My WWE Payback Recap

That it was. Photo credit: WWE.com

Sheamus pinned Damien Sandow in a fair pre-show contest. It was pretty unremarkable for the majority, but there were a few nice moments from each of the two talents. I can't see why Sandow (who received most of the support from the fans in Chicago) wasn't afforded even a cheap win here, he could've really used it.

Curtis Axel bested Wade Barrett (c) and The Miz to obtain the Intercontinental Championship in a decent Triple Threat once it got going. The first half of the bout had its moments, although it felt a little slow for me. But once the pace picked up so did my interest and the three men put together some nice sequences with effective near falls. Axel managed to finally gain the one-two-three on Barrett as he was stuck in a Figure Four Leglock from Miz. The choice of victor went down very well with the terrific crowd in attendance.

Backstage Triple H  blocked off the new IC Champion's path, until Vince McMahon walked in and enthusiastically congratulated both Axel and Paul Heyman on the win. Vince went on to ask his son-in-law if he fancied facing Curtis, but Trips still refused.

AJ Lee beat Kaitlyn (c) to obtain the WWE Divas Title in a suprisingly enjoyable outing. Maybe I'm being generous since I wasn't expecting anything substantial here, but I was actually impressed with both wrestlers efforts here, they seemed to want to deliver a memorable match with a lay out that made sense, which is rare from the female performers on the main WWE roster nowadays. Granted there were a few slightly sloppy moments but considering both ladies abilities I think they should be proud of their displays. 

Afterwards an upset Kaitlyn was supported by fellow divas Alicia Fox, Layla and Natalya backstage. 

Dean Ambrose (c) won via count versus Kane, thereby retaining the United States Championship. While this wasn't the most exciting match, the wrestling itself was stellar enough so I can't complain. Ambrose managed to DDT Kane on the outside, earning himself the count out win.

We then witnessed a VT fo the return of Rob Van Dam at next month's Money in the Bank event. I was never overly impressed by most of his TNA run but he looked decent towards the end, could be interesting. Hopefully another WWE run will reinvigorate him a bit. 

Alberto Del Rio defeated Dolph Ziggler (c) to obtain the World Heavyweight Championship in a strange title clash. During the bout Ziggler was knocked on the head, which Del Rio continuously (and logically) targeted. Ziggler already had the support of the fans but his battling back (which reminded me a bit of HBK actually) really brought him across as a face and Del Rio beating on him when the referee was checking on the champ was extremely heelish. It was a smart move if the roles were meant to be reversed here, which I'm sure they were.

The wrestling itself had been largely solid, with only a few sloppy moments here and there. The crowd occasionally lost interest and began chanting for RVD and CM Punk, but soon got back into it. Del Rio shockingly won with a swift kick to the struggling Ziggler's head.

I think a comeback win for Dolph would've made much more sense here and given him some much needed credibility. His reign had only just begun after a long, long wait holding the MITB briefcase, and Del Rio has been stale for a long time as a face and heel. The new opponents Ziggler could've competed against over the title was a much more interesting prospect. This must've been a massive blow for 'The Show Off' too, he deserved better. Afterwards Del Rio came back out and asked the (booing) fans for their support and bigged himself up as the new World Champion.

CM Punk pinned Chris Jericho in a solid affair. Punk understandably received a tremendous reaction from the crowd throughout. The back and fourth action was decent, with exciting near falls (which maybe went a little overkill at points) and a nice ending (Punk applied two GTS's on Y2J) but this was by no means a classic. Both men gave worthy efforts, and the atmosphere was great but I just felt like there was something lacking a bit.

Much like Punk's famous title match with Cena at Money in the Bank 2011, it was a memorable contest but not either man's best by a fair distance. Maybe I'm being a little harsh and may change my mind after watching it again at some point, but I won't be in a rush to do so just yet.

The Shield (Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) (c) bested Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton to retain the WWE Tag Team Title in an engaging bout. I'm struggling to think of new ways to type this about The Shield and Bryan's recent outings but to sum it up this was exciting and contained satisfying wrestling from the opening bell, so do yourself a favour and check it out. For the finish Orton moved out of the way of an oncoming spear which struck Bryan, then RKO'd Reigns but was chucked out of the ring by Rollins who applied a Blackout on Bryan for the winning pinfall.

John Cena (c) won the Three Stage of Hell match versus Ryback two to one, thereby retaining the WWE Championship. Ryback won the first stage Lumberjack match after Shell Shocking Cena after the champ had been tussling with the wrestlers on the outside. Cena managed to win the second stage Tables match after quickly reversing a Shell Shock attempt into an AA through a table in the ring. And finally Cena won the third stage Ambulance match by again Attitude Adjusting Ryback through the vehicle itself.

Overall it was an entertaining main event that didn't disappoint, although I was personally hoping for a Ryback win to make things a bit more interesting. Much like Extreme Rules last month these two were smartly booked to utilise various weapons and outside elements to hide their limitations and keep things engaging.

Admittedly there was nothing particularly new to be found here, Cena's top rope body splash onto the lumberjacks and AA on Ryback through the Ambulance were exciting moments but nothing original. Still I came away from another Ryback versus Cena encounter having fun, and that's more than I was expecting when their feud started.

On the whole Payback was a passable pay-per-view, with no bad contests to speak of and some satisfying match ups to take away from it. My highlights were the IC Title Triple Threat, the Tag Team Championship bout, CM Punk's return and the main event. Despite a few fair matches that I'll probably forget about this time next month, it had its fair share of memorable moments which is fine with me for a lower level event.