ARN - Payback 2016 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Just a few weeks ago we reviewed WrestleMania 32 and this pay-per-view is the follow-up to that. We witnessed the crowning of Roman Reigns, the fall from the Hell in a Cell by Shane McMahon and the beginning of the never ending push of Baron Corbin.

On the Raw & Smackdown after WrestleMania the following NXT talents debuted:

Apollo Crews

Enzo & Cass

The Vaudevillians

Do you think having these talents in-house and not promoting debuts with vignettes or anything like that is doing a disservice to the talents?

Miz defeated Zack Ryder one day after his WrestleMania win with his dad. Why is it that WWE can never get a babyface over? The match was used as a way to re-debut Maryse as Miz’s wife.

What do you think of the Miz & Maryse package?

On Raw the Dudleys & Usos have a rematch in a tables match that ends with the finish screwed up. How is a finish being screwed up handled backstage when it’s on live TV?

Blackjack Mulligan passes away on April 7th at the age of 73. Mike Rotunda (his son), Windham & Taylor (Bray Wyatt & Bo Dallas - his grandsons) all are sent home after his death. You’d known Blackjack I’m sure. What were your favorites memories and stories of him?

Balls Mahoney also passes away on April 12th, one day after he turned 44. Not sure how much you dealt with Balls during his WWE/ECW run but if you did do you have any stories to share?

Dr. Phil was on a Raw episode to continue the Ric & Charlotte Flair storyline. Any interaction with him?

Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows debut on Raw and attack the Usos. What did you think of them as a tag team back then?

You’re inducted into the Cauliflower Alley Club in Las Vegas receiving the Lou Thesz Award and being inducted by JJ Dillon.

You said in your induction that you & Michael Hayes (who had previously gotten the award) were given it even though you spent a lifetime of putting people over and Hayes moonwalked his way in. What did this mean to you at the time and now today?

Chyna passes away on 4/20 at the age of 46. You didn’t work with the WWF when she rose to fame and she didn’t do anything after but to you what is her legacy when it comes to pro wrestling?

Let’s get to Payback which took place on May 1st at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, IL. Chicago is one of the most positive towns for reactions & business. Why do you think that is?

The show draws 13,250. It’s given the tag line as “The Beginning of a New Era” and most of the publicity around the show is based on the Wyatt Family. Luke Harper tore his ACL as we covered in the WrestleMania 32 episode and Bray Wyatt gets hurt on the after Mania European Tour. Is that just a sign of when you promote things ahead of time, things happen?

The tag line is given that “The Beginning of a New Era” is based upon Shane McMahon, coming off the loss at WrestleMania, being put in charge. So coming off the Mania loss Shane is pushed as being the face of the McMahons when the stipulation was if he lost he wouldn’t be able to have control. As an agent is it frustrating to have these storylines change at a whim?

This show received a positive reaction from the readers of the Wrestling Observer. 76.5% voted it was a thumbs up, while 9% said it was a thumbs down and 14.6% in the middle.

1. Dolph Ziggler pinned Baron Corbin in 7:41. The crowd was hot at first. The match was fine, but pretty much the weakest on the show. Corbin had him outside the ring, up for a power bomb, but instead dropped him backwards, with Ziggler’s head hitting the ring post. Corbin threw Ziggler in the ring and started celebrating. Then he got in the ring and Ziggler pinned him with a schoolboy with the idea he celebrated early and paid for it due to inexperience. **¼

Is this a positive finish for a new person you’re looking to push and make NXT look like the minor leagues?

2. Kalisto pinned Ryback in 8:32 to retain the U.S. title. Kalisto went for a springboard twisting dive where he was too far on Ryback’s left side, and Ryback had to rush into position to catch him, which looked bad. Ryback missed a splash off the top rope and Kalisto won with the Salida del sol. **¾

The real news (besides Ryback saving Kalisto on the dive) is that before this event it was determined this would be Ryback’s last show. Ryback had disagreements regarding his character and placement on certain cards and this was the end of him. What can you tell us about Ryback and his feelings at the time? Is it noticeable that he has yet to return to wrestling in a major way since?

3. Aiden English & Simon Gotch beat Big Cass & Enzo Amore in 3:59. This was originally a no contest as the match was just stopped. What happened with Amore is that he charged after Aiden English in the corner, and ran into his knee. He was pretty much knocked out at that point and apparently remembers nothing from this point on. Simon Gotch tagged in, but nobody had any knowledge anything was wrong. Gotch threw Amore into the ropes. It was not a botched baseball slide, although it looked like it, but Amore, being pretty much out of it, slid from the toss and hit the side of his head on the middle rope, which caused a whiplash effect, and then his head also hit the apron, knocking him out.

He fell to the floor. Gotch went after him, but ref Dan Engler jumped in and stopped him, called for an “X” and eventually, when realizing Amore was out, stopped the match. Amore was taken out, motionless, on a stretcher. He did recover backstage but was rushed to the hospital for tests. The diagnosis was that he suffered a severe concussion, but there was no neck damage, as everyone feared based on how everything went down.

What is the backstage like when this happens? Gotch has talked about since then how he had major heat over this. Was Enzo just not ready for prime time as they say and this was just something that was going to happen at some point?

4. Kevin Owens pinned Sami Zayn in 14:34. Hot match. Owens, who was bleeding from the nose, won clean with a superkick and power bomb. ****

These two in the ring together, facing each other or on the same team, are just magic. What did you think of the structure of this match and do you think these two are just destined to do this forever?

5. The Miz pinned Cesaro to retain the IC title in 11:19. In the ring, Cesaro gave Miz a 15 rep giant swing (the crowd counted to 20 as they counted at a faster place then the swings) and put Miz in the crossface. Owens and Zayn were fighting on the apron. Ref John Cone was yelling at them and missed Miz tapping. Cesaro then let go and knocked Zayn and Owens off the apron. Miz then schoolboyed him for the pin. After the match Cesaro laid out Miz with the Neutralizer. Owens then superkicked Cesaro. Owens power bombed Zayn once again. He went to power bomb Miz, but Maryse pulled Miz out of the ring to safety. Owens then grabbed the belt and posed with it. ***¼

Why does Cesaro just not get pushed to the level he should be? Do you think the Owens & Zayn stuff at ringside took away from the match or did it all lay out the way it was wanted for a future program with all 4?

6. Dean Ambrose pinned Chris Jericho in 18:26. Strong back-and-forth action here. Jericho used an enzuigiri and double arm backbreaker for near falls. Jericho went for a quebrada but Ambrose got his knees up. Ambrose followed with a series of knees before hitting Dirty Deeds for the pin. ***¾

The chemistry between these two is obvious and still holds today as you saw in their AEW program. Why was Dean (Moxley) never really given the chance to run with the ball in your mind in WWE?

7. Charlotte beat Natalya in 13:03 to retain the women’s title. Natalya got a big pop on her own coming out, even before Bret Hart came out. Natalya was really strong in this match. Charlotte used the figure four and Natalya screamed that she would never quit. She then reversed the figure four but Charlotte made the ropes. Charlotte then put her in the sharpshooter and Robinson rang the bell. Robinson got out of there. Bret punched Ric and put him in the sharpshooter and Natalya put Charlotte in the sharpshooter for the easy pop to get fans up from a finish that would leave them flat. But the finish took the match down a lot. ***1/4

What is this finish and why? Do you think WWE will ever get over the Montreal Screwjob? Is it a disservice to the women here to feature Bret & Ric like this?

Vince McMahon came out to a super loud “C.M. Punk” chant. He started his promo and the chant got louder. He then stopped and asked the crowd “How long can you go with this,” and they actually stopped pretty quickly. Vince made fun of the crowd when they stopped, which could have got them started but in fact, it didn’t. Stephanie said that she would rather be a leader who is feared and respected than felt sorry for. She claimed that under the leadership of The Authority (HHH was never mentioned here) that they just had the biggest WrestleMania in history, the Divas revolution became the women’s revolution, etc. She said Shane left us for seven years, only got back in by blackmailing and doesn’t respect the brand Vince created. She told Vince that Shane stabbed him in the back and spit in his face. She said she can’t see someone that lacking in intelligence and integrity running Raw. Shane came out and the fans chanted for him. He said his leaving left a void that she and her husband filled, but instead of making the company hot, they turned it into a big ego play and nearly burned the company to the ground. He said he came back to insure the company survives for his kids, Stephanie’s kids and their kids kids. Vince said, “Enough of that crap.” Vince said Stephanie made some good points. Shane has the likability thing going but business isn’t run based on popularity. But Vince ended up saying both would run Raw.

Is this just the McMahons enjoying themselves on TV in Chicago where they know they’ll get a reaction? This obviously is to lead to the brand split (again) but was that known at the time?

8. Roman Reigns pinned A.J. Styles to retain the WWE title in 22:35. Fans started with a “Roman sucks” chant. Work was really good here. Styles did the springboard forearm outside the ring and nailed Reigns perfectly and both crashed through the announcers table. That was an amazing looking spot, especially in slow motion. Styles tried to throw Reigns in the ring but Reigns collapsed and Styles jumped in before the count out of ten to win in 11:54 via count out. Shane then came out to restart the match, but with no count outs. Styles hit the Pele kick and a 450, but Reigns got his knees up and nearly pinned Styles. Styles came back and jumped off the top rope but Reigns punched him. It was supposed to be a low blow but Reigns actually punched him in the gut. Styles sold it like a low blow and a DQ was called in 2:15. This time it was Stephanie who restarted it as a no DQ and no count out match. Reigns hit a couple of Superman punches. Anderson and Gallows pulled Styles out of the ring so he wouldn’t get pinned and then attacked Reigns. They put the boots to him and then Gallows put Reigns on his shoulders while Anderson hit a running kick, the boot of doom. Then they left. The idea was Styles never saw it. Styles hit the springboard forearm, but even after all that, Reigns got his foot on the ropes. The Usos ran out. Styles climbed to the top rope but Reigns shoved him off the ropes and Styles landed on Gallows, Anderson and the Usos. Reigns then did a big running dive over the top onto everyone. But Styles came back with another springboard forearm, this time off the barricade. He threw Styles in and hit the springboard 450, but Reigns kicked out. He set up the Styles Clash, but Reigns backdropped out of it, flipping Styles over the top rope. Reigns went for a Superman punch, but Styles snapped his neck on the top rope. Styles got in and but Reigns speared him and got the pin. ***¾

Couldn’t these two just have had an awesome match without all the storyline starts and stops and including the McMahons, Usos & Good Brothers?

Alright Arn what say you? Thumbs up, thumbs in the middle or thumbs down?