With WWE Payback coming up a lot of fans have taken it upon themselves to fantasy book every single little thing that is going to happen at the pay per view. Some people enjoy seeing this kind of thing play out over the internet meanwhile others don’t, fearing that the WWE Universe gets their hopes far too high heading into the event.
While that’s usually true, there are a few negative nancies out there such as ourselves who like to try and predict some of the things that we’d rather avoid at the big show – pun not intended. As such, this list has been created with our sole intent being to look back on it a few hours after Payback and hopefully thank our lucky stars that every entry was avoided.
Of course, with WWE being the way that they are, all five options are entirely possible within their realms of logic, and that frightens us just a little bit. Still, that’s the nature of the professional wrestling industry, and more often than not we wouldn’t have it any other way.
So with that all being said, here are five things that should not happen at Payback. Like, at all.
#1 Orton triumphs
Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt has been a fascinating feud for months on end, with Payback likely being the final chapter – for now, anyway. Unfortunately, there aren’t too many fans that have a sense of optimism heading into this bout, following The Viper’s relatively easy victory over the Eater of Worlds at WrestleMania 33.
They often say that wins and losses don't count within the WWE, but a result like this proves that really isn’t true as Wyatt has already dropped like a stone in the few weeks following the event. Seriously, he needs to win here especially considering the fact it’s a non-title match. This is an excellent way to build him back up and maybe, just maybe, he can elevate himself back into title contention as a result.
The greatest man that ever lived must lose.
#2 Aries wins the gold
Austin Aries vs. Neville was one of the best matches of the night at the Citrus Bowl, despite the fact it was relegated to the pre-show. The two men put on one hell of a show for the fans in attendance and the story was so simple yet so unbelievably effective. Because of that, WWE has decided to put the duo in a rematch.
Now we aren't sure about you guys, but we’re a little bit nervous that they’re going to put the purple belt on Aries if only for a few weeks. Obviously, the length of title reigns doesn’t mean much to some fans nowadays, but we think it’s imperative for the King of the Cruiserweights to hold onto his throne for as long as he possibly can – perhaps even extending all the way through to WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans.
The Prizefighter has arrived.
#3 Owens struggles
The new face of America, Kevin Owens, is all set to enter a feud with AJ Styles for the United States Championship; however, standing in the way is his former best friend, Chris Jericho. Now whether you enjoyed their match together at Mania or not, nobody can deny that this has been one of the best-built stories of the last five to ten years.
Also read: 5 possible returns that we could see at WWE Payback 2017
As such, it needs a definitive ending, and we can’t stress enough how badly Owens needs to win convincingly here. His current gimmick has gotten off to a shaky start and that’s putting it lightly, so he simply can’t be seen to be struggling in any way, shape, or form in this match. Beat Y2J and put him out of action please, Kevin.
The big dog is here to stay.
#4 Reigns the babyface
Roman Reigns has been put through the ringer recently, and we don’t mean to sound condescending when we say that we feel sorry for the guy. Unfortunately, WWE seems to be using his recent misfortunes as a reason to push him to the moon as the company’s top babyface once again – and it just isn’t going to work.
If Reigns comes out at Payback and pins Strowman clean as the squeaky clean babyface, it just isn’t going to work out how they want it to, and we’re shocked that they haven’t realised that yet. It’s going to suck the life out of the bout no matter how good the end product may be, and that worries us because it could be one of the most entertaining matches of 2017.
It’s time to play the game – even though we don’t want to.
#5 Triple H returns
Triple H returning to cost Seth Rollins against Samoa Joe seems like the most predictable thing that could possibly happen, and some people think it’s a good idea – but we don’t. The Game’s return has been hinted at with Rollins moving away from the Pedigree and picking up a new finisher, pretty much sticking a massive middle finger up at the multiple-time world champion.
Joe has been bringing him up every two minutes on Monday Night Raw and the story makes sense, but we just don’t want to see it. The focus needs to be on Joe and Seth because this story has an unbelievable amount of potential, and they’re never going to get anywhere if they keep having to rely on Uncle Hunter.
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