Bray Wyatt vs Randy Orton- House of Horror’s Match – In the House
Grade: A
Thoughts: The first proper thing we saw was a haunted tractor moving slowly past Randy Orton’s face. That perfectly sums up this video package. GOOD GOD THIS WAS WEIRD. Like…this bit is really hard for me because it was so weird and literally cannot be explained unless you’ve sat and watched it. Bray had a rolling-pin, Orton had a frying pan, a fridge was thrown, a hand came out of a wall, a fancy red light covered the house then Wyatt got a lift to the arena. All of that happened BEFORE the match even really started. And I LOVED IT. I have no idea what’s happening but we’ll just see what happens later on in the night. Well…Joe and Rollins is about to happen so I guess we’ll catch up with the guys later on…
Seth Rollins vs Samoa Joe
Prediction: Rollins
Result: Rollins wins with a quick pin
Grade: C+
Thoughts: I don’t know what it was but this match never really…clicked with me? Both men are extremely talented and incredibly hard workers but I think it’s that every one of Seth’s matches follow the same structure now; bell rings, heel targets his knee, he finds a way to overcome and win. While it would be great if used sparingly- having it happen every match hurts its impact. It’s also quite hard to swallow when you see Seth have his knee targeted for 15 minutes then he does a flip to pin someone. Nothing bad happened in the match but nothing stand out happened. A damn shame.
Bray Wyatt vs Randy Orton – House of Horror’s Match- In the Arena
Prediction: Orton
Result: Wyatt wins with Sister Abigail after Jinder and the Bollywood Boys jump Orton
Grade: D
Thoughts: Why isn’t Bray allowed to look strong? Yes, it’s great that Bray got the win but…god I hate Jinder Mahal. Whenever Bray brags about the win- we’ll all remember that Jinder bloody Mahal helped him win. The match itself was dull- very dull. It was a generic No DQ match while it was in the arena that involved a couple of chairs. Weirdly; the commentators didn’t acknowledge the fact that Orton literally apparated behind Bray with no warning. The first half was very enjoyable and stupid and mental, imo, but the match itself was hugely disappointing.
Braun Strowman vs Roman Reigns
Prediction: Reigns
Result: Strowman wins via two running powerslams
Grade: A-
Thoughts: Reigns pretty much no sold his injuries unless it mattered to the story. Hitting spears, one-armed Samoan drops, superman punches…it just wasn’t believable. When a man can’t lift his left shoulder- he shouldn’t have made it a competitive fight. However, even with all of that; it was still a really, really enjoyable match. Braun is the best booked big man in the past 15 years. Without a doubt- he has honestly become someone who you would bet on against someone like The Beast Brock Lesnar. The post-match beat down helped enforce further how amazing Braun has become. The blood coming from Roman’s mouth was honestly worrying and I wanted to take this time to thank Roman Reigns for competing in this match after the terrible time he is having in his personal life so huge respect to this guy. The ‘You Deserve It’ chants however showcase that listen…Vince. I know you won’t read this but…he’s never going to get cheered.
See Also: 14 Things That We Learned From Payback
I wasn’t hyped at all for Payback and it completely, completely blew me away. Fantastic PPV with almost everything being excellent. Made my excited for Raw- well done WWE.
Written by @McIvertheMark!