WWE Payback: What Does PWO Mean?

The shirts the LWO wore during WWE's Payback left fans asking questions.

By Connor Casey

WWE's Payback pay-per-view on Saturday night saw Rey Mysterio successfully retain his United States Championship against Austin Theory. But by the time the match was over, fans watching along at home had a big question regarding the merchandise the Latino World Order was wearing. Instead of their usual LWO shirts, the group was all wearing "PWO" shirts, which upon closer inspection read, "Pittsburgh World Order." The pay-per-view was taking place at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh and WWE has tinkered with specialized versions of classic shirts before (such as different versions of the Austin 3:16 shirt depending on which city they're in that night), so it looks like this was the group's way of promoting the new shirt. 

There were no signs of dissension within the group during the show, even though fans were anticipating a heel turn from Santos Escobar given how he was originally supposed to challenge Theory for the United States Championship only for Mysterio to step in when Escobar was injured before the match. What do you think is next for Mysterio's reign? Let us know in the comments! 

Santos Escobar on Reviving The LWO

Escobar revealed in an interview with the Out of Character Podcast earlier this year that he pitched the idea of reviving the LWO when he first signed with the company. Triple H initially turned down the notion, but the faction was officially reformed back in April.

"The very first conversation I had with Triple H, he asked me what do you want to do, and I told them, 'Can I bring back the LWO?'" Escobar said. "Before I said the letter 'O,' he said 'No.' [He said,] 'I want you to be you and I want people to see you and not think of anybody else' ... That kind of shut down my initial desire, but Triple H was right. The time wasn't right. It wouldn't have been what it is right now. Also, it needed a very important ingredient: an OG. An original LWO [member], and that's Rey [Mysterio]."

"[Legado del Fantasma] gave me the opportunity to do what everything I wanted to do," Escobar later added. "Who I am, where I come from, what I'm about ... every single time I was out there. Every promo, every backstage, every scene, every feud, every rivalry was letting people know that I'm all about lucha libre [and] that lucha libre is about tradition, heritage, culture, and familia. All the values that you have whether you're Mexican, Latino, or not, are the values I have. We relate, and that's how Legado got over. That's how Santos got really over on 'NXT,' because everything I say is real."

WWE Payback 2023 Results

  • Becky Lynch def. Trish Stratus (Steel Cage Match)
  • LA Knight def. The Miz (John Cena as special guest referee)
  • WWE United States Championship: Rey Mysterio def. Austin Theory
  • Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships:  The Judgment Day (Finn Balor & Damian Priest) def. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn 
  • Women's World Championship: Rhea Ripley def. Raquel Rodriguez
  • World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins def. Shinsuke Nakamura
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