WWE Payback Reax

Read on for my thoughts on last night's WWE special event.

Kickoff:
- Corbin vs. Ziggler:
Ziggler's got a lot of fire. Corbin doesn't need to be the quicker man; he needs to shut Dolph down and use his power and size advantage.

Ziggler bringing back the sleeperhold as a serious move is good.

Dolph's making an effective crash test dummy.

Surprising win by Ziggler. I think this one was too brief to be effective as a showcase for the Lone Wolf.

Am I the only one who thinks Zayn is too laid back? I mean, he doesn't need to yell all the time or anything, but he rarely comes across as fired up for a big match.

I definitely think we'll see Zayn and Owens as a team at some point someday. That would be really great.

- Kalisto vs. Ryback:
I love the size and strength of Ryback coming into play against Kalisto's speed and technique.

That corkscrew plancha looked about THIS close to ending really badly for Kalisto.

Ryback's "Pre-Show Stopper" belt is hilarious. He's got a nice dry sense of humor.

Ryback throwing Kalisto around is fun to watch. Watching ROH makes me appreciate seeing big wrestlers show dominance instead of almost everyone being Cruiserweight size.

Kalisto's moves are always impressive.

Oh, this one's really picking up.

That Gorilla press spot was really cool. Kalisto got some serious air time.

Nice match overall.

Payback:
I love New Day having contemporary references that aren't forced. It's good to see people of color getting a platform to do something that isn't manufactured by people trying to capitalize on "what black people like."

Loving the bean bag chairs.

What do you mean your name's Enzo Amore!? The dirtsheets said Lilian got in trouble for using your full names, and it was on le botchamania~!

Fun Enzo/Cass promo. I wonder how many people backstage got the "Hey Arnold" references.

- Enzo/Cass vs. Vaudevillains:
Nice mat wrestling early.

Good teamwork from the babyfaces.

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD. That was a really scary spot.

Please God I hope Enzo is OK. 

- Zayn vs. Owens:
Good trash talk and a good fight early. Better than trading superkicks; this is supposed to be a heated feud!

Right back to crazy dives after Enzo's incident. Hopefully that was the only injury tonight.

I like seeing Zayn's babyface fire against Owens' brawling and holds.

This is getting pretty impressive. Owens can really move his weight.

I like the counters to the popup powerbomb, rather than kicking out of 50 finishers.

That was great! Both men brought it. I hope more is coming at Extreme Rules.

I love Owens wanting even more glory after the match. GREAT heel.

I definitely like Owens wanting to get back in the title picture.

- Miz vs. Cesaro:
Miz focusing on the injured shoulder is smart.

I wish Maryse had been brought back to work with Miz before now. She really adds to his act.

Miz is a smarter worker than he gets credit for. He's got a lot of experience doing the WWE style, and it shows.

Cesaro has some really impressive speed.

This is going really well. Nice for Miz to get his foot on the rope.

As much as I like Cesaro, I'm not a fan of him kicking out of the SCF. That should be protected as a match-ending move.

BAH GAWD SAMI ZAYN OUTTA NOWHERE.

Miz tapping while Owens and Zayn were fighting was great.

Really crazy ending, but I look forward to the four-way match (?) at Extreme Rules.

I wonder what Apollo and Stephanie were actually talking about.

- Y2J vs. Ambrose:
Good heel tactics and mind games by Jericho.

Pretty good action so far.

Hard to watch the "catapult into the rope" spot after Enzo's scary bump earlier.

Nice spot turning the elbow drop until the Walls. Smart move from the veteran.

Also a good spot using the German announce table.

I love how vocal Jericho is in the ring, especially with the ref.

This one's picking up pretty nicely.

Kind of a surprising win, but the match was pretty good.

Jericho looked pretty spent after that one.

Good promo to continue the build to Roman vs. AJ.

- Charlotte vs. Natalya:
These two are great. Two top technicians.

I love Charlotte's more arrogant persona. She's fun taunting the crowd and her opponents.

Charlotte working on the leg to set up her finisher is smart.

Charlotte teasing a powerbomb was a good spot.

Bret's involvement here isn't even a 4/10. He clearly couldn't care less about being at ringside.

Natural Selection should have ended it. Finisher kickouts need to be saved for big feud-ending matches.

Oh, no. Another Screwjob reference!? At least it was Lil Naitch doing the honors.

I guess the post-match was good for a nostalgia pop.

Chant that shit at a UFC show. That's where Punk works now.

The longer you idiots chant, the longer it is until you see the AJ Styles and the Bullet Club. Do you really want a Vince and Stephanie segment to take up so much of the show?

WWE putting over an article from Bleacher Report is something I thought I'd never see. That site's usually pretty terrible.

Payback 2036 will feature long talking segments from the next generation of McMahons.

That was something of a letdown. I have a feeling they're just setting up something more definite at Extreme Rules. Shane and Stephanie can't get along, so one side gets Raw and one side gets Smackdown. It's possible they set up something at MITB where Shane faces HHH to determine who gets Raw and who gets Smackdown, or Shane and Stephanie will each appoint someone to battle on their behalf to compete then. We'll see. It's definitely interesting we didn't see HHH involved in this, since he'd theoretically be in charge, too.

Sounds like Enzo will be mostly OK. He really got his bell rung.

- AJ vs. Roman:
The people who chant Roman "can't wrestle" don't really understand the art of wrestling. They've worked themselves into thinking having more high-flying and/or high-impact moves is what makes a match good, when that's only one style of wrestling. If Roman was trying to be a luchadore or something, then he would be failing as a wrestler. But for the style he's working? He's fine.

I like AJ picking his spots, trying to get in Roman's head.

Roman making the most of his power and strength, as he should.

Nice counter into the Pele.

I'm loving all the counter-wrestling into/out of signature moves.

WWHHHAAATTT!!???? Weak ending to the match.

You da man Shane. Although they just had Reigns lose clean in his first title defense before the restart.

And now they have AJ winning over the champ TWICE. I'm not liking this at all.

Well at least Steph did something face-like. Although part of me wishes she would have inserted HHH into the mix as a triple threat to screw both of them over. He never got his rematch, after all.

GOOD GOD WHAT A SUPERMAN PUNCH!

I like Reigns being OK with taking on the Good Brothers, too. Good to see a fighting champion.

AJ was THIS close to being WWE Champion after the forearm.

Throwing AJ on top of everyone was great. After so much else has gone down in this match, he might as well.

One hell of a dive from Reigns.

This is a really solid match. Lots of drama involved.

Great ending. I think the restarts halted the momentum of the match, but overall it was a solid experience.

That will be one hell of a rematch!

More wrestling coming up.