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15 June 2014

The Rundown Slam: WWE Payback 2014

6/7/2014 8:17:16 PM

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Say, it’s been a very long while since we have seen a very nice pay-per-view (PPV) event from the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), considering that the previous PPVs turned out to be bust (with exception for the sports promotion’s flagship offering WrestleMania of course).

Look, TLC was half-good, but Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber were totally bad; and the latest edition of Extreme Rules came close to excellence.

But this year’s Payback? I can’t compare them to its previous editions, but it seems that all fights staged during that fateful Sunday evening of June 1st, 2014 at the All-State Farm in Chicago were worthy at all. Well, they should be. Why? Two things:
  • ‘Cause people, or should I say the WWE Universe, really bought tickets and subscription services to see an entertaining fight, if not an entertaining segment; and lastly… 
  • It seems the WWE needs to regain themselves, especially financially-wise speaking. If all those business portal reports were true that WWE has been losing huge money for some time, the McMahons should do something else. Why? ‘Cause that what is “best for business.” Come to think that Vince McMahon just lost his title as “billionaire.”
Anyway, going back to the event, it seems the entire universe was totally entertained for all the cards slated during Sunday night, including the untelevised pre-event match between El Torrito and Hornswoggle. Yes, two midget wrestlers gong against each other. It looked like sickening in a deeper aspect, but hey, I think that’s better energizer factor for an action-packed offering.

Both Cesaro and Sheamus put up whatever they had, though no acts of hand-shaking took place after the fight. It’s more amusing to see the heel manager Paul Heyman shouting in disbelief; like “How dare you, Sheamus? How dare you!” I don’t know, maybe it’s because I just liked the idea of his acting, especially last year when CM Punk mauled him on top of the cell. Perfect.

I know, it might be a bit disappointing when Rob Van Dam lost to Bad News Barrett for the Intercontinental Championship. Sure, BNB was a bit less heck of a fighter than RVD. But as his saying goes, “I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news!” Bottom line: he was successful in his title defense. So, “thank you very much! Ha! Ha! Ha!” Talk about a good heel character, aye?  And I admired his “winds of change” more than his own “bull hammer.”

Maybe, the BIG E-Rusev fight was a dud at all. Forget the nationality-driven props. They failed to live to their expectations. The former IC champ seemed he lost his fighting swagger since losing the title to BNB last month, considering that they’re evenly matched against the former-Bulgarian-slash-now- Russian brute. He even had his own set of highlight reel, and was about to take control until the so-called “super athlete” unleashed a kick to his jaw that spelled Big E’s doom. Also, come to think that once Rusev unleashed his power, no one (I repeat: NO ONE) can stop him, aside from that hot chick called Lana. Oh, sorry, that’s “Ravishing Russian.”

Another buster was the tag-team clash between the Rhodes brothers and Rybaxel, just except for one sequence after their battle: the younger Rhodes seem to turn back on his older brother after numerous losses made his mounting frustration looms even further to its worst.

Moving on, how about the Alicia Fox versus Paige dispute for the Divas Championship? Well, the former’s tough, but the latter’s even tougher—and I’m pertaining to their physicality. The problem with their acting plot is the foxy lady’s got some mental flaws. The upside though is the lady champs hair. She just looked better, accompanied with that “Think Again” top.

Moment of the night goes to Brie Bella for slapping the WWE’s principal owner Stephanie McMahon. So, it was a heroic deed for a woman to sacrifice her job for her husband’s title, eh? Wait, Brie’s not fired. She just shouted “I QUIT” in front of Hunter’s wife. I call it a “highlight reel” though. And regardless of Daniel Bryan’s actions, there will always be words coming out from the authority’s respective mouths. Jerry “The King” Lawler was right—there’s definitely a repercussion for this one.

Since almost every match was worth it to be called as the “match of the night,” maybe I’ll give that distinction to the two main cards of Payback – the last man standing match and the no-hold barred elimination battle.
Seems like the universe is divided between John Cena and Bray Wyatt, eh? At least, the Cenation was not fighting alone during the night at all (it’s better to be put that way than seeing another 3-on-1 handicap atmosphere). But to answer questions whether if that would be the last of the potential trilogy between Wyatt and Cena? Well, that remains to be seen.

And everything between the Shield and Evolution just went totally ugly. They staged their fight on three separate areas around the fighting arena, causing cameras to move somewhere else and audience to pick where they will be peeking on. I guess, that’s the downside of it. But still, it remained awesome. Everyone had their own share of highlights.

But seeing another clash-between-factions for the next few weeks or so? I doubt it. Batista already left WWE via the latest episode of RAW, and Seth Rollins appear to turn his back on his group. All I can say though is that the plot thickens for the Hounds of Justice, considering that they were on this kind of page a few months ago.

Overall, it was a damn violent night. Yes, violent-but-exciting.

Author: slickmaster | © 2014 september twenty-eight productions

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