Speculation On Why WWE Is Holding The Payback Pay-Per-View Just One Week After SummerSlam

There's been a lot of speculation on why the WWE Payback pay-per-view is taking place just one week after the WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view, one of the biggest events of the year.

It was noted on Twitter by the Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer that Payback is "just an experiment to see how it works."

Meltzer has speculated that WWE likely has an idea for a major angle coming out of SummerSlam, where they felt like they needed an immediate follow-up at Payback.

There's no word yet on if WWE really does have a major angle planned for SummerSlam, but one fan theory making the rounds seems possible. The idea is that RETRIBUTION will invade the SummerSlam pay-per-view on Sunday, which will lead to the WWE roster getting "payback" at Payback the following weekend.

As noted, last night's RAW was the first sign of WWE Superstars coming together to confront RETRIBUTION. WWE Champion Drew McIntyre was featured in a backstage segment with several RAW Superstars, trying to get them together to address the problem that is RETRIBUTION.

It should be noted that the aforementioned RETRIBUTION idea is just a rumor and speculation for now.

Meltzer also responded to a question on if WWE is holding Payback one week after SummerSlam as a way to saturate the pay-per-view market and potentially hurt buys for AEW's All Out pay-per-view on September 5, as there will be three wrestling pay-per-view events within two weeks.

"Having been around wrestling promoters for 38 years and covering Vince virtually that entire time, it is the first conclusion you'd come to. That's how he operates and always will operate," Meltzer responded.

WWE Payback is scheduled to air next Sunday, August 30, from the Amway Center in Orlando. This is exactly one week after SummerSlam. WWE has announced just one match for the pay-per-view and that is RAW Women's Champion Sasha Banks and SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley defending their WWE Women's Tag Team Titles against a tag team to be announced in the next week or so.

Stay tuned for updates.