7 Ups And 7 Downs From WWE Payback 2015

Downs...

7. A King-Sized Dilemma

It€™s hard to call this a €œdown,€ but the third encounter between Neville and King Barrett pretty much left the door wide open for a fourth match between the two Brits. And while every bout they€™ve had has been pretty entertaining, WWE is painting itself into a proverbial corner with this one. Barrett is in need of some serious momentum after winning the King of the Ring tournament last month, otherwise it€™s just another meaningless €œachievement€ for him. Sure, Barrett can lose a feud here and there, but not the first one after winning KOTR. Neville has made great strides in his first six weeks on the main roster, and it€™s obvious WWE brass is high on him, so losing to Barrett could slow him down a little. What to do? Booking a countout victory for Neville really was a cop-out €“ unless WWE is going to blow things off in the Elimination Chamber for the Intercontinental Championship. In that case, having Neville capture the title by beating Barrett could be an interesting course, especially if Neville comes out of it with a new challenger. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xC95Ju_DHxQ This is one where it really isn€™t a negative on its face, but WWE€™s history of mishandling situations like this has to give you pause. Ideally, this rivalry would be well-booked and elevate both men. Time will tell in this case
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 fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.