WWE Payback 2017: 10 Huge Predictions You Need To Know

6. A Cruel Upset

Bray Wyatt
WWE.com

The Raw Women's Division has seen a series of demoralising wrong turns completely ruin multiple storylines and expectations in 2016, with the performers impressing in matches and promos often in spite of the direction they're all headed in.

The one current exception is the slow-burn turn of Sasha Banks on Bayley. Separate heels have made note of some rather condescending treatment of the champion from 'The Boss', but the strength of the friendship has thus far lead both to calmly brush off the claims.

After a couple of opportunities to pull the trigger on the heel turn this year since Sasha snapped at the 'Hugger' backstage in January, the company have been rather patient in extending Bayley's title run through Charlotte's undefeated streak and a WrestleMania fatal four-way, with Banks again missing out on a shot at the title in favour of Raw newcomer Alexa Bliss.

Much has been made of Bayley working in front of her hometown crowd when Payback hits San Jose, which sounds the first alarm that a shock loss to Bliss may not be that shocking after all. WWE love to screw with talent in front of their own, with Banks herself suffering the treatment at the climax of October's Hell in a Cell main event in Boston.

Worst of all, it could be the poorest possible moment to execute Sasha's long-awaited heel switch. Yet another wrong turn.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett