Skip to main content

Payback 2017 Recap

In which we witnessed Roman Reigns dying amidst rapturous applause, Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton fighting in a f***ing house, Bayley's hometown return and some really great wrestling. So yeah, it was a packed 3 hours.

Also, I've been doing these reviews for a long time man. My first official recap was Night of Champions 2015, and I've covered a lot of shows since then. So for any event I'm covering that I've reviewed in the past, I'll now include the previous score, to compare. Let's get to it.



Payback 2016 Score: 7/10



- If there's one thing I've learned as a fan over the past few years, it's never to let other wrestling fan's pre-judgment of an event cloud my own perception. I've learned to ignore a lot of opinions, and I was pleased to see this show deliver as well as it did. 


- Count me as shocked with Chris Jericho regaining the United States Championship, but I totally didn't mind. I kind of feel he should have retained at 'Mania, then lost it here, but that's just me. I love to be surprised, plus this was a great match.


- Neville and Austin Aries had a great match on WrestleMania's pre-show, and this time they got a nice spot on the card to try and steal the show. While they didn't quite do that, in fairness that would be pretty difficult, they delivered a nice bout, and I loved the storytelling in the finish.


- I couldn't be prouder to see Cesaro and Sheamus put on a great match with the Hardy Boyz. Both of these teams are great acts, and they put on a MOTN. Plus, heels I can cheer for!


- Man, I was waiting all night for Bayley's hometown pop, and I wasn't disappointed. This was perhaps the best match I've seen out of Alexa, who continues to improve. Intrigued on where the story goes from here, as I assume Bayley-Sasha is still the endgame. 


- You know, I think we all knew what we were getting into with the House of Horrors match. Ultimately, I wouldn't say it was egregiously bad, not nearly as dull as their 'Mania match, but it really wasn't eye-opening. Also, I really hope we never see Bray and Randy wrestle each other again. This is three terrible matches, counting No Mercy, and I don't want to see a fourth.


- Samoa Joe had very little chance of winning in San Jose, so there were no surprises here. The finish did involve some controversy, as Joe's shoulder was definitely up before the three count. Solid match.


- If you were to tell me in my first review, NOC 2015, that Braun Strowman would be the most over guy on the roster, I would've laughed you out of the building. Then again, I couldn't have called the Hardy Boyz as tag champs either. But I digress. Braun and Roman put on a great match at Fastlane, but I think I liked this one more. Roman's turned into a really good seller, and he put Braun over huge tonight. I did like the beatdown after the match, but not sure I can support the crowd's actions. I get they want to send a message, but their chants overshadowed everything that was happening.


8/10


A really quality show turned out by the Raw brand. But try as you might, I'm still counting down the days to Great Balls of Fire 2017. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

American Dad "Twinanigans" Review

It's been a while since the last Steve and Roger episode, and this week reminded me why that's such a classic American Dad pairing. This is a genuinely fun episode, filled with some great one liners and even a great callback to the show's past. "Twinanigans" centers around the heretofore unmentioned acting careers of Roger and Steve, who twinned it up as the Smith Brothers. I'm not going to question whether this backstory actually makes sense to the overall timeline; no one watches American Dad for continuity. Steve had to give up acting to attend kindergarten, and wants to give Roger a second chance at greatness. The two head to auditions, where Steve impresses and Roger blows it. It's here the episode kinda misfires, as it's never made abundantly clear why Roger struggles so much at acting. Is he just trying too hard, does he have some form of stage fright, does he not even know what acting is? This part of the story is just never explained, w...
Post a Comment
Read more

Henry's Pay-Per-View Reviews: ECW Heatwave 1998

As the world collectively loses it's mind over the coronavirus(this could be a fun intro to look back on in the future), the only sanity that can be found is in the ring. Let's take a look today at what is often considered ECW's finest outing, Heatwave '98. - Jokes aside, everyone should stay safe out there. I know it's easy to panic about these mass outbreaks, and I've certainly felt very nervous about everything I've heard and read over the past week. But I think we all need some fun in our lives right now, and this show is the epitome of distraction. - The opening contest is one of the highlights of the night, as Jerry Lynn takes on Justin Credible. Credible has an entire entourage in his corner, including Chastity, Jason and Nicole Bass, and their involvement in this match at times bordered on excessive. But the match begins to hit it's peak when Lynn puts Credible through a table with a hurricanrana, and it's all fantastic from...
Post a Comment
Read more

Curious Crab

One Monday night my mom looked into my crabitat and found that a crab had climbed into one of my fake trees. It was in the top branch. I looked in later, and found that the crab had fallen out of the tree. I hope he is okay. What a day!
5 comments
Read more