WWE Adds Huge Title Match To Payback 2023 Lineup
Payback's latest addition was announced during WWE's SmackDown tributes to Bray Wyatt.
WWE announced that Rey Mysterio will defend his United States Title against former champ Austin Theory at Payback 2023 on last night's tribute edition of SmackDown.
The company abolished most creative plans and shredded the script for Friday's show, but they did reveal that Rey vs. Theory is happening on the 2 September PLE. That match announcement came after Mysterio beat Grayson Waller in a spirited opener in front of an understandably emotional crowd.
WWE paid tribute to both Bray Wyatt and Terry Funk throughout the program, so there wasn't much room for ongoing storylines. Nobody would've had complaints about that, but creative cleverly managed to weave in just enough Payback build to keep things ticking along in the background.
That, especially given the depressing circumstances, was actually rather deft and impressive.
Rey won the US belt from Theory on the 11 August SmackDown. It'll be interesting to see it this turns out to be a short reign for the legend, or if Triple H and his writers have moved on from Austin as champ for good. His push has stalled multiple times over the past 12 months.