Dolfan in NYC Posted August 22, 2023 Share Posted August 22, 2023 It's Labor Day weekend... you just came back from a barbecue with your family that you barely like, but you were good and didn't say anything... what's your reward? A WWE show you WON'T have to pay $50 to see! Live from Pittsburgh, it's Payback! THE CARD~ FOR THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP - Seth F. Rollins (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura FOR THE WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP - Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Raquel Rodriguez FOR THE UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP - Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Austin Theory STREET FIGHT FOR THE UNDISPUTED TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP - Tabernack!! (Owens / Zayn, c) vs. The Judgement Day (Balor / Priest) STEEL CAGE MATCH - Trish Stratus vs. Becky Lynch LA Knight vs. The Miz THE GREYSON WALLER EFFECT with special guest, Cody Rhodes *Jimmy Uso vs. Jey Uso Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonzombie Posted August 29, 2023 Share Posted August 29, 2023 I'm guessing one more match? Payback 2023 is the final PLE of the old operating company World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted August 29, 2023 Share Posted August 29, 2023 Hope this is finally Shinsuke Nakamura's time for a main roster World Championship win. The biggest was at Summerslam 2017 when he lost to Jinder Mahal of all people when Mahal was WWE Champion. Still pissed me off. The second was WWE Champion AJ Styles in 2018. That feud was so disappointing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caley Posted September 2, 2023 Share Posted September 2, 2023 On 9/1/2023 at 2:20 AM, L_W_P said: I think Priest is walking out champion. There will be a moment in the tag match where he will need to decide between taking a bullet (chair shot?) for Finn or bailing to keep himself fresh. He bails, cashes in on an exhausted Seth, leaves the new WHC. Before or after Punk drops his title in a garbage can!? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonzombie Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 I guess that's it for Trish now? I wish they structured LA Knight's PLE matches to be more like Attitude Era PPV matches. He got the Cena approved rub anyways. I'm happy the Undisputed WWE tags are on another tag team, hopefully they get new designs. Or maybe the titles wonts. Quite fitting there was a talk show skit on the final World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. PLE. The bloodline junk has gotten weird. Skipped Rheas match. The PWInsider rumour mills were right about the Great Muta again, but he was appearing physically as Keiji Mutoh. I didn't really thought Nakamura would win, and he didn't. Oh well B level PLE's innit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 Becky/Trish was great and probably Trish's best match. It was good to see the crowd so into it. They bumped bigger than expected and Trish had a big bump on forehead around halfway in. I assume Becky threw her into the cage a little too hard. The post match with Zoey was a decent breakup for her and Trish. Curious if Zoey will be a face after this. Knight/Miz was solid enough, but I think the inclusion of Cena brought it down a tick though it was good to see Cena give Knight the rub post match. Rey/Theory was solid. Sami/KO vs. Finn/Priest was actually a little crazy and pretty fun overall. Dug Owens wearing a Funk shirt. The jersey change for Sami and Owens was neat as well and helped get the crowd even more behind them. Dom, Rhea, and JD were used well. Happy Judgement Day won and with how they won. The Waller Effect segment with Cody wasn't much. Not sure how I feel about them moving Jey to Raw. Would have been more interesting if it was via trade with Cody trying to face Roman again. Rhea/Raquel had plenty of nice stuff and built into something solid overall. Still they haven't done a good enough job building Raquel to get the crowd behind her here. At least they didn't dislike her. Seth/Nakamura built into something good. It was nice to see the crowd into Nakamura. Even felt like maybe there was a moment or two they thought he had a chance. Pity they didn't pull the trigger. Was neat to see Mutoh in the audience. Solid B show. Becky/Trish was easily MOTN though the tag titles match and Seth/Nakamura were worth checking out as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumanChessgame Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 Short show with several long matches. Becky/Trish overdelivered and was definitely the best performance I've seen out of Trish. Didn't watch Knight/Miz or Rey/Theory. The tag titles match was your standard WWE chaotic brawl, but Owens and Sami pulled out enough entertaining stuff to keep the spectacle engaging. Owens also caught a decent gusher. The numbers game of Judgement Day getting them the victory was unsurprising. Seth/Nak was a good match, though there being no doubt about Rollins retaining kind of kept me from being more engaged. I was kind of surprised Priest didn't come out to cash in after the main event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 (edited) Edited September 3, 2023 by The Natural 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norwegian Rudo Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 51 minutes ago, 赤い竜 said: I guess that's it for Trish now? In the same interview where she talked about wanting to do a ladder match and a steel cage match she specifically mentioned wanting to do Elimination Chamber, so I would expect her back for Mania season. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 Hey, not for nothing. But Payback fucking ruled. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 (edited) Hope Swagsuke wins the World Heavyweight Championship in a rematch. Edited September 3, 2023 by The Natural 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 https://twitter.com/GraysonWWE/status/1698168243821666388 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 Haven't watched the show. Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus and Judgment Day vs. Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn sound like the matches to seek out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 1 minute ago, Curt McGirt said: Settle down etc. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamal Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 Trish/Becky was definitely match of the night. Kudos to all involved and great redemption for Trish. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 49 minutes ago, Jamal said: Trish/Becky was definitely match of the night. Kudos to all involved and great redemption for Trish. Did she need redeeming? I thought she has looked mostly solid this return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 I think the match was a redemption for everyone involved considering the whole program was pretty cold. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 3 minutes ago, Johnny Sorrow said: I think the match was a redemption for everyone involved considering the whole program was pretty cold. You make a good point. This match and Becky/Zoey on Monday were easily the best things from this feud. All three definitely felt more motivated than usual for both matches. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamal Posted September 4, 2023 Share Posted September 4, 2023 19 hours ago, Eivion said: Did she need redeeming? I thought she has looked mostly solid this return. They've been ripping her apart on Twitter. Admittedly many seem like newer fans not familiar with her initial run. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted September 4, 2023 Share Posted September 4, 2023 6 hours ago, Jamal said: They've been ripping her apart on Twitter. Admittedly many seem like newer fans not familiar with her initial run. That would make sense. I suspect newer fans aren't too familiar with people from that era outside those at the very top who broke into pop culture or were mythic figures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted September 4, 2023 Share Posted September 4, 2023 Seemed like it was all demographics of fans had been underwhelmed by the feud, so good on them for delivering last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawful Metal Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 Am I crazy or was that one of the best straight cage matches in a good while? I was really happy with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Wilson Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 I finally watched Payback. Honestly for a B Level PLE I thought it was overall an enjoyable experience. The cage match will likely be a legitimate MOTYC for women's matches and the street fight was really good. That may have been the best singles match of Trish's career, no joke. Cena was at his cartoon worst, I didn't need any of that, but between those two matches and the main event it was worth watching. The only disappointment to me was the LA Knight/Miz match. In the old days, a match like that would have turned Vince sour on Knight. The match just wasn't very good and the crowd lost interest until towards the end, it just wasn't interesting. I'm not saying that should doom Knight to the midcard forever, but I could see in Vince's eyes him thinking if he was still in full power that if you can't have a good match with a vet like Miz then you aren't ready. When in reality I think they just did them no favors by having them do a 15+ minute WWE style match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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