WWE Payback 2016: 10 Things You Might Have Missed
3. Little Naitch Is Back
There's nothing more tiresome and hackneyed in wrestling than a finish playing off the Montreal Screwjob. It worked exactly one time - at Survivor Series 1998, when The Rock became the corporate WWE Champion - but it's been used many, many times since. All it does it make fans groan and reveal just how bereft of ideas the creative team is.
WWE pulled the Montreal finish out of mothballs at Payback, with Charlotte applying the Sharpshooter to Natalya and the referee calling for the bell. It was done because Bret Hart was at ringside with Natalya, and it gave Bret the opportunity to clock Ric Flair and put him in the Sharpshooter while Natalya did the same to Charlotte.
It was great to see Bret looking so well (he's still recovering from both prostate and wrist surgery), but there was something else fun about the angle. The referee who called for the bell, helping Charlotte win, was Charles Robinson. Robinson's been with WWE since 2001, but before that, he was a WCW referee.
Like many WCW referees, he got involved in a storyline when it was his turn. In 1999, Robinson began showing favoritism toward Ric Flair, helping him win matches and screwing over Flair's opponents. Eventually, Robinson took the name "Little Naitch" and began dressing like Flair - he even wrestled a match.
Even though this finish was bad, Robinson's involvement was a nice Easter egg.