WWE Payback 2023 Results 9/2: Rollins Faces Nakamura, Steel Cage Match, Cena Hosts

Welcome to our WrestlingINC.com Live WWE Payback 2023 Viewing Party. Please share coverage of tonight's Viewing Party on social media and chime in with your thoughts in the Comments section below. Make sure to click the REFRESH button to continue to get the most current, up-to-date coverage.

Tonight's show will be hosted by 16-time World Champion John Cena, who made his return to WWE and immediately made enemies with Jimmy Uso. What his role will be this evening is unclear, but an appearance is expected.

Two featured women's matches will also take place as Trish Stratus and Becky Lynch finally aim to settle their issues inside a steel cage. Meanwhile, Rhea Ripley will be defending her title against Raquel Rodriguez, who is out for revenge after being injured by The Judgment Day star.

Speaking of The Judgment Day, Finn Balor and Damian Priest have a chance to prove that they're on the same team when they challenge for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships in a street fight.

Austin Theory will attempt to regain his United States Championship when he challenges Rey Mysterio, while LA Knight and The Miz will bring their war of words to the ring. Finally, Shinsuke Nakamura aims to become World Heavyweight Champion when he faces Seth Rollins after promising to exploit the back injury of the champion.

Announced Card:

* John Cena will be the host

* Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Austin Theory (United States Championship Match)

* Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Raquel Rodriguez (Women's World Championship Match)

* LA Knight vs. The Miz

* Grayson Waller Effect With Cody Rhodes

* Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn (c) vs. Finn Balor & Damian Priest (WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championship Steel City Street Fight)

* Trish Stratus vs. Becky Lynch (Steel Cage Match)

* Seth Rollins (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (World Heavyweight Championship Match)

Trish Stratus looks to escape the cage immediately only to be pulled down by Becky Lynch. While the WWE Hall Of Famer slaps her, Lynch quickly takes control by sending her into each turnbuckle as she then hits a couple of Becksploder's. Stratus turns things around though by launching Lynch into the steel cage repeatedly before just driving Lynch's face into the steel.

Stratus tries to escape via the door but Lynch denies her only for Stratus to once again launch Lynch into the cage face-first repeatedly, but she fights back by hitting a leg drop onto Stratus as she attempts to lean back and avoid a clothesline. Lynch then hits another from the top rope with Stratus dangling across it, but she is able to kick out after it. The two women then brawl on the top turnbuckle and Stratus comes out on top and begins scaling to the top of the cage. 

However, Lynch fights back and then powerbombs her, but Stratus kicks out. The veteran fights back though and nails a Widow's Peak as a nod to Victoria, but Lynch kicks out. However, Lynch responds with an iconic move of her own by hitting Lita's Twist Of Fate, yet Stratus kicks out. Lynch then tweaks her knee when coming down from the top turnbuckle, which allows Stratus to hit Stratusfaction, yet Lynch kicks out of the pinfall attempt again.  

The ladies then scale to the top rope again and brawl as Stratus hits a Bulldog, but still, Lynch kicks out. Stratus then decides to escape the cage, but Lynch gets up and the two women brawl while on top of the steel cage structure. Stratus gets the best of it and almost gets over, but Lynch yanks her back and traps her legs inside the top of the steel cage which leads to Stratus hanging down by her legs. Lynch then pulls Stratus down from the top of the cage and nails a huge superplex, yet Stratus kicks out again.

Lynch then tries to climb out of the cage but with Stratus going to the door she changes her mind. She looks to pull Stratus back but Zoey Stark appears and she pulls at Stratus as well. Stark gets the best of it by nailing Lynch with the door, and Stratus then nearly catches her with a roll-up. However, Lynch hits a Manhandle Slam to Stratus only for Stark to break it up. Stratus tries to climb away but Stark eats a Manhandle Slam and Lynch then pulls Stratus down to hit another from the top turnbuckle which finally keeps Stratus down.

Winner: Becky Lynch

After the match, Stratus and Stark argue as Trish slaps her in the face and demands Stark gets out of the ring. However, Stark slams the door shut and nails the Z360, and walks away from her mentor.

John Cena welcomes everyone to WWE Payback as he puts over the opening match, claiming it was awesome. He points out that in his entire career he has never been a host, and he wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to be here tonight. He found out his job is to make tonight special, and there's no better way than by being the special guest referee for a match he's had his eye on for a while; LA Knight vs. The Miz.

This leads to Miz appearing, and he's not best pleased. Miz says Cena sucks as a host and Cena asks him for advice, and Miz says you don't put yourself as a referee in his match. He also says you say no when they call about being a merman in a Barbie movie. Miz says he should be more involved as he was in two matches when he hosted WrestleMania, and he mocks Cena for dressing like a Teletubbie. Miz points out Cena doesn't have a referee shirt...but he gets one handed to him. They go back and forth with "No," and "Yeah," until LA Knight makes his way down to the ring for the match.

The Miz takes his time to get into the ring to start the match, and when he does he immediately rolls out and starts walking around the ringside area. He tries to sucker LA Knight into a fight but Knight has his number and begins brawling with Miz back down to the ring. The two men trade punches inside the ring as Knight takes control, but as he tries to take the fight to the top turnbuckle, Miz takes control and plants Knight face-first from the turnbuckle. 

Knight regains control and aims for the BFT, but Miz gets out of the ring only for Knight to dive out and nail him with a kick to the face. He then drives Miz into the steel stairs and then drives him head-first into the announce table repeatedly. Knight breaks the 10 count and gives Cena a, "Yeah" for good measure, but when he heads back to Miz the "A-Lister" pulls him into the announce desk. 

Knight then sends Miz into the timekeeper's area and then jumps onto the barricade and nails him with a clothesline. Back inside the ring, Miz catches Knight in the throat and then unleashes his kicks in the corner but he pushes the five count which leads to John Cena pulling him away. They argue and Knight hits a clothesline. Knight then does the same thing and Knight goes past the five count which leads to Cena arguing with him as Miz jumps him.

Miz then slides out of the ring and pulls Knight's legs, dropping him face-first onto the ring apron. Miz begins delivering his It Kicks inside the ring, but Knight turns it around by driving Miz down to the mat. He follows it with his own kicks and a running knee to the corner, but Miz turns that around with a couple of DDT's which gains him a near fall. Miz misses wildly in the corner as Knight hits a spinning neckbreaker, but Miz kicks out.

Miz then tries to steal a win with his hands on the ropes and Cena stops him. They argue and then Miz ends up rolling toward Cena who puts up his guard, Miz avoids it and Knight then almost bumps into Cena. The brief staredown allows Mix to hit the Skull Crushing Finale, but kicks out. Miz looks to copy Cena's Five Knuckle Shuffle but Knight turns it around with an elbow and then the BFT. 

Winner: LA Knight

Austin Theory immediately attacks Rey Mysterio in the corner, but the WWE Hall Of Famer catches him with a couple of kicks and then takes the fight to Theory in the corner himself with a series of punches. However, Theory drops Mysterio with a big clothesline and then takes control by slowing the pace down. He then launches Mysterio into the turnbuckles as he bounces back, and then as they head to the top turnbuckle Theory begins trying to rip off Mysterio's mask. 

That fires up the champion who catches Theory with several elbow strikes and then a moonsault which provides some distance between them. He follows it by sliding out of the ring and then hitting a tornado DDT, and back inside the ring he connects with a senton. Mysterio continues to pick up the pace by sending Theory around the ring and then into the 619 position, but Theory moves out of the way and then hits a spin-out powerbomb which gets a near fall. 

Theory nails a roll-through dropkick, but as Mysterio bounces off the ropes he answers back with a dropkick of his own. The two men then go back and forth with kicks, but Mysterio comes out on top with a 619, but as he tries to dive back in Theory gets the knees up. He tries to hit A-Town Down, but Mysterio reverses into a roll-up to retain his title.  

Winner (and still United States Champion): Rey Mysterio

Becky Lynch is then shown backstage being asked what's next, and Tiffany Stratton appears and congratulates her. She thinks they got off on the wrong foot, she apologizes for calling her an NXT Women's Champion. Lynch tells her to focus on her title match and maybe, she will see her soon.

Straight away all four men begin brawling as Finn Balor nails Sami Zayn with a kendo stick, but Kevin Owens retaliates with some shots of his own with the weapon until Damian Priest gets involved and the numbers game becomes too much. Yet Zayn helps his partner by diving over the top ropes to attack The Judgment Day stars as the champions use trash cans to attack both of their opponents. 

Owens reveals he is wearing a Terry Funk t-shirt and they put the trash can over Balor's head and then start swinging kendo sticks at him. Priest turns things around with a trash can himself, and Balor quickly helps out with a chair as the challengers get themselves in control. 

The champions end up sending their opponents reeling into the audience but they follow them and continue the fight until Dominik Mysterio turns up as the numbers game proves too much for Owens and Zayn. However, the champions then appear repping the Penguin's gear while Owens is busted wild open and they use hockey sticks to attack their challengers and Mysterio. 

The champions keep up the dominance with a Blue Thunder Bomb onto a stack of chairs, but Balor kicks out. Zayn then eats a tastenumber of his own medicine by being thrown onto a stack of upright chairs, leaving Owens to compete alone as the challengers take advantage. The brawl then continues throughout the fans as Zayn then hits a senton from the pre-show panel table to his opponents. However, Mysterio again appears and the numbder advantage helps his team. 

Owens attacks Mysterio, placing him onto a table as Owens climbs up high to the fans, diving off the barrier with a swanton to crash through the table. Meanwhile, Zayn hits an exploder suplex to Balor back in the ring, but as he goes for the Helluva Kick Priest launches the trash can at Zayn's head. However, Zayn then begins fighting back to both men and he knocks Balor off the apron to send him through a table. Inside the ring, he goes for his finisher again but Priest blocks it only to eat a Stunner, and then the Helluva Kick. 

However, just as he has the match won, JD McDonagh appears and pulls Zayn off Priest. Owens then attacks him and hits a Pop-Up Powerbomb onto the announce table. But as he goes to focus on the match, Rhea Ripley appears and Spears Owens through the timekeeper's barricade. Balor then hits a Slingblade, but he misses with the Coup De Grace and Zayn nails the Helluva Kick, but Mysterio breaks it up with the briefcase. He hits him on the head and Balor covers Zayn to claim the gold. 

Winners (and NEW Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions): Finn Balor & Damian Priest

Cody Rhodes attempts to ask people what they want to talk about, but Grayson Waller cuts him off before he can finish his catchphrase. Waller has heard the whispers of Rhodes' big anouncement while pointing out Rhodes has had so many ups and downs this year, and he knows Rhodes needs the Waller rub. He calls him 'kid' and says tonight is the start of something big for Rhodes. 

"The American Nightmare" points out that these things normally end with fighting, but he says that he did ask to be on this show, and thanks Waller for the rub. He wants to give Waller something, a big scoop. Rhodes says SmackDown is intruiging, and he recently saw a wrong that he felt needed to be righted. He cashed in what chips he had, and he hopes it's a decision he won't regret, but he welcomes the newest member of the Raw roster...Jey Uso!

Waller points out he has only been gone like two weeks, but he didn't prepare questions for him. He claims Uso has achieved nothing on his own, but he sileces Waller with a superkick, knocks over some props and then poses as Rhodes watches on. 

The two women look to showcase their power early on but have a stalemate in that regard as they connect with shoulder tackles. However after Rhea Ripley tries to cheat by pulling the hair, Raquel Rodriguez does drop her with a shoulder tackle which sends Ripley out of the ring for a breather. She hands up Rodriquez on the ropes to get back in and then nails a kick to the midsection.

However, once again the challenger gets the best of things with her power by hitting a clothesline and then a power slam. However, Ripley pulls the hair again to sweep the legs of Rodriquez, following it up with a dropkick. Rodriquez fights back to throw Ripley across the ring, but the champion responds by kicking the rope into her as she then stomps away on the challenger. 

Rodriguez builds some momentum with a few clotheslines and then a clubbing blow to the back of Ripley's neck which is then followed by a fallaway slam. However, as she looks to drop an elbow from the second rope Ripley denies it and pulls her down and stomps away on her while Rodriguez is hung up in the turnbuckle. Ripley then gets too confident though, which allows Rodriguez to hit a delayed vertical suplex.

This time she hits the spinning corkscrew elbow, but Ripley kicks out. Rodriguez goes for a powerbomb but Ripley counters it only to be nailed by a clothesline, which once again gets a near fall. Ripley then goes for the previously injured knee of Rodriguez, but she gets out of the Prison Lock with a roll-up as Ripley gets launched into the ring apron. They then go back and forth with a brawl, and Ripley gets sent spilling out of the ring.

However, Ripley goes back to the knee iwth a chop block, yet she replies with a boot as Rodriguez throws her into the barricade. Dominik Mysterio then heads down, but he gets dropped with a Running Slam, but that allows Ripley to attack the bad knee of her challenger. She then hits the Riptide to retain. 

Winner (and still Women's World Champion): Rhea Ripley

The two men start things out slowly, feeling each other out as they go back and forth with a variety of holds. Shinsuke Nakamura catches Seth Rollins with a strike to his back, but Rollins quickly picks up the pace and then dives out of the ring to attack Nakamura. Despite that, Nakamura goes immediately back to attacking the injured area of Rollins, stomping away on him in the corner. 

Rollins turns things around once again and dives onto Nakamura from the top rope and he follows that up with yet another dive to the outside. The champion then slams Nakamura into the stairs and the announce table. However, as Rollins then stands on the barricade he gets thrown by Nakamura onto the announce desk and then the barricade, both focusing on his back. 

Nakamura drops Rollins' back onto his knee, following it up with further attacks to the injured area outside the ring. The two then fight to the top turnbuckle and Rollins connects with a hurricanrana and they then go back and forth with punches and strikes and the champion comes out on top, following it with a Frog Splash, but Nakamura manages to kick out of the pinfall attempt. 

Rollins goes for the Stomp, but Nakamura avoids it, connecting with a flying knee straight after which forces Rollins to kick out. Nakamura then attacks the spine again before sliding underneath him while propped on the ropes to hit the German suplex which is followed by the inverted exploder. However, Rollins intercepts the Kinshasa with a Superkick, but Nakamura kicks out anyway.

Rollins then attempts to connect with some forearms but Nakamura reverses into a triangle submission, but he gets out with a sit-out powerbomb. They once again go back and forth with Rollins winning out due to a strike to Nakamura. He tries to head to the top turnbuckle but Nakamura joins him there and hits a Landslide, but Rollins manages to kick out, even with his hurt back. 

Nakamura then nails a Kinshasa to the back of the neck and he sets up a second, but Rollins just collapses beforehand. Rollins then slaps Nakamura several times and he counters Nakamura into a Pedigree, but he can't capitalize due to his back. He tries for a Stomp but Nakamura blocks it. They then go for a couple of pinfall attempts each, and Rollins rolls Nakamura and quickly hits a Stomp! 

Winner (and still World Heavyweight Champion): Seth Rollins

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