This Sunday, the WWE descends on Chicago for Payback. While Payback doesn’t hold the same importance to the WWE as Wrestlemania, it’s still the first pay per view of the WWE’s “new year” and marks the beginning of the build towards Summerslam, the WWE’s marquee summer event. Probably the biggest story of Payback is how many matches feature relatively new faces to the WWE. From recent NXT call ups to surprise veterans, Payback marks the start of a whole new era of the WWE. To help fans get caught up, here’s the five biggest storylines you need to know going into Payback.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The Phenomenal One vs. the Roman Empire
Headlining Payback is a match between Roman Reigns and AJ Styles for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Reigns won the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania, and Payback will mark his first official one on one title defense. His opponent, AJ Styles, is one of the WWE’s most exciting new faces, having joined the company in January after a stint in Japan. Although he’s a rookie in the eyes of the WWE, Styles is one of the most decorated wrestlers in the world and the WWE marks the last step in a celebrated globehopping career.
Complicating the title picture is the recent arrival of Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, two of Styles’ buddies from Japan. Styles, Anderson and Gallows were all members of the Bullet Club, a popular staple in New Japan Pro Wrestling known for interfering in matches and cheating to win. Gallows and Anderson debuted earlier this month by attacking the Usos, Roman Reigns’ cousins, and then attacked Reigns the following week. Although Styles claims he had nothing to do with the attacks, Reigns thinks otherwise and is going into Payback with a major chip on his shoulder.
So, who are Anderson and Gallows working for? We don’t know, and that’s what makes this storyline so exciting. Is AJ Styles telling the truth, or are he and his friends looking to reform the Bullet Club in the WWE? And if Styles is telling the truth, then why his friends gunning for Reigns? Anderson and Gallows are exciting wild cards that make Payback’s main event exciting, even if everyone expects Reigns to retain the title.
We should probably point out that the founder of the Bullet Club now wrestles for the WWE as Finn Balor. Balor wrestles in the WWE’s developmental program NXT (think of NXT as the WWE’s minor leagues) and recently lost his NXT Championship. Finn is super-popular among NXT fans and the crowd would probably lose it if he were revealed as the mastermind behind Gallows and Anderson.
McMahon Family Drama
During the buildup to Wrestlemania, Shane McMahon unexpectedly returned to the WWE after a several year absence from the company. Shane returned to the WWE because he felt his sister Stephanie had mismanaged the company to the point of ruin and wanted control of Monday Night RAW to help turn things around. His father, WWE owner Vince McMahon, surprisingly agreed, but only if Shane defeated the Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match at Wrestlemania. Shane lost that match in spectacular fashion, but Vince surprisingly gave his son control of RAW anyways. Shane made a ton of changes to the program, bringing in a truckload of new talent from NXT and acting as general manager to the show. While Shane’s presence was a welcome change for many hardcore wrestling fans, he hasn’t brought the increased ratings promised when he returned.
Last week, Stephanie returned to Monday Night RAW and informed her brother that their father would make a decision as to who would control the show permanently at Payback. Vince’s decision will probably set up one of the main storylines for the summer. Some have speculated that this could even lead into another “brand split”, where wrestlers are split between one of the WWE’s two main television shows. Honestly, no one knows which way this storyline will go, but the reveal will probably be pretty fun.
Wrestling Families Collide
The WWE’s new “Women’s Championship” hasn’t come without a little bit of controversy. The reigning champion Charlotte won the new belt after defeating Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks at Wrestlemania. Charlotte has been the Women’s/Divas champion since late 2015, in part because of the constant interference of her father, two time WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair. Flair, known as the Dirtiest Player in the Game, has helped Charlotte cheat her way through countless matches, distracting refs and pulling cheap shots on Charlotte’s opponents during matches.
Charlotte’s next opponent, Natalya, may have finally found a counter to Ric Flair’s ringside antics. After Flair interfered with a title match between the Charlotte and Natalya, Natalya announced her uncle, Bret “the Hitman” Hart, will be at ringside at Payback to prevent Flair from any “funny business”. The Hart family is one of wrestling’s marquee families, and Natalya is the only female graduate from the family’s notorious “Dungeon” wrestling school.
Not only do Bret Hart and Ric Flair have plenty of past bad blood from their wrestling days, Charlotte and Natalya have their own history dating all the way back to Charlotte’s time in the NXT developmental program. Charlotte beat Natalya in the finals of a tournament for the NXT Championship, a match that brought focus to NXT’s strong women’s division and unofficially began the WWE’s “Divas Revolution”. Will Charlotte retain her title? Or will Natalya, one of the unheralded “workers” of the Women’s Division, become the second WWE Women’s Champion?
An Eternal Battle
Best friends often make for the best enemies in wrestling. Take the longstanding rivalry between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. The two have wrestled together for over a decade, coming up through the indies as tag team partners and rivals. Owens and Zayn describe themselves as “like brothers”, but their time together in the WWE has been anything but familial.
Zayn was one of the faces of the WWE’s NXT system, establishing himself as a scrappy underdog with an arsenal of exciting moves. Owens joined his brother in arms in NXT in 2014 on the night that Zayn finally won the NXT Championship. When Owens came out to congratulate his longtime friend, he suddenly attacked Zayn and established that he was coming for the title. Zayn lost the NXT title to Owens in a brutal match and lost the rematch in an even more one-sided affair. Although Zayn was supposed to debut on the WWE’s main roster, he injured his shoulder during his debut match against John Cena and was replaced by Owens, who quickly became one of the more popular heels (wrestling talk for villains) among fans.
Zayn returned from injury at the Royal Rumble in January and eliminated Owens from the 30-man battle royale for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. He also took Owens out during a seven-man ladder match at Wrestlemania, paving the way for Zack Ryder to win the match and its prize: Owens’ Intercontinental Championship. Since Wrestlemania, Owens and Zayn have fought non-stop, but mainly in sneak attacks and run ins. Their match at Payback will be their first solo competition on the main roster and marks the next chapter of their decade long rivalry. Zayn vs. Owens doesn’t have any title implications, but it will likely be one of the top matches of the night.
Tag Team Tournament Finale
One of the featured matches at Payback is the finale of a tag team tournament to determine the number one contender for the Tag Team Championship, currently held by the popular New Day staple. Both finalists are recent call ups from the WWE’s NXT developmental program. The first team is the Vaudevillains, a pair of old-timey strongmen who look like they time traveled from the 1800s. Although the Vaudevillains are both talented wrestlers, their gimmick hasn’t really caught on during their brief time on the WWE’s main roster, although they haven’t had much TV time to show off their skills.
The other pair is Enzo and Big Cass, a pair of trash talking fan favorites from New York City. Enzo is eclectic looking, even for a professional wrestler, but he’s a delightfully intense talker and can sling insults with the best of them. His partner Big Cass is one of the tallest performers on the roster and provides the muscle for the team. Although their skill set is rather limited, Enzo and Big Cass ooze charisma, giving them a fan base most tag teams lack.
When the two teams last met, the Vaudevillains surprisingly won in an upset on their way to becoming the NXT Tag Team champions last summer. And honestly, the Vaudevillains could use another win here, as it would establish themselves as a dominant heel team, something we haven’t had in the Tag Team division since…well, the New Day before they became faces (that’s a wrestling term for good guys). But, Enzo vs. the New Day would be fantastic too, if only for the trash talking during the lead into the match. Either scenario would work here, although the fans will definitely be behind Enzo and Big Cass all night.
The Best of the Rest
The other championship match on the Payback card involves Cesaro and the Miz. The Miz is one of the more obnoxious heels on the WWE roster, a delusional bit actor with delusions of grandeur. He won the Intercontinental Championship the night after Wrestlemania thanks to interference from his wife Maryse, who returned to the WWE programming after a five year break. His first challenger is Cesaro, who also returned the night after Wrestlemania after a lengthy rehab from a shoulder injury. Cesaro is a favorite among many hardcore fans due to his strong technical skills and his indie roots. The “Cesaro Section”, as Cesaro’s fans call themselves, are hoping that Cesaro finally gets his due and gets the main event push he deserves.
Also on the Payback card is a singles match between Dean Ambrose and Chris Jericho. Like Cesaro, Dean Ambrose is one of the WWE’s more popular wrestlers, mainly due to his personality and scrappy wrestling style. He recently drew the ire of Jericho when his in-ring talk show “Ambrose Asylum” replaced Jericho’s talk show on the Highlight Reel. Both Ambrose and Jericho are top tier wrestlers, so even if the reason behind their feud is rather silly, the match itself shouldn’t disappoint.
