gooker Awards are made of. That was just laughably goofy. I can see how they thought the idea would be cool, but that was just a disaster.
WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: Wade Barrett(c) vs. The Miz vs. Curtis Axel (w/Paul Heyman)- 5/10
Miz got booed pretty heavily during his entrance. The match was eh. Lots of punching, not many wrestling moves. Axel picks up another win without being booked strongly, pinning Barrett while Miz had Barrett locked in the figure four.
WWE DIVAS TITLE MATCH: Kaitlyn(c) vs. AJ Lee (w/Big E. Langston)- 5.75/10
KAITLYN CRIES LIKE A WIMP BACKSTAGE- You know all that work you but in to building Kaitlyn up as an ultra-strong badass? Yeah, you can kiss that goodbye.
WWE UNITED STATES TITLE: Dean Ambrose(c) vs. Kane- 5/10
The countout does do a bit to help keep Kane strong in defeat… but it is also a very obnoxious finish for the fans.
HOLY SH*T RVD IS COMING BACK! The reaction he gets in Philly for MITB should blow the roof off of the building!
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Dolph Ziggler(c) (w/AJ Lee & Big E. Langston) vs. Alberto Del Rio (w/Ricardo Rodriguez)- 6.5/10
Del Rio came off as extremely heelish here, but I think that was by design. WWE realized that trying to make Ziggler heel at this point is just spitting into the wind.
CHRIS JERICHO vs. CM PUNK (w/Paul Heyman)- 9/10
As always in Chicago, a Thunderous pop for CM Punk... or at least I think that's CM Punk. His new facial air makes him look a lot more like Austin Aries.
My pick for Match of the Year so far in WWE (and in North America as a whole). Awesome storytelling here and great selling. They made you think Punk would tap at any moment, despite the uber-hot pro-Punk hometown crowd.
WWE TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Shield(c) (Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns) vs. Randy Orton & Daniel Bryan- 7.5/10
I was expecting Dragon and Orton's teamwork to be a bigger factor in the shine. Still a great match, though.
THREE STAGES OF HELL MATCH FOR THE WWE TITLE: John Cena(c) vs. Ryback- 5.75/10
The heel lumberjacks only attack Cena (because all heels are friends, apparently). When Ryback goes to the outside, they don't touch him, aside from Cesaro, who actually helps him up... but this help angers Ryback and he shoves Cesaro... so this disparate group of heel lumberjacks who never interact on TV get angry about it and all attack Ryback. WHAT?
This causes a schmoz, which ends when Cena does a flying crossbody onto the big pile of guys. Not really sure why Cena would do this, as all it does is open him up to attacks. Less than ten minutes in, Super Cena eats a pin. The tables match portion of this was much better, but the conclusion was, unfortunately, forgone.
Then we got to the ambulance, and this was your typical Ambulance Match: i.e. not good. Ryback going through the roof of the ambulance was slightly clever (didn't think the match would be able to end with on top of the ambulance), but it doesn't make up for the dull quality of the match as a whole.
The worst part of this, though, is the booking. This match was a must-win for Ryback (for reasons I will get into in a full-blown article, rather than in this review), and Ryback lost. Ryback was something special, but is now just another guy who Super Cena beat.
Overall, a great show from WWE, but mostly on the strength of Punk vs. Jericho. In the long run, though, I think this show will be most remembered as the night that Ryback ceased to be a meaningful threat.
That opening video… is the stuff Gooker Awards are made of. That was just laughably goofy. I can see how they thought the idea would be cool, but that was just a disaster.
WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: Wade Barrett(c) vs. The Miz vs. Curtis Axel (w/Paul Heyman)- 5/10
Miz got booed pretty heavily during his entrance. The match was eh. Lots of punching, not many wrestling moves. Axel picks up another win without being booked strongly, pinning Barrett while Miz had Barrett locked in the figure four.
WWE DIVAS TITLE MATCH: Kaitlyn(c) vs. AJ Lee (w/Big E. Langston)- 5.75/10
KAITLYN CRIES LIKE A WIMP BACKSTAGE- You know all that work you but in to building Kaitlyn up as an ultra-strong badass? Yeah, you can kiss that goodbye.
WWE UNITED STATES TITLE: Dean Ambrose(c) vs. Kane- 5/10
The countout does do a bit to help keep Kane strong in defeat… but it is also a very obnoxious finish for the fans.
HOLY SH*T RVD IS COMING BACK! The reaction he gets in Philly for MITB should blow the roof off of the building!
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Dolph Ziggler(c) (w/AJ Lee & Big E. Langston) vs. Alberto Del Rio (w/Ricardo Rodriguez)- 6.5/10
Del Rio came off as extremely heelish here, but I think that was by design. WWE realized that trying to make Ziggler heel at this point is just spitting into the wind.
CHRIS JERICHO vs. CM PUNK (w/Paul Heyman)- 9/10
As always in Chicago, a Thunderous pop for CM Punk... or at least I think that's CM Punk. His new facial air makes him look a lot more like Austin Aries.
My pick for Match of the Year so far in WWE (and in North America as a whole). Awesome storytelling here and great selling. They made you think Punk would tap at any moment, despite the uber-hot pro-Punk hometown crowd.
WWE TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Shield(c) (Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns) vs. Randy Orton & Daniel Bryan- 7.5/10
I was expecting Dragon and Orton's teamwork to be a bigger factor in the shine. Still a great match, though.
THREE STAGES OF HELL MATCH FOR THE WWE TITLE: John Cena(c) vs. Ryback- 5.75/10
The heel lumberjacks only attack Cena (because all heels are friends, apparently). When Ryback goes to the outside, they don't touch him, aside from Cesaro, who actually helps him up... but this help angers Ryback and he shoves Cesaro... so this disparate group of heel lumberjacks who never interact on TV get angry about it and all attack Ryback. WHAT?
This causes a schmoz, which ends when Cena does a flying crossbody onto the big pile of guys. Not really sure why Cena would do this, as all it does is open him up to attacks. Less than ten minutes in, Super Cena eats a pin. The tables match portion of this was much better, but the conclusion was, unfortunately, forgone.
Then we got to the ambulance, and this was your typical Ambulance Match: i.e. not good. Ryback going through the roof of the ambulance was slightly clever (didn't think the match would be able to end with on top of the ambulance), but it doesn't make up for the dull quality of the match as a whole.
The worst part of this, though, is the booking. This match was a must-win for Ryback (for reasons I will get into in a full-blown article, rather than in this review), and Ryback lost. Ryback was something special, but is now just another guy who Super Cena beat.
Overall, a great show from WWE, but mostly on the strength of Punk vs. Jericho. In the long run, though, I think this show will be most remembered as the night that Ryback ceased to be a meaningful threat.