10 WWE Payback 2020 Impulse Reactions

2. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt (c) Vs. Roman Reigns Vs. Braun Strowman

Sasha Banks Bayley
WWE.com

WWE could have quite easily have not bothered doing anything with these three on the go-home SmackDown. The match was announced on Monday as way to drop Roman Reigns straight back in on pay-per-view, leaving many to panic that the company was just going to put the Universal Title back on 'The Big Dog' - as if it hasn't been just under two years since he last held it.

Instead, the company dropped another bomb - Reigns was seemingly alligned with Paul Heyman, and wasn't yet happy to sign a contract for the match he was apparently already booked for.

Huge stories in the context of the programme, but as Heyman ducked and dodged questions on behalf of his new charge during the show, it became clear how little of 'The Big Dog' we'd get until the bitter end of this match.

It was a bait and switch, effectively. The promised triple threat was instead yet another singles brawl before 'The Big Dog' arrived. So let's get to that...

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