PAYBACK RESULTS & THOUGHTS

(PRE-SHOW) Sheamus def. Damien Sandow

Curtis Axel def. Wade Barrett and The Miz - AXEL IS THE NEW INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION

AJ Lee def. Kaitlyn - NEW DIVAS CHAMPION

Dean Ambrose def. Kane - AMBROSE REMAINS US CHAMPION

Alberto Del Rio def. Dolph Ziggler - NEW WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION

VIDEO PROMO AIRED SAYING ROB VAN DAM WILL RETURN AT MONEY IN THE BANK NEXT MONTH

CM Punk def. Chris Jericho

The Shield (Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins) def. Daniel Bryan & Randy Orton - THE SHIELD REMAIN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS

John Cena def. Ryback - CENA REMAINS WWE CHAMPION

Post-Payback Thoughts

All in all, I thought it was a really well done PPV by the WWE. Even though several results were predictable, the match quality had been upped considerably after Extreme Rules in my opinion. You could tell that a lot of effort had been put into the AJ vs Kaitlyn bout, and it was one of the best Divas matches in recent memory. 

As for the crowd, Chicago has an air of expectancy whenever there is a RAW or a PPV held in the city now. Maybe it was because I had the volume on low or something, but I felt the crowd were quieter than had been expected. They were well into Punk/Jericho and Del Rio/Ziggler (as could be heard by the boos directed to Del Rio after his heelish tactics and winning the World title). Although many fans have been left disappointed with a couple of the winners, I think the story that was told during the Del Rio/Ziggler bout shows that creative ca in fact make someone turn and in such brilliant fashion. 

One noticeable pop for me was certainly for Curtis Axel, especially once he hit the Perfect Plex. The crowd went insane, and a part of me wished he won with his father's finishing move. However, the finish was genius and well put together. Miz had the figure 4 on Barrett, then Axel pins Barrett while Miz is in the middle of his submission. The ref counts the 3 and that was it. Original finish as I have ever seen, and massive respect to whoever came up with it.

Final word will go to the promo that aired during the PPV. It was an RVD promo, and I thought it would be for a new DVD. Thankfully, I was wrong. Mr. Monday Night, The Whole F'n Show will be returning NEXT month at the Money in the Bank PPV. The question remains though, is what match will he compete in? Although he is known for the 'hardcore' style, I just can't seem him being put in one of the MITB ladder matches as he has already been in and won it before. I'd expect he will win his return match, and so I believe it will either be a tag or singles bout. Whatever it is, I am very happy to see him return. Especially since I only met him a couple weeks ago at the London MCM Expo!

PPV RATING - 4/5