Csonka’s WWE Payback Review 5.01.16

Csonka’s WWE Payback Review 5.01.16

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Pre-Show Match: Dolph Ziggler defeated Baron Corbin @ 7:46 via pin [**]
– Pre-Show US Title Match: Champion Kalisto defeated The Ryback @ 8:40 via pin [***]
– WWE Tag Team Tournament #1 Contenders’ Match: Enzo Amore and Big Cass vs. The Vaudevillains went to a no contest @ 4:00 (there was no official winner announced) [NR]
– Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn @ 14:25 via pin [****¼]
– WWE Intercontinental Title Match: Champion The Miz defeated Cesaro @ 11:11 via pin [***]
– Dean Ambrose defeated Chris Jericho @ 18:30 via pin [**½]
– WWE Women’s Title Match: Champion Charlotte defeated Natalya @ 13:07 via MONTREAL SCREW JOB REVISIT #492 [**½]
– WWE World Title Match: Champion Roman Reigns defeated AJ Styles @ 23:10 via pin [***¾]

Pre-Show Match: Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin: Corbin shook off Ziggler’s early attack, and then worked him over for about five minutes. Ziggler made a comeback, and Corbin kicked out of the fameasser. Corbin posted Ziggler with the alley-oop. He then took forever to do anything, “showing his dominance,” and then Ziggler rolled him up for the pin. That result made absolutely no sense, made Corbin look like an idiot (I know that they were going for the overconfident asshole deal, he still looked like an idiot) and God forbid we allow anyone to have momentum. Ziggler is beyond stale, and Corbin should have won. The match was ok.

Pre-Show US Title Match: Champion Kalisto vs. The Ryback: The Ryback mocked CM Punk’s entrance, which the Chicago crowd did not appreciate. His weight belt also says, “The Pre-Show Stopper.” They worked the obvious power vs. speed story; it was a bit rough (Kalisto came up a bit short and Ryback went out of his way to make sure he didn’t die) at times, but overall solid. We did get a commercial break, because Camp WWE, and came back to The Ryback working the heat. Kalisto made his comeback, even scoring with a springboard into a DDT on the apron. The homestretch was filled with a lot of good idea, but was not all that clean, It wasn’t bad, but The Ryback trying to keep up and sell some of Kalisto’s stuff was a little rough. The Ryback got cut off when he went up top, managed a big press slam but followed that with a missed splash. Kalisto then hit a Salida Del Sol to retain. Overall this was a good match, if the middle was smoother it could have been really good.

– New Day came out for some promo fun, and then sat at ringside in beanbag chairs eating pizza and various snacks. Enzo and Cass then came out and did their deal, watching New Day mark out for them is always fun.

WWE Tag Team Tournament #1 Contenders’ Match: Enzo Amore and Big Cass vs. The Vaudevillains: Enzo and Cass controlled early, using some nice double teams. The Vaudevillains took over, and when they tossed Enzo to the floor he clipped the middle rope and the match was called off as Enzo appeared to be out of it. Yeah, on the replay, that did not look good at all. That was just a freak accident.

– Enzo is being taken to a local medical facility. He is talking and moving his extremities.

Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens: Owens had fun mocking Zayn as the crowd did the OLE chant, so Zayn just started to beat his ass and then hit a dive to the floor. They brawled on the floor for a bit, with Owens taking control and whipping Zayn to the steps. Once Owens was able to survive the outburst from Zayn, he slowed things down but also had a completely nasty streak to his work. Owens worked a good heat; Zayn kept getting hope spots and then was able to slowly make his comeback. Both guys did a really nice job of showing the emotional aspect of the feud, whether it is Owens’ look when beating on Zayn or the looks from both when they were denied the count of three. Owens busted out the frog splash (which he’s been using a lot as of late) for a near fall, and then hit the cannonball twice. They kept building things so well, keeping the action at a good level, but consistently building on that and delivering some great exchanges and counters, telling the story of how well they knew each other. The story of Zayn always fighting while Owens almost begged him to stop fighting was also another great layer to what they were doing. Owens eventually cut off the Helluva kick with a superkick and finished Zayn with the pop up powerbomb. These two are really something special when they face each other; they of course deliver a great wrestling match, but also do a great job of selling the emotion of their story while doing so. I have no issue with Owens beating Zayn clean; in the context of their feud it makes sense. Now you need to give Zayn a side feud, and revisit this later when Owens picks up the IC Title. The match was excellent, fitting of their feud, and a credit to them in terms of delivering and getting the crowd back into things after Enzo’s injury.

– Post match Owens beat on Zayn a bit, tossed him to the floor and demanded that Byron Saxton interview him. Owens wanted Saxton to ask him about beating Zayn, but Byron didn’t ask the way he wanted him to ask so he took the mic and ranted about beating Zayn just like he said he would. He now wants to focus on the IC Title.

WWE Intercontinental Title Match: Champion The Miz vs. Cesaro: They have busted out M&M’s old red carpet gimmick for Miz and Maryse. They need the paparazzi as well. Owens is on commentary for this match. Cesaro controlled the opening portion of the match, using his power and also simply outwrestling the Miz. Maryse finally got involved long enough to allow Miz to out some offense together, work the shoulder of Cesaro and take the heat. Owens was great on commentary, “Miz is doing a good job of working the shoulder, but had it been me I would have ripped off Cesaro’s arm already.” Owens also put over Zayn, noting that he could beat Miz or Cesaro, which means that he will win the title back. Miz is working a solid, but unspectacular heat. He’s worked better on TV recently where he comes off as more aggressive. Cesaro hit the delayed vertical suplex, just pulling Miz from the mat into the air. He then went into the running uppercuts, and Owens was just making Cole and Saxton look like idiots on commentary while slowly started to root for Miz because Cesaro was entering beast mode. Miz did nice little things, like every time he cut Cesaro off he kicked him in the shoulder to do so. During the closing stretch of the match Zayn returned and attacked Owens on commentary. Cesaro then got the swing for about 20 rotations; Owens and Zayn brawled to the apron and the ref was distracted as Miz tapped. Cesaro then knocked Zayn and Owens to the floor, allowing Miz to roll him up to retain. Cesaro then hit Miz with the Neutralizer post match, while Owens then laid out Zayn with he powerbomb. This started slowly, but they worked it into an overall good match. The closing stretch with the Zayn and Owens involvement came off well, Cesaro was beat but protected in the loss and I like the four-way feud with these guys over the title. Miz has been busting his ass in 2016, I know it’s easy to pick on the guy because he was booked like shit and not doing anything for a while, but he’s been good this year and hopefully a lot are noticing it.

– They said that Enzo is talking and moving at the hospital and is getting tested. Big Cass on Twitter said, “Thanks for all the Enzo prayers. He’s talking and moving little by little. So much progress.”

Chris Jericho vs. Dean Ambrose: There was something missing from the bell with this match. Ambrose got some run early, Jericho took over and it was fine but I never cared. Jericho kept trying to get the crowd to react, mocking their chants for Ambrose, but their reaction was extremely mild. Ambrose fired up and made his big comeback, but again there was no energy, nothing to care about. You’d think this was Apollo Crews and Stardust with the mild reactions, not Jericho vs. Ambrose. And it’s not the crowd’s fault, they started this feud, they got it to where Jericho attacked Ambrose and did the walls on the table and Ambrose vowed revenge. And then they came out and worked a completely average and ordinary wresting match. You don’t need flamethrowers and thumbtacks to sell the violence between you, but go and watch Zayn vs. Owens and compare it to this and you’ll see the difference. Also, 2016 Jericho seems to go into a match with one plan, and when it doesn’t work, he refuses to chance gears or adapt like he used too. Also trying to work like it’s 2006 at times is a bad plan for him, which has been repeatedly mentioned. They brawled to the floor and then they did a poor catapult spot off of the announce table where Ambrose had to fling himself into the timekeeper’s area. Ambrose eventually countered the Jericho springboard dropkick and hit the wacky elbow drop for a near fall. This feels like it is going way too long, none of the other matches had that feeling tonight. Ambrose escaped the walls, and then Jericho kept working the offense. Ambrose countered the lionsault, and then hit dirty deeds for the win. That went about six-minutes to long, and was extremely average. They hit second gear and stayed there, never threatening 3rd, let alone 4th or 5th. The good news is that Ambrose picked up the win, but the match never clicked for me.

– Ranallo interviewed AJ, and asked him about Doc and Karl. AJ promised to have the match of his life and win the title tonight. But added that this is a one on one match tonight, and he will prove he is phenomenal.

WWE Women’s Title Match: Champion Charlotte w/Ric Flair vs. Natalya w/Bret Hart: They worked a basic back and forth opening segment with Natalya continually getting the better of Charlotte, which frustrated the champion. Charlotte cut her off, worked her over with chops and the knee drop, but Natalya came back with a German for a near fall. Charlotte then started to wok the leg on Natalya, and took the heat and also talked shit to Bret Hart. Charlotte with good work on the leg, and Natalya once again used her catch wrestling/BJJ to work creative escapes. Charlotte looked to head up top, but Natalya tossed her to the floor, which allowed things to get more even as Charlotte sold the leg. They had an issue on the floor, it looked as if Natalya was to RANA Charlotte into the steps, but Charlotte almost lost the powerbomb part. Natalya talked her through it and Charlotte did power her up, but it largely fell apart. Natalya

#WWEPayback pic.twitter.com/17GX2IO3LU

— LARIATOOOOO!!! (@SenorLARIATO) May 2, 2016

Natalya kicked out of natural selection and the moonsault, and Charlotte showed frustration. Charlotte then locked in the figure four and Natalya refused to tap, and rolled the hold forcing Charlotte to break. Charlotte then went for the sharpshooter, got it and Charles Robinson rang the bell BECAUSE WE CANNOT LET GO OF THE MONTREAL SCREW JOB! The match was clunky, but they were working hard and then they did the finish and I stopped caring all together. So much for that new era shit.

– Post match Bret and Natalya got sharp shooters on the Flairs.

Vince McMahon Talks On PPV To Announce Who Will Control Raw – Hopefully It Won’t Be Decided By The Winner Of A Specific Match Because Shane Wins No Matter What Because Fuck You That’s Why : The crowd chanted for CM Punk, so Vince stopped talking and egged them on for a bit. Vince then talked about the various eras of Raw, and said we’re entering a new era, and he needs to decide who will run Raw, Shane or Stephanie. Stephanie arrived, and Vince yelled at the crowd for how they reacted to her. She then took credit for investing men, women, the animals and the entire Universe while making sure to drop best for business. She then claimed Shane thought he deserved to run things because he was a man, but he ran away for even years and lost at Mania. This led to the crowd chanting boring at her, as she claimed she was the only choice to run Raw. Here comes Shane, the crowd loved him. Shane then showed off a bunch of headlines that happened during his return to prove he was worthy of running Raw. Shane indirectly took credit for the subscriber bump around Mania, and then addressed his departure. He said his voice wasn’t being heard, and he and Vince had a difference of opinion and he left. HHH and Steph filled the void, but they poisoned the product with their ego. Shane wanted Vince to listen to his voice, which is the fans, because they speak for him. Vince then said that Shane lost to Taker, and shouldn’t even be here. Well, yeah. But Vince allowed him to have a chance and he did OK, even better than OK. But Vince doesn’t listen to anyone, just himself. Vince then said he wants blood, he wants to see them slit each other’s throats. Or even they could work together. But he knows it will be entertaining, because they are both running Raw. So we got an 18-minute promo segment to say that they both get to run Raw. Ok. Shane and Stephanie shook hands, and that was a segment. They tried to make this a hook for the PPV, but it was basically the same promo that they could have opened Raw with. The performances were good, but it was just there, and did nothing to get me excited about Raw tomorrow because it was a copout results to build more “McMahon family drama.” The “new era” feels just like the old one, especially coming off of the revisit of the Montreal finish.

– We get an update on Enzo Amore. Enzo is at the hospital, has been diagnosed with a concussion, and all other tests have come back as negative. If all he ends up with is a concussion, that will be great news.

WWE World Title Match: Champion Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles: As you would guess, the crowd is not fans of Roman Reigns. Reigns overpowered Styles early, Styles then used his speed and worked leg kicks and forearms, which angered Reigns. Styles then tricked Reigns into chasing him around the ring, which allowed him to connect with kicks and strikes, but Reigns sent him back to the floor with a shoulder block, frustrating Styles. Reigns then maintained control with strikes, and turned Styles inside out with a clothesline. Reigns connected with the single arm powerbomb and then a sitout version for near falls, he had a great giver no fucks look while doing it, which they should really play off of more. Styles then managed to counter the Superman punch with a leaping enziguri. This allowed Styles to string some offense together, and hit the ushigoroshi for a near fall. Reigns looked to put a stop to Styles’ offense, but Styles tried to get the calk killer, and Reigns bailed to the floor. Styles then hit a springboard forearm to the floor and both went crashing through the announce table, great spot there. Styles struggled to get Reigns back into the ring, couldn’t and then beat the count and won via countout. BUT WAIT, Shane McMahon is out and says the match will not like this, and the match has been restarted and there are no count outs. Styles rolled Reigns back in, went up top but Reigns rolled away. Styles unloaded with strikes and a PELE, headed up top and went for a 450, but Reigns got the knees up. They killed the momentum and crowd with that false count out finish, which was only done to “justify” the previous segment. It feels like overbooking for the sake of overbooking. So Reigns then “accidentally” low blows Styles, and we get a DQ. BUT WAIT, Stephanie arrives and says we’re restarted with no DQ either. Same thing, this is just being done to justify the previous segment, this is overbooking for the sake of overbooking. For the record, Styles has won twice, but just not in a way to win the title. So they brawled to the floor, Styles took control and the crowd actually got back into this. Reigns countered the springboard forearm with a Superman punch, but Styles kicked out at 2. Reigns then hit another Superman punch, and set for the spear. Here come Doc and Karl, who pull Styles to safety. They attacked Reigns, boot of doom connected and they then told Styles to finish it. Styles then hit the forearm smash and Reigns got a foot on the ropes. The Usos then arrived to brawl with Doc and Karl, Styles up top and Reigns tossed him off onto the pile of bodies. Reigns then hit the big Taker dive onto everyone but Styles, who then hit the forearm on the floor. Back in and Styles hit the springboard 450 and Reigns still kicked out. Reigns fought out of the clash, Styles countered the Superman but ate the spear and Reigns covered for the win. I think that both guys worked very hard and were primed to deliver a really special match; the crowd was into it and they had instant chemistry. Unfortunately the issue is the start and stops, the overbooking, which made the match a background feature in the new McMahon angle. Even with all off that I enjoyed it a lot, and I do want to see a rematch, I just hope that it is more about AJ and Roman than it is about the McMahon, Doc, Karl, Jimmy, Jey and anyone else. I will say that besides the great chemistry that AJ and Roman had, that they did provide some great near falls. I just think that if you cut back on all of the bullshit and focused more on the match that it would have been excellent.

– Shane, Stephanie and Vince talk backstage; Vince praises them both for continuing the match. They then set up an Extreme Rules rematch between AJ and Roman (which takes place in three weeks). Shane and Stephanie played nice as we see Roman celebrating to close the show.

– Tomorrow on Raw they should at least do AJ, Doc and Karl vs. Roman and the Usos.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”