WWE Payback 2015 General Card & Results Discussion | Page 2 | WrestleZone Forums

WWE Payback 2015 General Card & Results Discussion

Strangely, the best match was probably 'Rusev Vs Cena'. It started slow, but became more emotionally engaging than the others. It also felt more important. But I also think it was placed too early on the card. It would've been better to happen before the Four Way Championship.
 
Well that show exceeded my expectations. It's odd how Payback keeps somehow delivering each year yet it has literally nothing that makes it stand out from the other PPV brands. Oh well. Worst match was the divas match, no surprise there. The best match was the World Heavyweight Championship fatal fourway. Another notable moment for me was The New Day's reaction to the Elimination Chamber announcement. That whole promo/segment was hilarious. So, onto my thoughts on the matches....

The pre-show was forgettable. Why even have the Truth VS Stardust match if it's not been advertised? Goodness I hate it when they do that. I am glad The Ascension got the win in the other pre-show match, I hope things turn around for them so they can eventually be as dominant on the main roster as they were in NXT. Most of the main card's matches were good. Sheamus VS Dolph was a good opener, the tag team match was great, Barrett VS Neville was fun to watch, and even Ryback VS Wyatt was better than I thought it'd be. Rusev VS Cena was probably the best match those two have had. Divas match sucked, but that was to be expected. The fatal fourway main event was by far the best match on the card and is an early candidate for the best match of the year!

If you missed this show then you at the very least should check out the World Heavyweight Championship fatal fourway. It was awesome. Honestly, the show overall was pretty good. Much better than Extreme Rules last month and I rank it as the 2nd best show of the year so far. With Elimination Chamber, Money In The Bank, and Summerslam all coming up I am unsure it will hold onto that #2 spot for too long though.

DAGGER'S 2015 PPV RANKINGS
1. Wrestlemania 31
2. Payback 2015
3. Extreme Rules 2015
4. Royal Rumble 2015
5. Fastlane 2015
 
Very good show.

Opener was great. Lots of good near falls and the rivalry gave it some good heat.

Tag match was also very very good.

Cena/Rusev had drama and was built perfectly. Reminded me of Cena/Umaga. Cena, as it turns out, is good in the ring.

Fatal Fourway was top notch. Shield spot was very well done. Crowd loved it. I loved it. everyone loved it. Lots of good false finishes and a good finish in general.

Overall this was worth more than my $10/month. NXT, step your game up Wednesday.
 
1. Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus - A strong opening match that told a really good story. I kinda thought they went a little overboard with Ziggler giving the impression that Sheamus' offense was so devastating, we've seen Ziggler take a lot more punishment without being nearly exhausted. Still, a strong effort in front of a hot crowd with Sheamus getting a clean win and momentum heading towards Elimination Chamber. ***1/4

2. WWE Tag Team Championship: New Day (c) vs. Tyson Kidd & Cesaro - Another fun match that was better than I was expecting. I was pleased to see WWE alter the formula a little and not have the first two falls of the match go down within the first 4 or 5 minutes of the match. Both teams worked hard to deliver an entertaining bout and, again, the crowd was into what was going on. The ending was sorta clever with Xavier Woods interjecting himself into the bout and rolling up Cesaro with a small package. He & Kofi were wearing the exact same tights, both had their hair up in a similar way and the way the cradle was synched in, at least from the angle we saw on TV, hid Xavier's face enough to where the ref had no reason to believe it wasn't Kofi. ***1/2

3. Ryback vs. Bray Wyatt - While not as good as the two previous bouts, I thought this was a solid bout that told a good story, I also thought Ryback did a great job of selling the "injury" to his ribs. The crowd was kinda split here with some cheering for Wyatt and some for Ryback. The ending spot with the turnbuckle pad coming off didn't seem planned and I like how they both quickly improvised; it was also nice seeing Wyatt get a win at a ppv, something we haven't really seen much of in a while. **3/4

4. WWE United States Championship I Quit Match: John Cena (c) vs. Rusev - I thought this was a helluva match, easily their best in my opinion. I wasn't really looking forward to this match because we all know Cena wasn't gonna say the magic words. While I still think that fact did take away from this match, the match itself and the story it told was still pretty damn awesome. As with their previous encounters, it looked like WWE protected Rusev by giving him something of an out with Lana interjecting herself and screaming that Rusev was submitting. I thought Rusev did a great job of selling Cena's offense, it may have been a little over the top but it wasn't outrageously so and I'd rather have someone who oversells than undersells. I also thought they really protected Rusev with what happened close to the ending; I enjoyed the way the ending was set up in which Cena "passed out" via The Accolade and Rusev believing he'd won as I thought he had a pretty good point, it was nice to see the commentators bring attention to it as well. Technically, the match can only end when someone says "I Quit", yet how does someone do that when they're rendered unconscious and clearly can't continue with the match? ****1/4

5. The Bella Twins vs. Naomi & Tamina Snuka - An okay Divas tag match, though nothing especially great. There were a few blown spots here & there and the spontaneous face/heel turns that the twins have been doing over the past 6 months has left me cold, it's something that has Vince's fingerprints all over it. I'm also still holding out hope that they'll have Naomi ditch the Rear View as her finisher, I know the gal's got an ass you could bounce a quarter off but the notion of someone running face first into it and being stunned long enough to be pinned is just plain dumb. It's not Cobra level dumb, but it's still dumb. **

6. Neville vs. King Barrett - A good match from these two, though I wasn't crazy about the ending. However, I prefer this ending to having Barrett outright pinned clean at this point. Good action, good storytelling and good chemistry from these two. Both men have clean victories over the other, so the way the match ended didn't really hurt Barrett, it didn't help him either but, again, I'd rather this than him losing here. It goes without saying that these two will be in the IC title EC match in a few weeks, so Neville or Barrett can both lose in that setting without losing anything. **3/4

WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose - While not as good as Cena vs. Rusev, in my opinion at least, it was still a very strong main event showing. It was chaotic at times, which you expect from this sort of match, but, again, I'm getting burned out on all the interference in Rollins' title matches. We all know Rollins has got the goods, I just don't see why every match he has should have such massive levels of interference; he doesn't really need it and it's something that's going to hinder his run in some people's eyes. I've no issue with him cheating, cheat to win every time as far as that goes, but they really, really use the outside interference stuff way too much for my taste. ***3/4
 
I didn't really like the PPV as a whole but it did have some good spots.

R-Truth vs Stardust 1/2 *
What was the point? The commentators didn't care, the fans didn't care about anything but shouting 'Whats up' and it was a match which would fit better on Superstars. I feel sorry for Truth for being stuck in this role for so long and Rhodes for his whole career

Comedy jobbers vs Joke 1/2 *
Dropped the ball with Sandow so much it is painful to type. This is not even the first time. The Rhodes Scholar split up was disappointing, the response after the Cena match was disappointing and now this. Also I quite like The Ascension but wow Vince has screwed them over

Sheamus vs Ziggler ***
Decent match and very enjoyable opener for the main card. They should finish their feud in a cage match at MITB. But they will end up facing off on RAW, entering the Chamber together and then entering MITB.

Kidd & Cesaro vs The New Day ****
Fantastic match. Great action, innovative spots and a very smart finish. It is such a shame The Uso's are not about as this could make for a great triple threat feud.

Ryback vs Wyatt ** 1/2
Alright match, some cool spots. But where do they go? Ryback may be out injured for a little which could prove to be a blessing, Wyatt needs a big summer feud

Cena vs Rusev **
I hated it. Not because Cena won but just the pace of the match. The ref asking do they quit after every move was stupid. If they want to quit they will quit. The finish was silly too, Rusev has been doing lots of English promos really. If he really wanted to quit so much surely he would say it in English? Some good action at times, but the same extreme rules/falls count anywhere/I quit spots we always see Cena in.

Naomi and Tamina vs Bellas *
Some ok in ring action at times but let down by so much. The Bellas cant tell a story in the ring, nor can they act, nor does anyone care when she shouts Brie Mode. The rear view needs to stop happening.

Neville vs Barrett * 1/2
Very poor match which was very disappointing. Poorly executed spots, weak finish and a feud which has been drawn out without ever really being a feud to care about. Let both of them move on now please.

Fatal four way *** 1/2
Now if this was any four wrestlers in the ring I would say fantastic. The fact that they wasted The Shield moments in this match which mainly revolved around Kane and featured Orton shows how much of a joke creative are. YOU SHOULD HAVE SAVED THE SHIELD FOR A BIGGER PPV. Mixed views on the ending, since the curb stomp has been banned Rollins has lost a level of identity. Yes it can be fun to use another finisher, but he continues to look cheap (and Rollins is my favourite guy in the company). Some awesome spots, the near fall after the Reigns finish was sweet and the stories told were decent. But saving those stories would have been so much better in the long run.
 
Payback was much better than I had expected. I never have the habit of watching the pre-show or the diva's match... so apart from that, I have no complaints whatsoever. All of those guys did great! Sure, some of the matches weren't the best in the series of the feud (Neville vs. Barrett for example), but overall, they all did pretty well.
 

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