5 Surprising moments from WWE Payback 2020

Despite a short build-up for the PPV, WWE had a quite a few surpirses up their sleeves for Payback

At WWE Payback, we were officially welcomed to the world of heel Roman Reigns. And many would agree that it was about time.

WWE Payback 2020 was a show that shouldn’t have worked in any way. It was exactly one week after an excellent SummerSlam and didn’t really have a lot of time to build meaningful feuds for the show. However, the WWE pulled off another fun show on Sunday night. And they did it all in under three hours.

The match quality at WWE Payback from top to bottom was very strong. There was not a bad match on the entire pay-per-view card. We had multiple title changes, brand new talent pushed in very meaningful ways, an excellent tag match and Roman Reigns going to the dark side even more.

In this article, we take a look at the top five most surprising moments of WWE Payback 2020:

#5 Great night for babyfaces at WWE Payback

Riddle was in a serious mood on Sunday night at WWE Payback.

In professional wrestling, you always want to send your fans home happy. What is the best and easiest way to do this? It certainly helps when the show has so many feel-good moments. WWE Payback 2020 was full of those moments. It was a great day to be a good guy on Sunday night at WWE Payback.

The Riott Squad overcame their past issues to defeat The IIconics. Big E picked up a big singles victory over Sheamus. Matt Riddle won his WWE main roster pay-per-view debut. The Golden Role Models lost their tag team titles. And Keith Lee arrived as a major star. It certainly was a good show for WWE fans who wanted to see stars being built for the future. It is hard to argue against the booking of WWE Payback.

#4 Shayna Baszler’s double submission finish at WWE Payback

The Golden Role Models have lost their Tag Team Championships on Sunday night.

The WWE announcers were laying it in really thick before and during the show about Sasha Banks and Bayley were the real tag team and how they have been true partners and friends for years in the WWE. Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax, on the other hand, were thrown together as a tag team. They argued and bickered on RAW and at WWE Payback. The story the WWE announcers were trying to sell us is that a title change couldn’t possibly happen on Sunday night. So naturally, it did happen at WWE Payback, but the biggest story was how that match ended.

The match was pretty solid at WWE Payback. Sasha Banks and Bayley were great as a team selling excellent for their opponents. Shayna Baszler was, in particular, very strong throughout the match. It was the best she has looked on the main roster.

The finish of the match saw Shayna lock in the Muta Lock on Banks and then slap on the Kirifuda Clutch on Bayley. Shayna Baszler grabbed Sasha Banks’ arm to help choke Bayley as Bayley tapped out. The Golden Role Models were used against each other to lose the tag team titles. The biggest question now is when Sasha and Bayley will break up. It has been a great slow burn whose time has come.

#3 Keith Lee destroys Randy Orton at WWE Payback

Keith Lee picked up a huge win at WWE Payback

It is time to "Bask in His Glory". Keith Lee has truly arrived on the WWE main roster after WWE Payback, even if we doesn't really have good theme music anymore.

We have come to expect that WWE will have new talent coming from the NXT lose in their early meaningful feuds. It is a strange booking decision as it always makes them look weak against the main roster. One couldn't blame WWE fans for being ready to see Keith Lee treated in the exact same way. Well, the match at WWE Payback was a real surprise.

Randy Orton, who is a 13-time World Champion, is having one of the best years on his career. He came within seconds of beating Drew McIntyre at WWE SummerSlam for the WWE Champion. It sure seems he would take care of the new NXT Star. They had a pretty physical six-minute match. Randy Orton was going for the RKO when Keith Lee hit a Powerbomb out of nowhere. And that was it. Keith Lee had defeated Randy Orton in quick and dominant fashion at WWE Payback.

It was a major surprise and one that sets him up as a major star.

#2 The Mysterios pick up a clean win at WWE Payback

The father and son are going to be a future tag team champions, right?

Rey Mysterio is 45 years old. He has wrestled for nearly thirty years and has had multiple knee surgeries in his long career. The fact Rey Mysterio still can wrestle at such an incredible pace like he did at WWE Payback is what makes him one of the greats in professional wrestling.

Rey and Dominik Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins and Buddy Murphy at WWE Payback was easily the best of the night. Dominik has more than proven he is a natural in the professional wrestling ring. It has certainly helped that he was in the ring with the likes of Seth Rollins and Murphy.

The pace of the tag team match was fast and crisp through the fifteen-minute run time. It had many false finishes along with a great ending with Murphy taking the pin. Rollins was not really thrilled with Murphy post-match at WWE Payback.

After that match, a tag team run for the Mysterios cannot be ruled out either. It would be a great moment if WWE built it up well in the near future.

#1 Roman Reigns wins the Universal Championship with little effort at WWE Payback

Roman Reigns finally got hands on the title he never lost

It was a shock when Roman Reigns returned at SummerSlam, where he attacked both Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman after their title win. It was an even better shock when Roman Reigns brought Paul Heyman in as his advocate on SmackDown. It seems Roman Reigns, the man that has always been pushed as the biggest good guy in the company, had finally turned to the dark side at WWE Payback.

The Universal Championship match was set up in a unique way. It was a Triple Threat No Disqualification match, but only The Fiend and Braun Strowman wrestled for a majority of the match. After they destroyed the ring with a top rope suplex, it was time for Roman Reigns to show up.

After a little resistance, Reigns pinned Strowman and won the Universal Champion for the first time in nearly two years at WWE Payback.

While one cannot help but feel sad for The Fiend and his short title reign that ended at WWE Payback, the bigger story was Roman Reigns taking his place as the top heel on Smackdown. With Heyman by his side, it is going to be a fun ride.