Payback is a real.....

Bell2Bell Review: WWE Payback 2017

Venue: SAP Center

Location: San Jose, California

Announce Team: Michael Cole, Corey Graves & Booker T

 Post-Wrestlemania is always a fun time for WWE and its fans. All the excitement coming off the 'Grandest Stage of them All' is mixed with anticipation for what comes next. New feuds begin, Wrestlemania rematches are set and we see superstars make their debut or return. This year has been no exception. We have seen the return of one of the greatest tag teams of all time as well as 3 NXT acts make their debuts on the main roster. But this year we had the added chaos thrown in of the superstar shake-up with Raw and Smackdown stars swapping brands. For better or worse the shake-up has massively affected the build to the first major event after Wrestlemania which like last year is Payback. This is the 5th annual Payback event and it has provided some excellent matches over the years including 2014s epic main event between Evolution and The Shield. Payback 2017 had a few potential matches that could be instant classics, but it also had the potential for one of the worst gimmick matches of all time. So what went down in San Jose? Did it live up to is potential?  Lets take a look!

Kick Off Show: Enzo & Cass def. Gallows & Anderson

Not much to say about this match. If you've seen these two teams face other before, and you probably have, then this was nothing different. Enzo & Cass are becoming less entertaining and Gallows & Anderson are looking weaker every time they don't win a match decisively. Its hard to see where both teams go from this but the sooner WWE gets these teams sorted out the better!

United States title Match: Chris Jericho def. Kevin Owens by Submission
A great match to start the show as Owens and Jericho definitely delivered a match that was better than their Wrestlemania bout. The action was back and forth throughout with Owens being the fantastic Heel and Jericho having the crowd behind him. The turning point came in a nice bit of continuity when Jericho had Owens in the Walls of Jericho until like Wrestlemania, Owens survived by putting a single finger on the ropes. Jericho incensed attacked Owens finger which prevented Owens from connecting with the Pop-Up Powerbomb. Jericho got Owens back in the Walls of Jericho and Owens this time was forced to tap. Jericho got a great reaction from winning as it came as a shock. Outside of WWE Jericho is leaving this week to start a summer tour with his band Fozzy so will be interesting to see how Smackdown goes this week to write Y2J off TV and take the title off him.

Cruiserweight title Match: Austin Aries def. Neville by DQ

As I said in my prediction post, Neville has been the saviour of the Cruiserweight division since joining and every title match he has been involved with has been excellent. This match was no exception, the pace throughout was fast paced and intense as these matches should be. Neville took control when he dropkicked the top rope knocking Aries down. Aries took back control and seemed to have the advantage towards the end when he had Neville in the Last Chancery, but Neville in desperation grabbed the referee and knocked him down causing the DQ. Aries won but Neville retained which wasn't the ideal result, but if it sets up another potentially fantastic match between these two I am down for that. Hopefully it happens at Extreme Rules and we get a ladder match which would be insane!

Raw Tag titles Match: The Hardy Boyz def. Cesaro & Sheamus by Pinfall
This was a fantastic Tag team match with one of the best tag teams of all time and two awesome competitors who have gelled together extremely well. Some great tag team offense and some really brutal shots resulting in Jeff Hardy losing a tooth and Matt Hardy getting busted open. A classic tag team finish where Jeff got a blind tag without Sheamus noticing and hit the Swanton for the win. After the match we saw more of the respect we've seen between these teams with a post match handshake right until Cesaro & Sheamus attacked the champions after the match. I did predict this would happen and I'm glad it did. Sheamus is more of a natural heel and Cesaro has been a great heel in the past. I'm looking forward to seeing where this rivalry goes especially if this leads to the rumoured debut in the WWE of the Broken universe.

Raw Womens title Match: Alexa Bliss def. Bayley by Pinfall

This was a really good match which I had hoped would be and definitely delivered. Alexa did fantastic work as the great heel she is and Bayley plaqyed the home town babyface hero expertly. Two great spots i thought was the finish when Alexa hit the Bayley with the sunsetflip powerbomb and Bayley flew through the air with a Macho Man inspired Elbow drop onto Alexa. The finish came when Bayley took a brutal looking bump to the head off the turnbuckle post before Alexa slammed her down with a DDT for the win. First of all great that a standard DDT is finisher in 2017! Secondly I shouldn't be too surprised that Bayley lost in her home town because like I said in my predictions WWE loves to do that. And finally congratulations to Alexa Bliss for becoming the first woman to win both the Smackdown and Raw womens titles. Fingers crossed for more great matches between these two.

Seth Rollins def. Samoa Joe by Pinfall
I had high hopes that this match could be something really special and while it wasn't quite that it was still a great match. The bulk of the match was Samoa Joe attacking Rollins previously injured knee. Joe attacked the knee with several devastating moves, my particular favourite was the running senton he did directly on the injured knee. Rollins did a great job selling the knee whenever he hit a big move he would be in pain holding his knee. The finish came when Joe had Rollins in the Coquina clutch which Rollins countered with a smooth firemans carry type roll up for the win. Usually I am not a fan of the sneaky roll up but I think it was executed well here. I wondered what would happen between these two after this match but there is definetly the potential for more between these two which I will hope will deliver the special match I can believe these guys having.

House of Horrors Match: Bray Wyatt def. Randy Orton by Pinfall

This match was in two parts and the first part took place inside the 'House of Horrors' before the Rollins and Joe match. If you ever saw any of the Broken universe matches from TNA last year or have played Resident Evil 7 there was definitely some similar vibes in this. It was suitably spooky and for a show that is supposed to be PG there was some pretty dark and crazy imagery. I did genuinely jump at the classic horror movie trope when Randy walked down the corridor and Bray's hand grabbed Randy's throat through the wall. The house segement ended with Bray pushing a refrigirator on Randy which would normally be considered murder but this is WWE so we had to go back to the arena. When Bray got in the ring and the lights came on Randy was there waiting to jump Bray. Randy dominated this part with several chair shots and dropping Bray on the announce table. Just as Randy was going for the RKO, The Singh brothers appeared to attack. Randy fought the brothers off and managed to hit an RKO on Bray when he tried to catch Randy off guard. Before Randy could finish the match, Jinder Mahal appeared hitting Randy with two shots off the WWE championship belt. Bray hits Sister Abigail for the win to put an end to this crazy match and this long feud. Now all attention turns to Orton Vs Mahal going into Backlash and what happens next for Bray.

Braun Strowman def. Roman Reigns by Pinfall

Sometimes two heavyweights do battle and it feels like a bore, but this felt more like an epic clash and was the best match between these two so far. Reigns has been accused in the past of not being very good at selling but I think he did a good job in this match. Both men have improved greately over the last year and showed alot of athleticism for two big dudes. The announce table, the barricade and the steel steps were all used effectively. Both men kicked out of each others finishers upping the drama of the match. The finish came after a second Running Powerslam from Braun for the three. This was Roman's first clean loss since Finn Balor pinned him on Raw back in July. After the match Braun continued his recent path of destruction by dropping Roman throat first on to the steel steps causing him to bleed from his mouth. Another bout between these two seems likely and I'm hoping for a Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules.

CLOSING THOUGHTS:

 Overall I thougth this years Payback was a better than average show. All the matches were good even the House of Horrors match was in the so bad its good territory. Interesting to see what happens with Jericho and the US title on Smackdown. I'm hoping Owens or AJ Styles win the title from Jericho on Smackdown and then Jericho gets beaten down by Owens after writing Jericho off TV. Looking forward to see what happens next and how the Raw superstars build towards Extreme Rules and how the build continues towards Backlash on Smackdown between Orton and Mahal.

What did you guys think? Was Payback a good or bad show this year? Let me know what you think in the comments section. Thanks for reading and hope you'll come back for more soon!