THE BIG PAYBACK!!...What Happened Last Night (May 17th, 2015)

Well, I’m not mad but I certainly had a lot of fun.  Payback was quite the pleasant surprise.  With a juicy Fatal-4-Way set to close the show, it was anyone’s guess what would go down along the way and though there has been plenty of drama stirred up in the preceding weeks, I wasn’t sure if it was going to amount to much and yes, we basically end up right where we were before but we’re all changed now by the experience and I for one am glad to see that the WWE can still present decent programming from time to time.  It wasn’t all gold but it was more interesting than not and so, kudos!  I don’t have to pack my bags and leave just yet.

The pre-show had a couple of matches.  The first one was a perfunctory dance between Stardust and R-Truth. Though these 2 are great workers, the match itself had no bearing.  It simply seemed like something to do and that may have very well been the case.  There has certainly been no lead up or feud so they do as they’re supposed to and R-Truth takes the win with his finisher, The Lie Detector. 

After that, we have who are now dubbed “The Mega Powers” in the form of Curtis Axel and Damien Sandow doing their best Hulk Hogan and "Macho Man" Randy Savage impressions respectively, up against The Ascension.  It was hard to say if this was going to be an actual match or just a display of camp.  Both Axel and Sandow keep to their current gimmick and use the Hulkster's and Macho Man’s moves.  Yet, The Ascension appear to wait for these 2 to trip themselves up and as Sandow goes for the elbow off the top rope, Konnor knocks him down and he and Viktor execute The Fall of Man for a much needed win.  We’ll see if we can start to take them seriously now.  All in all, the preliminary fare was just that and you could have seen it or not and would have been fine.

The first match of the evening does a good job of setting the tone, though.  Payback being in Baltimore, Maryland, I couldn’t help but feel that the recent turmoil that has plagued the city probably took a toll on the crowd.  I’m glad they made it out, they could probably use some levity, but one couldn’t help but notice that the crowd seemed tired and given current events, couldn’t really blame them.   Nevertheless, Dolph Ziggler and Sheamus open to get the juices flowing.   With the history of Sheamus getting the jump on Ziggler at Extreme Rules, Ziggler comes out swinging.  The moment the bell rings he’s all over Sheamus.  He just throws himself and his forearms and elbows at the Pale Villain.  And Sheamus, being the big slab o’man that he is, takes what Ziggler gives.   He responds by reminding Ziggler of the fact that he’s the bigger man and Sheamus proceeds to toss him about and just rough him up in brutish fashion.   Yet, as we know, Ziggler is wily and manages to squirm out of the jams he finds himself in.  He manages an offensive comeback and gets Sheamus down against a turnbuckle.   Seeing Sheamus in prime position, Ziggler returns the favor Sheamus did for him and rubs Sheamus’ face all over his surprisingly untanned ass.  Incensed, Sheamus revives but not before gulping down a ton of water to somehow alleviate the taste of ass.  He then proceeds to dish out a good Irish pummeling.  Ziggler eats some White Noise and then Sheamus tries to shut him down with his Cloverleaf submission but Ziggler manages to grab hold of the ropes.  Sheamus has had about enough of Ziggler at this point and he hoists him up and literally begins to slap him about.  Ziggler fights back and gets gutsy.  He jumps up and lands a head-butt but seems to take himself out more than Sheamus for a gash opens up on his forehead and it soaks his face in blood.  He manages to land a Superkick anyway but it turns out to be a near-fall and Sheamus gets up and lands a Brogue Kick to our bloodied hero and takes the win.

To follow, we have the likes of Cesaro & Tyson Kidd up against Kofi Kingston and Big E. Langston of The New Day in a 2 out of 3 Falls Match.  Naturally, Natalya and Xavier Woods man the sidelines respectively.  This match is a good time and fast paced, which is to be expected.  These fellows certainly know how to control chaos and it is fascinating to watch.  Cesaro & Kidd get the first fall with a Swing on Kofi Kingston and a Dropkick from Kidd.  The New Day regroup and come in aggressively for the second round.  Cesaro and Kidd don’t back down, though.  Cesaro charges in and Langston takes him out with a Spear.  Kingston tries to follow up from off the top ropes but Kidd flies in with a kick of his own. Kingston and Langston continue to deal with Kidd and get the second fall after dropping Kidd with their 2-tiered finisher.  The last third of this match is where the wheels start to fall off as the pace picks up and both teams are just trying to end the other.  It gets so crazy that the referee appears to lose track of the action and Xavier Woods slips in to roll up Cesaro and the referee does the count thinking it’s Kofi Kingston and the New Day steal another win and retain their Championship Titles.

Next up, we have the somewhat anticipated match between Ryback and Bray Wyatt.  Now, Enthusiasts you know that I’m not buying Wyatt as being the “New Face of Fear” and this match didn’t really sell it but Wyatt and Ryback definitely square up and slam right into each other.  It does surprise me how much Wyatt is able to put a dent in Ryback.  Wyatt doesn’t appear to be in the best shape but maybe he’s like a wrestling Sammo Hung.  He’s the in-house “Fat Dragon” and it doesn’t stop him.  Wyatt is his bizarre self and Ryback does his no-nonsense bruiser routine, even getting himself up on the ropes to land a Splash that leaves him grabbing his ribs after.  It’s hard to say if this is kayfabery or not but Ryback plays with and through it.  There’s a moment where Wyatt plays possum for a bit just to get Ryback into a Sister Abigail but Ryback doesn’t fully fall for the ploy and slips out.  He gathers Wyatt up and attempts a ShellShock but Wyatt wiggles out of it.  Wyatt managed to uncover a turnbuckle earlier in the match and he uses this opening to push Ryback into it.  With Ryback already injured, this takes another big chunk out of his Health Meter and Wyatt takes advantage by cleanly administering his Sister Abigail to take the win.

We look to the playbill and we see that it’s the “I Quit” Match between Rusev and John Cena.  Personally, I thought the referee was hilarious.  This being an “I Quit” Match, one of these guys has to say the words and so when anyone hit the ground this gruff ref would amble over, hunker down and ask “Do you quit?”  It was funny to me because the guy sounded like some New Jersey dive-bar bartender.   He did this like 50 times throughout the match.  It felt like something you’d see on Family Guy or something.  I was waiting for the Big Chicken to bust out and start fighting with one of them.  They’d travel and end up out in the street or something and the ref would still follow them.  Cena’s tossed in a dumpster ref comes over, “Do you quit?” and sticks the mic inside the dumpster.  After a few seconds… “No!”  It was kind of ridiculous but entertaining.  Rusev had his funny moments too.  Cena cracks him on the back a few times and when the ref comes over to ask him if he quits, all you get is a loud scream, like when a little kid gets hurt and cries so hard they can’t breathe.   There’s also real sparks that fly as the match travels through the arena, when Cena Adjusts Rusev’s Attitude and causes some incidental pyro action to go off.  Rusev still doesn’t quit.  They battle on and this match is long because of the stipulations and it’s hard to stay fully interested.  I certainly went and got a refill during this one.  Towards the end, Rusev manages to get Cena into The Accolade and keep him in it but that danged Cena just doesn’t give up but, he does pass out.  Yet, the stipulations insist that the loser must utter the words “I quit” in order for the opponent to win the match.  Rusev, beside himself frustration, takes the top rope down from the ring and grabs a bottle of water.  He splashes the water on Cena’s face to wake him up and then proceeds to try to hurl Cena into the exposed turnbuckle from the top rope removal.  Cena comes to enough to dodge out the way and locks Rusev up with the STF and uses the rope to help keep Rusev put.  Lana, at ringside this entire time, keeps close watch of the action and Rusev starts shouting in Russian.  Only our fellow Russian speakers know what he actually said but Lana caves and takes the mic and screams that Rusev surrenders.  She quits for him.   We’ll see how this plays out.

Moving along we have our Divas Match with The Bellas Twins facing off against Naomi and Tamina.  There wasn’t much to this match but it was well sold.  The Bellas start off a united front and try to use their sisterly unity as a boon to their efforts but Tamina lands a big Superkick and the sisters quickly learn it’ll take more than that to get a win.   After some back and forth, Naomi nails Nikki with her Rearview but Nikki kicks out.  Outside the ring, Brie tries to give Tamina a piece of her mind but Tamina gives her a face full of guardrail.  Nikki can’t help but notice and Naomi uses the distraction to get the win.  They’re here!  They’re mean!  Get used to it!

We then have “King” Wade Barrett and Neville go around for a bit.  The match wasn’t spectacular but I felt Neville did a great job of telling his side of the story though.  I heard that the WWE were kicking around a “Mighty Mouse” sort of gimmick with Neville for his debut and I didn’t know where they got that from but after seeing this match, it became a bit clearer.  Neville is definitely small for WWE standards but built like solid rock and has this “can-do” spirit in the ring that makes it seem like he can achieve the impossible despite his stature.   He was tenacious in this match and it took a little while to get the crowd into it.  Barrett is his usual surly self in this one and shows the new crowd favorite no respect.  Despite Neville’s athleticism, Barrett reminds him who’s bigger and who’s been around longer.  As Neville sets up for a Red Arrow, Barrett sets him back down with a kick to the midsection.  He lets Neville try on some Winds of Change for size.  Neville doesn’t like the fit but finagles a rollup of his own for Barrett to consider.  Barrett says bullocks! to it.  Neville gets in position for another Red Arrow but Barrett slides out the ring so Neville opts for a moonsault instead.   Neville gets back into to ring to finish the fight but Barrett says bullocks! to that as well and takes a Countout to Neville’s disappointment.  Seeing Neville’s chagrin, Barrett gets back into the ring and obliges him with a beatdown.  Neville doesn’t like the turn of events at all and responds by planting Barrett with a firm suplex, demonstrating that strength he’s got.  With Barrett laid out, Neville nails his Red Arrow for the unofficial win.

That brings us to the main event, the Fatal-4-Way between Randy Orton, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.  This actually was a lot of fun to watch.  It took some time to get going but once it did, it was a great ride.  I’m sure most would agree that it doesn’t really start until the semi-SHIELD reunion outside the ring.  Rollins and Orton get into it at ringside and once Orton gets Rollins a little dazed, he dresses down the announce table.   While he’s doing this, Rollins gets back to his feet and drives Orton into the ring apron.  Ambrose and Reigns having been taken out a little earlier have recovered by now and find themselves in a familiar position when they make it over to where the action is.   Seeing how they all need Orton out of the way, the 3 former SHIELD mates gather round and set Orton up for their Triple Powerbomb and put Orton through the announce table.   All 3 of them seem pretty pleased with themselves and Rollins is fine with riding the nostalgia train.  Whadaya say guys, pals?  He puts his fist in like they used to.  Reigns and Ambrose look at it and then to each other and then Reigns shows Rollins how he feels about that by slapping him across the face.  He and Ambrose proceed to give Rollins a satisfying beatdown and start to Double Powerbomb him on the Spanish Announce Team Table but Dad (Kane) is here too, to protect Rollins and his gig and squashes this noise.  Reigns interprets this as meaning that Dad wants to get Powerbombed and so he obliges, doesn’t bother to move Rollins from off the table either.  What? The table is still standing?!  Well, let’s do it again.  Dad’s mercilessly Powerbombed a second time and that gets the job done.  That leaves 2.  Ambrose and Reigns eye each other are they gonna do this sportsmanlike or get dirty?  The fist bump suggests the former and the 2 get in the ring and dance.   Ambrose knows this ain’t gonna be all fun and goes full-throttle, throwing himself at Reigns in an attempt to get the jump.   It puts a minor dent in Reigns but Reigns gathers Ambrose up and drops him with a sit-down Powerbomb.  It doesn’t keep Ambrose down.  They do-si-do another time and Reigns goes for the Superman Punch, Ambrose ducks.  Reigns tries again but Ambrose kicks out.   Another do-si-do and Reigns go for the Spear and Ambrose suggests he eats a knee.  He then offers up some Dirty Deeds but Reigns gets out of that and lands a Spear but Rollins suddenly recovers and knocks Reigns off before he can complete the pin.   Of course J&J Security are at this party and they decide to join in at this point to keep Reigns down but, that never works.  Any hopes of a reunion are dashed at this point as the former SHIELD members go at each other until there’s only 1 standing.  Dad then decides it’s time for him to flash the lights and shut this party down.  He pulls Ambrose out the ring and hits him with some “steel” steps.  He gives Reigns the same and Chokeslams him on to another set.   Orton revives by now and deals Dad a kick to the back.  Rollins gets his hands on Orton and attempts to DDT him off the ropes but Orton reverses and starts to show Rollins how it’s done but J&J get involved and mess that all up.   This pisses Orton off and he serves up RKOs to the both of them.  Rollins, he gets a Powerslam and DDT.  He starts to go into his RKO ritual but J&J knock him into Dad.  Orton shrugs and serves up the RKO to him.  Rollins swoops in right after and pays homage to his mentor and executes the Pedigree for the win and retains!

This descent into madness was a great time though a bit sloppy in places it was definitely a better show than I was anticipating.  I also found it interesting how much We the Audience are jonesing for a SHIELD reunion.  I never liked them but seeing them together this time around was kinda cool.   If the Wyatt’s reunite I’m sure the SHIELD could somehow be reunited to pose as a Face threat this time around.  We’ll see if they do that.  Seeing how far these fellows have come, I’m not sure if a reunion is wholly necessary but there’s no doubt it would be fun, even if only for a short while.  Well, Enthusiasts I felt like I got my money’s worth.   How’s about you?

See You in a Bit,

-Nicole Alexis (^_~)