Ranking Every 2017 WWE Pay-Per-View From Worst To Best

15. Payback

Bray Wyatt
WWE.com

The Good: A night where reliable pairings did what reliable pairings do, Payback was unspectacularly pulled back from the brink by safe bet retreads of matches that had already happened and would happen again as per life in modern day WWE. Contests featuring Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, Neville, Austin Aries, The Hardy Boyz, Sheamus and Cesaro, Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman were all broadly enjoyable without being any one man's best night.

The Bad: Bayley losing the WWE Women's Title in her hometown was dispiriting, but not as bad as the card would eventually get. 'The Hugger' hasn't won the belt back since, and quite honestly hasn't even looked close to it. Seth Rollins and Samoa Joe went too long and did too little in their 16-minute snoozer, but were perhaps hamstrung by an audience completely bewildered at the shower of sh*te they'd just had to endure...

The Ugly: Barely a match until the closing stretch, the 'House Of Horrors'...thing between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt was the worst version of whatever it was supposed to be. Bad wrestling often dates well, but this overblown and overwrought am-dram may take decades before becoming palatable.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett