Payback 2014 Preview
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We’ll start with the preshow as always. This is one of the obvious matches as there’s no way they’re unmasking Torito and take away any money they could get from selling bull masks. Hornswoggle can leave 3MB and start getting evil to promote the Leprechaun movie. The match should be fun though as both guys can actually work a match.
I’ll get the other obvious match out of the way: Rusev destroys Big E. for his first meaningful win. No questions here.
Paige retains the Divas Title. She’s too big of a deal to not get the belt here, and are people really going to complain about Alicia Fox having a push wasted? I could go for her in those white shorts again though.
Barrett beats Van Dam. There’s just no reason for RVD to win but the match should be entertaining enough.
I think Cesaro vs. Sheamus goes to a draw and Sheamus keeps the belt. Hopefully they’re not tying Cesaro down to the US Title and let him get the briefcase or maybe even the title. Either way it would seem he’s heading for a match with Brock so why give him a worthless midcard title? The match should be good though.
That leaves us with the two main events. I’m hoping Bray beats Cena, as Cena beating him for three seconds was bad enough, but keeping him down for ten seconds would just be horrible. Bray winning would allow him to do a bunch of crazy stuff that could be very interesting. I’m really not sure where he’s going, but it’s in a bad direction if Cena beats him. Also it’s not like Cena hasn’t lost a last man standing match before so this isn’t the biggest stretch in the world.
Finally, Shield almost has to beat Evolution. There’s just no reason for Evolution to win here as they have nothing to gainand with Batista likely leaving, it would be a good way to get him out. The elimination and anything goes rules should make things even more entertaining.
For a bonus, I think Bryan hands over the title, even though it means sitting through a lot of stupid drama that involves the Bellas and Stephanie getting WAY too much screen time. Bryan can bring the acting at times though and he’ll likely get a lot of time to do so tomorrow night. I still think the title goes above the ring at Money in the Bank, which should be a good way to get some people to care
Overall Payback looks predictable but entertaining. To be fair, that’s almost the same thing that was said about Wrestlemania and it was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. This has a lot of potential to be awesome and hopefully it means we have a good summer to look forward to.
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Bray should win this match as it opens up a lot of possibilities but I just can’t see Cena losing this match. This feud needs to end at some point though as it’s been running nearly 5 months now, and let’s be honest, Cena is going to win the blowoff match. Either way, the finish is going to be Cena doing some superman crap and throwing Bray off the stage or through a bunch of tables like he always does, or Wyatt wins in a screwy finish with help from Harper and Rowan. But like I said, Cena will win the last match in this feud, so with a Bray win here, this thing probably goes all the way to Summerslam where Cena wins.
As for Shield/Evolution, I’m torn on this one as well. There are a TON of different possible scenarios for these 2 main event matches, which I like a lot. Evolution has been going over a lot on TV, which makes me think this is a way to keep them looking relevant and strong after they take another PPV loss to Shield tonight. On the other hand, what is next for Shield if they defeat Evolution? Who do they feud with? Plus, we all know Shield is going to break up sometime soon, they’ve run their course as a group. With a loss tonight, the seeds of the breakup could very well be planted and that could culminate at Summerslam or something.
How have the shield run their course? Could they not feud some more with the Wyatt family? Bring up the Ascension? You could even give them each singular feuds. Evolution will win because of 50/50 booking.
They seemed to be hinting at Ascension before the Outlaws came in.
Shield/Wyatts have had great matches but they’ve already used that up in the last few months. The Ascension? Uhhhh…
I do agree with giving Evolution/Shield individual feuds though post-Payback, that could be pretty interesting.
Rusev ends up dancing with Santino by the end of the year, a la Kozlov.
I have zero issue if Lana is dancing with them.
She’s actually not too bad on the mic.
I’m at this Pay-Per-View KB.
I think it will come down to a 1 on 3 with Reigns facing Evolution, with HHH, to set up a SummerSlam match with Triple H.
Thoughts? Or am I clearly over thinking this?
That’s not far fetched. I think Shield wins at the end but Reigns vs. HHH in a big match certainly isn’t out of the question.
Why have Rusev squash Big E? Between the two I see alot more potential in Langston. But it is WWE after all, meaning Rusev will squash a few more guys over the next few months until a new toy arrives and then he’ll be on the receiving end of a squash.
Rusev is hot right now and Big E.’s push has stalled. I see potential in him too but they’ve messed him up for now. He’s far from done though.
Rusev is typical as they come, Lana is the commodity there.
sheamus turns and helps evolution beat shield
I really want Batista to come out and help Wyatt win by tied Cena up with duck-tape.
If they put the belt above the ring at MITB … they can technically have two big gimmick matches. One for the title – one for the #1 contender briefcase. It’s a cheap way to get two matches with about 12-16 big names all going for a prize.
I’m hoping it’s just one and no #1 contenders case.