My WWE Payback 2020 Recap

Welcome to my recap of WWE Payback 2020. This felt like a somewhat short pay-per-view but I would still say it was enjoyable. I’ll try to keep this shorter than my last recap but I hope you enjoy it.

1st Match – The Riot Squad vs. The Iconics

Now it would be an understatement to say I don’t find the Iconics irritating. At the same time I’ve felt pretty neutral about The Riot squad too. I didn’t hate them but didn’t like them either. I would say this match changed my perspective on them though.

They managed to stick together and wrestle as a team despite The Iconics talking trash and doing everything they could to get in their heads. The Iconics did manage to dominate for most of the match  and made sure to play dirty. They isolated Ruby but when Liv managed to get tagged in, it was the beginning of the end for The Iconics. From this point on it was a more fair match and we got to see The Riot Squad hit the double knee followed by the Riot Kick to win the match.

The Riot Squad then showed up on the Kickoff Show to announce they are finally back and united which was really great to see. I can’t wait to see what they can do in their future matches together.

2nd Match – Apollo Crews vs Bobby Lashley for the United States Title

I won’t lie, Lashley is one of my favorite current wrestlers despite being a heel. This guy has so much potential that is being wasted. We got to see him hold his own and dominate the monster among men Braun Strowman last year and he’s made out to be a beast like Brock Lesnar, yet is treated like a basic bodyguard for MVP.

I also like Apollo Crews. He’s athletic, strong and pretty good on the mic. I will say I didn’t expect this match to be so evenly paced. Both men really held their own and Crews did dominate for most of the match. You can’t be surprised at Lashley winning though considering an Enzuigiri couldn’t even knock Lashley off his feet. Even the frog splash wasn’t enough to put him away for the 3 count.

Once Lashley locked in the Full Lashley I knew Crews was done for and of course he tapped out. Although it is good to see Lashley holding a title, I won’t be happy until it’s either the World or Universal Championship belt.

3rd Match – Big E vs Sheamus

This is another match that took me a bit by surprise. We have seen Big E dominating his opponents recently. Even the match last week on Smackdown went pretty quick between these two. Sheamus is a former world champ after all so it does make sense he wouldn’t go down so easy in a PPV event.

It was smart for Sheamus to keep Big E grounded as when he’s on his feet, he’s almost always dominating the match. There was quite a few times I was worried it might be over for Big E. One of those instances was when he went for the Big Ending but Sheamus countered into a submission hold and had it locked in tight. That big knee Sheamus hit him with after he escaped sounded like it was enough to get the three count too but he still kicked out.

When Sheamus made his final mistake of missing the Bro Kick and Big E hit the Big Ending, I was really happy to see him get the win. Considering Big E has been an intercontinental champ before, maybe we could see him go straight to the Universal Title instead.

NEW DAY ROCKS!

4th Match – Matt Riddle vs King Corbin

Like the previous match, the ending wasn’t what one would have expected. King Corbin dominated for the majority of the match and it was only towards the end that the Original Bro Matt Riddle really got a hold of things. He went for so many submissions but the size and power and Corbin made it difficult.

Corbin was getting frustrated towards the end when even a deep siz wasn’t enough to keep Riddle down. Riddle eventually won the match with a Bro 2 Sleep and finally proving himself against Corbin. I’m not a huge fan of either wrestler and this certainly wasn’t my favorite match but it was still enjoyable.

It will be interesting if this feud does continue considering Corbin attacked Riddle after the match.

5th Match – Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler vs Bayley & Sasha Banks for the Women’s Tag Team Championship

This was possibly either my top or second favorite match of the PPV. It did seem like Jax and Baszler would win based on the tension between Banks and Bayley in the last few weeks but that wasn’t the case. They were simply out wrestled.

I personally found the Golden Role Models annoying so I was more hoping for Jax and Baszler to win, I just didn’t expect this way. You can’t deny Banks and Bayley like to play dirty. This didn’t work out for them and they did seem to be in sync, it just wasn’t enough to beat Jax and Baszler.

The ending that had me the most shocked and impressed which seen Baszler with a Kirifuda Clutch on Bayley and a Muta Lock on Banks at the same time. They were both helpless and couldn’t escape so had no choice but to tap. These two woman did such a great job so it’s no surprise they were crowned the new champs.

Personally I can’t wait for someone to make a “No Belt Banks” joke on Raw!

6th Match – Keith Lee vs Randy Orton

This was possibly my favorite match of the event. I had a feeling Keith Lee would be victorious considering how well he handled himself on Raw but you never know what can happen when facing someone like Orton.

Orton did get some decently hits in like his Draping DDT but everything he hit Keith Lee with came back at him. I liked how Orton was yelling about who he was and made it seem like he was in shock that he was actually being manhandled by someone so new.

The ending where Orton went for the RKO but is blocked and ends up getting hit with a Spirit Bomb instead was a good surprise. Keith Lee has made a huge impression on the main roster after only 2 matches. With the Survivor Series PPV only a few months away, I feel he’ll be an important member of whichever team he ends up on.

Credit: WWE.com

7th Match – Rey Mysterio & Dominik Mysterio vs Seth Rollins & Murphy

I was curious to see how this match would turn out. Dominik did such a good job in his solo match so having Rey there in the ring with him should help.

This match was quite enjoyable to watch and it was even better to see the Mysterio’s finally get a win. This match wasn’t too one sided either and it was nice for Rollins/Murphy to put over Dominik and give him the win after SummerSlam. I can imagine Rey must be so happy and proud to get to share the ring with his Son who’s all grown up now. It’s good to see Dominik honor Eddie each time too by using the Frog Splash as his finisher.

Dominik does look impressive in the ring but I feel to really earn peoples respect backstage it would be best for him to start off in developmental like everyone else.

8th Match – Roman Reigns vs Fiend vs Braun Strowman for the Universal Championship

Now you may hate me but I found this match a bit disappointing. If it was just Braun vs Fiend then I would have enjoyed but having Reigns show up at the end felt cheap.

I love Triple Threats/Fatal Four Way matches as I feel they are so much more unpredictable compared to a normal 1 on 1. You never know who will team up with who or what will happen. During the match Fiend and Braun made their way to the top of the runway and I thought that’s when Reigns would come out of nowhere to hit the spear. I was real disappointed when he only came out once both men had destroyed each other.

Considering he’s a heel now this does fit in with the correct type of behavior, but still disappointing. I was excited to see all three men go at it like the Lesnar, Kane and Strowman Triple Threat match, I also feel bad for Strowman losing the belt so soon after getting it.

One thing I’m curious about is what stipulation Reigns wanted in his contract. I guess we’ll have to wait until Smackdown to find out. Well that is my recap of Payback 2020. Although it was a decent PPV, it can’t compare to Summerslam in my eyes.