10 Last-Minute WWE Payback 2017 Rumours You Need To Know

5. No Titles Change Hands

Broken Matt Hardy
WWE

Though the Universal Title won't be on the line at Payback (champion Brock Lesnar is on a sabbatical) and neither will the WWE Championship (the "House of Horrors" match between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt was surreptitiously made a non-title affair), there are still four big title matches at the show. It's surprising, then, that it seems fairly likely that none of the belts up for grabs will change hands.

This article has already covered the United States, Cruiserweight, and Raw Tag Team Title matches, leaving only one left - the Raw Women's Championship match, which will pit champion Bayley against challenger Alexa Bliss. Bliss joined the Raw roster after the Superstar Shake-Up and then quickly earned a title shot with a victory in a four-way match.

Though rumors have been circulating that the finish for this match is still undecided, it would almost feel anticlimactic if Bliss were to win. There's mileage in this feud (the two women never had a major title match in NXT), and giving Bayley the first victory is the right step. While WWE could certainly pull a fast one somewhere on the card, it wouldn't be too surprising to see all the titles featured on the show stay where they are.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried. *Best Crowd of the Year, 2013