WWE Payback, WWE’s fifth PPV event of the calendar year took place on Sunday night at the Allstate Arena, Chicago. The event, main-evented by The Shield and Evolution, was littered with spectacular spots, finishes and epic story telling. Here are six major reflections from WWE Payback 2014:
1) Sheamus and Cesaro have great chemistry
What an incredible way to start off the night. Fast-paced wrestling, near falls and a finish which sets up a continuation of the feud, both these men showcased their abilities in an entertaining way on Sunday. While I am not a huge fan of Sheamus, I respect the fact that he really can put on some good quality matches, and I challenge any wrestling fan to find a bad match that Cesaro competed in. The small-package finish was a nice way of furthering the apparent heel turn of Sheamus, while Cesaro came out looking strong, much to the delight of the Chicago faithful. A rematch at Money in the Bank is dependent upon both men competing in the ladder match, but I would really like to see this match again further down the road.
2) Rusev needs a real feud
In many ways, both Rusev and Big E are in the same boat right now. Despite being on opposite waves of momentum as things stand, both men are imposing presences in the ring and need more compelling action and storylines. The match itself was fine for what it was, but nothing out of the ordinary for either man. A diving spear by Big E to Rusev on the apron provided the bout with a rare highlight, but fans were once again blighted by the predictability of the result.
3) Alicia Fox should have captured gold, but didn’t
Allow me to elaborate on this one as I feel that it is going to be a wildly unpopular perception. Paige has done well to get herself over in such a short space of time on WWE programming. With that being said, I still believe that she is fairly green in the ring, and her psychology and selling need work. Alicia Fox, on the other hand, has plenty more experience and her ‘Stone Cold Alicia Fox’ gimmick has been wonderfully entertaining in recent weeks. I really feel like she deserved the title this time round.
4) John Cena’s selling is beyond a joke
After what was quite simply an outstanding last man standing match, John Cena had to ruin it didn’t he? After going 25 minutes in a gruelling battle with WWE’s newest monster, John Cena smiled, laughed and skipped around the arena hugging The USOs. Way to make Bray Wyatt look weak, eh Cena. For somebody who protests that he loves the WWE, he certainly does go out of his way to make others look bad at times, and at such an important stage of Bray Wyatt’s career, that is completely unacceptable.
5) The Brotherhood feud begins
For a while now, many wrestling fans have been eagerly anticipating the break-up and feuding of Cody Rhodes and Goldust. The history, ability and chemistry they have will make for some fantastic story telling, and it appears the groundwork was laid at Payback. Post-defeat to Rybaxel, Cody claimed he wasn’t good enough to partner Goldust anymore, and left the arena without his older brother. A heel-turn looks on the horizon for Rhodes, while a feud for Goldust with his younger brother Cody would be a perfect swansong for the bizarre one.
6) The Shield have peaked
After a second unbelievable match with Evolution on Sunday, one glaring fact hit me. The Shield have nowhere else to go. Reigns, Rollins & Ambrose have feuded with everybody there is to feud with, and a change within the team like the Rollins betrayal we saw Monday night was as refreshing as it was shocking. The trio have been a magnificent addition to WWE television over the last 18 months, but now is the time for each member to go their separate ways and grow individually in order to reach the success they have in store in the future.
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Picture Credit: wwe.com
