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TUCKER'S LIVE INSTANT REACTION: Payback turns into an enjoyable stand-alone show, but will it stand the test of time?

May 18, 2015 - 1:14:17 AM
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Live In-Person Instant Reaction - WWE Payback
By Benjamin Tucker, PWTorch TV specialist


Overall Score - 7.5

In spite of terrible build, frequent botches, and a poisonous Divas match, Payback managed to end up being an enjoyable stand-alone show with enough variation and memorable high points to not become another Fastlane.

WWE tends to attempt to create a show where everything feels different, and they accomplished that tonight. The standard pace of the opening Ziggler-Sheamus match was half the speed of Neville-Barrett. The high spots of the Tag Title match differed completely from the U.S. Championship match, and neither had the storytelling found in the main event. And the Divas match... the Divas tag match was terrible live. But, I guess that can still be classified as different.

Arguably the strongest match of the night was the two out of three falls match between Kidd & Cesaro and The New Day. The crispness of the moves (for 90 percent of the match), the expert levels of heel cheating, Xavier's excellent comments ringside, and the energy of the crowd made this the best tag match promoted by the WWE in a long, long time. Tyson Kidd appeared to develop a connection with the main roster crowd for the first time since debuting on ECW years ago and Cesaro continues to show why he deserves a bigger spot in the company while the New Day stole the show with their heel routine.

The United States Championship match, by comparison, wasn't nearly as strong. The "I Quit" match concept is an inherently flawed concept made even worse by the referee constantly screaming "DO YOU QUIT" after every single move. No, a lariat will not make John Cena quit. The match reached WrestleMania XI levels of terrible with the microphone as Cena and Rusev lifelessly limped through the first half of the match. Post-attempted manslaughter (i.e. when Cena blew up Rusev with the stage pyrotechnics) the match finally picked up, delivering brutal-looking spots and an interesting (albeit predictable) finish.

The main event had a slightly more lackluster finish but the action throughout held up stronger. The story of Kane that was told leading up to Payback felt wholly irrelevant once the match started and he immediately showed allegiance to The Authority; instead, the important plot points revolved around The Shield participants in the match, and they were played out wonderfully. The Shield powerbomb was a lovely throwback, and Rollins getting turned on by Reigns and Ambrose moments later made sense. Even better is the continuity between Reigns and Ambrose, who have still maintained their friendship despite not teaming together anymore. The pacing of the match was great, with each wrestler getting their signature spots out of the way early to make the match seem even more unpredictable.

The rest of the show was largely entertaining with a few missteps. Sometimes literally. Payback was a show filled with missed spots, beginning with Dolph Ziggler severely gashing his head open when he headbutted Sheamus. Despite arguably improving the drama of the match, this was the only botched moment of the night that added anything. Tables wouldn't break, Neville tripped on the ropes and seemed a few steps off, and Cesaro couldn't lift Big E. For a show that was so strong in the ring, the amount of missed spot on this show was surprisingly large.

Out of the whole show, the big winner of the night was Dean Ambrose, who re-earned his spot at the main event table with a memorable performance in the main event. Just as he over-delivered, so too did Payback. While not a Show of the Year candidate, people will remember this show somewhat fondly for a moment here or there. Sunday's show will be used for entrance videos in the months and years to come, but on its own merits won't stand the test of time.

Any questions or comments? Message me on Twitter @BTuckerTorch!


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