10 WWE Payback 2020 Impulse Reactions

4. Keith Lee Vs. Randy Orton

Sasha Banks Bayley
WWE.com

Keith Lee needed this to bang. He needed Randy Orton to be the wrestler all the other wrestlers adore, versus the one a sizeable portion of the fanbase can't cope with watching anymore.

Despite promoting it at SummerSlam to get all of his loyalest supporters hyped ahead of time, the company well and truly Viking Experienced the former NXT Champion thanks to a new entrance theme and look when he arrived. He needed more than an Orton chinlock to rapidly rush past an auspicious start.

And he just about got it.

In match defined more by the result than action sustained within it, Lee scored a major clean win in just 6:40 with the Spirit Bomb, having earlier pounced Orton out of the ring and nearly the entire ThunderDome in a spot that announced him even more so as somebody not to be f*cked with.

There was almost alarmingly pleasing efficiency to this. Away from justifiable complaints about the altering of his look and and presentation before the bell, everything that happened between the ropes was star-making stuff as Lee begins what'll either be a rocky or hugely rewarding journey.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 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 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, 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