10 Big Concerns Heading Into WWE Payback 2020
Payback's triumphant return could be undercut by a number of issues...
WWE Payback will return to our screens this Sunday. If you think that it's pretty strange timing for the company to revive one of their old PPVs after three years on the shelf, you're certainly not wrong considering SummerSlam only took place this past weekend.
'The Biggest Event of the Summer' became the first PPV to feature the company's new ThunderDome set-up, allowing fans to virtually take part in the action by zooming themselves into the virtual audience, as they watched 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt win the Universal Championship, Dominik Mysterio make an impressive in-ring debut and Roman Reigns make a shocking return (and an apparent heel turn in the process).
In spite of the fact that the SummerSlam dust hasn't even settled, the company is marching on with Payback this weekend which, in all honesty, does feel rather sudden.
One week removed from any PPV would put Payback under a lot of pressure, but expecting it to set itself apart from SummerSlam is a big ask, and it's going to take a lot to take that thrown-together-at-the-last-minute sheen off it.
Needless to say, we have a lot of concerns...
10. No Time To Plan Any Meaningful Programs
We've already mentioned the logistical issues of having another PPV so soon after SummerSlam but it would be remiss of this writer (or any logical human being) to kick off this piece by delving into anything but that.
'The Biggest Event of the Summer' is the company's second-biggest PPV and is considered by many to be the second 'season finale' if you will (the first being WrestleMania) in the WWE calendar - wrapping up some of the year's most important storylines while kicking off others that will continue into the fall.
This year's instalment was mostly successful in doing that, but the majority of the new status quo has been vastly undercut by how soon Payback follows it up. Its placement a mere week after the event means that there's simply no time to capitalise on the way things are post-SummerSlam. As a result, the creative team only had one episode of Raw and SmackDown to throw together each of the brand's respective Payback matches.
Outside of any rematches (which is what we immediately expected the card to be full of), none of the storylines will have a chance to breathe and thus, WWE could have a hard time appealing to fans unsure of whether Payback is worth the watch.