WWE Payback Preview and Predictions

WWE Payback Preview and Predictions

I will be reviewing WWE Payback live with pics and gifs tommorow starting with the pre-show at 7:30PM up until the end of the post game show at 11:30PM or so.

I felt that this pay per view has come very quickly since Extreme Rules. Maybe it has come a little too quickly.

WWE hasn't done a bad job building up this PPV. In particular, they really hit the Chris Jericho vs CM Punk match out of the park but some of the other stuff wasn't announced until this past week, so they dropped the ball a little. The main event for me is almost an afterthought at this point. Very little of the Cena/Ryback interactions have been memorable to me and I imagine that this has to be the end of that feud.

I'm not as excited for the show as I was for Extreme Rules and I surely won't be as excited as I will be for Money in the Bank in about a month. There is nothing I am really dying to see unfortunately. Part of this is due to the fact that I've seen such good stuff with The Shield, Daniel Bryan and Antonio Cesaro this week, that the PPV is almost an afterthought.

As usual, I will be providing my predictions for the show. Let's get it started.

WWE Payback Kickoff - Damien Sandow vs Sheamus

This hasn't been a great feud on Sheamus' end. He has been a gigantic bully and really came off like a giant jerk. It reminded me of when we were supposed to cheer him last year when he committed Grand Theft Auto and Destruction of Personal Property by destroying Alberto Del Rio's car. This one is definitely up that alley. He destroyed a multi-million dollar computer called Deep Blue just because and got his panties in a bunch when Sandow outsmarted him. Damien Sandow is clearly the face in the feud and I'll be cheering for him. He has really proven himself as a character and is probably ready for the main event. His matches still need some work, but getting over is the more important thing, and he has done that. As for this match, the thing to keep in mind is that it is a pre-show match. Why is it on the pre-show? I have no idea and it is certainly the lowest Sheamus has been on a card for a while. They will try to pump up the crowd for this one and that means it will be a very easy squash as Sheamus will win with a Brogue Kick. WINNER - Sheamus

WWE World Tag Team Titles -  Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins vs Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton

 I'm picking this one to open the show. This is almost guaranteed to be good and should really get things going. The Shield vs Anyone has been awesome and The Shield have really made the WWE great. Daniel Bryan may be at his peak as a performer and has the distinction of being the most over wrestler on the roster and the best wrestler in the world. He has been nothing short of amazing. Randy Orton has been pretty good lately too. He did some decent stuff in the feud with Big Show/Sheamus/Orton vs The Shield and Extreme Rules 2013 re-inspired him. He has been really good since Extreme Rules and should be good at Payback. The crowd will be going nuts for this one, which will help the quality of it. This will get about 15-20 minutes, but The Shield will prevail. Daniel Bryan has been rumored to be challenging John Cena next month and I can definitely see that happening. Yes, DB did get a big win in finally beating The Shield on Smackdown, but there are brighter things on the horizon for him, which means he won with the tag titles. WINNERS - The Shield

Intercontinental Title - Wade Barrett vs The Miz vs Curtis Axel

The Miz and Wade Barrett have been feuding since before Wrestlemania, and I doubt this is the end of them getting paired together. Curtis Axel redebuted recently and has been losing stock price every week. This match was originally supposed to be Fandango vs The Miz vs Wade Barrett but, Fandango got a concussion and got taken off the card.

I don't have high expectations for this one. It might be good but I think it will be average like most WWE Triple Threat Matches. One person will stay outside while the other two fight. I don't think these three are going to click that well, but let's see.

Picking the winner for this one is an interesting task. Curtis Axel could use the win the most out of anyone involved. WWE has him beat big name wrestlers but then they trash him and remind us that he is not on the level of main eventers elsewhere. Realistically, this is where Axel belongs and is probably going to be where he peaks out at.

Wade Barrett has been IC champion for a while, and it hasn't helped him an inch. He was once a main eventer and a big WWE star, then he got injured. He then got pushed again as a main eventer, but WWE couldn't resist themselves and had to job him out, with his worst moment being kicked in the nuts by Triple H. He, like others, doesn't have much to do right now and winning or losing this one means absolutely nothing for him.

The Miz just returned around a month ago and doesn't really need the win either. WWE doesn't seem to have a ton of plans for him and the midcard is really where he belongs. He could win or lose here.

I'm picking Curtis Axel to win this. He needs the win and the others involved can lose this without any issues. Stay tuned though for Fandango to make his return, because the IC title has his name written all over it. WINNER - Curtis Axel

WWE Diva's Title - Kaitlyn vs AJ Lee

Kaitlyn has been pretty much hopeless as the Diva's champion. Her matches stink, the crowd doesn't care and she is terribly overpushed. AJ Lee on the other hand, has really done a home run of a job with all she has been given and is really liked by the internet. I can't really see a case for having Kaitlyn win. Yes, they could have her get her revenge against AJ Lee for AJ pretending to be her lover, but that angle sucked and it is better forgotten. AJ is the better one overall of the two and should win this. I don't have big expectations for this and I really just hope Kaitlyn doesn't kill herself. AJ might surprise someone though if she gets to show some of her wrestling skills. WINNER - AJ Lee

WWE United States Championship - Dean Ambrose vs Kane

These two have been feuding for months now as part of the Team Hell No vs The Shield feud. This one will be a gamble match quality wise. Kane has been better lately and Dean Ambrose is pretty amazing as a worker, but it still is Kane and I don't think he is a great wrestler. The best bet for this one is for Dean to bump and sell like a maniac and for Kane to step up.

I think the winner for this match is pretty obvious. There is no reason on earth that Dean Ambrose should lose this one. WINNER - Dean Ambrose

World Heavyweight Championship - Dolph Ziggler vs Alberto Del Rio

There is very little steam coming into this one. Dolph Ziggler has been hurt and just came back in the last week. He hasn't done much yet and I just feel nothing towards this match. It's one of the less hyped title matches in a while. These two have had classics before so this should be really good. I definitely have high expectations for this and I hope it is good. I have no clue who wins this one though. Dolph just came back and should get some time to establish himself as champion. On the other hand, Alberto is the face that WWE is really trying to push, so there is a case for him too. I'm going to go with Dolph on this since he needs to get established and there is no reason to have him lose yet. WINNER - Dolph Ziggler

CM Punk vs Chris Jericho

These two have fought before and they are both good. I definitely don't think Chris Jericho is as great as everyone hypes him to be though. CM Punk is really good but not on the level wrestling wise of Daniel Bryan. I think this match is going to end up as a disappointment. WWE and Jericho have hyped this as a wrestling classic, but I'm just not seeing it. The crowd will be hot since this is in CM Punk's hometown and should help the match be better. Expect a good one, but not an all-time classic.As for the winner, CM Punk should be the obvious choice. He is just returning and is in his hometown and has no reason at all to lose. WINNER - CM Punk

WWE Championship - Three Stages of Hell - John Cena vs Ryback

WWE really dropped the ball on this one. Both men got re-fried at Extreme Rules and showed up with almost no affects from it the next night. The Extreme Rules finish was stupid and WWE hasn't built this well since the last PPV. Their last confrontation on Raw was laughably bad and I'm just not buying into this one. Expect a ton of smoke and mirrors here. The lumberjack match will have tons of interference and shenanigans and Ryback should probably take it. The second fall will be a tables match and I'm picking Cena for it. Ryback will go for a move, miss and go right through a table. He might also get helped through the table from someone at ringside, since the lumberjacks won't go away easy. The third fall will be an Ambulance Match and since it is said that it will be Cena vs Daniel Bryan next month, I'm picking Cena. I think Cena will do an FU onto a stretcher to Ryback or just hit the FU on him right into the Ambulance for the win. The match should be good. There will be enough gimmicks to help it along and the crowd should be into it. WINNER - John Cena

Stay tuned for a live review of WWE Payback with pics and gifs starting at 730PM and finishing after the preshow.