12 Burning Questions For WWE Payback 2016

1. What Does Ending Mean For Roman’s Title Reign?

aj styles roman reigns
WWE.com

Regardless, it looks like there are going to be some shenanigans during the world title match. It’s doubtful that we’re going to get a completely clean ending to the match, with either Roman Reigns spearing AJ Styles or Styles hitting the Phenomenal Forearm on Roman.

Depending on how many extracurriculars there are during this match, one has to wonder what message that sends about Roman’s title reign. If in Reigns’ first title defense you have interference, a former NXT champion debuting (Finn Balor) and potentially a new stable forming in the aftermath, does that make Roman as champ secondary? Is that a sign that WWE could be acknowledging that Reigns as champ is not the big draw to close a show?

This is a tough question to answer – or even ask – without having seen how Payback will end. But if things end in disarray with interference from a reformed Bullet Club, then the question will have to be posed and considered over the following weeks.

Sunday is Roman’s first PPV world title defense (unless you count Sheamus’ Money in the Bank cash-in at Survivor Series). It’s hardly an empire if your first defense is overshadowed by outside forces.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.