WWE Payback 2014
WWE Payback 2014 (6/1/2014)- Chicago, IL
KICK-OFF SHOW:
NIKKI BELLA INTERVIEW- she says that Dragon and Brie have been keeping to themselves all week, but reiterates that Brie loves being a WWE Diva and performing for the fans. Props to WWE for including this because it answers the questions of "why does Brie's job matter? Shouldn't Dragon, as the champion, make more than enough money for both of them?" Brie's career matters because it matters to Brie. It is more than just a source of income to her. It is a job she loves.
Booker T claims that Brie Bella is putting Dragon's career in jeopardy. Is he trying to be a heel or does he just not understand the angle at all?
MASK VS. HAIR MATCH: El Torito(mask)(w/Los Matadores) vs. Hornswoggle(hair) (w/3MB)- 4/10
Torito's tail has partially grown back. He is wearing Chicago Bulls colors and has a "jersey" on with the number 2/3. The fans randomly chanted "we want tables!" Between this and the CM Punk chants, I almost feel bad for these guys, because they keep chanting for things they should know they're not going to get.
First they do some stuff, then some comedy, then more stuff, then a series of dives, then more stuff. Hornswoggle rips Torito's mask off in the middle of the match... but Torito was wearing another one. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but this tells me that Torito did not intend to follow through on the stips if he lost. It's a moot point, though, because he didn't (as if there was actually a chance).
CODY & GOLDUST BACKSTAGE- good stuff.
Booker tells us that Kofi Kingston vs. Bo Dallas has been booked for tonight. This should not be happening on a PPV. It won't do anything that couldn't easily be accomplished on Raw, and it will just take time away from matches that need it (they have both a Last Man Standing match and a HUGE no DQ's six man elimination tag team match.
MAIN SHOW:
WWE UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH: Sheamus(c) vs. Cesaro (w/Paul Heyman)- 6.5/10
Good start, but Sheamus totally no-sells the swing and pins Cesaro with a small-package. That was painfully counterproductive.
THE RHODES BROTHERS vs. CURTIS AXEL & RYBACK- 5.75/10
The Rhodes Brothers lose, and Cody, who took the fall, says that Goldust deserves a better tag partner than him.
BIG E. LANGSTON vs. ALEXANDER RUSEV (w/Lana)- 4/10
Rusev's flag-waving skills have greatly improved since Thursday night.
KOFI KINGSTON vs. BO DALLAS- no rating. Dull pointless.
Bo tells the fans that even though the Blackhawks are going to lose tonight, they will not be losers as long as they Bo-lieve. Kane randomly shows up and beats up Kofi. Kofi took a sh*tty bump on a chokeslam, so Kane tombstones him. Bo bails. Apparently this happened because Kofi sent out Tweets criticizing the Authority. Bo comes back and tells Kofi not to worry, because he'll be on his feet in no time if he just Bo-lieves.
WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: Bad News Barrett(c) vs. RVD- 6/10
Barrett cut a good pre-match promo.
DRAGON, STEPH, & BRIE SEGMENT- a bit too scripted, but still decent.
Steph responds to "CM PUNK!" chants by saying that Dragon is a quitter, just like CM Punk. Brie takes matters into her own hands by quitting so that Dragon will not need to face Steph's ultimatum. Then she slaps Steph across the face, which got a HUGE pop.
LAST MAN STANDING MATCH: John Cena (w/the Usos) vs. Bray Wyatt (w/the Wyatt Family)- 8.25/10
Cena and Bray did a bunch of great spots, and the Usos and Rowan and Harper did some really cool stuff, too. The match was awesome, but I really didn't care about the finish at all because of how poor this feud has been. The announcers put it over as the best Last Man Standing match ever (it's not even Cena's best, IMO). The finish annoyed me a lot. Just the big FU through that big piece of production equipment would have been a great finish, but having Cena cover with another box to stop Bray from getting up made it seem like Cena really hadn't beaten Bray to the point where he couldn't get up anymore, but was instead winning through a technicality. It felt like a heel finish.
And did Cena really need to win again? I'm certain JBL's comment that he has never seen anyone with such a penchant for winning big matches like Cena was intended to be a smarky protest of this counter-productive finish.
WWE DIVAS TITLE MATCH: Paige(c) vs. Alicia Fox- 3.5/10
Paige's modified scorpion cross-lock is now apparently called the PTO, standing for "Paige's Tap Out." That name is atrocious on every level.
NO DISQUALIFICATIONS SIX MAN ELIMINATION TAG TEAM MATCH: The Shield vs. Evolution- 8/10
Wow. I didn't think they'd put the Shield over quite THAT strong. I really loved the match, especially the way Evolution dissected the Shield. It reminded me a lot of the Shield vs. Ryback & Team Hell No match at TLC 2012, except that this wasn't as exciting. Every member of the Shield came off strong here, bu especially Roman Reigns. There are new kings in town, and this match made that quite clear.
A great show from WWE. The two main events delivered big time, and most of the rest of the show was passable, although some of the finishes (especially the US Title match) were very counter-productive.
KICK-OFF SHOW:
NIKKI BELLA INTERVIEW- she says that Dragon and Brie have been keeping to themselves all week, but reiterates that Brie loves being a WWE Diva and performing for the fans. Props to WWE for including this because it answers the questions of "why does Brie's job matter? Shouldn't Dragon, as the champion, make more than enough money for both of them?" Brie's career matters because it matters to Brie. It is more than just a source of income to her. It is a job she loves.
Booker T claims that Brie Bella is putting Dragon's career in jeopardy. Is he trying to be a heel or does he just not understand the angle at all?
MASK VS. HAIR MATCH: El Torito(mask)(w/Los Matadores) vs. Hornswoggle(hair) (w/3MB)- 4/10
Torito's tail has partially grown back. He is wearing Chicago Bulls colors and has a "jersey" on with the number 2/3. The fans randomly chanted "we want tables!" Between this and the CM Punk chants, I almost feel bad for these guys, because they keep chanting for things they should know they're not going to get.
First they do some stuff, then some comedy, then more stuff, then a series of dives, then more stuff. Hornswoggle rips Torito's mask off in the middle of the match... but Torito was wearing another one. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but this tells me that Torito did not intend to follow through on the stips if he lost. It's a moot point, though, because he didn't (as if there was actually a chance).
CODY & GOLDUST BACKSTAGE- good stuff.
Booker tells us that Kofi Kingston vs. Bo Dallas has been booked for tonight. This should not be happening on a PPV. It won't do anything that couldn't easily be accomplished on Raw, and it will just take time away from matches that need it (they have both a Last Man Standing match and a HUGE no DQ's six man elimination tag team match.
MAIN SHOW:
WWE UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH: Sheamus(c) vs. Cesaro (w/Paul Heyman)- 6.5/10
Good start, but Sheamus totally no-sells the swing and pins Cesaro with a small-package. That was painfully counterproductive.
THE RHODES BROTHERS vs. CURTIS AXEL & RYBACK- 5.75/10
The Rhodes Brothers lose, and Cody, who took the fall, says that Goldust deserves a better tag partner than him.
BIG E. LANGSTON vs. ALEXANDER RUSEV (w/Lana)- 4/10
Rusev's flag-waving skills have greatly improved since Thursday night.
KOFI KINGSTON vs. BO DALLAS- no rating. Dull pointless.
Bo tells the fans that even though the Blackhawks are going to lose tonight, they will not be losers as long as they Bo-lieve. Kane randomly shows up and beats up Kofi. Kofi took a sh*tty bump on a chokeslam, so Kane tombstones him. Bo bails. Apparently this happened because Kofi sent out Tweets criticizing the Authority. Bo comes back and tells Kofi not to worry, because he'll be on his feet in no time if he just Bo-lieves.
WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: Bad News Barrett(c) vs. RVD- 6/10
Barrett cut a good pre-match promo.
DRAGON, STEPH, & BRIE SEGMENT- a bit too scripted, but still decent.
Steph responds to "CM PUNK!" chants by saying that Dragon is a quitter, just like CM Punk. Brie takes matters into her own hands by quitting so that Dragon will not need to face Steph's ultimatum. Then she slaps Steph across the face, which got a HUGE pop.
LAST MAN STANDING MATCH: John Cena (w/the Usos) vs. Bray Wyatt (w/the Wyatt Family)- 8.25/10
Cena and Bray did a bunch of great spots, and the Usos and Rowan and Harper did some really cool stuff, too. The match was awesome, but I really didn't care about the finish at all because of how poor this feud has been. The announcers put it over as the best Last Man Standing match ever (it's not even Cena's best, IMO). The finish annoyed me a lot. Just the big FU through that big piece of production equipment would have been a great finish, but having Cena cover with another box to stop Bray from getting up made it seem like Cena really hadn't beaten Bray to the point where he couldn't get up anymore, but was instead winning through a technicality. It felt like a heel finish.
And did Cena really need to win again? I'm certain JBL's comment that he has never seen anyone with such a penchant for winning big matches like Cena was intended to be a smarky protest of this counter-productive finish.
WWE DIVAS TITLE MATCH: Paige(c) vs. Alicia Fox- 3.5/10
Paige's modified scorpion cross-lock is now apparently called the PTO, standing for "Paige's Tap Out." That name is atrocious on every level.
NO DISQUALIFICATIONS SIX MAN ELIMINATION TAG TEAM MATCH: The Shield vs. Evolution- 8/10
Wow. I didn't think they'd put the Shield over quite THAT strong. I really loved the match, especially the way Evolution dissected the Shield. It reminded me a lot of the Shield vs. Ryback & Team Hell No match at TLC 2012, except that this wasn't as exciting. Every member of the Shield came off strong here, bu especially Roman Reigns. There are new kings in town, and this match made that quite clear.
A great show from WWE. The two main events delivered big time, and most of the rest of the show was passable, although some of the finishes (especially the US Title match) were very counter-productive.