Views From The Turnbuckle: Payback Review, B PPV, A Effort

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WWE has gone all-in on the WWE Network, and that has lent itself to as many PPVs and "special events" that they can squeeze into the calendar. Payback represents a running theme for WWE events of late in that on paper they seem to lack a good build and it seems like they just had a PPV a few weeks ago (because they did) but once the show is over it turns out that they still managed to put on an entertaining program.

Seth Rollins vs Randy Orton vs Roman Reigns vs Dean Ambrose: ****1/4

The match started off pretty slow, but it more than made up for it later in the match with some pretty strong storytelling and fine wrestling. What I think made this match so strong was that every single guy involved knew exactly what they were capable of and didn't try to overexpose themselves during the match. Reigns is still a limited worker, but in a match as wild as a Fatal Four Way, it is very easy to hide his inadequacies and just have him show up and raise hell when necessary.

Going into the match, the match wasn't really about The Shield, but it ended up being all about The Shield. The storytelling of both Reigns and Ambrose still being friends and Rollins not completely getting it was dead on. Rollins is so perfect as a heel, not only because he is an excellent worker in the ring, but the little things he manages to get into a match are what really make him such a special talent. After they had triple-powerbombed Orton and Ambrose and Reigns celebrated together, Rollins forced himself in-between them to celebrate. It just came off as such an authentic move by Rollins, and he comes across to the fans at home that someone that truly doesn't get it. He's a true sociopath, and only in wrestling can that be a good thing.

John Cena vs Rusev: **1/2

By having Lana quit for Rusev, WWE did the most reasonable thing in booking both of their respective futures. Rusev saves some dignity by not saying "I Quit" and Lana quitting for him creates a logical reason for them to go their separate ways. In a perfect world, Rusev would have gotten a clean victory over Cena during this feud, but finishing the feud in a match where you did not do necessarily a clean job is probably the best you can hope for when working with Cena.

A problem WWE has had with booking these heavy stipulation matches like the I Quit, or Last Man Standing matches is that they tend to get way too creative with the spots, and it comes off looking hokey. Two examples of this were Cena giving the Attitude Adjustment to Rusev onto the pyrotechnics, where presumably they exploded underneath him. If that explosion didn't blast Rusev into smithereens, it at least would have given him significant burns. But of course they couldn't accurately project that during a wrestling match, fans are left watching Rusev flop on the ground like a fish with no visible wounds on his body. It insults the fans intelligence and sucks the drama out of the match. The other moment was when Cena was "passed out" and Rusev revived him by tossing water on him, which immediately caused Cena to gasp and sputter around in the ring as if he had just taken a dip into the Lazarus Pit. The two best I Quit matches in history, Ric Flair/Terry Funk and Steve Austin/Bret Hart had none of these ridiculous spots and moments. I don't think that is a coincidence.

The New Day vs Tyson Kidd and Cesaro: ****

In a continuation of their feud, there isn't much more to say about this match other than that it is a match featuring some really good workers and a very fast pace. Tag team matches in 2015 supply some of the best action for promotions outside of WWE, and the last two PPVs have shown that even in WWE that they can highlight major shows. The finish was unexpected and effective, and if the recent matches are any indicator that Elimination Chamber match should be chaos.

Ryback vs Bray Wyatt: **3/4

Considering the workers involved, Wyatt and Ryback probably had the best match that they could. There was a fair amount of high-spots and bumps taken by both men, and Wyatt picked up a much needed victory. The problem was that neither man was given that much to work with, and the match lacked even a mediocre build. When asked about why he went after Ryback, Wyatt said "He was in my way." He might as well have said "I have no idea," because it is evident that creative didn't put much thought into the development of this feud. WWE has set itself up into having an overload of PPVs over the next couple months, and because there is going to be such a small window of time for feuds to develop, the PPVs are going to have several matches on each card that don't necessarily feel like they have to be on a PPV. This would have been a fine match to have on Raw, but as a PPV match it came up a bit short.

Sheamus vs Dolph Ziggler: ***1/4

As I stated above, one of the issues with scrunching these PPVs together is that there are going to be a fair amount of matches on the card that don't necessarily feel like PPV matches. Heading into Payback, I would have pointed out Ziggler vs Sheamus as an example of such a match. However, both Ziggler and Sheamus did their very best to sell a rivalry in this match, and the result was a match that ended up feeling a lot more important than it really was. Sheamus needed to pick up a victory and he did it in convincing fashion.

The Bella Twins vs Naomi and Tamina Snuka: *1/2

The Bella Twins were not setting the world on fire as heels, but at least their Kardashian-esque attitude came off as being somewhat authentic. As faces, especially faces with no real explanation behind how they became faces, the fans have no motivation to cheer for them. Since they are pretty much the only Divas who get consistently booked storylines, the Diva's Division needs them to be foundation pieces in order for the division to have matches that fans genuinely care about. Right now they are nowhere close to that and it is unlikely they will ever be at that level.

King Barrett vs Neville: **1/2

This is a feud that could really be something special if WWE commits to promoting the feud. Both guys are solid in the ring and can put on a really good match if they give them the time. I honestly don't think they could show enough of Barrett on WWE television, he is just so perfect in his role right now. Neville has the potential to be someone that fans can rally behind and believe in, and Barrett is a terrific natural foil for him to work with.

Payback is very clearly a B PPV, and the card, from top-to-bottom with the exception of the I Quit match had a subpar build, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the event was bad. There were some real positives on the show, and although it didn't have the hype that an event like Wrestlemania or SummerSlam do, but it can still be a strong, entertaining event.

You can follow Jesse Collings on Twitter @JesseCollings