Payback 2013 Review

Payback 2013 Review




Wade Barrett vs The Miz vs Curtis Axel
I'll be honest, going into this, I wanted anyone but the Miz to win. I like the guy but he absolutely sucks as a face. When he went for the cover after hitting Axel with his finisher, I almost had a heart attack. The match itself was exciting, but I think Wade was outside the ring for too long, which is something that can plague these multiple man matches. This is the first time that Axel really impressed me, with moves like the amazing dropkick and the perfectplex. Hopefully he can make the IC Title look as good as his father once did. Good way to open the show. ***



AJ Lee vs Kaitlyn
Like most, I was expecting the usual sloppy divas match here, but what we got really surprised and impressed me. AJ was just awesome from everything from her move set, to her facial expressions, to her bumping. She actually made Kaitlyn look good! The best WWE divas match I've seen in quite a long time. Hopefully this kind of divas action can continue. ***



Dean Ambrose vs Kane
I wasn't really looking forward to this one after the match they had on Raw. This one was a lot better, but it still wasn't great. They did try their best, especially Kane who was trying his hardest to keep up with Ambrose. Ambrose was his usual, brilliant self. It's a shame that it had to end in countout. Overall it was pretty enjoyable. **1/2




Dolph Ziggler vs Alberto Del Rio
Now this is a hard one to rate. It wasn't a technical classic like I thought it would be and I was disappointed that Ziggler lost the title, but this had amazing storytelling and psychology. The gradual double turn was booked exceptionally well, with Del Rio becoming more vicious as the match went on, and Ziggler trying his hardest to keep going. Awesome stuff all the way through, and it was something different than what we're used to. Ziggler should still be champ though. ***3/4




CM Punk vs Chris Jericho
I'm surprised that this one wasn't the main event, seeing as it had the most interest and was guaranteed to have the most heat. Like their Wrestlemania match, this started a little slowly and then gradually built to a great finish. Easily the match of the night with some awesome back and forth action, and with some great nearfalls. Fantastic stuff here. ****1/4



Daniel Bryan & Randy Orton vs Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns
Probably not a great idea for this to come on right after Punk's return match. Because of crowd burnout, it was quiet for the first part of the match, but as soon as Bryan got that hot tag, they were back to their usual rowdy selves. Fun match with an exciting finish. I have a feeling we may be seeing a feud between Orton and Bryan pretty soon. ***1/4


So far, the show has been fucking awesome, so anything the main event brought would just be the cherry on top of the ice cream.



John Cena vs Ryback : 3 Stages of Hell
The Lumberjack portion of the bout seemed a bit dumb to me, but it wasn't too bad. The unexpected clean pin for Ryback was pretty awesome though. How many people can say that they've pinned Cena clean? The tables portion was entertaining as well, although it was obvious that Cena would win, which he did. The Ambulance portion was a lot of fun though, as they used a lot of the ambulance as a weapon. The finish was quite cool as well, with Ryback given an AA through the roof of the ambulance. ***1/4




9/10. For a PPV without a lot of build, this was pretty damn awesome. The worst match was still an entertain one, and six matches were three stars or over, with one of those being a four star match. Order the replay as soon as possible. Highly recommended.