5 Ups And 7 Downs From WWE Payback 2017

1. Jeri-KO starts PPV Off Right

kevin owens chris jericho
WWE.com

One of the highest high points at Payback came during the opening bout for the PPV proper, with Chris Jericho winning back the United States Championship he lost at WrestleMania to Kevin Owens.

Jericho and Owens had a really nice match, chock-full of counters to each other’s moves, as well as some hard-hitting exchanges. One of the highlights had to be when Jericho and Owens traded finishing move attempts, with Chris becoming incensed that Owens avoided tapping (or passing) out by getting one finger on the ropes again, so he attacked that finger/hand.

And that viciousness paid dividends, with Owens being unable to reach for the ropes while in the Walls of Jericho. Owens tapped, and just like that, the Face of America lost his title. But man, that was a good match to start out with, wasn’t it?

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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.