10 Things WWE Did Right At Payback

6. Sheamus Retains US Title Without Hurting Cesaro's Stature

The PPV opener saw Sheamus successfully defend the US Title against Cesaro in a hard hitting battle between two guys who are very capable in the ring. Every time they wrestle it's a physical match. This one was no different. Going into the match, it was hard to know how they would do the finish. If Sheamus won decisively with a Brogue Kick then that would probably hurt Cesaro to lay down for somebody's finisher. If Cesaro won then the title reign of Sheamus would have been a waste. Plus, it doesn't seem like Cesaro needs a midcard title at this point. By doing the rollup finish for Sheamus they did something that happened "out of nowhere" and didn't really hurt Cesaro by losing. From WWE's point of view, the thinking might be that since Cesaro is possibly going to win Money in the Bank that it's okay for him to win on a rollup to Sheamus in a match like this that really doesn't mean anything. Cesaro would be elevated with the MITB win. Nobody's going to remember that he lost clean to somebody like Sheamus. By the way, Paul Heyman telling the crowd that CM Punk wasn't there because he was at the hockey game was great. Actually he's not there because he chose to walk out of the company, but what Heyman said was true too.