6 Ups And 8 Downs From WWE Payback 2016

By Scott Carlson / May 2, 2016

About two hours into Payback Sunday night, it felt like this had the potential to be one of the better WWE PPVs in recent memory. Both kickoff show matches were solid, and most of the PPV bouts had been entertaining, with just minor gripes up to that point.

Then the wheels fell off.

WWE built up some goodwill with a better-than-expected United States Championship match, an outstanding blood feud bout between Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, and solid performances in the Intercontinental Championship, Women€™s Championship and Chris Jericho/Dean Ambrose contests. Aside from a horrific accident and injury in the opening match, the night was looking pretty good overall.

And then things ground to a halt with a McMahon talking segment that would have put a caffeinated insomniac to sleep if not for Stephanie and Vince yelling at random points. That segment alone was bad, but it was the main event that would define Payback and drop it from contention as a strong PPV to a head-shaking, what-could-have-been event.

Without spoiling things too much for the article, take all the rumors that were out there surrounding the main event and the possible players. Now imagine the most unlikely, least desired scenario. The real result is probably pretty close to that.

So what soared and what crashed and burned at Payback? Let€™s get to it