WWE Payback 2023 review: Judgment Day have all the gold!

Truth be told this was the show where I think my struggles with the WWE product had reached a head, because it was the very week of Windham Rotunda’s passing, and knowing that Bray Wyatt was not ever going to be on the screen again was one of the most upsetting wrestler deaths since Eddie Guerrero it hit me rather hard. Though there were some lovely tributes paid all week to the creative genius who left us with so much to cherish of his work. I miss him dearly and he has left a hole in WWE, that as of writing has yet to be filled by anyone. #ThankYouBray

Now, onto the event itself, as I am clawing ever closer to being back up to date and in the game for wrestling Premium Live Event reviews. Payback was an unusual show, kind of centred around the Judgment Day faction. But how was it? Again, wildly different across the smaller card. Hosted by John Cena, who amidst the writer’s strike, would be sticking around on WWE TV for a bit.

So, here is what went down…

1. Steel Cage Match

Trish Stratus vs. Becky Lynch

It was time for this feud to finish, in fact it probably should have had card space at SummerSlam but in spite of the flaws of the rivalry itself, by god did these two legendary ladies deliver when it came to this final encounter. Trish Stratus and Becky Lynch opened the show with a glorious 20 minute classic Steel Cage match thriller, that was befitting of the structure’s legacy of being where scores go to be once and truly settled. Trish got battered and bruised here and Becky was equally on the ropes a lot in this one. It was a fiery, fabulous, fight, which saw both competitors deliver not just their best match together but – as Michael Cole said – one of the best this year. Fantastic! Post-match, Trish got in Zoey Stark’s face over the loss, which led to Zoey laying her mentor out. Thank You Trish…no more I guess.

2. John Cena is Special Guest Referee

LA Knight vs. The Miz

Ahead of this match, Cena came out to hype up the audience as only he can, until The Miz interrupted to give John tips on hosting duties, but instead he was revealed as guest referee for this match with LA Knight. This was a fun little outing that acted as a good win for Knight, after he hit the A-Lister with the BFT. A tad too long for what it was but the crowd loved Knight and he was ready for a major feud now! Cena got into some tense moments with each man throughout but afterwards would be raising Knight’s hand as much in endorsement as duty.

3. WWE United States Championship

Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Austin Theory

This rematch for the prestigious belt was on paper a fine match but at just under 10 minutes, both guys had a fair enough back and forth but it just felt a little bland. Nice to see Rey Mysterio get a win and title run but this could have been a bit more special than it ended up. It was just kind of there. After his win, Rey celebrated with the LWO.

4. Steel City Street Fight for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn (c) vs. The Judgment Day (Damian Priest and Finn Balor)

Refreshing to see a stipulation added to this one, and it benefitted the match no end because we have seen these sides clash in various ways so much before (and after). So this anarchic Street Fight did the job a lot better. It was a crazy showing by all involved that saw chairs, kendo sticks, hockey sticks and trash cans cross paths with Pittsburgh Penguins gear (Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn had the crowd well on side safe to say), balcony dives (as KO drilled that pesky interfering Dominik Mysterio through a table among the crowd) and even Rhea Ripley spearing Owens through the barricade. After all the chaos though, including JD McDonagh’s getting involved again, it was Judgment Day’s, well, day! As Dirty Dom used Damian Priest’s Money in the Bank briefcase allowing Finn Balor to get the pin on Zayn for the win. We have new champions, after an all out affair that got the crowd electrified. 

Grayson Waller hosted The Grayson Waller Effect with special guest Cody Rhodes in the usual verbal exchanges and malarkey we come to expect from this stuff. Where Cody made an announcement that he had pulled some strings and got Jey Uso as the newest member of the RAW roster. Out came Jey to crowd elation and Waller ran him down, leading to a super kick for the Australian superstar. Nice to see Jey back but this was just a standard segment really, that did not quite have the impact some had predicted prior.

5. WWE Women’s World Championship Match

Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Raquel Rodriguez

These two would actually have a better match on Raw after this one because on this night the match, while not terrible, did not have the expected energy. It was fine and of course Ripley got the win with a kick to Raquel Rodriguez’s injured knee and a Riptide. There were moments, like Raquel’s power slam to an interfering Dominik, but this was certainly not as forceful as it could have been considering these two powerhouse stars, and was one of the less memorable matches in Ripley’s reign as THE woman in WWE. She’s just phenomenal in every respect.

Backstage, John Cena interviewed the new tag champions Balor and Priest, while doing some kind of strange character bit. Baffled me at the time, but apparently it was Cena reprising a character he did in a WWE YouTube series called Southpaw Regional Wrestling. A bit lost on me this but Cena is so clearly happy to be there and happy to do anything and everything. So fair play to him.

6. WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Seth “Freakin’” Rollins (c)

I was very eagerly anticipating this one because Shinsuke Nakamura’s heel transformation has been fantastic to see and he deserves a platform in which to finally shine. I loved the story of him targeting Seth Rollins’ injured back and that being the – pardon the pun – backbone of the match. Shinsuke absolutely dominated a lot of this match, and had a physical story-led match with Rollins which I enjoyed. It is hampered by the fact that Seth should have arguably lost here really because Nakamura has not been this hot in some time character-wise and it would have made story sense. Alas, Rollins would persevere and roll through a sit down pin to curb stomp the deadly challenger for the title retaining win! Though this was not over, as – weirdly when they were off air – Nakamura laid our Rollins with a kinshasa on the entrance ramp.

Overall, Payback was a good show but a hard one to rate really because three matches were truly brilliant or even greater than that, while three were more mixed/meh, and some of the segments just padded things out. It was a decent night but likely not one that will be ingrained in memory as a whole, rather just remembered via a few bouts.

Well we are on the fast lane now folks, in fact next up we drive to October 7th in Indianapolis for Fastlane! Don’t stop me now!!