Last night, WWE had a very polarizing pay per view. Some people loved it, some people hated it. Seth Rollins upset Samoa Joe, Alexa Bliss beat Bayley, Shesasro turned heel after losing to the Hardyz, and Braun Strowman may have killed Roman Reigns. Did you like the show? Yes? No? Regardless, here’s the Payback Fallout.
Monday Night Raw Report: PayBack Fallout
Alexa Bliss’ Championship Coronation
The beautiful Women’s Champion opened the show with the entire Raw women’s roster in the ring. Bliss referred to herself as the goddess of WWE, and then proceeded to thank several women in the ring. She thanked Mickie James for inspiring her before saying she was as old as Mae Young. Wonderful.
Next was Sasha Banks. Bliss recapped the night before, where Banks said she didn’t know who was Bliss was. She introduced herself to Banks as the Raw Women’s champion before being backed into Nia Jax, who she immediately began sucking up to.
Finally, Bliss thanked Bayley, saying that if it weren’t for her, this wouldn’t be possible. She talked down to Bayley before bringing up the former champion’s family, who were seated in the front row last night. She relived the moment where she became Women’s champion where she saw Bayley’s nephews crying. Then she said that Bayley’s family finally had a real mole model to look up to, and that’s when it came unglued.
Bayley attacked Bliss, Sasha had her back, and soon every woman on the roster was brawling. Why do they do that? Bliss, Bayley, and Sasha I understand, but why everyone else? Why are Emma and Alicia Fox brawling? Furthermore, why is Alicia Fox on Monday Night Raw?
2/5 Stars
Emma, Alexa Bliss, Nia Jax, and Alicia Fox vs. Bayley, Sasha Banks, Dana Brooke, and Mickie James
Michael Cole said this was an impromptu tag team match… after Bliss mentioned twice in the previous promo that there was a tag team match coming. Did Alexa let the cat out of the bag? Did Michael Cole screw up? Is Kevin Dunn lazy? The world may never know.
Did this match need Dana Brooke and Alicia Fox? Couldn’t we have just had a six woman tag? I guess Brooke and Emma are feuding, but this is still annoying. It’s hard to cover an eight person tag match.
One thing this match did really well was keep Jax sidelined. She’s the monster of the women’s division, and I hated when she would tag in and out of matches with Charlotte. When someone is that much bigger than everyone else? They’ve got dibs on the hot tag.
Nia Jax came in eventually though, and threw Sasha around the ring. After Jax destroyed Sasha, she tagged the champ in. Bliss tried to go for the cheap pin, but Banks was able to escape and tag in Bayley, who was nowhere near the tag rope.
Bayley started attacking bliss, but really, you can only be so angry when your gimmick is girl next door. All eight women brawled until eventually it was just Bayley and Bliss. Bliss raked Bayley’s eyes when the ref couldn’t see before hitting the DDT for the win.
1/5 Stars
Enzo Amore vs. Luke Gallows
Big Cass and Enzo Amore started the second half hour of the show by recapping their win last night over Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson before announcing the two teams had a rematch tonight… right before Michael Cole said it would be a singles match. Get it together, Kevin.
Fortunately, the former IWGP Tag Team Champions, yes, the former IWGP Tag Team Champions, attacked the lovable long-islanders before the match started. I’m a gym rat, as such, I respect people that are able to put on muscle. I cringe every time Gallows and Enzo have a competitive match.
Gallows dominated Enzo early, but eventually Enzo started to fight back. Gallows began working Enzo’s arm, and uh… why? Knock him over and literally apply any pressure, you’re like 100 pounds heavier than he is. Submissions are for people that aren’t a foot and a treasure chest bigger than their opponents!
The two exchanged fists and Enzo got Gallows on his knees. With his fists. With his fists. Enzo Amore. Enzo rolled Gallows up but the big man kicked out, because that’s what makes sense. Eventually Gallows planted Enzo for the win, but why the hell was this even competitive? This is stupid. I’m going to Extreme Rules, I better not see this match.
.5/5 Stars
Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, Dean Ambrose, and the Miz
After defeating Samoa Joe last night, Seth Rollins was live on Monday Night Raw! The Architect was talking about how tumultuous the last half of a year has been, and how the crowd helped him get through his rough patches.
Rollins called out Brock Lesnar, and claimed he wanted the Universal Championship. However, he didn’t get Lesnar, he got Finn Balor. Balor said that the line to challenge Lesnar started behind him… AND OUT CAME DEAN AMBROSE.
Ambrose insisted that since Lesnar never shows up on Monday Night Raw, the Intercontinental Championship was the show’s biggest title, and that he was itching for a fight! And that’s win the Miz came out!
Miz said that he was the most relevant Intercontinental Championship in recent memory and that if anyone deserves the white belt, it’s him. The four men bickered, and Dean Ambrose called Kurt Angle.
Angle supposedly announced a triple threat between Balor, Rollins, and The Miz, winner gets to be number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship. It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out. All three men are believable challengers.
1.5/5 Stars
Tony Nese, The Brian Kendrick, and Noam Dar vs. Rich Swann, Akira Tozawa, and Jack Gallagher
Hey! Akira Tozawa is back! I missed him! Yah! And how about the PROGRESS representation in this match? Did you know Jack Gallagher used to be over 300 pounds? Look that up.
Much like the eight woman tag earlier, this match is hard to cover without going play-by-play. As someone that doesn’t watch 205 Live every week, there’s a lot I’m struggling to pick up. Tozawa and The Brian Kendrick have been feuding, and now I’m gathering that Rich Swann and Noam Dar are feuding? And what’s going on with Gallagher and Tony Nese?
Eventually Jack Gallagher was able to pin The Brian Kendrick, but it felt like filler. Everyone in this match is supremely talented, but why should I care? What are the stakes?
1/5 Stars
Sheasaro
The freshly minted heel tag team of Sheamus and Cesaro came down to the ring to explain themselves for what they did to the Hardyz the night before. Sheamus explained that he hated the fans, and that they booed him no matter what he did. He explained the Cesaro hated the fans because they turned on him when the Hardyz came back.
They resented the fans for turning on them and ignoring them for nostalgia acts, and that they were going to become Raw Tag Team Champions again. Annnd that’s when the Hardyz came out.
Matt Hardy cut the promo, and he did something fun. He sprinkled in a few multi-syllabic words in his normal voice. And then he said that he had a response for the two. He and Jeff did the “DELETE” motion and rushed the ring, scaring Sheasaro off.
3.5/5 Stars
Heath Slater w/ Rhyno vs. Apollo Crews w/Titus O’Neil
It looks like Titus O’Neil and Apollo Crews are going to be a team after all. How about that? Crews took on Heath Slater, with Rhyno at ringside. It was a solid match with some fun spots, but the crowd was not feeling it. They started booing in the middle, and then Apollo hit his finish out of nowhere… to the apathy of the crowd.
2/5 Stars
Kurt Angle and Bray Wyatt
The Raw GM, Kurt Angle came out as we approached the final hour of the show, and now I’m really confused as to why Dean Ambrose had to call him when he was in the building. In any event, the gold medalist was out to give an update on the Braun Strowman/Roman Reigns situation.
He claimed that both men wanted a match with each other and that’s when… Bray Wyatt‘s titantron played and the Eater of Gimmicks came out. It was kinda wild seeing Bray Wyatt and Kurt Angle in the same ring.
Wyatt asked Angle if he was going to be by his side or get in his way, and Angle responded by saying that it was his show, and he’d do what he felt was right. Wyatt responded by laughing, saying that it was his show, but it was Wyatt’s world. Allllllrighty then.
2/5 Stars
Austin Aries vs. T.J. Perkins
Cappin Dabbin, T.J. Perkins took on Austin Aries as we rocked into the final hour of the show. Aries was furious about getting screwed out of the title at PayBack, and he was taking it out on Perkins.
However, Perkins soon returned the favor and took control of the match. The heel turn has worked wonders for him, as his cocky attitude was basically already there to begin with. The added aggression elevated his work in and out of the ring.
Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t able to win this bout, as Aries pulled off a sick reversal into the Last Chancery for the win. After the match, Perkins attacked Aries, locking him in the kneebar. The ref got weirdly physical with TJP as he pulled him off of AA.
1/5 Stars
Finn Balor vs. The Miz vs. Seth Rollins
Main event time, and I could easily see any of the three men taking home the opportunity to take on Ambrose. Finn Balor is undefeated on the main roster, he’s not going to lose this match, is he? But what about the Miz? He’s been feuding with Ambrose on TV lately and he made that white belt relevant again. As for Rollins? Well, they could write a book about the history between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose.
Miz did the heel thing early, rolling out of the ring to let Rollins and Balor duke it out. Watching Balor and Rollins wrestle kinda makes me sad, because the Brooklyn crowd ruined a very good SummerSlam match. After nearly getting involved several times, Balor and Rollins began chasing after Miz.
Eventually they got him into the ring, where they proceeded to beat him down. There was a funny part where Miz tried to get both Balor and Rollins to team up against the other and both men refused. They threw him out of the ring and Rollins tried to steal a roll-up win.
I can’t stress enough how much I loved this match. The story-telling was fantastic. Both Finn and Rollins kept beating up on Miz, but they didn’t quite trust each other because of their past. What I didn’t love is the 5 minute commercial break WWE took in the middle of it. Don’t give me a garbage backstage segment with the Golden Truth if you’re going to interrupt your main event.
There was an ugly spot where Finn Balor absolutely failed to catch Rollins on a dive. He got in the way, but he was almost better off ignoring him, because he landed right on his neck. Rollins seemed okay.
Then an amazing spot happened. Miz went for the Daniel Bryan kick, but Balor reversed it, throwing Miz into Rollins’ arm. Then Balor drop-kicked Rollins, causing him to DDT Miz. Absolutely insane.
Seth Rollins was running wild, wrecking Miz an Balor, and that’s when Samoa Joe showed up, attacking Rollins. Balor did the slingblade-dropkick-coups de gras combo, but when he went to the top rope, Bray Wyatt appeared, attacking Balor.
He hit Sister Abigail and Miz pinned Finn for the win.
Wow. What a match. It makes sense, but it loses a full point because of the cheap ending.
3/5 Stars
MVP- Alexa Bliss
For the first time since the award’s inception, Braun Strowman is not the MVP. However, that’s only because he wasn’t on Raw to flip, shove, or destroy things. Instead, the honor goes to Alexa Bliss.
Everyone shames her because she’s attractive. That’s a real thing. Because guys think she’s hot, people belittle her talent in the ring. She’s not the best wrestler, but her ability as a smarmy heel is fantastic.
Star Count- 17.5/50 Total Possible Stars (35%)
Worth Watching?
Parts of it are. Definitely watch the main event, because that was a ton of fun. But the rest of it… could probably just be YouTube’d.
