After some interesting backstage happenings involving Paul Heyman, JBL, and Keith Lee, we were back in the Thunderdome for Big E vs. Sheamus. This was as good as most would've predicted, which isn't surprising considering how many times these hosses mixed it up in tag matches over the years. It was a nasty physical fight with some hard-hitting knees and elbows and both guys delivering all sorts of signature offense. This match was designed to continue Big E's push as a singles threat and getting the clean W certainly supported that cause. Not necessarily a "career match" for either guy, but definitely solid. (3/5)
Backstage, Matt Riddle was interviewed and reminded of a recent tweet from Baron Corbin calling him a "failure at home." Whoa. Kinda tasteless here for the WWE to turn accusations of date rape into an angle, but hey...Corbin attacked Riddle before the bell and controlled a good portion of this match, really using his size and strength to keep Riddle down. Its been hard to be much of a fan of Riddle after all the accusations that came to light and Corbin, well, he's just an average-at-best worker. When Riddle got to rally and hit a flurry of his offense, it all looked great and reminded me of why he felt like a "Next Big Thing" in the first place, but when Corbin took back over, the sloppiness came back in the form of lazy pins, telegraphed sequences, and a somewhat flat finish. Cole and Graves described it as an upset victory for Riddle, but isn't this dude a legit UFC badass while Corbin is a goof whose sole feud victory is over "Shorty G"? (2/5)
Whoops, spoke too soon. Corbin attacked Riddle backstage so this feud will inexplicably continue.
The Women's Tag Team Championships were on the line next with Sasha Banks and Bayley (The Role Models) defending the titles against Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax. Jax and Baszler haven't seen eye-to-eye in the build-up to this match but both hate the Role Models so we got a rare Heels/Heels match with this. This time last year, Shayna Baszler had "Big Match Feel" to her NXT Women's Championship defenses, but that seems like many, many moons ago. I liked the Role Models teamwork and strategy - going after Nia's knees, trying to keep Baszler isolated - but its hard to get into a match where you're not actively rooting for anyone. Baszler hit a flurry of excellent offense that reminded me of how good she could be, but it wasn't enough to seal the win for her team. Bayley and Banks tried to double-team Nia, eventually even hoisting her up for a double back body drop, but Baszler got the blind tag and ended up with both of the Role Models locked up in ridiculous submission that led to Bayley tapping out! I wouldn't consider this a great match, but the shock ending absolutely worked for me. During the post-match interview, Nia showed more personality than I think she's ever shown before - is this the start of a new "goofy Giant" gimmick for her with Baszler as the straight woman? - and the Role Models looked absolutely heartbroken, further seeding their inevitable split. (2.5/5)
The next match was an interesting one - Keith Lee taking on Randy Orton. Just a week prior, Keith Lee dropped the NXT Championship to Karrion Kross (who ended up having to vacate the title just a few days later anyway), but made a shocking debut on RAW, immediately inserting himself into the on-going Orton/McIntyre feud. With Orton delivering a devastating trio of punt kicks to McIntyre's skull, Lee stepped up for his "friend" (Oh, you didn't know they were buds?) and challenged Orton for this match. Much of the talk, however, has been about Keith Lee's new entrance music and attire (he essentially wore a "skort" on RAW). At least on this show, Lee was sporting his usual shorts (though he covered his abdomen with a tank top). This match told a great story as Orton put everything he had into his selling and facial expressions. When he was taking punishment, Orton looked shocked by Lee's strength and toughness. When he was the one bringing the pain, every smile reeked of veteran arrogance. The finish came out of absolutely NOWHERE, with Orton attempting an RKO but eating a Spirit Bomb instead for a completely unexpected victory. Had this been given 3-4 more minutes, I think it would've been even better as the finish was just too unexpected and, after what we've seen Orton go through this year - from 40-minute epics with Edge to a highly competitive title match against McIntyre a week prior - it just didn't seem realistic. (3/5)
A fairly lengthy video package set the stage for the next contest - Rey and Dominik Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins and Buddy Murphy. The phony crowd noise was pumped up full blast on this match, but I won't lie - it started out hot and, considering this was only his second match, Dominik delivered what he needed to with the grace and style his father made famous. Speaking of his father, I loved Rey getting into the ring and calling out Rollins as a "punk ass," a line that popped the commentary team too. There was a great spot where Rollins slid Mysterio out of the ring and right onto Buddy's knees that I'm not sure I've seen before. Rey was able to make the hot tag minutes later, but the heels maintained control, Rollins thwarting a crossbody by turning it into a Falcon Arrow. It was now Dominik's turn to play the face-in-peril, but as he's been able to do repeatedly over the course of this feud, Dom was able to use his cunning to outsmart the heels and evade defeat, eventually making the tag to his old man. Rey hit Seth with some big offense, including a moonsault for 2.He tried to hit a 619 but Rollins dodged it, only to escape a powerbomb attempt with a hurricanrana-into-a-kick to the head. Murphy came in and the pace became frenetic, Rollins finally cutting off the babyface's offense with a spinning backbreaker. The back-and-forth continued until the heels took full control, smashing father and son into the barricades and then targeting Rey in the ring. Rollins' continued to berate the senior Mysterio, even calling out Rey's wife Angie. In an awesome moment, though, Rollins attempted a buckle bomb only for Rey to counter it into a hurricanrana that sent Seth right into an absolutely nasty kick from Murphy! This led to the feel-good victory for the babyfaces, Dominik eventually hitting Murphy with a frog splash to get the W. This was one of the best tag matches I've seen in quite awhile, possibly even a Top 10 WWE Match of the Year in what has been a "slow" year for the E. (3.5/5)
Main event time - Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman vs. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt in a No DQ Triple Threat Match for Wyatt's Universal Championship. The big question coming into this match was whether The Big Dog, who returned a week earlier at SummerSlam and took out both men, would end up turning full-fledged heel after revealing an alliance with Paul Heyman on SmackDown. Before the bell could even ring, Strowman jumped The Fiend out of nowhere. Strowman and The Fiend went at eachother with big offense, Wyatt even landing a Sister Aabigail for 2. Minutes passed and Reigns was nowhere to be seen, the Big Dog seemingly deciding to take his sweet time to join the fray. Outside the ring, Wyatt sent Strowman through a table and then we cut away to Alexa Bliss, twirling her hair and watching on a screen backstage for some reason. Wyatt grabbed his massive mallet from under the ring, but before he could use, Strowman nailed him with a thrown desk chair! The brawl continued, these two actually delivering the heavy hits and chaos that was lacking from their SummerSlam fight. Wyatt seemed to have the Monster down after striking him with a mallet shot to the chest, his "head twist" move, and a steel stairs bash. Again the camera cut to Alexa Bliss backstage, confusing the commentators as well as anyone watching at home. Towards the backstage area they fought, Roman Reigns still not coming out. Wyatt attempted a Sister Abigail, but Braun blocked it and ending up tackling Wyatt off the stage and through a table! Back into the ring they went as Michael Cole reminded the fans that this was not a Falls Count Anywhere match. For some reason, Strowman opted to head to the top rope instead of hitting his finisher and Wyatt chased him up there, The Fiend delivering a superplex that...broke the ring. Seen that before too many times to really mark out for it. At this point, Roman Reigns showed up, a chair in hand and Paul Heyman at his side. Before entering the ring, Reigns signed the contract - formally entering himself into the match, I guess - and then looked to pin Bray. There was no ref, though, so by the time someone got there, Bray kicked out! Then Braun kicked out! Reigns then beat down on Braun with the chair, but still only got 2! Reigns tried to do the same to Wyatt, but Wyatt caught him with the Mandible Claw. Reigns escaped with a kick to the balls and then hit Braun with a spear for 3! Well, in terms of heel turns, I think we've all seen far better versions. There was some good brawling in this match and I'm guessing that this match will one day be regarded as historically important, but Reigns' heel turn was spoiled by already revealing the alliance with Heyman. (3/5)
With a Kwang Score of 2.78-out-of-5, Payback 2020 wasn't a perfect show, but the matches that needed to deliver absolutely did. The main event was disappointing but effective in getting Reigns' new character over. The Mysterios vs. Rollins/Murphy tag was the easy match of the night, action-packed and dramatic and it ended with a crowd-pleasing moment. I liked Lee/Orton well enough and Big E/Sheamus was also a good bout that probably would've gotten a big reaction in front of a live crowd. The low point of the show was Riddle/Corbin. To be honest, its hard for me to enjoy Riddle's work these days after the #MeToo allegations revealed him to be the bad kind of "bro" and Baron Corbin isn't exactly the kind of guy that is going to make me care either.
FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand
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