WWE Payback (June 2013)

 

Original Airdate: June 16, 2013

From Chicago, Illinois; Your Hosts are Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and John Bradshaw Layfield

Opening WWE Intercontinental Title Triple Threat Match: Wade Barrett v Miz v Curtis Axel: Miz cleans house, and hooks Wade in a schoolboy for two right away, then a flapjack for another two. Axel nails him, allowing Wade a pumphandle-slam for two, and Paul Heyman pulls Axel out, telling him to let the other two fight it out for now. Wade hits Miz with a punt for two, so Axel comes in, and gets rid of Barrett. Axel hits Miz with a dropkick for two, and he works him over for a bit. Axel with a side suplex for two, but Barrett is back in. That allows Miz to recover, and he dominates both guys, landing a shining wizard on Curtis for two. Wade fires back with a spinning scrapbuster for two, and he nearly puts Axel away, but Miz steals his pin attempt - though he only gets two. Miz tries a figure four on Axel, but Curtis blocks. He manages to get the hold on Barrett instead, but then Axel dives onto Wade’s prone body - pinning Barrett while Miz holds him in the figure four at 10:34. ½*

WWE Divas Title Match: Kaitlyn v AJ Lee: Kaitlyn knocks her around early on, so Lee bails, but Kaitlyn chases to chuck her into the announce table. AJ catches her with a dropkick for two on the way back in, and a ropechoke is worth two. Lee works a cravat from there, but Kaitlyn starts to escape, so Lee tags her with a backelbow for two. Lee with a two-alarm rolling neckbreaker for two, and she latches on with a sleeper, but Kaitlyn drops into the corner to shake it off. She’s dazed though, and Lee dropkicks her from behind for two. Lee with a spinkick to the abdomen, but Kaitlyn blocks the follow up with a dropkick of her own. Kaitlyn makes a comeback, and a shoulderblock gets her two. Lee hooks a crucifix for two, but Kaitlyn muscles to a vertical base into a gutbuster. Lee grabs the ropes to prevent getting pinned, and in the scuffle of Kaitlyn pulling her off, Lee manages to nail her with a weapon for two. Lee tries a flying bodypress, but gets caught - only to counter whatever Kaitlyn is trying into an octopus hold. Kaitlyn escapes with a backbreaker, and a spear gets her two. A flustered Kaitlyn misses a charge in the corner, and Lee gets the octopus back on at 9:54. This was solid. *

WWE United States Title Match: Dean Ambrose v Kane: Kane with a suplex for two right away, and he works a chinlock. Kane with a corner whip, and he hammers the champion in the corner from there. Kane with another corner whip, and a snapmare sets up a seated dropkick, but Dean blocks. Dean follows up with a turnbuckle smash, and he takes Kane out of the corner with a corkscrew legwhip. Ambrose with another corkscrew legwhip, and he works a chinlock, but gets nailed while trying a 2nd rope dive. Kane delivers that seated dropkick for two, so Ambrose tries a sunset flip, but Kane blocks. Dean manages to dropkick him for two, but an attempt at a ropewalk forearm gets blocked, and Kane makes a comeback. Well, trying that move on Kane, of all people, was a stupid move. I think he’s well versed in the counters. They spill to the outside, where Dean blocks an attempt to use the announce table by DDT’ing Kane on the floor. Dean hustles back in ahead of the count, but Kane is not so lucky at 9:32. ½*

World Heavyweight Title Match: Dolph Ziggler v Alberto Del Rio: Dolph bails to the outside right away, stalling. Ziggler manages to hammer him into the corner once getting back in, but a criss cross ends badly for him when Del Rio delivers a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Dolph bails to regroup, but gets suplexed for one once getting back inside. Del Rio hammers him, and Ziggler ends up taking a backdrop over the top. A fired up Del Rio follows to smash his head into the announce table a few times, so Big E Langston gets in Del Rio’s face to buy the champion some time. The referee ejects Langston, but the break gave Dolph enough time to recover, and he slugs Del Rio back into the ring. Del Rio manages to tag him with a kick once instead, however, and he puts the boots to the champion. Del Rio holds a chinlock, and he tries a suplex, but Ziggler has the strength to counter to a sleeper. Del Rio escapes, and starts unloading on Ziggler, ahead of a lungblower for two. Ziggler manages a neckbreaker for two, so Del Rio tries another tilt-a-whirl, but Dolph counters to a rocker dropper for two. That was a nice sequence. Dolph ends up on the outside after getting something in his eye, but Del Rio nails him with a baseball slide, and an enzuigiri gets him two on the way back in  - showing no mercy. A blind Ziggler tries to respond, but eats a superkick at 13:48. * ¼ 

CM Punk v Chris Jericho: Punk dominates early, working the arm. Jericho dodges a dive, so Punk tries tossing him over the top, but Chris lands on the apron, and dives in with a flying axehandle. Jericho with a bulldog to set up the Lionsault, but Punk dodges, and delivers a swinging neckbreaker for two. Chris lands the Lionsault for two on another try, and he gets the Walls on, but Punk slugs his way into an Anaconda Vice counter. Punk tries for the GTS, but Chris looks to counter to the Walls, but Punk blocks. Punk tries the GTS again, so Chris schoolboys for two, and Punk roundhouse kicks him - leaving both men down. Chris pops off a codebreaker for two as they stagger up, but Punk gets a second wind, and runs wild. Punk lands a flying elbowdrop, but the GTS only gets two. They spill to the outside, and Punk tries a springboard on the way in, but gets caught in a codebreaker for two. Punk manages a small package for two, and he wins a slugfest, but a rana attempt is countered to the Walls. Punk escapes, and lands the GTS at 21:18. The hometown crowd loved this, but it was just a basic match to me. It was fine. Next. *

WWE Tag Team Title Match: Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins v Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan: Roman and Daniel start, and Reigns tries powering him into the corner, but Bryan turns the tide. A criss cross allows Reigns a clothesline for two, and he passes to Seth to pound Bryan down in the home corner. The Shield double up on Daniel for a bit, but Orton catches a tag, and powerslams Seth. He looks to add a ropehung DDT, so Roman rushes over, but ends up taking it in Seth’s place. Orton with another powerslam on Rollins for two, and he delivers the ropehung DDT on the next go around. RKO, but Roman helps Seth block, and Randy ends up falling out of the ring. Seth rolls him back in to cover for two, and the champs cut the ring in half on Orton from there. A double team in the corner backfires when Orton suplexes them into one another, and he gets a hot tag off to Daniel. Bryan runs wild, but an attempt at a tope ends up hitting Orton. That allows Reigns to hook the leg on Bryan for two, and the champs try a double team, but Bryan blocks. Bryan butterfly superplexes Rollins for two, and he goes for the LeBell lock, but Roman saves. That allows Seth a schoolboy for two, but Bryan gets the hold on. Roman breaks it up, so Orton hits him with an RKO, but the reprieve allows Rollins to recover with a curb stomp on Daniel at 12:09. Good chemistry from these guys. Maybe they should let them handle the next ten years, or so, of main events for the promotion? * ½ 

Main Event: WWE Title Three Stages of Hell Match: John Cena v Ryback: So it's a Lumberjack match, followed by a Tables match, with an Ambulance match should a third fall be needed. Boy, a real murderer’s row of gimmick matches there. Ryback dominates early on, but Cena starts making a comeback, so Ryback dumps him to the outside for the lumberjacks. That allows Ryback a shoulderblock for two once John is back in, and he goes to a chinlock from there. Ryback dumps him to the outside for more lumber fun, and he covers for another two once John is rolled back in. Ryback with a vertical suplex, and he dumps Cena to the heel lumberjacks again. Well, you can’t say he isn’t consistent. He tries it again, but Cena reverses, though the heels don’t touch Ryback. Ryback hustles back in on his own, but runs into Cena’s comeback routine. Ryback manages to counter the Five Knuckle Shuffle by press-dropping John over the top, and Ryback looks to finish him once back in, but John dumps him over the top before he can. That leads to a big brawl between all the lumberjacks, and Cena dives onto everyone in a cool dogpile spot. Yeah, dogpile spots are cliched as hell, but there are so many guys out there that it made it cool again. Inside, Cena gets the STF on, but Ryback muscles to a vertical base, and delivers a Samoan drop for the pin at 7:23. Ryback stays on him with an avalanche in the corner, and he brings a table into the ring from there. Ryback tries for a powerbomb through the table, but Cena blocks, and they do a reversal sequence, ending in Ryback delivering a spinebuster. Ryback tries a press-slam through the table, but Cena blocks, and another reversal sequence ends in Ryback taking a spill over the top. Cena follows for a whip into the steps, but Ryback reverses, and then nails John with the steps on the way back into the ring. He tries throwing the steps, but misses, and Cena delivers a belly-to-belly suplex, then nails Ryback with the steps himself. John sets up a table, but Ryback hits him with the steps before he can use it, only to miss throwing them again. That allows Cena the Shuffle, but Ryback counters the Attitude Adjustment with a spinebuster. He goes for the table, but takes too long setting it up, and Cena AA’s him through it at 15:57. Ryback gets pissed, and dumps a still battered Cena out of the ring, and puts him through the announce table to make a point. They fight over to the ambulance, where Cena manages to send Ryback into the side of the vehicle, and John grabs a crutch to whack him with. John slams Ryback into the side of the ambulance, and he whips Ryback into an open driver’s door to smash it off. Cena nails him with the broken off door, but a whip into the grille gets reversed, and Ryback rips off a fender to beat Cena with. John climbs up the ambulance and rips off the siren to whack a chasing Ryback with, so Ryback grabs a crutch, and gets onto the roof of the vehicle with John. Cena fights him off up there, and delivers an AA on the roof. Or, actually, through the roof, which leaves Ryback inside, and gives John the win at 24:22. Apparently. The camera angle totally missed it, and I didn’t even realize the match had ended. This was generally fine, though way too long, and not the most exciting of gimmick matches. Though, I will say, they made the most of each one. *

BUExperience: Parts of this were entertaining. Kinda. If you’re a bigger fan of this era than I am, maybe you’d enjoy this more…? 

DUD